Men

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly a decade since the last Le Tigre album (2004’s This Island), and six years since the band with the roller-skate jams went on hiatus. While Kathleen Hannah has been re-exploring her punk roots with The Julie Ruin, JD Samson has continued to mine the dance/electropop vein of late-period Le Tigre with her band MEN, whose sophomore album, Labor, was self-released in October to positive critical reception.

MEN’s latest single is “Making Art” (also available as a remix E.P. because that’s what dance acts do) and butch heartthrob JD Samson has been taking that term to heart by making custom tampon string hats which are available for purchase on their website. If hipster visuals with a feminist bent and a beat you dance to is your thing, come see MEN on their national tour which is currently zig-zagging its way across the country.

Tour dates:

Of Mice & Men, a name stolen from John Steinbeck (by the way of William Shakespeare), has announced a third studio album called Restoring Force to be release on January 28th on Rise Records. The album is a follow up to the band’s The Flood, which established the California-based band as a ‘force’ in the modern heavy metal music scene.



Frontman Austin Carlile explains, “What happens after a disaster? What happens after The Flood? You return to normal. You find balance again. That’s what we felt like we were doing with this album. We wanted this record to bring equilibrium back to our band and music. We’re letting everyone know that we’re here to stay. We’re Restoring Force.”



Also, it’s been announced that they will be joining Bring Me The Horizon for ‘The American Dream Tour’, which kicks off February 3rd in Orlando and ends on March 28th in San Diego.



The American Dream Tour:

Feb 03 Orlando, FL – The Plaza ‘Live’ Theater Feb 04 Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution Live Feb 05 St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live Feb 06 Jacksonville, FL – Brewster’s Megaplex Feb 08 Mexico City, DF – Jose Cuervo Salon Feb 10 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theater Feb 11 Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theater Feb 12 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater Feb 13 Denver, CO – The Ogden Feb 14 Kansas City, MO – Uptown Feb 15 Sauget, IL – Pops Feb 17 Minneapolis, MN – Mill City Nights Feb 18 Chicago, IL – House of Blues Feb 21 Plymouth, MI – Compuware Arena Feb 22 Toronto, ON – Sound Academy Feb 24 Montreal, QC – Metropolis Feb 27 Worchester, PA – The Palladium Feb 28 New York, NY – Best Buy

Mar 02 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory Mar 03 Silver Springs, MD – Fillmore Silver Mar 04 Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Mar 06 Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle Mar 07 Nashville, TN – War Memorial Aud Mar 08 Memphis, TN – New Daisy Mar 10 New Orleans, LA – House of Blues Mar 11 Houston, TX – House of Blues Mar 12 Mission, TX – Las Palmas Race Park Mar 13 San Antonio, TX – Backstage Live Mar 14 Austin, TX – SXSW Mar 15 Grand Prairie, TX – Quik Trip Park Mar 16 Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Mar 18 El Paso, TX – Tricky Falls Mar 21 San Francisco, CA – Regency Grand Mar 24 Seattle, WA – Showbox Mar 25 Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theater Mar 26 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater Mar 28 San Diego, CA – Soma

Sales of the Universal Pictures’ The Best Man Holiday Soundtrack quadrupled over last weekend, landing at #2 and #4 on this week’s Billboard Soundtracks and R&B Album Charts, respectively.



Film writer and director, Malcolm D. Lee, commented on why the movie soundtrack is just as important as the film, “I am a firm believer that music is essential to the entirety of a film going experience. The Best Man Holiday soundtrack is no exception. The songs listed here not only make up the fabric of the movie, but many served as inspiration to the creation of the screenplay. With a combination of new R&B tunes and Christmas classics by contemporary artists, this is the soundtrack I heard accompanying this movie. I hope you enjoy it this holiday season and every year.”



The Best Man Holiday – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack track listing:

MEN is the new album from Cardiff anti-folk Quiet Marauder. The album’s tagline is, “111 songs. 4 volumes. 5 hours.”
The album is set for release in England on January the 27th 2014 on Bubblewrap Records.



With 111 songs and spanning over five hours, it made sense that it’s some sort of Guinness World Record for longest debut LP in recorded popular music history.



Quiet tour dates: