Alela Diane and Wild Divine Are Hitting The Pavement Hard
Guess whose tour starts tomorrow? That’s right. Alela Diane and company are kicking it off at Seattle’s Tractor Tavern and then swooping all over the freakin’ place. Check out the dates HERE. And please let me know if you’d like to check out the show.
Oh and that show we talked about in Seattle… that’s not even the first chance to hear Alela tomorrow. At 7pm West Coast tyyyyme (10pm EST) Alela is stopping in KEXP with her band for a live session. Make sure you tune in.

Gang Gang Dance Take To The VHS Decks
Have I told you about this session? ‘Cause it’s pretty insane. You should watch it. Now. I’ll save the explanations.
Oh and come July, Gang Gang Dance are coming to bite your face off with their face-biting-off live extravanganzi – yea I just made the word extavanganzi up. So what? So check em out live. You won’t be sorry. Dates HERE.

Buy Early Get Now… One More Time!
Fucked Up – David Comes To Life. It’s out Tuesday. It’s getting the BEGN treatment. Just to be clear. Let’s go over it one more time. Since you got your BEGN coupons, you’ve been taking orders and payments. Now it’s time to tell Dave and Helen how many BEGN packages you presold. Just remember to order them on a separate line from the non-BEGN version of David Comes To Life. Your CDs and LPs will come with your regular order and starting Tuesday, the customers who preordered can come back in with their coupons and redeem their albums. In your box will be a corresponding number of posters that go with the package… so if you aren’t the one who unpacks the boxes, PLEASE make sure these are not thrown out, given away, hung on the walls, used for packaging, etc. These are for the BEGN paying customers.
THE 7″ES WILL NOT BE COMING THIS WEEK! They’ll be here on June 28 so make sure your customers keep the 7″ half of their coupon. Let me know if there are any questions.

Drake Loves XL Recordings
Maybe some of you got this when I sent it last week. Maybe you didn’t. Worth a resend. For sure.
Lucky us when we heard that Degrassi alum Drake released two tracks on his blog that feature not one but two of our beat friendly artists.
First off, he samples Jai Paul’s Best New Track “BTSTU.” Check it out HERE.
THEN! he remixed the SBTRKT’s awesome “Wildfire” HERE.
You can read all about it over at Pitchfork.
And of course Drake Tweeted this to his scads of followers.

Fuck Art, Let’s Dance
Sometimes during our impromptu Matador Direct dance parties Matt will come back with his cardboard and bust some headspins out while Gabe freestyles over a Claire Taylor beatbox. But on June 28, everyone can take it easy and let the hi fi do the work as we’ve got a heap of very danceable and very electronic releases hitting the streets for you and your post-late night crew.
SBTRKT’s self-titled LP and CD, Jonsi Go Out Remix 12″ and the Jai Paul Str8 Outta Mumbai 12″ are all dropping Tuesday June 28. See you in the dance tent.

Follow Us On Twitter, Dammit!
@matadordirect
I’m NOT going to ask you again.

It’s Summertime And The Livin’ Is Easy
It’s 87 degrees in New York. That’s is all.

Gil Scott-Heron, RIP
As I’m sure many of you already heard over the long weekend, Gil Scott-Heron has passed away in New York City.  He certainly left an indelible stamp on all of us and it was nothing short of a pleasure working on a record by such a luminous figure.  Our thoughts are with anyone his life and words touched.

Ramble On, Ramblers
Over here at Beggars HQ we hate downtime because downtime means having no excuse to not clean your desk area.  So to combat the boredom blues, we put out awesome albums by the shitload (yes, that is an industry term).
Fast on the heels of our last madhouse street date, we’ve got two amazing records by Thurston Moore and Friendly Fires.
First let’s talk about Friendly Fires.
We kicked it off last week in a big, big way as we premiered their album on Hype Machine which shot the band into the #1 spot on elbo.ws.
Additionally, features came or coming in Nylon, Complex, Paste, NPR & Nylon Guys. Elle, Teen Vogue, Spin, People & Filter all reviewed the album. Even TV heads took note first when Jimmy Fallon had the band on a few weeks back and on the horizon the band are confirmed for the Jimmy Kimmel show on June 9.
And if all that coolness weren’t enough, the boys are taking the hip shaking live show around the US starting next week.
Whoooooooooooooooooa.

