SO MANY DYNAMOS Reveal Cover Art and Track Listing for The Loud Wars – Now out April 28

East Coast Dates with Maps and Atlases, Pattern is Movement

(February 19, 2009) – So Many Dynamos have revealed the cover art and track listing for their forthcoming third full-length and Vagrant debut, The Loud Wars (04/28/09). The St. Louis, MO-area group recorded the10-track disc with producer Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie, The Decemberists) at Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco and Alberta Court, Walla’s home studio in Portland, OR. The Loud Wars was mixed by both Walla and Alex Newport (Mars Volta, At the Drive-in).

Fans can hear the new tracks live when So Many Dynamos hit the road next week for a run of dates with Maps and Atlases and Pattern is Movement that include three New York-area shows (see all dates below).

For a play-by-play account of So Many Dynamos’ experiences as they tour, record, and “keep on keeping on,” be sure to check out Ryan Wasoba’s bi-monthly “Livin the Dream” column on Crawdaddy, as well as the band’s blog.

So Many Dynamos: Aaron Stovall– vocals/keyboard, Griffin Kay  – guitar/vocals, Ryan Wasoba – guitar/keyboard/vocals, Clayton Kunstel – drums/percussion.

The Loud Wars track listing:
1 Artifacts of Sound
2 Glaciers
3 The Novelty of Haunting
4 New Bones
5 If You Didn’t Want To Know
6 Oh, The Devastation
7 Keep It Simple
8 Friendarmy
9 It’s Gonna Rain
10 The Formula

So Many Dynamos on tour:
Feb 25 – Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar #
Feb 26 – Akron, OH @ Musica #
Feb 27 – Buffalo, NY @ Broadway Joe’s #
Feb 28 – Troy, NY @ Ground Zero *
Mar 1 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs # *
Mar 2 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge # *
Mar 3 – Brooklyn, NY @ Southpaw # *
Mar 4 – Washington, DC @ DC9 # *
Mar 5 – Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s # *
# – with Maps and Atlases
* – with Pattern is Movement

www.myspace.com/somanydynamos
www.somanydynamos.biz
www.vagrant.com

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Vagrant signs Olivia Broadfield

Debut Release Eyes Wide Open Due Out This Summer

(February 17, 2009) – Vagrant Records proudly announces the addition of UK artist Olivia Broadfield to the roster.  Vagrant will release Broadfield’s debut, Eyes Wide Open, this summer through a partnership with the artist’s own label Cherry Bang.

“I have been blown away by how well things have been going for me over the past year and signing with Vagrant is quite simply the cherry on top,” said Broadfield. “I am so excited to be working with Vagrant, they have shown such faith and belief in me as an artist and I know that my album will be in good hands. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get this far and I can’t wait to take things to the next level with Vagrant by my side.”

While still unsigned, Broadfield’s electro-indie-pop songs made their way on to American airwaves through the top-rated MTV shows The Hills and The Real World, major motion picture The Eye, and most recently the video for her song “Indescribable” aired during the GRAMMY Awards.

“Indescribable” was one of ten songs chosen out of 300 entries by producer and music supervisor Gary Calamar for “Project Rising Stars: The Lincoln Video Music Challenge,” a music video-based competition.  Directed by Kurt Nishimura, the video for “Indescribable” can be seen in its entirety at www.cbs.com/lincoln or www.filmaka.com/lincoln.

Nishimura also directed the video for “Silence” (which debuted and charted on VH1 and is now on Olivia’s MySpace page) and recently completed the video for the first US single, “Don’t Cry.” Stay tuned for details of the exclusive premiere.

The multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter wrote, recorded, and produced Eyes Wide Open in her “rock ‘n’ roll bungalow” home studio based in a small village in the middle of England.

www.myspace.com/oliviabroadfield
www.oliviabroadfield.com
www.vagrant.com

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Electric Owls debut set for May 5 release

ELECTRIC OWLS Announce May 5 Release Date for AIN’T TOO BRIGHT

“…a dreamy musical style equal parts nocturnal and charged–perhaps better identifiable as an electric owl.”  – CNET

(February 11, 2009) – ELECTRIC OWLS announce a May 5, 2009 release for their ten-track debut, Ain’t Too Bright (Vagrant).  Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andy Herod (The Comas), along with guitarist Jason Caperton (The Comas), bassist Matt Gentling (Band of Horses, Archers of Loaf) and drummer Cully Symington (Gutter Twins) recorded the disc at Echo Mountain studio in Asheville, NC last summer.

