Elliott Smith's Ex-Girlfriend Denied Earnings

Jennifer Chiba, the former live-in girlfriend of late songwriter Elliott Smith, has-- according to court documents filed October 16-- been denied an appeal seeking 15% of Smith's earnings on the basis that Chiba, who claimed to be the late Smith's manager, offered little in the way of proof that she was acting in this capacity. Had the decision gone the other way, Chiba would've made over a million bucks from Smith's estate.

Chiba, who filed the initial lawsuit in July 2004, claimed that she was acting as Smith's manager and agent and was therefore entitled to the money. A California appellate court ruled that Chiba was acting as an unlicensed agent and, therefore, wasn't owed anything for those duties. The court did acknowledge Chiba's "co-habitative agreement" with Smith and suggested that she'd probably have more success going with that angle (and not the managerial tack) should she choose to appeal again.

In other, happier Elliott Smith news, that photo book we reported on back in May finally comes out this month via Chronicle Books. And this year's New Moon collection on Kill Rock Stars is still most excellent.

Black Kids Have a Manager, Gigs, No Label Yet

Like a million and one other bands, Best New Music-makers Black Kids are set to slay CMJ this week with a handful of shows that are sure to be packed, sweaty, and spread out all over town (NYC, that is). Their plan for total domination relies heavily on their self-released Wizard of Ahhhs EP, but now it seems they'll have some extra ammunition in the form of a management company-- but not, contrary to some reports, a label.

A previous Billboard.com report (now updated and corrected) indicated that the band had signed to Almost Gold Recordings, home of Peter Bjorn and John. The band's management cleared up the confusion in an email to press outlets, however: "Black Kids have not signed to Almost Gold Recordings...The confusion may stem from the fact that Almost Gold Recordings is part of Quest Management. Quest Management handles Björk and Arcade Fire and we just recently picked up Black Kids for management as well. A number of labels have expressed interest but nothing has been decided yet." So, there you have it.

After their CMJ shows, Black Kids have two Georgia dates in mid-November. [MORE...]

U2 Beef Up Joshua Tree for 20th Anniversary Reissues

Once upon a time, when the mighty stadium-rock juggernauts known as U2 were but mere arena-rock welterweights with visions of Kmart tours and U.N. Security Council meetings dancing in their heads, they made a record that put them over the top in virtually every conceivable way.

That record is The Joshua Tree. And The Joshua Tree turned 20 this year. In celebration, the Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois-produced modern classic will-- according to Billboard.com-- be re-released in four increasingly-elaborate ways: a single CD, a double-CD set, a double-CD/single-DVD box, and a double-vinyl package.

Though the always-exciting format details are still trickling in, we know this: The tracklists for the CD, LP, DVD, and bonus disc follow. What's more, new liner notes abound, and the CD/DVD combo contains five portfolio prints, whatever that might mean. The DVD supposedly sports both film from a July 1987 show at Paris' Hippodrome and the documentary Outside It's America, but, again, that's tentative.

Billboard.com also creeped out onto a pretty shaky limb to add that "although details have yet to be announced, Joshua Tree demos, alternate versions, and B-sides from the period are expected to appear." Whatever they've got, It'll all hit shelves November 20 from UMe. [MORE...]

Enon's Schmersal Explains Taco Bell Contest Entry
"It's not really an endorsement or anything. I sign up for free contests all the time."

Photo by John Ray Fuller

Last week, we ran two stories about a contest called "Feed the Beat", in which 50 bands were each awarded $500 in food from Taco Bell. The first story revealed the winners of the contest to include Girl Talk, Blitzen Trapper, Panthers, White Rabbits, Enon, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, among others. The second story was about how Ted Leo, a vegan, was unwittingly entered in the contest as a prank.

That second story included the following line: "(For the record, Ted Leo's Touch and Go labelmates Enon did, in fact, enter the contest knowingly.)"

To clarify, we didn't mean to imply anything whatsoever about any of the winning bands' political stances or feelings about Taco Bell, the Pepsi corporation, or corporations in general. We also weren't accusing any of these bands of selling out. Personally, I'm more of a Chipotle guy, but I've got nothing against Taco Bell. Nonetheless, Enon's John Schmersal had a few things to say in explanation of his participation in the contest. We called him up for an interview, and what follows is the insight he gave us into the situation.

