Lambchop’s album FLOTUS, was easily one of the Best Albums of 2016, and their tour through LA at The Bootleg Theater in May provided one of the most memorable shows of the year. Now Lambchop has released a revamped take on the 18-minute track The Hustle off of FLOTUS, redubbing the re-done song The Hustle Unlimited. In addition to taking it’s moniker from the famous Van McCoy disco instrumental, Lambchop redacts The Hustle Unlimited to 5:38 and frames it in Tony Crow’s string arrangements, Andy Stack’s deft percussion and Kurt Wagner’s Barry White-isms. Hence the 1974 hustle and feel of White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra.

Wagner had this to say about the redone song: “Sometimes things can get out of control, an impromptu idea is presented and you take that idea to a logical conclusion to see where it goes. In this case Tony Crow [piano] came up with a rather ‘Love Unlimited Orchestra’ take on the hustle during a rehearsal with Andy Stack [drums, Wye Oak]. It seemed nuts at the time but being rather nuts ourselves I thought we should try recording it and taking it all the way to full realization. Plus it was a great way to capture Andy’s tenure with us in the studio.”

Check it out below and go pre-order The Hustle Unlimited 12″ with Lambchop’s cover of Prince’s When You Were Mine on the flip-side. The 12-inch single will be released August 8 and is available for pre-order HERE.

Bucking budgetary constraints and these fractious times, all 15 members of Broken Social Scene have reunited and re-animated and will tomorrow release their epic new album Hug of Thunder (on Arts & Crafts). Having listened to the album dozens and dozens of times, Hug of Thunder is now in a neck-and-neck (and then neck some more) race with Feist’s Pleasure for our Best Album of 2017 (a loss-less proposition for BSS member Feist).

If you’re quick, you can stream the entire album over HERE at NPR. Go there and hear comparatively-demure instrumental opener Sol Luna whet your appetite for the magnificent anthems to follow. The inspired and inspirational Halfway Home will lift you out of whatever funk you’ve been in and take you at least halfway home from your depression daze. Every song is a gem on Hug of Thunder, but especially the uplifting and incantatory Skyline, the wondrously assuring Stay Happy (featuring newcomer Ariel Engle), Feist’s sapient reminiscences in Hug of Thunder, possibly our favorite track Victim Lover (featuring Kevin Drew’s and Engle’s seductive, counterpoint vocals), the sensuously pleading Please Take Me With You, and the mammoth album-closer Mouth Guards of the Apocalypse (which takes flight at 2:33 when Drew grabs the world by the lapels and tries to sing some sense into us). Throughout the album, the complex guitars and horns sonorously frame and form the songs while the vocals float and ravage at just the right moments. And the arrangements and production are simply immaculate. It all adds up to a thunderous musical smack and hug from one of the best bands extant.

Our highest recommendation.

You can pre-order/pick-up Hug of Thunder HERE.

One of the living greats, Chance the Rapper, recently rendered a Tiny Desk Concert on NPR. Funny, given his standard shows these days in front of 20,000+ people. Watch below as Chance performs his own Juke Jam, recites his poignant new poem The Other Side and delivers a stunning cover of Stevie Wonder’s They Won’t Go When I Go (“for somebody close to me who just lost somebody close to them”).  Chance is backed by Social Experiment members Nico Segal (trumpet), Peter Wilkins (keys), Rachele Robinson (background vocals), Ben Lusher (background vocals), Elliot Skinner (background vocals), Richard Saunders (background vocals) and Greg Landfair Jr., aka “Stix” (drums). They Won’t Go When I Go, is worth the price of admission alone, with Chance looking skyward, the ensemble rolling inspirationally, and Wonder’s worthy words: “And I’ll go where I’ve longed, to go so long, away from tears, and they won’t go where I go.” Amen.

The National has only so far released their scintillating song The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness from their upcoming new album Sleep Well Beast. Tonight the band dropped new song Guilty Party via the song’s official video.  Once again we’re smitten.  There are no sea-changes on Guilty Party, but inspired twists and turns with added electronic elements, melodica and Joy Division-esque guitar-overtones to accompany Matt Berninger’s always-affecting lyrics and vocals. As usual, a great song from this national treasure of a band.

“Another year slips away, another summer of love.” Indeed.

Sleep Well Beast will be released on Sept. 8th on 4AD. Pre-order it HERE.

