Low Tour, Retribution Gospel Choir Prep Debut LP

Photo by Tim Soter

The beat of Drums and Guns marches on, and it will carry Duluth's beloved digital grindcore trio Low around the world in the coming months.

In addition to previously squawked about stints at the Sydney Festival and a pair of ATP/Don't Look Back-sponsored events (where they'll melt face to the tune of 2001 scorcher Things We Lost in the Fire), Alan, Mimi, and Matt will bring their distinctive musical offerings to all corners of Australia this January.

Then, after a two-month nap, it's off to Northern Europe and the UK for another round of mind obliteration.

Perhaps not coincidentally, said two-month nap occurs around the release of Retribution Gospel Choir, the debut LP from, you guessed it, Retribution Gospel Choir. Hard to believe the Alan Sparhawk-led side project is only now serving up a proper release (after a couple tour EPs), but we swear it's the truth and nothing but.

Retribution Gospel Choir arrives March 18 on Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon man Mark Kozelek's Caldo Verde imprint, and was in fact produced by Mr. Kozelek himself. Joining Sparhawk on the release are drummer/back-up vocalist Eric Pollard and bassist Matt Livingston (also of Low). Low's Mimi Parker lends back-up vocals to a tune called "Breaker", and if that and "Take Your Time" sound familiar, it's because these RGC originals were also performed by Low on Drums and Guns. Share and share alike, we always say. [MORE...]

Islands Return to the Road

Photo by Kathryn Yu

For a band that was supposedly "forever," Islands sure spend a lot of time in hibernation. (Not to mention all those various side projects.) But at least temporarily, the band will break the silence since Return to the Sea with a tour. First, they'll head across the sea to Europe for a couple weeks' worth of shows. From late February through early March, they'll travel from the UK to the Netherlands and Belgium. Then in mid-March and late April, they'll return to the States.

Thanks to reader Jono Henderson for the tip. [MORE...]

Morrissey Reveals Greatest Hits Details, Bonus CD
Moz freaks given chance to shine in Greatest Hits ad

The man they call Moz has accrued quite a catalog of hits since his days fronting the Smiths. But don't take our word for it, just scope the tracklist for Morrissey's latest Greatest Hits set printed below. "Everyday Is Like Sunday", "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get", the indomitable "Suedehead", and a whole lotta material from the last two albums-- it's like somebody made you the perfect latter-day Moz mixtape, and then, um, made you pay for it.

Greatest hits UK shelves via Polydor/Decca in CD and double vinyl formats on February 11, one week later than previously reported (U.S. details forthcoming). Along with classic jams, most from the man's post-millennial catalog (every one at least a top 20 UK hit, if you'd believe it), the collection also includes two all new cuts: "That's How People Grow Up" (which gets its own single, now on Feburary 4) and "All You Need Is Me". Don't we know it, Morrissey, don't we know it.

Cooler still, a limited run of Greatest Hits sets will come bundled with an eight-track, self-explanatory bonus disc titled Live at the Hollywood Bowl.

And speaking of people who need nothing more than Morrissey in their lives, the Moz MySpace (MozSpace!) has put out a call for the most dedicated/obsessed of fans to step forward. Let's let them explain:

How do you show your devotion to Morrissey?

HAVE YOU ANY MORRISSEY TATTOOS? HAVE YOU EVER GRAFFITI'D MORRISSEY'S NAME ON A WALL? DO YOU OWN AMAZING MORRISSEY MEMORABILIA?

WE'RE LOOKING FOR IMAGES OF YOUR DEVOTION FOR POSSIBLE INCLUSION IN THE NEW MORRISSEY GREATEST HITS ALBUM ADVERT.

PLEASE SEND HIGH-QUALITY JPG IMAGES TO: morrisseyadvert[at]googlemail.com

BE QUICK, WE MUST RECIEVE ALL ENTRIES BY 19 JANUARY 2008.

And speaking of January 19, that's, well, the third night of Morrissey's winter tour. Perhaps he'll bust out a few selections from his next studio album, now due in autumn 2008? [MORE...]

Annie Returns With New Single, Preps Album

Annie! Where the heck have you been, girl? Aw shucks, who even cares. What matters is you're back, and 2008 is quickly shaping up to be quite a year for you.

The gal who once jacked Pitchfork's collective "Heartbeat" up to dangerously high BPMs (before gnashing us up and spitting us out like so much "Chewing Gum") will herald her return to the dancefloor fore with a new single produced by long-time associate Richard X. According to X's "international production empire" website, Black Melody, Annie will tackle Stacey Q's 1986 dance hit "Two of Hearts" on the A-side, while the B will boast an original tune called "Songs Remind Me of You".

