Minus The Bear recently made a stop at the Daytrotter studio to record a few acoustic cuts from Planet of Ice. Take a listen.

Oxford Collapse have a new record dropping August 5th via Sub Pop. Grab a free download of the song "The Birthday Wars" here.

Pelican's video for "Dead Between the Walls" from City of Echoes premieres Saturday night on MTV2 during Headbangers Ball. You can preview the video and get the background story from Laurent here.

Before the release of their new record Smile on April 29th, Atsuo Mizuno of Boris got together with Pitchfork to talk about the album, international touring, and why they seem to be more popular outside of Japan.

Swervedriver has been added to this year's Coachella line-up. Catch them on Sunday as the sun begins to set. Tickets are still available for all those procrastinators out there.

And for those of us who won't be able to hang in the desert for a few days...

We already told you about UNDEROATH headlining the Hot Topic Stage during this summer's Rockstar Mayhem Festival. Go ahead and pick-up those pre-sale tickets!

The Chariot's Josh Scogin has directed a video for the song "They Drew Their Swords." Explains Scogin,"I wanted it to be really out there, with no boundaries or real structure. We really wanted it to show how chaotic the music was, and made that the main focus, even more than the video itself. I'd say the random segments are the circus sideshow, but more realistic. Anything I wanted to shoot I did and if it worked I kept it." Check out the results here.

UNDEROATH will headline the Hot Topic Stage during this summer’s Rockstar Mayhem Festival, set to kick off July 9th at the White River Amphitheatre in Seattle. The much-buzzed-about tour will hit 30 cities in the U.S. and Canada between early July and late August. A full itinerary will be announced on April 1 with the festival's pre-sale commencing on April 4th and the national on sale to commence on April 19th.

Pelican released a DVD packed with live-footage back in December. Check out this review.

Local H is set to rock a seven night residency at Chicago’s Beat Kitchen May 7th through May 13th. Local H will perform a different studio album from start to finish on each night, wrapping up with the release of their latest offering, 12 Angry Months. Week-long passes are available via Music Today. Week-long pass holders also get their hands on a Local H T-shirt and a picture with the band.

If a trip to Chicago is not in the cards for you, Local H will hit the road hard in May and June. Stops include historic venues such as Luna Lounge, Troubadour, and The Independent.

Lots of media news from the Georgie James camp this month. Not only can you catch them on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Wednesday February 27th, but you can ask them your own questions for an upcoming segment on MTVU as part of their Freshman 5 feature. If radio is more your thing, John Davis guest hosts for the month of February on XM Radio's AIRTime (Tuesdays at 10pm EST, Channel 43). Grab their new iTunes single featuring Cake Parade and a special Simon and Garfunkel cover here.

Professor Murder is set to depart for a week's worth of shows in Scandinavia beginning Monday, February 18.

Monday, February 18: Oslo, Norway: Garage
Tuesday, February 19: Kristiansand, Norway: Charlie's Bar
Wednesday, February 20: Malmo, Sweden: Debaser.
Thursday, February 21: Bergen, Norway: Hulen
Friday, February 22: Stockholm, Sweden: Debaser Slussen

Look for them stateside at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Friday April 25th. In other news...

Professor Murders has a new single "Civilization Three" out now at RCRDLBL.COM.

Additionally, the DUTCH HEX single (Brothers Label) is now out on iTunes, featuring remixes by Trey told em' (Girl Talk + Frank Musarra) and Max Pask. Preview here. Ha det så bra!

Check out this super sweet video for Maritime's "Guns of Navarone." We could post a YouTube version, but trust us, this high quality link is worth the buffer time.

Pitchfork pens a news item on the next Boris record, Smile, due out April 9th on Southern Lord.

Online music collective (and vowel separatists) RCRD LBL features two new Cut Off Your Hands tracks here.

SWINDLE has picked Hot Club de Paris as one of Liverpool's "most unique acts" in a new feature on the British city's revived arts community. Cheers, mates!

