She and Him: Volume Two (Album Review)

For almost a decade now, the droll, doll-faced actress Zooey Deschanel has served as Hollywood’s unofficial ambassador of Alt Whimsy — a hipsterette pinup flitting breezily between the worlds of indie quirk and showbiz gloss. After years of dabbling with singing on the big screen (see: Elf, Yes Man) she finally went all-in with She & Him, a shamelessly retro, grammatically iffy pairing with lauded folk troubadour M. Ward. Their first release, 2008′s Volume One, found instant success with the NPR-tote-bag set and cemented Deschanel’s bilateral cutie-pie status. (Her subsequent marriage to Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard didn’t hurt.)

Volume Two, unsurprisingly, trucks in much the same sunny, strummy nostalgia as its predecessor. The pair don’t so much create new material as conflate their favorite bits from a lovingly curated pile of dusty vinyl. “Thieves” and “Me and You” have the dreamy AM-radio appeal 
of records whose cardboard sleeves featured girls with knowing eyes and back-combed bouffants. “Don’t Look Back” brims with sweet piano plonk and Spector-ish 
harmonies, while ”Lingering Still” and ”Gonna Get Along Without You Now” sway between lullaby twang and Brill Building jangle. Though Ward is a master instrumentalist, Deschanel’s vocal affects and childlike rhymes sometimes veer into twee overload; she can seem too in love with her own adorability. But by a cappella closer ”If You Can’t Sleep,” it’s hard to begrudge this Volume’s magpie charms.

Generation gap or no, the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. is a stone classic. And the 1972 record is set to get the reissue treatment on May 17 in the UK and May 18 in the U.S. via Universal. The revisit comes with 10 recently uncovered, never-before-heard Exile-era sessions tracks and alternate versions of “Soul Survivor” and “Loving Cup”. Naturally, there will also be a super-deluxe version with a 64-page book, the album on double-vinyl, four postcards (why not), and a DVD with excerpts from various Stones films.

Related: “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” will celebrate the reissue by hosting covers of Exile tracks from different bands throughout the week of May 17.

Reuters:
EMI Group Ltd is struggling to reach a deal to license its catalogue of recordings, with Sony Corp (6758.T) on the verge of pulling out of discussions with the British music company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

EMI, which is owned by private-equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd, has been seeking a deal in which one of its rivals would license and distribute its music in the United States in exchange for an upfront payment of up to $150 million, the newspaper said.

But Warner Music Corp has not been in talks with EMI and Vivendi SA (VIV.PA) broke off talks last week, the newspaper said.

Introduced as ‘Johnny Jarman’ when he played with the Cribs at the Reading and Leeds festivals in 2008, Johnny Marr is mulling over the possibility of playing not only with them, but also with Modest Mouse on the same day.

Modest Mouse — which Marr was a member of — are playing the festival along with the Cribs at Reading on Saturday Aug. 28, and Leeds on Friday, Aug. 27 on the main stage at this year’s event.

With the line-up for Reading and Leeds 2010 announced on Monday, March 29, former Smiths guitarist and Morrissey sparring partner Marr asked NME, “I didn’t know Modest Mouse were on — are they on just before us?”

The guitarist recorded a US Billboard number one album with Modest Mouse ‘We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank’ in 2006 — Marr’s first ever US top spot placing — and toured with them prior to joining the Jarmans in Wakefield indie band the Cribs.

Asked if he would make a live guest appearance with Modest Mouse, before the Cribs own slot, Marr said, “You never know. What would be a good idea is that if I grew a beard like a good Musketeer, then while the other band in between us are playing just go and have a shave.”

Marr also explained that both bands are friends anyway, saying, “We were all together when the Cribs played in Portland about six weeks ago, that was really nice. Everybody’s just so easy being around each other — it’s sickeningly healthy, really.”

Reading and Leeds festival 2010 headliners announced yesterday on Spinner are Guns N’Roses, Blink-182 and Arcade Fire. Two bands set to reform for the August Bank Holiday weekend event, August 27-29, are Queens of the Stone Age and the Libertines.

Gorillaz are releasing a digital bundle of their song ‘Superfast Jellyfish’ which includes a computer game yesterday (March 29).

The digital bundle for the song, taken from recent album ‘Plastic Beach’, will include the game, ‘Escape To Plastic Beach’. Fans can compare high scores on a global table. See Gorillaz.com for more information.

‘Superfast Jellyfish’ features guest vocals from De La Soul and Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys. Listen to it at the band’s YouTube page, Youtube.com/gorillaz.

The Who’s Roger Daltrey says he still wants to release a film about the band’s original drummer Keith Moon.

Although plans for a film about Moon, who died in 1978, have long been rumoured, Daltrey says he’s still looking for a suitable writer to do the story justice.

“The Keith Moon film depends on someone sitting me down long enough with a writer to get it right. If I sat down for six weeks with a good writer, I could get it done,” he told the Daily Star. “I’ve got it all in pictures in my head. I know what the film should look like, the way the narrative should be structured.”

Daltrey added that he has rejected previous scripts – including one rumoured to have been written for Mike Myers to play the part of Moon.

“Every time I’ve left a writer to it before now, they say, ‘OK, I see what you mean, I know what you want’, and then they go off on a complete tangent from what we’ve agreed because they don’t know what it feels like to be in a band.”

He continued: “That is one of the big problems with Keith’s life – it needs to be written by someone who was there. It needs more time than I’ve been able to give it. But I’d love to have the time to do it justice with the right writer.”

Daltrey is set to perform with The Who today (March 30) as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust gigs, which he also curates.

Warner Bros Entertainment UK is recruiting tech-savvy students to help the company with their anti-piracy efforts. During the 12 month internship the students will have to maintain accounts at private BitTorrent sites, develop link-scanning bots, make trap purchases and perform various other anti-piracy tasks.

The people who work at the anti-piracy divisions of Warner Bros. and other large media companies have to be experts in file-sharing technology. It is therefore no surprise that Warner Bros. is actively recruiting students for a job as Anti-Piracy Intern, as most students have grown up sharing files.

Warner Bros Entertainment UK is currently offering an internship to “IT literate” students with knowledge of file-sharing networks to assist in the company’s ongoing anti-piracy efforts. The internship deals with both digital and physical piracy and among other things the applicant will have to make trap purchases and maintain accounts at private file-sharing sites.

The intern will further have to scour the Internet for illegally posted Warner Bros. and NBC Universal content and gather intelligence on the sites that offer these pirated goods. One of the more boring tasks listed in the job description is the sending of takedown requests and infringement notices to sites and users.

The full job description taken from the vacancy (pdf) at The University of Manchester reads as follows:

During the 12 month internship, duties will include: monitoring local Internet forums and IRC for pirated WB and NBCU content and in order to gather information on pirate sites, pirate groups and other pirate activities; finding new and maintaining existing accounts on private sites; scanning for links to hosted pirated WB and NBCU content and using tools to issue takedown requests; maintaining and developing bots for Internet link scanning system (training provided); preparing sending of infringement notices and logging feedback; performing trap purchases of pirated product and logging results; inputting pirate hard goods data and other intelligence into the forensics database; selecting local keywords and submitting local filenames for monitoring and countermeasure campaigns and periodically producing research documents on piracy related technological developments. Various training will be provided.

The lucky student who gets the job will receive a £17,500 salary for the 12 month internship that starts July 2010. Applicants are required to study a degree in a computing related discipline and programming experience with Java or JSP and PHP, Perl or Python is seen as a bonus.

We encourage all eligible TorrentFreak readers to apply for this exciting internship and provide us with regular updates on Warner Bros’ anti-piracy efforts. You have to be quick though, the vacancy closes on March 31.

Despite the buzz of excitement, it appears that Swedish hardcore punk band Refused are not planning to join the ranks of reformed bands.

The band split in 1998 shortly after the release of the The Shape Of Punk To Come: A Chimerical Bombination In 12 Bursts which was named by Kerrang! as one of the “50 Most Important Albums Of All Time”.

The ‘news’ of a reformation began with a new message on the band’s official website which simply reads “Refused, coming soon…”, but following the logic of a good internet rumour it soon turned into a full blown reformation.

BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe spread the word’ by excitedly tweeting – “This. Is. HUGE!!!!!, Refused have reformed.”

Punknews.org were also quick to fuel the flames and hopes of fans by citing “an anonymous source” who claimed that the band would soon be playing “some to-be-confirmed European summer festivals.”

However it appears that the brief yet tantalising message simply refers to the upcoming reissue of 1998’s The Shape Of Punk To Come due out in May, rather than a tour or any new recordings from the band.

A clearly frustrated Lowe has acknowledged his mistake on Twitter – “Ugh!!! Major f%^^in burn!! Cheeky marketing RT. apparently it’s just Epitaph re-releasing TSOPTC. “Refused Are Coming”!!!??… I’m sorry but that is playing on peoples hopes. Oh well, apologies for the false alarm.”

The Libertines will receive around £1.5million for performing at the Reading and Leeds festival in August, it’s been reported.

The British group are understood to have agreed to reform in their original line-up for the festival.

It will mark the first time guitarist Carl Barat, drummer Gary Powell and bassist John Hassall have performed with singer Pete Doherty since his acrimonious departure in 2004.

The band will fill one of the headline slots in return for the substantial financial sum, according to the Guardian.

As previously reported on Gigwise, it is thought that The Libertines could record new material and announce additional dates if the performances prove successful.

The full line-up for this year’s Reading and Leeds festival, which runs from August 27-29, will be announced at 7pm.

Reports have also linked Guns N’ Roses, Arcade Fire and Blink-182 to the event.

Twenty-two years after his Cannes award-winning turn as Charlie Parker in the Clint Eastwood-directed biopic Bird, Forest Whitaker is gearing up to play another jazz great: Louis Armstrong. Just as Don Cheadle is plotting to direct and star in an upcoming Miles Davis biopic, Whitaker will perform double duty as the star and director of the film, currently-titled What A Wonderful Life, which is tentatively set to begin filming in the spring of next year.

“It covers his whole life but more from a myth point of view – it’s told as two different myths of the same person,” Whitaker told Empire. “I didn’t know anything about Louis Armstrong’s life until I started working on the piece. I just knew some of his songs – mostly his pop songs [because] in a way he became a pop star.”

There’s no word yet on who will be taking on music supervising duties, but Whitaker was the executive producer on his three previous directorial efforts, so perhaps he’ll work closely in that department once again. If not, I nominate the jazz biopic go-to man, Herbie Hancock, for the job.

Yo La Tengo, members of TV on the Radio and Magnetic Fields lined up as well

On May 6, downtown Manhattan’s Le Poisson Rouge will host a benefit show for New Zealand punk originator Chris Knox, who suffered a series of strokes last year.

The big news: Reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel leader Jeff Mangum will make an extremely rare appearance at the show, playing a “very short acoustic set.” According to the show’s publicist, Mangum “is doing the show specifically to help raise money for his close friend and it’s not the start of a comeback.” Still, Jeff Mangum! Live! This doesn’t happen every day. Or every year. Or ever, really.

Other acts playing the benefit include Yo La Tengo, TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, Portastatic, Claudia Gonson of the Magnetic Fields, Sharon Van Etten, and Knox’s fellow New Zealanders Robert Scott and David Kilgour of the Clean (who will each do solo sets). Most of the performers also contributed to the recent Knox covers disc Stroke.

Portions of the show will be recorded to be broadcast on WFMU and New Zealand radio stations at a later date. Tickets will go on sale on Kickstarter.com on Tuesday, March 30.

Mr. Hansen writes songs for the movie’s fictional garage band

Earlier this week, the trailer for the new comic book adaptation flick Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World debuted online and sent dorks worldwide into spasms of ecstasy. One more reason to get geeked up about the movie and its trailer: Amidst all the dialogue and booming sound effects, apparently you’ll hear slivers of a couple of new Beck songs, the Playlist reports. According to the Playlist, Beck wrote the songs for Sex Bob-Omb, the titular character’s fictional band.

The L.A. Times reports that the Universal movie, which opens August 13, also features a new song from Metric, and Radiohead/Beck producer Nigel Godrich serves as music supervisor.

Watch the trailer below:

Refused appear to be on the verge of reforming.

The Swedish hardcore punk band, who originally formed in 1991 before splitting in 1998, look set to make a comeback after they posted a message on their official site officialrefused.com saying: ‘Refused, coming soon…”.

Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe also painted further evidence of a possible reformation when he expressed his delight on his Twitter page earlier today (March 27) adding: “This. Is. HUGE!!!!!, Refused have reformed.”

The band released five EPs and three albums – ‘This Just Might Be The Truth’ (1994), ‘Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent’ (1996), and ‘The Shape Of Punk To Come: A Chimerical Bombination In 12 Bursts’ (1998) – during their seven year career.

From Billboard:

Sony Music Entertainment continues to trim staff with sources suggesting that about 20 people were let go from the Sony Music Label Group, which consists of Columbia, Epic and a shared services department, sources say. The layoffs come on the heels of cutbacks at other divisions within the Company.

The Daily Swarm received three separate tips regarding rumored layoffs at Sony/BMG and after some fact-checking they, sadly, appear to be true. Just last year Sony/BMG began leasing the CAA building in Beverly Hills at no small sticker price, and Sony’s film arm suffered major layoffs in February of this year.

Tip: Columbia Records laid off 40–50 people this afternoon

Tip: Heard there we’re sizable layoffs over at Sony today as they merged Epic and Columbia staffs.

Tip: HUGE layoffs at Columbia and Epic today.

