New Tortoise MP3, LP & Tour

Not content to merely filter through their back catalog of work this July at the Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago's premiere post-rock/jazz outfit today announced the completion of their latest record. Tortoise's sixth studio album, entitled Beacons of Ancestorship, will hit record shops on June 23 via Thrill Jockey records. Stereogum has a download of the album's opening track "High Class Slim Came Floatin' In"; a synth-heavy suite that sounds quite different from most of the group's previous work. The group will also be doing a bit of touring, in addition to the aforementioned festival date, in support of the album (via Pitchfork):

05-29 Buffalo, NY - Tralf Music Hall
05-30 Brooklyn, NY - Bell House
05-31 New York, NY - World Financial Center Winter Garden
06-12 Athens, Greece - Synch Festival
07-11 Los Angeles, CA - Troubador
07-13 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
07-15 Austin, TX - The Mohawk
07-17 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07-19 Washington, DC - Black Cat
07-20 Philadelphia, PA - Sanctuary at First Unitarian Church
07-24 Tokyo, Japan - Fuji Rock Festival

Sonic Youth Announce Summer Tour

It's summertime, and Sonic Youth has a new record coming out on Matador Records, which means it's time for the summer tour announcement! Take a look at these US Summer 2009 dates (via Sonic Youth's website):

June 28th – Chicago, IL – Vic Theater
June 29th – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
July 2nd – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
July 3rd – New York, NY – United Palace Theatre
July 6th – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
July 8th – Richmond, VA – The National
July 10th – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theater
July 11th – Nashville, TN – War Memorial
July 12th – Birmingham, AL – Sloss Furnaces
July 13th – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
July 15th – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
July 16th – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s
July 18th – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
July 20th – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
July 21st – Minneapolis, MN – First Ave
July 23rd – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
July 25th – Seattle, WA – Capitol Hill Block Party
July 28th – Portland, OR – Roseland Ballroom
July 30th – Salt Lake City, UT – Twilight Music Fest
July 31st – Denver, CO – Ogden Theater
August 2nd – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater

All those dates go on sale to the public this Saturday, May 2nd. Make sure you check out "Sacred Trickster"; the opening track of The Eternal, due June 9th on Matador Records. From the sound of it, this one's going to be another SY classic.