One wouldn't expect Rock Island, Illinois to be a coveted stop on a band's tour. The A-Sides recently made a quick detour to the small, "well-mannered town" to record a Daytrotter Session. Take a listen.

Patton Oswalt throws caution to the wind in an attempt to come clean about his relationship with KFC's "Famous Bowl." If you have a weak stomach, do not click here.

Radar Bros. debuts their video for "When Cold Air Goes to Sleep" from the new album Auditorium

Rob Crow of Pinback fills in Pitchfork on his best purchase of '07 along with a few other juicy tidbits...

Stereogum kindly reviews a recent NPR/Georgie James collaboration via this link. You can hear and see the magic here.

Scottish, cultural magazine The Skinny has named The Twilight Sad's Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters the top record of the year. Woot!

Blender has named Ted Leo "the most compassionate indie-rocker" following this recent on stage exchange with a fan. And if that doesn't satisfy your need for shirtless dudes posing with rockstars, click here.

Our favorite timbale and bass group is offering up their new EP Professor Murder On A Desert Island for free. Though there won't be a fancy deluxe edition to follow, they do provide artwork for those who like to burn it up DIY-style. Yes yes, y’all!

Aloha’s latest, Light Works , is streaming on the band’s MySpace page leading up to a December 4th release date. For those who slept on 2006’s Some Echoes , you can now pick it up for $8!

Media marketers have been known to spend thousands of dollars on poorly positioned, "fan-oriented" web campaigns-- some have even tried to pass off studio work as cult, viral content. Here's an example of what the real deal looks like:

Way back in late September, Minus The Bear set off on the road in support of their Billboard and CMJ charting Planet Of Ice. Their sold-out, nearly two month trek wrapped up this past Saturday in Seattle. We couldn’t help but laugh at this reviewer’s imagery of the Bear’s “fist… of virtue.” Whatever that means. Welcome home, fellas!

[via Stereogum] We always knew Ted Leo was an intense performer, but never equated him with Sylvester Stallone until this Tom Scharpling-penned, Mike Bellino-directed video for "Colleen." In it, Mr. Leo sets up shop in a motel, applies a proper amount of powder, finds himself a referee, and takes on all comers in intense arm wrestling wrangles, handing his hapless victims pink Ted Leo & The Pharmacists t-shirts. CONTINUE READING AND WATCH THE VIDEO

ISIS is celebrating 10 years of producing thinking man's metal with a tour of several favorite spots on the east and west coasts. Get on out there and keep an eye peeled for a couple new singles to be released by Ipecac Recordings in February. Rock!

Jesu's brand new EP Lifeline is out now. The folks over at CMJ take a stab at describing Jesu's epic sound in their featured review here.

For the period ending 10/23, Maritime was the #1 top added artist by CMJ charted radio stations. Congratulations guys! Jimmy Eat World, Division Day, and Cut Off Your Hands were also included in CMJ's Top 20 Adds. That’s no small feat!

Check out Jimmy Eat World’s video for “Big Casino”:

Mum arrived in the US last week to support their new record Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy. Pictures from their recent performance at Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles provided by Pitchfork.

...it looks like this:

Jimmy Eat World’s Chase This Light is out now. To celebrate the new record, El Rey Theatre and KROQ hosted a pre-release show complete with “Big Casino” inspired gambling tables.

Check out Jimmy Eat World’s tour page for recently added dates on the east coast.

Glasgow’s Frightened Rabbit has arrived in the U.S. and will join Pinback on a tour of the Midwest and western states before setting out on their own towards the east coast. Pick up their debut album now on sale.

Our favourite New Zealanders, Cut Off Your Hands (sorry Bret and Jemaine), are coming to America to perform 7 shows in 3 days during this year's CMJ Music Marathon. Read what the New York Times had to say about it . For those that can't make it to NYC, Cut Off's set at the Gothamist House (Wed 10/17 @ 2:15pm EST) will be broadcast on WOXY.com.