The new LP — maybe LCD Soundsystem’s last, or not! — is out on DFA/Virgin 5/17. Title TBD, here’s an updated tracklist:

.
01 “Dance Yrself Clean”
02 “Drunk Girls”
03 “One Touch”
04 “All I Want”
05 “I Can Change”
06 “You Wanted A Hit”
07 “Pow Pow”
08 “Somebody’s Calling Me”
09 “Home”

The tour:
April 16 Indio CA Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
April 20 Dublin Tripod * SOLD OUT
April 21 Dublin Tripod * SOLD OUT
April 23 London Brixton Academy * SOLD OUT
April 24 London Brixton Academy *SOLD OUT
April 26 Birmingham Academy
April 27 Leeds Academy * SOLD OUT
April 28 Glasgow Barrowlands
April 29 Glasgow Barrowlands * SOLD OUT
May 1 Manchester Academy * SOLD OUT
May 2 Bristol Academy * SOLD OUT
May 4 Amsterdam Paradiso * SOLD OUT
May 5 Brussels Ancienne Belgique * SOLD OUT
May 6 Berlin WMF
May 7 Luxembourg Den Atelier
May 8 Paris Bataclan * SOLD OUT
May 9 Paris Bataclan
May 20 New York Terminal 5
May 21 New York Terminal 5
May 30 George WA Sasquatch Festival
June 11 Manchester TN Bonnaroo Festival
June 17 La Coruna Sonar
June 18 Barcelona Sonar
June 19 Neuhausen ob Eck Southside Festival
June 20 Scheesel Hurricane Festival
June 22 Zagreb T Mobile Inmusic Festival
June 24 Ferrara Bands Apart Festival
June 25 St. Gallen Open Air festival
July 1 Roskilde Roskilde Festival
July 3 London Wireless Festival
July 8 Novi Sad Exit Festival
July 10 Lisbon Alive Festival
July 17 Chicago IL Pitchfork Music Festival
July 15 Mariaville Camp Bisco
July 16 Mariaville Camp Bisco
August 12 Oslo Oya Festival
August 13 Gotenberg Way Out West Festival
September 12 Isle of Wight Bestival

Atlanta modern rockers the Black Lips are already two recording sessions into their fifth studio album, which the group’s Ian Saint Pe says could be out by late summer or early fall.

“When will we be done? I’m hoping by June,” the guitarist said. “I’m hoping we can get the record out by the end of summer, September-October, when school gets back in. That’s my prediction.”

Saint Pe says the group held one session at its studio in Decatur, Ga. — which he says has been “a little more fine-tuned” than when the Lips made its last album, 2009′s “200 Million Thousand” — and another with Bradford Cox and Lockett Pundt from Deerhunter producing. The band is planning another session for the Distillery in Costa Mesa, Calif., where it made its 2005 album “Let It Bloom.”

“They’ve been focused sessions,” Saint Pe says. “I’m already digging what we’ve got. I’ve read reviews where people say we haven’t changed, but, man, the wheel ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We do what we do. It’ll sound like a Black Lips record; I can’t say much more than that. It’s got garage stuff, punk stuff, a little of that Atlanta hip-hop. It’s just who we are. I think it sounds good.”

The album’s title has yet to be determined, but the Black Lips are previewing one song, “Raw Meat,” in concert. “It’s like a punk song, and the hook’s a whistle,” Saint Pe notes. Other potential songs include “So Long to Carolina,” “Wildest Dreams” and “This is My World.”

The Black Lips are touring North America until April 10 and have two shows booked in Spain — May 30 at the San Miguel Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona and the Azkena Rock Festival on June 24 in Vitoria. Saint Pe says some more European dates might be added to the schedule, while a fall tour will likely support the new album release.

Damon Albarn has revealed that he has recruited a member of Liam Gallagher’s new band to play with Gorillaz.

He told Australian radio station Triple J that he had signed up a man named “Jeff” to play with Gorillaz, who are set to go on a low-key tour of the UK later ths month, play live at the London Roundhouse next month then perform more shows later in the summer.

“We have a young lad called Jeff who funnily enough is in Liam’s new band,” he said – confirming that he did mean Liam Gallagher. Albarn, who when in Blur in the ’90s had a rivalry with the Manchester band, added, “I just thought that was quite funny.”

Albarn has also enlisted two former members of The Clash, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones, to play with the live Gorillaz set-up. He said that the band would make sure any visual effects they had didn’t affect their sound too much.

“We have used holograms in the past,” he said, “but to really successfully put a hologram on the stage you need so much smoke you can’t see anything else, or you stretch a piece of very fine transparent film across the stage and project across that. But you can’t have any bass, because the film starts rattling. This time we’re going out al guns blazing, with the best bass sounds on earth.”

Albarn also revealed that he had tried to get Engelbert Humperdinck and The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb to appear on Gorillaz’s latest album, ‘Plastic Beach’.

Speaking of Gibb, he said, “He was doing it then he wasn’t doing it then he was doing it again. He was going into a studio, it was a studio in Miami, then he got to the studio and decided he had an earache and that was the end of that.”

You know him as the excitable little bald guy from “Arrested Development”, “Mr. Show”, and virtually every indie-comedian special ever conceived by man. Pretty soon, funny motherfucker David Cross will release his third comedy album (and second DVD) for Sub Pop.
Bigger and Blackerer, which was taped at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre, drops on May 25. There’s some crossover between the CD and DVD, but each one contains material that isn’t on the other. On April 10, the filmed portion will air as a TV special on the cable network Epix.

We’ve got the tracklist for the CD below.

Bigger and Blackerer:

01 Opening Song (The Sultan’s Revenge)
02 If You Care
03 That One Show About Drugs and Stuff
04 Me and Drugs
05 Black Stuff
06 …Or Worse
07 Where We Are Now Back in Sept. ’09
08 Silly Religious Crazies
09 REALLY Silly Religious Crazies. I Mean, Double, Triple Crazy!!
10 Random Goofabouts
11 I Can’t Get Beer in Me…
12 Lesson Learned
(via pitchfork)

Legendary rock photographer Jim Marshall has died at the age of 74.

Rolling Stone reports that Marshall passed away during his sleep (March 23).

Well-known for taking pictures of the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Who, it’s his pictures of Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival (pictured) and Johnny Cash’s middle finger salute at San Quentin have become iconic.

Due to take part at an event at New York’s Morrison Hotel Gallery tonight (March 24), the show will now instead be a memorial of his work.

Collaborating with artists on over 500 album covers, Marshall worked late into his life, taking portraits of people like John Mayer, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz and Velvet Revolver.

Publishing five books during his life, including 2009′s Trust, Marshall was passionate about his work up until the end, saying: “I have no kids, my photographs are my children.”

Despite what over-analytical spoilsports might have you believe, Rochdale masters of electronic experimentation Autechre are a uniquely visceral entity. At their most tangible, indeed, the duo – long-time pals Sean Booth and Rob Brown – are less mathematical, intelligent dance music nightmare, more punk-spirited joy to behold.

For nearly two decades, across 10 albums, the acid house/original electro/hip hop-schooled Warp stalwarts have deconstructed techno and beyond into fascinating, ever-evolving abstract shapes. Oversteps is certainly no exception to their outwardly difficult aesthetic and could, on initial listens, get thrown in with unforgivingly tricksy 2003 set Draft 7.30.

Disregard the fact that the song titles largely resemble a Scrabble game with a corrupted Eastern European supercomputer, however. Beneath the icy exterior, deceptively warm hearts beat, rushing synthetic blood at thresholds with almost maniacal glee as they smash apart linear constraints.

Those already familiar are swiftly on reassuring ground. Second track ilanders is classic Autechre, lunar synth lines partially harking back to feted 1995 release Tri Repetae’s affectingly eerie atmospherics, fractured beats built and demolished with sentient android accuracy. It’s engrossing, an alien landscape you simply can’t extricate your ears from, every barbed glitch progressively snagging further wisps of your hearing.

There isn’t, it’s accurate to report, much immediacy here. But that was never Autechre’s forte. True to form, the immersing osmosis of repeated plays is the only method of absorbing Oversteps’ depths. A few moments do land instantly, though: known(1) re-imagines then mechanises ancient oriental zither strains with the unfolding beauty of an origami swan; O=0 chimes and tingles with Philip Glass-worthy dexterity; st epreo’s dense thicketed beat undergrowth grabs your cochleas.

And once Yuop evaporates into the ether it’s more than apparent why many people don’t exactly get Autechre, even plentiful converts who assume that they do. Perhaps Oversteps’ mantle even nods to the extra unnecessary layers of deep rumination their wares often attract. But by maintaining a ferocious appetite for streaming across territory few electronic musicians possess even a perception of, Autechre continue to test themselves and listeners alike with stunningly intricate results.

Last September Jay-Z sold out Madison Square Garden for his “Answer the Call” concert, featuring guest performers ranging from John Mayer to R&B queens Mary J. Blige and Beyonce. The event not only marked the 9 anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan, but it also brought together a forever-scarred New York City with the new anthem, ‘Empire State of Mind,’ off the album,‘The Blueprint 3.’

Cameras were on hand at this epic event to capture intimate backstage footage and interviews with Jay, the results of which will now emerge in ‘NY-Z,’ a new documentary from renowned rock photographer/filmmaker Danny Clinch. Enjoy.

Teenage Fanclub return on June 8, 2010 with a brand new album, Shadows, and a UK tour.

It has been 5 long years since their last album Man-Made was released to universal acclaim, so it is no overstatement to say the new album is keenly anticipated. While most bands are lucky to have one great songwriter, Teenage Fanclub are blessed with three, hence Shadows is overflowing with the kind of gorgeous, harmony-driven classics you’d expect to find on a greatest hits album. Teenage Fanclub plan to tour the US in September.

Hear / Download New Teenage Fanclub Track ‘Baby Lee’ Here

Earlier last fall, Diplo was the first to drop a few deets about M.I.A.’s forthcoming third album. His “description,” however, didn’t quite paint a clear picture: “It’s like Gucci Mane meets Animal Collective.” Hmm. Now with summer festival dates on the way, and speculation of a June/July album release brewing, Diplo has dropped a few more somewhat cryptic comments for us to obsess over.

“It’s sort of like an Animal Collective/gospel/giant-drum record,” he told MTV at SXSW last week. “And she’s singing on it. I think you might expect some rap/club music, but nothing on there. It’s more of a heavy record. All kinds of different sounds. We did, like, a punk thing. … It’s weird.”

That makes for a decently ambiguous MySpace genre tag, I suppose, but Diplo isn’t done teasing us: “It sounds like some Wall of Sound, Motown kind of thing,” he said of a song he just wrapped called “Tell Me Why.”

Man, Phil Spector goes to prison and his Wall of Sound is back! Not that we’re complaining.

Meanwhile, we finally have specifics for M.I.A.’s upcoming concert in New York City (there’s one scheduled for LA, as well). According to an email from HARD, M.I.A. “& Friends” will perform on two stages on Governors Island from 5PM to 1AM on July 24th. For tickets, go here this Friday at noon. Wonder who her “friends” might be…

Phoenix have toured the globe and appeared on basically every U.S. late-night television program since the release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix last spring, but if you have yet to catch them live or just want a totally free live album from Thomas Mars, Branco, and the boys, behold: Live in Sydney.

The band are offering a free download with no strings attached (not even an email address) of their concert in Sydney, Australia earlier this month on their official site. Well played, monsieurs.

The 8-song tracklist is below:

Phoenix – Live in Sydney

01 Lisztomania
02 Lasso
03 Fences
04 Girlfriend
05 Armistice
06 Love like a sunset
07 Rome
08 1901

Julian Casablancas says that The Strokes are recording their new album without him present in the studio.

The frontman explained that he was leaving his bandmates to work on the music for the record, before he adds vocals alone later on to prevent himself from interfering.

“I think they [the other band members] did a good job,” he told ABC News. “Just tracking the songs. It’s been nice to get my hands on it.”

Explaining why he was removing himself from band recording sessions he added: “I thought honestly it would be a good chance for them to kind of…

“I’m pretty opinionated. Nothing pushy to the point of it’s my way or no way, but I’ll hear a song and be like, ‘Hmmm, it feels like the bass should be like something different’. Whereas if I feel like I wasn’t in the room then they could just kind of spread their wings.”

He went on to say that the new album “sounds probably more like the last record [2006's 'First Impressions Of Earth'], but I think I might funk it up a little”.

The Strokes are set to play the Isle Of Wight festival on June 12 then Rock Ness in Scotland on June 13. Casablancas admitted that the motivation behind agreeing to play them was money.

“Should I say the truth? Money,” he said when asked why the band agreed to play the shows. “Yeah. The offers were so crazy that we had to say yes.”

New York Daily News:
Has Phil Spector gotten a bloody taste of jail-yard justice? The hot-tempered music legend is minding his tongue after having several teeth knocked out by a fellow inmate at the state prison in Corcoran, Calif., two Spector confidants tell us.

“Phil has quite a mouth on him,” says longtime pal and defender Steven Escobar. “Not everyone understands his humor. He said the wrong thing to the wrong inmate in the yard.”

Lacking any of his trusty firearms, Spector wound up with a bruised nose, black eye and the loss of a couple of caps, according to Escobar.

The singer Pete Doherty has been arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs following the death of the heiress Robin Whitehead at a flat in east London, sources said today.

The 31-year-old Babyshambles frontman was one of four people questioned following the death of the 27-year-old film-maker.

The body of Whitehead, the granddaughter of the Ecologist magazine founder, Teddy Goldsmith, was discovered at a flat in Hackney on 24 January after paramedics answered a 999 call. She died from a suspected drug overdose.

Doherty was arrested in connection with the inquiry on Friday.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: “A 31-year-old man was arrested on 19 March on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs.

“He was bailed to return on a date in April pending further inquiries.”

Two other men, aged 41 and 28, were arrested on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug.

The 41-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman, were questioned on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The woman is suspected of allowing her premises to be used for the supply of controlled drugs.

Doherty, a friend of Whitehead, said he was “shocked and saddened” by her death.

She had completed a documentary film, The Road To Albion, about his former band, the Libertines, and spent a lot of time with him.

Her mother, Dido Whitehead, is a cousin of Jemima Khan and Zac Goldsmith, and her father is the 1960s filmmaker Peter Whitehead.

Wall Street Journal:
EMI Group Ltd. has held preliminary talks to license its music in North America to rival record labels, a move that comes as private-equity owners seek to avoid debt default that could soon put the troubled music company in the hands of lender Citigroup Inc., people close to the matter said.

EMI, which was purchased by private-equity group Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. in 2007, has been shopping a five-year licensing deal of its catalogue to rival music companies, including Warner Music Group Corp., Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group and Sony Corp.‘s Sony Music, these people said.
Under such an agreement, sales and distribution of music by artists such as the Beatles and Pink Floyd would be handled by a rival music company. A deal could bring in up to £100 million ($150.1 million) per year for EMI, one person close to the matter said Sunday.

iMarketNews:
The talks are at a very preliminary stage and it is far from certain whether such an arrangement would help Terra Firma accomplish its aim to stave off a default on its debt to Citigroup. In the coming months, Terra Firma must raise Stg120 million to avoid a default or risk losing control of EMI to Citigroup, which is owed more than Stg3 billion. Other obstacles are the time scale of such a deal and possibly antitrust issues. Any such deal would have to be approved by Citigroup under the provisions of the secure loan that financed the leveraged buyout. Shares in EMI CDS spreads for EMI are around 28 bps tighter at the 1,071 bps level.

