photo by Sarah Hadley

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has selected local orchestral pop sextet Canasta to play some good old fashioned indie rock in Mongolia as a part of its Arts Envoy program.

The week-long outing begins Friday, February 3, in the Mongolian capital city, Ulaanbaatar. In addition to providing live music, the members of Canasta will also lead music classes for local students and discuss their creative processes.

“I hope we can inspire people to think about their musical heritage and perhaps new ways of combining instruments to create a sound that is unique to their country and culture,” said Elizabeth Lindau, Canasta’s violinist and vocalist, in a press release.

Organizing a cross-continental trip as large as this one hasn’t been easy for the band, for which this tour will be its first outside the country.

“Figuring out the logistics for a six-person band and our gear has been no easy task,” Lindau said. “Add in mismatched electric currents, airline baggage limitations, and a twelve-hour time difference, and it becomes quite a challenge.

“We’re honored to receive the invitation and thrilled to bring our music to Mongolia.”

Guitarist Jeremy Beckford told OnMilwaukee.com earlier this month that the band came across the opportunity through a friend who happens to work at the state department.

“It’s been in the works for over a year now and we got the go-ahead in October,” Beckford said of the opportunity in an interview with OnMilwaukee.com. “Looks like we’ll be introducing our Mongolian friends to orch-pop.”

The Arts Envoy program takes the best of the U.S. arts community and shares them with the world to foster cross-cultural understanding and collaboration and to demonstrate shared values and aspiration.

To learn more about the program, visit the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs website.

photo by colin kerrigan

Chicago power poppers Company of Thieves are hitting the road again, this time hitting up the East coast on a new ten-date trek scheduled for Late February through early March.

Fear not, Midwestern fans, the tour kicks off on Saturday, February 18 at Frost Fest in Lansing, Michigan, and will almost certainly end with a bang at The Metro on Friday, March 9.

Tickets for Company of Thieves’ hometown show go on sale this Saturday, January 21. The all ages show costs $14.

Company of Thieves have been heavily promoting their high-energy sophomore rocker Running for a Gamble with tours supporting bands such as Jack’s Mannequin and Cage the Elephant. If you still don’t have it, Running from a Gamble is currently on sale for $5 on Amazon along with its predecessor Ordinary Riches.

Feast your eyes on those East coast dates after the jump.

Feb 18 – Lansing, Michigan @ Frost Fest
Feb 23 – Fairfield, Connecticut @ StageOne
Feb 24 – Albany, New York @ Jillian’s
Feb 25 – Boston, Massachusetts @ Café 939
Feb 28 – New York, New York @ Bowery Ballroom
Feb 29 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania @ Theatre for the Living Arts
Mar 01 – Vienna, Virginia @ Jammin’ Java
Mar 02 – Durham, North Carolina @ The Casbah
Mar 03 – Atlanta, Georgia @ Vinyl
Mar 09 – Chicago, Illinois @ The Metro

Right before X-Mas, they dropped a rather cool Bruce Springsteen cover, and now they’re offering a new remix EP as a free download.

The EP features remixes of their track “Some Love” from Toledo chillwaver Brothertiger, San Fran electro-duo City Light and Luxembourg dupstepper Sun Glitters.

You may remember when the Confetti track got the which got the visual treatment back in September with summery video. You can download the Some Love EP for free, well at the cost of an e-mail address, at Mush Records’ Facebook page.

In other A Lull news, the band is hitting the road this winter with DC’s Deleted Scenes. They’re heading to the West coast and a few southern spots before working their way back to the Midwest in mid-February. The band just rocked Subterranean last Friday night, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a hometown show added sooner than later.

