Hey gang. Did you see this little blurb about us that is in Rolling Stone this month? Pretty cool, right?

Yeah, except for one thing - the actual lyric is "let IT BE on a stretcher if I get carried away," not "let ME PEE on a stretcher if I get carried away," even though that is funnier. Hopefully that bodes well for the critical response to the abundance of actual scatalogical references on the record. Anyway, just wanted to clear that up. Heh heh... let me pee.
Yr friend,
Patrick

Hello friends. I hope this blog finds you well. Do you guys remember that short tour of record stores that we said we were going to do? Well, we are still going to do them, and to make it easier for you to remember to participate, the good people at Extra Large Recordings have prepared this eFlyer for you to look at. Behold!

Damn, that looks sharp. Well, now that we have that out of the way, let's get down to more serious (read - YouTube related) business.

Did you happen to see this video of us that was posted on PitchforkTV a couple weeks ago? It was from a performance we did at their offices as part of a birthday party for Pitchfork founder Ryan Schrieber. Do you like it? It is just another classic from the magical eyes of Ray Concepcion, who really stepped up his usual game into new, more psychedelic, high-octane territory. Yr crazy for this one, Ray! It will also give you a chance to observe Dave and Amy outside the context of a still photograph, which isn't really very helpful when you are wondering what something sounds like, know what I mean?


Speaking of PitchforkTV, you know what video I like to watch on that website? This one, of the National performing their song "Mr. November" from the album Alligator....

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The annual Austin feeding frenzy SXSW has already announced a bunch of the bands who will play this year, and now we've got another set of names to report. The shindig will take over Austin March 17-21, and the following people will be there:

Spoon, Broken Social Scene, She & Him, Titus Andronicus, Les Savy Fav, Fucked Up, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Bear in Heaven, the Very Best, !!!, jj, Here We Go Magic, Hudson Mohawke, Killer Mike, Black Milk, Grant Hart, the Drums, Trae, and Cold Cave.

And as a special bonus to Texas rap nerds: Paul Wall and Chamillionire. Together.

Hello dear friends. It is our pleasure this day to announce phase one of THE MONITOUR, which, as you may have guessed, is the tour during which we shall promote our new record The Monitor. Get it? Moni-tour? Anyway. This first bundle of promotional exercises will occupy our time between our record release show at the Bowery Ballroom with Parts & Labor and the Babies (but you already knew about that, right?) on March 6th, and the annual South by Southwest music conference in Austin, TX, beginning March 17th.

During this time, we will forgo playing the typical "rock concert," as it were, and play primarily independently owned and operated record stores. These shows will be free, all ages, and typically take place in the afternoon or early evening. Why would we do a thing like this, you ask? Well, we would do it because it is important to us to stack our chips with the mom and pop businesses, stores that represent the best of our free market system, capitalism not going awry (for once!), and enrich the culture of their communities in a sound and decent fashion. With the demise of Tower Records, Sam Goody, et al, it is essential that we all show our support for these businesses, who are on the front lines of the war on cultural whitewashing. Besides, since these performances will be the first that we do with our record officially available, where better to celebrate its release? Yes, you surely agree...

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Firstly, I gotta give a big shout out to Extra Large Recordings, who, as we have surely all heard by now, are enjoying their first ever number one album in the form of Contra by Vampire Weekend. I feel like there is something to be said about this and what it means for our band and for indie rock in general, but I am sick as a dog right now and not feeling my most loquacious. I will simply say that this news merely reaffirms what we at Titus Andronicus LLC have long known to be true - Extra Large Recordings is the best record label. Fresh for 2010, you suckas.

So, speaking of alternative rock bands who have had number one albums, here is some good news for people who like bad news. I was thinking today about the tour that we are going to do in a couple months, and so I thought I'd see what was going on with the Monolith, an all-ages, DIY show space in Tulsa, OK for which I have great admiration. Imagine my disappointment to see on their MySpace that the space closed a long time ago due to "an inability to communicate effectively amongst ourselves in addition to a lack of turnout the past few months." Shit, what a fucking drag! The Monolith was a super-cool storefront with a comprehensive library of alt literature and was operated by a bunch of very cool, caring punks, and the show we...

