BLK JKS’ highly anticipated full-length debut After Robots is locked and loaded on September 8. But pre-order for the album is available today, and includes a poster and a free digital download of the MYSTERY remix 12” tracks. Pre-order After Robots HERE. BLK JKS, whose recent concert is described by the Los Angeles Times as “one of the most explosive and genuinely thrilling shows L.A. has seen in a very long time,” will embark on a national tour in support of After Robots. An exclusive first listen to the song “Banna Ba Modimo” is available at the RollingStone site HERE.

Recent Australian resident JENS LEKMAN has a string of West Coast U.S. dates planned for May, when he will play several smaller, intimate venues. Peep the tour below.

05/26/09 San Diego, CA - The Loft- UCSD
05/27/09 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
05/28/09 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
05/29/09 Santa Barbara, CA - Velvet Jones
05/30/09 San Luis Obispo, CA - SLO Art Center
06/01/09 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
06/02/09 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
06/03/09 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
06/04/09 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
06/05/09 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
06/06/09 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
06/07/09 Vancouver, BC - TBA

Quite often, times of dormancy only seem so to those of us on the outside. The wheels never really stop turning. Such is the case for MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC Co., which has a string of items lined up over the next months, including its first official release since 2007's Sojourner box set.

First for the band is an exclusive 7" titled It's Made Me Cry, which will be available first on April 18 as part of Record Store Day, an international event celebrating independently-owned record stores. Side A of the 7" features a tuplet of songs recorded over a weekend in October 2008 at Bloomington's Russian Recording. The songs serve as a lesson in the power of brevity - each a flaming arrow to the heart of some heavy emotions. Side B of It's Made Me Cry is the moody, instrumental "Protection Spell," recorded at Russian Recordings almost exactly a year prior to the other songs and featuring late bassist Evan Farrell. The band's proceeds from the 7" will benefit The Evan Farrell Memorial Fund.

A list of businesses participating in Record Store Day can be found HERE.

It's Made Me Cry will also be available digitally worldwide on May 19.

In May, Magnolia Electric Co. will tour the western U.S., sharing a string of West Coast dates with North Carolina's The Avett Brothers, who are confessed fans of Magnolia Electric Co. Scott Avett was recently quoted in American Songwriter singing the praises of the band: "Shit, man, that Magnolia (Electric) Co. EP a few years ago moved me, and most of the world hasn't heard it. That's ridiculous. But I know those things happen."

May will also bring a Magnolia Electric Co. appearance at Spain's Primavera Sound Festival.

See a full listing of Magnolia tour dates HERE.

Stay tuned for more news coming from the Magnolia camp.

South Africa’s BLK JKS, recently signed with Secretly Canadian, will embark on a string of U.S. tour dates March 2 in Bloomington, IN, where they recently completed recording their forthcoming full-length. The tour continues to New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco before taking the band to a return appearance at SXSW. More dates are forthcoming.

After an action packed 2008 that found the band playing their first U.S. shows, receiving critical acclaim from the likes of The New York Times, Billboard, The Guardian and Dazed and Confused, the band is poised to build on the success with a March 10 re-release of their MYSTERY EP, which has been re-mastered and re-sequenced.

BLK JKS Tour Dates:
03/02/09 Bloomington, IN - Jake's w/ Tammar
03/03/09 Rock Island, IL - Rock Island Brewing Company
03/04/09 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03/06/09 Los Angeles, CA - Natural History Museum
03/09/09 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Shop
03/13/09 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
03/14/09 New York, NY - Santo's Partyhouse
03/18/09 Austin, TX - SXSW

ANTONY asked his friends the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix series) to work with him on a video for his new single "Epilepsy is Dancing". They in turn invited painters Tino Rodriguez and Virgo Paradiso to create costumes and a mystical environment and choreographer Sean Dorsey and his dancers to bring the dream sequence to life. Antony's artistic partner Johanna Constantine stars as herself in the role of "Deer Monster". The video was lit and shot by the up-and-coming directors of photography, Chris Blasingame and Banker White, and produced by Jim Jerome. The production team collectively named themselves AFAS.

Please enjoy the fruits of their San Francisco art party.

