Wzt Hearts Tie Up Loose Threads on Carpark LP, Tour

Baltimore's simmering skillet of noisy off-the-cuff electronipsych Wzt Hearts has finally turned the burner down on last year's Heat Chief for another treat: Threads Rope Spell Making Your Bones, the band's second LP, due September 18.

The CD and digital download are out on Carpark; the vinyl is all Hoss. Fans of Boredoms, Black Dice, or that sound your fire alarm makes to let you know it's ready for action, this could be your new fave rave. If only you knew how to ask the gal at the record store for it.

Oh, and there's a tour, too! These Wzt Hearts can't be broken. [MORE...]

Melvins, Big Business Kick Off Tour Together
Earplug stores kick off massive sale in support

Photo by Micah Smith

For this next exercise, you'll need a friend and a sledgehammer. Got them? Okay, now give your friend the sledgehammer, and ask him/her to slam you in the head with it as hard as humanly possible. We'll wait while you collect the pieces of your skull off the floor... Now, wasn't that fun?

If your answer is "yes," then immediately click that "[MORE...]" link below and make your way to any stop of the upcoming Melvins and Big Business tour.

Big Business are pummeling in support of their newest album, this year's Here Come the Waterworks. Melvins, who have counted both members of Big Business among their ranks for a minute now, are shredding in anticipation of the release of their Making Love Demos as part of a previously reported package with a comic book due October 9.

Also previously reported is that the first stop of the tour, tomorrow, September 15 in L.A., is a Don't Look Back show featuring Melvins playing Houdini in its entirety and Mudhoney doing the same with Superfuzz Bigmuff and Early Singles. [MORE...]

Simian Mobile Disco Launch North American Invasion

To say the lads of Simian Mobile Disco have had quite a year is a severe understatement. Their record-- Attack Decay Sustain Release-- is great, and just got a little greater with its recent release on these shores, thanks to the wonders of bonus material. They're successfully made the jump from DJ troupe to high-octane live act. Their fuzzier half-- James Ford-- produced two of 2007's highest profile British rock records, Klaxons' Mercury Prize-winning Myths of the Near Future and Arctic Monkeys' Favourite Worst Nightmare. And they've toured everywhere, with just about everybody. And it's only September.

Tonight, Simian Mobile Disco will take it on the road for a brief string of North American dates, beginning the last chapter in the group's storybook '07. Though there's plenty of time in October-- save CMJ, which they've committed to-- and the first half of November for remixes and production work and whatever else strikes their fancy (sleep, perhaps?), SMD are touring just about one out of every two nights through the next couple months, mostly with Klaxons and Chemical Brothers. Check 'em out. [MORE...]

Los Campesinos! Cover Black Flag, Heavenly on Single
"A new generation of Henry Rollins fans will want us killed."

Photo by Grace deVille

The exclamation obsessed lads and lasses of Los Campesinos! are nearly finished recording their full-length debut/follow-up to the Sticking Fingers Into Sockets EP with Broken Social Scene knob twiddler Dave Newfeld, and to showcase their excitement about the thing, they're unleashing a new UK single on October 22.

According to a MySpace bulletin from the Campesinos! camp, the A-side, "The International Tweexcore Underground", "is a story of a friendship of two opposites and how they are in the best band in the world, one embracing things that are, shall we say (and you would almost definitely say) 'twee' (yuck) and the other embracing music that is...not so."

The single will come in seven-inch, CD, and download formats. For its flip side, the initial concept of "The International Tweexcore Underground" "led us to the genius idea of creating a B-side for both of these people, and covering songs that each in turn would maybe like, by musicians that are name-checked in the song. You must understand that this is a decision based on art, and not on us being too rubbish to write our own B-sides. SO, now we have LC! playing the Amelia Fletcher/Calvin Johnson duet of Heavenly track 'C Is the Heavenly Option' and on the other hand LC! stick it to the man with our rendition of Black Flag's 'Police Story'. Pretty rad huh?

"And so, the concept single is born (yeh, it's ALL down to us) and a new generation of Henry Rollins fans will want us killed. Sweet thing."

Even sweeter: the band made a video for "Tweexcore", which you may have noticed in Forkcast today. They also have plenty of previously reported tour dates that begin October 2 in Dublin. Sweet thing. [MORE...]