After CMJ the band will return to work on their debut full length with various producers including Bernard Butler (of Suede fame) and Stephen Street (of Suedehead fame). Watch for a release in 2008 on 679 Recordings. In the meantime, IAMSOUND just released the Shaky Hands EP. Stream it over at AOL.

Point your internet here to hear some covers and remixes (including Enjoy the Silence!) from Division Day. You might also want to check here for more information on solving the beartrap island puzzle.

For some, fall ushers in melancholy due to shortened days, disappointing television series premieres, the end of summer grilling and blah, blah, blah. While seasonal depression may be a good reason for skipping out on work or avoiding certain social obligations, it is no excuse for missing out on some sweet, new tunes. Many Flower artists are hitting the road in the coming months with fresh albums. For your Fall '07 soundtrack, might we recommend?:

The A-Sides
The Comedians of Comedy
Division Day
Emma Pollock
Evergreen Terrace
Georgie James
Maritime
Mum
Pinback
Small Sins
Travis Morrison Hellfighters


Take a look at our nifty Tours page. You'll find someone coming to your town. And if not, maybe you have every reason to be depressed...

Hot off the wire from Suicide Squeeze Records:

"Beginning this week, September 17- 23, Minus the Bear will be the subject of MTV's 52 Bands, a special feature segment on the main channel that highlights one band per week, throughout the year. The segments are a series of 30-60 second spots on the band, that will be played every 7.5 minutes throughout the day on the channel - That's over 11 hours of Minus the Bear on MTV!"

See the fancy, MTV generated profile here.

...was released this week in the UK and is BBC6 Music's Album of The Day (9/13). Read all about it! Check out their video for the first single "Girls and Boys in Love"

This just in from the fine folks at Philebrity, a sneak peak (um, sneak listen?) of The A-Sides's Silver Storms. Stream it up!

We're so proud! Minus the Bear's Planet of Ice hit high on the Billboard charts this week! #74 in Billboard's Top 200 and #22 on their Alternative charts!

In other good news, Planet of Ice is at #5 this week at CMJ!

Very Impressive!! Thanks to everyone out there for supporting our Bear!

The Almost will be Jimmy Kimmel's featured musical guest on tonight's episode on ABC. Check your local listings!!

Coming to a town near you! Check out the Jesu page on Flowerbooking's website. For more information regarding a number of Justin Broadrick's projects, check out his blog!

Or rather...play "November Fireflight" at Pinback's snazzy website here!

Touch and Go's website reads, "Dangerous missions are all in a day's work for Pinback's Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Robertdale Rulon Crow Jr. This time, however, our heroes need your help rescuing a defenseless firefly from the evil fish and malevolent griffins."

"In celebrating Pinback's epic return and their incredible album, Autumn of the Seraphs, we present November Fireflight, an adventure game set to some of our favorite brand new Pinback tunes. So enough talk! Go join Rob and Zach on their quest against nefarious creatures and help them return their precious winged friend home safely to the Autumn of the Seraphs. We bid you well!"

Good news for those of you breathlessly waiting to buy Minus the Bear's new album, Planet of Ice. Feel free to exhale, because you can now purchase the new album anywhere worth shopping!! (Well...anywhere that sells records, that is...)

Also- check out Minus the Bear's new Planet of Ice website for news, videos, pictures, and other information here!

And...last but not least, MTV has picked up Minus the Bear's new video for "Knights." Watch the premiere this Sunday, August 26th on Subterranean.

Barsuk Records will release the latest from former Dismemberment Plan-er Travis Morrison and his new band Hellfighters. All Y'All will be released August 21st. Stream the album.

Check out Alternative Press's website here.

WHY Preorder????

First pressing of Autumn of the Seraphs will come packaged with a limited-edition bonus disc? That's right. Three brand new, unreleased, studio-recorded Pinback gems, two of which come from the Autumn sessions. Turn that digipak upside down! And, never fear, vinyl lovers: your LP order will come complete with a coupon to download Autumn of the Seraphs as well as the bonus EP tracks. To ensure that your copy comes from that special pressing, you should click on over to our website here and pre-order that shit. For real.

