THE DECEMBERISTS ANNOUNCE SPRING U.S. TOUR

THE DECEMBERISTS ANNOUNCE FIRST LEG

OF SPRING 2009 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR;

KICKING OFF MAY 19th

THE HAZARDS OF LOVE SET FOR

MARCH 24th RELEASE ON CAPITOL RECORDS

The Decemberists have announced the first leg of their Spring 2009 North American tour in support of The Hazards of Love, their ambitious new album to be released by Capitol Records on March 24th. The 16-date run will kick off May 19^th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and include a June 10th performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, as well as a set at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets go on sale today to the public on a first-come, first-served basis at http://www.decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com. General ticket on-sales begin on Friday, February 13th. Full venue and ticketing information is available at The Decemberists’ website. More upcoming tour dates will be announced shortly.

On tour, The Decemberists will present a full performance of the album, a 17-song suite that tells the tale of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake. Joining the band on stage will be Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden who deliver the lead vocals for the female characters. The band announced last week that they will give the debut live performance of The Hazards of Love when they headline NPR Music’s South by Southwest showcase at Stubbs in Austin on March 18th.

With their fifth full-length album, the Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen solidifies its standing as one of the most innovative creative forces in music today. In an age when singles rule and the death of the album has been pronounced by many, The Decemberists have fashioned an anomaly: a record that demands to be listened to from start to finish and reveals more with each subsequent play. NPR All Songs Considered has already declared it an “epic adventure,” while Rolling Stone recently wrote that “[The] Hazards of Love is The Decemberists’ full-on classic-rock move, with pretty Zep-style fingerpicking punctuated by crushing stoner-metal lurches"

The Decemberists’ confirmed Spring 2009 tour dates are as follows:

May 19 Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, CA

May 20 Fox Theatre Oakland, CA

May 21 McDonald Theater Eugene, OR

May 24 Wilma Theatre Missoula, MT

May 26 Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO

May 27 Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO

May 29 Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI

May 31 The Pageant St. Louis, MO

June 1 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Columbus, OH

June 3 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA

June 4 Memorial Auditorium Raleigh, NC

June 5 The National Richmond, VA

June 6 Tower Theatre Upper Darby, PA

June 9 Bank of America Pavillion Boston, MA

June 10 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY

June 11-14 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Manchester, TN

IN CASE YOU MISSED EM...

Coldplay performed and picked up a couple of Grammys on Sunday night. Check out their energetic performance!

IN CASE YOU MISSED EM...

RADIOHEAD killed it at the Grammys on Sunday. Were they not fantastic? Performing "15 Step" from the album IN RAINBOWS with the USC Marching Band.

They totally should have won for Album of the Year!!

AND THE GRAMMY GOES TO...

TV Guide Network's Kimberly Caldwell spends some one-on-one time with pop star and 2009 Grammy winner for Best New Artist and Best Female Vocal Performance, Adele!

CONGRATS ADELE

I'M GOING TO TELL YOU A SECRET

LILY ALLEN LAUNCHES IT'S NOT ME, IT'S YOU TOMORROW WITH PERFORMANCE ON NBC'S "TODAY" SHOW AND MYSPACE SECRET SHOW IN NEW YORK CITY

North American Tour Kicks Off April 1st

Allen Guests On "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" And "Ellen" Next Week


Lily Allen's new album, It's Not Me, It's You, is in stores TODAY - and she'll celebrate the occasion with a performance on NBC's "TODAY" show in the morning and a MySpace Secret Show at New York City's Bowery Ballroom that evening. With free Secret Shows also scheduled in Tokyo and London, the concerts mark the first time a single artist will take part in multiple MySpace Secret Shows on a global level.

Allen will perform on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on February 16th and on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on February 18th. She'll return home thereafter for a series of U.K. dates, but kick off a North American headlining tour on April 1st in San Diego, CA.

Lead single "The Fear," which debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart, recently topped Rolling Stone's "Hot List." "The singer packs another lyrical punch as she touches upon the charade of fame, delusions of consumerism and media obsession with her celebrity," said Billboard in a review of the track. The accompanying video, which was directed by Nez (The Streets, Kano) and generated 500,000 clicks in five days when it premiered on MySpace, has been added at MTV, MTV Hits, mtvU, The N, Music Choice and LOGO.

