Editor’s note: My good friends Tereu Tereu have hit the road this week for their first tour in over a year, and their first with an almost entirely-new lineup. They’ve agreed to chronicle the ups and downs of the tour in journal form, and I’ll be posting their updates here each day. Be sure to catch them on the road if you can (see dates at bottom of post), and pick up the newly released vinyl edition of their album All That Keeps Us Together here.

Despite finding a synthesizer app on our dear host/friend Steve’s iPad, we eventually went to sleep sometime around 4 AM last night (or was it today? whatever, after the c-ville show). We could sleep in pretty late because the drive wasn’t far and we were literally sleeping above a diner. Which meant upon waking, we could just walk downstairs to get pancakes with powdered sugar in the shape of “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” and egg burritos. It ruled. During our very late breakfast, we played a game of scrabble wherein I totally schooled my bandmates using the word “Jams.” A good start to the day.

When we pulled up to The Bazaar in Roanoke we had really no idea what to expect. It looks tiny from outside. Of course, once you walk down the stairs, it’s chock full of choice collector’s vinyl, NES games, vintage issues of Tape Op and High Times, and a lot of DIY band t-shirts. We chilled out in the Zen-like Tea Room with pillows and incense and got so many positive vibes before the show even started. The other bands were mathy and post-rocky and great — I think it was Midair’s last show in Roanoke as a hometown band before moving to Richmond. The sound system was less than subtle, so we made up for it by rocking out even harder. I nearly fell on Brendan’s kit at least once or twice.

We ended up sleeping in suburbia. A teenage showmate kindly let us crash at his parents’ house, which is always a little odd, but totally cozy. The view of Roanoke from the back porch is really breathtaking. Magic City is gorgeous at night. I’m looking forward to the long-ish drive to Cincinnati tomorrow–we’ve got a lot of music to listen to, including a mix or two. I can’t wait to see Enlou play and hang out with my dear friend Josh Kuhfeldt (formerly of Pomegranates, currently of Sacred Spirits)! And of course, there are rumors of an appearance by the infamous Mr. BabyStew himself. Ohio, get ready.

–Ryan / Tereu Tereu

Tereu Tereu Tour Dates
TONIGHT! 7/30 – Cincinnati, OH (Northside Tavern w/ Enlou and Sacred Spirits)
7/31 – Fort Wayne, IN (Dash In w/ Darkroom and Metavari)
8/1 – Chicago, IL (Beat Kitchen)
8/2 – Detroit, MI (PJ’s Lagerhouse)
8/3 – Pittsburgh, PA (Ed’s)

Editor’s note: My good friends Tereu Tereu have hit the road this week for their first tour in over a year, and their first with an almost entirely-new lineup. They’ve agreed to chronicle the ups and downs of the tour in journal form, and I’ll be posting their updates here each day. Be sure to catch them on the road if you can (see dates at bottom of post), and pick up the newly released vinyl edition of their album All That Keeps Us Together here.

My parents own an ATV and a lot of land. This makes for a great diversion between shows for obvious reasons.

The venue we played in Charlottesville is called the Tea Bazaar, and they don’t mess around. They seriously have like 80 kinds of tea, along with delicious Mediterranean grub and hookahs. I recommend hanging out there even if you’re not playing rock music. The line-up was great tonight too. We opened for a sick c-ville two piece called The Cinnamon Band and our friends from Philly, Drink Up Buttercup. That band is just nuts, and seeing them in a smaller venue like the Tea Bazaar makes the experience all the more insane. I wish I had some pictures of the bassist playing trash can lids on the floor, or of the drummer standing on his kit and playing the ceiling, but alas–you’ll just have to go see them.

Anyhow, our bud Jason who does most of our music video stuff happened to be there, and he taped a little bit of our set. Enjoy!

Video!

