Handsome Furs Revive Touring Plague

Finally, Handsome Furs are seasonally appropriate. After opening the gates of Plague Park this spring and touring in support of the debut this summer, the Canadian duo has scheduled a handful of dates for bundled up audiences in December.

Also fitting is the fact that all five of the freshly minted dates are in the Land of a Thousand Skating Rinks. Hey, maybe hockey fever is the Plague they were referring to all along! [MORE...]

Cat Power Covers Lil Wayne on Updated Jukebox
Well, not Wayne solo. Hot Boys, to be exact.

Here in Newsland, we prefer to deal in certainties if at all possible. But the crew at Matador were right back in mid-October when they issued this warning along with the then-tentative tracklist for Cat Power's hotly anticipated Jukebox LP: "Much like real life, everything's subject to change."

The disc is still due January 22 from the label, still finds Ms. Marshall tackling the back pages of some formidable songwriters (including one Chan Marshall), still sees her recently Forkcasted Dylan tribute "Song to Bobby" making the cut, and still contains her feminine spin on Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man". It has, however, been shaken up a bit otherwise. As they say, that's life.

Gone are Marshall's takes on Creedence's "Fortunate Son" and Chips Moman and Dan Penn's "Dark End of the Street". In their places (well, sort of, as the running order has moved around a bit, too): Jessie Mae Hemphill's "Lord, Help the Poor and Needy" and Joni Mitchell's "Blue". And it's hard to mourn too hard for a pair of lost tracks when Matador's sweetened the new deal with a five-song bonus disc to be included in a "limited edition silver foil deluxe package." It's like a delicious baked potato, only made out of music!

So what's on the bonus disc? Moby Grape's "Naked If I Want To" (a highlight of the original Covers Record), Nick Cave's "Breathless", Roberta Flack's "Angelitos Negros", Patsy Cline's "She's Got You", and-- wait for it-- a cover of the Hot Boys' "I Feel". Yep, those Hot Boys: Juvenile, B.G., Turk, and Weezy F. Baby (please say the... well, you know). YES!

Chan will play tonight's star-studded I'm Not There concert in New York City, though beyond that, she has no touring plans. [MORE...]

Thurston, Pornos, Liars, Deerhunter Do Barcelona Fest
Plus: No Age, Castanets, Vanderslice, Von Sudenfed, Earth, Bishop Allen, Stars of the Lid

First, the technical stuff: the second edition of the Estrella Damm Primavera Club festival will take place across several Barcelona venues December 3-8. Yawn.

Now comes the fun: Thurston Moore, Liars, the New Pornographers, Deerhunter, No Age, John Vanderslice, Von Südenfed, Earth, Bishop Allen, Stars of the Lid, the Ponys, Castanets, Parts & Labor, Crystal Castles, Kode9 & the Spaceape, Bracken, Joseph Arthur & the Lonely Astronauts, and more will pack the Catalonian capital's clubs with pure rock/folk/noise/dubstep fury. No yawning anymore, is there?

Additional details for Primavera Club-- the indoorsy twin of the Primavera Sound thing they do every summer-- are available at the fest's website.

Franz's Thomson Drums Up Domino 7" With Correcto

Paul Thomson-- again, possessor of the greatest name in rock'n'roll-- drums in a little act called Franz Ferdinand from time to time. It's a good gig, for sure: sometimes Alex whips up a cake just for laughs and lets Paul lick the spoon, and periodically he gets to read all about himself in appealingly alphabetized form. But, despite the perks, all the pressures of keeping the beat in one of those big famous rock bands can get a little trying, even when possessed with the resilience of spirit a name like his affords a person.

That's the point when Paul's especially glad to have Correcto, the slightly lower-profile band for which he also hits the skins. Though that profile may not be so low for so long: Correcto's peppy "Joni" will be released as a single (7" and download, if you're interested) November 12 in the UK from Franz and them's Domino label. Backed with "Wasting Time", the single apparently serves as a harbinger for the LP the band have been recording over the last several months, expected early next year.

Correcto have a smattering of dates surrounding the impending release of "Joni", and-- lucky you-- they're all listed after the jump. Have at it. [MORE...]

Vincent Gallo, Hole's Eric Erlandson Form Improv Act

If my occasional glances at "Dr. Phil" have taught me anything-- and they haven't-- certain personalities are attracted to volatility in others. Given the company he sometimes chooses to keep, former Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson might suffer from that particular affliction. Erlandson has joined with actor, filmmaker, occasional musician, Paris Hilton fan, and creepily intense human-like vessel Vincent Gallo to form RRIICCEE, an all-improv group who will tour North America next month.

So what can a brave attendee expect from a RRIICCEE gig? We're not sure, and we're starting to think Gallo and Erlandson aren't sure, either. According to a press release, "For all appearances, the outfit does not perform pre-written music and is not limited to the boundaries of one specific musical genre." And you thought that dinner scene in Buffalo 66 was awkward. Indeed, Vincent and Eric are quite literally coming to these tables empty-handed, with no recorded music at the moment and no plans for a commercially available release.

