Jenny Lewis Working on New Album
Collaborating with Elvis Costello, M. Ward, Zooey Deschanel? Maybe not.

Photo by Michael Alan Goldberg

Although she's still technically in Rilo Kiley mode-- the band has another tour in the works and will toast Under the Blacklight at both Coachella and Bonnaroo-- Jenny Lewis knows the benefits of making a little time for herself. And in recent weeks, this time to herself has consisted of a return to the studio to start work on the follow-up to her 2006 solo-ish LP with the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat.

Though, it would seem, Lewis has hardly been alone. According to a report from EW.com's Hollywood Insider blog, she has been working with beau/tourmate Johnathan Rice, Blacklight co-producer Jason Lader, and "Farmer Dave" Scher of Beachwood Sparks/Tyde. What's more, M. Ward, Zooey Deschanel, and the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson apparently "dropped by" to contribute some guest vocals. And to top it all off, Lewis recorded a duet with Elvis Costello!

Sounds grand, but according to Lewis's publicist, we shouldn't necessarily believe everything we read. Lewis's publicist described the phrasing of the EW.com report as "misleading" and the list of guest musicians as "inaccurate."

So all that's really confirmed at this point is that Lewis is indeed in the studio working on the Rabbit Fur Coat follow-up, and that said studio is in Los Angeles. Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see. But hey, new Jenny Lewis album in the works! That's pretty cool.

Thanks to reader Jon Latessa for the initial tip. [MORE...]

Daydream Nation, Soon to Be a Teen Comedy Movie Starring That Girl From "Heroes"
Save the cheerleader, save the album

Daydream Nation: Sonic Youth's masterpiece, the inspiration for two decades of indie rock, still sounds great today, the greatest album of the 1980s, "You'd be hard pressed to find many fans of indie rock who don't have some love for this record."

Daydream Nation: Forthcoming teen comedy directed by Michael Goldbach, starring "Heroes" cheerleader Hayden Panettiere and maybe Kieran Culkin, "the producers are hoping to reinvent the coming-of-age story for the 21st century, calling the film an intellectual comedy a la Juno and Election."

See also: The Replacements, Can't Hardly Wait, Just Like Heaven, Things We Lost in the Fire

YLT, Okkervil River, Destroyer, Diplo, Annie Join SXSW
Plus: Atlas Sound, Thurston Moore, Los Campesinos!, Be Your Own Pet, Blow, No Age, T'nT

All these people will be there. Rachael Ray, too (but not her beloved Battles). Will you? It's SXSW, pretty much the four-letter center of the indie rock universe as far as mid-March is concerned. And, as of today's announcement of the list of 2008 showcasing artists, this thing took the expected leap from tantalizingly overwhelming to, well, utterly mind-numbing in its scope.

We've done you the service of selecting but a few names from the latest additions to highlight here. Call it a Pitchfork-oriented tip of the SXSW iceberg.

And here goes! Set to invade Austin from March 12-16: Jim James (My Morning Jacket) solo, Yo La Tengo, Destroyer, Okkervil River, Atlas Sound, Annie, Thurston Moore, Diplo, Be Your Own Pet, Los Campesinos!, the Tough Alliance, Peter Morén, Tapes 'n Tapes, Black Mountain, Bon Iver, No Age, Akron/Family, Times New Viking, the Blow, Yeasayer, El-P, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Madlib, Tokyo Police Club, N.E.R.D., Evangelicals, Simian Mobile Disco, Handsome Furs, Fuck Buttons, Castanets, the Cool Kids, Flosstradamus, Jason Forrest, MSTRKRFT, Jay Reatard, Asobi Seksu, Fucked Up, Jandek, the Slits, the Concretes, Mark Kozelek, Cadence Weapon, Bodies of Water, HEALTH, Crystal Castles, Phosphorescent, White Rabbits, Constantines, Elf Power, High on Fire, Holy Fuck, Ghislain Poirier, Eugene Mirman, Half Japanese, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Richard Hawley, the Black Angels, Dälek, Pissed Jeans, Shining, the Russian Futurists, and approximately 3,498,013 others.

Nestled amid these usual indie suspects you'll also find a few names you don't often see, including Dolly freaking Parton, dudes! Shit! Yes!

Also: Punk legends the Homosexuals! David Banner! Wheatus! Ice Cube! Um, Moby! And, let's admit it, the bands we're actually most excited about: Fastball, the Presidents of the United States of America, and Hanson.

Aw hell, just read the whole damn list right here. My sympathy goes out to the poor SXSW intern who had to type that one up.

Band of Horses Cancel Shows
Ben Bridwell's throat is feeling a little ho... oh, you know

They're some fine players, sure, but without those pipes of Ben Bridwell's at their most pristine, Band of Horses just ain't the same. So you'll have to forgive 'em for canceling a pair of Florida dates on their current world tour due to a run-in with the scourge of the season.