And Thurston Moore?
Well, by now I’m sure you’ve heard how ridiculously gorgeous Mr. Moore’s latest effort Demolished Thoughts is.
And if you haven’t, take my word for it. It’s amazing. And he’s got some really fantastic events leading up to release (See also: Music Hall Of Williamsburg show, Other Music Instore) and a killer tour with Kurt Vile shortly thereafter.
So make sure you’re on the ball on this one… though judging by a lot of your excited emails, most of you already are.
Oh. And since this is a newsletter for independent record stores, now may be a good time to mention again that we’re doing Thurston’s LP on colored vinyl available ONLY at independent record shops.  Talk to Dave or Helen for more details.

Last Call At The Last Chance Saloon
This is it, folks. The last chance to get signed up for Buy Early Get Now. Fucked Up’s David Comes To Life is the business and the term “album of the year” is already being brandished around some internets message boards.
So don’t miss this bus. I will say it again. Don’t. Miss. This. Bus.
Email me to get involved.

Speaking of Movies
While we’re on the topic of Fucked Up, let’s talk movies.  More specifically Fucked Up: The Movie.  Even more specifically it’s not really a movie but rather a short documentary.  It’s essential viewing. Serious. Watch it. Share it. Spread it.
If you want to take the high road and just sit back and watch, you can do that here.
But if you want to be a hero, to me and Canadians everywhere, you’ll take this code and embed the mini-doc on your website.
<iframe width=”640″ height=”390″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/3dYWof3QZbQ” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

What Happens When You Get A Group Of Girls Who Can Rock On A TV Set?
They kill it and then proceed to sell a boatload of records just as Warpaint did recently on Jools Holland.
Sales increased 645% due to the TV appearance, and reentered the UK chart at #51, with over a 1,600 + sold following the broadcast. So let’s feel those waves over here.
Check out Undertow and Elephants.

tUnE-yArDs. Wow.
This girl is for real. This record is for real. The promo she’s doing is for real. Along her current tour, Ms. yArDs and company will be stopping in for some really great sessions. Tomorrow she’s at WNYC for a live Soundcheck Session, next week she stops back in for a Studio 360 Session and later in June she’ll be at KCRW for a live MBE Session. And if that weren’t enough, she recently stopped in to have a chat and play some songs with Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis on their excellent Sound Opinions show. That air date is still TBD but certainly stay tuned.

Zombytown
Ladies and Gentlemen, we’d like to welcome the newest member of our big, wacky, multi-international, unspeakably good-looking family. Zomby is an absurdly talented producer from London who has signed with 4AD to release his album Dedication which is slated to bend minds on our shores July 12. I could tell you more but you should just read and listen here.
And remember that 10″ we had over here? That sold out faster than… well… yea. It sold out really fast.

On The Road Again
And as always, our homeboys and homegirls are out on the road, burning that midnight oil in a town near you. Or hell. In your town. Check out tour dates here and here.

And Now For Something Completely Unrelated (included specifically for our fearless leader Matt “Il Jeffe” Harmon)
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, it’s the return of Death Metal Rooster.

Tramps Like Us, Baby We Were Born To Die.
I spent most of Friday bursting with more Jersey pride than I normally burst with as my homestate kinsmen Titus Andronicus premiered their amazing new video (directed by fellow Garden Stater Tom Scharpling) which takes place entirely in the homeland of Bruce Springsteen, Danny DeVito, Adrenaline OD and Buzz Aldrin, proving once and for all that New Jersey is the best thing America has to offer (this is not up for discussion rather it is a statement of fact). The only thing that’d make this video cooler are a bunch of badass Navy SEALS. Nah mean?
Check out the video here.
The boys and girls of Titus have a brief respite from the road before hitting that highway yet again supporting Okkervil River. Those dates here. Do they ever stop touring? Let’s hope not.

