DOWNLOAD: theFREEHOUDINImixtape

The newest addition to the Themselves catalog is a 39-minute-long free album of sorts, theFREEhoudini. Featuring guest appearances from Buck 65, Aesop Rock, Busdriver, Lionesque, Slug of Atmosphere, D-Styles, DJ Baku, Pedestrian, Sole, Serengeti, and Yoni Wolf and Odd Nosdam as cLOUDDEAD (not to mention the whole entire mixtape being mixed down by Nosdam as well), theFREEhoudini serves as Doseone and Jel’s return, posse record that never was, and contribution to the mixtape medium circuit so tied to hip hop’s history.

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Ten years after the release of their seminal debut, six years since their last LP, Themselves return in 2009 with not one, but two full-length albums. The first is theFREEhoudini: one part aggressive rap mixtape, one part posse reunion record that wrangles all seven original members of the Anticon collective-and several distinguished guests-to reaffirm the crew’s uncontestable place in hip-hop history. Herein, you’ll find the finest prose from today’s most venerable wordsmiths, slung over a perpetually shifting landscape of hard beats and texture. Providing the meat and motivation, of course, are Themselves-Doseone and Jel-who’ve realized this feat as a single, gratis long-playing track. A truly free-for-all celebration of just how good rap can be, theFREEhoudini (mixed by Odd Nosdam) will be released digitally this spring, preceded by key snippet leaks through select web institutions.

Caught within the steely guts of theFREEhoudini are several patent Doseone freestyles, a few edited chunks from the still-shrouded album to follow, and literally every emcee that Dose has shared a formative moment with on the mic. Always the good hosts, Themselves crafted each beat to fit its guest to a T, with Dose’s verbal accompaniment incorporating the contributor’s themes. Early on, he and Aesop Rock trade heated verses over organ tones and propulsive drums, while with Buck 65, the mood is old-school braggadocio and boom-bap (check the Krown Rulers/Slick Rick reference). Soon, Sole storms through, dropping some real-world horrorcore before Busdriver lays down some sing-song and a little light-speed rapping. Cincinnati’s Lionesque (who appeared on Dose’s 1998 debut, Hemispheres) returns here to spit fire over one of Jel’s biggest beats. Pedestrian then delivers a blown-out sermon from a shadowy aural pulpit; D-Styles cuts furiously on Dose’s linguistic tribute to Ultramagnetic MCs; Chicago’s Serengeti contribute s a contemplative piece; and Slug of Atmosphere sounds inspired alongside his old Deep Puddle Dynamics buddies. One of the strongest moments comes from a reunited cLOUDDEAD with WHY?’s Yoni Wolf eschewing melody for straight-faced rap over Nosdam sounds. Elsewhere, Japan’s DJ Baku provides further turntable tweaks.

Scattered throughout theFREEhoudini are songs that find Themselves unadorned, executing a range of styles that both pay tribute to and threaten to overtake their favorite mistress, hip-hop. On the opener, Doseone offers two things to any rapper who’d test him: his actual home address, and the growled cocksure promise, “I will wolf you!” Beyond the 30-minute mark, you can hear the unique slang and unfettered atmosphere Dose and Jel respectively perfected while in Subtle. And in the final song Dose addresses Anticon itself, cribbing the chorus of Sole’s classic “Tourist Trapeze” (from Bottle Of Humans) to serve up the ideal end to an album that really began to come together some 12 years ago.

The freestyles on theFREEhoudini are of particular note, as they were culled from a hip-hop workshop Dose teaches at an Oakland youth center. These stand not only as further proof in the pudding as to the inordinate amount of skill contained herein, but also as testament to the fact that, from sunrise to sundown, rap is what these guys do. The medium itself (the mixtape) and the numerous bits of hip-hop history scattered throughout theFREEhoudini-references to X Clan, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, etc.-make Themselves’ latest a living document of the past, present and future.

An extremely limited run of numbered deluxe CD versions of theFREEhoudini will be made available via Anticon’s online store. These feature an additional 16 minutes of music, separated tracks, and guest appearances from Passage and Alias accompanied by DJ Andrew (Fog’s Andrew Broder).

THEMSELVES

07/23 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
07/24 Portland, OR Doug Fir
07/26 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
07/28 Visalia, CA The Cellar Door
07/29 Los Angeles, CA Spaceland
07/30 San Diego, CA Brick by Brick
08/01 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill

Themselves
theFREEhoudini
(Anticon)
March 16, 2009
1. Pay That Piper
2. Oversleeping (from the forthcoming CrownsDown LP)
3. Know That To Know This (featuring Aesop Rock)
4.Kick The Ball (featuring Buck 65)
5.1 For No Money (featuring Sole)
6. Rappers Is Interns (freestyle)
7. Party Rap Sucks (featuring Bus Driver)
8. Long Time Coming (featuring Lionesque)
9. Swarm of Bee II
10. Back2burn (featuring Pedestrian)
11. TheMark (featuring D-Styles, from the forthcoming CrownsDown LP)
12. Keys To Ignition (featuring Serengeti)
13. Roman Is As Roman Does (from the forthcoming CrownsDown LP)
14. The Medicine (featuring Slug of Atmosphere)
15. Free&Void
16. Rapping4Money (featuring WHY? / Odd Nosdam / cLOUDDEAD)

mixed by Odd Nosdam

THEMSELVES LINKS:
MySpace - www.myspace.com/themselves

Press Materials - www.anticon.com/pr/themselves.htm

MP3: Ear Pwr - “Future Eyes”

Blistering thumpers with infectious melodies, Disco chants with wild-eyed electro anthems: all part of the unique electronic vision of Baltimore’s Ear Pwr. Devin and Sarah, the fiery young duo known as Ear Pwr, have blended together bits of Italo Disco, Baltimore Club, and twee indie pop to create a nuclear party grenade that will blow your mind. Their booty-shaking aesthetic has never sounded more enticing than on their new record Super Animal Brothers III. This scorcher of an album is hitting the pavement at full throttle. No party is complete without it!

Bio:

Devin Booze and Sarah Reynolds found each other in the spring of 2005 after Sarah became of loyal fan of Devin’s party-punk band, Hide and Seek. That summer, the two began meeting up nearly every afternoon for 2-person dance parties. Not long into their courtship, they started improvising new words to their favorite songs, feeding off of each other and mesmerizing their buddies. It soon became evident that they “had the same brain.”

One evening, while admiring their ancient tape player and wondering just how old it was, they noticed the word “EAR” above the headphone jack and “PWR” above the power input. They decided that they were EAR PWR, even though they weren’t quite sure what that meant. At the close of the summer, Sarah departed Winston-Salem for a one-year stay in Italy and Devin began college in Asheville, NC, but their commitment to the idea of “EAR PWR” never wavered.

In Sarah’s absence, Devin (also a concert tubaist and drummer) wrote a multitude of danceable electronic jams using analog devices. When Sarah returned, she wrote the lyrics. Their immediate goals were simple: Make people dance. Make people happy. Soon after, they took their project live, playing shows all over North Carolina and steadily brought the dance party to the entire east coast. During this time, they also recorded a full-length album and an EP. In the summer of 2008, the pair kicked off their first U.S. tour with good friends, Future Islands, at Whartscape and were introduced to the wonderful world of Baltimore where they will soon reside full time.

As much fun as their recordings are, it’s during their live shows that EAR PWR truly shines. Armed with only a suitcase of synths and a megaphone, their enthusiasm and mutual admiration sparks into a fun-loving barrage of body-moving electro and infectious silliness that’s hard to ignore. Sarah lays down rap-style vocals and simple melodies that glide easily over the beats to become unshakably ingrained in your psyche for days on end. Devin, the seemingly innocent hype man, bobs and weaves in-and-out of the crowd like a man possessed, while frantically spewing his dance floor sales pitch, punctuating Sarah’s vocals and generally rousing the rabble like a an Afro-ed pied piper.

EAR PWR’s sonic aesthetic has never sounded more enticing than on their new record Super Animal Brothers III. They have blended together bits of Italo Disco, Baltimore Club, and twee indie pop to create a nuclear party grenade that is sure to blow your mind.

Ear Pwr Tinnitus

- These North Carolina natives have recently moved to Baltimore where they’ll be keeping it real with fellow dance party specialists Dan Deacon, Adventure and Future Islands.
- Armed with only a suitcase of synths and a megaphone, Ear Pwr have been bringing to their kinetic live party to underground spaces all over America.
- Devin has recently completed his studies in the Bob Moog founded music technology program at UNC-asheville where he learned to create the synths that give Ear Pwr its distinctive sound.