"It's not really an endorsement or anything. I sign up for free contests all the time. It's not a big deal to me, and I thought it was funny when I won. I don't buy lottery tickets; I don't spend my money gambling on sports or anything like that, because that's a waste of money. But this is something free to do, and I'd never really won anything in my life, so I was happy when I won. One time I did win some goldfish at an outdoor festival, but they died, like, a week later. That's the only other thing I can think of that I've ever won.

"I don't really have any use for Taco Bell myself. To tell you the truth, I ate a lot of Taco Bell in the 90s, but that was just because I was younger and I didn't care as much about what I ate every day as I did about buying records. So I would buy a bean burrito on tour. I got a five-dollar-a-day per diem, and basically every two days I would buy records and eat Taco Bell. But that's not really what I'm about. The band doesn't really eat fast food at all on the road."

Schmersal heard about the contest "through our publicist," and emphasized, "I was the one who entered this contest and not my band, and I feel bad for my band members for feeling complicit in this. It was something I did; it wasn't necessarily supposed to represent my band on any larger scale or anything like that.

"I don't feel as strongly about it as Ted [Leo]. I feel like I won something that was free, and I can use it as a gift. I can give it to homeless people if I want. I thought it would be a great opportunity to be a party-bringer to people. You stay at kids' houses, and they love Taco Bell. And it's a way to feed the poor, not necessarily a great way to feed them, but I've given people my leftovers and stuff [before]."

Since Schmersal has yet to receive the prize, he doesn't know exactly what form it will take. But assuming it's a certificate of some sort or another, he plans to redeem it mostly as a gift for others:

"I'm certainly not going to set up shop at a soup kitchen or anything with it. But if I'm in an area where there's a Taco Bell and homeless people, fuck yes I'm going to give them some Taco Bell, if they want it. Whether it is the homeless or whatever, anybody who's putting us up on tour-- with a snap of fingers, I can make a hot fucking salsa party."

Enon begin a big tour in New York City at CMJ tomorrow (October 18). Their new album, Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds, is out on Touch and Go now. [MORE...]

Butthole Surfers' Haynes Joins Rockin' Children for Tour

Photo by Kirk R. Tuck

Did you see that Daniel Johnston documentary? Well, you really ought to. Anyway, remember that part where Dan-- a little bent, perhaps, but not yet quite broken-- drops a faceful of acid at a Butthole Surfers show and winds up convincing himself that the devil is trying to kill him or something? Even without the mind-probing psychedelics and cymbals on fire, seems like a strange environment to invite children into, no?

Gibby Haynes-- de facto leader of exponentially unfathomable, long-running psych-punk-whatever amalgamators Butthole Surfers-- will join a cadre of kiddies from the Paul Green School of Rock for a series of six dates in February (one, on the 12th, has yet to be confirmed). And together they'll play Butthole Surfers material.

The Paul Green School-- featured in the documentary film Rock School and not the similarly titled Jack Black/Richard Linklater film School of Rock-- is a network of intensive music training programs for kids aged 8-18, and the school's "All Stars" often pay tribute to and even gig out with famed musicians many years their senior.

Forthcoming events include performances of the music of the Ramones, Devo, and AC/DC, but the Surfers thing still seems singularly amazing, if shockingly age-inappropriate. With GG Allin and Wendy O. Williams off to the great puke-soaked green room in the sky, what living figure could possibly be a stranger fit for the gig? Peaches? [MORE...]

Melt-Banana Kick Off Big Fall Tour
Banana split

Photo by R.G.

Japanoisemakers Melt-Banana are bringing their Dilemma over to the U.S. for a full two months of tour dates. Fortunately, that Dilemma has nothing to do with global warming, Iraq, or immigration. It's just the title of their newest album, or half the title, actually. The band released Bambi's Dilemma, its sixth album, in April.

