The Shins, MGMT headline 80/35 music festival; O+S share new single, will release sophomore album on Record Story Day; The Ambulanters announce west coast tour; The Courtneys tonight

The Shins, MGMT headline 80/35 music festival

Our music nonprofit neighbors to the east have announced their summer festival lineup and it’s a big one.

The Shins and MGMT will headline Des Moines’ 80/35 music festival, Des Moines Music Coalition announced Tuesday. The former is back in the national spotlight with Heartworms, its first album since 2012’s Port of Morrow. MGMT burst onto indie rock scene in 2007 with the fan-heralded Oracular Spectacular.

The two indie rock mainstays are part of a lineup that includes rapper Action Bronson, folk act Elephant Revival, psych rock band Chicano Batman, garage rockers (and Maha alumni) Diarrhea Planet and many more.

80/35 enjoys its 10th-anniversary this year during its July 7 and 8 concert event. DMMC started the festival in 2008 with the aim of strengthening the city’s live music economy and “to further enhance a creative, vibrant culture,” according to its website. The festival is one reason Des Moines continues to attract touring artists throughout the year.

Last year’s lineup featured Nas and The Decemberists with the likes of Lotus, Wolf Parade and The Black Lips (check out our 2016 day-two coverage here). Expect more 2017 artists to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets are on-sale now; two-day passes are $65. Find them here.

Artist announcement:

The Shins
MGMT
Action Bronson
Elephant Revival
The Motet
Chicano Batman
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
Diarrhea Planet
Modern Life Is War
Radio Moscow
WebsterX
The Suburbs
A Giant Dog
Bad Bad Hats
Henhouse Prowlers
Middle Western
Trevor Sensor
ZULUZULUU
MarKaus
Dan Tedesco
prettygirlhatemachine
Elizabeth Moen
Stutterin’ Jimmy & The Goosebumps
Tha Füt
Traffic Death
Closet Witch
Ancient Posse
Lily DeTaeye
Aaron Earl Short
Vahnevants
Glitter Density

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O+S share new single, will release sophomore album on Record Story Day

Orenda Fink and Cedric LeMoyne, as O+S, now have a date set for the eight-year follow up to their debut self-titled project.

The duo have shared new single “Remember When … (The Backroads)” with Brooklyn Vegan. The track will appear on its forthcoming sophomore album You Were Once the Sun, Now You’re the Moon, which drops on Record Store Day, April 22, via Saddle Creek.

Of the new album, Fink explains via press release that it was nearly scrapped. Recorded five years ago in Birmingham, Ala., it explores the grief and pain LeMoyne felt in the wake of his friend Gregory Slay’s death (both were in Remy Zero together). While she says there will be no tour or live performances of the album, its resurrecting by producer Andy LeMaster brought the songs to life in a way that she says deeply affected both of them, so much so that they wanted them in the world.

“Remember When” is a sunnier, more upbeat offering than the album’s first single, “Hold You Down.” It fondly reminisces about simpler times on the titular back roads, its acoustic guitar and Fink’s soothing voice invoking warm scenery. Listen below:

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The Ambulanters announce west coast tour

In touring news, The Amublanters have confirmed a 21-day west-coast tour starting next month and stretching into June. It kicks off Thursday, May 11 at Zoo Bar with Unmanned, A Ferocious Jungle Cat and Gnawstic, and ends with two Nebraska dates, June 2 and 3 at Gillie’s in Kearney and O’Leaver’s.

In between, the Lincoln indie rock band will roll through South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Vancouver, British Columbia. View all dates below.

The Ambulanters are less than a year removed from releasing the punchy, dynamic debut EP Leave The House. Listen here.

May 11 — Lincoln at Zoo Bar (RSVP here)
May 12 — Sioux Falls, S.D. at Total Drag
May 13 — Rapid City, S.D. at Black Hills Vinyl
May 14 — Bozeman, Mont. at Chairea House
May 16 — Missoula, Mont. at The Joe Below
May 17 — Spokane, Wa. at The Observatory
May 18 — Seattle, Wa. at Substation
May 19 — Vancouver, B.C. at Stylus Records
May 20 — Olympia, Wa. at Doodle Pad
May 21 — Portland, Ore. at Ash Street Saloon
May 23 — Salem, Ore. at The Space
May 24 — Eugene, Ore. at Old Nick’s Pub
May 25 — Moscow, Ida. at Humble Burger
May 26 — Boise, Ida. at TBA
May 27 — Salt Lake City at TBA
May 28 — Grand Junction, Colo. at TBA
May 30 — Denver at The Hangars
May 31 — Fort Collins, Colo. at Yum Yum’s
June 1 — Laramie, Wy. at The Great Untamed
June 2 — Kearney at Gillie’s (with Salt Creek, Minor Movements)
June 3 — Omaha at O’Leaver’s (with Uh Oh, Universe Contest)

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Concert Round-Up

Tonight, Vancouver powerpop band The Courtneys come to Milk Run. The band just released its second album (and label debut) II on Flying Nun Records. David Nance Band, Vegetable Deluxe and Nathan Ma & the Rosettes round out the bill. 9 p.m., $10, RSVP here.

For more shows, check out our statewide calendar here. Email news tips, story ideas or song submissions for HN Radio airplay to news@hearnebraska.org.