–Ryan / Tereu Tereu

---

Tereu Tereu, “Cage Was Right”

Tereu Tereu Tour Dates
TONIGHT! 7/29 – Roanoke, VA (The Bazaar)
7/30 – Cincinnati, OH (Northside Tavern w/ Enlou and Sacred Spirits)
7/31 – Fort Wayne, IN (Dash In w/ Darkroom and Metavari)
8/1 – Chicago, IL (Beat Kitchen)
8/2 – Detroit, MI (PJ’s Lagerhouse)
8/3 – Pittsburgh, PA (Ed’s)

Editor’s note: My good friends Tereu Tereu have hit the road this week for their first tour in over a year, and their first with an almost entirely-new lineup. They’ve agreed to chronicle the ups and downs of the tour in journal form, and I’ll be posting their updates here each day. Be sure to catch them on the road if you can (see dates at bottom of post), and pick up the newly released vinyl edition of their album All That Keeps Us Together here.

If you have a sore throat, the best shot you’ve got to keep your voice from totally giving out is to shut up. Of course, when you’re traveling to a different town every night and constantly running into old friends you haven’t seen in years, silence just seems rude, and I have yet to learn sign language. Yet, somehow, my voice has survived thus far. Hopefully, no one thinks I’ve been giving them the cold shoulder.

The show tonight was supposed to start at 7:00 PM. In rock and roll speak, that means 7:30 PM or 8:00 PM. When 7:45 rolled around and we were still the only band at the venue, I’ll admit I got a little nervous, but everyone showed up and the night went fine, but it was an odd bill for sure. First up was a folky solo act, then our post-punk pop antics, then a straight-up noise/drone act, and then an REM-style rock band. Not bad for a Tuesday night, I guess?

After we finished, we got the classic, “Oh, you’re from DC? Yeah, you’ve got kind of Dischord-y, Dismemberment Plan sound.” I always take that as a compliment, but I have to wonder if we were from Seattle, would people say we sound like a Subpop band? If we were from Hoboken, would people compare us to Yo La Tengo? It would be an interesting experiment to try telling people we’re from a different city every night to see if the comparisons change.

That wasn’t the only feedback we got, of course. “Most music these days is so gay. Your music is totally not gay,” a bar patron told us at length. I tried to convince him that our music actually is pretty gay, and that I actually like that it’s pretty gay, but he wouldn’t hear it. Maybe next time I’ll camp it up a little more.

It was an entertaining evening, to be sure. We’re crashing in luxury at my parents’ house tonight, and tomorrow we’ll be well-rested and ready to rock Charlottesville with Drink Up Buttercup (!!!) and The Cinnamon Band. We played with DUB last April, and they put on a great show; I’m eager to see them again…

-Ryan/TereuTereu

---

Tereu Tereu, “Cage Was Right”

Tereu Tereu Tour Dates
TONIGHT! 7/28 – Charlottesville, VA (Tea Bazaar w/ Drink Up Buttercup)
7/29 – Roanoke, VA (The Bazaar)
7/30 – Cincinnati, OH (Northside Tavern w/ Enlou and Sacred Spirits)
7/31 – Fort Wayne, IN (Dash In w/ Darkroom and Metavari)
8/1 – Chicago, IL (Beat Kitchen)
8/2 – Detroit, MI (PJ’s Lagerhouse)
8/3 – Pittsburgh, PA (Ed’s)

Editor’s note: My good friends Tereu Tereu have hit the road this week for their first tour in over a year, and their first with an almost entirely-new lineup. They’ve agreed to chronicle the ups and downs of the tour in journal form, and I’ll be posting their updates here each day. Be sure to catch them on the road if you can (see dates at bottom of post), and pick up the newly released vinyl edition of their album All That Keeps Us Together here.

The day seemed to start off well enough. We packed our things and left the city on time, which is always a plus. I had a runny nose out of the blue, but I thought I was just having some minor allergies to dust or something. Turns out, said runniness did not want to quit. Thus, I was stuck with a major sore throat before I sang my first note. Ah, what luck!

About six to eight cups of honey lemon tea, along with my patented vocal tonic, seemed to get me through the set well enough. I just may have to maintain a relatively strict code of silence for the rest of the tour when I’m not singing. My bandmates may appreciate that to some degree, but it’s a little inconvenient when trying to give them directions.

In any case, the show itself went swimmingly. It was a well-attended house show in Fredericksburg, a sort of homecoming to our previous home, and the kids seemed into it. Now my bandmates are off enjoying dollar burger night at Capital Ale House while I down Nyquil and pass out early. I’m hoping the Emergen-C I took tonight, along with an absurdly high liquid intake, keeps the bugs at bay. We shall see. In any case, it’s bedtime for this guy. We’ll be in Richmond on Tuesday; keep your fingers crossed for my less than full-strength vocal cords.

