And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Secret Machines announce tour

And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead have announced new fall dates and will return to the Triangle for the second time this year. They will hit the road in September with Secret Machines opening each night. The tour hits the Cat's Cradle on Tuesday, September 15. Tickets will be on sale "soon" for $12 via etix.com.

Trail of Dead's latest album The Century of Self was released in February. Secret Machines latest album which is self-titled was released in October.

Check out the current tour dates I've dug up so far below and we'll add more as they're announced.

And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead dates:
09.14.09 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade [Tickets]
09.15.09 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
09.18.09 - New York, NY - Webster Hall [Tickets]
09.19.09 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg [Tickets]
09.22.09 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick [Tickets]
09.25.09 - Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium [Tickets]
09.29.09 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater

Merge video retrospective: Camera Obscura - "Let's Get Out of This Country"

Tonight's Merge Video Retrospective comes from the Scottish band Camera Obscura. The video is for the title track from the band's last Merge album, 2006's Let's Get Out of This Country. It features the band packing up and boarding a paddle boat to get out of the country.

Click here for the rest of the Merge Video Retrospective series. Only 3 more videos until XX Merge.

Merge video retrospective: The Broken West - "Perfect Games"

Tonight's Merge Video Retrospective comes from Los Angeles band The Broken West. It is for the song "Perfect Games" from the band's sophomore album Now or Heaven, released in September 2008. The video follows two assassins that are trying to kill each other. It's a really funny video that we first posted in February. You can also download the song "Perfect Games" below.

Click here for the rest of the Merge Video Retrospective series. Only 4 more videos until XX Merge.

The Broken West - "Perfect Games" (mp3)

New music from Monsters of Folk - "Say Please"

The highly anticipated album by the supergroup Monsters of Folk (aka M. Ward, Conor Oberst, Jim James and Mike Mogis) is finally slated to be released September 22. The group have released the first track from the self-tilted album called "Say Please" which you can download below, or download on the group's site by simply saying please. Don't let the band's name fool you though. The song isn't very folky. It's a catchy, noisy little rocker.

In local news, both Oberst and Ward will be making an appearance or appearances at next week's XX Merge Fest in Carrboro and Chapel Hill. The Monsters of Folk are expected to tour in support of their album at some point.

Monsters of Folk - "Say Please" (mp3)

Merge video retrospective: The Rosebuds - "Life Like"

For tonight's Merge Video Retrospective, we've come back from Canada, back home to the Triangle. The video is for the title track from The Rosebuds 2008 album Life Like. The bizarre and beautifully shot video features a male and female deer played by two people in costumes running from hunters. For more on the video, check out our original post about the video from February.

Click here for the rest of the Merge Video Retrospective series. Only 5 more videos until XX Merge.

Jon Wurster performs with Aimee Mann on 'Late Night'

Last night's musical performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon combined one of my favorite songwriters with an excellent local musician. Aimee Mann performed the song "Freeway" from her album @#%&! Smilers with Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster keeping the beat. Watch the performance below for a limited time thanks to Hulu.

Aimee Mann is currently on a short US tour. Check out the dates below the video.



Aimee Mann dates:
07.17.09 - Hyannis, MA - Cape Cod Melody Tent [Tickets]
07.18.09 -Lowell, MA - Lowell Summer Music Series
07.19.09 - Brownfield, ME - Stone Mountain
07.21.09 - Norfolk, CT - Infinity Hall
07.23.09 - Morristown, NJ - Mayo Center for the Performing Arts
07.24.09 - Bay Shore, NY - Boulton Center
07.25.09 - Annapolis, MD - Rams Head
07.26.09 - Camden, NJ - XPoNential Music Festival
10.02.09 - Santa Barbara, CA - 100% Headline UC Santa Barbara
10.03.09 - Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre [Tickets]