EAR PWR

June 10th - Portland, OR @ Holocene*
June 12th - San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern*
June 13th - San Jose, CA @ Nickel City Arcade*
June 14th - Los Angeles, CA @ Space 15 Twenty (Daytime show 1pm)*
June 14th - Los Angeles, CA @ BBQ at Art and Mayhem (Afternoon show 4 - 10 p.m.)*
June 15th - Los Angeles, CA @ Pehrspace*
June 16th - Irvine, CA @ Acrobatics Every Day*
June 17th - Phoenix, AZ @ Modified #
June 19th - Austin, TX @ Beauty Bar*
June 20th - Dallas, TX @ The Handsome Kitten*
June 21st - Houston, TX @ Mango’s Cafe*
June 22nd - New Orleans, LA @ Saturn Bar*
June 23rd - Little Rock, AK @ Rad Hizzy*
June 24th - Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light*
June 25th - Asheville, NC @ Mo Daddy’s*
June 26th - Atlanta, GA @ 529*
June 27th - Durham, NC @ The Pin Hook*
June 28th - Greenville, NC @ Spazz Haus*
June 29th - Charlottesville, VA @ Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar*
June 30th - Baltimore, MD @ The Zodiac*
July 2nd - Brooklyn, NY @ Death By Audio*

* with Adventure
# with Telepathe, Nite Jewel

Ear Pwr
Super Animal Brothers III
(Carpark)
Street date: May 19, 2009

1. Tripodium
2. Beam Of Light
3. Super Animal Bros. III
4. Future Eyes
5. Sparkley Sweater
6. Cats Is People Too
7. You Are The Bom
8. Boys II Volcanoes
9. Jams O Jamz
10. Diamonds Liquor Leather
11. Goofy Award
12. Discover Your Colors
13. Ghostride The Buffalo
14. Mexican Newspaper
15. Epic Suitcase
16. Secret Stars

EAR PWR LINKS:

MySpace - www.myspace.com/earpwr

Press Materials - www.carparkrecords.com/earpwrpresspage.html

Summer tour dates also announced, including festival stops, as the band nears its 500th show

With their third full length release in 18 months, These United States surrender themselves to unbridled rock and roll exuberance: ringing guitars, thundering drums, desperate yearning bordering on hope. Everything Touches Everything, out Sept. 1 on Colorado-based United Interests, came together the week of January 20th, 2009, as 4 million new friends descended on the city of Washington, DC (one of two places, with Lexington, KY, the band calls home). Laughter, belief, chaos, history, frigid cold wild mercury winter morning sunshine - it was a good place to be making music.

By turns larger-than-life and disarmingly intimate, this is 42 minutes of folk in the truest sense - a record of the moment, of the cultural and emotional forces that animate everyday existence somewhere down below the headlines. (But never apart from them. Bandleader Jesse Elliott had two different albums in mind; he let the November election decide which one the group would record.) And These United States — Elliott, Robby Cosenza, J. Tom Hnatow, Justin Craig, and Colin Kellogg — play it the way folk was meant to be played: hard, fast, big, slow, long, loud, loose, at last unburdened. They play like they mean it. Like there’s never been a better time to be alive.

They’ll celebrate all that living the only way they know how this summer, with a coast-to-coast tour of the festival circuit. From Chicago to Brooklyn to Big Sur, Los Angeles to Louisville and back New York way again, they’ll share stages with everyone from Crosby Stills & Nash to The Mother Hips, The Black Keys to The Black Crowes, DeVotchKa to Deer Tick, Del McCoury to Dr. Dog. Sure enough, everything touches everything. Almost 500 shows into their adventure together, the five very reinvigorated members of These United States are determined to reach a decent amount of it all.

THESE UNITED STATES

06/19 Chicago, IL Taste of Randolph St. *
06/27 Brooklyn, NY Prospect Park / Celebrate Brooklyn *#
07/01 San Francisco, CA Hemlock Tavern &
07/02 Berkeley, CA The Starry Plough
07/03 Big Sur, CA Mother Hips’ Family Hipnic
07/04 Quincy, CA High Sierra Festival
07/05 Quincy, CA High Sierra Festival
07/07 Visalia, CA Cellar Door &
07/09 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex $
07/11 St. Louis, MO The Luminary - Center for the Arts
07/12 Louisville, KY Forecastle Festival
07/23 Bridgeport, CT Gathering of the Vibes Festival
07/24 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom %

* = w/ Dr. Dog
# = w/ Phosphorescent
& = w/ Red Cortez
$ = w/ Dusty Rhodes
% = w/ Deer Tick

These United States
Everything Touches Everything
(United Interests)
Street date: Sept 1, 2009

1. I Want You to Keep Everything
2. Will It Ever
3. Everything Touches Everything
4. Night & the Revolution
5. The Secret Door
6. Conquest & Consequence
7. I’m Gonna Assemble a City
8. Good Bones
9. The Important Thing
10. End
11. Good Night Wish

THESE UNITED STATES LINKS:

MySpace - www.myspace.com/theseunited

Label Page - unitedinterests.com

MP3: The Strange Boys - “Heard You Want To Beat Me Up”

Austin, TX’s The Strange Boys evoke a wild-eyed, porcelain-skinned innocence that is capable of summoning the wayward spirit of Brian Jones. The mystery of the South couples with the mastery of rhythm making to create a sound that is completely timeless and familiar, yet absolutely raw and avant-garde. Greg Enlow’s syncopated, organ-driven grooves hark back to The Seeds’ “Pushing too Hard” while guitarist Ryan Sambol’s acute voice wavers beyond compare. Older brother Philip Sambol keeps the pulse with the aptly named Matt Hammer, who unmercifully pounds an old Ludwig set.

