Pitchfork: Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke Turn Noise Into Silence

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Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke Turn Noise Into Silence
Form avant supergroup with members of the Ex, the Thing, others

Picture Ornette Coleman sitting in with the Stooges (the old Stooges, that is) as they tear through "L.A. Blues" and you'd be in the neighborhood of free jazz/noise rock/construction noise hybrid Original Silence.

This ear doctor's dream come true-- made up of producer-of-strange-things Jim O'Rouke, Kim Gordon's husband Thurston Moore, Swedish hornblower Mats Gustafsson, Terrie Ex of the Ex, Paal Nilssen-Love of the Thing, and Zu's Massimo Puppilo-- will issue their inaugural tinnitus-inducing screed April 23.

Squeaks, squalls, and saxophone calls abound on the totally-improvised, two-track The First Original Silence LP, committed to tape at a September 2005 concert in Reggio Emilia, Italy and due from the Smalltown Superjazzz label. The First is the first in a planned series of Original Silence releases. We've heard it. It's loud.

The two tracks are called "If Light Has No Age, Time Has No Shadow" and "In the Name of the Law".

Some other band Thurston Moore's in will be playing through their magisterial Daydream Nation in a few spots in conjunction with All Tomorrow's Parties' Don't Look Back series, not least of which being our Pitchfork Music Festival. Wait, you're kidding, right? You're not?! Score!

Posted by Paul Thompson in album, collaboration on Thu: 03-29-07: 01:00 PM CDT | Permalink

Peeping Tom Tour, Spy on People

Perverts and pervettes mark your calendars: Mike Patton is taking the collaboration wagon known as Peeping Tom on the road.

The Mr. Bungle/Faith No More/Fantômas/Tomahawk frontman hasn't announced who will accompany him on these dates, but if he's working from the album's guest list, there could be appearances by anyone from Kool Keith to Massive Attack to Norah Jones. And if by some beautiful twist of fortune Kool Keith and Norah Jones end up on the same stage, we will promptly purchase the entire Hear Music back catalog.

The North American Peep shows start in Dallas tomorrow night, March 30 and end with an appearance at Coachella. Then in June, they travel Down Under. [MORE...]

Video: Peeping Tom: Mojo [from the Peeping Tom LP]

Posted by Dave Maher in tour on Thu: 03-29-07: 12:55 PM CDT | Permalink

Jarvis Wants YOU to Open His North American Shows

Do you have what it takes to set the scene for the bespectacled former frontman of Pulp? Can you hold a candle to his indomitable swagger and infectiously wry sense of humor?

Shit no-- but you can still have fun opening for the guy. That's right, Mr. Jarvis Cocker is looking to the common people of the United States and Canada to provide support on his all-too-brief upcoming North American tour.

As Jarvis wrote on his Jarvspace yesterday, "I'll keep this quite short: we are playing in North America soon & need support bands for New York (2 shows), San Francisco, Seattle & Vancouver - do you think you could help?" Jarvis stressed that he wants local bands for each gig, and that links to music and such would be extremely helpful. Drop a note to Jarvspace to apply.

In related news, Jarvis curates the Meltdown festival, taking place across several venues at London's Southbank Centre from June 16-24. A populist through and through, Jarvis has also called upon his MySpace buds to suggest Meltdown-worthy acts. You know what to do.

Jarvis' self-titled solo debut finally crashes U.S. shores April 3 via Rough Trade. Catch him in select North American cities this spring. [MORE...]

MP3: Jarvis: Don't Let Him Waste Your Time [from the Jarvis LP]

Posted by Matthew Solarski in contest, tour on Thu: 03-29-07: 11:45 AM CDT | Permalink

David Vandervelde and Richard Swift Tour
Vandervelde also opens for Spoon

Gratuitously-lengthy band names shall reign supreme when the glammy grace and thunderous Technicolor riffage of Moonstation House Band-leader David Vandervelde meets Dressed Up for the Letdown fashion-plate Richard Swift and his Sons of National Freedom on a whole mess of dates next month. Both Secretly Canadian artists have still-warm albums and white-hot shortform releases to plug. Let's explore, shall we?

Vandervelde will release Moonstation's leadoff track "Nothin' No" as a single June 19, backed by a take on the twinkly "Feet of a Liar" from his hour in the Daytrotter booth, a new one called "Cute Pretender", and the probably wordless "Dancing Sea Gulls Instrumental". May 22, Swift's "Kisses for the Misses" will find itself trapped inside a seven-inch-wide ring of plastic, surrounded by "Cowboy Song #6" and a cover of Prince's "Paisley Park".

The two men will split amicably after an April 22 stop in Gotham City, as David's tour leads him Spoonward and Richard heads to the land of the crumpet. [MORE...]