Gallo had a few (okay, more than a few) words about RRIICCEE's unorthodox methods, in a press release:

"Improvisation is not a good word for what we're doing. It's more a gesture of composing and performing at the same time, always hoping to avoid musical cliché or jamming. We've chosen not to go into a studio in a traditional way like other bands have done in the past: to make recordings, cut them up, dub on them, fine tune and mix them, and then release them as an album, then later, go on tour, pantomiming those recordings over and over each night as a form of cabaret. Instead, for a long time now, we've chosen to remain open, to grow and change more naturally, and when we play live, the music is often created during the performance. If we choose to record a performance, the recording itself is only evidence of that creative moment. The purpose of recording then, is to listen back for enjoyment."

In other Vincent Gallo news just in time for the gift-giving season, he is still offering his services as both a sperm donor and a sperm dispenser on his website. [MORE...]

New My Bloody Valentine Album Due This Year??
HOLY CRAP, GUYS

Looks like this Kevin Shields fellow is a man of his word, huh? In the January/February 2007 issue of Magnet magazine, as previously reported, Shields promised that some band he's part of called My Bloody Valentine were "100% going to make another...record unless we die or something."

Today comes word that Shields wasn't just pulling our whammy bars, as the Vice-associated (UPDATE: Not associated, just good friends with Vice Records' Adam Shore) Daily Swarm has revealed bits from a interview with Shields-- set to air on a forthcoming episode of Vice's vbs.tv program "Soft Focus"-- in which the shoegaze godfather and fanclub president* confirms that the new album is being made, and what's more, it's supposed to come out this year.

Speaking to "Soft Focus" host and DC scene mainstay Ian Svenonius, here's Kevin: "We were making a record in the 90s, around when the band broke up in 1995...and I continued with Bilinda [Butcher, guitarist/vocalist]. We kinda made...most of an album...

"[The new album is] going to be this 96/97 half-finished record finished, and then a compilation of stuff we did before that in 1993–94, and a little bit of new stuff.

"I pretty much know what the one that's going to come out this year is going to sound like because it's already pretty much three-quarters done already...it sounds like what we sounded like-- different but not radically different. People will go, 'Yeah, it sounds like My Bloody Valentine.'"

That is, one presumes, after people catch their breath and pick their melted minds up off the floor.

Until the full interview airs on November 12, that's really all we have to go off. So what did we learn today? That My Bloody Valentine are indeed back together in some configuration or another. That they've recorded new material. That they have at least two releases on the way, one of which may very well come out this year. And, last but not least, that Loveless has a follow-up and IT WILL SOON TOUCH THE EARS OF HUMANKIND.

Wooooooooooooo!

Oh yeah, no word yet on all that reunion tour chatter, but consider this-- along with the reactivated MBV website-- a very good sign.

* this scene celebrates itself, recall

Electrelane Go on “Indefinite Hiatus”

Nooooooo! Once again, the call of the "indefinite hiatus" has claimed one of my favorite bands. Brighton, England's Electrelane announced today on their website that following a string of dates leading up to a December 1 show in their hometown, they will lay down their instruments.

"We have decided that the upcoming gigs will be our last for the foreseeable future," the band wrote. "After ten years of much fun and hard work, we have realised that we all need a break and time to do other things. This was a tough decision for us to make, but ultimately a positive one.

"A big thank you to everyone who has come to our shows, put on our shows, and bought our records over the years. It means a lot to us. We're really grateful to have had the opportunity to play gigs all over the world and to meet so many lovely people. This last year has been especially enjoyable and we feel happy about moving on with all these good memories to look back on. At the moment we haven't made any band plans for the future but we're going to have a break and see what happens.

"Love, Electrelane"

Since forming in 1998, the four-piece released four albums and one odds-and-ends compilation of churning, Kraut-influenced art rock. (They also do the best cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" ever.) This year's fantastic No Shouts, No Calls (on Too Pure) was perhaps the best distillation of Electrelane's sound, balancing just the right amount of pop with experimental meanderings.

"In Berlin", the next single from that album, will be released on November 26. That same day, the Too Pure Singles Club will release the "Red Dream" / "A Mouthful of Pebbles" single by Vera November, aka Electrelane vocalist/keyboardist Verity Susman.

Full disclosure: guitarist Mia Clarke is also a music journalist who has written for Pitchfork in the past. And though an Electrelane "hiatus" may mean time for more writing from Clarke, we will miss the band greatly. [MORE...]

Hot Chip Line Up 2008 Dates
Gigs aimed at boys, girls from school

Your feet could use some schooling in the ways of the dancefloor, and lucky for you, five new headmasters have arrived with a brand new lesson plan. Hot Chip-- whose forthcoming Astralwerks/DFA LP Made in the Dark (subject of a recent class discussion) has a February 5 due date on the U.S. syllabus (February 4 on the UK one)-- have lined up a university-centric tour of the UK in February 2008.

