RIOT ACT MEDIA. DECEMBER 2008.

Merry yuletide, l’chaim and joyous mistlefruitcakes to you, chums! 2008’s been a banner year for us here at Riot Act, and we couldn’t be prouder or happier to have worked with all of the amazing bands, comedians and artists who’ve graced our roster this year (for a full list of ’08 RAM-repped releases, pls check the end of this newsletter!) This December and into Winter 2009, there’s much going on with our incredible new clients SCREAMING FEMALES, MODERNBOYS MODERNGIRLS, LEONARD MYNXand THE TRADITIONIST, as well as for comedians EUGENE MIRMAN, MATT MCCARTHY, JOHN ROBERTS, JACQUELINE NOVAK, KUMAIL NANJIANI and GRACE PARRA, AND AND AND for ace musicologists MATT AND KIM, AT THE SPINE, LOCH LOMOND, ORIGAMI GHOSTSand STARFLYER 59. Read on, and know that Riot Act Media is sending you the warmest of holiday fuzzies with our minds, telepathy-style.

Oh NYC, you are in luck! Modernboys Moderngirls have chosen you to host their US stage debut next month! MBMG released their hot debut, I Might As Well Break It in Canada this spring, but before they
even had a record released, the band had gained so many fans and so
much attention that they were invited to play alongside huge acts at
NXNE and Canadian Music Week. Led by the songwriting of vocalist
Akira Alemany, MBMG unleash a rock n roll that is part soul and part
garage, a little Reigning Sound fury with Franz Ferdinand drive. I
Might As Well Break It was mixed by Ryan Mils (Born Ruffians), the
US release of the LP will see two bonus tracks added on to the
already outstanding album which made its way into the CBC Radio Top
10 earlier this year. Get an early listen and make an appearance in
the mini-documentary they are filming at their two shows: Jan 2 @
Arlene’s Grocery and Jan 3 @ Trash Bar!
Contact Sheila (at) riotactmedia.com.

HOLY WOW, we get to work with Screaming Females! The band is currently in the studio recording Power Move, their new full-length for Don Giovanni. More news is on its way soon regarding the release, as well as an upcoming Don Giovanni showcase this spring and some sweet Screaming Females shows with Throwing Muses. Athens weekly Flagpole just summed up yr typical. Screaming Females show quite nicely: “The Screaming Females of New Brunswick, NJ are one of those bands that people watch with their jaws on the floor, only tearing their eyes away from the stage to look at each other to confirm they are seeing the same thing. So you’ve got a very Minutemen-y rhythm section (in their more straightforward moments) backing up a frontwoman named Marissa Paternoster. Let’s get the insignificant details out of the way: Ms. Paternoster stands no taller than five feet. She is very much like Prince in this respect; also, she shreds like a motherfucker. We’re talking old-fashioned, blues-based all-out wailing, with some Greg Ginn-inspired noise thrown in for good measure. And her voice? Forget it: quavering throaty moans punctuated by utter shrieks. The Screaming Females are the perfect cross pollination of guitar-god heroics and DIY basement fun, and they do a ripping Neil Young cover. If that’s not enough for you, you are uninvited to my birthday party.”

http://www.screamingfemales.com

http://www.myspace.com/screamingfemales

http://www.dongiovanni.com

http://www.myspace.com/dongiovanni

Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

Hot off their Fall headlining tour, Matt and Kim are taking a
well-deserved yet short break before heading back out for more shows
in December, all of which are a mere $5! To say that the response to
their upcoming Grand full length has been awesome would be an
understatement. The album is so very Matt and Kim - together they
recorded it in Matt's childhood bedroom with Matt self-producing- and
their fans as well as critics are loving it! FADER will release
Grand early next year and a spring tour has been announced, but
we'll have many more shows coming up so keep an eye on the tours
page. And then go see Matt and Kim!
Contact Sheila (at) riotactmedia.com.