Bonus EP Track Listing: 1. I'm a Pretty Lady 2. Kylie 3. Autumn of The Seraphs

Pre-ordered CD includes Bonus EP on CD. Pre-ordered LP includes Bonus EP as MP3 download + MP3's of the album.

Preorder here.

Check out Minus the Bear's new video for "Knights" here!

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists performing "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?"

Not only can Pelican play instruments, but they can blog too! Read all about their current tour on their blog at http://blog.myspace.com/pelican.

One of Pitchfork Media's most interesting features is the Guest List feature, which allows your favorite artists to speak their minds on a number of different topics- from favorite venues to the ringtone on their phone. Read Patton's mind here.

In an effort to sweeten an already fairly sweet deal, Pinback is adding a limited edition EP bonus disc featuring three previously unreleased tracks to the first pressing of the CD and LP editions of Autumn of the Seraphs. What a bonus!

Autumn of the Seraphs will be released this autumn, obviously, on Touch and Go Records . Buy the album on September 11th! Or if you can't wait that long, you can buy an mp3 of the single, "From Nothing to Nowhere" on Touch and Go's website.

In conjunction with this release, Pinback will be hitting the road in September and October. Check out their latest tour dates here or here!

The Almost single “Southern Weather” has been burning up the alternative radio charts all summer long – hitting the top 5 most played songs in the country and no doubt making terrestrial radio a little easier on the ears. While they’re still on deck for a whole month’s worth of shows still on Warped Tour, we’ve added some September headline east coast dates with special guests Meg & Dia and Josh Moore. Check it out!

The fall season brings great things: the changing leaves, sweaters & jackets, and of course, Minus the Bear will be releasing new album Planet of Ice on Aug 21 and to celebrate have announced a handful of September tour dates. You can get presale tickets HERE and rest assured, if you don’t see your hometown listed yet, more dates will be announced soon.

...are Spin's band of the day (July 26). Czech it out!

Review by: Erin Fox, posted on The Gauntlet.

Evergreen Terrace has finally come into its own on Wolfbiker,” an energetically abrasive album that is not only enjoyably aggressive, but spontaneously memorable. When you hear cuts like the Bad Religion-influenced “Chaney Can’t Quite Riff Like Helmet’s Page Hamilton” and “High Tide Or No Tide,” you’ll feel like you’ve loved these tracks forever. The appeal is instantaneous and immensely entertaining. If the chorus to the latter doesn’t raise your pulse and command you to sing along, you’re a freaking vegetable, because there’s no doubt that Evergreen Terrace is rocking harder than ever before.

The record’s title track is suitably infectious, complete with a dissonant, anguished bridge that builds to a crescendo with an unforgiving authority. It’s hard to believe these guys have come so far so quickly, from upstart hardcore outfit to bonafide contenders for the crown. Wolfbiker really is light years ahead of the band’s previous works, both in terms of substance and delivery. Whether Evergreen Terrace is riding out a thumping, mid-paced groove or slamming down a frantic, punked-up frenzy, they do so with an assertiveness that beckons the listener’s attention and demands action. Dual, offsetting guitar harmonies, massive vocal melodies of the type you can’t help but sing along with and mighty, barbed-wire chugging are each strewn throughout the record, accents landing in all the right places.

Wolfbiker takes the listener to the edge and back, doing so with musical ingenuity and plenty of conviction. What’s most important here is that the group avoids overuse of typical hardcore clichés, applying breakdowns and gang vocals only when need be. Such restraint is evidence of a refined songwriting palette, and this album is one that highlights a band that has hit its creative stride in grand fashion.

from Pop Montreal's website (www.popmontreal.com)

