Black Mountain and Side Projects Take Over World

The Army, which centers around Canadian drone-rock mastermind Stephen McBean and his bands Black Mountain and Pink Mountaintops, will spend the spring and summer on the road, spreading a thick cloud of weed smoke across North America and Europe. With all the member-sharing and epic stoner jamming, they're basically the Vancouver answer to Broken Social Scene and its satellites.

Black Mountain are still touring in support of last year's self-titled debut album, and are hard at work on its follow-up, due out next year on Jagjaguwar. Kemado Records will include the BM track "Behind the Fall" on their forthcoming Invaders compilation due April 25, and Suicide Squeeze will issue the single "Stormy High" / "Voices" on May 9 as part of their 2006 7" series.("Voices" will also appear on the label's 10th anniversary compilation, coming August 22.) In addition, the band will soon hit the dancefloor, as the German label City Slang is preparing to release a 12" featuring an UNKLE remix of their song "No Hits".

Meanwhile, Pink Mountaintops, McBean's other band, have just come off the twin triumphs of releasing their second album, Axis of Evol, and opening for the Flaming Lips at a pair of sold-out shows in NYC last weekend.

The Pink and the Black will join forces for a European tour later this month. Along for the ride will be Blood Meridian, the honky-tonk death band of Black Mountain's Matt Camirand, who recently inked a Stateside deal with V2. Their album Kick Up the Dust is due in July.

The Black Blood Pink Mountain Meridian Tops European tour:

04-19 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
04-20 Goteborg, Sweden - Musikens Hus
04-21 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
04-22 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
04-23 Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
04-25 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
04-26 Cologne, Germany - Gebaude 9
04-27 Berlin, Germany - White Trash
04-28 Stuttgart, Germany - Landespavillon
04-29 Lucerne, Switzerland - Boa
04-30 Frankfurt, Germany - Offenbach
05-01 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
05-02 Ghent, Belgium - Charlatan
05-03 Liege, Belgium - Soundstation
05-04 Leeds, England - Cockpit
05-06 Dublin, Ireland - Temple Bar Music Centre
05-07 Belfast, Northern Ireland - TBA
05-08 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC2
05-09 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
05-10 London, England - KOKO
05-11 Cardiff, Wales - The Point

In celebration of the trek, City Slang created THIS awesome e-card and will offer a tour-only EP of tracks by the three bands, all previously unavailable in Europe. And they are:

01 Black Mountain - "Buffalo Swan"
02 Pink Mountaintops - "Erected"
03 Blood Meridian - "Oh Oh Oh"
04 Black Mountain - "Bicycle Man"
05 Pink Mountaintops - "The Ones I Love"
06 Blood Meridian - "Get Some Place Else"

Before and after the European carnage, Blood Meridian and Pink Mountaintops will play even more dates. Black Mountain, however, only have one other performance scheduled, at the sold-out, Mudhoney-curated May 12 date of the All Tomorrow's Parties' festival. Pink Mountaintops will cross North America in May and June, and Blood Meridian will serenade Canada in May.

Here are all three bands' non-megatour shows: Black Mountain:

05-12 East Sussex, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (All Tomorrow's Parties) *

* with Mudhoney, Comets on Fire, the Drones, the Scientists, Country Teasers, David Dondero, Jon Wahl & the Amadans, Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee, the Flesh Eaters, Mark Pickerel, Holly Golightly

Pink Mountaintops:

04-05 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards *
04-07 Victoria, British Columbia - Sugar *
05-26 Calgary, Alberta - Broken City
05-27 Edmonton, Alberta - Sidetrack Café #
05-28 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Amigos Cantina
05-29 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Royal Albert Arms
05-30 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
05-31 Milwaukee, WI - Onopa Brewing Company
06-01 Bloomington, IN - Second Story
06-02 Nashville, TN - The Basement
06-03 Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle
06-05 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber
06-06 Cambridge, MA - Middle East $
06-07 New York, NY - Knitting Factory $
06-08 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw $
06-09 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa $
06-11 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern $
06-13 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle $

* with Frog Eyes, Amber and Josh
# with Faunts, Jr. Bloomsbury
$ with the Black Angels

Blood Meridian:

04-05 St. John, New Brunswick - Elwood's (Matt Camarind solo) *#
04-06 Fredericton, New Brunswick - UNB Cellar Pub and Grill (Matt Camarind solo) *#
04-07 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Marquee Club (Matt Camarind solo) *#
04-08 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Marquee Club (Matt Camarind solo) *#
05-14 York, England - Barfly %
05-15 Birmingham, England - Barfly %
05-16 London, England - Barfly %
05-18-20 Brighton, England - Great Escape Festival
05-20 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Ballroom at the University of Calgary *$
05-21 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlite Room *$
05-22 Canmore, Alberta - Canmore Hotel *$
05-24 Victoria, British Columbia - Lucky Bar *$
05-25 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards *$

* with the Constantines
# with Meligrove Band
% with the Earlies
$ with Chad VanGaalen

In other Black Mountain Army-related news, Jagjaguwar have signed yet another band to their already Vancouver-heavy stable: Ladyhawk. The band, which has toured with Black Mountain and Blood Meridian, will release its self-titled debut on June 6, just in time to head out on a North American tour with Magnolia Electric Co. in July. Those dates are TBA for now, but they do have a few shows coming up soon:

04-08 Kelowna, British Columbia - Mission Hall *
04-12 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards #
04-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club $

* with Pride Tiger
# with Destroyer
$ with Wilderness, Parts & Labor

Mountain people Amber Webber and Josh Wells contributed to the record, which was recorded and mixed by Wells and Camirand.

Tracklist:

01 48 Hours
02 The Dugout
03 My Old Jacknife
04 Long 'Til the Morning
05 Came in Brave
06 Advice
07 Sad Eyes / Blue Eyes
08 Teenage Love Song
09 Drunk Eyes
10 New Joker

Let us pray that it's better than the Ladyhawke soundtrack, which, if memory serves, is truly craptastic.

Black Mountain/Pink Mountaintops: http://www.thewaxmuseum.bc.ca/jwab/
Blood Meridian: http://www.bloodmeridianmusic.com/
Ladyhawk: http://ladyhawkladyhawk.com/
Jagjaguwar: http://www.jagjaguwar.com/