Antony and the Johnsons will be offering an instant digital download of their forthcoming album "The Crying Light" and a bonus track, "My Lord, My Love", for fans who pre-order the album from www.antonyandthejohnsons.com starting today. This gives fans a chance to hear the album before the release date as they will be able to download it and the bonus track as soon as they pre-order

"The Crying Light" is the bands' follow up to the Mercury prize winning " I Am a Bird Now". The album will be released in the UK and Europe on January 19 through Rough Trade and on January 20 in America through Secretly Canadian with a world tour following the release. The American leg of the tour goes through the end of February, including stops at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville as well as the historic Vic Theatre in Chicago and the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Fans can receive updates on tour, news, and events by joining the mailing list at www.antonyandthejohnsons.com

American Dates

02/02: Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
02/03: Washington, DC @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
02/04: Columbus, OH @ Southern Theatre
02/07: Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival
02/08: Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
02/12: Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
02/13: Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater
02/14: Minneapolis, MN @ Pantages Theatre
02/17: Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
02/19: New York, NY @ Town Hall
02/20: New York, NY @ Town Hall
02/22: Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center
02/24: San Francisco, CA @ Nob Hill Masonic Center
02/27: Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
02/28: Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre

European Dates

03/15: Bergen, Norway @ Griedhallen
03/17: Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
03/19: Stockholm, Sweden @ Cirkus
03/21: Helsinki, Finland @ House of Culture
03/26: Copenhagen, Denmark @ Falkoner
03/28: Ancona, Italy @ Teatore delle Muse
03/29: Rome, Italy @ Auditorium il parco della Musica
03/31: Prato, Italy @ Teatro Politearna Pratese
04/01: Milan, Italy @ Sala Verdi Conservatorio
04/04: Zurich, Switzerland @ Kongresshaus
04/06: Strasbourg, France @ La Laiterie
04/09: Paris, France @ Le Grand Rex
04/13: Brussels, Belgium @ Bozar
04/15: Barcelona, Spain @ Palau de la Musica
04/23: Munich, Germany @ Postpalast
04/24: Berlin, Germany @ Admiralpalast
04/27: Frankfuhrt, Germany @ Alte Oper
04/29: Warsaw, Poland @ National Theatre
05/01: Krems, Austria @ Donaufesival
05/03: Eindhoven, Netherlands @ MC FritsPhilips
05/05: San Sebastian, Spain @ Kursaal Auditorium
05/07: Murcia, Spain @ Auditorio de Murcia
05/11: Madrid, Spain @ Palacio de Congresos
05/14: Lisbon, Portugal @ Coliseum
05/16: Braga, Portugal @ Teatro Circo
05/18: Porto, Portugal @ Coliseum
05/21: Brighton, UK @ Brighton Dome Concert Hall
05/22: Brimingham, UK @ Symphony Hall
05/24: Bristol UK @ Colston Hall
05/27: London, UK @ Hammersmith Apollo
05/29: Gateshead, UK @ The Sage
05/31: Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar St
06/01: Belfast, UK @ Waterfront
06/04: Edinburgh, UK @ Playhouse

Secretly Canadian is pleased to announce the signing of South Africa's BLK JKS. After an action packed 2008 that found the band playing its first U.S. shows, receiving critical acclaim from the likes of The New York Times, Billboard, The Guardian and Dazed and Confused, the band is poised to build on their initial success with a March 10 release of their MYSTERY EP, which has been re-mastered and re-sequenced. As a preview for fans, MYSTERY will be available for free digital download from eMusic and Other Music Digital December 8 through January 5. In addition to the free digital preview of MYSTERY, a documentary about the band premieres on December 8 at www.digforfire.tv.
BLK JKS came to the U.S. in the spring of 2008 after a chance meeting with über-producer Diplo while he was on tour in South Africa. Landing on the cover of the Fader, as well as sets at the Fader issue release party and South by Southwest, sparked recording sessions at New York's famed Electric Lady studios that resulted in the MYSTERY EP. The record was produced by Brandon Curtis of the Secret Machines, who came to BLK JKS as a fan of the band.
BLK JKS consists of childhood friends Linda and Mpumi who grew up on the same block in Johannesburg's East Rand where they taught themselves guitar. They initially formed the band in 2000, and early BLK JKS shows and recordings garnered attention for their stacks of guitar drone and head-nodding beats. After the band's current lineup took shape with the addition of bassist Molefi and drummer Tshepang, both of Soweto, they embarked on a schedule of heavy touring throughout South Africa that earned them a loyal national following. The limited edition release of BLK JKS' now out-of-print 2007 "Lakeside" vinyl-only 10" marked the band's international debut, selling at select record stores worldwide.