Sure, there's a Corn Exchange in there too, and a spot called 53 Degrees (quite "hot" in Celsius, that)-- not to mention a massive graduation party blowout put on by your Pitchfork pals and the All Tomorrow's Parties crew in May-- but what's a school year without a few field trips?

Following a freshmen orientation date later this month in London, the semester begins February 14 in Leicester, England. [MORE...]

Tokyo Police Club, Vampire Weekend Play Charity Concert in Memory of Ra Ra Riot's John Pike

December 15 at Cambridge, Massachusetts' Middle East Downstairs, Vampire Weekend and Tokyo Police Club will join Ra Ra Riot for "Friends of John", a benefit concert for the memorial foundation set up by the family of late Ra Ra Riot drummer John Pike in the months since his June passing.

The foundation seeks to create a lending library of instruments for underprivileged children, with the eventual goal of founding a rehearsal/recording space. Even if you can't make it to the gig, the foundation is accepting Paypal donations via johnryanpikememorialfund@gmail.com, or at the mailing address below the jump.

Having recently wrapped a European tour with Editors, Ra Ra Riot have a handful of dates along the East Coast in the weeks leading up to the benefit. [MORE...]

Radiohead Box Set: Label's Idea, Not Band's

The announcement earlier this week that Parlophone/EMI would be issuing a box set of Radiohead's previously released albums took many fans by surprise. Sure, the set looks purdy, but it doesn't come with any bonus tracks or new artwork or liner notes. And that USB stick sure is clunky. Plus, why would Radiohead want to release this thing on December 10, right when everybody will be getting their pre-ordered discboxes of In Rainbows? Seems a little fishy.

On Monday, Boing Boing posted an item about the box set. Yesterday, it was updated with the following:

"A publicity-shy reader writes, 'I think people need to know that the band isn't some greed machine. I can tell you with 100% certainty that EMI is putting out all those reissues without the band's participation, blessing, permission or involvement at all. They are doing it as retribution for the band's decision not to go with them in releasing the new album. Despite their contract being expired, EMI had been counting on the revenue from the forthcoming album. When the band put out the digital version of the album themselves, EMI threatened them with re-releasing their entire catalog on the same day the discbox of IN RAINBOWS was being sent out, Dec 10, unless the band gave EMI the standard physical release of the album. Of course the band/managers told EMI to piss off and were appalled that at such an important point in the band's career that their former partners would do this to them.'"

We checked in with representatives from both the band and the label. According to the Radiohead camp, the box set was indeed not the band's idea. They did not confirm any in-fighting, though. EMI agreed that the box was a label initiative, and said that the band's management was offered the opportunity to participate in the project, but declined. As for the release date, EMI maintained that no maliciousness was intended. Rather, it's simply box set season--who doesn't want to find a nicely packaged multi-CD bundle under the tree on Christmas morning?

As for that other Radiohead release we're all looking forward to, it's maybe possibly coming out January 1, maybe possibly on ATO/Side One in the U.S., the band is maybe possibly doing a webcast about it on Friday and maybe possibly touring behind it next year.

Sub Pop Opens Digital Download Store

How's this one look in that iPhone of yours, Jobs? The fine folks at the Sub Pop recording concern-- label to, oh, a hearty slice of your favorite bands, we're willing to wager-- have "bypassed all middle men for some new fangled technological DIY bullshit" in bringing you, the customer, their own digital music shop.

Currently home to nearly 200 entries in the Sub Pop catalog, the store will eventually house oh-so-many more releases to come, including future Sub Pop classics and past glories alike. (A full, up-to-date list is available here.)

The Pop-sters are looking to throw singles and EPs up as soon as they find a spare moment, and a note on the website proclaims that the label has "every intention of making rare and out-of-print titles available exclusively" in their store. Worry not, gift card recipients the world over: they're still selling most stuff via your traditional digital retailers too.

Maybe the coolest part of all this, though, lies in this little detail: "You can download the files you've purchased from your account page at any time and multiple times-- if we update the download in any way (think bitrate or bonus tracks or whatever), you can just log in, go to your download page, and get the new version of the file." Ever lose a few paychecks worth of digital music files in one fell swoop of a hard drive crash? Sub Pop understands.

In other Sub Pop news, keep an ear to the ground for new releases from No Age, the Helio Sequence, and the Gutter Twins (amongst many others) in the coming months.

Lily Allen, Lingerie Model

Photo by Anoulay Tsai

From clothes, to shoes, to period costumes, to...lingerie? Seems Lily Allen's dabblings in couture culture have indeed taken that route, according to an MTV.co.uk report and confirmed by the pop starlet's publicist. UPDATE: THIS CONFIRMATION HAS BEEN RESCINDED. This time Allen won't be designing the garments in question-- but she will be modeling them.

And not just any old lingerie either. Allen will don the particularly provocative undergarments sold by UK-based Agent Provocateur (careful with that link there, son), co-founded by the son of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. Allen has signed a six-figure deal with the company, and joins the ranks of such past knickers-bearing AP models as Kylie Minogue and Kate Moss.

Here, check out this hot, NSFW video from the photo shoot!

 

 

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.)