As mentioned repeatedly on these pages, the considerable Canadian collective Broken Social Scene will next week drop their long-awaited new album Hug of Thunder. The band is out on tour tightly re-knitting their social scene to support their impending album, including a “Best of Festival” outing at the Arroyo Seco Weekend this past Saturday. Continuing to stoke the scene, BSS today released the album-version of formidable new song Stay Happy and announced additional West Coast dates to their fall tour (see dates at bottom), including the Wiltern Theater on 10/28. Get tix HERE.

Without further adieu, compare and contrast below the recorded version and the live version of Stay Happy as performed on KCRW last week. Newcomer Ariel Engle delivers the enlivening vocals on the song. There will be verve. Hug Of Thunder was produced by the acclaimed Joe Chiccarelli (White Stripes, Spoon, The Strokes) with Nyles Spencer, and mixed by Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, Weezer).  You can pre-order Hug of Thunder HERE.

Tour dates:
7-21-23-17 Edmonton, AB @ Interstellar Rodeo
8-05-17 Montreal, Quebec @ Osheaga
9/16/17 Ithaca, NY @ State Theatre ~
9/17/17 New York, NY @ Meadows Music & Art festival
9/19/17 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club ~
9/21/17 Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel ~
9/22/17 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle *
9/24/17 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
9/26/17 Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman *
9/27/17 Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater *
9/28/17 St. Paul, MN @ The Palace *
9/29/17 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom *
9/30/17 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore *
10/1/17 Pittsburgh, PA @ Byham Theater *
10/3/17 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
10/5/17 Portland, ME @ State Theater *
10/6/17 New Haven, CT @ College Street *
10/7/17 Boston, MA @ House of Blues
10/21/17 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom ~
10/23/17 Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre ~
10/24/17 Portland, WA @ Crystal Ballroom ~
10/26/17 Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ~
10/28/17 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern ~
11/1/17 Windsor, ON @ Family Credit Union #
11/3/17 Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre #
11/4/17 Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre #

~ – with The Belle Game
* – with Frightened Rabbit
# – with Arcade Fire

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of their Glastonbury Festival debut and the release of their seminal OK Computer album, Radiohead showed yet again tonight why they are the perfect match with the Glastonbury fans (the best there is).  Watch the set below.

Setlist:

Daydreaming
Lucky
Ful Stop
Airbag
5 Step
Myxomatosis
Exit Music (For A Film)
Pyramid Song
Everything In It’s Right Place
Let Down
Bloom
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Idioteque
You And Whose Army?
There There
Bodysnatchers
Street Spirit

Encore 1
No Surprises
Nude
2+2=5
Paranoid Android
Fake Plastic Trees

Encore 2
Lotus Flower
Creep

Yesterday Lefort-faves Broken Social Scene appeared on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Electic to perform a full set of songs with a full group (including Emily Haines of Metric, but minus Feist). Among the fantastic songs performed was previously unheard song Stay Happy off their impending new album, Hug of Thunder, which is due on July 7th.  Stay Happy features an intro of harmonizing horns and voice and impressive horn playing to augment the sunny songwriting. After Stay Happy, check out two other performances of faves from the new album, Halfway Home and Hug of Thunder. What’s not to love? Superb stuff yet again from BSS.

The Canadian ensemble will perform tomorrow at 4:50 pm on the Sycamore Stage at the Arroyo Seco Weekend Festival.  Be there!

Photo above: Davis Bell

Tonight in Paris The National played a comparatively intimate live performance as a warm up before heading to headline Glastonbury this weekend.  As you can see from the setlist below, nine of the thirteen songs are songs from the band’s next album, Sleep Well Beast, which will be released in September on 4AD. The band has only previously revealed one of the new album’s songs, The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness, so this setlist is a major treat for the band’s ardent followers.  Watch the performance below.

