Neil Young reveals Pono music player, promises ‘the best sound anyone can get’

Neil Young has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to promote Pono, a high-quality digital music service that will launch next year. Rolling Stone reports that Pono will be comprised of a music downloads store, a tool that converts digital audio files into analog-sounding recordings, and a series of audio players. Young showed off a prototype Pono player to Letterman, and the design is nothing if not unique — it’s a bright yellow triangular prism with a small screen and simple controls. The player will, according to Young, play back Pono master files with “the best sound anyone can get.”

Young has been increasingly vocal about what he perceives as the poor quality of current digital music offerings, and trademark applications back in April hinted at his plans for Pono. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea got a first-hand demonstration of the service in Young’s car, and told Rolling Stone that “it’s not like some vague thing that you need dogs’ ears to hear. It’s a drastic difference.” Warner, Sony, and Universal are reportedly all on board, and while you’ll have to re-buy songs if you want to hear them in their high-definition glory, the Pono devices will also play back tracks bought from other digital stores. (Still curious how this player can better a 24bit WAV/AIFF file which many portable players already support, heck a hacked iPod can support 24 bit audio!!)

When Dum Dum Girls made the leap from songwriter Dee Dee’s bedroom to Sub Pop for 2010’s debut LP I Will Be, those unfamiliar with the project’s backlog of EPs and singles could easily make the mistake of judging the band from their press photo, depicting four vampy women dressed in all black while standing on the beach, equal parts Joey Ramone and Bettie Page. Idiosyncrasies like a uniform of leather and stockings, the all-female band membership requirement, and even the decision for each band member to go by single-word nicknames might have worked against the band in some ways, with many thinking that they already knew what the girls would sound like without listening, and others simply showing skepticism in anything with an obvious image agenda. But, over the course of what seems like a wealth of recorded material in a relatively short amount of time, Dum Dum Girls have won over critics and listeners alike by overshadowing this image with increasingly affecting and surprising music.

On their newest offering, the five-song End of Daze EP, naysayers who would look to pigeon-hole Dum Dum Girls by a “look” or a “sound” should readily concede that Dee Dee’s songs continue expand on her range, leaving a band whose musical trajectory seemed predictable with an ever-increasing ceiling, both commercially and artistically. Using I Will Be’s jumping-off reference points of ’60s girl groups, punk and ’80s gloomy post-punk, subsequent releases have seen Dee Dee write from deeply personal spaces about death, love, and loss. End of Daze continues with this, recorded immediately after last year’s Only in Dreams and working almost as an appendix to that full length. Here we see Dee Dee’s grief from her mother’s battle with cancer and eventual death consuming her even further than on Only in Dreams, making it an unflinchingly sad record, but also a very honest and beautiful one.

From the driving and grand scale of the self-eulogy “Mine Tonight” to the surprising minimalism of the upbeat “I Got Nothing,” Dum Dum Girls are nearly unrecognizable from the band we met a couple years back, and the transformation is a mostly successful one. “Mine Tonight” is a revelation, building tension with the sludgy distortion of the guitar strums in the verse until the eventual explosion of sound that is predictably fulfilling. First single “Lord Knows” is just as moody, but with a maturity in Dee Dee’s voice matching a newfound maturity in her songwriting. Lyrics aside, the arrangements on End of Daze steer away from easily classifiable terms like “ballads” and “rockers.” No, the songs are much more complex than that.

Dee Dee is even a smart enough songwriter to know when her airing of her personal baggage might be wearing thin, and she maintains control of her emotional outpour up until the release’s closing moments. Ultimately, Dee Dee confirms that “a confession is not cure / there is always darkness to endure / on the path to be redeemed” on the closer “Season in Hell,” with hope seen in the final moments when Dee Dee notices that after these hard times, the “dawn looks divine.” End of Daze is a brief trip through a songwriter’s grief, and one with enhanced by lyrical honesty and musical risks. Maybe most importantly, the End of Daze EP cements Dum Dum Girls as a band that should be taken seriously and whose look has become the least interesting part about them…

Grizzly Bear have shared a video for their Shields cut “Yet Again”, directed by Emily Kai Bock. The clip opens with a female figure-skater alone on a dark rink, and then chronicles her personal journey after cracking through the ice. She travels from a carnival to the woods, back to a suburban home, and it all ends with a dizzying scene of mental anguish.

On July 4th, 1999, a Ryder truck containing Sonic Youth’s priceless touring gear was stolen in Orange County, CA. The truck was found a few days later, but it’s uniquely modified contents were gone, which would be the end of the story if Sonic Youth didn’t have the most loyal fans on the planet. Due to the commitment of their fans and key details that make the guitars distinguishable, two of those guitars stolen 13 years ago have been recovered. Via Pitchfork:

But over the years, some fans have remained on the lookout, tipping the band off whenever a guitar for sale raises an eyebrow. This month, the sixth and seventh guitars to be recovered from the robbery both mysteriously reappeared within one week of each other. “It’s kind of wild,” Lee Ranaldo said. “After all this time, things are still surfacing thanks to the diligence of fans.”