Electric Owls released a four track EP entitled Magic Show last November to coincide with a fall tour that Herod undertook on his own, supporting Bishop Allen.  Armed with just an acoustic guitar and a digitized band, Herod wowed fans with the songs he’d written while he was couch surfing in North Carolina and later working at a nuclear power plant in California while The Comas were on hiatus.  The EP tracks are currently streaming on the band’s MySpace page.

Ain’t Too Bright track listing:
Magic Show
Halloween Mask
Cannibal Superstar
Darken Me
US Weekly
Put The Candle Back
Kamiakin
Two Stories
Haint and Holler
Kalispell

ELECTRIC OWLS on tour:
3/15 – Asheville, NC @ Rocket Club
4/14 – 5/15: European tour with Bishop Allen

“I suspect that in six months or so, not too long after Electric Owls’ debut LP release date, that the people I shared the floor with on November 1st, 2008, will then, and not sooner, realize that they witnessed a very special half-hour of live music, and make a good fuss about it.” – The Smudge of Ashen Fluff

“Performed live, Herod’s songs came forth with grace and vigor, his Shins-like vocals floating effortlessly across the Independent’s twinkly stage.”  – The Owl Magazine

“Herod grafts his strong voice to a softer substrate, diffusing his leads through big harmonies and across acoustic guitars.” – INDYWEEK

‘”Magic Show” sounds to me like some wonderful combination of ELO and Wolfmother. There is a definite psychedelic underpinning for a sound that swirls into a windy guitar riff and drums like hoof-beats. It makes me feel like I should be on a wild snowy mountain, in the midst of a storm (this is good).” – Music Snob

“… you’ve gotta wonder about a guy who writes a song called Cannibal Superstar.”
- It’s Not The Band I Hate, Its Their Fans

www.myspace.com/electricowls
www.electricowls.com
www.vagrant.com

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The Hold Steady release A Positive Rage – documentary and first live album

THE HOLD STEADY To Release A POSITIVE RAGE
DVD Documentary  + First Live Album
Due Out April 7, 2009

“With an album on the Billboard Charts, the Hold Steady abandon their day jobs and light out for the territories. But roaming that ribbon of highway isn’t all autographs and beer nuts. Here’s a rock and roll group grappling with their success, always on the brink of collapse – in love with the road, but praying to make it home in one piece.”

(February 3, 2009) – Vagrant Records and The Hold Steady announce an April 7 release date for A Positive Rage, a double disc package featuring a documentary on DVD and their first-ever live album. The set will be released on April 6 on Rough Trade Records in the UK and Europe.

A Positive Rage captures the excitement and high spirits of both the band and their fans in the days surrounding the release of their third full-length, Boys and Girls in America, (Vagrant) and ensuing world tour in 2006.

The 53-minute documentary begins with The Hold Steady’s first ever London performances with never-before-seen live footage, back stage interviews with the band members, fan commentary and the original, raw audio. Cameras follow the band as they return to the US for a 24-date tour that culminates on screen with an especially poignant performance at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

The live album was recorded on October 31, 2007 and includes seventeen songs that Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Galen Polivka, Franz Nicolay, and Bobby Drake performed on the second of their two-night sold-out stand at the Metro in Chicago.   The enhanced album will also feature five bonus studio tracks: “Ask Her For Adderall,” “Cheyenne Sunrise,” “Two Handed Handshake,” and the previously unreleased tracks “Spectres” and “40 Bucks.”