"We got hit by a flu bug and played thru it," the band write in a MySpace bulletin posted this afternoon, "but now the voice is completely gone and there's no other option." That's what I'm saying, dude! Shit is integral!

Though tonight in Tallahassee and tomorrow in Gainesville are out, the Gainesville show has already been rescheduled for March 24.

One hopes the Horses are back in full power in time for their appearance on the Conan O'Brien television program this Tuesday (2/12), to say nothing of the rest of their tour. Should they shake the sickness, they'll head to Orlando, Carnegie Hall (with Sufjan), the UK and Europe in the coming weeks. [MORE...]

Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Latest Louisville V-Day Comp

When it comes to amorous types and their amorous undertakings, there's no better place to be than Louisville, Kentucky. At least, that's what the folks behind the Louisville Is for Lovers website and compilation series keep trying to tell us. Weird, since all those Slint and Rodan records I've played for my significant others have only scared them away. Maybe I should have been rocking the My Morning Jacket?

Or how about the Will Oldham? Oldham, in his Bonnie "Prince" Billy guise, features on the latest Louisville Is for Lovers comp, Vol. 8. He's joined by the Phantom Family Halo (which includes Michael McMahan of David Pajo's Dead Child), and, well, a lot of bands non-locals may not know so well. But hey, that's what love's about, right? Taking chances? Embracing the unknown? Sure it is.

LIFL Vol. 8 is available now via several Louisville shops and Louisvilleisforlovers.com, so you have plenty of time to snatch up a copy before Valentine's Day. While you're there, why not check out the previously mentioned Louisville Babylon Halloween comps as well? [MORE...]

Be Your Own Pet Schedule More Awkward Dates
Like most dates, actually

They may be young, but Be Your Own Pet know awkwardness isn't a purely North American phenomenon. Thus, they have extended the tour in support of their forthcoming sophomore album Get Awkward to include a couple weeks' worth of UK dates in late March and early April.

Not coincidentally, March also marks the release of Get Awkward. For UK residents, it's XL that will serve it up on March 17. For North Americans, it's Ecstatic Peace/Universal making the delivery the very next day. [MORE...]

MSTRKRFT Check in From Studio, Announce Tour
"I guarantee you when this record is done and people have heard it, everyone will want to talk to us again."

Photo by Geoff McLean

Now that MSTRKRFT have had a few years to hone their krft, the rock-bred club converts are itching to hit us with what they hope will be their most accomplished artistic statement yet. By artistic we of course refer to the art of making your ass shake in spite of itself, and by accomplished, well, we'll let them explain.

Pitchfork caught up with MSTRKRFT's Jesse F. Keeler (ex-Death From Above 1979) and Al-P as the pair was preparing the follow-up to 2006's The Looks and bracing for a sizable tour.

"We base everything we do on really big ideas," says Al-P. "Initially, when we first got our record deal, we had no time to make an album or even really figure out what we wanted to do. We kind of planned on making a full record years in the future, but then suddenly the opportunity came and we had to do it quick.

"Whereas with this one we've been working on it pretty much since the day we submitted the last one. So we've had a ton of time to decide what kind of record it will be...and so far it's a lot like what I was hoping it might be."

The as-yet-untitled sophomore platter should see the light of day in September or so via an as-yet-undetermined label. Among the big ideas on it: a bevy of guest vocalists.

While the guys aren't at liberty to say just who yet, according to Keeler, "I can guarantee that people will be surprised by every single one."

What shouldn't surprise folks nearly as much is the inclusion of popular MSTRKRFT cut and live set favorite "VUVUVU" on the new disc. Not only fun to say, "VUVUVU" also has an amusing backstory.

Says Keeler, "The song was inadvertently named by Xavier [de Rosnay] from Justice. While we were traveling around together, he was describing the kind of music that they make and the kind of music we make. He says the music they make is [imitates] 'PRPRPRPR TISH, PRPRPRPRPR TISH' and the music we make is 'VUVUVU' in this funny Parisian accent.

So when we were making that song we were like, 'Fuck, there isn't a more 'VUVUVU' sounding track in existence!'"

Adds Al-P with a laugh, "As Xav said, [mimics French accent] 'I do not need this VUVUVU, all I need is kicks and snares to drive them wild'-- and then took a drag of his cigarette." [MORE...]

Photos: Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues [New York, NY; 02/06/08]

Photos by William Kirk

It's Fashion Week over in New York City once again, and the ever-fashionable Cat Power is getting into the spirit. For her show last night at Terminal 5 with the Dirty Delta Blues, Ms. Marshall appeared sporting what we might affectionately call "Harley-Davidson Chic". Once notorious for fleeing the stage at the slightest peep from hecklers, this Cat Power looked ready to kick their asses.

Quite the jetsetter these days, Chan-- fresh off charity work in Africa, India, and Bangladesh, plus an appearance on UK television's "Later...With Jools Holland"-- will take the Dirty Delta Blues and her new Jukebox clear across the U.S. this month, then duck Down Under in March. That's five continents in as many months-- can Cat Power's Antarctica debut be far off?