Andy Williams, one of the most popular television crooners of the 1960s, known for “Moon River”, has died after a year-long fight against bladder cancer, as NPR reports. He was 84.

Along with his signature song, Williams was known for his Christmas television specials throughout the 1970s and 80s. He had 18 gold records, three platinum ones, and an Emmy-winning television series, “The Andy Williams Show”. The program was televised throughout the 1960s until 1971; it featured Williams performing his catalogue and chatting with such guests as the Beach Boys, Ray Charles, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, and Elton John…

Williams hosted award shows throughout the years, including several years of the Grammys. He continued performing throughout his life at his own Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri.
The singer had no retirement plans. “The old cliche says that if you can remember the 1960s, you weren’t there,” Williams one said (via The New York Daily News). “Well, I was there all right, but my memory of them is blurred– not by any drugs I took, but by the relentless pace of the schedule I set myself.”

Williams is survived by his wife and three children, who asked that donations in his memory be sent to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network.

Animal Collective began their previously announced run of late night TV appearances on “Conan” last night. They played Centipede Hz track “Today’s Supernatural” from behind rows of flashing, gappy cartoon-like teeth.

Greg Jardin took over 1600 photographs in order to cobble together this excellent stop-motion tour of New York. The video features appearances from cast members of 30 Rock, Anthony Bourdain, Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav, Andy Shernoff of The Dictators and many more. All of them proud to make their home in New York City. (via East Village Radio)

Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver project released their massively successful self-titled album last year, and has been on tour ever since. But we might not be hearing much from Bon Iver for awhile in the future…

Last night, Vernon appeared on Minnesota Public Radio station 89.3 The Current’s Local Show, as City Pages points out (via the Daily Swarm). When questioned about what Bon Iver’s “up to these days,” here’s what he said:

Winding it down. I look at it like a faucet. I have to turn it off and walk away from it because so much of how that music comes together is subconscious or discovering. There’s so much attention on the band, it can be distracting at times. I really feel the need to walk away from it while I still care about it. And then if I come back to it – if at all – I’ll feel better about it and be renewed or something to do that.

In the meantime, Bon Iver’s performance at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall on September 21 is now streaming live on YouTube. Watch it below– it’s only available for the next two days:

(via pfmedia)

Update: “A website”: for the record has been put up, with quotes “from” Walker about the upcoming album, due on December 3rd and 4th.

How to approach a record like Bish Bosch?

Scott insists none of his work is in any way autobiographical. So you are compelled to re-think the way you experience music to get the most out of these pieces. Instead it’s more like a form of sonic fiction (magic realism, cut-up, sci-fi and historical reinvention all rolled up into distinct packages). There are frequently two, three or more ideas packed into each song: scenarios that seem distinct at first but whose connections are subtly revealed. The lyrics process a mass of data, set to music that often veers into filmic sound effects and Foley artistry. Songs leap across giant historical chasms or reach for the outer limits of space. A single number can contain references to molecular biology and sulphurous farts; quotes from the Bible and Hollywood film directors; medieval leather shoes and Algonquin chiefs. They unashamedly revel in unfamiliar words, technical terminology and obscure references, so keep a dictionary handy and bookmark Wikipedia. It’s all part of the fun.

As Pitchfork points out:

A few months back, 4AD teased a new album from revered avant-garde crooner Scott Walker—his first since 2006’s The Drift, which placed at #10 on Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of 2006. Now, an album title and release date have surfaced on Amazon.

Tuesday night, Bob Mould played up a amazing set of Sugar’s seminal 1992 album Copper Blue in its entirety along with cuts from his latest record Silver Age…

Bob Mould has never been the type of artist to look back… But in the last few years, he surprised longtime fans releasing an autobiography that was several years in the making along with a renewed interest in his nineties work with indie rock, power trio Sugar.

Mould’s work with Sugar, specifically the Copper Blue album, has been some of his most recently popular work and in the last few years it hasn’t been uncommon to hear some of that material performed in his live sets. That said, it was still a bit surprising when it was announced that he would tour performing the ’92 album in its entirety.

Mould’s profile hasn’t been higher than it is right now since the early nineties. A mutual admiration with and opening dates for Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters certainly hasn’t hurt but even moreso, that relationship seems to have also rekindled Mould’s passion for the guitar. The new Silver Age album is one of his more rocking and critically acclaimed affairs in some time.

I’ve seen Bob Mould solo and with band several times but what I love about the idea for this tour is his ability to look back without pandering, exposing his audience to solid new work in addition to a revisit of the Sugar material and more.