Seattle’s At The Spine are kicking off a superrad west coast tour December 19th in Portland, and they’ll be hurling jams at you from this year’s Vita full-length (Global Seepej)…if you’re in Oregon, Washington, Cali or Arizona, you’re in luck. Get out to those shows, and chat with genius frontman Mike Toschi about his experiences teaching overseas!
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

Wow, Leonard Mynx! Portland’s got it going on like crazy-style these days, and Leonard Mynx is part of why. Dude recently finished recording his amazing debut full-length with Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western, M. Ward) at Type Foundry in PDX; it draws from the history of American music and American history in general, and waxes poetic on the long tradition of communication through song. Shunning the graveyards, prisons and diseases that plague much of present society, the music of Leonard Mynx is a celebration of life! Stunning, rad. More news regarding the album and dates soon.
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

Origami Ghosts’ “Short Momentum” is getting some supercool critical praise (Synthesis calls the record “a contagious collection of well-crafted songs”, and Boise Weekly notes that “singer and founder JP Scesniak’s high, haunting voice stands out against a beautiful backdrop of cello, guitar and sparse drums”), and they’re planning their next US tour as we speak—ye shall have all the news where that’s concerned; just check this site!
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

Just when you think you know about everything and everyone out there, you come across something like The Traditionist that reaffirms any doubts yr cynical mind may’ve had about there being new, great musicmakers yet to be discovered. Songcrafter Joey Barro is crazy prolific, and will have several releases throughout ’09 and ’10, the first of which is dropping hotly on Better Looking Records later this winter. Produced by the Mother Hips’ Tim Bluhm, this batch of songs was brought to fruition over the course of a year with Bluhm’s help. Barro is now in the studio recording the album’s follow-up with Bluhm, and Superchunk/Mountain Goats/New Pornographers/Robert Pollard drummer extraordinaire Jon Wurster is slammin’ down the beats.
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

So many exciting things are happening for Portland’s own Loch Lomond, who are hott off a US tour with The Decemberists. The new full-length is now titled Little Me Will Start A Storm, and the band will have release news before too long, along with upcoming touring updates. For now, lucky Portlanders can check the band as they play with Blind Pilot at The Aladdin on December 17th. Not only that, they’ve just recorded a Future Sounds session with WOXY, which you can here >right here!

visit Loch Lomond’s MySpace page!
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

Starflyer 59 has just released the gorgeous, somber, huge-sounding Dial M For Martin, and it’s got the critics abuzz. The Blah Blah says the album “fires on all cylinders”, and Copious Notes, err, notes that the band is “creating some of the most well-crafted, imaginative rock” of the past decade, and YouthWorker says that the album “clears the bar with room to spare”.
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

COMEDY ROSTER NEWS:

Eugene Mirman. What can't he do? First of all, he hosts the
amazingly awesome Tearing The Veil Of Maya show every Sunday at Union
Hall (don't miss the upcoming holiday show!!), he has an insanely
funny book 'The Will To Whatevs. A Guide To Modern Life', coming out
in February, will be performing a multitude of shows at Comix in
January, and he has just relaunched his website with a ton of fun,
new, original content, including “The Incidents of Eugene Mirman” blog,
new videos, phone calls, Eugene's advice column, “The All Night Party
Think Tank League”, a place to pre-order the book and more!
http://eugenemirman.com
Contact Sheila (at) riotactmedia.com.

New York based artist/comedian/musician John Roberts has two upcoming
NYC performances that you'll be sorry to miss. The John Roberts
Holiday Show is set for Dec 17 & 18 at Comix, and his performance will
include his original characters, many of whom are featured in his
massively popular short films. If you haven't seen his brand new
Jackie and Debra short, (which just recently went live and has over 23k
views on YouTube alone) you should do it right now!

Jackie + Debra - Stephanie Berger

WATCH HERE!
Contact Sheila (at) riotactmedia.com.