-Ryan / Tereu Tereu

---

Tereu Tereu, “Neal Cassady”

Tereu Tereu Tour Dates
TONIGHT! 7/27 – Richmond, VA (The Camel)
7/28 – Charlottesville, VA (Tea Bazaar w/ Drink Up Buttercup)
7/29 – Roanoke, VA (The Bazaar)
7/30 – Cincinnati, OH (Northside Tavern w/ Enlou and Sacred Spirits)
7/31 – Fort Wayne, IN (Dash In w/ Darkroom and Metavari)
8/1 – Chicago, IL (Beat Kitchen)
8/2 – Detroit, MI (PJ’s Lagerhouse)
8/3 – Pittsburgh, PA (Ed’s)

Thanks to Brendan at the Count Me Out blog for the heads up on this one.

You probably know this already, but the Onion’s A.V. Club has been running the really cool Undercover series for a while now. The series features current bands coming into the A.V. Club’s very small studio and choosing one song from a list of twenty-five to cover. The list gets shorter as the weeks go on, meaning that the later the band comes into the studio, the fewer songs it has to choose from.

Anyway, I’d noticed the Undercover series a while ago but somehow managed to forget about it. Dumb. But, when I saw @bradleysalmanac post on Twitter this morning about Superchunk covering The Cure’s “In Between Days” for the series, it became clear I needed to go back and see what I’d missed. A lot, as it turns out.

Here are a few of the cooler covers so far. To see them all (including covers by Ted Leo, The Antlers, Frightened Rabbit, and more), go here.

Superchunk covers The Cure’s “In Between Days”

Alkaline Trio covers Archers of Loaf’s “Web In Front”

Owen Pallett covers Guided By Voices’ “Game of Pricks”

Medications, “Long Day”

Washington, D.C.’s Medications have put out one of the best albums of 2010 that you probably haven’t heard. The band’s excellent new album, Completely Removed, is its second full-length LP, third overall release, and first release of any kind since 2005.

If I say so myself, Completely Removed puts pretty much everything else I’ve heard this year to shame. The album definitely has undertones of the DC/Dischord “angular” sound, but it’s actually extremely poppy, even catchy, in a way that most traditional Dischord stuff wasn’t. And the musicianship throughout is astonishing. I’ve been listening to this album pretty much nonstop for most of the year, and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.

If you’re not familiar with Medications, you may know Faraquet, the previous band of Medications’ Devin Ocampo and Chad Molter (the guys on the right side of this photo). Faraquet was part of the extremely fertile DC scene of the late 90′s and early 00′s, alongside Q and Not U, Beauty Pill, Black Eyes and The Dismemberment Plan. Faraquet’s 2000 LP, The View From This Tower, remains one of my favorite DC albums from this era.

Anyway, after a few years of relative inactivity, Medications returned to action earlier this year, and are currently in the middle of a week-long tour with Deleted Scenes. They’re playing in Toronto tonight (7/26) at Teranga, Detroit tomorrow (7/27) at Majestic Cafe, and here in Chicago on Wednesday (7/28) at Ronny’s.

I strongly, strongly recommend that you get out and catch them. I caught the band a couple of times last year, and have been waiting for a chance to see them again. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Buy Completely Removed here.
Medications website.
Medications on MySpace.

Sorry about missing last week (again!). I typically write these posts over the weekend, but last weekend was Pitchfork Fest, and I’m sure you can understand that I was busy with other things. This week I have no such excuse.

Shows in bold are recommended shows, while shows in larger bold red are shows that I plan on going to and/or shows that I really, really think you should be going to.