MP3: David Vandervelde: Feet of a Liar (Daytrotter Sessions version) [from the Moonstation House Band LP]

MP3: Richard Swift: Paisley Park [from the Kisses from the Misses single]

Posted by Paul Thompson in tour, EP, single on Thu: 03-29-07: 11:40 AM CDT | Permalink

Boom Bip Releases EP, Tours

Boom Bip will release an EP titled Sacchrilege via Lex Records on April 23 in Europe and at an unspecified later date in the U.S. Sacchrilege is a solo effort, though a press release claims it "harkens towards the sound of his next major project, Neon Neon with Gruff Rhys."

Boom Bip will kick off a tour of Europe in support of Sacchrilege on April 1 in Amsterdam.

The Boom Bip/Rhys collaboration still has no release date, tracklist, or much of any information attached to it other than what we previously reported. [MORE...]

Stream: Boom Bip: Various Tracks

Posted by Dave Maher in EP, tour on Thu: 03-29-07: 11:15 AM CDT | Permalink

Konono No.1 Tour, Release Digital EP

Konono N°1 have raised their profile recently with contributions to Björk's forthcoming Volta (including the first single, "Earth Intruders"), and the Congolese conglomerate will embark on a world tour of their own starting March 31 in Berlin and ending July 28 at the Belgian Sfinks Festival. Along the way, they'll stop over in North America for a string of dates surrounding their Coachella appearance. They are also in the midst of confirming the dates of a UK tour in mid-May.

Konono's label, Crammed, will release the 35-minute three-track Live in Tokyo EP to coincide with the tour. Crammed is only making Live in Tokyo available digitally, and eMusic will have it exclusively in the U.S. [MORE...]

Stream: Konono N�1: Various Tracks

Posted by Dave Maher in tour, EP on Thu: 03-29-07: 11:00 AM CDT | Permalink

St. Vincent Signs to Beggars
Tours with John Vanderslice

[Photo by Tod Seelie]

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, has signed to Beggars Banquet to release her debut album, Marry Me, on July 10 in the U.S. (with an August release in the UK). The 23-year old is a veteran guitar slinger in two musical armies, the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens' touring band.

Marry Me, however, features Clark front and center with just a few contributions from longtime David Bowie pianist Mike Garson and Man or Astro-man? drummer Brian Teasley. It also features the greatest song title we've heard so far this year: "Jesus Saves, I Spend".

St. Vincent will kick off a two-month jaunt across the U.S. in Portland on April 6. All non-festival dates of the tour are with John Vanderslice. St. Vincent's last show of the tour is at the Homefires Festival in London on June 2, and Beggars plans to release "Now, Now" as a single around that time. [MORE...]

Stream: St. Vincent: Various Tracks

Posted by Dave Maher in signing, album, tour on Thu: 03-29-07: 10:25 AM CDT | Permalink

Queens of the Stone Age Announce Short Tour

Queens of the Stone Age have announced a few European dates-- mostly festivals-- in anticipation of their forthcoming Lullabies to Paralyze follow-up, Era Vulgaris. As previously reported, the record is due out in June and features contributions from Julian Casablancas, Trent Reznor, Mark Lanegan, and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons.

Queens' tour kicks off in London on June 14 and ends in Glasgow at the T in the Park festival on July 8. But they'll probably schedule a bunch more dates soon. [MORE...]

Video: Queens of the Stone Age: In-Studio Recording

Posted by Dave Maher in tour on Thu: 03-29-07: 10:20 AM CDT | Permalink

New Pornographers Tease With Shows, Album Details

Taking a page from Panda Bear's book, the New Pornographers will play a string of dates in June that you can count on one hand. Their three shows at various London venues come in addition to their previously reported appearance at Coachella, and they are planning to hit a few UK festivals in June that might put their total number of shows in the two-hand range.

Principal New Pornos songwriter Carl Newman spoke to Billboard.com recently about the band's follow-up to Twin Cinema, which they hope to release on Matador in late August.

Newman said the new album "is maybe slightly more epic. It has our first song that passes the six-minute-long mark." He also mentioned that Dan Bejar wrote three songs for the record, including one titled "Myriad Harbor". Neko Case sings on three of the album's songs, one of which is called "Go Places". The only other information Newman had in the way of song titles was one of his own: "Salinger". About his vocal contributions, he said, "Nobody ever seems to be singing more than three songs. Kathryn [Calder]'s doing a couple, at least one or two. I'm like, 'Which ones am I singing here?' I'll just sing the leftovers."

Case and Bejar will not appear with the band on their currently scheduled dates, but they hope to have at least Case join them when they tour in support of the new album in the fall. [MORE...]