Lily is the currently the subject of a cover feature in Spin, excerpted here:

http://www.spin.com/articles/lily-allen-girl-cant-help-it

She's also recently appeared on the cover of Billboard, NYLON and PAPER and snagged the lede review/feature in Rolling Stone, US Weekly, People, Entertainment Weekly and Maxim. "This provocateur with a heart of gold has returned with a wicked sophomore record," said NYLON while Rolling Stone noted: "Allen has gotten more musically eclectic, jettisoning the thumping rock-steady of Alright, Still without sacrificing catchiness or dance-floor bounce." Blender described the album, which was produced by Greg Kurstin (the bird and the bee), as "part God, part country and all middle finger," and People said: "Allen's bite is softened - and in some cases, sharpened - by her sweet-as-pie delivery. It serves her well whether she's riffing on prescription drugs, (the highlight, 'Everyone's At It') or fame (first single, 'The Fear')." "In the end, it's a tale of two Lilys: the naughty postadolescent in the rearview mirror, and the fully realized female coming around the bend," observed Entertainment Weekly.

It's Not Me, It's You is the follow-up to Allen's 2007 debut, Alright, Still, which entered The Billboard 200 at No. 20 after her release week performance on "Saturday Night Live." On the strength of the album, which has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, Lily was nominated for four Brit awards, a GRAMMY® award and an MTV Video Music award.

Lily Allen - North American Tour Dates

4/1 San Diego, CA House of Blues - San Diego
4/2 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
4/4 San Francisco, CA Warfield Theatre
4/6 Seattle, WA The Showbox SODO
4/8 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
4/9 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
4/11 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
4/12 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
4/13 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
4/15 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
4/17 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
4/18 Philadelphia, PA Theatre Of The Living Arts
4/19 Boston, MA House of Blues
4/20 New York, NY Roseland Ballroom
4/22 Toronto, ONT Sound Academy

LADYTRON ANNOUNCE CO-HEADLINE TOUR WITH THE FAINT

TOMORROW EP TO BE RELEASED ON MARCH 3 FEATURING REMIXES FROM JIM ABBISS, DIRTY VEGAS, GREAT NORTHERN AND MORE

BAND IN THE STUDIO WITH CHRISTINA AGUILERA; EASTERN EUROPEAN TOUR DATES CONFIRMED WITH DEPECHE MODE

FREE DOWNLOAD OF "TOMORROW (VECTOR LOVERS LUCKY REMIX)

February 6, 2009 (New York, NY) -- LADYTRON has just announced a North American co-headlining tour with THE FAINT this spring, beginning in Milwaukee on Wednesday, April 1 and wrapping in Denver on Tuesday, May 5. The two bands will switch headline duties each night, and will be joined by FIGO who will DJ throughout the evening. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 13.

The band will also release TOMORROW EP -- a 6 track EP featuring remixes of the track "Tomorrow" from their 2008 release Velocifero -- on March 3 on all major digital service providers. Remixers include Jim Abbiss (Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Goldfrapp), Dirty Vegas, Great Northern and more.

Since the end of last year, Ladytron has spent time doing DJ sets across the country, and most recently has been in the studio with Christina Aguilera writing songs for her new album. Beginning in March, the Liverpool foursome will tour the globe through 2009, including a handful of dates in Eastern Europe as support for Depeche Mode (below) and two special shows with Brian Eno at the Sydney Opera House in June.

Ladytron released their fourth studio album, Velocifero, in June 2008 to critical acclaim. Recorded in Paris, Velocifero was self-produced with additional production from Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails, Modwheelmood) and Vicarious Bliss of Ed Banger Records (Justice, DJ Mehdi, Busy P); the album was mixed by Michael Patterson (Beck, P. Diddy). Velocifero debuted at #3 on the Electronic Album Chart, #9 on the Tastemakers Chart, and #131 in the Billboard Top 200. They spent 2008 on a worldwide tour, which started with a 31-city North American trek including a stop at Bonnaroo.

LADYTRON and THE FAINT w/ FIGO (DJ Set):
Wed, Apr 1 - Milwaukee, WI @ Tuner
Thur, Apr 2 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Fri, Apr 3 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
Sat, Apr 4 - Chicago, IL @ Metrto
Mon, Apr 6 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
Tue, Apr 7 - Montreal, QB @ Theatre Telus
Wed, Apr 8 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues
Fri, Apr 10 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Sat, Apr 11 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Mon, Apr 13 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
Tue, Apr 14 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Wed, Apr 15 - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
Fri, Apr 17 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
Sat, Apr 18 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Mon, Apr 20 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
Tue, Apr 21 - Austin, TX @ Stubb's
Wed, Apr 22 - Dallas, TX @ Granada
Fri, Apr 24 - Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
Sat, Apr 25 - Anaheim, CA @ The Grove
Sun, Apr 26 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda
Wed, Apr 29 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
Thus, Apr 30 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
Fri, May 1 - Portland, OR @ Roseland
Sat,May 2 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
Sun, May 3 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
Tue, May 5 - Denver, CO @ Ogden

WITH DEPECHE MODE IN EASTERN EUROPE
Sat, May 16 - Bucharest @ Parc Izvor
Mon, May 18 - Sofia @ Vasil Levsky Stadium
Wed, May 20 - Belgrade @ Usce Park
Thur, May 21 - Zagreb @ Arena

MATT & KIM = CUTE & CUTE

It took no time at all for me to fall in love with Matt Johnson and Kimberly Schifino, otherwise know as the Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim. From the second they walked out onto the Troubadour stage in West Hollywood, until they finished up their last song, and walked off. They brought out such positive energy through bright, happy smiles, and it showed just how much they enjoy doing what they are doing, not just because of the looks on their faces, but through their high energy, pounding, melodic sounds!