---

Monday, July 26
Double Door: We Make Thunder, Canning, Soft Jolts, The Forget Me Nows
Empty Bottle: Sadhu Sadhu, Cool Memories, Forget Cassettes [FREE SHOW]
Hideout: Robbie Fulks – I Heart Alex Chilton
Martyrs: Booty Movement Coalition, WATIV
Pritzker Pavilion (12pm): A Grape Dope ft. Spectronics (Dan Bitney of Tortoise)
Priztker Pavilion (6:30pm): Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens, Bomba Estereo
Reggie’s Rock Club: Bomb The Music Industry, The Gunshy, Sanawon, Sundials
Schubas: David Dondero, The Heligoats, Animal City

---

Tuesday, July 27
Beat Kitchen: Chicago Underground Comedy
Double Door: We Drive Yeah, The Grown Ups, Knockhopper, Sir Leo
Empty Bottle: Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens, JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, more
Hideout: Sanctified Grumblers
House of Blues: The Gaslight Anthem, Tim Barry, Chamberlain
Lincoln Hall: Jump Smokers, Alex Peace, Mixin Marc, Jerzy
Metro: Smashing Pumpkins, Kill Hannah (Benefit for Matthew Leone)
Reggie’s Rock Club: Mysoiree
Ronny’s: Smiley With A Knife, The Para-Medics, Freudian Slip, Communipaw
Schubas: Adam Ezra Group, Ronnie & The Puzzle

---

Wednesday, July 28
Beat Kitchen: Aubyn Beth, The Sweeps, Sunset & Camden, Stereospeak
Chicago Theatre: Keane
Double Door: Andrew Edwards, Charlie Deets, Cave Bear
Empty Bottle: Puttin Out, Kramer vs. Kramer, Glass Bricks
Hideout: Immediate Sound Series ft. two sets with The Engines
Martyrs: Circus McGurkis, Dozens, Mother Brother
Reggie’s Rock Club: Diamond Plate, Rattlehead, Hexen, more
Ronny’s: Medications, Deleted Scenes, Remaindermen
Schubas: Ben Keeler & The 500 Club, Matt Kelly, Milk & Honey
Subterranean: The Protomen, Super 8 Bit Brothers, The Adventures of Duane & Brando

---

Thursday, July 29
Abbey Pub: Handsome Devilz, special guest DJs
Beat Kitchen: Lowdown Brass Band, The O’My’s, Jewsus
Double Door: Last Chance to Reason, Iron Thrones, Alaya Concious, Hessler
Empty Bottle: Columbines, JP and the Gilberts, Datus
Hideout: Zomes, Jason Urick
Lincoln Hall: Todd Carey, Jessica Robbins, Josiah Leming
Reggie’s Rock Club: Weekend FM, Scarlett, You & My Disguise, more
Ronny’s: Noise By Numbers, Horace Pinker, The Heat
Schubas: Alex Band, Mer
Subterranean: The Vindits, And I Was Like Why?, more

---

Friday, July 30
Abbey Pub: This Must Be The Band (Talking Heads tribute), Athens
Beat Kitchen (7:30pm): Paul F. Tompkins
Beat Kitchen (10pm): Paul F. Tompkins [SOLD OUT]
Bottom Lounge: Kung Fu Vampire, The Prep School Tragedy, 2nsane, more
Congress Theater: The Dead Weather, Harlem
Darkroom: Equalizer, New Duncan Imperials, Trailer Trash Tremblers, more
Double Door: Greensugar, Under Dover, Northpilot, Archeology
Empty Bottle: La Scala, The Loneliest Monk, Violetness
Hideout: Offstrings: Inventions for Guitar
House of Blues: The Dan Band
Lincoln Hall: Tift Merritt, Dawn Landes & The Hounds
Martyrs: The Ragbirds, Strange Arrangement, Waterstreet
Reggie’s Rock Club: Hell Awaits (Slayer tribute), Summon, Kastasyde, Degradation
Ronny’s: Cinco de Gatos, Formosa Triangle, Cory Flanigan, Fork In Socket
Schubas (7:30pm): Hamell On Trial
Schubas (10pm): Reds and Blue, Hollows, Royce
Subterranean: Mission of Burma, D. Rider, The Poison Arrows

