Radiohead Announce First 2008 Dates

'Bout time, huh guys? Ending a few weeks of speculation regarding 2008 live engagements, Radiohead have announced the first of what we hope will be copious quantities of dates in the year to come.

As reported on ateaseweb.com and confirmed on the fest's respective websites, Thom Yorke and the gang will descend upon a pair of late June festivals in Germany, Southside and Hurricane. Both take place June 20-22, and it's not yet clear which Radiohead will play first, nor precisely when. The band previously rocked both fests (like a you-know-what) back in 2003.

And while we're talking ateaseweb.com, the fansite also notes that beloved Radiohead producer-guy Nigel Godrich joined his pal Beck at a not-so-secret performance Sunday, November 25 at Echoplex in Los Angeles. Godrich tapped keys and rattled tambourine for the duration of Mr. Hansen's set.

In Rainbows, meanwhile, hits North American stores January 1 via TBD/ATO, and UK shoppes the day before via XL. Discboxes are due to ship next week, although at least one lucky Radiophile already scored a copy. Oh right, and that catalog box the band didn't green-light, that's out December 10. [MORE...]

Kanye West Makes Nice With Evel Knievel

Another Pitchfork Media one-question multiple-choice exam:

1) The man with Kanye West in the above picture is:

A. Dan Deacon's dad.
B. The newest old white guy to give Kanye the rights to sample him.
C. Evel Knievel.
D. What Jay-Z really looks like.

Oh, come on! It's "C". It always is, remember?

But why on earth is Kanye posing for a photo op in Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel's Tampa, Florida home? Why, because the two have resolved the dispute started almost a year ago by Knievel's trademark infringement lawsuit over Kanye's "Touch the Sky" video.

It seems the whole case (officially titled Knievel and K and K Promotions, Inc. v. West, Roc-A-Fella Records, LLC, Chris Milk and AOL LLC) was settled out of court, as the rapper and the daredevil biker "amicably resolved and dismissed the case," according to a press release.

Kanye is currently on tour in the UK, with U.S. and Australian shows on the horizon. On stage in Belgium recently, he explained why he has stayed on the road despite the recent death of his mother, Dr. Donda West. [MORE...]

Bright Eyes' Oberst Forms Band With M. Ward?
Oberst sheds Bright Eyes moniker for two intimate shows

Conor Oberst and M. Ward go way back. Ward opened Bright Eyes' 2002 Lifted tour. He joined Oberst and Jim James a couple years later for their collaborative triptych trek. And when Bright Eyes serenaded Los Angeles with help from the LA Philharmonic a couple months ago, Ward was there.

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone that Oberst and Ward have taken the next logical step with their musical relationship. They've allegedly gone and formed a band.

The news comes from an Omaha City Weekly report, which indicates Oberst and Ward's unnamed band plans to record an album next year. Representatives from neither Oberst's nor Ward's camps could confirm the collaboration, however. But given these guys' history, it falls a wee bit closer on the likeliness scale than, say, a Bright Eyes/Soulja Boy collabo.

The City Weekly bit also mentions a second Oberst side project set to record in 2008. This one finds our perennially bedheaded emoter working with Jake Bellows of Omaha act Neva Dinova. Bright Eyes and Neva Dinova, as you may recall, previously collaborated on the 2004 EP One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels-- so again, not exactly a shocka, even if this too has yet to be confirmed.

The picture may become a little clearer come December 29 and 30, as Conor Oberst takes the stage at Minneapolis' 400 Bar with nothing but the name his parents gave him. Well, that and "a different backing band," according to a Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune report. "Word from 400 Bar management," the report states, "is that Oberst wants it explicitedly known these won't be Bright Eyes shows-- i.e., he won't be doing any of those songs! He will be playing new material." We'll leave it to you super sleuths to put two and two together here.

Thanks to reader Marissa Malouff for the tips! [MORE...]

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Line Up West Coast Tour

It's westward ho for Ryan Adams, who will pack his SPF 30 and however many Cardinals he can fit in his trunks and head to the left coast for a couple weeks' worth of dates in January.

Ryan, as you'll recall, has a new EP out, and is probably writing a song and/or doing something wacky right this very minute. [MORE...]

Lavender Diamond Join Traveling John Waters Xmas
Becky Stark lands role in Tom Hanks-produced film

Lavender Diamond photo by Akmal Naim

It's just one of those things that must be seen to be believed: L.A.'s gossamer folk act Lavender Diamond will join professional filmmaker/amateur goofball genius John Waters on a series of traveling Christmas variety shows he'll put on this holiday season. We're not so sure what these gigs will entail-- nor are we sure we'd want to ruin the surprise even if we did-- but if they're anything like that Christmas compilation John put out a couple years back, expect kitsch enough to last well into Easter.

And that's hardly the only forthcoming mingling of Diamond and celluloid. Lavender leading lady Becky Stark will, according to a report in recent Condé Nast Publications supplement "Movies Rock" (via The Playlist), appear in the Tom Hanks-produced, Bill Murray-starring film City of Ember. Stark will portray-- get this-- a member of "a singing troupe that brings hope to a town that's literally underground." Typecasting, anyone? The flick is being directed by one Gil Kenan, the man who brought you, um, Monster House. Look for it in late 2008. [MORE...]