The night kicked things off with Copper Blue side one, track one, “The Act we Act.” From there, Mould and company (Verbow alum and Split Single frontman Jason Narducy on bass/backing vocals and Superchunk’s Jon Wurster on drums) plowed through the album with nary a pause, giving it new life in the process.

What struck me immediately was just how much fun Mould seemed to be having. He bounced across the stage like someone half his age throughout the night and bared quite the grin as he repeatedly moved to his right to jam with Narducy.

To say this band has gelled is an understatement as each member had their moment to shine. For Wurster, that moment was on the Sugar ballad “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,”
which he transformed from mere ballad retread to anthemic punk anthem with his propulsive drumming.

The Copper Blue set was good. “The Slim” followed “Hoover Dam” and while not one of my favorite album tracks, it certainly allowed Mould’s vastly underrated guitar playing to shine.

Powering through that album in forty-five minutes left plenty of time in the eighty-five minute set for material both new and older. Three straight from Silver Age kicked off with “Star Machine” and saw Mould at his most animated of the night.” The crowd and the band was left breathless.

“Thank You Seattle!!” said Mould as the show drew to a close. The packed club was full of smiles and ringing ears, Bob, welcome back!!

For a band that regularly invoked its own name as a chest-beating rallying cry for the power of rock ’n’ roll, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion never really got its due. Questions of authenticity dogged the group throughout its ’90s heyday—never mind that the run of 1993’s Extra Width, 1994’s Orange, and 1996’s Now I Got Worry was one of the strongest of the decade. These days, the band’s raucous blues-punk has been co-opted dozens of times over by anonymous automatons like The Black Keys, and Spencer’s Elvis-as-carnival-barker frontman act seems even more out of time. But on the Blues Explosion’s first album in eight years, Meat And Bone, the group makes a surprisingly credible attempt at legitimizing its “The Blues is still No. 1!” throne, no strings or gimmicks attached.

Mixed by Spencer himself, Meat And Bone wisely passes over the Beck and Dr. John guest-spots of yesteryear in favor of stripped-down, balls-to-the-wall swagger. Spencer, guitarist Judah Bauer, and drummer Russell Simins crunch and stomp their way through opener “Black Mold,” and mine the hip-shaking geekiness of Worry’s “Wail” on the excellent “Bag Of Bones.” Elsewhere, the effortlessly funky “Get Your Pants Off” hews closest to the band’s Orange days (and includes the sole “Blues Explosion!” shout-out of the album).

Following the 2010 reissues of the group’s ’90s Matador albums, Meat And Bone is largely a success, even if its less-focused second half feels a bit rote. “Too many squares! Too much… mediocrity!” Spencer cries during “Bag Of Bones.” It’s less a crotchety complaint from a weary veteran than a plain statement of fact; indeed, Meat And Bone is the heir apparent to Now I Got Worry, and a fine return to form..

Tame Impala’s new record Lonerism is out October 9 in the U.S. (and October 5 in Australia and October 8 in Europe and the UK) via Modular. Here’s the kaleidoscope live-footage video for the single “Elephant”, created by Yoshi Sodeoka using film from The Silentlights..

Girls Against Boys – She’s Lost Control (Joy Division Cover)

Ryan Adams has a pair of new studio projects on the way, at least one of which to feature the singer-songwriter in the producer role for the first time since 2006′s Adams and the Cardinals-backed Willie Nelson album, Songbird. “Looking forward to producing the new Lemonheads album this weekend,” he said on Twitter, adding that Ben Deily and Evan Dando — two of the band’s co-founders — will reunite for the record while Dando’s It’s a Shame About Ray collaborator Juliana Hatfield will play bass on the LP. What’s more, Adams said he’s set to perform on the upcoming recording session: “Playing drums on the Lemonheads records too,” he added. “Dream come true… Back to the punker sounds.”

Meanwhile, Jason Isbell has been making press rounds in support of his excellent 2011 LP, Here We Rest, and he just revealed that the pair behind last fall’s “Love In the First Degree” live cover (among other Isbell-Adams onstage collaborations) are planning to work together on his fourth solo album. According to an interview with the Washington Post, the former touring partners have booked studio time for this October.

All Tomorrow’s Parties will once again stage their spring/summer festivals in the UK, despite stating that they were canning them last year. Today, they’ve unveiled the curators for the two 2013 editions.

TV on the Radio will curate from May 10-12, and Deerhunter will curate from June 21-23. Both will take place at Camber Sands Holiday Centre in Minehead, England. Deerhunter are confirmed for three performances at their weekend, doing their albums Cryptograms, Microcastle, and Halcyon Digest in full. Atlas Sound will also perform. 35 bands are expected to perform at each weekend, with further confirmations coming soon.