---

Saturday, July 31
Abbey Pub: Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd tribute)
Beat Kitchen: Lethal Poetry Presents… Night of Sight & Sound
Bottom Lounge: Cynic, Intronaut, Dysrhythmia
Congress Theater: Pastilla, Vicente Gayo & Hong Kong Blood
Double Door: Eliot Lipp, Alex B, The Gaslight Killer, Signal Path, DJ Thibault
Empty Bottle: TV Set, Night Beats, The Clams, Electric Hawk, DJ Psyched Alex
Hideout: Cults, Light Pollution
Lincoln Hall: The Right Now, JT & The Clouds, Dan Dyer, DJRC
Martyrs: Algebro, Paper Bear, Bright Young Things
Metro: Jokers of the Scene, Team Bayside High, Moneypenny (DJ set), more
Park West: Uncle Kracker
Permanent Records (5pm): Psychic Steel, Fielded
Reggie’s Rock Club (5pm): Teenage Rehab, The Nerve Sceme, more
Reggie’s Rock Club (9pm): Jungle Rot, Lightning Swords of Death, Woe of Tyrants, more
Ronny’s: Ono, Eyes, Jesus Is Angry, Mind Brain
Saki Records (3pm): Angel
Schubas: Cotton Jones, The Parson Red Heads, Tin Tin Can
Subterranean: Baroness, Torche, Valkyrie, Earthride

---

Sunday, August 1
Beat Kitchen: On Again Off Again, Halstead, Tereu Tereu, Patrick Herek
Double Door: Lolla Remix Throwdown
Empty Bottle: Sun Splitter, Drug Honkey, FluiD
Hideout: Psychic Steel, Fielded
Reckless Records (4pm – Wicker Park): Night Beats
Ronny’s: The Dopamines, Lipreader, Love and Squalor
Schubas: Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants, Ari Shine, Adam Bones

So I’m up way too early for a Saturday (I’ve actually been up since 5:30am), and I’ve been killing time watching some videos online.

In doing so, I came upon these videos of Ryan Adams covering old Gram Parsons tunes (as well as one live Whiskeytown tune). I haven’t heard Ryan’s versions of these songs in years – probably since 2004, if memory serves – and I’m reminded how much I used to love Ryan during his alt-country days.

It seems like so long ago, but there was a time when Ryan was my favorite musician on Earth. I remember getting to Fez a couple hours early in order to get a good seat for Ryan’s marathon shows, which would often stretch until 2am or 3am. And, although the recordings of the show floating around don’t really back it up, Ryan’s show at Irving Plaza just weeks after 9/11 (with Elton John guesting) is still my favorite concert that I’ve ever been to in my life.

While my connection with Ryan’s music began to dissipate after 2002′s Demolition, it’s nice to be able to look back and remember why I used to love him as much as I did. And who knows… maybe these new albums he’s working on will be another reminder of why his music was so important to me for so many years.

Scotland’s The Twilight Sad today announced a new 12″ coming out this September via Fat Cat Records, and have released a track from the record called “The Wrong Car” at their MySpace page. Go check it out – it’s pretty fantastic.

And if you’re in the U.K., be sure to catch the band during its short tour in September/October. Dates below.

Twilight Sad Fall U.K. Tour
29/09/10 Aberdeen – Warehouse
30/09/10 Dundee – Doghouse
01/10/10 Stirling – Tolbooth
04/10/10 Newcastle – Cluny
05/10/10 Nottingham – Stealth
06/10/10 Manchester – Deaf Institute
07/10/10 London – XOYO
09/10/10 Brighton – Audio
10/10/10 Bristol – Fleece
11/10/10 Leeds – Cockpit
12/10/10 Edinburgh – Liquid Rooms

Thanks to @malitzd for the head’s up on this – the lineup for the 2010 edition of the Virgin Freefest has been announced.

The show – which last year transitioned from a multi-day festival at Baltimore’s Pimlico racetrack to a one-day, free festival at suburban Washington, DC’s Merriweather Post Pavilion – will take place on September 25th. The lineup includes:

Pavement
LCD Soundsystem
M.I.A.
Joan Jett
The Temper Trap
Ludacris
Yeasayer
Matt & Kim
T.I.
Jimmy Eat World
Thievery Corporation
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Chromeo
Sleigh Bells
Neon Indian
Modeselektor
Die Antwoord

Free tickets go up for grabs this Saturday (7/24) at 10am Eastern via Ticketfly. Oh, and take note — free tix are lawn tickets. If you want pavilion tickets, they’re $125.

