Today, SASAMI, the musical project of Los Angeles composer, songwriter and producer, Sasami Ashworth, releases a heavy rendition of Daniel Johnston deep-cut “Sorry Entertainer.” The single acts as a peek into the sonic world to come, on her highly anticipated, yet-to-be-announced second album. The video was directed by actor and comedian Patti Harrison and Alan Resnick.
“I made my last album when I was in a very emotionally vulnerable and tender place, but after a couple years of touring those same subtle, more sensitive songs, the live show became louder and more volatile,” says SASAMI. “A bit before the pandemic took hold I was really getting back into metal and numetal, so a couple months into quarantine I made an acoustic version of the System of a Down song “Toxicity.” My sadness ripened into anger throughout 2020, and deeper into it I started experimenting with a heavier palette and decided to perform the inverse exercise of metallicizing an acoustic song. ‘Sorry Entertainer’ is my take on mixing the desperation of being a hopeless and powerless artist and the extremely powerful sounds of a metal band. Like giving a toddler a flamethrower… or a fullstack.”
SASAMI will be touring with Japanese Breakfast this Fall.
Bachelor—the collaborative project of Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner—will release its debut album Doomin’ Sun on May 28th via Polyvinyl Record Co. (North America), Lucky Number (ROW) and Milk! Records (AUS/NZ). To celebrate the album release they have also announced Doomin’ Sun Fest, a massive livestream festival / telethon to benefit and uplift Seeding Sovereignty. The festival will take place on June 10 starting at 6pm ET., and will be followed by a virtual afterparty inside the 3D social game Hotel Hideaway.
Created as a chance to gather for “Community, Compassion, Climate, and Celebration,” Doomin’ Sun Fest will be FREE to attend, but donations to Seeding Sovereignty will be highly encouraged. The organization is an Indigenous-led collective working to radicalize and disrupt colonized spaces through land, body, and food sovereignty work, community building, and cultural preservation.
Melina & Ellen will live-host Doomin’ Sun Fest, which will culminate in the first ever Bachelor concert, shot and directed by Haoyan Of America with designer Richie Brown, powered by HIFI Labs. “Basically we just wanna have fun celebrating our album release, raise funds for Seeding Sovereignty, and get people excited about donating and opening their hearts to themes of the fest – the “4 C’s” as we call them – that are driving this endeavor,” note Ellen and Melina.
Featuring:
Adeline
Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief
Alexis from Sleigh Bells w/ Young Women Who Crush
Alynda Segarra (Hurray For The Riff Raff)
Andy Shauf
Anjimile
Bartees Strange
Beach Bunny
Becca Mancari
Benjamin Gibbard
Black Belt Eagle Scout
Boy Scouts
Brijean
Christelle Bofale
Claud
Courtney Barnett
Faye Webster
Fime
Frankie Cosmos
Hand Habits
Japanese Breakfast
Jeff Rosenstock
Jeff Tweedy
Jessi Frick of Father Daughter Records
Jose James + Taali
Julia Jacklin
Julien Baker
Kero Kero Bonito
KR from Decolonize UnConference
Lala Lala
Long Beard
Lucy Dacus
Luna Li
Madeline Kenney
Madison McFerrin
Mannequin Pussy
Manu Grace
MICHELLE
Miloe
Pendant
Quinn Christopherson
Rozzi
Sasami
Sen Morimoto
Shamir
Soccer Mommy
Soft Glas
Sylvan Esso
Tagalikha
Tank & the Bangas
Tasha
Tegan and Sara
Thao
Tune-Yards
Vagabon
Soccer Mommy — a.k.a. Nashville native Sophie Allison – released her critically-acclaimed sophomore album color theory last year. Today she has announced her long delayed US headline tour in support of the record. Starting in September 2021 the tour stops at some of the biggest venues Allison has headlined to date, including New York’s Brooklyn Steel on September 21 and Los Angeles’ Fonda Theatre on October 28. With the exception of a few venue changes and new additions many of the shows were postponed from March 2020 and all previously purchased tickets will be honored. Squirrel Flower will provide support on the first leg and Emily Reo will support the second. Tickets go on sale Friday (4/30) at 12pm ET.
Following the release of color theory, Allison earned mass acclaim, with performances opening for Bernie Sanders, numerous upcoming headline dates sold-out months in advance, confirmed festival slots at the likes of Glastonbury, and her late-night debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The album made it’s AAA Top 20 debut after release, was #1 NACC Top 200 for 4-weeks running, and debuted on the following Billboard charts: #1 Top New Artist Albums, #1 Alternative New Artist Albums, #4 Current Alternative Albums, #4 LP Vinyl Albums, #6 Current Rock Albums, #16
Top Current Albums and in the Billboard Top 200.
Additionally, with touring at a halt for the entire music industry, Soccer Mommy found remarkably inventive ways to stay busy during quarantine. She released a deluxe binder version of color theory which you can get HERE along with a demos EP of selected album tracks which you can listen to HERE. Last summer, raising money for National Bail Out & Oxfam’s COVID-19 Relief Fund, Allison released the Soccer Mommy & Friends Singles Series featuring Jay Som, Beabadoobee, SASAMI and MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden/Gentle Dom. She also joined forces with Actress & Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who remixed two color theory tracks. Listen to “crawling in my skin (Actress Remix)” HERE + “circle the drain (UMO Remix)” HERE. She shared an interview and performance via GRAMMY Museum® which can be seen HERE. Combining her love of video games and performing, Soccer Mommy held a digital concert on the online gaming platform Club Penguin Rewritten, with 10,000+ attendees (who all had to make their own penguin avatars to attend). So many fans logged on originally that the game’s server *literally* crashed and the event had to be rescheduled. Soccer Mommy also kicked off the NPR Tiny Desk At Home Series, performed on Pitchfork’s IG Live series, and released her very own Zoom backgrounds images. Soccer Mommy then embarked on another tour, of sorts: an 8-bit music video tour, hitting some of the cities she was meant to perform in on tour prior to lockdown.
Spin Magazine