The New York edition of ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror festival takes place at Manhattan’s Pier 36 this weekend. Curated by the Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli, the weekend will feature performances from Frank Ocean, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, the Roots, the Antlers, Jose Gonzalez, Philip Glass and Tyondai Braxton, Lightning Bolt, Lee Ranaldo, Dirty Three, Hot Snakes, the Make-Up, and more.

Additionally, Ocean released the official music video for “Pyramids” today. It’s NSFW and yes, it features John Mayer..

Five years after the last Stooges album, the band is working on new material, bassist Mike Watt said. “I’ll tell you this: James Williamson a few months ago had me put bass on nine songs that he gave to Ig [Iggy Pop] and Ig is writing up words,” says Watt, who’s played with the Stooges since 2003. “So I just know there are new tunes and in fact in November he wants me to do some more. I don’t know about some album or whatever or what the plan is with that stuff, but very interesting.”

The band hasn’t released any new music since The Weirdness in 2007, and Williamson hasn’t played on a Stooges record since their third album, 1973′s Raw Power. He rejoined the group in 2009 following the death of guitarist Ron Asheton from a heart attack.

Although any new tracks are obviously in their inception stage, Williamson brings a noticeable difference in sound, Watt says. “The Raw Power stuff, for me, is always different than the first two albums, they’re just different kinds of musicians, James Williamson and Ron Asheton,” he says. “This sounds more like James Williamson, more like the guy who’s playing guitar on Raw Power than the guy who’s playing on Fun House.” (Asheton played bass on Raw Power.)

For Watt, who still views himself first as a Stooges fan, the thought of new material is exciting on many levels. “I think James came up with some good licks and the way Ig fleshes them out, I’m very curious,” he says. “But I don’t know if they have an album planned. I’m also looking at it as, ‘Whoa, maybe new songs to do at gigs.’”

Watt and the Stooges perform this weekend at Chicago’s Riot Fest alongside acts like Elvis Costello, the Descendants, hometown heroes Rise Against, Fishbone and dozens more. Founded in 2005, the festival is a three-day affair this year, with two days happening outdoors at Humboldt Park.

After a summer of festival gigs in Europe, Watt is thrilled to see another big event Stateside. “It’s interesting this is starting to happen in the U.S. too,” Watt says. “I think that’s a good thing because people get turned onto bands that maybe they wouldn’t see otherwise. So I think what Mike [Petryshyn, festival co-founder] is doing is fucking happening as far as building a scene.”

Riot Fest’s Chicago lineup may not have the obvious eclecticism of bills like Coachella and Lollapalooza, but the presence of Costello, Gaslight Anthem, Awolnation, Dropkick Murphys, Dead Sara, Of Mice and Men and dozens more offers a wide array of choices. Petryshyn, who expects to keep the festival manageable with 30,000 people per day this weekend, is trying to foster musical knowledge among his audience.

“We started off as strictly a punk-rock fest and within the last few years we’ve been changing that dynamic a little bit,” he says. “We see the line between all these bands and hopefully other people will too. I think a lot of these bands, with the kids, it’s resonating and it’s great to see. They know the name, but they never heard any other stuff. I think there are a lot of kids in Chicago walking around listening to the Descendants now more so than they were two or three years ago.”

Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath sees this as a chance to play a festival among his people. “The punk scene is where I feel comfortable and the punk scene is what’s gonna be there for Rise Against long after the fickle taste of the radio and MTV listeners have moved onto something else,” he says. “I feel at home at a place like Riot Fest.”
(via RS)

Neil Young apparently isn’t too concerned about copyright infringement these days, according to his comments at the D: Dive into Media conference:

It doesn’t affect me because I look at the internet as the new radio. I look at the radio as gone. [...] Piracy is the new radio. That’s how music gets around. [...] That’s the radio. If you really want to hear it, let’s make it available, let them hear it, let them hear the 95 percent of it.
Of course, that’s a bit of a reverse from back when he was angry that YouTube wasn’t paying him money when people uploaded his songs. Still, it’s good to see him come around to the view that infringement is, basically, a new form of radio. Artists like Chuck D have been making that argument for over a decade.

Young is still concerned… but about the fact that the quality of MP3 files sucks. He’d prefer technologies that provide a much fuller sound:
Steve Jobs was a pioneer of digital music, his legacy was tremendous. [...] But when he went home, he listened to vinyl.

The Walkmen appeared on “Conan” last night, supporting their recent record Heaven with a performance of “Love is Luck”. They also performed “We Can’t Be Beat” as a web exclusive.
“Love is Luck”:

“We Can’t Be Beat”:

Heaven

The Hives have a new album out, Lex Hives, their fifth overall and their first in five years. And the group is still doing their Hives-y thing: last night, the Swedes took to Conan to perform “Wait A Minute” while decked out in tuxes and top hats.