The Strange Boys began as a duo (Ryan and Matt) in 2003. Philip and Greg joined in 2005 completing the line up and the band has been on a non-stop tour ever since. Since 2003 the band has recorded what amounts to several albums and EPs which were sold at shows, but never released. In 2007, Dusty Medical records released the Nothing EP and in 2008 In the Red records released the Woe is You and Me single. Now, finally, the band’s proper debut album is seeing the light of day and In The Red is proud to announce the arrival of The Strange Boys…And Girls Club. A 16 track beast that is easy to imagine being blasted out of any stereo system between The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and Wire’s Pink Flag.

“..this is a careful, studied slouch: the loose limbs of garage-rock, rendered through a psychedelic fuzz, with melodies plucked from the blues and 1950s country music. “Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up” sounds both aggressive and aggrieved, and much of this impressive debut album manages wistfulness without sacrificing its knowing edge.” - NY Times

“It’s passionate, yowling guitar rock at its best” - Rolling Stone

THE STRANGE BOYS

06.05.09 Fri Denton, TX Rubber Gloves *
06.06.09 Sat Austin, TX Red 7 *
06.07.09 Sun Houston, TX Mangos *
06.08.09 Mon New Orleans, LA Saturn Bar *
06.09.09 Tue Atlanta, GA Drunken Unicorn *
06.10.09 Wed Greensboro, NC UNCG / Square One *
06.11.09 Thu Washington, DC Comet Pizza and Ping Pong *
06.12.09 Fri Baltimore, MD Sonar*#$
06.13.09 Sat Brooklyn, NY Market Hotel *#
06.14.09 Sat Queens, NY Todd P Unamplified Acoustic BBQ / Fort Tilden Beach
06.14.09 Sun New York, NY Cake Shop *&
06.15.09 Mon Philadelphia, PA Danger Danger Gallery *
06.16.09 Tue Worcester, MA Ralph’s Diner *
06.17.09 Wed Rochester, NY Bug Jar
06.18.09 Thu Cleveland, OH Now That’s Class
06.19.09 Fri Fort Wayne, IN Brass Rail
06.20.09 Sat Columbus, OH Cafe Bourbon St *
06.22.09 Mon Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen *
06.23.09 Tue Minneapolis, MN First-Avenue *
06.24.09 Wed Iowa City, IA Public Space 1 *
06.25.09 Thu Lawrence, KS Jackpot Music Hall *
06.26.09 Fri Denver, CO Hi-Dive *
06.27.09 Sat Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court *
06.29.09 Mon Los Angeles, CA The Smell *
06.30.09 Tue Los Angeles, CA The Echo
07.02.09 Thu San Francisco, CA Hemlock #
07.03.09 Fri San Jose, CA Nickel City #^
07.04.09 Sat Los Angeles, CA Videothing Party
07.05.09 Sun Santa Cruz, CA The Crepe Place
07.06.09 Mon San Diego, CA Casbah #
07.07.09 Tue Tucson, AZ Plush #
07.09.09 Thu Lubbock, TX Bash Riprock’s #
07.10.09 Fri Dallas, TX The Lounge on Elm St. #
07.11.09 Sat Austin, TX Stubb’s (SPOONX3) +

* = w/ Mika Miko
# = w/ The Coathangers
$ = w/ The Death Set
& = w/ Silk Flowers
^ = w/ Nodzzz
+ = w/ Spoon, Atlas Sound

The Strange Boys
..And Girls Club
(In The Red)
Street date: March 24, 2009

1. Woe Is You And Me
2. They’re Building The Death Camps
3. Should Have Shot Paul
4. Mlks
5. This Girl Taught Me A Dance
6. For Lack of a Better Face
7. Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up
8. No Way For a Slave To Behave
9. Poem Party
10. To Turn a Tune or Two
11. Most Things
12. A Man You’ve Never Known
13. Then
14. Who Needs Who More
15. Probation Blues
16. Death and All The Rest

THE STRANGE BOYS LINKS:

MySpace - www.myspace.com/thestrangeboys

Label Page - www.intheredrecords.com