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Hello dear friends. If any of you happened to see our performance at last night's Vampire Weekend concert at the United Palace Theater, you may have noticed that (geez, how many times have I said this?) we have some new members. Yes, it's true - Titus Andronicus v. 6.0 Beta is up and running. Who are these people, you ask? Well...

The woman on the right is named Amy Klein, and she is a native of Glen Ridge, NJ, and a current resident of Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I have known Amy for a few years now, as she used to play in a band in college with a woman that I was dating at the time. Then she moved to Japan for a while and I was pretty sure I'd never see her again, but a couple of months ago, I happened to run into her at a Double Dagger/Future Islands show at Death by Audio (side note: the most recent Double Dagger album More is the best punk album since... gee, is there a better one? "The Lie/The Truth," which features the singer of Future Islands on backing vocals, is the sort of uplifting punk anthem that Double Dagger must not have heard isn't supposed to exist anymore. Anyway, I could go on and on), and I felt the hand of destiny on my shoulder. Maybe it was the Four Loco coursing through my veins, but I demanded right then and there...

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Okay, gang. Perhaps by now you have heard that our new album, The Monitor, has been leaked onto the internet, and I would be remiss not to remind you guys that we'd really much rather you not download the record but actually just buy it when it comes out. I know that sounds pretty old-fashioned in 2010, but I had to say it.

I am glad that it seems those of you who have eaten from the forbidden tree of knowledge seem to generally enjoy the record, and it is a thrill to have Warren Ellis approve of our debt to Billy Bragg on Twitter (did I mention I love comic books? Because that is kind of important!). Still, you guys have to understand, that if you all just download the record for free, it will mean bad things for yr friends in Titus Andronicus, who, as we learned earlier, have to eat.

Also, there is going to be a two-LP vinyl release of this album that is going to sound way better than the lossy mp3 rips that you could listen to now. We expended a great deal of effort trying to make it sound as good as we could (no "lo-fi" aspirations here), and we want you guys to have the highest quality version possible, if that it something you care about.

That said, great big thanks to all the decent folks who...

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Hey gang. Guess what I just read on our favorite website, Insound.com? Apparently, when you pre-order our new record, The Monitor, you will also receive a free copy of the "Four Score and Seven" seven inch! Hey, wait a second - Four Score and Seven Inches? That's funny. It appears to me that this offer only relates to purchasing the vinyl edition of the full-length. Did I mention that it is a double LP? Damn, that's badass, right? Anyway, learn more here. How many times do I have to tell you this???

Anyway, remember that band from the 90's the Smoking Popes? I do. They were awesome. I recently obtained a used cassette copy of their 1995 album Born to Quit and it holds up nicely. Peep the video for their great song, "I Need You Around," which has some totally awesome fish-eye lens shot. I swear, if we ever get to make another music video, it is going to have so much fish-eye, it is going to be insane.

Why do I bring this up? Well, it is all because of that band Surfer Blood everyone is talking about. Amidst all this talking, why has no one mentioned that this Surfer Blood guy's voice sounds just like the guy from the Smoking Popes? Am I crazy? Just listen.

I am not crazy. This dude is taking a lot of...

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Hey guys. If yr interested, you can now pre-order our new record thanks to the good people at Insound.com. Do that here, or don't, whatever!

Speaking of Insound, here is a blast from the past - Kip Berman of TPOBPAH fame, back when he was still a lowly civilian with a flair for comedy, explaining how Insound works.




In other news, did you guys know that this was our first seven inch?

It came out way, way back in March, 2007 on Shake Appeal Records, a Chicago-based label run by jolly Uncle Joe Dixon. Our friend Brittany Botz did the art, and what a great job she did. You know who else must have thought so? Frog Eyes! Look at this record cover of this record they put out in MAY of 2007.

You snooze, you lose, Frog Eyes! Okay, that's all for now.

Yr friend,
Patrick