Perhaps writing his autobiography put Bob Mould in a nostalgic mood, as The Silver Age — arriving roughly a year after See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody, co-written by Michael Azerrad — surges forth with a molten, melodic energy unheard in Mould’s music since the days of Sugar. It’s no coincidence Mould introduced The Silver Age by performing Copper Blue in its entirety during a series of summer concerts in 2012: it is the forefather of this roaring blast of overdriven pop. Once again working in a power trio format — here supported by bassist Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster — Mould sounds liberated, eschewing any of the lingering sensitivity and fragility that echoed through parts of 2009′s Life and Times, an otherwise powerful guitar pop record. Here, there’s nothing but finely sculpted muscle, with even the handful of slower cuts–”Steam of Hercules,” the closing “First Time Joy” — grinding with precise purpose. Mostly, The Silver Age bursts forth with relentless momentum, alternating between such nervy, coiled explosions of energy as “The Descent” and the classic power pop of “Round the City Square.” Mould’s songwriting is lean and tuneful, as is the music itself. This may hearken back to Sugar, but isn’t a complacent trip down memory lane: this is a king rightfully reclaiming his dominion…

The shortlist of nominees for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize, which honors the best British album of the past year, as chosen by a panel of British music critics and industry folks, has been announced. Last year’s winner was PJ Harvey.

This year’s shortlist is:

Jessie Ware: Devotion
Django Django: Django Django
The Maccabees: Given to the Wild
Roller Trio: Roller Trio
Richard Hawley: Standing at the Sky’s Edge
Field Music: Plumb
Michael Kiwanuka: Home Again
Ben Howard: Every Kingdom
Plan B: Ill Manors
Alt-J: An Awesome Wave
Lianne La Havas: Is Your Love Big Enough
Sam Lee: Ground of Its Own
The winner will be announced November 1.

How many Animals does it take to form a Collective? Two, officially. This minimum quorum has ensured maximum wriggle room for such an expanding, contracting band of psychedelic brothers, originally from Baltimore. They go by aliases – Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, Geologist – and don’t always all turn up; all of which just adds to the Collective’s burgeoning myth.

They’re prolific too, as befits the head boys of the underground. There have been non-AnCo solo releases from both Bear and Tare in the months between the band’s breakthrough 2009 album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and the imminent release of Centipede Hz (the Collective’s ninth album, more or less); not to mention a visual live album, ODDSAC, one EP, two cassette-only giveaways and a non-album single – and a live installation at the Guggenheim. Merriweather was the record that made great swaths of casual listeners sit up and notice the strange, busy, woozy music wafting up out of the US underground, an encampment that has been growing beards for the past decade.

It might not have been the new weird America’s Nevermind but it broke the Billboard top 20, topped many an album-of-the-year list and made Animal Collective the most name-dropped beatniks nouveaux in many a straight record collection – a totem band, like a Radiohead bigger on hallucinogenics, chanting and camping out. “I’m going hiking,” states Amanita, the closing track on Centipede Hz. “Are you coming hiking?”

One of the autumn’s key releases, Centipede Hz probably brings AnCo another molecule’s width closer to the mainstream; retaining all the dislocation and unevenness that their fans treasure but remapping it on to more recognisable instruments. It sees all four Animals back on board for the first time since 2007′s Strawberry Jam, allowing this determinedly over-saturated band to cram yet more sound and rhythm on to each track here. Someone’s even smuggled a kids’ choir into Father Time, then disguised them. The fundamental idea that runs through Centipede Hz is one of radio signals lost in space, the crackle and blooping that has enamoured the audiophiles of the perverse since radio began.

Guitarist Deakin – Joshua Dibb on his passport – sat out Merriweather. His return is most explicitly felt when he sings Wide Eyed, a burbling song that co, insistentmes pretty near to pop music, albeit pop with non-western polyrhythms and some Dr Who sound effects from the 1980s. More holistically, much of Centipede Hz was demoed with all four men in the same room, playing quaint indigenous instruments (“drumkits” and “guitars”). On recent records this far-flung band had file-shared digitally processed snatches of sound with each other, pinging them between Portugal (Panda Bear), LA (Avey Tare) and DC (Geologist).

Animal Collective have usually been at their most collective when vocalising, chanting together in formations that recalled the Beach Boys underwater. Here, though, the impression of all animals melting into one is less marked, with Avey Tare yelling a lot of lead vocals. Where Merriweather was amniotic and ravey, Centipede rocks a little harder. AnCo’s febrile music hinges on a galumphing sense of abandon, but the textures of Centipede amp up the raucousness. Amid pell-mell songs such as standout Today’s Supernatural there is rarely a pause to draw breath on this fine follow-up; one in a hurry, as befits its many pairs of legs..

Alan McGee says he is “seriously considering” bringing back his iconic Creation Records.

The pioneering label, whose rosta included Oasis, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Teenage Fanclub, Felt and Super Furry Animals, was disbanded in 1999.

