Pollard Records 7" With Decemberists, Quasi Members
"The influence of alcohol" also contributed to the music

Shocker in Gloomtown: Reluctant songwriter Robert Pollard has whipped up a brand new 7". This one falls under the Takeovers umbrella, and features Pollard's Takeovers partner Chris Slusarenko, Decemberists drummer John Moen, Quasi's Sam Coomes, and Brian Berg of 44 Long backing the Fading Captain on four tracks. They're calling it the "Little Green Onion Man" EP, and indeed, the title track falls off the Malkmus-assisted Bad Football LP from earlier this year.

This "Little Green Onion Man" EP makes its way to stores February 12 on Off Records, on 950 CDs and 950 7"s. 500 of the 7"s will be hand-numbered and available exclusively via the Off website, so if you enjoy the feeling of knowing definitively that you're the 279th person to own something, that's probably your best bet.

As for Bobby, well, gosh, he high-kicked out the jams at a rare pair of gigs a couple weeks ago, and he'll do the same on a duo of releases due in January and February. He's also taking part in Merge Records' charity poster auction. And, as always, recording 7,000 songs a day for a Who tribute album that doesn't exist, some of which show up on the current Pollard singles series. [MORE...]

Calexico Tour-Only Jams Now Digital Via Touch & Go

As they hit the dusty trails of the world, those traveling troubadours in Calexico pack up their gunny sacks with the usual fare: lonesome horns, reverby guitars, and, of course, tour-only EPs aplenty. But before December 4, the only way a person would have been able to grab these goodies would have been to hitch up alongside Calexico while they were out on the road. (Or order them from Calexico's website.) Now, six previously tour-only releases are available through Touch and Go/Quarterstick's digital store. From 1999's '98-'99 Road Map to this year's previously reported Toolbox-- with Travelall, Aerocalexico, Scraping, and The Book and the Canal in between, they're all up for grabs now. Shed your former constraints and roam free, Calexico jams!

In addition, mildly offensive Michigan punks The Meatmen have seen the entirety of their Touch and Go catalog issued digitally through the T&G site as well. Blud Sausage, the Crippled Children Suck EP and the Stud Powercock comp are exclusive at the Touch and Go outpost, with We're the Meatmen, the Crippled Children Suck LP and Meatmen frontguy Tesco Vee and the Meatkrew's Dutch Hercules LP available for download elsewhere.

As for Calexico, they've got a lone date of their own to attend to: December 28 at Tucson, Arizona's Temple of Music and Art.

Clark Sneaks Out New EP, Preps Album, Tours

Surprise! Warp knob twiddler Clark has a new album coming out January 28 in the UK called Turning Dragon, and he's already released an EP to promote it. The EP is called Throttle Promoter, and you can pay for the download (alas, no doing of any Radioheads with this one) here. There's a vinyl version available now as well.

As for the sound of the new album, Clark says, "Alongside Body Riddle I'd written a lot of full energy dancefloor tracks, and Turning Dragon just came from honing and building on these." IDM dance party, anyone?

Clark has a handful of European tour dates scattered throughout next year and the remains of this one, starting with two December shows. [MORE...]

Child Ballads (ex-Jonathan Fire*Eater) Send EP to U.S.

By the time Child Ballads' (aka the Childballads) Cheekbone Hollows (Pop. 1/2 Life) EP hits U.S. shops on April 15, some 18 months will have transpired since Pitchfork initially reported its existence. For head Balladeer Stewart Lupton, the wait must seem a lot longer, considering 2008 also marks the ten year anniversary of the end of his stint as the lead singer of Jonathan Fire*Eater.

To support the Gypsy Eyes Records Stateside release of the EP-- which hit UK shops earlier this year via Loog-- Child Ballads are planning to tour next year. But for now, Lupton's hometown fans can hop over to Brooklyn's Luna Lounge on December 7 for the band's only currently scheduled show. [MORE...]

Fogarino/Franklin's Setting Suns EP Finally Emerges

Photo by Christy Bush

So the Setting Suns-- the oft-discussed, hardly prolific duo comprised of Swervedriver frontguy Adam Franklin and Interpol stickman/secret weapon Sam Fogarino-- are, indeed, for real. And they've got the digitized stuff to prove it, too! The nascent band's self-titled debut EP is available this very moment via iTunes from DH Records, and a physical CD release (sans one of the iTunes tracks) can be expected February 5.