"We're having a War on Drugs morning and Jamming The Fuck Out" - FADER

Its been six months since Philadelphia's The War on Drugs released their critically acclaimed "Wagon Wheel Blues" - an album that the San Francisco Weekly claims as "one of this year's most exciting debuts." While the praise has been pretty much universal, the fact remains that criminally few people have heard this band. In the office, we find the year's most perfect A-Side tragically under-appreciated (we dare you to find anything more sprawling, cohesive and hooky).

Having spent the bulk of their time overseas this season, we couldn't be more pleased to have the band to come back and play on their home turf. Starting December 9th the band will embark on a short tour to finish out the year, and introduce the States to the incredible force that is their live show.

Uncut's Editor, Alan Jones, perhaps described it best by writing:
"I'm wholly glad they're here tonight, because what their opening set, a frantic 30 minutes or so, packed from floor to ceiling with moments of startling rapture and abandoned mayhem, is as good as anything I've seen all year.
You may have read in reviews of their debut album, Wagonwheel Blues, that WOD's music occupies an interface between the classic American songwriting of Dylan, Springsteen and Tom Petty and the sonic adventures of The Velvet Underground, say, or My Bloody Valentine.

It's a notion you may briefly have entertained and them dismissed without hearing the album as surely fanciful. The thing is, the description – especially when you hear them live – isn't at all far-fetched, begins in fact to feel like it actually undersells a lot of the amazing things they get up to and the fearsome noise of which they are capable, breathtakingly exciting aural landscapes wrought from nothing more apparently than a Rickenbacker, a drummer with the dynamic whack of the young Mitch Mitchell, an acoustic guitar and what looks like an array of wired-up kitchen utensils one of the band must have found at the back of someone's garage."


-- THE WAR ON DRUGS TOUR DATES --
12/09/08 Pontiac, MI - The Pike Room at The Crofoot
12/10/08 Rock Island, IL - Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor
12/11/08 Chicago, IL - Schuba's
12/12/08 Bloomington, IN - Bear's Place
12/13/08 Pittsburgh, PA - Brillobox
12/14/08 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
12/15/08 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
12/18/08 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's


-- DOWNLOADS --
"TAKING THE FARM" MP3: http://www.scjag.com/mp3/sc/takingthefarm.mp3
"A NEEDLE IN YOUR EYE 16" VIDEO: http://www.scjag.com/mp3/sc/aneedleinyoureye16.mov
ARTIST PAGE: http://secretlycanadian.com/artist.php?name=warondrugs
MYSPACE PAGE: http://www.myspace.com/thewarondrugs

DANIELSON'S newest release, Trying Hartz, samples the first decade of the Danielson/Danielson Famile/Br. Danielson oeuvre (all the years before the critically acclaimed Ships). It's a perfect starter volume for listeners who have not had the pleasure of engaging with the evolution of this unusual, surprising, and incredibly moving musical consortium.

On Silence is Wild, FRIDA HYVÖNEN'S second full-length, Hyvonen continues to take an utterly modern approach to classic songwriting forms: blending the confessional with the fictional; mixing wit with a sexuality that shifts from the refined to the raw; all the while using language which dances effortlessly between the timeless and the contemporary, referencing high art and pop culture in a transcendent manner which masterfully puts Hyvönen at the top of a new international class of singer-songwriters.

Both of these albums are due out on 11/04, but you can pre-order them HERE

The Hold Steady tour that THE WAR ON DRUGS were due to open on has been postponed until further notice. The War on Drugs' headline shows at Norwich Arts Centre and The Windmill in London will go ahead as planned. Some new dates have been added as well. Please see updated information below:

10/01/08 London, UK - Borderline w/ Ladyhawk, The Dudes - buy tickets HERE.
10/02/08 London, UK - Pure Groove
10/02/08 London, UK - Bloomsbury Bowling Alley w/ The Dudes
10/03/08 Norwich, UK - Norwich Arts Center
10/04/08 Bristol, UK - The Louisiana
10/07/08 London, UK - Windmill - buy tickets HERE.