However, its boss Alan McGee says he is thinking about bringing it back: “Since spending the summer helping curate [the festival] Tokyo Rocks for next year it’s made me realise I do still love it! It was when I was flying back from Japan with the Primals that started me loving it again,” he said in a statement. He added:To be honest I am now seriously thinking about restarting Creation, or maybe Re-Creation if I can find the right people at a label to work with. Music needs a kick in the balls, and I have got the music buzz back.Creation Records was set up in 1983. McGee sold half the label to Sony in 1992, before dissolving it fully in 1999 to form his own label Poptones, which signed The Hives. Poptones wound down in 2007, with McGee citing financial reasons..

Hydra Head Records – home of Torche, Pelican, Big Business, Harvey Milk, Cave In, the legendary Botch, Helms Alee and many, many more amazing artists – posted this sad announcement on their website about 45 minutes ago. In it, they say they will cease releasing new music after December, after which they’ll be maintaining their back catalog only, mostly in order to pay down debts.

They also note that you can support their effort to wind down in good faith by buying their excellent stuff. We wish founders Aaron Turner (also of Isis) and Mark Thompson the best of luck. Thanks for all that beautiful noise.

The Imminent Demise of Hydra Head Records

Hydra Head Records has never been a smooth-running operation. We’ve spent the majority of our existence excitedly scrambling from one thing to the next, taking on more than we could ever possibly hope to achieve, and never quite finding solid footing in the midst of our self-induced whirlwind of chaos. Though not every second of doing this label has been enjoyable, it has been a very rewarding and meaningful project for me, and I hope for many of the other lives to which it has been directly connected. The fact that it has lasted close to two decades at this point is astonishing, and much has changed during that time – the lives of those directly involved with running the label, the bands and artists we’ve worked with, and the nature of the music industry itself. Though many of these changes have been positive, or at least illuminating, the impact of our history and current industry circumstances are culminating into a slow and somewhat painful death for the label. It certainly isn’t an entirely unforeseen event, but we didn’t think it would come quite so abruptly, or (perhaps naively) ever.

The decision to pull the plug has not been an easy one, and in some ways is a not a choice at all. The simple fact of the matter is we’ve been running on empty for a while now and cannot afford to keep our doors open for much longer. Years of imbalance between creative ideals and financial realities, personal problems amongst the label operators, an unwillingness to compromise our aesthetic standards, a tendency towards releasing challenging (i.e. unmarketable) artists, and the steady decline of the music industry in general, are amongst the chief reasons for our inability to continue. It is a harsh but undeniable reality, and one which we are attempting to confront with as much integrity and grace as is afforded by the circumstances.

For the short term we will continue to operate as we have been, effecting our first step into shutdown this December, at which point we are cutting off new releases from the label. Thereafter, we will be remain operational only in the interest of maintaining our back catalog, with the ultimate aim of repaying our rather sizable debts. Grim though this prospect is, in the midst of it all I still feel an extreme gratitude for everything that has happened and for all the wonderful people with which we’ve been involved over the years. We’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the most unique and provocative artists of the last two decades, many of which have made indelible impressions in the underground, and by extension the larger world of music in general. We’ve also been fortunate to have had the support of a small but loyal following, who’ve constituted the very essence of our life force. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and love to each and every person who contributed to making this label what it is – all the artists who entrusted us as the custodians of their work, all the people that bought or listened to our releases, and all the people who performed the various label duties at various offices (and houses) across the continent.

…and this brings us to the present moment, where in all honesty we are in need of financial assistance from anyone and everyone who’s willing to throw us a rope. Though it is highly unlikely we’ll be able to resuscitate the label, we do wish to follow through on the final round of releases to which we’re committed and pay off our debts to our artists and manufacturers. In order to do this we are initiating a massive sell-off of everything we can dig up and produce for the next 6–12 months. This will include discounted bundles of CDs/LPs/posters/etc, represses of certain titles for which we still have parts, test pressings, and whatever worthwhile items we can pull together. For anyone that is able and willing to fund our funereal arrangements please visit our direct mailorder or webstore and pick up whatever you can. Any and all support is greatly appreciated by our remaining team, and will be put to the best use possible.

There is no way to sum up nearly 20 years of incredibly important music, experiences, and evolution other than to say a big heart felt “thank you”, and that we hope this closing will provide an opening into other even more positive and rewarding experiences for all of us and all of you who have been a part of our shared experience. For now we bid you all a very fond farewell……

-Aaron Turner
09/10/12

“He’s A Chef” will be available on a limited edition 7” as part of an apparel and accessories collaboration between Volcom Clothing and the most re-freshest of all children’s shows, Yo Gabba Gabba..
(via pitchfork)

The Who’s Pete Townshend is set to publish his long-awaited biography this autumn.