Setlist:

Nobody Else Will Be There
The Day I Die
Walk It Back
The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
Guilty Party
Empire Line
Carin at the Liquor Store
Apartment Story
Daughters of the Soho Riots
Sleep Well Beast
Fake Empire
Terrible Love
Turtleneck

Having just discovered the talented Aldous Harding a while back, we now have a much better feel for this extraordinary performer. Harding has received rave reviews from her current tour and recently stole the stage on Later with Jools Holland (watch below after the new video). Now Harding has released the official video for scintillating song Blend off of her critically-acclaimed new album, Party. About the video (directed by Charlotte Evans), Harding has said, “The concept is based on that awful scene from ‘Apocalypse Now’ where the playmates pile out of the helicopter. The costume [Ed.: nearly identical to one of the Apocalypse Now playmates’ get-ups] was handmade for me, it turned out great. It’s in the bin. I spent eight hours dancing on a Lazy Susan, it was easy really. Obviously I know what it is… The song itself was written in an AirBnB in Bristol the night before going into the studio.” Watch the alternately hilarious and beguiling new video below followed by her performance of Horizon on Jools Holland.

Check out and obtain tix for her Tour Dates afterwards (including tomorrow night-6/22-at the Echo in LA) and pick up Party HERE.

Tour Dates:

Wed 21 Jun 2017 Club Congress Tucson, AZ, US
Thu 22 Jun 2017 The Echo Los Angeles, CA, US
Fri 23 Jun 2017 Soda Bar San Diego, CA, US
Sat 24 Jun 2017 Swedish American Hall San Francisco, CA, US
Wed 12 Jul 2017 Montreaux Jazz Festival 2017 Montreaux, Switzerland
Thu 13 Jul 2017 – Sun 16 Jul 2017 Latitude Festival 2017 Southwold, UK
Sat 15 Jul 2017 – Fri 21 Jul 2017 Valkhof Festival 2017 Nijmegen, Netherlands
Sun 16 Jul 2017 Citadel 2017 London, UK
Thu 20 Jul 2017 Iveagh Gardens Dublin, Ireland
Fri 28 Jul 2017 Kilby Court Salt Lake City, UT, US
Sat 29 Jul 2017 The Olympic Venue Boise, ID, US
Sun 30 Jul 2017 The Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA, US
Mon 31 Jul 2017 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, BC, Canada
Wed 02 Aug 2017 Palomino Smokehouse & Social Club Calgary, AB, Canada
Thu 03 Aug 2017 The Bartlett Spokane, WA, US
Thu 03 Aug 2017 – Sun 06 Aug 2017 Pickathon 2017 Happy Valley, OR, US
Fri 11 Aug 2017 Haldern Pop Festival 2017 Haldern, Germany
Sun 13 Aug 2017 Ypsigrock Festival 2017 Castelbuono, Italy
Thu 17 Aug 2017 – Sun 20 Aug 2017 Green Man Festival 2017 Brecon Beacons, UK
Tue 22 Aug 2017 Hana-Bi Marina di Ravenna, Italy
Thu 24 Aug 2017 Circolo Magnolia Segrate, Italy
Fri 25 Aug 2017 – Sat 26 Aug 2017 Sea Change Festival 2017 Totnes, UK
Wed 30 Aug 2017 Landmark Bergen Kunsthall Bergen, Norway
Thu 31 Aug 2017 – Sun 03 Sep 2017 End of the Road Festival 2017 Salisbury, UK
Fri 01 Sep 2017 – Sat 02 Sep 2017 Electric Fields 2017 Dumfries, UK
Thu 07 Sep 2017 – Sun 10 Sep 2017 Hopscotch Music Festival 2017 Raleigh, NC, US
Wed 25 Oct 2017 Musik & Frieden Berlin, Germany
Thu 26 Oct 2017 Nochtspeicher Hamburg, Germany
Mon 30 Oct 2017 Feierwerk / Kranhalle Munich, Germany
Wed 01 Nov 2017 – Sun 05 Nov 2017 Iceland Airwaves 2017 Reykjavík, Iceland
Sun 05 Nov 2017 Bogen F Zürich, Switzerland
Thu 09 Nov 2017 – Sun 12 Nov 2017 Le Guess Who? 2017 Utrecht, Netherlands
Mon 13 Nov 2017 Point Ephémère Paris, France
Fri 17 Nov 2017 The Art School Glasgow, UK
Sat 18 Nov 2017 Brudenell Social Club Leeds, UK
Sun 19 Nov 2017 Manchester Gorilla Manchester, UK
Mon 20 Nov 2017 Islington Assembly Hall London, UK
Tue 21 Nov 2017 The Haunt Brighton, UK
Wed 22 Nov 2017 O2 Institute3 Birmingham, UK
Fri 24 Nov 2017 SWX Bristol, UK