Blitzen Trapper Kick Off Fall Tour, Drop EP

Photo by Jade Harris

Blitzen Trapper, the mostly-bearded, Best New Music-making melders of slack-rock and Molly Hatchet, are taking the show on the road on a North American tour kicking off tonight in Walla Walla. From there, the boys'll make moves across this wild mountain nation of ours in a roundabout fashion, with the odd day up in the wilder, more mountainous nation of Canada. Their slow-rollin' country caravan added a few pit-stops this week (and a couple gap-fillers besides) since last we reported 'em; when these fellas saddle up to ride, they're heading all the way into the sunset.

What's more, there's a new Blitzen Trapper EP in the works. October 9, the band will self-release a 7" and digital download of Cool Love #1, a four-song set of Wild Mountain outtakes and a spin through "Jericho" from their Daytrotter session. Also fresh from the Trap: a vinyl version of Wild Mountain Nation, out November 6.

In other Blitzen Trapper news, the recent Sub Pop signees show themselves on the forthcoming For the Kids comp. [MORE...]

Shudder to Think Reunite!!
...for one show

Photo by Jim Saah

NYC: 2. Everybody else: 0.

Continuing in the Chavez vein of totally incredible indie rock bands reuniting for an extremely limited number of shows, the mighty Shudder to Think will sorta reform for a single date at New York City's Mercury Lounge this coming Monday, September 17.

We say "sorta" because the band's lineup for the night will consist of hella magnetic frontman/vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Craig Wedren, integral guitarist and songwriter Nathan Larson (whose ups and downs with Wedren were part of the reason for the band's dissolution in the late 90s), and late-era drummer Kevin March (who is in Wedren's current band). Missing is bassist Stuart Hill.

Still, this is the first Shudder to Think reunion of any kind since they disbanded, and there's no way we'd pass up the opportunity to see one of the best glam-prog rock bands ever if they came to Chicago (hint, hint).

As long as we're on the subject, this gig is just a one off, and there are not plans for any full-blown reunion activities like tours or albums that could come out very soon (hint, hint).

Sharing the bill with STT at this show will be papercranes, Luke Schurman, and A Camp, a side project of the Cardigans' Nina Persson. Larson will join Persson for her performance; he has collaborated with her in A Camp in the past.

Craig Wedren's only other scheduled show is at Washington, D.C.'s Rock and Roll Hotel on October 13.

PJ Harvey's White Chalk U.S. Release Bumped Back

Like anything written in White Chalk, the U.S. release date for PJ Harvey's latest opus was something less than permanent. Today comes word (confirmed by Harvey's publicist) that the follow-up to 2004's Uh Huh Her has been bumped back one whole long, agonizing week. White Chalk is now slated (ha) for an October 2 release in the States (instead of September 25). It's still due September 24 in the UK and still on Island, though.

What's more, first single "When Under Ether" still drops next week in the UK. And PJ is still coming to get you, if you live in/near Bristol, London, NYC, or L.A., you lucky bastards. [MORE...]

Photos: Aesop Rock, Octopus Project [Chicago, IL; 09/13/07]

Photos by Sanchez and Kitahara

New York MC Aesop Rock brought his rhymes to Chicago's Metro last night, gigging in support of his new LP None Shall Pass on Def Jux. At one point during the show, Aesop called a pint-sized collaborator to the stage, a young boy he said appeared on the record. But the headphone-wearing li'l hip-hop fan quickly got fussy and returned to his mom in the crowd. Aww.

UPDATE: We have identified the boy! He's Hollis Frazier-Herndon, son of Aesop Rock's publicist Kathryn Frazier and Tortoise's John Herndon. And we even have video of his big moment-- click HERE to watch. When Hollis is a huge rock star one day, you can brag about how you saw his first on-stage performance.

If you just can't get enough Aesop Rock right now, tune in to MTV. Yes, regular MTV. They apparently are pretending to care about music again, and they've made Aesop Rock their "Artist of the Week" for this week. That means you get to see a little snippet of the man performing or doing weird stuff every time they go to a commercial break. This somehow involves a call-in talk show called "I'm Trying to Help".