What’s Our Widget Strategy?
Did you ever think “Man, it’d be really cool if a record label could figure out a way to premiere a band’s new album at our stores?”
Did you ever also think “Man it’d be even cooler if that record label was staffed by a bunch of obscenely attractive people?”
My answer to you: “Yes, we can America! And yes, we are really friggin’ good looking.”
Starting tomorrow, we are going to premiere the new Gang Gang Dance album Eye Contact on your websites, newsletters, social networks and blogs. That’s right, brothas and sistahs. Tomorrow your old pal Me will be sending you an embed code for a widget (nee: embeddable music vessel) that will stream the entire album on your sites, Facebooks and in your newsletters an entire week before the album hits your shelves. So keep an eye out for that email tomorrow.
You’re welcome.

Cold Cave It Is
Cold Cave absolutely killed it this past Friday (no pun intended but if you don’t know that they are currently on tour with The Kills, then yes maybe the pun was intended. But maybe not.) at NYC’s Terminal 5 and are continuing their US tour clean through the month of May. Check out their dates here. Seriously. DO NOT MISS THESE SHOWS!

From The Very Clean Desk Of Rough Trade US
Here’s to hoping you’re digging Alela Diane’s latest effort Alela Diane & Wild Divine as much as some of the journalists out there. Pitchfork is loving this album and we want you to read all about it.
And if that weren’t enough, you know, this 9 out of 10 review at Spin ain’t too shabby.
Alela is bringing her intimate show to your town with her impending full US tour. You should see it. It’s wonderful.
In other Rough Trade news, the Unthank sisters, known not coincidentally as The Unthanks brought their family folk circus to Jools Holland. Check out “Queen Of Hearts” here and “Last” here.

WHAT ELSE MIKE? YOU DONE YET?
Oh no, baby. I’m just getting started.

It’s Almost Tyler Time
After all the talk about this guy it’s nearly time for everyone to get what all the fuss is about. I know you don’t need a reminder that Tyler, The Creator’s debut Goblin is out next Tuesday. Make sure you have plenty of stock. People like this guy. A lot.

Fucked Up Buy Early Get Now
Just a reminder that Fucked Up’s installment of Buy Early Get Now is going off like Cliff Huxtable that time Theo cut school and got busted. Seriously. It’s shaping up to be our best BEGN yet and the orders are coming in at an astounding rate. If you haven’t signed up and want to get involved, please let me know. Just send me your most recent logo as a jpg and any address updates and I will get you set up on our nifty little retail map and make sure you’ve got BEGN coupons in your store as fast as humanely possible.

Back To The Basement (Jaxx)
We have a bunch of Basement Jaxx stock coming back in from our friends across the pond, provided their not still watching reruns of that wedding. Remedy, Rooty, Kish Kash and Singles will be available in the next few weeks and only via Matador Direct so tell Helen or Dave that you want some. Because, let’s face it, you do.

TourTourTourTourTourTourTour
And as always, we’ve got a smattering of our road hog rock and rollers blowing their way through your town soon.
Keep an eye out for tUnE-yArDs, Stornoway, Friendly Fires, Cold Cave, Interpol, Ted Leo and others coming through.
Dig the dates here and here.

This Is A Funny Video Which Has Nothing To Do With This Week’s Newsletter
ZAP!

And This Is A Post-Script
We’re listening to the new Thurston Moore album right now and it’s really friggin’ fantastic.

And This Is One More Video That Has Nothing To Do With Anything
That’s right. Rage Against The Cage. America’s finest a’capella grunge choir. Whooooa oh whoa. Uh huh.