The Times:
Terra Firma, EMI’s owner, believes it can raise £400m from such a deal. Guy Hands, Terra Firma’s boss, calculates this would be enough to stave off a looming takeover by its lender, Citigroup. It would also mean Terra Firma could abandon plans to tap investors for another £120m. Without the extra cash, Citi, which Hands is suing for allegedly misleading him over the sale of EMI in 2007, could take control of the business on June 14.

The back catalogue contributes virtually all of the earnings at the company’s recorded music division, and up to £100m a year in North America alone. It is separate from EMI’s music publishing arm, which owns the rights to the songs themselves but not their recordings.

Talks on a deal began in recent weeks with Universal Music, but have since moved on to include Sony and Warner Music. Sources say they are keen, but would prefer a longer licence period.

“They are not quite selling the family jewels — just taking them to the pawn shop,” said one source.

Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse now share a record label with Fisherman’s Friends, a group of 10 fishermen, lifeboatmen and coastguards from Cornwall, England who just signed a £1m (about $1.5m) deal with Universal, the Guardian reports.

What’s more, the sea shanty troupe hailing from the coastal village of Port Isaac will share the stage with Vampire Weekend, U2, Muse, and other to-be-confirmed artists at this year’s Glastonbury Festival in late June, just two months after releasing their major label debut.

The Fisherman’s Friends were set to self-release their third LP before producer Rupert Christie overheard them in a pub and subsequently landed them the 7-figure deal.

Watch them perform “South Australia” (each with a pint at his feet) here or below:

As Karen Elson gears up for the summer release of The Ghost Who Walks, via Jack White’s Third Man Records, she is unveiling a few teasers which certainly prove that her debut solo album will be more than a vanity project backed by her famous rock star husband. We loved Elson and friends’ live studio video to the title track last month, and heard strong reviews coming from her SXSW showcase last weekend, but another preview arrived today…

Elson premiered the video (watch below) of “The Ghost Who Walks” B-side “Stolen Roses,” filmed in Los Angeles’ notoriously musical Laurel Canyon by Maximilla Lukacs and Sarah Sophie Flicker, aka the Belles of the Black Diamond Field

Meanwhile, Elson spoke about what we can expect from her first record:

I was definitely influenced by living in Nashville and listened to a lot of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline, so there are a lot of mournful songs on there. There are also a lot of murder ballads on there, which is quite morbid.
Elson goes on to describe how it may be hard for some to sympathize with her oft-melancholic personality, so her songs utilize the point of view of “characters and whatnot instead.”

The Floria Sigismondi-directed video has some visual similarities to Sigismondi’s previous collaboration with Jack White: the White Stripes’ “Blue Orchid” video in which he met his wife, Karen Elson and her most recent work in directing The Runaways movie. As for the song, I have to agree with what Third Man Records co-conspirator Ben Blackwell.. It’s sounding very similar to their first record, picking up where Horehound left off, if you will. CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

Also, if you would like to hear the first two singles from their upcoming album “Sea of Cowards” CLICK HERE

After a stage dive left him bruised and injured last month, Stooges frontman Iggy Pop has decided to retire his signature move.

The veteran rocker always leapt off the stage during his shows, but when he hurtled into the crowd during the Tibet House US 20th Annual Benefit Concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, no one was there to catch him.

“When I landed, it hurt, and I made a mental note that Carnegie Hall would be a good place for my last stage dive,” Pop told WENN. “The audience were just like, ‘What are you doing?’”

Looks like after 62 years and a recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Iggy is finally learning how to take care of himself.

It’s easy to draw up The Tyranny of Distance as Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’ best album, right? Perhaps you’re partial to Hearts of Oak, but in the end, there is little refuting the steadiness of their catalog. Although they’ve made a name for fashioning such punk and highly volatile rock into splendidly excellent music, one has to assume that a change would be approaching soon. Just how long can you continue to follow up with the same shtick before eventually attempting something new?

Try not to focus on such misunderstanding because while we were contemplating this, Leo and his Pharmacists were out on the road, touring and making new music for their fifth album as a band. With The Brutalist Bricks, they’ve silenced doubters with another skillful dose of catchy rock and it’s quite the remedy for any sour disbelievers. You see, even when they’re attentively composing music to reach new levels of excitement, they are quickly amassing a new set of songs to pair with that enthusiasm. And when there isn’t anything showing but an impressive drive towards hit-making wonder, as is the case with something like “Even Heroes Have to Die,” you have nothing else to do but listen along with a smile on your face.

I don’t even think you could really fault someone like Leo for continuing to write the same kind of music – there isn’t anything wrong yet. Usually, you’ll find bands that have become shadows of their pasts but with these musicians, the music seems to get tighter, snazzier and even snappier, with more and more practice. On “Bottled in Cork,” Leo and his band playfully sing, “I think I’m falling in love…tell the bartender” to the tune of clashing drums and guitars. The return of guitarist James Canty is a resurgence as Leo is able to solo and improvise, knowing that his support is in full swing and like the aforementioned song, something like the “Bartolomeo and the Buzzing of Bees” buzzes with a fluid gel of musicianship. Each member covering their territory with rousing results and still finding a way to come together: united and resolved.

Remember back during the middle of the last decade when words circulated that Leo was suffering from throat problems and would need subsequent surgery? The uproar of worry was felt within every level of music devotees while Leo did his best to silence doubters with an album that was solid overall but mostly overlooked by one massive single in Shake the Sheets (how many times do we need to hear that “Me and Mia” is probably the best song he’s ever written?) If there was any lingering wonder after the disappointing Living with the Living, it’s been soundly atoned with The Brutalist Bricks. Not only does Leo’s voice sound inspiringly fantastic but he alters it from smooth baritone to quirky punk rocker in a heartbeat.

One of the biggest things that was continually repeated, either on press releases, on reminders or even on Matador’s own page for the album was this: if you’ve seen Ted Leo and his band touring then you might be well aware of the songs on The Brutalist Kicks but be forewarned, they’re better, deeper and pack a mightier punch on the actual album. I’m not sure how ‘flat’ they sounded live but maybe it’s just that they sound so much better behind a full touring schedule where all of the kinks can be worked out. I’ll tell you one thing though, a memorable song like “Woke Up Next to Chelsea,” which finds Leo and his band shredding their instruments and wailing away – on top of flawless musicianship – sounds downright fantastic all done up.

For in the end, it’s this dying breed of consistency that should be rewarded. Sure, a change of pace might be needed, sooner rather than later but in the meantime, we’ll gladly eat up anything Leo offers in the future – just as long as it’s as good as The Brutalist Bricks.

MGMT have offered up their new album ‘Congratulations’ as a free stream after it leaked online.

The Brooklyn band said that they had wanted to give away the album, out officially on April 12, as a free download. Instead they have made the stream available at their official website, Whoismgmt.com.

“Hey everybody, the album leaked, and we wanted you to be able to hear it from us,” they wrote on the site. “We wanted to offer it as a free download but that didn’t make sense to anyone but us.”

A biopic based on the life of troubled underground pop icon Daniel Johnston is in the works, with Philip Seymour Hoffman slated to play him.

The script is currently being written by father and son team David and Jordan Miller. They are set to release their first film ‘My Suicide,’ in September in the US. The soundtrack of ‘My Suicide’ is suggestive of good taste, set as it is to feature contributions from Bright Eyes, TV on the Radio, Radiohead, My Morning Jacket and Animal Collective.

Speaking to Pedestrian.tv, David Miller gave more details, saying, “We’re doing a Daniel Johnston biopic and I’m producing and writing, and Gabriel Sunday our star [from 'My Suicide'], he’s going to be directing and playing young Daniel. It’s going to be an epic superhero story and it’s going to be a narrative biopic so it doesn’t really cover any of the same stuff that the famous ‘Devil And Daniel Johnston’ documentary that won Sundance in 2005 covers.”

That film documented the various troubles the bipolar Johnston has suffered throughout his life. He was one of Kurt Cobain’s favourite artists, and released his seventeenth studio album last year, ‘Is And Always Was.’

Miller added details on who is being lined up for the big role. “We’re either putting Gabriel in a fat suit or there’s so many people that are reaching out that are huge Daniel Johnston fans. Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly for example, Johnny Depp’s a big Daniel Johnston fan though we’d like him to play the older brother. But we haven’t really arrived at that yet – we’re just in the scripting process at the moment but once we get the script finished we’ll be able to get a better handle on what the budget will be.”

Patience isn’t just a virtue, it can be absolutely transcendent. With its long introductions and songs that gently unfold before rolling over the listener like a tsunami, “The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night” (Jagjaguwar) is all about patience and pay-off.

The Montreal band’s second album, the 2007 release “The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse,” established the group’s ambitious mix of orchestral pop and guitar-heavy rock, a marriage of Brian Wilson-like splendor and My Bloody Valentine-worthy roar. On the follow-up, the blend of those two seemingly incompatible styles is even more seamless and refined. The band manages to take its time without ever sounding slack. If the lyrics are a bonfire of earthly anxiety, the music shoots for the skies.

Both “Land of the Living Skies” and “Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent” are two-part epics that build with expertly orchestrated force. “Chicago Train” opens in fragile beauty, a far-off voice rising like a wordless siren over doleful strings, then shifts into chugging guitar rock. “Albatross” sets Olga Goreas’ pleas in a womb of woozy guitars, falsetto harmonies and regal trumpets. “Light up the Night” turns cataclysm into a hymn.

Goreas and husband Jace Lasek cowrote, coproduced and performed most of the album, with assistance from drummer Kevin Laing and guitarist Richard White. Right now no one is making music this grand, this big, this moving with so much assurance.

The Dead Weather have revealed that the title of their forthcoming second album will be ‘Sea Of Cowards’.

As previously reported, Jack White announced that the follow-up to 2009′s ‘Horehound’ was due out in April, but now according to reports at Entertainment.ie, the album will be released on May 7.

Preceding the album, the band are set to issue a new single ‘Die By The Drop’, with a release date expected to be announced soon.

Meanwhile, earlier this week Jack White defended his White Stripes bandmate Meg’s drumming skills and also revealed that he has recently recorded a song with Jay-Z.

Carrie Brownstein’s Monitor Mix at NPR.org is an amazing music blog, but her estimable approach to music criticism and analysis not only turns me on to other artists — it makes me insanely hungry for Sleater-Kinney to reform after four years spent on an indefinite hiatus.

Well, the Daily Swarm uncovered a recent interview with IFC in which the former S-K guitarist offers a few updates on that front, namely that she has “started a new band after taking many much-needed years off from playing” and that “hopefully [a new Sleater-Kinney] record” will come to fruition “sometime in the next five years.”

Brownstein doesn’t offer many details about said new band, save for that Sleater-Kinney/Quasi drummer Janet Weiss is among the group’s four members, they’re “based in Portland — but not all… members live there,” and seven songs are ready to go.

Now that’s some good start-of-the-week news.

Hot on the heels of the Handsome Furs’ Juno nomination for last year’s Face Control, Dan Boeckner and his Wolf Parade bandmates just knocked out a whirlwind two-week recording session in Montreal, completing all 15 songs for their forthcoming as-yet-untitled LP.

In an interview with Exclaim, Boeckner said their follow-up to 2008’s At Mount Zoomer will either be a double album or a single LP accompanied by an EP, as Spencer Krug and company recorded “over 80 minutes of music” and there are “no songs… where everyone was like, ‘Oh, that’s a dud.’” Later, he added:

There’s a few songs that are really, really intensely keyboard-heavy, but not like Depeche Mode. On the other hand, there’s also a lot of guitar solos — proper solos. Some of the stuff is really, really heavy ’80s coke rock. The album is tentatively set for release on June 29 via Sub Pop, but details are still developing while they complete mixing, mastering, and choosing a first single. Meanwhile, the band will begin previewing new material in under two weeks from today, when they set out on an April/May tour of eastern Canada and Europe.

Modest Mouse and vinyl were made for each other. Albums from the Pac-NW rock legends tend to be long and sprawling, and breaking them across a few sides is the way to go. Their 2000 major-label debut, The Moon & Antarctica, which we named the #6 record of the decade, has been out of print on vinyl for some time. But that’s going to change next month.

For the LP’s 10th anniversary, Epic/Legacy are re-issuing Moon on vinyl. The set, due on April 17 for Record Store Day, has been remastered using the band’s preferred 2004 master, but it contains the original tracklisting, without the extras found on the expanded edition. It also features the original artwork and contains the locked groove found at the end of the first side.

As (mostly) fun as The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather have been, boy does this little DVD/Live album package makes you miss The White Stripes something rotten. The beautifully shot doc follows the band’s 2007 Canadian tour, and it’s a reminder that while Jack White may enjoy his less pressurised roles in his other bands, he’s a shadow of the rock star that’s unleashed when it’s just him and Meg. The first piece of concert footage is a thunderous version of first single ‘Let’s Shake Hands’, and as Meg plays one-handed with Jack whirling wildly in front of her, it all comes flooding back: they’re the most violent, sexiest live band of our times.

The melding of Led Zep rock glamour and the rough-and-ready spirit of the blues is, of course, at the heart of the band, and the film contrasts the full-colour theatre shows with black-and-white footage of them playing bizarre impromptu free gigs. All the best moments come from this stuff, as Jack and Meg play to passengers on a bus in Winnipeg, rock out on the back of a fishing boat on a river and do a gig in a bowling alley during which Jack pauses in the middle of one song to bowl a ball (he scores eight).