CAT POWER







[MORE...]

Photos: Black Lips [Portland, OR; 02/05/08]

Photos by Nilina Mason-Campbell

The last Black Lips show at Dante's in Portland resulted in some black eyes and at least one arrest. Tuesday night's festivities at Dante's never quite erupted into fisticuffs, but that didn't mean fans of the scrappy rock quartet were any less batshit thrilled to see their beloved Black Lips.

The Lips returned the love, too, doubling up their PDX gigs with an afternoon performance at Jackpot Records (to the best of our knowledge, nothing was broken). That Lips lovin' knows no bounds, and Cole, Jared, Ian, and Joe will continue to spread it across the U.S. through late March, and-- provided they can secure a visa for that love-- in the UK and Ireland come May.

BLACK LIPS AT DANTE'S








JACKPOT RECORDS IN-STORE

[MORE...]

Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige Co-Headline Tour
Lots of love in the heart of the city, after all

A dozen years ago, a hungry kid from Brooklyn who'd taken to calling himself Jay-Z met up with a rising R&B star named Mary J. Blige to record "Can't Knock the Hustle", the leadoff track from his soon-to-be-classic Reasonable Doubt LP.

Already a couple albums deep into her storied career, Mary was then and is now the queen of hip-hop soul. And Jay's hustle has been pretty much unknockable ever since. They've recorded and performed together plenty of times over the years, including that incredible take on their first collaboration from the must-see Fade to Black concert flick.

This spring, the two icons and old friends will once again join forces to co-headline the 25-date "Heart of the City" tour.

The tour's initial run of dates has been announced, with more to come. In addition to these 11 dates, shows in Houston, New Orleans, and Las Vegas are promised. (Chicago, please!!)

Jay, as you know, recently left his post at Def Jam, though if it means more stuff like this and American Gangster and yanking Glastonbury's headlining spot from Razorlight or whatever, it's looking more and more like a wise move. And Mary's pretty damn good Growing Pains LP dropped in December. [MORE...]

Gorillaz Documentary Debuts, Monkey Comes to U.S.

Although there's been no hint of a new Gorillaz album any time soon, the band/art project/cartoon collective centered around the music of Damon Albarn and the graphics of Jamie Hewlett has plenty of stuff going on.

The behind-the-scenes documentary Bananaz, directed by Ceri Levy, will premiere at the 58th annual Berlin Film Festival this week. The unveiling begins with industry-only showings of the doc today and tomorrow; public screenings run February 9 and 13-15. Bananaz will also screen in America as part of the SXSW Film Festival, taking place March 7-15 in Austin, TX.

But Berliners will have to trade one Gorillaz experience for another, as the summer run of performances of Monkey: Journey to the West, their spin-off "circus opera," has been cancelled. The production will be coming to the USA, however. It will be performed at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina on May 22-26 and 28-31, and June 1, 3, 5-8.

If you're in London, you can get a taste of Monkey this Saturday, February 9, at the British Museum. As part of their Chinese New Year celebration, the museum will present "Monkey Suite", which is "chamber music and visual excerpts" from the opera.

Hewlett also has another project in the works: "Phoo Action", a kung fu action comedy he's developing for the BBC, according to NME. Carl Weathers is in it! It airs February 12 on BBC3.

Spend Valentine's Day With TV on the Radio's Malone
How romantic!

Photo by Greg Silver

Wait, it's a week before Valentine's Day, and you still don't know where you're taking your main squeeze for the most ooey gooey evening of the year? Golly, Casanova, step that game up. Sure, a quick stop at the friendly neighborhood Taco John's and a showing of The Hottie and the Nottie might seem like a no-brainer, but you've got that significant other to think of.

You could while away your evening with bean burritos and Paris Hilton... OR you could spend the evening with TV on the Radio guitarist and all around cool dude Kyp Malone! He's hosting an "all you can eat Italian feast" and playing a set this Valentine's Day at Brooklyn's Glasslands Gallery. (Apparently it's an annual thing.)

Hey, why the hell not? Nothing sets a mood like eating a truckload of baked ziti with a famous person.

In addition to the wining and dining, there'll be a show, courtesy of your host and his musical accompaniment for the evening, John Dwyer of Coachwhips/Thee Ohsees. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson will also perform, as will the Suckers, and DJs Megan Lee and Jaiko Suzuki will round out the musical portion of the evening. Then it's on to the lovin'...or a quick trip to the Duane Reade for some Pepto-Bismol. 'Tis (almost) the color of love, after all.

So what's Kyp up to when he's not elbow deep in the gnocchi? Well, musical stuff, of course. He and TVOTR crooner Tunde Adebimpe will perform as a duo at the Brooklyn Next fest later this month, as well as join the Roots on a track for the Soundtrack for a Revolution, uh, soundtrack.

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.)