Levitation France announces dates and first lineup.

While Levitation Austin didn’t happen this year, Levitation France is a go on September 15-16th!  This bodes well for the Levitation shows (a small one is being held in Austin the first weekend of May) making a full return next year.

The first wave of band announcements includes the Black Angels, Slowdive, Acid Mothers Temple, and Kikagu Moyo.  As usual, the Levitation festivals always have a great lineup, and this will be no exception.  Get to Angers, France if you can.

Keep your mind open.

 

Slowdive’s first album in 22 years due out May 5th.

SLOWDIVE ANNOUNCE SLOWDIVE, FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 22 YEARS,
OUT MAY 5TH VIA DEAD OCEANS

WATCH VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE, “SUGAR FOR THE PILL”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxwAPBxc0lU

LIVE STREAM SURPRISE LONDON SHOW TOMORROW AT 4:10PM EASTERN

UK shoegaze pioneers Slowdive are pleased to announce their self-titled fourth album, out May 5th via Dead Oceans, and the beautifully understated new single, “Sugar For The Pill,which follows the release of “Star Roving.” Additionally, Slowdive announce a live stream of a surprise show tomorrow, March 29th, at London’s The Garage, the venue in which the band played their final London show in their original incarnation in December 1993. The stream will go live at 4:10pm Eastern here: facebook.com/slowdive.

Slowdive’s stargazing alchemy is set to further entrance the faithful while beguiling a legion of fresh ears. These eight new tracks, simultaneously expansive and the band’s most direct material to date, deftly swerve away from any “trip down memory lane.” They were birthed at the band’s talismanic Oxfordshire haunt, The Courtyard, and mixed at Los Angeles’ famed Sunset Sound by Chris Coady (Beach House). Throughout, the group dynamic was all-important. “When you’re in a band and you do three records, there’s a continuous flow and a development. For us, that flow re-started with us playing live again and that has continued into the record,” notes principal songwriter Neil Halstead.

The video for “Sugar For The Pill,” produced by in/out, takes its inspiration from the Slowdive album artwork which is itself a still from Harry Smith’s cult classic animation Heaven and Earth Magic – the vast spiritual narrative that has influenced so many artists since it was originally released back in 1957.

Slowdive is Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christian Savill (guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals) and Simon Scott (drums, electronics). Their debut album, Just For A Day, was released in 1991 by Creation Records and was followed by the band’s now revered 1993 album Souvlaki and 1995’s Pygmalion before they disbanded. In the 22 years of their virtual disappearance, compilation albums have been released and the core members of the group have gone on to join other musical endeavours. In 2014, the band announced that they’d reunited and more new music would follow.
Watch Slowdive’s “Sugar For The Pill” Video –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxwAPBxc0lU

Listen to Slowdive’s “Star Roving” –
https://youtu.be/ogCih4OavoY

Pre-order Slowdive
slowdive.lnk.to/slowdive

Slowdive Tracklisting:
1. Slomo
2. Star Roving
3. Don’t Know Why
4. Sugar For The Pill
5. Everyone Knows
6. No Longer Making Time
7. Go Get It
8. Falling Ashes

Slowdive Tour Dates:
Mon. March 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Art School – SOLD OUT
Tue. March 28 – Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Arts Club – SOLD OUT
Wed. March 29 – London, UK @ The Garage
Thu. March 30 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece – SOLD OUT
Fri. March 31 – The Hague, NL @ Rewire Festival
Sun. April 2 – Paris, FR @ Trabendo – SOLD OUT
Mon. April 3 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal — SOLD OUT
Sun. April 30 – Fort Worth, TX @ Fortress Festival
Tue. May 2 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
Wed. May 3 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater # — SOLD OUT
Fri. May 5 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall # — SOLD OUT
Sat. May 6 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia
Sun. May 7 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club # — SOLD OUT
Mon. May 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel # — SOLD OUT
Tue. May 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Wed. May 10 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Thu. May 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Sat. May 13 – Santiago, CL @ Fauna Otono
Sun. May 14 – São Paulo, BR @ Balaclava Fest
Fri. June 2 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy
Sat. June 3 – London, UK @ Field Day
Fri. June 16 – Sun. June 18 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby
Fri. July 7 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
Fri. July 21 – Sun. July 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF Fest
Thu. Aug. 31 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival

Slowdive announces North American tour for May 2017.