However, the real draw for fans will be the intimate glimpses of Jack and Meg’s relationship. There’s a minor tiff about one show (Jack: “We were changing tempo three times a song.” Meg, ever stoic: “It felt about right to me.”) and much to be read into their body language and teasing little ways. Despite the fact they once shared a marital bed, that whole sibling shtick actually seems emotionally truthful. Jack really is a playful younger brother with her, forever mocking her silent reserve. Meg is very much the amused, bemused, older sister – “I’m quiet, what can I say?” – and the film plays around with her Sphinx-like image by subtitling her few words. Jack’s incredibly protective of her, but also obviously reliant upon her elusiveness, not just as an onstage anchor for him, but also as a stimulus for his creative spirit. There’s one moment backstage when Jack’s bashing away at a piano while Meg smokes contentedly on a couch nearby; a perfect snapshot of artist and muse.

Of course, knowing that the band ceased all activity shortly after this due to Meg’s “acute anxiety” gives the whole thing a compelling subtext. Her genial silences seem suddenly sad, Jack’s fevered performances desperate, their arm-in-arm walks together poignant. The film closes with the image of Meg sobbing in Jack’s arms after he’s played her ‘White Moon’ on the piano.

The live album is built from tracks taken from different shows so doesn’t show off the improvisatory nature of their setlist-free shows, but again, it’s a reminder that their three-year absence is a bit of a tragedy. Let’s have that comeback this year please, ol’ Meg.

Just how big is the market for mobile apps?

Global mobile apps will be worth $17.5 billion by 2012, according to an independent report commissioned by app store GetJar. Mobile app downloads across all types of handset are also expected to increase from over 7 billion downloads in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2012 – a year on year growth rate of 92%.

This would mean that the value of apps sold would be greater than the projected $13.83 billion value of CDs sold in 2012.

Everyone’s favourite whiskey-swigging, wart-faced rock ‘n’ rollers Motorhead have announced a plethora of UK dates in commemoration of their 35th anniversary.

Lemmy and his merry men will be bringing their infamously loud volume levels to venues across the country in November as part of their familiar end of the year trip around England, Scotland and Wales.

The three week jaunt begins up north in Aberdeen on Nov. 8 before closing down at the other end of the country in Brighton on Nov 28.

And it’s all in misty-eyed celebration of their formation in 1975, after frontman Lemmy left prog-rockers Hawkwind.

The full tour is as follows:

Aberdeen Music Hall (Nov. 8)
Glasgow O2 Academy (Nov. 9)
Newcastle City Hall (Nov. 10)
Blackburn St. George’s Hall (Nov. 12)
Llandudno Arena, Wales (Nov. 13)
Derby Assembly Rooms (Nov. 15)
Manchester Apollo (Nov. 16)
Leicester De Montfort Hall (Nov. 18)
Bristol Colston Hall (Nov. 19)
Southampton Guildhall (Nov. 21)
Cambridge Corn Exchange (Nov. 22)
Wolverhampton Civic (Nov. 24)
Leeds 02 Academy (Nov. 25)
London O2 Academy Brixton (Nov. 27)
Brighton Centre (Nov. 28)

Spoon, Broken Bells, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and Band Of Skulls kicked off the first official day of the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas yesterday (March 17).

Spoon packed Stubb’s Bar-B-Que — one of the largest SXSW venues — for their midnight set. Britt Daniel and co performed several tracks from their most recent album, ‘Transference’, kicking off with ‘Written In Reverse’. The Austin-based band appeared in high spirits and delivered an energetic set, warming up an otherwise chilly evening.

Broken Bells — composed of Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) and The Shins’ frontman James Mercer — preceded Spoon at the NPR showcase. The duo were augmented to a seven-piece and performed the majority of tracks from their recent self-titled debut album. Danger Mouse switched between drums, guitar and keyboards throughout the set.

“What is it, Valentine’s Day?” Mercer quipped, surveying the crowd filled with people wearing green. “Oh, green is for St Patrick’s Day. Drink until you pee green.”

Earlier in the evening, Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings got the crowd dancing with their crowd-pleasing old-school funk. The irrepressible frontwoman got some of the loudest cheers of the evening, shimmying across the stage in a green sequined dress and putting her band through the paces, who are also known for their work with Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse. The band previewed a handful of new tracks from their forthcoming album, ‘I Learned The Hard Way’, which is due out in the US April 6.

As usual, the day was filled with shows, parties and receptions put on by everyone from the British Embassy to the mayor of Austin and featuring a host of bands including Band Of Skulls, Toro Y Moi, Hesta Prynn and The Acrylics. Band Of Skulls delivered a raucous performance at the British Embassy reception, offering up their unique brand of blues rock tracks from their debut album, ‘Baby Darling Doll Face Honey’. “We’ve broken about four amps in the past two days,” said bassist/vocalist Emma Richardson. “I’m not gonna apologize for breaking things,” responded guitarist/singer Russell Marsden.

Earlier in the day, Toro Y Moi (aka Chaz Bundick) packed the house at the Mohawk in the heat of the afternoon, delivering his dreamy brand of synth pop armed with only a laptop and a microphone.

The day kicked off with a noontime set by Brooklyn band The Acrylics at the Austin Convention Center. Despite the early hour, the quintet expertly delivered their ethereal indie folk rock while swigging beer. The band performed tracks from their recent EP ‘All The Fire’, produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear. Good times indeed..

Once upon a time, it was what you smoked that got you into trouble but in these cleaner living times, the simple act of smoking is enough to incur the wrath of the authorities. Likewise the refreshments of your average rock star. Where once Colombia’s biggest export outside of Shakira was the stimulant of choice, rock gods are now relying on the teeth grinding properties of caffeine.

Just ask Them Crooked Vultures drummer Dave Grohl.

His band mates — Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones — have posted a video detailing Grohl’s prodigious intake of the naughty bean in liquid form.

As well as offering a glimpse of the band hard at work on their next album — the follow-up to their eponymous 2009 debut — the video goes on to explain that, “Two weeks after this video was shot, Dave was rushed to doctor due to the onset of unwanted physical effects caused by too much caffeine. For reals. He was kind of a mess.

“Since then he has reduced his intake of the super delicious hot beverage to a healthier level.”

Them Crooked Vultures return to live action at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Monday (March 22) when they preform as part of Who singer Roger Daltrey’s series of Teenage Cancer Trust concerts.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” is devoting its entire run during the week of May 10 to special shows saluting the Rolling Stones’ iconic album “Exile on Main Street.” That week, a host of major acts will perform covers of songs from “Exile,” and that Friday’s (May 14) episode will feature the premiere of a new documentary about the album’s creation, “Stones in Exile.”

Participating bands have yet to be officially announced, but they are expected to include some of rock’s biggest names. It is also unknown if members of the Rolling Stones will be part of the celebration.

Released in 1972, “Exile on Main Street” is infamous for its debaucherous recording sessions at Keith Richards’ mansion in the south of France. The album spawned a host of instant Stones classics, including “Loving Cup,” “Sweet Virginia,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Ventilator Blues,” “Rocks Off” and “Torn and Frayed.”

“Exile” will be reissued on May 18 through Universal with 10 previously unreleased tracks from the original sessions, including “Following the River,” “Plundered My Soul,” “Pass the Wine” and “Dancing in the Light.” A super deluxe edition includes the album on vinyl, a 30-minute DVD and a 50-page book with photos from the era.

On one hand, this isn’t too surprising, as both Jay-Z and Jack White have publicly declared their hopes to collaborate someday, but on the other hand, holy crap! It actually happened! In an interview in the new issue of GQ (UK), the Dead Weather/Raconteurs/White Stripes rocker dropped the incredible news…

“I just did a record with Jay-Z,” said White. “We did a song together a few weeks ago. It was incredible. I played him something that I’ve been kicking around for a while and he immediately came out with words for it. It’s unbelievable-sounding.”

Perhaps Hova and White were introduced by mutual collaborator Alicia Keys.

Though White hasn’t made any previous forays into hip-hop, Jay-Z is no stranger to rock collaborations, having previously teamed up with Linkin Park, John Mayer, and U2 to name a few.

Gorillaz will open up rehearsals to their fan club (G-Club) around the UK ahead of their April headline debut at the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Joining Damon Albarn for these live rehearsals will be Paul Simonon and Mick Jones from The Clash amongst others as Gorillaz take their rehearsals on the road.

These unique events which Gorillaz have never done before are band rehearsals only – and will not feature full Gorillaz visual production.

Rehearsal Dates:
March
21- Portsmouth Wedgwood
22- Bristol Trinity
23- Cambridge Junction
25- Brighton Old Market
26- Birmingham Irish Centre
27- Lincoln Engine shed

Only subscribers to the Gorillaz fan club (G-club) are eligible to buy tickets. The newly launched Gorillaz fan club gives fans an exclusive Gorillaz collectible model – based on the car in the Stylo video, online content and the opportunity to access both fan only events, and priority ticketing to live concerts.

Gorillaz Band
Mike Smith – Keyboards
Jesse Hackett – Keyboards
Paul Simonon – Bass
Cass Browne – Drums
Damon Albarn – Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Gabriel Wallace – Drums
Geoff Wotton – Guitar
Mick Jones – Rhythm Guitar

Alex Chilton, the influential rock musician, whose work spanned an eclectic gamut from the soul songs of the Box Tops to the multiple incarnations of his pop band Big Star, has died, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis reported. He was 59. The cause of death is believed to have been a heart attack.

Mr. Chilton, who lived in New Orleans, had recently been complaining of health problems, and was taken on Wednesday by paramedics to an emergency room in New Orleans where he was pronounced dead. His death was confirmed to the Commercial Appeal by Jody Stephens, his longtime band mate in Big Star. The group was scheduled to perform on Saturday at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin.

Mr. Chilton, who grew up in Memphis, was just 16 years old when the Box Tops, in which he sang and played guitar, had a No. 1 hit with “The Letter” in 1967. When that group broke up in 1970, Mr. Chilton formed Big Star with Mr. Stephens, a drummer, and the musicians Chris Bell and Andy Hummel. The band’s first album, “#1 Record,” in 1972, did not come close to fulfilling the commercial promise of its title, nor did the followup releases “Radio City” and “Third/Sister Lovers.” But their music – gentle and introspective songs like “The Ballad of El Goodo” and “September Gurls,” and exuberant anthems like “In the Street” – had a profound impact on generations of pop and indie acts that followed.

Perhaps the surest measure of the tug that Mr. Chilton exerted on subsequent artists can be found in the lyrics of the Replacements – another malleable rock act that moved more hearts than retail units – who sang in their song “Alex Chilton”: “Children by the million / Sing for Alex Chilton / When he comes ’round / They sing, ‘I’m in love / What’s that song? / I’m in love with that song.’”

Zane Lowe: Can we clear something up James, There’s been all this talk of late that this might be the last LCD Soundsystem album, what’s the story about this?

James Murphy: I think it is, and l I feel good about it and really positive about it, it’s not like a negative thing. I think that its nice to feel like it’s the last one and we’ll tour really hard and then go do something else.

ZL: Did you have that in mind when you were making this record? Did it make the process more bittersweet of did it change your attitude towards recording knowing you might not follow it up?

JM: Yeah very much so but only in the second half, in LA I wasn’t really thinking about that at all. I was just like you know – make a record – kind of like ‘trying to make a record mode’. And then when I get back to New York it was getting to the end of it and all the other things started happening the typical ‘you gotta get your artwork in’ and all this other stuff. And I just decided it’s been a while since I wanted to worry about any of that stuff. So, as much as I love making the record and going on tour and everything like that , I was like ‘man If I have to worry about this stuff anymore’ …. You know . So it just seemed like perfect we’ll (the band) make this the last record and we’ll do exactly what we want and go out happy.

One of the best parts (aside from the possibility of new music of course) about the Stooges’ Raw Power lineup reunion is that guitarist James Williamson has done a host of wonderful interviews since the announcement was made last fall. Speaking to Pittsburgh’s Post Gazette this week, Williamson reflected a bit on the band’s 4-decade-long career and offered a funny quip on their induction into the Rock Hall of Fame, which goes down tonight in New York City:

We were about to take pride in setting a record for not getting in. But lo and behold we did, and I secretly feel like ABBA might have something to do with it because I can just see the guys on the committee going, ‘Well, you know, if we put ABBA in, we’re going to take a lot of crap for this. We better put the Stooges in there to counterbalance it.

Interesting theory, but I think Ron Asheton’s tragic passing perhaps reminded the Rock Hall voters that they better get on the Stooges bandwagon ASAP.

Despite a few teases on Twitter, we still can’t confirm that a new M.I.A. album is due in June, but something does appear to be brewing for this summer. The Scenestar reports that M.I.A. will perform at the Cornfields of Los Angeles State Historic Park on July 17, according to a twitpic/poster/announcement from HARD, whose website also states that Ms. Arulpragasam will perform in New York City on July 24.

Details are scant regarding the latter gig, but tickets will go on sale for the LA show starting next Friday (Mar. 26) via Groove Tickets here.

In other “M.I.A. is back!” news, Pitchfork is reporting today that Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells, one of the most deservedly hyped acts around the blogosphere, IMO, have teamed up with M.I.A.’s NEET label and Mom & Pop Records to release their debut album, Treats, on May 11.

Early last month, we rhetorically asked, “What are Michel Gondry and Björk building in there?” A question inspired by an exciting, yet über-cryptic, tidbit in an Entertainment Weekly Q&A with the French director. All we honestly knew at the time was that — as Gondry offered — “it’s very undefined, so it’s hard to give more precision.”

The Playlist caught up with the director/writer/genius at SXSW this week, however, and wrangled another choice quote from the man for us to obsess over. Now the project sounds a tad more, um, defined: “We have a very ambitious project, a sort of scientific musical,” said Gondry. “[It’s a movie], but maybe more for museums. Like a 40 minute IMAX project in 3D.”

That rules out an Icelandic venture capital endeavor, Science of Sleep sequel, or Björk cameo in The Green Hornet, sure, but a “scientific musical” is a better fit for the pair behind such profound prior work in the music video genre, I’d say.

John Lydon says some fresh Public Image Ltd. music — the group’s first since 1992 — will likely “come at the end of all this. That’s definitely the intention.”

“This” would be the touring the reactivated band will be doing this year as it launches its first North American trek in 17 years on April 16 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Nineteen more dates are slotted through mid-May, with a European run to follow. An April 7 spot on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” will mark PiL’s first U.S. TV appearance in 18 years as well as the 30th anniversary of its notorious “American Bandstand” stop.