Starting out playing live in October 2004, they have not stopped and try to play as much as they possibly can. They have two full length albums, their first self titled debut which dropped October 2006 and just recently released their latest album GRAND, on January 20th, 2009. You can tell that they are truly out their to play for their fans and they have fun doing it. They both had such great stage presence and were just having a great time which leaked out onto the SOLD OUT crowd at the Troubadour.



If you are not familiar with this amazing duo, please check them out! www.myspace.com/mattandkim or www.mattandkimmusic.com
Please go to iTunes and download their latest, or actually go to a REAL record store and get the album in it's tangible form. They do not fit into any particular taste, so there is definitely something for everybody on GRAND....so listen, and ENJOY!

STORY & PHOTOS: CORY RADKE

DID YOU SEE IT?

Did you see the latest Digital Short on SNL over the weekend? "I'm On A Boat" is the latest skit that is sure to be another SNL sensation! SNL is also releasing an album with their famous SNL Digital Shorts.

The video is from the upcoming album, Incredibad, which is releasing this Tuesday Feb 10th.

DISHING UP DELIGHTS - MUSIC EDITION

A little over a week ago my friend ESI (AC) went to the Adele/James Morrison show at the Wiltern in L.A. I wasn't able to attend, so I asked if she would do a review for musicbleep. She's a young talented blogger herself, so I was super excited when she agreed to review this show. When's she's not cooking or writing for her blog - http://www.dishingupdelights.com/, she's an avid music lover and a HUGE fan of Adele. A big shout out to ESI for a great review of the show!



When I first heard Adele would be playing at Avalon in October, I got so upset. Of all the weekends of the year, it was the one where I had a trip that I absolutely could not cancel. Luckily, fate threw me a bone. The concert ended up being rescheduled for January 30th and I quickly snatched up a ticket. I first heard of Adele through a free iTunes download early last year and was immediately enchanted with her lovely voice. Tony and I were lucky enough to go to the "Evening with Adele" show back in May and ever since, I have thought about seeing her live again. Adele is one of the very few artists whose voice sounds just as good if not better live than when you listen to the album.

At long last January 30th arrived and I could hardly contain my excitement about the show. I was also really excited to see James Morrison who is another fave Brit import of mine. I managed to squeeze in with a couple of friends on the floor so we had a pretty decent view of the stage. James went on promptly at 8. He mostly performed songs from his new album "Songs For You, Truths For Me" including "Save Yourself", "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" and the song he cowrote with Nelly Furtado "Broken Strings". He also performed a couple of hits from his first album including "Wonderful World" and "You Give Me Something" (my personal favorite). James had great energy and the crowd seemed to think so too. I heard several people around me exclaim that they didn't really know who he was, but they thought he was a great performer (and cute too).



The last time we saw Adele live, we had to wait almost an hour and half for her to take the stage. Not so this time. After a brief lighting check, quick set change, and other minor details, Adele took the stage a mere 20 minutes or so after James exited. She opened with "Cold Shoulder" which is always good to get the crowd in the mood and then moved to "Melt My Heart to Stone" which is my absolute favorite song on "19". She sang a few more songs from "19" and did a new song which I can't remember the name of, and a cover of Etta James' "Fool That I Am" before ending with "Hometown Glory".

Of course she came back for an encore. "Crazy For You", a cover of Sam Cooke's "That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On" and a rousing rendition of "Chasing Pavements" which of course the crowd went wild for. For being so young, Adele is insanely talented. Her voice is so beautiful and at times haunting, but she is also able to charm you with her humbleness. Several times she exclaimed that she couldn't believe that all these people were there to see her and you could see her fiddling with her ponytail during parts of her performance. According the LA Times, Adele is getting ready to spend some extended time in LA recording her second album. She will also be playing at the Hollywood Bowl on June 28th and will be backed up by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I can't wait to go to that show and I can't wait to see what this talented young artist has in store for us.



STORY & PHOTOS BY: ESI - http://www.dishingupdelights.com/

Robyn Performance and Signing! Monday, Feb. 9th @ 7pm

Tonight at the Borders bookstore on Sunset and Vine Robyn will be doing a FREE live performance and signing at 7:00pm!! Don't Miss it!