POP MONTREAL is extremely proud to announce an initial peek at our 2007 line-up. Our festival dates this year run from Oct 3-7th. For our 6th edition we will be presenting a daring and exciting array of concerts and parties by iconic legends and rare savants in old theatres, churches, loft spaces, loading docks and traditional venues around Montreal. This will be the kind of festival to make you all giddy and goofy. It will make you believe, it will make you dance and cry and lose your shit. Some of the highlights this year include the Rock and Roll Hall of fame poet laureate Patti Smith; the grimy post punk dismantlers of blue-collar rock n' roll Pere Ubu; the seminal purveyors of self taught unconventional avant garde Half Japanese; the neo soul misfit Cody ChesnuTT whose rare performances are almost as special as his silky smooth tenor; the west coast underground hyphy (hip hop) kings The Federation who bring their dance floor bangers to Canada for the first time; Mort Sahl the comedic legend who was born in Montreal over 80 years ago and has influenced everyone from Lenny Bruce to Woody Allen and JFK to Ronald Regan; 70's rock icon Michel Pagliaro, or as we affectionately call him, Pag, who is going to show us all what it's like to make music in Quebec and bridge cultural, linquistic and generational lines. Added to this list are amazing local talents like A-Trak, Chromeo, Sunset Rubdown and Megasoid, reggae crooner Junior Kelly, French club sensation Yelle, underground hip hop hypesters, Daedalus, DJ /Rupture, Kid Sister, The Cool Kids and Glitch Mob, plus all kinds of amazing genre-defying acts, such as Caribou, Qui, Final Fantasy, Ron Sexsmith, Fujiya and Miyagi, Chad Van Gaalen, Gary Lucas and Bobby Conn. Of course that's just a taste. There will be over 300 artists performing this year: there will be art shows and a fashion show; an incredible conference in association with McGill University; as well as Film Pop and Puces Pop, the hippest craft fair known to indie-kind. So get your asses down to Pop, come and get your cherries popped, or just pop and pop until there is no more pop left in ya.

Confirmed Artists:

Patti Smith, Cody ChesnuTT, Pere Ubu, Half Japanese, Mort Sahl, Ron Sexsmith, Michel Pagliaro, Black Mountain, Oakley Hall, Sunset Rubdown, The National, A-Trak, Kid Sister, Caribou, Born Ruffians, Final Fantasy, Chromeo, Tiga, Bobby Conn, Yelle, DJ /Rupture, Tony Rebel, Jr Kelly, Starvin Hungry, Bionic, Trigger Effect, Lotusland, Magnolia Electric Co., Chad VanGaalen, The Watson Twins, MSTRKRFT, DJ Mehdi, Jay Reatard, Qui, Megasoid, Glitch Mob, The Cool Kids, Gary Lucas, Earlimart, Ndidi Onukwulu, Miracle Fortress, Taqaq, Fujiya and Miyagi, Daedalus, Filastine, United Steel Workers of Montreal, Barmitzvah Brothers, Fucked Up, Maga Bo, Georgie James, Tiombe Lockhart, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Basia Bulat, We're Marching On and much more.

Tickets for shows and passes on sale now.

www.admission.com

Phone : 514-790-1245

So...last weekend, the windy city hosted the 2nd annual Pitchfork Music Festival and Flowerbooking was proud to have three bands grace the stage. Professor Murder, The Twilight Sad, and Oxford Collapse played to the sold out crowd on Saturday, July 14th in Chicago's Union Park. Click here or here for reviews.

Lots of photos on Time Out Chicago's Flickr page here.

Professor Murder

Oxford Collapse

The Twilight Sad

After spending the last year traveling the globe on Warped Tour, Taste of Chaos Intl and as the special guest to Taking Back Sunday, Underoath are finally hitting the road as headliners to support their latest "DEFINE THE GREAT LINE". After returning to Warped Tour this summer for a brief stint, the fall tour will kick off Sept 22 in Houston, TX. Fanclub Presale Tickets onsale HERE.

Its here! Our fine COMEDIANS OF COMEDY host Patton Oswalt has cooked up a new album's worth of "observations" and served it up Sub Pop style. The new album is called "Werewolves and Lollipops" and you can read more about it as well as purchase yourself a hot copy HERE

On June 28th, Robert Gomez was featured on NPR's World Cafe. Listen to the interview and in-studio performance here.