Check out their tour dates below:

A LULL

1.12.12 Replay Lounge – Lawrence, KS #
1.13.12 Hi Dive – Denver, CO #
1.14.12 Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT / BUY TICKETS # and Nurses
1.16.12 Manny’s – Billings, MT #
1.17.12 The Badlander – Missoula, MT # and Sick Kids XOXO
1.19.12 Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR +
1.20.12 Comet Tavern – Seattle, WA +
1.23.12 Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA +
1.24.12 Odd Fellows Hall – Davis, CA +
1.26.12 The Echo – Los Angeles, CA +
1.27.12 Tin Can Alehouse – San Diego, CA +
1.28.12 Club Congress – Tucson, AZ #
1.30.12 The Mohawk – Austin, TX
1.31.12 Dan’s Silver Leaf – Denton, TX #
2.01.12 Conservatory – Oklahoma City, OK #
2.02.12 MOJO – Columbia, MO #
2.03.12 The Rozz Tox – Rock Island, IL #
2.04.12 The Sett at UW – Madison, WI #
# – w/ Deleted Scenes
+ – w/ Deleted Scenes & Ravenna Woods

Ministry

Industrial rock legends Ministry will return next June for a short U.S. tour which will be preceded by the release of a new album titled Relapse. Chicago is one of four cities the group will hit in 2012, with two dates lined up at the Vic.

Singer Al Jourgensen broke the news to Metal Hammer magazine earlier this month that while working on the new Buck Satan record (due out 11/11/2011), he and Rigor Mortis guitarist Mike Scaccia created five to seven songs that Scaccia felt would work better with Ministry.

via Metal Hammer:
“I didn’t really want to do anything with them but Mikey was like, “dude these songs are awesome.” They weren’t country, they were more like Ministry. So he’s coming by in September and Tommy Victor’s coming by in October with Tony Campos and we’re gonna finish up and put out another Ministry album by Christmas.”

Jourgensen, who disbanded Ministry in 2008, has dealt with serious health problems in the years since. Jourgensen told Metal Hammer that he suffered a seizure in 2010 that required hospitalization and a blood transfusion.

via Metal Hammer:
“I was dead. I couldn’t hold down food and I just didn’t know what was wrong. I spent a week in ICU where they gave me a 100% blood transfusion. After a tour I had [an ulcer] burst right over a main artery in my stomach, They found 13 of them from my esophagus to my intestines which had scarred over, which explains why I’d been puking for years. I quit drinking, quit smoking, and I haven’t done drugs in 9 years, and I’ve just focused on getting healthy.”

For those who think Ministry’s best material comes only during years where there’s a Bush in the White House, Jourgensen disagrees:

via Metal Hammer:
“Trust me I got plenty of Republican’s to rail at. Look at Wall Street look at the complete destruction of the middle class in the world, I mean we have a ruling oligarchy which happened in the early 1900s with the robber barons. What these idiot greedy bastards don’t realise [sic] is that if they make a class of poor and a class of super wealthy, who’s gonna buy their product? There’s no middle class, there’s no money. That’s the Republican strategy. In the political process and the right wing too with the Murdochs and the Camerons and the shit you got going on over there. If you’re 1 % of the population and you own 80% of the wealth, who’s gonna buy what you’re making?”

Tickets for Ministry’s reunion tour go on sale September 23 at 10 a.m, with a pre-sale for Facebook fans preceding on September 16.

June 17, 2012 - Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
June 21, 2012 – Club Nokia, Los Angeles, CA
June 23, 2012 – Best Buy Theater, New York, NY
June 28, 2012 - The Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
June 29, 2012 – The Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL

Ornery Little Darlings

Swinging pop-rockers Ornery Little Darlings will release its debut full-length album Get After it this June, followed by a vinyl release in August.

Fans don’t have to wait that long to listen to the new album. The now-three piece consisting of guitarists Jason Ewers and Emmi Chen as well as drummer Paul Puschautz, will hold a listening party for Get After It at Beauty Bar next Saturday, May 21, at 8 p.m.

If you’re dying to see these new tunes live and in person, Ornery Little Darlings will perform at the Empty Bottle on Friday, May 27, with The Juliets, Fatty Acids and Continental breakfast. Not only is the show free (with RSVP), but those in attendance will receive a free download card.