Opening for this leg of the tour is Austin's Octopus Project, who unleashed their unique brand of instrumental miscellany, employing not only guitars, drums and synths, but also a theremin and what appeared to be a giant glowing cat. Their new album, Hello, Avalanche, is due October 9 on Peek-a-Boo.

Photos of Octopus Project's cat, and more, plus a bunch of tour dates, below.

AESOP ROCK

OCTOPUS PROJECT



[MORE...]

Hot Chip Do Gigs, DJ Dates, Single, Shrigley Benefit
Two words: Todd Rundgren

What's shakin', Hot Chip? Besides, you know, my ass to your songs? Quite a few things, as it happens, are astir in camp Chip of late, so let's set the ass on simmer, pull up a chair, and brush up on the latest.

First up, Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor joined forces recently with Gang Gang Dance's Brian DeGraw to create what Taylor called (on the HC website) a "one-off audio-visual piece." The piece, which marked the first Taylor/DeGraw collaborative effort, premiered at the ICA in London on September 6 as part of the Beck's Fusions series, alongside new offerings from Matthew Herbert and others. No word yet whether it will turn up elsewhere (the "one-off" part is less than encouraging), but here's hoping.

Hot Chip as a whole, meanwhile, have a limited edition 12" due this month with "Shake a Fist"-- perhaps you caught it in Forkcast?-- featuring none other than Todd Rundgren. While a Chip publicist could not confirm whether it's a sample or whether Todd actually worked with Hot Chip, our dads are still thrilled to see the name.

Furthermore, the latest and third Hot Chip album, which may be called Shot Down in Flames or 4 or Made in the Dark or something else entirely, is coming along nicely. The quintet hope to have it out, via DFA/EMI, in February 2008. Fingers crossed!

And remember David Shrigley's Worried Noodles project, where Shrigley provided lyrics and tons of your favorite bands, Hot Chip among them, made the music? The two-disc/three-vinyl set isn't out until October 23 (on Tomlab), but folks in London can taste an early portion of Noodles on October 14, as Hot Chip and others perform at Scala. Shrigley himself will be there providing animation, while HC, Max Tundra, Psapp, Simon Bookish, Cibelle, James Chadwick, Munch Munch, Scarlet's Well, and more wiggle their Noodles contributions. It's both a launch party and a benefit for Amnesty International, with all proceeds going to the organization. You really don't want to miss that.

Finally, Hot Chip's Joe Goddard has been out there setting dancefloors ablaze like some kind of party arsonist. Catch one of his upcoming DJ dates, listed for your convenience-- alongside a brief run of Hot Chip South American fest dates-- below.

Oh, and don't forget Hot Chip's Kraftwerk remix action, coming atcha next week. [MORE...]

Film School Hit the Road, Play Dates With Land of Talk

Photo by Marla Aufmuth

Ah, film school. 'Tis a storied time in the life of every young undergrad, the left-field urge to cast off the shackles of biomechanical engineering and make that angsty semi-autobiographical black-and-white feature that's been kicking around in the back pages of your calculus notebook for years now. Of course, dreams of film school are fleeting, and the reality-- as your local middle-aged burger-flipper can tell you-- can be a little limp.

Not so for the songcraftin' Scorseses of Film School, who've got themselves lined up with a number of screenings of their recent Hideout, which dropped this week on Beggars Banquet. Following a couple dates in their native California, they'll head out on location for a few wide shots of their tuneful shoegazing antics. Sounds more like a Wim Wenders thing, actually. For quite a few dates they've casted Land of Talk to co-star. [MORE...]

Slaraffenland Gig Across Continents

Slaraffenland-- the purty, proggy Danish five-piece with the larynx-clearing gutteral moniker-- will make their way to the land of the corn dog for a month or so starting in late September. Sandwiched between a lone homeland gig and a bundle of dates upon their triumphant return to the land of the kroner, they'll play a series of shows culminating at the CMJ festival/conference/cause of much jealousy in New York City. [MORE...]

The Cinematic Orchestra Kick Off Fall Tour

The Cinematic Orchestra are all tuned up and ready to play music on stages this fall in support of this year's Ma Fleur.

The trek, almost as epic in length as the group is in name, begins tonight, September 14, in Los Angeles.

In late September, the Orchestra will head back over to Europe for a month of shows culminating in a handful of dates in their native UK. [MORE...]

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.)