No word yet on a release date for the single, but Island Records UK will be responsible for making sure it gets to our turntables and iPods in a timely fashion. Don't let us down, you guys.

And where there's a single, can an album be far behind? A recent story on Bergen, Norway newspaper Tidende's website suggests Annie may have her Anniemal follow-up out as soon as April. (Thanks to contributing photographer Eirik Lande for the heads up and translation.) And an Annie rep has confirmed that the album is indeed being wrapped up pretty much as you read this. We won't hold our breaths, but we may have to see a cardiologist about those BPMs.

Blonde Redhead Plan Brief East Coast Tour

Photo by Sebastian Mlynarski

It's not much, but it'll do: the swirling colors of Blonde Redhead will be on full display on a very brief East Coast tour starting January 16 in our nation's capital. These are the band's first live appearances in a few months, and the only real news we've got from Kazu Makino and those Pace brothers in a while, too. Perhaps they've been working up a proper comeback to the glorious numbers racket of 2007's 23? A boy can dream(pop), can't he?

In other Blonde Redhead news, the DNA song from which they lifted their name is available-- along with plenty other rare post-punk relics-- on the soundtrack to the film Downtown 81. [MORE...]

Dan Deacon Inaugurates Wham City Records With 7"
Gives away much of back catalog, records museum gig for single, next album

Photo by Jason Bergman

Time was, to make your way onto a Dan Deacon record, you'd either have to be some sort of Ecto Cooler-induced day-glo hallucinatory animalia or Dan Deacon himself. But a lucky few non-Deacon human-types who can make their way to the Big Apple on February 8 will find themselves pulled into the freaky, friendly fold of crystal cats and hateable bees, as Deacon immortalizes them in song. Really, truly weird song.

According to a MySpace post, Deacon will record his February 8 performance at New York's Whitney Museum of American Art for use on his next record. He will also tape the audience singing live favorite "Silence Like the Wind", which will show up as his next single. That 7" will serve as the very first release from Wham City Records, a new label from the Baltimore collective.

Deacon is in the process of relaunching his website right now, and when it's ready, he promises to post "the scores for pieces I'll be doing at the Whitney show." He's also going to offer all of his pre-Spiderman of the Rings releases as free downloads. They're all worth the trouble just for the titles alone. Look for Acorn Master, Silly Hat vs. Egale Hat, Meetle Mice, Goose on the Loose, Twacky Cats, and Porky Pig, among others, to grace your ears at no cost to you shortly, as well as "some unreleased stuff like the score to Ultimate Reality."

Speaking of Ultimate Reality-- the collaborative audiovisual mind-boink Deacon and his Wham City associate Jimmy Joe Roche crafted up and are currently parading around the country-- check in on the action at Jimmy Joe's YouTube blog of the proceedings with a single click right here. [MORE...]

Cat Power Checks in From India, Bangladesh
iTunes edition of Jukebox gets bonus track

Photo by Scott Harrison

Before we hear her take on others folks' tunes with the January 22 release of Jukebox, we continue to learn about Cat Power giving back. The lady born Chan Marshall has been making her way through India and Bangladesh on her previously reported mission for charity: water, and she recently checked in once again via MySpace and the charity website with some photos and words from abroad.

In her January 5 dispatch, penned while she was in Bangladesh capital Dhaka, Marshall tells of her visit to the country's Barguna District, devastated by last November's Cyclone Sidr. The singer beseeches us to consider donating toilets to the people of this area. At $150 apiece, they're a steal; more info on how to contribute can be found here.

Marshall's scheduled trip to Kenya has also been cancelled in light of the dangerous situation the country is facing right now following the elections. "charity: water and myself have friends there," writes Chan. "We are hoping for their safety and security, as with all the people of Kenya."

A follow-up posting points us to photos from the expedition's visits to Bangalore and Bhubaneswar in India, viewable here. Expect future installments from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.

Now for an awkward segue from people without toilets to people with computers (seriously though, click that donation link). iTunes users all primed to download the aforementioned Jukebox can look forward to a little something extra: a bonus "cover" of The Greatest's "Could We", exclusive to the Apple online retailer's version of the release.

Before Jukebox even hits streets/hard drives, however, Cat Power will begin giving something else: concerts, kicking off January 21 in Paris and wrapping up February 11 in Minneapolis. [MORE...]