Lollapalooza is just a few short weeks away! Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, a shining star among the hordes of bands playing the festival taking place in Chicago's Grant Park, will be performing Friday, August 3rd from 1:30-2:30 on the Myspace Stage. For more information, visit Lollapalooza's web site.

It's summertime in Chicago and high time for a few festivals. Oxford Collapse, Professor Murder, and The Twilight Sad are all playing the upcoming Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park. Unfortunately, the Festival has already sold out, but check Pitchfork's web site for updates and coverage of the festival itself.

See Pitchfork's review for Oxford Collapse's Remember the Night Parties here, their review for The Twilight Sad's Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters here, and their review of Professor Murder's Rides the Subway EP here.

Kalefa Sanneh writes about The Almost in the weekly feature, "Playlist". Check out the article here!! (Registration required)

The A-Sides recently stopped by the WOXY studios to record a Lounge Act session. The band debuted a few new songs from their Vagrant Records debut 'Silver Storms'. Check out the session HERE

Welcome to the new Flowerbooking website. We're still getting settled in but feel free to take a look around. Big ups to the folks at PROD and Chime Interactive.

All hail Division Day !

JTLYK, Chris Levitus directed a hot video for "Hurricane". From DD's album "Beartrap Island" Seen it? OMG! TTFN!

THE ALMOST will head out with Paramore for a few weeks which will include a performance Bamboozle.Below is the new video for 'Say This Sooner' off of their new record "Southern Weather"!

via Billboard

New York rock act Radio 4 is penning the score for the Antonino D'Ambrosio documentary "Let Fury Have the Hour," which examines the political impact of artists like The Clash and Manu Chao over the past four decades.

Actor Tim Robbins is serving as the executive producer of the film, which is based on D'Ambrosio's book of the same name. A soundtrack will feature new Radio 4 songs plus tracks from Chuck D, Moby, Ted Leo, Mos Def, Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and other artists to be announced, while Shephard Fairey will contribute original art.

"Generally, when films are made about how music and politics connect, they go back to Woody Guthrie, Dylan, Vietnam and Kent State," Radio 4 frontman Anthony Roman tells Billboard.com. "The idea is to start with the Clash and move forward; it's for our generation. It has a worldview, with artists like Manu Chao and Rachid Taha, who've kept that spirit going. It's the idea that music could be a universal political language to affect people and change." CONTINUE READING

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists have released their new long player 'Living With The Living'via Touch and Go Records. The album was recorded with Brendan Canty of Fugazi at Long View Farms...I know what your thinking "we already knew all of that that, c'mon Flowerbooking News page tell us something we don't know!" Ok well here's 10 Things You Didn't Know About Ted Leo.

As is the fashion of the time, TL&P mark this release with a North American tour with Love Of Diagrams. For those of you that can't make it out to a show NPR's All Songs Considered will webcast the band's March 29th performance at DC's 9:30 Club. Listen here.

Check out the video for the first single Bomb.Repeat.Bomb

As you read this, the fellows in MINUS THE BEAR are finishing up their new record tentatively titled Planet of Ice". The band will be hitting the road during April and May alongside The Honorary Title and Chin Up Chin Up. For those of you attending the Milwaukee show, you will receive a special treat in the form of a performance by MARITIME! Don't fret Minneapolis, we got something for you too! Rhymesayer's very own P.O.S. will be performing with MTB on May 18th. Tickets are on sale now and they are moving fast.

MTB's Jake Snider recently chatted with Pitchfork about the new record. CHECK IT

ROBERT GOMEZ has just embarked on tour to celebrate the release of his stunning new cd Brand New Towns. Listen the the album here. Check out the tour dates here. Check to see if you can transport items such as antlers and javelins here.

UNDEROATH have announced the "Dirty South" tour featuring Norma Jean, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, The Glass Ocean, and As I Lay Dying (Atlanta only). Dates for this tour can be seen here. Tickets for the tour are on sale now and have been moving quickly.