The concerts, Lydon said, are not only to reacquaint the audience with PiL — the group he launched in 1978 after the demise of the Sex Pistols — but also to raise money for a new recording project. “We’ve got no backing — no record company, no sponsors, nothing like that,” he explains. “The only way we can make money is the touring, and then we can make a new album. It’s sort of like the old days of PiL, when the Pistols went kaput; I had to scrimp and scrape out of my own pocket. Not much has changed.”

The album will likely be recorded in the U.S., he says, possibly in the digital studio he’s created in the front room of his Los Angeles area home.

He doesn’t anticipate material to be a problem. “Yeah, I’ve got piles,” Lydon says. “I never stop writing. Most of my influences have never really come from a musical act. It tends to be things like the poetic beat of a newscast. There’s a rhythm to the way it’s laid out..Movies can do that. Shakespeare and good poetry does that, and a bloody good book does that, or just a long walk.”

Lydon and his mates — PiL alumni Lu Edmonds on guitar and Bruce Smith on percussion, along with new bassist Scott Firth — don’t plan on trying out any of the new songs in concert, but he does expect the shows to be similar to the two-and-a-half hour epics it performed during December in Great Britain — and which are chronicled on the new U.K. album “AliFe.” “We’re almost physically attuned to each other on stage,” Lydon says of the lineup. “It’s a wonderful give and take — no nastiness, no arguing. We experiment sonically. I just love the potential. We truly love what we’re doing.”

Lydon says he was drawn back to PiL by the 2009 death of his father, and by his brother’s subsequent battle with throat cancer. “Death is so hard for me to cope with,” Lydon says. “I had to have a release from that. That led me into going back and listening to (1979′s) ‘Death Disco,’ a song I wrote about my mother’s death. That gave me the lust to get up there, back on stage and express these feelings.” But, he adds, “We’re not the kind to go up there and be miserable, fashionably. It’s about a celebration of life.”

Lydon has other projects he’s working on — most notably a book that he says will be different than the straightforward memoir of 1995′s “Rotten — No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs.” The Sex Pistols, meanwhile, are staying comfortably on the shelf for the moment.

“It’s always there,” Lydon notes. “It’s great fun to do, but it’s creatively unrewarding. There’s definitely a need for them in the world, but I have to make my own way, too. PiL is my heart and soul, always will be.”

Last week, a daughter of James Brown claimed that the legendary singer’s body had gone missing. Now, according to a new report, the Godfather of Soul is still resting in a crypt on the property of another daughter, hopefully putting an end to this bizarre tale.

This odd case all started when LaRhonda Pettit, an illegitimate daughter of Brown, told UK’s Daily Mirror that Brown’s body disappeared from the home of Deanna Brown Thomas. Now, the funeral director who handled Brown’s burial says the body is in the same place it’s been since his death.

“There’s no truth to that,” Charlie Reid, C.A. Reid Funeral Home’s director, told the August Chronicle. “It would have had to have gone through us. We would have been contacted if that happened.”

Even the police have said they don’t buy Pettit’s claim. “I have not heard that. I would expect we would have knowledge of such a thing,” said a spokesperson from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office.

Naturally, if this were true, Pettit should have gone to the police rather than a newspaper. “This would be a criminal offense,” Reid said. “If this was the case, she would need to talk to police.”

Pettit suspected that the missing body was part of a sort of plot to cover up the true cause of Brown’s 2006 death, which was reportedly due to heart failure brought on by pneumonia. She believes that drugs were involved in the death, and an autopsy has never been performed on his body. Still, so far she appears to be alone in her belief of this conspiracy.

LONDON – The amount of revenue generated by online music sales in the UK outstripped the decline in traditional CD and DVD formats for the first time last year.

Figures published today (16 March) by PRS Music, which represents 65,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, highlight online sales were up by £12.8m to £30.4m, more than offsetting drops in sales of CD and DVD, which fell £8.7m.

It marks the first time online sales have outpaced the decline in traditional sales and follows concerted efforts to combat online piracy and license those benefiting from the use of British music overseas.

The resulting online sales growth of 73% resulted in a 2.6% lift in total music annual revenues to £623m. Online is the third largest media platform for music sales in the UK, after TV (£96m) and radio (£48.5m). Robert Ashcroft, chief executive of PRS for Music, welcomed the total sales lift, but said he remained “cautious as to whether this represents a true turning point”. He added: “In a tough trading year for all of us I’m pleased we were able to deliver a small increase in royalty revenues, allowing the nation’s music creators to keep creating music that is heard and appreciated around the world.” The next decade promises further revenue growth for PRS Music from the legal digital market as well as the use of British music overseas. It collects sales for more than 10 million tracks through its music licences. Internationally, Asia and Australiasia were responsible for the biggest increase of royalty earnings, up 29.2% to £17.7m. There was also strong sales growth in the Americas (up 24.2%) and Europe (16.3%).

KKR, the private equity firm, is in talks with Warner Music to launch a break-up bid for Warner’s rival, EMI.

The two have met in recent weeks to discuss how they would structure a deal for EMI, which is expected to be put up for sale this summer.

The revelation ups the ante for EMI, home to artists such as Robbie Williams and Coldplay. It must devise a rescue plan in the next three weeks that will convince investors to stump up another £120m or face being taken over in June by its lender, Citigroup. Last week, EMI was rocked by the abrupt departure of music boss Elio Leoni-Sceti.

KKR, which filed for a New York stock market listing on Friday, is keen to acquire EMI’s music publishing arm, which owns the rights to songs such as Over the Rainbow and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. It already has a publishing joint venture with Germany’s Bertelsmann.

Warner wants EMI’s recorded music division — a prize it has pursued for nearly a decade. The tie-up has previously been blocked by competition authorities, but Warner chief Edgar Bronfman Jnr is sure it will go through this time.

Bankers value EMI Music Publishing at £1.2 billion. Putting a price on its recorded music arm is much harder. Although it generated 55% of EMI’s £293m group earnings before restructuring costs last year, buyers wonder whether it has a future. Big-name acts such as the Rolling Stones and Radiohead have already deserted, with more expected to follow.

Sources say there has yet to be any contact with EMI and that a bid is unlikely to happen until the company has resolved its stand-off with Citi. It must find £120m to cure a covenant breach on its £3.2 billion of loans by June 14. At the same time, EMI’s owner, Terra Firma, has soured relations with Citi by suing it for allegedly misleading it over the sale of EMI in 2007.

Both divisions of EMI are preparing five-year business plans that will include profit projections but are not thought to earmark assets for disposal. Charles Allen, the former ITV boss who has stepped up to replace Leoni-Sceti as executive chairman of EMI Music, will aim to demonstrate how EMI has developed reliable earnings streams in areas such as digital. He will point out EMI can still produce hits, such as Plastic Beach, the new release from Gorillaz.

The business plan will be submitted through Maltby Investments, one of EMI’s parent companies, which will mediate between Terra Firma and Citi. To give it another 12 months of breathing space, Terra Firma needs to win the backing of 150 out of 200 investors, who have already seen their initial £1.8 billion EMI investment all but wiped out.

However, Maltby is also expected to recommend how much debt EMI can feasibly carry. If Terra Firma and Citi agree, that will pave the way for a debt-for-equity swap that is likely to hand control of EMI to Citi, which will auction off the business.

Hands, who has relocated to Guernsey, will find out in the next two weeks whether he must return to London for his Citi court battle.

KKR said: “Our policy is not to comment on deal speculation.”

Online revenue growth offset CD and DVD decline for the first time last year for Britain’s composers and songwriters. PRS for Music, the collecting agency, reported annual income up 2.6% at £623m, helped by a 19% increase in overseas income.

It can be hard to navigate through the “new band” glut, but Isaac Brock has lent us a hand in cutting through the clutter: the Modest Mouse frontman took fellow northwest indie act Mimicking Birds under his wing (pun totes unintended) by co-producing and releasing their new self-titled debut LP for his very own label, Glacial Pace.

In short, fans of Bon Iver won’t regret giving these guys a spin: Mimicking Birds are a Portland, Oregon based trio helmed by equally intense/upfront singer-songwriter Nate Lacy. Brock has always had a way of letting the songs speak for themselves and — based on the few sparsely-adorned Mimicking Birds tunes I’ve heard — his reputation is fully intact in that respect.

Stream a few Brock-produced jams here, and grab a free MP3 of “Burning Stars” by signing up here.

You can stick another check mark on Detroit’s hall of fame list. The Stooges will be inducted tonight into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the 17th Motor City act to be graced with the honor since the institution was launched in 1986. Four decades after they crashed onto the Detroit-Ann Arbor scene, Iggy Pop, Scott Asheton and company will be coronated at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. The guys who helped invent punk rock will be inducted by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, alongside the likes of ABBA, Genesis and the Hollies in one of the most eclectic hall classes in memory. They’ll accept the honor on behalf of Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, who died last year. A Stooges display will soon sit in the inductees gallery at the hall’s museum in Cleveland. As is custom, the band is to perform a pair of songs after its acceptance speech, and Iggy Pop has said members will participate in the traditional show-closing jam. Next up from the Detroit family? Well, fans of Alice Cooper and the MC5 will certainly tell you those acts are overdue, and it’s not too early to start thinking about the next generation: Kid Rock, after all, will be eligible in 2015.

The induction is at 8:30 tonight on Fuse TV. Check your local TV listings.

They nicked it all off The Fall, could barely carry a tune in an industrial excavator and sounded like they recorded everything in a studio made from rusty tin buckets under Stockton, California’s biggest heap of hashish. Yet Pavement were the pinnacle of lo-fi slacker-pop brilliance, influencing everyone from Blur and Radiohead to Grizzly Bear and Egyptian hip hop. And in its unassuming, shambly sort of way, this 23 track retrospective proves why.

Stripped of much of their extraneous studio mumblings (although this is nobly represented in the form of ‘Mellow Jazz Docent’ and ‘Date w/IKEA’), here some of the greatest (and laziest) pop tunes of the ’90s – ‘Gold Soundz’, ‘Cut Your Hair’, ‘Shady Lane’, ‘Trigger Cut’, ‘Range Life’, ‘Summer Babe (Winter Version)’ – shuffle languorously between tunes that are among the most inventively esoteric in rock history. The glitterless glam rock of ‘Two States’, the wobbly grunge fury of ‘Unfair’ and the proto-‘Yellow’ of the fantastic ‘Here’ make for one of the wonkiest and unpredictable Best Ofs in living memory.

At their most sardonic, Pavement were one of alt.rock’s canniest commentators, lobbing pebbles at pop culture from somewhere far beneath: ‘Range Life’ slagged off Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins at a time when only Courtney Love was proclaiming the tediousness of Billy Corgan and ‘Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence’ is essentially a fanboy ode to Michael Stipe in song, listing and rating REM records. The ore of modern Pitchfork rock is here, laid out in all its flawed-diamond beauty. For a canon so flagrant in its faults, ‘Quarantine…’ is all-but faultless.

Director Christopher Pomerenke has rounded up an impressive — though somewhat random — group of artists for his forthcoming documentary The Heart Is A Drum Machine, including the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, actor/A&R man Elijah Wood, actor/Coconut Records mastermind Jason Schwartzman, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, ex-RHCP guitarist John Frusciante, Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT, and more. As the Playlist reports, the film features interviews with the above artists answering a not-so-simple question: “What is music?”

Okay, we’ll add that to our Netflix queue (trailer below), but here’s the part that caught my eye: “The film features an original score by The Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd and a cover of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ by Drozd and Keenan.” As Larry David would say, “What a combo!”

Keenan’s connection to Pomerenke isn’t a surprise, as the pair recently collaborated on Blood Into Wine, a documentary about the Tool singer’s vineyard in northern Arizona, which isn’t currently making the film festival rounds.

Check out the trailer to The Heart Is A Drum Machine below:

In RiP: A remix manifesto, Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age

Filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers. The film’s central protagonist is Girl Talk, a mash-up musician topping the charts with his sample-based songs. But is Girl Talk a paragon of people power or the Pied Piper of piracy?

The film’s central protagonist is Girl Talk, a mash-up musician topping the charts with his sample-based songs. But is Girl Talk a paragon of people power or the Pied Piper of piracy? Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil’s Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow are also along for the ride.

Ryan Adams (and his Pax Am record label) has been quiet for months. Until 3 minutes ago, that is. Adams’ official site just crawled back from the dead with a new song and announcement:

We’re going to begin pressing ORION — my most legit METAL record — on vinyl next week. Have a listen to the song below and let us at PAXAM know if you’d be interested in purchasing one.
P.S. Not a single B.C. Rich was hurt in the making of this record.

Stream Adams’ “Electrosnake” or download it as a giant .wav file here.

After watching the captivating (and slightly depressing) documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston back in 2005, I certainly wouldn’t have predicted the kinds of headlines Johnston is making of late. Not only can the Waller, Texas-based lo-fi icon flaunt a 3D iPhone app (“What’s an iPhone?” – ‘05 Me) and a relatively recent album still picking up steam, but an orchestral tour of Europe is now on the way, as well.

CMU reports that BEAM, an 11-piece Dutch orchestra, will accompany Johnston for a 17-date jaunt this spring. As NME notes, Johnston and company’s concert at London’s Troxy Theatre will be co-headlined by Jeffrey Lewis—one of my favorite artists to emerge from New York City’s anti-folk scene.

Here’s hoping a U.S. tour date announcement will soon follow, but we do have an excellent trailer with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews to enjoy in the meantime. Check out the full schedule to the “BEAM Me Up Daniel” tour here, and watch the trailer below:

Kings of Leon may be taking a well-earned break after winning three Grammy Awards, including the “Record of the Year” prize, but fans of the band will soon have a new way to experience the group’s breakthrough songs. Tapulous, the game maker responsible for the wildly successful Tap Tap Revenge iPhone game app, has enlisted the band for the newest addition to its roster. “Kings of Leon Revenge,” a new version of the popular game series, will feature playable versions of ten of the band’s biggest hits, including “Use Somebody,” “Notion” and “Sex on Fire.”

The game, based on the Tap Tap Revenge model, including a Bluetooth enabled Battles Mode which will allow fans to go head to head on the band’s tracks. The premium version of the game also features a private Kings of Leon chatroom accessible only through the app.

The Kings of Leon Revenge app sells for $4.99, and is available from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.

Kings of Leon are set to headline the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June, its only scheduled U.S. gig in 2010. The band is expected to start recording a new album sometime this year.

