OK, I get a ton of news releases about bands, and here’s some updates about what’s in store for Athens bands in the next couple of months:
* Of Montreal has a scheduled a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday in support of their new album False Priest (Sep. 14). The band will perform the album’s second single, “Sex Karma” with special guest Solange Knowles. Knowles also appears on the single on False Priest. The band will also film a web exclusive performance of the album’s lead single, “Coquet Coquette.” The band will kick off a short summer tour with a headline festival appearance at the Land of Nod Experiment in Jackson, MI July 25 and a stop at the Osheaga Festival in Montreal, QE on July 30.
* Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven will hit the road together again starting Aug. 19 in Seattle as part of their Traveling Apothecary Show Tour, just prior to their sixth annual Campout music festival in Pioneertown, CA in September. Along with headlining performances from Cracker and Camper, previous Campouts have also included the likes of Built To Spill, Quasi, Citay and a number of other various Cracker and CVB solo and side projects.
* The Apples in stereo, fresh from releasing their guerilla-style “Hey Elevator” music video, announce the next leg of the “Travellers in Space and Time Tour” in honor of their new album of the same title. Travellers in Space and Time (Simian/Yep Roc) has garnered some of the highest praise of the storied band’s career and has also offered many opportunities to get creative with the web and video, as well as with the way they interact with their dedicated fans.
* R.E.M. has just completed recording its next record in Berlin and according to Bertis Downs, “To my ears it all sounds like quite a wonderful set of songs.” R.E.M. spent most of June at Hansa Studio in Berlin with Jacknife Lee putting the finishing touches on songs that evolved over the course of two previous recording sessions, the first in Portland in 2009 and the second in New Orleans earlier this year. The next step will be to mix the record this Fall. Although the band doesn’t have a specific date for the record to be released just yet, all signs are pointing towards Spring 2011.
* Dead Confederate is extending its North American tour into the fall, adding co-headlining dates with New York-based roots rockers Alberta Cross. Dead Confederate are touring in support of their upcoming sophomore release Sugar, due on Aug. 24 on TAO Recordings/Old Flame. Prior to the Alberta Cross dates, they’ll be touring with Deer Tick and playing a Bumbershoot after party with Surfer Blood. Sugar, recorded by John Agnello (The Hold Steady, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.), was shaped by touring with legends such as Dinosaur Jr. and Meat Puppets and gave Dead Confederate an increased appreciation for the early underground bands of the 80s and 90s that laid the foundation on which their sound is built. As a result, the record explores new styles beyond the aching, bleak psychedelia with which the band originally made their mark.