(above image by Ingrid Pop)

“Listening to Slowdive is like watching the sunrise and sunset at once — an awe-inspiring chorus of the galaxy.” — NPR Music on “Star Roving”

“The mix is even denser and more diffuse than Slowdive’s albums from the 1990s, reveling in the analog blur and sounding glad to be back.” – The New York Times on “Star Roving”
Slowdive recently made their return with new single, “Star Roving,” their first new material in 22 years. It was released to a flurry of excitement, even taking the band to No. 1 on the Billboard + Twitter Trending 140. Comprised of Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christian Savill (guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals) and Simon Scott (drums, electronics), Slowdive is now announcing a North American tour, their first since fall 2014. They’ll play select cities throughout the Midwest and East Coast. Japanese Breakfast will support on all dates. Tickets will be on sale on Jan. 27th.

Slowdive Tour Dates:
Tue. May 2 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre # [TIX]
Wed. May 3 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater # [TIX]
Fri. May 5 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall # [TIX]
Sun. May 7 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club # [TIX]
Mon. May 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel # [TIX]

# = with Japanese Breakfast

Listen to Slowdive’s “Star Roving” –
https://youtu.be/ogCih4OavoY

Purchase “Star Roving” –
https://slowdive.lnk.to/star-roving

Slowdive release first single in more than two decades.

SLOWDIVE RETURN WITH FIRST NEW SONG IN 22 YEARS

LISTEN TO “STAR ROVING” HERE
https://youtu.be/ogCih4OavoY

(above image by Ingrid Pop)

After 22 years, Slowdive return with “Star Roving, their first new material since 1995’s Pygmalion. Featuring Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christian Savill (guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals) and Simon Scott (drums, electronics), “Star Roving” embodies the effortlessness for which Slowdive is known — as the song progresses, it expands and contracts in ways that feel infinite.
Slowdive released their debut album, Just For A Day, in 1991 via Creation Records. The highly revered Souvlaki followed in 1993 and Pygmalion in 1995, and then the band disbanded. In the 22 years of their virtual disappearance, compilation albums have been released and the core members of the group have gone on to join other musical endeavors. In 2014, Slowdive announced that they had reunited and more new music would follow. Upon today’s release of new single, “Star Roving,” the band has also announced signing to Dead Oceans.

Halstead says, When the band decided to get back together in 2014, we really wanted to make new music. It’s taken us a whole load of shows and a few false starts to get to that point, but it’s with pride and a certain trepidation we unleash ‘Star Roving.’ It’s part of a bunch of new tracks we’ve been working on and it feels as fun, and as relevant playing together now as it did when we first started. We hope folks enjoy it.”

Dead Oceans’s Phil Waldorf comments on the signing, “We are elated to work with Slowdive on their new album. I saw Slowdive for the first time, as a teenager, in 1991 at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC. I remember it being a revelation – the way the band used texture and tone was something I’d never heard before, and it stuck with me for a long time. It was one of those gigs that was a gateway drug of sorts — not only was it amazing to see Slowdive, but it was the first taste of a whole sound that made me go exploring into all kinds of music. More than two decades later, their music sounds just as relevant and vital, and we cannot wait for old fans and new listeners to hear the band’s new recordings.”
Listen to Slowdive’s “Star Roving” –
https://youtu.be/ogCih4OavoY

Purchase “Star Roving” –
https://slowdive.lnk.to/star-roving

Levitation Austin artist spotlight: Slowdive

slowdive

England’s Slowdive are shoegaze legends who should’ve been bigger over here in the U.S. than they were in their early 1990’s heyday.  They’ve been reunited and touring for a couple years now, which is good news for all of us.  I missed them at Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival a couple years ago, but I’m happy to see them at Levitation Austin when they close out the main stage on April 29th.

Keep your mind open.

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