Kings of Leon Revenge includes the following ten songs:

“Use Somebody”
“Sex On Fire”
“The Bucket”
“Crawl”
“Be Somebody”
“McFearless”
“Notion”
“On Call”
“Black Thumbnail”
“True Love Way”

The word “psychedelic” is one of those phrases – like “genius”, “edgy” and “Pete Doherty arrested” – which has become somewhat devalued by over-use. Yet it certainly suits this collaboration between The Shins frontman James Mercer and studio maverick Brian ‘Danger Mouse’ Burton – a short (barely 37 minutes), sweet’n’sour and head-spinningly trippy affair. Since first seizing our attention with The Grey Album in 2004 – an inspired, irreverent shotgun marriage of Jay-Z’s Black Album with The Beatles’ White Album – Danger Mouse has been the hardest working whiz kid in show business, collaborating with everyone from Gorillaz to Beck between holding down a day job as one half of Gnarls Barkley. You might imagine he was spreading himself a bit thin, but hooking up with Mercer seems to have unlocked new stores of creativity. Ears are pricked from the first bars of opener The High Road. Toytown melodica forms some delightfully incongruous icing on a sumptuous melodic layer cake, built on a bed of lilting acoustic guitar chords and then covered in warm creamy harmonies, finished with a lullaby sing-along. Mercer’s gently off-beam pop songs are lit up colourfully by the duo’s choice of arrangements. Vaporize lulls you into a sweet reverie with mariachi horns and hypnotic backing vocals, while the uneasy urgency of Mongrel Heart eases off into a giddy carousel of Wurlitzer-style organ. And just as you’re getting comfortable, the lyrical barbs appear: “Don’t laugh, we’ve been through this / If you want to f*** with me, you should know…” Your Head Is on Fire sounds like it has resurrected lost snippets from The Beach Boys’ Smile sessions, before waves of wah-wah-ing keyboards and whispering mantras softly lap at your ears. It’s intoxicating stuff. And the songs also hold up in different stylistic clothing: The Ghost Inside’s falsetto vocals, simple four-chord chorus and shimmying pop groove has echoes of unlikely bedfellows such as The Dandy Warhols. The vibe is a dreamy one throughout, but prickly undercurrents keep reappearing, as on Citizen when a disembodied voice sings: “This is a day without a trace of reason… the innocent are bound to the damned.” Rarely have such brooding sentiments sounded so alluring. In summary, then: we’ll have what they’re having.

The next edition of Beck’s Record Club is set to feature (arguably) its best line-up yet — Liars, St Vincent and Os Mutantes.

St Vincent, known to her parents as Annie Clark, had something to say about the project via via Twitter. “Did a Record Club record with Beck and Liars and Os Mutantes in LA last week! It will be online soonish. Serious fun.”

Previous editions of the Record Club have featured Nigel Godrich and Giovanni Ribisi helping him out on the Velvet Underground’s ‘The Velvet Underground and Nico’ and MGMT and Devendra Banhart joining him to cover ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen’ by (obviously) Leonard Cohen. In February Wilco, Feist and Jamie Lidell collaborated with him on Skip Spence’s ‘Oar.’

There is no word on what this collaboration might be, so we’re free to speculate. A tropicalia take on ‘Exile On Main Street?’ A doom rock version of ‘Ziggy Stardust?’ Given Beck’s diffuse influences it could be anything.

Other than the regular editions of the Record Club, Beck is fairly quiet at the moment. He is guesting on Tobacco’s next record, produced Charlotte Gainsbourg’s ‘IRM’ album, and made a response track to the storm in a teacup Matthew Friedberger/Radiohead argument. Still, plenty of down time, you’d imagine. No live dates scheduled at the moment either.

It should be worth keeping an eye on Beck’s website for the next little while.

Among our most anticipated films to premiere at SXSW is Barbershop Quartet, a documentary featuring the likes of punk/hardcore pioneers Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye, not to mention Damian Kulash of today’s EMI-estranged, YouTube beloved band OK Go, comedian/actress/activist Janeane Garofalo, Congressman Marsha Blackburn, former Clinton White House press secretary Mike McCurry, and many more. All we had to go on at the time was the following synopsis:
Keeping the independent/punk spirit alive, barbershop quartet fan Robb Topolski takes on the nation’s largest cable company, only to find himself at the center of a federal investigation, inspiring a larger story of censorship, individual voice and access.

“No trailer or nothin’ yet,” I wrote, “but they had me at ‘Ian MacKaye.’” Well, we now have a trailer, it is something, and they have me at way more than MacKaye.

Watch the trailer here or below, and stay tuned for an exclusive preview shortly.

The brainchild of former Blur leader Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz isn’t just a band, it’s a whole other universe complete with characters, story lines, concepts, and locales.

On the cartoon quartet’s third release, bassist/lead singer Murdoc has moved the group to “Plastic Beach,’’ a fantastical and disquieting place built on detritus that has floated to a remote locale in the South Pacific.

Although that big garbage pile reflects themes that run through the album – corrupt corporations polluting the world both literally and psychically, melancholy amidst the decay, and blind acceptance of the status quo – it also reflects something central to Albarn’s approach to making music. He takes the various pieces of flotsam that interest him – industrial synth patterns, gauzy Brit-pop melodies, gritty soul vocals, clipped hip-hop rhymes – and welds them into a junk sculpture that never fails to intrigue.

From the languid, early Bowie dreaminess of “Empire Ants’’ to the chilled-out fuzz-funk of “Stylo,’’ featuring a startling eruptive vocal from the legendary Bobby Womack, “Plastic Beach’’ captivates.

Coconspirators this time out include rappers like Mos Def and Kano and Gorillaz veterans De La Soul – the silly-scary “Superfast Jellyfish’’ – and newcomers like Lou Reed, who lends his dry speak-singing gifts to the electro-beatnik jam “Some Kind of Nature.’’

As with the best albums tied to an elaborate concept, a literal understanding of any central tale or idea isn’t mandatory to enjoy the music

Every good business runs focus groups these days — you always want to be one step ahead of your consumer. And for Broken Bells, the delightful duo of Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) and James Mercer (the Shins), they tested out their new self-titled album on a set of truly fresh, young ears. Last week, we saw the results of the lead single ‘The High Road,’ which received passing marks from three out of the four judges. That means that 75 percent of the panel think they were on to something. Not too shabby.

But that leaves nine tracks still up for scrutiny and next up, ‘Vaporize,’ the album’s soulful, acoustic guitar-driven second track. In this new video, it seems that the song’s organs throw the kids — who think Mercer and Danger Mouse are label reps — for a loop, causing Danger Mouse to sip on something, possibly to calm his nerves from the pending criticism. Watch the video below to see if ‘Vaporize’ gets another passing grade.

KISS has announced that they have a children’s show in the works…about what they (probably wisely) do not say. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are the principal collaborators on the project, in partnership with E1 Entertainment, a content and distribution company who have worked with artists from High On Fire to Brian McKnight. Here’s the release, saying nothing in an impressive amount of space:

Leading independent studio, E1 Entertainment is thrilled to finalize their production and development deal with legendary rock band KISS. E1 will tap the worldwide enthusiasm for the KISS brand, collaborating with founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to create a comedic half-hour kids television series that galvanizes the band’s iconic personas for its young fans.

“We’re honored to be involved in carrying on the KISS legacy,” comments Frank Saperstein, Senior VP of Kids and Animation for E1. “It’s wonderful to collaborate with the creative forces behind one of the greatest rock bands of all time and unquestionably one of the most recognized worldwide.”

E1 has snagged the KISS brand as it eclipses its roots, building energy in new family and youth media outlets. KISS’s role as the face of Dr. Pepper, their significant presence during Super Bowl XLIV, and their appearance on the 2009 American Idol Finale, which reached over thirty million viewers, has made the make-up and leather-clad giants a household name for kids and families today. The KISS tradition continues to grow generation after generation transcending age, race and creed.

“KISS continues to be the juggernaut of licensing and merchandising, from KISS M&M’s to KISS Dr Pepper,” remarks KISS co-founder Gene Simmons, “KISS is a band, but also the only music BRAND. Continuing in our 35 year history of going where no band has gone before, we are proud to partner with E1. Like all things KISS, we intend to make this a very special show for our fans.”

“We couldn’t be more excited. Coupling E1’s successes and ingenuity with the global force of KISS guarantees an express pass into the homes of our youngest KISS Army members with a show of superior quality,“ adds KISS co-founder Paul Stanley.

The as- yet untitled series will be produced and distributed worldwide by E1. Executive Producers are John Morayniss and Frank Saperstein for E1 Entertainment; Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS. E1 and KISS will handle all licensing and merchandise for the series.

Looks like last year’s Sunny Day Real Estate reunion tour and reissue celebration went even better than we thought: Jeremy Enigk and the rest of the beloved Seattle-based indie quartet are set to hit the recording studio this May to work on a new album, Ear Candy reports. Their source is KEXP 90.3 radio DJ Marco Collins, who leaked the update via Twitter last night:

Great news today. Just got an email from Nate [Mendel] from Sunny Day Real Estate/Foo Fighters… SDRE is recording A NEW RECORD IN MAY!!

Great news indeed. If Sunny Day manage to complete a new LP in the spring, it will mark their fifth record overall, but, more intriguingly, their first full-length album in a decade.

Back in the fall of last year, guitarist/singer Dan Hoerner told A.V. Club, “[I]f I could have my druthers, I would love to make a new record. That would be insane.” Sounds like he got his way after all.

When Adam Yauch announced last July that doctors found a cancerous tumor in his parotid gland, cancelled shows and a postponed new album made everyone wonder when we’d hear from the Beastie Boys again.

However, the New York rapper seemed to be in better shape when he walked the red carpet at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 5 to support ‘The Messenger’ and ‘Treeless Mountain,’ two nominated films that were distributed by his company, Oscilloscope Laboratories.

“I feel better,” Yauch told Entertainment Weekly. “It was touch and go there for a while, but I’m finally getting my energy back.”

Now that Yauch is moving towards good health, the hip-hop group now hopes to get their new record, ‘Hot Sauce Committee, Part 1,’ out to the people after it was delayed due to Yauch’s illness. Still, the release date will all depend on the state of Yauch’s health condition in the coming months. “It was really disappointing to have to hold the record and postpone the tour, but doctors’ orders,” Yauch said. “We may or may not [release the album] depending on how my heath is come September. We want to, but we have to play it by ear.”

While it’s still unclear if ‘Hot Sauce Committee, Part 1′ will drop this year, Yauch said the group still plans to revisit the album and give it another look over soon. “I was just talking to Adam [Horovitz] and Mike [D] today on the phone and we were talking about working on it a bit,” he said. “We finished the record over a year ago, so we want to take a look at it and re-evaluate and make sure it is what we want to put out there and that we are still happy with it. I don’t think we will change it up too much.”

ANVIL‘s acclaimed documentary, “Anvil! The Story of Anvil”, was honored in the “Best Documentary” category at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards, which was held last night (Friday, March 5) at LA Live’s panoramic event deck in downtown Los Angeles. ANVIL also performed twice during the ceremony, which aired live and uncut on IFC (Independent Film Channel). The film’s director, Sacha Gervasi, said during his acceptance speech, “When I was 15 years old, this band took me out on the road and they showed me a lot of things, some of which I can’t discuss on live television.”

Just when it was looking like the flip side to Peter Gabriel’s song swap project, Scratch My Back, would be fractured at best and canned at worst, Justin Vernon has reciprocated Gabriel’s cover of “Flume.” On Saturday, April 17, Jagjaguwar will release an exclusive split 7”, featuring Bon Iver’s cover of “Come Talk To Me” off Gabriel’s 1992 album Us, as well as the aforementioned “Flume” cover.

For the one-off recording, Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon enlisted regular co-conspirator Sean Carey, as well as his very own sister and brother-in-law.

Jagjaguwar describes Vernon and company’s rendition of “Come Talk To Me” as “an intimated triumph,” adding, “It has the sensation of soaring, but its feet and hands are dug into the ground, rooting it there while it flirts with flight.”

How long has it been since we’ve heard a new LCD Soundsystem track? What are James Murphy and company building in there? So many questions. And finally an answer/preview/tease…

A We All Want Someone To Shout For reader radio-ripped this new track from the upcoming Murphy-scored Noah Baumbach film Greenberg, and color me impressed: the man channeled Plastic Ono Band era John Lennon brilliantly. From the shrill guitar moves to the slapback vox to the primal (scream) therapy workout, he went solo Lennon all the way and I, for one, do not object.

Stream/download yer “Oh You (Christmas Blues)” here.
backup download location

The Flaming Lips spent seven years making the phantasmagorical sci-fi flick Christmas on Mars, finally released in 2008. But Lips frontman Wayne Coyne isn’t afraid to jump into moviemaking again. Coyne says that he’s already working on another movie, and this one might not even take as long.

Coyne plans to film the movie in Oklahoma City. He tells Billboard, “My only goal was that I didn’t have to build space station-looking sets every time I wanted to have someone say something, only because I built those sets myself every time we shot something for Christmas on Mars over the seven years we took to make it. This one is set in someone’s house and in a back yard and in a slaughterhouse; all those are available to me right here, so I don’t have to build everything this time.” Sounds much easier…but how does Wayne Coyne have access to a slaughterhouse?

Coyne also raises the prospect of at least one pretty awesome celebrity cameo: “I’m gonna try to get real actors, too, celebrities to show up and have fun with us for a couple of nights. I’m in the process of begging Justin Timberlake to be part of it; if I’m lucky I’ll be able to wear him down in another year.”

Timberlake does have a history of appearing in mind-bogglingly weird feature films; he did, after all, hold down starring roles in both Southland Tales and The Love Guru. And he appeared with the Lips on “Top of the Pops”, while wearing a dolphin suit.

Coyne says that he’s beginning work on the film, and that he and bandmate Steven Drozd have started work on the film’s music. But this one could also take a while: “Because I get to do it with people I love and it’s my art, I don’t care how long it takes.”

Meanwhile, Coyne will be busy with his regular frontman duties this year. The Flaming Lips will tour the U.S. in the coming months.

Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning star in this music-fueled story of the ground-breaking, all girl, teenage rock band of the 1970s: The Runaways. In Theaters March 19th!