The guitarist, songwriter and screenwriter has been writing the memoir, titled ‘Who I Am’ for 15 years. It will be published on October 11 by Harper Collins.

According to a statement, the book will tell share details of Townshend’s “incredible life and elaborates on the turbulences of time spent as one of the world’s most respected musicians – being in one of rock’s greatest ever bands, and wanting to give it all up.”

It was during the writing of the book in 2003 that Townshend was cautioned by police for accessing child pornography on the internet. When questioned by police about the material he cited researching for the book as his reason for doing so.

He said at the time: “I believe I was sexually abused between the age of five and six and a half when in the care of my maternal grandmother who was mentally ill at the time. Some of the things I have seen on the internet have informed my book.”

He added: “If I have any compulsions in this area, they are to face what is happening to young children in the world today and to try to deal openly with my anger and vengeance toward the mentally ill people who find paedophilic pornography attractive.”

The Who recently performed at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, playing the band’s hits ‘Baba O’Riley’ as well as ‘See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You’ and ‘My Generation’…

While making press rounds for his latest film score/soundtrack collaboration with Warren Ellis, Nick Cave has revealed a few updates for fans anticipating his next full-length set with the Bad Seeds. Although Cave’s been tight-lipped on the title or a number of specifics, the good news is their follow-up to 2008′s Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! is in the can and bound for release next year: “I made a new Bad Seeds record,” he told BBC 6‘s Nemone last night. ”So I’m really excited about that. We haven’t done one for a while.” Later in the program, BBC Radio revealed that the expected arrival date for LP15 will be in February 2013.

“It was a real pleasure to get back to doing that,” Cave said, “to finding the time to take off a significant amount of time from other projects, which were always supposed to be, kind of, extra-curricular. And just to get back with the Bad Seeds in a room and make a record.” As for the result, which was reportedly completed in a Los Angeles studio earlier this year, Cave did offer up a few comments to pique interest:

I think what we did… I’m so pleased with this. It’s really different. I mean, it doesn’t sound like anything the Bad Seeds have done before. It’s really good. It’s really very, very beautiful. It’s not a ballad record. It’s not like classic Bad Seed ballads. But it’s very, very beautiful and it’s far away from Grinderman and that kind of thing.

When asked for the title, he refused, adding: “No, it’s making me all goose-pimply just even talking about it.”

Suffice it to say, we can’t wait to hear what’s giving him chills to even discuss..

David Bowie may be semi-retired from music (an archival photo book he’s been compiling, Bowie: Object, is now reportedly set for October), but having made an indelible mark on music over the past 4 decades, it isn’t hard to imagine why he’d choose to rest on his laurels. Or simply just rest. While his most memorable singles and personas might seem like a foregone conclusion at this stage, the fact is they were the result of relentless persistence — a long trial and error process, as Open Culture points out — that finally paid off in full upon the commercial success of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era. Much has been glossed over in the annals of rock history, but there’s value in taking a more nuanced look at the progression toward this once-unlikely moment. Enter The Story of Ziggy Stardust, a recent documentary aired by the BBC, featuring Jarvis Cocker narrating over rare archival material, scenes from D.A. Pennebaker’s 1973 doc Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and other footage from the vaults. It’s an insightful project, whether one’s familiar with the details or not — enjoy the whole program is above.

R.E.M. are less than pleased that Fox News used “Losing My Religion” to soundtrack their coverage of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. A post on the band’s website read:
R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” was used in the Fox News coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night. R.E.M. today, through its music publisher, Warner-Tamerlane Music, demanded that Fox News cease and desist from continuing its unlicensed and unauthorized use of the song. Michael Stipe said, “We have little or no respect for their puff adder brand of reportage. Our music does not belong there.”

R.E.M. have long been supporters of liberal causes and the Democratic party. In the past decade, for example, they participated in the Vote for Change tour in support of Democratic candidate John Kerry in 2004, and in 2009, their song “You are the Everything” was used in an ad promoting government-assisted healthcare. More recently, Stipe contributed to Dave Eggers’ 90 Days, 90 Reasons website in support of Obama’s re-election campaign…

Thom Yorke just issued a statement regarding the upcoming release of a full album from his solo project, Atoms For Peace. Ironically, he posted the news at Radiohead’s official website:

You may have heard that I have a new project called Atoms for Peace.

The name comes from some shows of The Eraser that happened a couple of years ago with Mauro, Joey, Nigel and Flea.

We got a big buzz from them and discovered loads of energy from transforming the music from electronic to live, and so afterwards, we carried on for a few days in the studio and decided to make it a loose, on-going thing. Immersed in the area between the two… electronic and live.

The first tune we’d like you hear is Default

A 12” vinyl version will follow next month and an album will eventually follow that next year.

The debut album from Atoms For Peace is set for release in 2013, also on XL Recordings. The record will feature Thom on vocals, guitars, keys and programming with support from Nigel Godrich (production & programming), Joey Waronker (drums), Mauro Refosco (percussion) and Flea (bass).