Ornery Little Darlings is heading out on the road, for for a mini-tour in late May and a full 14-date East Coast tour in August with fellow Chicago rockers Stephen Paul Smoker, which have not be revealed.

5/26 – Milwaukee, WI – Lenneman’s
5/27 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
5/28 – Detroit, MI – PJ’s Lager House
5/29 – Grand Rapids, MI – TBD

Photo by Jules Ameel

Apparently fed up with paying for gas and such, Chicago’s own Netherfriends (a.k.a. Shawn Rosenblatt) have once again decided to challenge themselves when it comes to touring, this time by ditching the costly van and hopping on a two-wheeler.

Netherfriends are embarking on a bicycle tour through a chunk of the East coast. Yes, that means Shawn will be strapping on his helmet (you had better, Shawn!), hopping on his bike and pedaling east.

Shawn is bringing a couple chums with him, including drummer Mark Quinlan from the band Hop Along and guitarist/bassist/keyboardist Andy Moholt from the band the Armchairs, along for the ride. Get it? Ride?

Obviously these kids can’t strap much equipment on themselves so here’s where your help is needed: If you live in one of the cities below or know anyone there that has equipment to share, email Shawn at Netherfriendsbooking@gmail.com. It’s fun to help.

Get the tentative tour dates below:

May 21 Philadelphia (TBD)
May 22 New Jersey (HELP)
May 23 New Jersey
May 24 Death By Audio (Brooklyn, NY)
May 25 New York City (HELP)
May 26 New York City (HELP)
May 27 Connecticut (HELP)
May 28 The Whitehaus W/The Zookeepers (Jamaica Plain, MA)
May 29 WTF Fest (Wellfleet, MA)

Dastardly blogs!

Those cheeky kids in Dastardly set up a new travel blog on their Tumblr page.

The series of seven entries details frontman Gabe Liebowitz’s thoughts as they happened on the band’s West coast tour.

Liebowitz shows off his humorous side in various accounts of Dastardly’s journey of getting from each tour stop. He paints a rather vivid picture of what is like to drive through Missouri and what it is like to party with college-aged kids in the first entry:

I was talking to one girl about Hanna Barbera cartoons. I was going on a tangent about lovable pink, homosexual lion Snagglepus when she stopped me mid-sentence. “I’m not going to have sex with you,” she said, and walked away. College was just as I had remembered it.

If that excerpt has piqued your interest, Dastardly’s Travel Blog can be found here.

If live shows are more up your alley, you can check out Dastardly next Cafe Ballou in Chicago on Saturday, March 26, for Songwriter Showcase No. 8.

Additionally, the duo has announced a tour, White Mystery Shreds SXSW II, which kicks off next Monday at the Empty Bottle before they make their way to Iowa City, Iowa, in early March.

Of course, the tour takes White Mystery to Austin, Texas, for three shows during SXSW and comes to a conclusion on Wednesday, April 20, at Panchos in Chicago for the Blood & Venom release show.

Check out White Mystery’s full tour dates after the jump.

White Mystery Shreds SXSW II Tour Dates

White Mystery Tour Dates
Feb 14 – Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL
Mar 7 – White Lightening Wherehouse – Iowa City, IA
Mar 8 – Barley Street Tavern – Omaha, NE
Mar 9 – The Brick – Kansas City, MO
Mar 11 – Goner Records Store – Memphis, TN
Mar 16 – Trailer Space – Austin, TX
Mar 18 – Trailer Space – Austin, TX
Mar 19 – Beerland – Austin, TX
Mar 25 – The Double Door – Chicago, IL
Apr 15 – The Pilot Light – Knoxville, TN
Apr 16 – The Earl – Atlanta, GA
Apr 20 – Pancho’s – Chicago, IL
Blood & Venom Release Show