This Weeks Short Bursts :: Throwing Muses, SSLYBY, & Hello Shark

Last month 4AD issued Anthology, a two disc retrospective celebrating the sonic achievements of Boston/Newport's guitar pop luminaries, Throwing Muses. Earlier this year Kristin Hersh posted 12 demos to her Cash Music web dojo. Those same 12 tracks are reported to have been utilized to complete a forthcoming Muses LP, it will be the bands first in 8 years. Well the reactivated trio of Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo, and Bernie Georges have recently announced that they will embark on Throwing Muses tour which will begin on Wednesday October 12th in Athens before taking them abroad for shows in Ireland, England, Amsterdam. Sadly there is no news of a Boston show at this point, but according to the Kristin Hersh e-list, The Letter if these initail dates go well, we can expect more dates down the pike. "This is not something we get to say every day! We finally have the opportunity to share some Throwing Muses tour dates with you...We know there are many more places where the band should play, and we're looking forward to doing a lot more touring -- but it all depends on how well these shows are attended, so we hope to see you there!"

OCTOBER
12th ATHENS, GA - ATHENS POPFEST
14th WASHINGTON, D.C. - THE BLACK CAT
16th NEW YORK, NY - THE BOWERY BALLROOM
24th HOLLAND - AMSTERDAM - PARADISO
25th GERMANY - BERLIN - POSTBAHNHOF
26th DENMARK - COPENHAGEN - VEGA
27th BELGIUM - GHENT - HANDELSBEURS
29th SPAIN - MADRID - SHOKO
30th SPAIN - BARCELONA - APOLO

NOVEMBER
1st ENGLAND - BEXHILL - DE LA WARR PAVILION
2nd ENGLAND - LONDON - SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
3rd ENGLAND - NORWICH - UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA
4th ENGLAND - HOLMFIRTH - PICTUREDROME
6th ENGLAND - MANCHESTER - ACADEMY 2
7th SCOTLAND - GLASGOW - ORAN MOR
8th WALES - CARDIFF - THE GATE
9th IRELAND - CORK - CYPRUS AVE
10th IRELAND - DUBLIN - ACADEMY

While we wait for news of a Boston Throwing Muses show, we must remind and encourage you to attend Kristin's show at the MFA later this month.

Kristen Hersh presents Paradoxical Undressing at the MFA on October 18th.

[MP3] Throwing Muses - Film (demo)

Late last month we reached out to friends, supporters, and bands we admire to pay tribute to R.E.M. and to chime in on the bands decision to pack it in after over 3 decades of making music together. The response was overwhelming and we are eternally grateful for those who contributed. Due to being on the road Springfield, MO's popsmiths Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin missed the deadline, but more than made good when SSLYBY fronter, Phil Dickey sent this cover of Haborcoat over to us. An AGP exclusive and sparkling rendition of one of our favorite Reckoning tracks. Now get to the downloading.

SSLYBY - Harborcoat (acoustic cover) by ashgrayproclamation

Burlington VT's lo-fi strummers, Hello Shark, the brainchild of Newburyport native Linc Halloran have returned with 11 new compositions in the form of, Break Arms. Inevitably Hello Shark will get tagged with indie folk tag, we suppose that's fair, but we find these New Englander's closer to Bonnie Prince Billy than Fleet Foxes. Break Arms is available through Portsmouth N.H.'s Burst & Boom Records. The Rolling Stones has been vaulted into heavy rotation around here and for good reason. The track finds Hello Shark offering stark instrumentation and Halloran's deadpan vocals to devastating affect.

Hello Shark will play a CD release show at Buoy Gallery in Kittery, ME with Gem Club and label mates Tiger Saw on October 28th.