Thom

The deluxe edition of Swans’ massive opus The Seer comes with a bonus DVD featuring live performances recorded during the band’s 2010-2011 tour. Here is footage of Swans performing “No Words/No Thoughts” from 2010′s My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky..

Swans:
09-06 Vancouver, British Columbia – Venue *
09-07 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s Crystal Ball Reading Room *
09-08 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater *
09-10 San Francisco, CA – The Regency Grand Ballroom *
09-11 Los Angeles, CA – Fonda Theater *
09-12 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom *
09-14 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa *
09-15 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s Upstairs *
09-16 Dallas, TX – Trees *
09-18 Oklahoma City, OK – ACM Performance Lab *
09-19 Kansas City, MO – Beaumont Club *
09-20 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre *
09-21 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Cafe *
09-22 Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall *
09-24 Denver, CO – Gothic Theater *
10-10 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom ^
10-11 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club ^
10-12 Washington, DC – Black Cat Mainstage ^
10-13 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer ^
10-14 Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre ^
10-16 Orlando, FL – The Social ^
10-17 West Palm Beach, FL – Respectable Street ^
10-18 Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder ^
10-19 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West ^
10-23 St Louis, MO – Firebird ^
10-24 Chicago, IL – Metro ^
10-25 Toronto, Ontario – Lee’s Palace ^
10-26 Montreal, Quebec – La Tulipe ^
10-28 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom $
10-29 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg $
11-01 Reykjavik, Iceland – Iceland Airways Festival
11-15 London, England – Koko #
11-16 Glasgow, Scotland – The Arches #
11-17 Manchester, England – Sound Control #
11-19 Paris, France – Le Trabendo #
11-20 Nijmegen, Netherlands – Doornroosje #
11-21 Haarlem, Netherlands – Patronaat #
11-22 Hamburg, Germany – Kampnagel #
11-23 Copenhagen, Denmark – Det Kgl. Danske Konservatories Koncertsal #
11-24 Oslo, Norway – Parkteatret #
11-25 Stockholm, Sweden – Debaser #
11-27 Prague, Czech Republic – Lucenra Music Bar #
11-28 Vienna, Austria – Arena Big Hall #
11-30 Bologna, Italy – Locomotiv #
12-01 Gumares, Portugal – Sao Mamede Cultural Capitol Village Event #
12-02 Kortrijk, Belgium – De Kreun-Sunns Curator Festival #
12-03 Bern, Switzerland – Reitschule Gross Halle #
12-04 Lausanne, Switzerland – Les Docks #
12-06 Barcelona, Spain – Sala Apolo (Primavera Xmas Event) #
12-07 Madrid, Spain – Matadero Theatre (Primavera Xmas Event) #
12-09 Sevila, Spain – Teatro Central #

* with Xiu Xiu
^ with A Hawk and a Hacksaw
# with Sir Richard Bishop
$ with Devendra Banhart

For the fourth single off their album El Camino, The Black Keys rock a live performance at the Springwater Supper Club and Lounge in Nashville..

Former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman Bob Mould stopped by Late Show with David Letterman last night to promote Silver Age, his first collection of new material since 2009.

He was joined by his bandmates, drummer Jon Wurster (Superchunk) and bassist Jason Narducy (Spl:t S:ngle, Verbow), to perform the album’s first single “The Descent.”

Check out the performance below….

Full respect to former LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy for doing something different, and for inspiring people to stop treating their photos as disposable commodities, but Jesus man, would it have killed you to do something about the neck beard before going on camera? Via Consequence of Sound:

“I don’t know what I’m doing, but that’s what I’m excited about,” Murphy told Rolling Stone recently. “Now I’ll be able to call Ron Howard, which is super weird. This is the beauty of having been in a band that did well enough, I guess. You have access to something as crazy as this.”

This photo-inspired short film actually sounds like a really neat idea, but we’re having trouble getting over the idea that we’re supposed to send pictures of our friends and family to a man who looks like he spends his days hanging out in front of a liquor store..

Next spring, London’s V&A museum will mount David Bowie Is, a major retrospective that will explore his creative processes “as a musical innovator and cultural icon” over the past five decades. More than 300 objects will be on show, including handwritten lyrics, original costumes, musical instruments and album artwork.

The show runs from March 23 to July 28, and will include Ziggy Stardust costumes designed by Freddie Burretti in 1972; costumes from the 1973 Aladdin Sane tour, designed by Kansai Yamamoto; and Bowie and Alexander McQueen’s collaborative Union Jack coat, as worn on the 1997 Earthling cover. There’s also fashion photography from the likes of Herb Ritts, Helmut Newton and John Rowlands. Check out the slideshow for a preview of some of the show’s most noteworthy exhibits..

Click to view slideshow