Arcade Fire Add More 2008 Dates

Photo by Ryan Muir

Come February, the Arcade Fire will burn brightest in the land of the rising sun, as Bruce Springsteen's new best friends follow their stint on the traveling Big Day Out festival with a trio of Japanese dates. These gigs represent just about the furthest gaze into the band's future we've got at the moment. After a few days' recuperation from the jet lag, will the band be returning to the studio to craft LP3? Or could yet more revelatory live shows be in the cards? Eh, I hear the real money these days is in web design.

Thanks to Tiny Mix Tapes for the tip. [MORE...]

Coil Issue Naples as Vinyl Box Set With Bonus LP

The Ape of Naples, the 2005 Coil album assembled partially from late co-founder Jhonn Balance's final recordings, will see a vinyl box set release via Important Records on December 11.

The four LP set spreads the album out over three discs, each featuring laser etchings on their B-sides. The last disc is an exclusive full-length called The New Backwards, which consists of-- Avey Tare & Kria Brekkan style-- backward mixes of Coil tunes.

The set is limited to a run of 1500, and a poster is included in the package. [MORE...]

Weezer LP6 Site Declared Hoax, Alone Pushed Back

Hey, remember that new Weezer album that's coming out April 22? Well, it's not. A Weezer representative took to the Weezer website late last week-- on Thanksgiving, no less-- to debunk albumsix.com, the source of said release date and widely-reported album title Tout Ensemble.

"Weezer and Geffen Records have no affiliation with www.albumsix.com," the November 22 posting reads. "The new Weezer record is not called Tout Ensemble and there is no official release date yet for the album."

The folks behind albumsix.com have since updated their website with a message revealing the hoax; they've also used the publicity as an opportunity to launch a new Weezer fan forum. What, no RickRoll, guys? I'm disappointed.

Meanwhile, Alone, the collection of Rivers Cuomo's solo recordings, has been pushed back a week to December 18.

Simian Mobile Disco Hustle Into 2008 With More Shows
"Hustler" single due in U.S.

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

"Hustler", the Simian Mobile Disco track with the creepy food-filled gross-out of a video, was released as a single yesterday in the UK via Wichita. To celebrate, the two Jameses have announced their first headlining shows of 2008, though they have plenty of dates with Klaxons and the Chemical Brothers to help them finish out this year.

None of the duo's current dates are in the U.S., but the "Hustler" single will make its way over on December 4 via Interscope. The Attack Decay Sustain Release single will come as both a CD and a 12", and the tracklists are slightly different than their UK counterparts, with remixes from A-Trak and Jesse Rose complimenting the previously available one by Armand Van Helden. [MORE...]

R.E.M.'s Mills Plays New Orleans Charity Event in D.C.

Drinks, dancing, Eddie Vedder's name scrawled everywhere: yep, sounds like a party to us. December 1, the Future of Music Coalition will host a house party to benefit New Orleans musician Al "Carnival Time" Johnson and Sweet Home New Orleans, an organization that seeks to bring musicians back to the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Along with Johnson, R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills will make the trek up to Washington, D.C. to perform at the event, dubbed "Hope for Home". Also on the docket: an auction, wherein attendees can bid on exclusive autographed merchandise from R.E.M. and Pearl Jam. The event is semi-private and comes with a hefty admission fee; but, hey, it's for a good cause, right? Interested parties can shoot an e-mail to this address in hopes of scoring a spot on the RSVP list.

While we're on the subject of R.E.M., the guys are set to play Florida's Langerado Festival in March. "Could it be the first of other shows on something like a tour?", their website inquires, positing "probably." Good enough for us. Oh, and they're putting the "finishing touches" on the follow up to 2004's Around the Sun. Maybe if we all start crossing our fingers now, expectations will be met!

Herbert Seeks Phoned-In Vocals for New Big Band LP

Master auditory junk merchant Matthew Herbert is looking for a little help for his forthcoming project. No, for reals, a little: Matthew quite literally only needs you for a second. According to a recent MySpace bulletin, the one they call Herbert is seeking 100 people to sing a single word apiece on his forthcoming LP under the Matthew Herbert Big Band guise. He would like very much if all interested parties would e-mail this address with "I'LL SING FOR MY DINNER" as the subject. Ooh, I hope my word is "steak."

Herbert makes it clear that "you don't have to be a professional" to be considered, just "someone with enthusiasm." This, I'm told, is exactly how Spencer Krug got his start.

Of course, this isn't Herbert's first foray into trolling the fanbase for help; recall this item from last February, where Matthew discusses the 175+ folks whose pipes he mined telephonically for Scale's "Just Once". Still, with only 99 other voices to compete with here, you've got a much better shot at hearing yourself amongst the cacophony of broken typewriters this time around.

Still on the way from Mr. Herbert: those Björk remixes of his, and, apparently, a new Matthew Herbert Big Band LP, due out next fall. Exciting!

Herbert's also lending his production touch to a couple projects, including London-based Micachu and the Invisible, a band comprised of members of Gramme, Bugz in the Attic, Zongamin, and Polar Bear; expect the debut LP from the former in May and a single from the latter in July, both via Herbert's Accidental Records.

Un-T.V. Eye: November 26-December 3, 2007

Slim pickings this week, folks. Maybe the strike will end soon?

Monday, November 26:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Jay-Z (rerun)

Tuesday, November 27:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Devendra Banhart, Patton Oswalt (rerun)

Saturday, December 1:

FOX: Fearless Music TV: Dillinger Escape Plan
PBS: Austin City Limits: Miranda Lambert, Gretchen Wilson (rerun)

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)