Edited to add: First show of tour is confirmed – NYC’s Terminal 5 on November 20th. On sale Fri. 7/30 at noon (EST). More info.

While it’s not exactly news, given that Billions has hinted at a November tour for a few months now, it looks like we finally have confirmation that Ireland’s The Frames are set to return to the United States this November.

If you’re not familiar with The Frames, well… shame on you. You probably know lead singer Glen Hansard’s other, much less interesting band, The Swell Season. You should know, though, that for nearly 20 years before that band, he was in the greatest rock and roll band in the world (IMO), The Frames. And they’re actually celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band this year.

Anyway, someone on The Frames’ message boards found this handbill at a recent Swell Season show. As you can see, it teases a tour including stops in:

Philadelphia
New York City
Washington, DC
Chicago
Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Los Angeles

No exact dates yet, though I’m hearing rumors that the Chicago show will be on Saturday, November 27th (Thanksgiving weekend). If true, then I’ll need to warn my family that I won’t be going home for the holiday.

As soon as I see exact dates, I’ll post them here. Until then, enjoy a couple of Frames tunes.

The Frames – Seven Day Mile by godfromtv
Fitzcaraldo (The Frames) by user7134513

Tereu Tereu, “Beyond The Coast”

A lesser band than Tereu Tereu wouldn’t still be here right now.

The band, which formed at Fredericksburg, Virginia’s University of Mary Washington, came out of the gate strong in 2007 with a well-received split EP with The Light Footwork, and followed up in 2009 with their debut LP, All That Keeps Us Together, which Pasta Primavera praised as "a compelling blend of classic DC post-punk with elements not usually paired with that genre – soft keys, strings, horns, and booming choruses of backing vocals. … All That Keeps Us Together sparkles.  It shines." The band toured regularly, playing a string of captivating live shows with Ra Ra Riot, Birdmonster, Georgie James and The Good Life, among others.

But just when things should have been taking off, they instead came a screeching halt. One band member moved to New York; another moved to Austin; and another got married and retired from music. Suddenly, singer/songwriter Ryan Little was the last man standing.

Ryan easily could have thrown in the towel, but he chose instead to refocus and recommit himself to Tereu Tereu. Just weeks after the band’s original lineup played its final show in August 2009, Ryan holed up in a friend’s cabin in rural Pennsylvania and started writing songs for the next iteration of Tereu Tereu. By the time he returned home, he had nearly a dozen new songs, and the determination to build the perfect band to play them.

Building a band from scratch isn’t easy, but after months of interviews, auditions and practices, the new Tereu Tereu finally came together, with drummer Brendan Polmer coming on board in early 2010, and bassist Thomas Orgren joining soon thereafter.

Now, almost a year to the day after the original lineup played its last show, Tereu Tereu is back and ready to reintroduce itself to the world. The band plans to hit the road for a two-week tour later this month (see dates below), and is debuting a brand new video for the song "Beyond The Coast" from All That Keeps Us Together. Check it out:

Once left for dead, the return of Tereu Tereu is a testament of Ryan Little’s dedication to his art, and his unwillingness to let adversity destroy his musical vision. It’s also the sign of band on its way back, finally ready to seize the future it deserves.

For more information about Tereu Tereu check out the band’s website.

Tereu Tereu Tour Dates
7/26: Fredericksburg, VA (Chidester House)
7/27: Richmond, VA (The Camel)
7/28: Charlottesville, VA (Tea Bazaar w/ Drink Up Buttercup)
7/29: Roanoke, VA (The Bazaar)
7/30: Cincinnati, OH (Northside Tavern w/ Enlou and Sacred Spirits)
7/31: Fort Wayne, IN (Dash In w/ Darkroom and Metavari)
8/1: Chicago, IL (Beat Kitchen)
8/2: Detroit, MI (PJ’s Lagerhouse)
8/3: Pittsburgh, PA (Ed’s)

[Disclosure: I do some PR and management work for Tereu Tereu, but I'd be posting this info even if I didn't, as I love this band dearly. So there.]

And so it ends. I’ll try to provide some thoughts on the festival as a whole tomorrow, but for now it’s just photo time.

Pics, and then sleep.