Goldfrapp Presale Going On Now

Goldfrapp will be playing The Warfield on April 26th. We just received word that a pre-sale is going on right now. Enjoy.

Rilo Kiley @ The Concourse, Pre-Sale Thursday

Rilo Kiley will continue their touring for Under The Blacklight with a return to The SF Design Center Concourse on April 17th. While it's not our favorite venue, we figured some folks might like to know about the pre-sale that starts tomorrow (Thursday) morning @ 10 AM. The password is "under", and you can get there by clicking here.

Vampire Weekend On SNL

Thanks to the folks over at Stereogum, we grabbed these clips of Vampire Weekend on SNL this past weekend. As is typical of the show, the SNL venue left the band not quite firing on all cylinders, but it was still a bit more energetic than your average musical guest. That, and there was a live string quartet, which was a cool touch. Suffice it to say, we're still pretty psyched for the two upcoming shows.

See for yourself below...

Jeff Tweedy Blogs About Migraines

We debated the merit of mentioning this, given its borderline fan-obessive content. But, being that it's written by the man himself, and that it gives sizeable insight into some of the issues that have driven his songwriting, we figured it's worth checking out. Click here to read Jeff Tweedy's insight to a lifetime of migrains over at the New York Times opinion blog. Suffice it to say, we're glad we aren't suffering from the same.

Carbon/Silicon Playing The Independent March 20th

Despite the fact that the project has been going for a few years now, this New York Times article was the first we had heard of Mick Jones and Tony James' new project Carbon/Silicon. Upon first listen, it seems reminiscent of Big Audio Dynamite or late Clash, sticking to non-traditional song structures, and fewer distorted guitars.

We do have to say: it's nice to hear Mick Jones' voice down on tape again, and the songs do have a certain political bent that's absent from most of today's new releases. Moreover, the band is decidedly anti-record industry, and many free mp3s are available on their site. Previously, full albums had been available, but have since been removed.

The band now has a new album, The Last Post, and is making their way across the US in support of the disc. If you're heading to Coachella, you can see them there, but if you're staying here in the city, they'll be at the Independent on March 20th. If these old punks still have it in them, we're thinking it'll be worth the trip. Tickets are on sale now.

mp3: Carbon/Silicon - Falun Gong Love Song

Dandy Warhols Start Their Own Label

Ever since the masterpiece of Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia, we here at H.A.D. have been hooked on the consistently rewarding efforts of Portland's Dandy Warhols. Unfortunately, their last album Odditorium Or Warlords Of Mars landed with not so much of a bang as a whimper. The record has some great moments, but it really didn't seem to make waves critically or commercially.

Well, it seems that the Dandies were just as aware of this as everyone else, as they've happily departed Capital Records and decided to start their own label Beat The World. Frankly, we're glad to see the Dandies step into the indie rock world - who needs the majors anyway? We're looking forward to seeing what this migration brings to the band. Thanks to Glorious Noise for the tip.

Stream: The Dandy Warhols

French Kicks: New Album, Independent in May

We here at H.A.D. have been digging on the French Kicks ever since we saw them open for The Walkmen way back in 2003. They offer up a decidely cool, loungey take on the typical indie-rock vibe, and their live show is killer. We really enjoyed last year's Noise Pop show, and all three tracks on their most recent (eMusic exclusive) EP Roller are highly, highly, recommended.

So, suffice it to say, we're more than psyched that when perusing Stereogum this morning we came across news of a new Kicks album, accompanied by a Spring tour. The new record Swimming is out on May 20th (April 1st on iTunes - maybe that means eMusic too?), and the band will be at the Independent on May 18th. In the meantime, here's some new tunage:

mp3: French Kicks - Abandon (Savefile link, click through)

Malkmus + Jicks Vids From SF In December

At this point these vids are all over the web, but given their SF filming location, and the beloved GAMH, we feel as though we can take a little bit of leeway in what the internerd might consider "old news". Blogotheque managed to get SM + Jicks to indulge in Hopscotch Willie, We Can't Help You, Wicked Wanda, and even an REM cover medley. Indeed. Enjoy the fun:

#86.1 - Stephen Malkmus - Hopscotch Willie
by lablogotheque

#86.2 - Stephen Malkmus - We can't help you
by lablogotheque

#86.3 - Stephen Malkmus - Wicked Wanda
by lablogotheque

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
by lablogotheque

Dave Matthews Band Playing Three Nights At The Greek

We wouldn't normally cover such things, given that we tend to feel like Dave Matthews Band jumped the shark oh, in the neighborhood of 10 years ago. That being said, we couldn't really let this one slip by: we love the Greek Theater, and we love outdoor summer shows.

A general admission show at the Greek is a far cry from playing the Shoreline or Pac Bell. If it does in fact turn out to be GA (and not that Tom Petty style $150 seated tickets madness), we're thinking we might just have to indulge our inner high school persona and check it out.

Dave Matthews Band plays the Greek Theatre September 5th, 6th, and 7th - tickets are on sale March 29th.

Be Your Own Pet and The Raveonettes Visit The Independent

It's a bit of an odd experience when you go to a show expecting to be blown away by one band, and you walk away feeling like the other band on the bill was really the winner of the show. It's not a bad thing, but it can be disconcerting to feel like your instincts were a bit off base. Such was the case last night when Be Your Own Pet opened for The Raveonettes at the Independent.

Be Your Own Pet (who, apparently, are all teenagers and also Thurston Moore's personal faves) took to the stage with the room surprisingly packed for an opening band. They proceeded to demonstrate why the room was so packed, as they delivered half an hour of blazing, unrepentant rock and roll.

Lead singer Jemina Pearl was an unstoppable ball of energy, flying across the stage and bouncing off of her bandmates at random. For their own part the rest of the band delivered equally enthusiastically, never missing a beat, and responding to Pearl's antics in kind.

Still, it can't be denied that Pearl is the focal point of the show, as it should be with all great lead singers. Her aggressive stances and unrelenting delivery served as the backbone of the band's garagey punk rock mayhem.

And, yes, that's fresh blood on the bass' pickguard.

By stark contrast, when The Raveonettes finally took the stage around 9:30, they delivered a set that seemed to really place them firmly in the category of "one trick pony". Let us be clear: what they do, they do extremely well. The band (accompanied by various samples and the addition of a drummer) delivered a stoic, icy delivery of their "classic" sound. Classic 60's drum beats overlayed with noisy guitars and icy vocals are exactly what we were looking for when we bought our tickets.

The problem arose when the band seemed to deliver the same thing for an hour straight: there was no fluctuation in energy, no change in pace, no discernable indication of any kind that something was (or was not) happening on stage. Moreover, the band's trademark noisy guitars seem ripe for the inducement of live chaos. Instead they seemed restrained and in the background throughout most of the set, only coming forward on "Aly, Walk With Me".

In the end, The Raveonettes delivered a solid, well rehearsed set. The problem we had with it was more that it was too rehearsed. There were no surprise moments, none of the energy we love and expect in a live music experience. I guess in the end, we'll have to stick with their records.

Get more pics of both bands over at the H.A.D. flickr feed.