And if that's not enough proof that the Setting Suns are finally on the rise, the band will hit the stage of New York City's Mercury Lounge December 19. That comes at a break in Interpol's touring schedule and before a reunited Swervedriver hit the road next year. Furthermore, a promise is made on the Suns' website about a full LP, due next year. One thing at a time, gentlemen. [MORE...]

Interpol Live, Remix EPs Available Right Now

Photo by Matt Ziegler

Today, right now, at this very moment, at select ThinkIndie.com-represented independent record stores, you will find a new Interpol record! Well, sort of. Interpol Live, the band's first officially released concert recording, is a six-song disc of live tracks culled from a set at London's Astoria Club this July.

It's a well-pared bunch: Turn On highlights "Obstacle 1" and "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down" rub up against Admire's "Pioneer to the Falls", "Mammoth", "Rest My Chemistry" and "The Heinrich Maneuver". You'll want to check ThinkIndie.com to see if your local noise emporium will be carrying the disc, and, if so, start movin'.

Also today, a remix EP creatively titled Our Love to Admire Remixed has showed up on iTunes. It includes that Phones remix of "The Heinrich Maneuver" as well as a take on that same track by the Scientist and a "Mammoth" rework by Erol Alkan.

In other Interpol news, the band is presently on a globe-spanning tour, though we're beginning to wonder if those photos they sent back from safari are Kosher. [MORE...]

Prefuse 73, Books, Petra Haden Rework Cornelius on EP
Better yet: nearly all of Cornelius' featured MySpace friends are cats!

Photo by Shannon McClean

A month or so ago when we first reported Cornelius' brief run of U.S. tour dates this January, we mentioned that "an EP composed entirely of other people covering Cornelius tracks" was on the way. It still is; but this ain't it.

Gum, the forthcoming 12"/digital EP from the Japanese noisemaker, finds its way to stores January 15. And, despite a paradoxically music-free a cappella cover of Cornelius' "Music" by Petra Haden, the disc is otherwise all Corny.

Which didn't stop Prefuse 73 or the Books from getting their interloping hands all over "Gum" and "Fit Song", respectively, for a pair of remixes that round out the EP. Note that the 12" version of the Gum EP is one of those limited editions, and comes with a free 320 kbps mp3 download of the whole thing. Both that and the digital version arrive from Everloving.

UPDATE: Bonus! Everloving e-mailed to say they've added two tracks to the 12": Ms. Haden's Japanese version of "Music", and a collaboration between Cornelius and Ryuichi Sakomoto entitled "Turn Turn". Though Petra's Japanese take on "Music" will appear on the digital release, the Sakomoto track may be a vinyl exclusive. The amended tracklist is available after the jump.

In the coming spring, Everloving will release a Sensuous DVD featuring videos for each of the album's tracks, plus live footage spanning Cornelius' entire career. Also due from Cornelius as the snow melts: a handful of recently added Japanese dates.

Furthermore, we're not joking about the cats. [MORE...]

Bat for Lashes Drop iTunes EP With Plaid Remix

Much like the flying rodents after which she's named, Natasha Khan and her Bat for Lashes have snuck up on us all unexpected-like.

The lovely "What's a Girl to Do?" from her similarly lovely Fur and Gold LP made its way to iTunes today as part of an exclusive EP featuring the original song, a remix thereof from Plaid, and a live take on "The Wizard" from a recent gig in New York City. The much-lauded, previously Forkcasted "Girl" video comes bundled with the thing, too, should you or your media device be tiring of that Feist vid. Perish the thought.

As for Khan, she's taking a rare break from the road at the moment. Whatever for, you ask? Why, "working on writing the next album," of course. [MORE...]

Tim Hecker Preps New Vinyl EP

Soundscape architect Tim Hecker will follow the success of his most recent full-length, Harmony in Ultraviolet, and the reissue of his Radio Amor LP earlier this year with a vinyl-only EP called Atlas. The EP comes out via Audraglint on November 27 in a limited run of 500 copies on white vinyl.

Included on Atlas are two 10+ minute tracks, "Atlas One" (recently featured in Forkcast) and "Atlas Two". The physical release will be the only place you can get these tracks, since they will not be available digitally.

Hecker has a couple shows left this year, starting December 6 in Lausanne, Switzerland. He's also working on a full-length follow-up to Harmony in Ultraviolet for a forthcoming release on Kranky. [MORE...]

