Music Under Fire

MGMT's music binge intoxicates any willing soul to listen. As Oracular Spectacular continues its rise into the ranks as one of 2008's most influential albums, the upstate New York duo has continued to reach out to fans through a relentless touring streak. The show will continue to go on, too, as Beck (Official) and his latest album, Modern Guilt, join the parade.

Courtesy of Columbia Records, you can get tickets of this tour for free. Follow this link, submit your name as well as a few other tidbits and you could be the lucky person to see these two talents play on the same stage.

Below are listed MGMT's tour dates, which do include the dates scheduled with Beck. Notice that their first show at Saratoga Spirngs is free. From Beck's website, we have provided a few clips from his new album. Now get going!

MP3: Beck - Gamma Ray (buy)
MP3: Beck - Volcano (buy)

9/13/08 FREE SHOW Saratoga Springs, NY
9/17/08 Los Angeles, CA
9/19/08 San Diego, CA
#9/20/08 Los Angeles, CA
*9/22/08 Phoenix, AZ
*9/23/08 Albuquerque, NM
*9/25/08 El Paso, TX
9/27/08 Austin, TX
*9/28/08 Tulsa, OK
*9/29/08 Kansas City, MO
*9/30/08 Minneapolis, MN
10/1/08 Des Moines, IA
*10/2/08 Chicago, IL
*10/3/08 Chicago, IL
*10/5/08 Toronto, ON
*10/6/08 Montreal, ON
*10/9/08 New York, NY
*10/10/08 New York, NY
10/17/08 Monterrey, Mexico
10/18/08 Mexico City, Mexico
10/19/08 Guadalajara, Mexico
11/3/08 Dublin, Ireland
11/5/08 Leeds, UK
11/6/08 Nottingham, UK
11/7/08 Bristol, UK
11/9/08 Glasgow, UK, Scotland
11/10/08 Birmingham, UK
11/11/08 Manchester, UK
11/12/08 Paris, France
11/15/08 Amsterdam, Netherlands
11/16/08 Hamburg, Germany
11/18/08 Cologne, Germany
11/21/08 Stockholm, Sweden
11/22/08 Berlin, Germany
11/24/08 Munich, Germany
11/27/08 London, UK
11/28/08 London, UK
12/6/08 Perth, Australia
12/9/08 Sydney, Australia
12/10/08 Brisbane, Australia
12/11/08 Melbourne, Australia
12/13/08 Meredith, Australia

# w/ Beck and Spoon
* w/ Beck

Time to pick things back up this week with some great albums we are once again excited to get our noggins into. First and foremost, one of MUFs favorite artists, Beck is out with his much anticipated Modern Guilt album. After experimenting with each album, Beck's latest is infused with a mix across the board of pop classicism, humorous lyrics, and intertwined experimentation. Be sure to check it out.

Also this week, we recommend supporting The Black Ghosts, our UK pick of the week. If you're looking for some pop-punk to sooth your soul, listen to The Maine. We mentioned them a few months ago with their redone version of "I Wanna Love You". They're well on their way into the ipods of the world.

A few quirky picks for the week: Check out Sunny Day Sets Fire or The Melvins (out of LA). Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are out with Have Another Ball. The band is well-known for covering anything under the sun from Willie Nelson to Elton John. We also have a feeling about OH!3. Check out their site to find out what they heck they are through the links we provided below.

MP3: Beck - Modern Guilt (buy)
MP3: Me First and the Gimme Gimmies - The Boxer (buy)

3OH!3 - Want (MySpace)
Age of Rockets - Hannah (Official) (MySpace)
Albert Hammond Jr. - Como Te Llama (Official) (MySpace)
Bad Religion - Maps of Hell (Deluxe Edition) (Official) (MySpace)
Beck - Modern Guilt (Official) (MySpace)
Capital Lights - This is An Outrage (MySpace)
Danger Radio - Used and Abused (Official) (MySpace)
Emarosa - Relativity (MySpace)
Have Heart - Songs To Scream at the Sun (Official) (MySpace)
Hit the Lights - Skip School, Start Fights (MySpace)
Lower Definition - The Greatest of All Lost Arts (MySpace)
Me First and the Gimme Gimmies - Have Another Ball (Official) (MySpace)
Ron Sexsmith - Exit Strategy of the Soul (Official) (MySpace)
Street Dogs - State of Grace (Official) (MySpace)
STS9 - Peaceblaster (Official) (MySpace)
Sunny Day Sets Fire - Summer Palace (Official) (MySpace)
The Black Ghosts - The Black Ghosts (Official) (MySpace)
The Maine - Can't Stop, Won't Stop (Official) (MySpace)
The Melvins - Nude With Boots (Official) (MySpace)
Thieves and Villains - Movement (Official) (MySpace)
Tickle Me Pink - Madeline (Official) (MySpace)
Totimoshi - Milagrosa (Official) (MySpace)

This latest news about Beck completely flew under my radar, but if you're reading this you either a) enjoy listening to Beck b) like dropping hate comments about Beck or c) have no idea what he's been up to. I think that covers all of the bases anyway.

So here's the big news everyone seems to have been talking about for the last month - Beck is releasing a new album. Not doing it for you? The new album may be coming out as early as in the next 4-6 weeks (surprise!). According to several news sources, Beck's latest album has been kept secret for only so long after it was released last month that producer Danger Mouse (Cee-Lo, the Rapture, MF Doom, the Black Keys, Sparklehorse, the Good, the Bad & the Queen, and Ike Turner) would be involved with this album. The album's short-term notice was Beck's intention, and why not, it seems to be all the 'thing' these days to release on last minutes notice. It will have saved you much grief either way, since we've all been getting driven crazy with Weezer's Red Album or Coldplay's relentless string of news these days.

Oh, and according to Pitchfork, "the new Beck album will indeed feature contributions from Chan "Cat Power" Marshall" if that gets you all riled up.

So now that you know all of that, what could this one possibly sound like? He's gone from singer /songwrite to mellow/folk on us in his earliest works, delivered an Alt rock pleaser with Odelay!, delivered my favorite album, Midnight Vultures, with a bit if a electro-influence, then went completely over the edge with The Information, which he let buyers make their own album cover via a sticker package. Below is a quote from MTV and from the sounds of it, the new album will sound a bit like, eh... Midnight Vultures? I do hope so...

The as-yet-untitled album contains 10 new songs,…a tightly assembled group…that range in lyrical tone from introspection and social commentary to off-the-cuff wordplay and lighthearted humor…Musically, the album’s ten tracks vacillate between economy and experimentation, hybrid and pop classicism.

He will be touring come June, so you can bet his album will be out before then. His tour will be along side a few of our favorites, MGMT, Cold War Kids and Spoon!

MP3: Beck - Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes remixed by 8-Bit) (buy)

Beck Tour Dates:
06-25 Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
06-27 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
06-28 St. Gallen, Switzerland - St. Gallen Festival
06-30 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
07-01 Southampton, England - Guildhall
07-02 Manchester, England - Apollo
07-04 London, England - Hyde Park (O2 Wireless Festival)
07-06 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-07 Paris, France - Olympia
07-09 Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
07-10 Lisbon, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock Festival
08-22 San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands Festival)
08-24 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater *
08-30 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09-20 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl ^
09-27 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)

* with Cold War Kids
^ with Spoon, MGMT