The tour begins tonight (October 17) in Eugene, Oregon, and includes several make-up dates following postponed shows this past summer. Along the way, the Banana will play gigs with the Locust, Dead Child, Yip-Yip, and others. [MORE...]

Lips Expand Zaireeka for 10th Anniversary Parties
Also: Flaming Lips Alley in Oklahoma City is finally here!

Ah, Zaireeka. For the uninitiated, back in 1997, the Flaming Lips decided to combine the words "Zaire" and "Eureka" into one ridiculous album title. Oh, and they also decided to record and release the resulting album in a fairly ridiculous manner: spread across four discs, each containing different music and meant to be played simultaneously (or, for a real trip, in various combinations).

Say what you will about the practicality and listener friendliness of such an endeavor. What's perhaps most ridiculous is that Zaireeka was originally released in 1997, and thus turns ten years old this year (crazy, ain't it?).

The Lips, never ones to shy from celebration, have decided to commemorate the anniversary with a series of special in-store parties, during which the album will be played as it's intended (since, as some have pointed out, most of us don't have four CD players lying around).

And that's not all: they've also done gone and bolstered the original Zaireeka with a fifth disc-- a DVD with 5.1 Surround Sound-- which they're calling the 10th disc because of the anniversary and because they're clowny like that.

Thus the Zaireeka Sound Experiment goes down at Seattle's Crocodile Cafe (in conjunction with Sonic Boom Records) October 22 and Dallas' Good Records on October 30, with more in-stores expected to be announced soon ("Ask your local independent record store if they are having a party," suggests the Lips' MySpace). Being Halloween-time, there will of course be a costume contest (reckon "Flaming Skeleton" might be a popular choice). What's more, a "Virtual Wayne" (Coyne) will be making an appearance via that DVD, shedding some light on each Zaireeka track.

No word yet whether the fifth disc will see official release, nor whether an anniversary edition of Zaireeka is in the pipeline. But whether four CDs or five, the Lips still have nothing on this nut.

Also, just a friendly reminder that Pitchfork's own Managing Editor Mark Richardson is working on a book about Zaireeka for the 33 1/3 series. Yay Mark!

And remember the Flaming Lips alley in Oklahoma City? Well, it's finally being dedicated October 25 at 11:30 a.m. Head on down to AT&T Bricktown Ballpark (the Plaza at Mickey Mantle entrance) to join in the festivities along with Wayne Coyne and OKC mayor Mick Cornett.

Cat Power's Jukebox Tracklist, Cover Art Revealed

After over a year of anticipation, the full details of Cat Power's second covers collection, Jukebox, have been announced. As previously reported, the set is due out January 22 on Matador. And in addition to what we already knew-- that it would contain a new version of Cat Power's own "Metal Heart" and a new song called "Song for Bobby" for, yes, Bob Dylan-- we've now got the whole tracklist. "New York, New York"! "Fortunate Son"! "Dark End of the Street"! Billie Holiday and James Brown and Hank Williams! This is going to rule.

According to a post on Matador's blog, "Much like real life, everything's subject to change." We hope not a whole lot here does. [MORE...]

Death Cab's Chris Walla: Threat to Homeland Security?
"I Will Follow You Into the Dark" clearly about suicide bombing

Death Cab for Cutie seem like such nice boys. Calm, collected, clean cut (usually). Certainly not the sorts you'd peg as dabblers in international intrigue and matters of homeland security. Yet, as Cab guitarist/producer for hire/budding solo star Chris Walla told MTV.com, that's exactly what happened to a hard drive, a courier, and a politically-charged solo project gone AWOL.

According to MTV, Walla's label Barsuk recently hired a courier to bring a hard drive containing rough drafts of Wall's oft-delayed solo LP from Canada (where Walla was working on it) to the States. "He got to the border and he had all his paperwork and it was all cool," Walla said, "only they turned him away, and they confiscated the drive and gave it to the computer-forensics division of our Homeland Security-type people." Now, Walla says, he "couldn't even venture a guess as to where it is, or what it's doing there. I mean, I can't just call their customer-service center and ask about my drive. There's nothing I can do. I don't know if we can hire an attorney... is there a black-hole attorney? You can't take a black hole to court."