The booklet features personal photos and the band’s memories of the tour, including this excerpt from Craig Finn…  “It ended up being a fantastic suburban blow out with band and audience on the floor, Frisbee and tailgating in the adjoining parking lot, and everyone singing along to every song…. It reminded me of the hardcore shows I loved as a kid, everyone sweating and screaming together in a rented hall. And drinking in the parking lot, of course. The next night worlds converged…. “

# # #

A Positive Rage track listing:
Intro
Stuck Between Stations
The Swish
Chips Ahoy!
Massive Nights
Ask Her For Adderall
Barfruit Blues
Same Kooks
You Gotta Dance (With Who You Came With)
Lord, I’m Discouraged
You Can Make Him Like You
Your Little Hoodrat Friend
Southtown Girls
Citrus
First Night
Girls Like Status
Killer Parities

THE HOLD STEADY on tour:
Feb 4 – Sydney, AUS @ The Metro Theatre
Feb 6 – Perth, AUS @ Laneway Festival
Feb 7 – Adelaide, AUS @ Laneway Festival
Feb 8 – Sydney, AUS @ Laneway Festival
Mar 31 – Albany, NY @ Valentine’s
Apr 1 – Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall
Apr 2 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Calvin College Fine Arts Center
Apr 3 – Urbana, IL @ Illini Courtyard Café
Apr 4 – Bloomington, IN @ Jake’s Nightclub
Apr 6 – St. Louis, MO @ Gargoyle
Apr 7 – Iowa City, IA @ The Picador
Apr 8 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
Apr 10 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
Apr 11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Urban Lounge
Apr 13 – Las Vegas, NV @ Beauty Bar
Apr 14 – Stateline, NV @ Harrah’s Tahoe South Shore Room
Apr 17 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Apr 15 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
May 10 – Glasgow, UK @ SECC #
May 11 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Evening News Arena #
May 13 – Birmingham, UK @ NIA #
May 14 – London, UK @ Wembley Arena #
May 16 – Cardiff, UK @ Cardiff Arena #
May 18 – Bournemouth, UK @ BIC #
May 19 – Nottingham, UK @ Royal Centre #
May 21 – Brixton, UK @ Academy #
May 30 – Hunter Mountain, NY @ Mountain Jam
# – supporting Counting Crows

www.theholdsteady.com
www.myspace.com/theholdsteady
www.vagrant.com

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HORSE The band signs with Vagrant

Summer 2009 Release Planned

(February 2, 2009) – Southern California’s metaphysical DIY badasses HORSE THE BAND have signed to Vagrant Records. The oft-misunderstood band of horses is currently writing material for their fourth full-length with plans to enter the studio in March. A mid-summer release is expected.

“Finally we can breathe as humans breathe, walk as humans walk,” says vocalist Nathan Winneke. “Band as horses band,” chimes in drummer Daniel Pouliot. Keyboardist Erik Engstrom comments, “Vagrant Records has been home to so many of our favorite bands. Now (9, 8, and 7 years after I sent them our first, second, and third demos respectively) the label has renewed their holy vows to ‘excellence’ by signing us.”

HORSE the band has been developing their experimental sound through near-constant touring – even booking their own 45-country, 3-month world tour. The band will be touring overseas once more to take part in Australia’s Soundwave Festival 2009 before they enter the studio and are gearing up to self-release their Earth Tour DVD and photo book

HORSE the band’s debut album, R. Borlax was released in 2003 and was followed by The Mechanical Hand in 2005 and A Natural Death in 2007.

HORSE the band is: Nathan Winneke (vocals), David Isen (guitar), Erik Engstrom (keys), and Daniel Pouliot (drums).

HORSE the band on tour:
2/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell
2/21 – Brisbane, AUS @ RNA Showgrounds #
2/22 – Sydney, AUS @ Eastern Creek Raceway #
2/23 – Campbelltown, NSW @ Cambelltown City Hotel
2/27 – Melbourne, AUS@ Melbourne Showgrounds #
2/28 – Adelaide, AUS @ Bonython Park #
3/2 – Perth, AUS @ Steel Blue Oval #
# – Soundwave Festival

http://www.myspace.com/horsetheband
http://www.asssnake.com/horsetheband
www.vagrant.com

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