If you aren’t familiar with Jacqueline Novak, it’s high time you get that way! If you’re in NYC, you have an opportunity every Sunday, when Novak co-hosts a comedy night at Piano’s called President Johnson with Greg Johnson; each show starts at 7:30, and past guests have included Todd Barry, John Roberts, Jim Gaffigan, Lynn Shawcroft, Bonnie MacFarlane, Tom McCaffrey, Demetri Martin, Rob Cantrell, Hannibal Buress, Mike Birbiglia and more.
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

Another great comedy night, Fatsmiles, is happening again on December 4th at Joe’s Pub in NYC! This installment features Eugene Mirman, Hannibal Burress, Kumail Nanjiani and Robin Ince, and you DO NOT want to miss it.
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

Matt McCarthy will be performing brand new, never before seen
original stand up next month at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater
on Dec 18th at 8pm. What can you expect from Matt McCarthy? His
sketches let loose original, unrelenting roller coaster performances
that needs to be seen to believed. His routines are full of manic
absurdity, inimitable deadpan, and scathing satires of convention,
expectations, and the decorative fantasy stores in the mall. And it
all feels like he's performing just for you.
Contact Sheila (at) riotactmedia.com.

Grace Parra has a side-splitting, hard-hitting new video investigating exactly what it takes to be (drumroll)….a soccer mom. Directed by NBC producer Chad Wollett and shot in California, Parra goes straight to the source. Moms are interviewed. Kids are interviewed. More moms and more kids are interviewed. And Grace, champion that she is, UNLOCKS THE SECRET OF THE SOCCER MOM! Watch! Share!
HERE IT IS!
Contact Joan (at) riotactmedia.com.

Kumail Nanjiani spent the first 18 years of his life growing up in
Pakistan, then made the natural transition to Iowa where he attended
Grinnell College. He was so excited to leave Iowa four years later
that he moved to Chicago, where he immediately started performing
comedy--and before long, he found himself hailed as one of Chicago's
rising comic talents. After being spotted performing at Empty
Bottle, Chicago's Lakeshore Theater commissioned Kumail's oustanding
one man comedy performance "Unpronounceable" directed by Paul
Provenza (director of The Aristocrats). After performing
"Unpronounceable" through a successful New York run this spring,
Kumail will bring his critically acclaimed one man show to The
Upright Citizens Brigade Theater for an exclusive Los Angeles
engagement on January 22.
Contact Sheila (at) riotactmedia.com.

There’s more excitement to come…until then, frivolity and eggnogs to you!

Love,

Joan and Sheila

PS: DO NOT FORGET TO CONSIDER THE RELEASES WE WORKED ON FOR YR YEAR-END LISTS!

Adem, "Takes" (Domino)

All Girl Summer Fun Band, "Looking Into It" (AGSFB Music)

Alina Simone, "Everyone Is Crying Out To Me, Beware" (54/40 or Fight!)

At The Spine, "Vita" (Global Seepej)

The Bellrays, "Hot, Sweet & Sticky" (Anodyne)

Bird Names, "Open Relationship" (Unsound)

Brighton, MA, "Amateur Lovers" (Loose Tooth)

The Coast, "Expatriate" (Aporia)

Fences, "Ultimate Puke EP"

Glorytellers, "s/t" (Southern)

The Hard Lessons, "B&G Sides" (Quack)

The Interiors, "s/t" (54/40 or Fight!)

Little Pieces, "s/t" (One Eleven Records)

Love You Moon, "Waxwane" (Sargent House)

Maps and Atlases, "You and Me and the Mountain" (Sargent House)

Miss TK and the Revenge, "No Biterz"

Musee Mechanique, "Hold This Ghost" (Frog Stand)

Neva Dinova, "You May Already Be Dreaming" (Saddle Creek)

Origami Ghosts, "Short Momentum"

Polite Sleeper, "Seens" (Sabotage)

Say Hi, "The Wishes and the Glitch" (Euphobia Records)

The Seabellies, "Prairie"

Starflyer 59, "Dial M for Murder" (Tooth and Nail)

Stepsonday, "s/t" (One Eleven Records)

Women, "s/t" (Jagjaguwar)