Well, "Night Court", maybe...

On his blog, Walla offers the bright side: "It's not a Kafka novel, and I'm not a prisoner at Guantanamo. My life isn't so bad. But still, this situation is a concrete and real reminder of what fuels the world we live in: It's fear and mistrust and suspicion. And oil."

He adds: "You know what would would be great? If all the items seized in border searches were divvied up among the Senators to investigate. In my wildest dreams, my drive ends up on Arlen Specter's desk in Washington, and he studies the files with surgical precision. And maybe my little songs tip him forever away from the fence, in either direction.

He's a fencesitter, Mr Specter: They're the most dangerous, you know."

Fortunately, Walla still has backup tapes containing all of the songs intended for the record, MTV reports. He's working on the mixing and mastering at the moment, and hopes to have it out in January. And the record has a new title, Field Manual (it was called It's Unsustainable in our last report).

UPDATE: Field Manual now has a release date: January 29. But if you want a new Walla track sooner than that, check out Hard to Find a Friend's Peace on Earth benefit compilation.

And how's this for a weird spin on an already strange story? Field Manual, it seems, is "very political", with tunes about the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and contraception. One wonders just how a border guard might've gleaned all that from a sidelong glance at the hard drive from under the courier's arm. Scary...

Unphased, Walla's immediate plans include work on the next Death Cab LP. On his blog, Walla writes, "The DCfC record is in full swing; we're six songs in. Thus far it's pretty weird, and pretty spectacular; lots of blood. It's creepy and heavy...We've got a ten minute long Can jam, and had you suggested that possibility to me in 1998, I'd have eaten your puppy's brain with a spoon."

Maybe these Death Cab fellas get a little grislier than we thought!

Cass McCombs Plans Tours With Gonzalez, Ariel Pink

Gas, grass, or Cass: nobody rides for free. Young Cass McCombs is Dropping the Writ and picking up the roadmap for a two-fer of tours kicking off in early November.

The first pairs McCombs with Ariel Pink on a co-headlining thing, with members of each gentleman's regular backing band forming a kind of side-person megaband that'll accompany both performers. If you miss that one-two punch, McCombs' follow-up oughta soften the blow: he'll open for gentle giant José González on a fortnight's worth of gigs. [MORE...]

Jesus and Mary Chain Cancel Vegas Date

Photo by Eirik Lande

The all-too-brief Jesus and Mary Chain fall US tour just got all-too-briefer, as the band's axed the first gig of the run, the October 30 show at Las Vegas' House of Blues. No reason was given for the cancellation, nor have any plans been made to reschedule. But we're told all dates will go on as planned, and we'll just have to take that on faith.

As previously reported, the Reid Brothers and co. are working on the first all-new first JAMC album since Munki. Please, let it be at least as good as Munki.

Thanks to reader Ken Viste for the tip. [MORE...]

Cat Power, YLT, MMJ, Roots Fete Dylan in Concert
Along with Calexico, J Mascis, Lee Ranaldo, Mark Lanegan

People sure do love Bob Dylan. They also love Todd Haynes. As a bit of a live-action companion piece to Haynes' Dylan meta-biopic I'm Not There and its accompanying star-studded soundtrack, New York's Beacon Theatre will host "I'm Not There: In Concert" on November 7.

The list of performers-- much like that of the soundtrack, or those in the film-- is staggering: Cat Power, Calexico, My Morning Jacket, the Roots, J Mascis, Lee Ranaldo & the Million Dollar Bashers, Mark Lanegan, Yo La Tengo with Buckwheat Zydeco (!), Al Kooper (who notably played organ on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone"), John Doe, and Gomez's Ian Ball and Olly Peacock are among those set to perform. Attendees are urged to expect "guests and more" at the event, so now's as good a time as any to start speculatin' as to who that might be. Sufjan? Karen O?

The I'm Not There soundtrack drops on Columbia October 30, and the film hits U.S. theaters November 21. Dylan is on tour with fellow legend Elvis Costello right now, as you know.

Thanks to reader Donovan Roediger for the tip. [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.)