“Telephone” is easily the most accessible track on Merchandise’s 4AD Records debut, After The End, and over the weekend the clip got proper video treatment at the hands of Scottish artist John Byrne who tapped his own play The Slab Boys for inspiration. “This video was lots of work. For sure our most theatrical but also our most animated,” frontman Carson Cox said, “Under the amazing art direction of John and a load of Scots we were able to not only confuse time but create a new type of surrealism.” You can watch the whole band in full makeup and costume above (via Stereogum). See two more videos from the release here and here.
It’s no secret that along with Merchandise, Benjamin Booker will go down as one of the great breakout success stories from the Tampa Bay music scene. We’ve steadily chronicled the 25-year-old’s late night conquests (Letterman, Conan to name a few) and on Friday Booker took to the UK airwaves for an appearance on the BBC’s Later...With Jools Holland. The band — which includes Roppongi’s Ace’s Max Norton and Alex Spoto — was even joined by Holland for a performance of “Happy Homes.” Watch that above and then a performance of “Violent Shiver” below. Ben Howard, Jessie Ware, Robert Randolph, and Manic Street Preachers were also on the episode with the hometown boys, and that just makes everything everything seem even more crazy. You can catch Booker & Co. on October 25 when they hit the amphitheatre formerly known as Gary for Live Nation's Coral Skies Music Festival.
In tour news, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are bringing The Who’s 50th anniversary tour to Tampa for an April 15 show at the newly renamed Amalie Arena (401 Channelside Drive in downtown Tampa). The date promises to touch every facet of The Who’s output and is actually the first of the band’s 2015 campaign, which Daltrey has described as the “beginning of a long goodbye.” Tickets go on sale October 17 at 10 a.m. EDT and will set you back $36.35-$136.25. More information is available can be had by clicking the picture below.
Oh, guess what. James Blake is coming to Florida on his upcoming tour, and you guessed it, it's not stopping in Tampa or St. Petersburg (via Miami New Times). Yeah, the 26-year-old UK electro crooner & producer is pulling a BeyJay and opting to perform in Miami on December 5 as part of Basel week. The tour, in support of 2013's Overgrown, features only five stops with Brooklyn and Miami being the only ones of the east coast. Tickets for the show at the Young Arts Center (2100 Biscayne Blvd., Miami) are $27-$35 plus fees and available now by clicking here. Watch Blake perform "Life Round Here" below.