Gang of Four Share Demos, Plan EP

They must've put something in the water earlier this month at Seattle's MusicTech 07 conference, as something's gotten into Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen. Ever since he returned from Seattle, Allen's blog has been full of musings on the state of the industry, plenty of talk regarding the In Rainbows model, and-- best of all-- chatter about a new Gang of Four project, complete with demos.

Allen seems to be mulling over just what form these new recordings will take; he spoke with us over a year ago about a new LP, but he seems to be coming around to the notion that the album-- or, at least, the compact disc format-- is kaput. For the moment, the Gang plan to put together a four-song digital EP in the spirit of their original release, 1978's Damaged Goods EP. Allen, meanwhile, has crafted an entertaining, astute list of eight criteria the project will hopefully adhere to, which you can read here.

Rule #5: "It's imperative that we give away MP3s." And so Allen has, with new jams-in-progress "Second Life", a couple different versions of "Password", and the promise of "Faking It", "American Man", and another version of "Second Life" (working titles, all) on the way next week.

Naturally, we'll let you know just where they're going with this once they figure it out. As for other plans, the Gang's website suggests a tour is in the works for next year, though those dates have yet to emerge.

Animal Collective 2008 Plans: EP, LP Box, Recording
Special prize at the end if you read this whole story

What a year it's been for Animal Collective! Cue the checklist:

* New label: secured
* Globe-trotting tour: wrapped
* Network television: conquered
* Youth: corrupted
* Person: pitched
* Hair, Eye: pulled and rubbed, respectively
* Strawberry: jammed

Time to hibernate, right guys? Hardly. As revealed in a recent AC message board post from Avey Tare (confirmed by the band's publicist), Animal Collective already have a good part of 2008 mapped out. Surprise, surprise, it'll be plumb full of activity.

Thanks to reader Lee for the heads up.

Among their resolutions: a new EP, that LP box set, a couple extracurricular sessions for web and radio (those should actually appear before 2007 is up), some more touring abroad, and a return to the recording studio. And if this sounds an awful lot like a story we ran last year, well, it is, but all the specifics are different save for the LP box.

Anyhow. The EP will include "Street Flash" and three other Strawberry Jam-era tunes. It's being mixed right now by Nicholas Vernhes at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room, and Avey and the guys hope to have it out by the coming spring.

The LP box set, in the works for some time now, should soon see the light of day. Wrote Avey, "plans to start working on the artwork for the 3 lp box are underway...so hopefully it wont be much longer on that." He also asked that folks cease bugging Catsup Plate, the label that will release the box. They'll let you know when that's ready, and you can bet we will too.

The recording studio return happens "early next year," and while we can't yet forecast just what will come out of it, know that Animal Collective "are excited about it and that yes, we are trying to record near the beach!"

As for the radio/web sessions, keep your eyes and ears peeled for a forthcoming "Take Away Show" from the guys, as well as a BBC broadcast featuring "our most recent live versions" of "Doggy" and "Hey Light", plus "two newer jams." UPDATE: The broadcast in question is the Monday, November 19 session of the Rob da Bank show on Radio 1. It will happen at 2:00 GMT, and will be archived here for seven days afterwards.

Hang in there, you've reached the home stretch, patient reader! And it involves touring, naturally. In addition to a forthcoming fest appearance at the Explosions in the Sky ATP, AC have confirmed a few dates in Japan and intend to hit up Europe in the Year of the Rat. Plus they'll "perhaps [play] at least one show in April in the USA," so there's that.

Annnnd if you've made it this far, congrats, here's your prize. [MORE...]

Andrew Bird Drops Tour EP, Adds Dates

Photo by Joseph Mohan

On his current European tour, Mr. Andrew Bird has brought along a little something special. Nah, no fiery bowls or mysteriously produced eggs or any of his usual accoutrements. Instead, Bird's got himself Soldier On, an eight track tour EP collecting some choice odds and ends.

Along with a handful of outtakes, alternate mixes, and early versions of Bird classics, the disc sports Andrew's cover of Bob Dylan's "Oh Sister", his contribution to the Janet Reno-curated Songs of America compilation, and a tune from the dance project he cooked up alongside Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak. There's a new track, too, the somewhat improbably titled "The Water Jet Cilice". The disc is currently only available at the Birdman's gigs, but should head into wider availability early next year.

To pass the time until then, Bird's soldiering on on tour, with several more European dates, a return to the States, and an Australian tour (including a stop at the awesome Sydney Fest) in the works. [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.)