Xiu Xiu Announce Spring Dates
Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down open

Fleshing out your lineup with extra band members is fine, but what good is a, um, fleshier lineup without a full-fledged tour to prove things like your "on-stage chemistry" and "chops"? Well, the newly fleshy Xiu Xiu have solved the problem by scheduling their first big tour as a foursome. It's a jaunt across North America in the spring with fellow Kill Rock Stars signees Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down opening.

The tour comes in support of Women as Lovers, Xiu Xiu's sixth album, which comes out in all its bolstered glory on January 29. However, you can hear the whole album on the band's MySpace page now. [MORE...]

Serena-Maneesh Compile Early Tracks, Rarities

Photo by Andreas Frøland

It's been a hot minute since we last heard much from Serena-Maneesh, who wowed the Pitchfork fold with their self-titled offering back in 2005. And those looking to this piece for news of fresh new jams from the Norwegian psych-gaze troupe may not find what they seek in these pages. Still, just as the television folks justify their endless parade of reruns, if you haven't heard it, it's new to you. And chances are you haven't heard much of SM Backwards, the band's upcoming release.

Come May 5, Smalltown Supersound will issue SM Backwards, a double CD/LP featuring a glut of rare tracks that predate the eponymous debut. Though much of this material has been released in Norway (on the Fixxations and Zurück EPs), none of it has made it past the border in any non-import form. And "Death Parade, Slow" has never been heard outside of the band! The set also includes video clips for "Drive Me Home the Lonely Nights" and "Degenerate".

The band has a single gig in the works, scheduled for February 23 at Oslo's SubScene. [MORE...]

Bodies of Water, Sons & Daughters Announce Tour

Sons & Daughters photo by Joe Dilworth

"When we arrive, sons and daughters/ We'll make our homes on the water." It's like Colin Meloy was seeing the future when he sang those lyrics on The Crane Wife's closing track, or maybe Glasgow's Sons & Daughters and L.A.'s Bodies of Water heard the song and were just so inspired that they had to tour together. Or, fine, maybe coincidence.

However it went, the bands will team up for a joint tour of North America in the spring, a couple months after their respective newest albums are released later this month. (UPDATE: It's not a joint tour; Bodies of Water will be opening for Sons & Daughters.)

Secretly Canadian will give international distribution to Bodies of Water's Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink on January 22, and Sons & Daughters will release their Bernard Butler-produced This Gift one week later via Domino.

In other Bodies/Daughters news, both have dates outside of the joint tour, including S&D's UK shows with Black Kids. And Bodies of Water are currently preparing their second full-length for a summer release. [MORE...]

Autechre Offer Up Quaristice Tracklist, Tour

British electronic duo Autechre have announced the tracklist for their forthcoming LP, Quaristice, and, surprise surprise, it's as oblique as the album title itself (which, after all, is a word they made up). From "Altibzz" to "Outh9X", each of its 20 titles could very well be the name of a prescription drug, a failed search engine, or an early prototype of beloved talking robot Johnny 5. Sounds like Autechre to us!

Quaristice emerges March 3 from Warp on CD and double-LP. And, while they were making with the details, Autechre let us in on another juicy tidbit: a world tour! From the end of February through mid-April, Rob Brown and Sean Booth will bring the 'tech to the UK, Eastern and Western Europe, and North America. [MORE...]

Fogarino/Franklin's Setting Suns Forced to Nix Name
Band to be henceforth referred to as Magnetic Morning

Photo by Christy Bush

Band nomenclature: it ain't what it used to be. Pretty much every second nowadays a perfectly serviceable bandname gets snapped up, forcing musical types to resort to atrocities like Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Does It Offend You, Yeah? (A: It does), and P4k HQ's current LOL of choice, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong.

For Interpol's Sam Fogarino and Swerverdriver's Adam Franklin, a blah name like the Setting Suns was just blah enough to have been used before (well, almost) for a musical undertaking. And now, under pressure from a fellow NYC act called Setting Sun, Sam and Adam have obligingly retired their blah moniker and opted instead to be forever known as-- wait for it-- Magnetic Morning. Expect a cease-and-desist any day now from my seven-year-old sister, who once used that name for a tweegazer outfit she started with a Rainbow Brite doll and two My Little Ponies.

Under their former name, Magnetic Morning played a gig and dropped their debut EP digitally late last year. The Setting Suns EP-- no word yet whether it will retain that title-- has been bumped from its original February 5 physical release date and will emerge in CD form this March via DH Records.

Between the Swervedriver reunion, Interpol's next round of live dates, and plans to record the Magnetic Morning full-length debut this year, these guys are in for a busy 2008. Ooh, and Adam Franklin has a few solo dates in queue too. Check those and the Interpol dates below. [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.)