Zach Rogue spent much of the time before the recording of Rogue Wave’s fourth album, Permalight, confined to bed rest as a slipped disc or two in his neck healed and he gained back the use of his arm. An experience like that could send a songwriter in one of two directions; writing bleak, life-is-hell songs, or fighting back with upbeat, sunny songs, celebrating triumph over adversity. Rogue mostly chose option number two here. The album is filled with sparkling, uptempo tracks that are cheerful, danceable, and full of joy. They are decorated gaily with bubbling synths, handclaps, slick harmony vocals, and all kinds of cute production tricks that help turn songs like “Stars and Stripes,” “Good Morning,” and “You Have Boarded” into bright power poppers with plenty of pop. There are big hooks in these songs, plenty of singalong choruses, and a feeling of joy behind the singing and playing. It’s a huge change from the bland and over-cooked sound the band fell into on their previous record. On Asleep at Heaven’s Gate there seemed to be a real danger that they were headed into adult contemporary territory with no return trip booked. Only a couple songs on Permalight venture into this realm, mostly the ballads, though this time the songs are saved by the production tricks and Rogue’s vocals. He, too, was headed in a bad direction on the last album, turning from a heartfelt, small-emotions guy into an arena-sized howler who sacrificed heart for show. Luckily, he’s dialed way back on the affectations and brings some real emotion to the slow songs, and a fun-filled, breezy approach to the uptempo tracks. The production, songs, and vocals are all perfectly in tune with each other, and the band has crafted a pretty impressive return to form. Permalight is still a far way from the bedroom origins of the group, but it’s also far from being a Coldplay knock-off, and anyone who’s been a fan from the start can certainly appreciate that

The quartet reappeared on SNL for the second time in recent memory behind the strength of their #1 selling album, “Contra”. Enjoy VW playing the albums lead single “Cousins”. I guess we can be thankful that they don’t seem to be wearing their preppy polos as much any more. They still look like a 21st Century Haircut 100 if you ask me. Don’t believe me? Watch the video below, Then watch this.

Joanna Newsom’s Friday night performance on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” was either a coup for Newsom or for Fallon; it’s hard to tell which. Maybe both! After all, Newsom doesn’t appear on television very often, and the opportunity to see her stand on the same stage as Mike Myers is a rare one indeed.

Newsom, with her band, performed the Have One on Me track “Soft as Chalk”, singing most of the song out of the side of her mouth. Check out the video below

The New York Times article “Minstrels in the Court of the Kingpin”:

In November an anonymous user uploaded a new song to YouTube by Los Tucanes de Tijuana, one of Mexico’s most popular bands. The song, “El Más Bravo de los Bravos” (“The Most Vicious of the Vicious”), heralds the exploits of Raydel Rosalío López Uriarte, better known as El Muletas, or Crutches, a suspected hit man and trafficker high up in the ranks of the Tijuana drug cartel who had become as infamous for blood baths and beheadings as for his fleet of bullet-proof trucks, his crew’s uniform logos styled after MTV’s “Jackass,” and a low-budget street DVD that fictionalized his exploits.

“A very dangerous man who doesn’t fear the Devil,” Los Tucanes sing, listing Mr. López’s favorite guns (R-15 and 50-caliber rifles) and comparing him to Rambo. “He executes, kidnaps and gets the payments.”

It was not the first time that Los Tucanes (the Toucans) paid tribute to Mr. López in a narcocorrido, a controversial, time-honored and immensely popular Mexican song form that in its current manifestation typically turns news accounts of drug trafficking and drug violence into bouncy accordion- and brass-accented ballads. Their 2008 song “El Muletas” detailed a failed arrest attempt in which Mr. López escaped 200 federal agents at a popular Tijuana restaurant. (Mr. López was apprehended last month.)

The video below, with a backing track of Los Tucanes de Tijuana’s “El Más Bravo de los Bravos”, features fictional scenes and actual footage of Mexico’s narcos kidnapping, murdering, and necessitating the intervention of dozens of Mexican law enforcement agents (note: the audio quality is abysmal):

“It’s been a long time coming, but we’re working on the script right now,” former Academy Award nominated actor Don Cheadle told Parade magazine recently of the long-overdue Miles Davis biopic, which he was previously reported to star in. Cheadle’s update that the project is gaining momentum is newsworthy enough, but, as a YRB interview (via the Playlist) with Erin Davis and Vince Wilburn, Jr., Davis’ son and nephew respectively, proves, the details are truly where it’s at:

“Herbie Hancock’s going to score it and Don Cheadle’s directing and starring,” said Wilburn, adding later: “Don didn’t like the other writer that was attached to the movie, so there’s a new writer named Steven Vegelman that Don’s writing with. Once is the script is OK’d by the family, then we go into production.”

Taking on a biopic about one of the most famous and complicated jazz musicians of all time is a daunting task to say the least (even a documentary about the man would be harder than making a Dylan film, I say), but it sounds as though Cheadle, Davis, Wilburn, and company are being aptly patient with the precarious project. Not to mention I can’t imagine a better living jazz legend than Herbie Hancock—someone who has played with Davis himself among countless others—to score the movie.

In 1995, a benefit album to raise funds to fight the allegedly wrongful imprisonment of convicted murderer Leonard Peltier was supposed to come out on Columbia. The record– dubbed Exiled in the Land of the Free– was to feature feature rare, live, and unreleased tracks from Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, Superchunk, Mike Watt, Josh Homme, and more. (Via Billboard.) Well, the compilation never came out, and everyone moved on.

Well, almost everyone, apparently. American Indian Movement member Peltier is still in prison for killing two FBI agents. And now a former Columbia employee has made a website that offers the whole album to download for free, in the hopes of inspiring support for the cause.

“I apologize for the release of these materials without getting anyone’s approval,” reads the site. “But I believe the cause needs to be heard and I trust you will remember why you chose to take place in this benefit 16 years past.”

Check out the lost album’s tracklist below and head to the Exiled in the Land of the Free site for more info and to download. But since none of this seems to be authorized, don’t be surprised if the music disappears soon.

Exiled in the Land of the Free:

01 The Goats: “Leonard Peltier in a Cage”
02 New Bomb Turks: “Stick It Out”
03 Rage Against the Machine: “Wake Up (Live)”
04 Corrosion of Conformity: “Land of the Free Disease”
05 Chavez: “I Saw It Move”
06 Josh Homme: “If Only” (demo)
07 Beaver Chef: “Long Ago”
08 Superchunk: “I Can Still Feed Myself Thanks”
09 Helmet: “Just a Patsy”
10 Bad Religion: “Atomic Garden”
11 Silica Gel: “Punishment”
12 Giant Sand: “Spirits”
13 The Goats: “¿Do the Digs Dug?”
14 Quicksand: “Clean Slate” (live)
15 Beastie Boys: “(R)Evolution Time”
16 Biohazard: “Scumbag”
17 Brother Sun: “Redman”
18 Mike Watt: “Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing” (live)
19 Zack De La Rocha and Corrosion of Conformity: “The Punchline”
20 Leonard Peltier: “Greetings from Leonard Peltier”

Rolling Stone reports that Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse has committed suicide. His family released the following statement:

It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today. We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There’s a heaven and there’s a star for you.

In the past 15 years, Linkous made four albums under the Sparklehorse moniker: Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995), Good Morning Spider (1998), It’s a Wonderful Life (2001), and Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain (2006). He also collaborated on two LPs: last year’s Dark Night of the Soul with Danger Mouse and In the Fishtank with Christian Fennesz.

Linkous worked on various projects with a slew of brilliant artists during his career, including with Daniel Johnston as the producer of 2003’s Fear Yourself, and the likes of Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Vic Chesnutt, and many more.

According to Linkous’ publicist, he was nearly finished with a new album to be released via Anti- Records.

Foo Fighters are set to begin recording their next studio album in September, frontman Dave Grohl has revealed.

Grohl, who is also set to release new Them Crooked Vultures material this year with Josh Homme and John Paul Jones, said that the band he heads up had just started the writing process for what will be their seventh studio album.

“Foo Fighters have just started writing and we’re going to start recording in September so life is full of music,” the guitarist/drummer told BBC 6 Music.

John Paul Jones recently said that Them Crooked Vultures hope to record their second album “by the end of summer, something like that.”

A snippet of Rolling Stone’s coverage:
The piece was a mix of Matthew Barney and Wicker Man, as three of the four members of Animal Collective — Avey Tare, Deakin and Geologist — stood nearly motionless for three hours in the center of the room, guarding glowing video orbs and donning black robes, white gloves and creep-tastic white bunny masks. A pool of glass stalagmites jetted upwards, a puffy 8-foot-tall mountain stood menacingly in the background and Perez’s epileptic video art flickered up the rotunda, whose walls were absent of any other art. A 36-speaker system cycled a series of drones reminiscent of the VHS horror films that Animal Collective sites as an early influence — swirling masses of surround-sound gurgles, moans, static, squawks and terror-noise.

Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, the composer-in-residence with the BBC Concert Orchestra, unveiled the world premiere of his new composition “Doghouse” for an intimate crowd at the BBC’s famous Maida Vale Studios last month. That’s newsworthy enough, I say, but thanks to a couple online reviews from the lucky few in attendance, there’s more…

According to attendee Adam Bowie, Greenwood and conductor Robert Ziegler also had a 20-minute interview after the performance and—just as Greenwood’s “Popcorn Superhet Receiver” inspired his lauded There Will Be Blood score—”Doghouse” will inform parts of the score to Norwegian Wood, director Anh Hung Tran’s forthcoming film based on Haruki Murakami’s bestselling novel of the same name. It’s unclear if the film project was discussed in the Q&A, but the program handed out to attendees did indeed confirm the Norwegian Wood project.

“I wrote this piece mostly in hotels and dressing rooms while touring with Radiohead,” Greenwood said in a description from the BBC’s site (now removed). “This was more practical than glamorous – lots of time sitting around indoors, lots of instruments about – and aside from picking up a few geographical working titles, I can’t think that it had any effect where, on tour, it was written.”

And now for the really great news: We will all get a chance to hear the premiere of “Doghouse” and preview of Greenwood’s next film score on Friday, March 19, as BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the performance on that date at 2PM.

The band hammered through “Got Nuffin’”, a pleasant surprise and one of Transference’s strongest numbers (despite being previously released on it’s own EP). The first thing one notices about the performance is the precision. Sure it looks likes Britt Daniel is playing sloppily, but you get the impression that everything is planned down to the smallest missed note. The piano, drums and even tambourine are audible on their own, never blending in but rather standing on their own. Spoon has a reputation as studio workhorses, but their live show is no different, built from bricks of practice and old fashioned hard work

LCD Soundsystem has confirmed May 18 as the U.S release date of its as yet untitled third album. The record will be released on DFA/Virgin in the U.S. and will consist of the following songs:

Dance Yrself Clean
Drunk Girls *
One Touch
All I Want
Change *
Hit *
Pow Pow
Somebody’s Calling Me *
What You Need

The above were recorded at The Manshun in Los Angeles and the DFA studios in New York and mixed at DFA from April 2009 through February 2010. TBD was written and produced by James Murphy. Additional mixes were done by Dave Sardy as indicated (*).

The new album is LCD Soundsystem’s first full offering of new studio material since 2007′s Sound Of Silver, which was named best album of the last decade by NPR, ranked #1 in the 2007 Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, landed at #12 and #17 respectively in Rolling Stone and Pitchfork’s best albums of the decade, and like its predecessor 2005′s LCD Soundsystem received a Grammy nomination for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Sound Of Silver also featured “All My Friends,” ranked #4 by Time in its Best Songs of 2007 and named single of the year by Pitchfork, and Entertainment Weekly #8 song of 2007 “Someone Great.” In 2008, LCD Soundsystem contributed the track “Big Ideas” to the soundtrack of the movie 21. The bandhas since released the 45:33: The Remixes EP and a cover of Alan Vega’s “Bye Bye Bayou,” issued to commemorate Record Store Day 2009 and earning LCD its fifth NME single of the week. The album will be preceded by the March 23 release of the soundtrack to Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg, which features both composition’s from James Murphy’s original score for the film and the new LCD Soundsystem song “Oh You (Christmas Blues).”

The record’s release will be supported by a world tour beginning with an April 16 penultimate slot at the Coachella festival in Indio CA and continuing with a run of UK/Europe headline dates (several of which have sold out well in advance and necessitated added dates) and further worldwide festival appearances. For a full itinerary, see below and continue to check http://lcdsoundsystem.com/ for additions going forward.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM On Tour 2010

April 16 Indio CA Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
April 20 Dublin Tripod * SOLD OUT
April 21 Dublin Tripod * SOLD OUT
April 23 London Brixton Academy * SOLD OUT
April 24 London Brixton Academy *SOLD OUT
April 26 Birmingham Academy
April 27 Leeds Academy * SOLD OUT
April 28 Glasgow Barrowlands
April 29 Glasgow Barrowlands * SOLD OUT
May 1 Manchester Academy * SOLD OUT
May 2 Bristol Academy * SOLD OUT
May 4 Amsterdam Paradiso * SOLD OUT
May 5 Brussels Ancienne Belgique * SOLD OUT
May 6 Berlin WMF
May 7 Luxembourg Den Atelier
May 8 Paris Bataclan * SOLD OUT
May 9 Paris Bataclan
May 30 George WA Sasquatch Festival
June 11 Manchester TN Bonnaroo Festival
July 10 Lisbon Alive Festival
July 17 Chicago IL Pitchfork Music Festival
September 12 Isle of Wight Bestival

“Public concern” might mean the BBC will have to “rethink” plans to axe two radio stations, BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons has said. There has been growing opposition to the announcement by director general Mark Thompson on Tuesday, earmarking 6 Music and Asian Network for closure….The proposals will go through a public consultation before being approved. Union leaders have met with Mr Thompson, telling him the plans are “unnecessary and unacceptable”.

Former director general of the BBC Greg Dyke has told Richard Bacon’s 5 live show that he does not believe 6 Music and the Asian Network will be closed down. “All that’s going to happen now is there’s going to be campaigns to save the two stations they want to close,” he said.

The proposed cuts have been criticised by music industry figures including music producer Mark Ronson and pop star La Roux. More than 100,000 people have already joined a group set up on social networking site Facebook to save 6 Music. Writing in the Guardian, Brit-winner Lily Allen said she hoped “that the backlash they’ve received so far will make them hink twice.”