Video: The New Pornographers: Use It [from the Twin Cinema LP]

Posted by Dave Maher in album, tour on Thu: 03-29-07: 09:00 AM CDT | Permalink

Smashing Pumpkins Schedule Lone Non-Festival Date
The 12-year-old version of yourself is totally pumped

Add another flake to the recent flurry of Smashing Pumpkins news: the once-illustrious, still-nebulously-realigned alt-rock behemoths have scheduled their first non-festival date since trumpeting their reformation (of sorts) late last year.

Yeah, it's in France, but that's not likely to dissuade Pumpkins diehards, who'd sail the vast oceans and crawl over scorched earth to get a glimpse of whatever configuration the band finds itself in. Tickets for this, the first Pumpkins show since December of 2000, can be yours April 11. Think they'll sell out?

Could this mean an all-out headlining tour will soon follow? No way of knowing, but let's keep speculating: Might D'Arcy be preggers with James Iha's lovechild? Is Jimmy Chamberlain only doing it for the doobage? Could a Zwan reunion be far off? Dude, I hope so; that Paz Lenchantin is quite a dish.

As we previously reported, the sure-to-be-era-defining Zeitgeist is still on for July 7, and if a daytrip to the city of lights is beyond your means, you do have a chance to check out the Pumpkins at one of many festivals throughout the summer. All the dates we've got for now after the jump. [MORE...]

Stream: The Smashing Pumpkins: Various Tracks

Posted by Paul Thompson in tour on Thu: 03-29-07: 07:00 AM CDT | Permalink

Final Fantasy, Isan Added to Montag LP
Xiu Xiu no longer featured on album

We could invoke some adage about egg-counting here, but we'd much rather rhapsodize over what's still an impressive list of collaborators. As previously reported, Canadian electronic artiste Montag has enlisted the talents of a sublime crop of guests for his latest Carpark LP, Going Places.

As before, Stars' Amy Millan, M83's Anthony Gonzales, Beach House's Victoria Legrand, Au Revoir Simone, and Ghislain Poirier all contribute. Contrary to our previous report, however, Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart will no longer sing on "Softness, I Forgot Your Name". Preserving Montag man Antoine Bédard's wish for an all-male duet, Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy/Arcade Fire fame has stepped up to harmonize with Bédard on "Softness". Millan also sings on an additional track; scope the updated tracklist below.

Going Places goes to North American record stores on June 5, and Japanese ones May 19 (via Rallye Records). Beyond the aforementioned collaborators, it also includes sonic puzzle pieces from Isan, E*Rock, Vitaminsforyou, Ckid, Poirier once again, and others-- all distilled into Places' finale and title track. These acts responded to Montag's previously reported open call for sounds, and they'll be immortalized on this release-- which is, we suppose, much less embarrassing than winding up on the last Christina Aguilera disc.

Montag tours Canada and Japan in the coming months, and will announce dates in the U.S. and Mexico soon. He also remade a track by his trustworthy pals Stars for the Do You Trust Your Friends? album, out May 22 on Arts & Crafts. [MORE...]

Stream: Montag: Various Tracks

Posted by Matthew Solarski in collaboration, album, tour on Wed: 03-28-07: 04:40 PM CDT | Permalink

YYYs, Flaming Lips, Walkmen Rock Spiderman 3
Also Black Mountain, Killers, Snow Patrol, Wolfmother

Who's excited for Spiderman 3? Me! Especially now that the soundtrack has been announced. No more emo Spiderman for this one (though I gotta say, that Dashboard song from Spidey 2 is pretty hot)-- Peter Parker's gone full-on hipster.

Due out on CD AND LP May 1 via Record Collection, Spiderman 3: The Official Soundtrack features all completely brand new songs from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Flaming Lips, Record Collection's own Walkmen, the Killers, Black Mountain, Wolfmother, Rogue Wave, Jason Schwartzman (aka Coconut Records)-- featuring Kirsten Dunst!, and more.

The Flaming Lips song is called "Spiderman vs. Muhammad Ali"!!! It HAS to rule. It just has to. UPDATE: IT'S ACTUALLY CALLED "The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to Be in Love". THAT RULES EVEN HARDER.

The soundtrack was produced by Dave Sardy (Walkmen, LCD Soundsystem, Oasis, Wolfmother).

So far, the only song that's available is the Snow Patrol one, which can be streamed below. "Vidicated" is so much better. [MORE...]

Stream: Snow Patrol: Signal Fire [from the forthcoming Spiderman 3: The Official Soundtrack]

Posted by Amy Phillips in soundtrack on Wed: 03-28-07: 04:34 PM CDT | Permalink

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Wed: 04-18-07: 04:13 PM CDT
Joanna Newsom to Open for Bjork!