Sign Petition Here

Twee pop fans rejoice — Belle and Sebastian have announced their first shows in nearly four years. The iconic Scottish ensemble have been on hiatus since the summer of 2006, when front-man Stuart Murdoch put the group on hold to work on his musical narrative God Help the Girl. Now, the singer has returned his focus to his original group, who are reportedly gearing up for a busy year of performing and recording.

In a message sent around to members of their mailing list, the band said, “We’ve been in the studio these last few weeks writing some new tracks and shortly we will say cheerio to Glasgow for a while when we set off to L.A. to record our next album.”

Although no further details about the recording sessions are currently available, perhaps this means they will be reconvening at the Sound Factory with Tony Hoffer, with whom they recorded 2006′s The Life Pursuit.

This confirms Belle and Sebastian’s previous hints that they would be working on new material; back in November, they asked, “could that be another B&S record on the horizon?”

As well as working on their new album, Belle and Sebastian have also scheduled a small handful of shows for this summer. They’ll be playing festival dates in Finland, Norway and Japan, and promise that they will unveil their first UK show “sometime next week.”

As for whether they will be playing any North American shows anytime soon, we’ll just have to wait and see. Still, this in itself is a lot to be grateful for, since this is the first tim

Plans to release Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse’s star-studded project Dark Night Of The Soul were halted last year due to mysterious (to the public, at least) “ongoing [legal] dispute with EMI,” but that didn’t stop Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton, and company from getting the music out to the masses. The record, which features the likes of David Lynch, Iggy Pop, Julian Casablancas, Pixies’ Frank Black, the Flaming Lips, and many more, was leaked to the internet, and a book of photographs accompanied by a blank CD-R was released instead (get it?).

Well, EMI, Burton, Sparklehorse, and company have finally cleared the album for an official release, reports BBC 6Music. “The problems of last year are last year, so hopefully it will be out soon in June or something like that,” Danger Mouse said.

But that isn’t all Danger Mouse has in store for this year: The eponymous debut of his new band Broken Bells, a collaboration with the Shins’ James Mercer, won’t hit shelves until next week in the U.S. (Mar. 9), but the duo are already working on songs for its follow-up. Though he could conceivably plot a third Gnarls Barkley album, another project with Beck, or launch a new epic collaboration, Danger Mouse is going all-in with the Broken Bells: “I’m not really interested in too much else right now.”

Record collectors and Soundgarden fans alike will enjoy this: The recently-reunited Seattle grunge outfit and Sub Pop Records are re-releasing the band’s first single, “Hunted Down” along with original B-side “Nothing to Say” on orange vinyl on April 17, Record Store Day.

If you remember your Soundgarden history, “Nothing to Say” was the song that made the A&R suits turn their heads: “Labels started calling us when they heard the song,” recalls guitarist Kim Thayil. “I was working at Seattle Filmworks along with Mark Arm from Mudhoney, Bruce Fairweather from Mother Love Bone, and Owen Wright from My Sister’s Machine. I got this phone call while I was doing some splicing and it was Chris. He said, ‘You’re not going to believe this — A&M called!.’ The rest is history.”

In the food-for-audiophiles department, Soundgarden are also offering a live version of “Spoonman,” recorded in San Diego in 1996. As the band’s email to fans states: “We recorded all the shows (on two inch tape)… to one day release as a live album. We never got around to mixing those shows until recently and we were surprised at how crazy cool it all is!” We could wax on and on about recording on tape, but we’ll spare you. To find stores near you participating in Record Store Day, go here.

Lou Reed has finalised details of the digitally re-mastered edition of his seminal 1975 album “Metal Machine Music.” Reed will release the ground breaking album in the UK on April 19th on his independent label “Sister Ray” in the following three formats – double gatefold vinyl in quadraphonic sound, audio DVD and Blu-ray.

The album coincides with Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Trio UK concerts at the Cambridge Junction (April 17), Oxford O2 Academy (April 18) and London Royal Festival Hall (April 19, part of the Ether Festival).

Lou did the digital re-mastering from the original multi-tracks with the help of world-renowned mastering guru, Scott Hull. This is a new and improved re-mastered version, and is different from all previous releases on the RCA, Buddha and Sony affiliated labels.

Says Reed, “The out of print “Quad” release has been replicated for all formats, including a perfect vinyl version playable on your stereo turntable with the original rear sections moved to the center of the front left/right speakers. It’s worth getting a turntable to hear this. We worked from digital transfers (95k 24bit) made from the original analogue masters. The original label supplied us with these files and photo copies of the analogue reels including copies of Bob Ludwig’s mastering notes.”

Although the Metal Machine Music album will be reissued just in time for Reed’s Metal Machine Trio UK concerts, MM3 will not perform music from the legendary album, but instead will perform music loosely based on, and inspired by, the 1975 album.

Pavement have expanded their reunion tour yet further, adding dates across North America.

Those new dates are for May, June and September and you can see the list after the jump.

The full list of dates already announced can be found on the Matador website, including the four-night residency in May at the o2 Academy Brixton in London. Pavement release their best of compilation, ‘Quarantine The Past,’ on Mar. 8.

On Monday (Mar. 1) the Stockton, California band launched their reunion tour at the Town Hall in Auckland, New Zealand. As would be expected, the set was full of well-regarded tracks like ‘Trigger Cut,’ ‘Range Life,’ ‘Rattled By The Rush,’ ‘Stop Breathing’ and ‘Summer Babe (Winter Version),’ amongst many others. This being the age of the Internet, so many videos are floating around YouTube. The best is probably the 10 minute highlights reel found here.

On his blog guitarist Spiral Stairs said: “Last night we played our first show in over ten years. and yes we were seriously nervous! the show was great. the fans were unreal. whew… all those pavement anxiety dreams can now go away! Auckland was great. we had an amazing time the few days we were here. good weather and good people.”

The Pavement reunion was announced last September. A statement on the band’s website said, “Please be advised this tour is not a prelude to additional jaunts and/or a permanent reunion.” Last chance to see, it would seem.

The new dates are:

Sasquatch Festival, Quincy, Wash. (May 30)
Olympic Island, Toronto, Canada (Jun. 19)
Greek Theatre, Berkeley, Calif. (Jun. 25)
Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, Ill. (Jul. 18)
First Bank Center, Broomfield, Colo. (Sep. 9)
Uptown Theater, Kansas City, Mo. (Sep. 11)
Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, Minn. (Sep. 12)
Mann Center For The Performing Arts, Philadelphia. Pa. (Sep. 17)
Agganis Arena, Boston, Mass. (Sep. 18)
The Tabernacle, Atlanta, Ga. (Sep. 26)

Band of Horses have announced the completion of their third studio album, ‘Infinite Arms.’ The follow-up to 2007′s rapturously received ‘Cease to Begin’ — which counted the bona fide classics ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’ and ‘Is There a Ghost?’ — will drop on May 18.

What’s uncertain, according to a Pitchfork report, is whether the album will follow its predecessors on Sub Pop. The band first aligned with the legendary Seattle label for 2006′s ‘Everything All the Time,’ but it is still unclear if the label, which usually announces its projects months in advance, will release the disc.

Twenty-seven tunes were purportedly written in advance of the Phil Ek-produced effort. While there’s no word what songs or how many actually made the cut, frontman Ben Bridwell said, “in many ways, this is the first Band of Horses record.”

In advance of the disc’s release, Band of Horses will hit the road for a run of US and international dates later this month, with a scheduled stop in Austin for SXSW. Dates at the New Orleans Jazz Fest and Sasquatch, plus gigs with Widespread Panic, She and Him and Snow Patrol are also planned.

Tea Partiers have made Nazi comparisons a staple of protests, taking their cue from left-wing demonstrators who went after George W. Bush before them. But they’re all amateurs compared to Jello Biafra.

As the frontman for the radical left-wing punk band The Dead Kennedys in the 1970s, Biafra’s brutally satirical take on politics made even the most lunatic Rush Limbaugh quotes look tame. His first single with the band, the anthemic “California Über Alles,” declared then-governor of California Jerry Brown to be the second coming of Hitler himself. Sung from the perspective of Brown plotting his future White House run (“I will be fuhrer one day!”), Biafra imagined a future in which the liberal governor made New Age lifestyle trends like meditation and jogging mandatory while exterminating dissenters in death camps with “organic poison gas.”

‘California Über Alles’ was a siren, a wake-up call” that “launched the hardcore movement,” Steven Blush, author of American Hardcore: A Tribal History, said.

More than 30 years have passed and Brown’s career has taken numerous twists and turns, including a presidential run, a radio show, a stint as mayor of Oakland, and his current job as the state’s attorney general. Now, he’s the front-runner in the 2010 race for the California statehouse. Biafra tangled in the political arena himself in that time, running unsuccessfully for mayor of Oakland in 1979 and organizing for the Green Party and Ralph Nader in the last three presidential races, while putting out spoken-word and rock albums.

“California Über Alles” has also evolved, with multiple rewrites in the intervening years to match the political times. But Biafra admits that the original version proved less than prophetic, however.

“When Ronald Reagan won in 1980, I realized I kind of misfired,” Biafra said. “Sure, the Jerry Brown theory was something I came up with all by my little self, but it turned out to be wrong.”

The song and its variations were never as much about Brown or any individual politician as they were about liberal apathy, Biafra said. He traced the inspiration for the lyrics to his arrival in San Francisco in the 1970s, where he found that once-idealistic baby boomers had retreated into self-indulgence.

“I found myself surrounded by all these people who were activist rabble rousers in the Vietnam War era and now were stumbling around in the dark looking for some guru to tell them what to do,” he said. “I thought this kind of mellow-drone, hanging-plant cop-out approach was a one-way ticket to fascism—if people sleep too long, look what happens to them! The only politician with any power who had tapped into any of this or seemed to recognize it at the time was Jerry Brown.”

Apple’s iTunes store has always dictated the terms of its dealings with record labels. As such, the largest U.S. music retailer has never censured the labels over marketing or promotion strategies.

But that may be changing. The bee in iTunes’ bonnet? Amazon’s MP3 Daily Deal.

When Amazon first launched the Daily Deal in June 2008, its primary aim was to drive more customer traffic to the online retail giant’s MP3 store. “The labels paid nothing for being included in that privilege, nor were they asked,” a major-label head of sales says.

But in mid-2009, the executive says, “that promotion morphed into something where the labels make arrangements to provide an exclusive selling window with Amazon for a big release expected to do a lot of business on street date.”

In exchange for a Daily Deal promotion on a new album, Amazon has been asking labels to provide it with a one-day exclusive before street date and such digital marketing support as a banner ad on an artist’s MySpace page and messages on label and artist Web sites and social network feeds.

“When that happened,” the executive says, “iTunes said, ‘Enough of that shit.’ ”

Sources say that iTunes representatives have been urging labels to rethink their participation in the Amazon promotion and that they have backed up those warnings by withdrawing marketing support for certain releases featured as Daily Deals.

In response, label executives at Capitol, Capitol Nashville and Jive recently opted against participating in Daily Deal promotions they had been considering for Corinne Bailey Rae’s “The Sea,” Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” and Ke$ha’s “Animal,” sources say.

An executive at Sony Music Entertainment denied that Jive had ever considered participating in a Daily Deal promotion for “Animal.” Representatives for Apple and EMI declined to comment.

The iTunes pushback against Amazon’s Daily Deal began when Island placed Mariah Carey’s “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” in the promotion. Amazon customers could purchase the album for $5.99 a day before its Sept. 29 street date, helping drive first-week U.S. sales of 168,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

To help labels sidestep iTunes’ objections, Amazon has been fine-tuning its Daily Deal pitch on new titles, agreeing, for instance, to forgo the one-day exclusive window on certain ones. But executives familiar with the situation say iTunes has continued to voice its displeasure with other aspects of the promotion, such as label marketing support.

“They are . . . diverting their energy from ‘let’s make this machine better’ to ‘let’s protect what we got,’ ” says a major-label executive who has been following the situation.

Now that iTunes’ objections to the Daily Deal are widely known, most labels are shying away from allowing their new releases to be part of the promotion on either street date or the day before. For example, sources say that when Amazon recently approached Hollywood Records to highlight “Who I Am,” the debut album by Nick Jonas & the Administration, the label declined.

Still, other label executives say the whole situation is fluid. While it may not make sense to participate in a Daily Deal promotion for artists that iTunes would typically promote, it may be sensible to partner with Amazon on a Daily Deal with other releases that may not get the red carpet treatment at iTunes, a major-label head of sales says.

One of the few albums to participate in an early-street-date Daily Deal promotion so far this year is Vampire Weekend’s “Contra,” which Amazon made available for $3.99 Jan. 11, a day before it was available anywhere else. The promotion played an obvious role in powering the album’s No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, with first-week U.S. sales of 124,000, of which 60% were digital downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

“The whole issue is a kind of interesting dynamic,” a senior major-label distribution executive says. “Amazon is fighting a guerrilla war against iTunes, and now iTunes is getting frustrated because they work hard to set up and promote a release weeks in advance of the street date, and then lo and behold, Amazon jumps in there with this deal of the day and scrapes off some of the cream.”

Paparazzi fodder aside, love her or hate her, Lily Allen is fun to follow, and today is perfect proof: Not only did Ms. “LDN” join the likes of David Bowie in defending radio institution BBC 6 Music, but she also weathered an inevitable Courtney Love storm.

“I read that they want to invest in quality over quantity, but how does that make sense?” Allen wrote in the Guardian of the BBC’s rationale for giving their beloved radio station the axe. “If they close 6 Music, instead of acts like Seasick Steve and presenters like Lauren Laverne, it will be the Pussycat Dolls and Fearne Cotton on Radio 1.”

True that. I mean, we’d totally rather listen to Seasick Steve, the musical Epic Beard Man, over a couple non-Mariah/Beyoncé pop stars any day. We’ll see, of course, but meanwhile Courtney Love would love to respond to a few choice Allen remarks:

I can’t believe someone who did massive amounts of cocaine at my house and was thrown out blamed me for drugs, said I gave her shrooms…

publically she said I gave her hallucinogens, when she did about a kilo with my daughter asleep upstairs, and had to be physically removed.

There’s more where that came from, but you get the point: lots of drugs floating around the Cobain estate. Good luck with all that.