Earth, Sir Richard Bishop Link Up for European Tour
Some dates with KTL

Who's that surly gentleman with the curly hair strumming the ol' acoustic before my metal show? And what's with the drone metal act going on after all those fucked up folk songs? Why, it's the unlikely-- though awesome-- pairing of former Sun City Girls guy Sir Richard Bishop and Seattle-based Earth, who'll take on Europe from all sides this winter on a month-long joint tour.

Further complicating the mix is the occasional three-way with KTL, the prolific collaboration between Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley and Mego label head Peter Rehberg. Perhaps they'll all settle on a note at the beginning and just go with it?

Bishop got his recorded ya-yas out in 2007 with the two albums he dropped last year, while Earth's The Bee Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is due from Southern Lord February 26. [MORE...]

Saul Williams Plots "Tar Spangled Banner" Tour
You mean if we alter the names of things, it changes their symbolic meaning?

If you thought Saul Williams' last move was edgy and unorthodox, you may wanna brace yourself for what's next. Williams will follow the release of The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! with-- get this-- a North American tour! Guess you can't shake up the whole system with just one album. Maybe a box set?

And actually, these dates on the so-called "Tar Spangled Banner" tour ought to be pretty out there. Williams is calling on his theatrical training (and, of course, the concepts that drive NiggyTardust!) to present a total audiovisual assault; that is, when he's not doing the odd spoken word performance along the way. Williams hits Babson Park, Massachusetts tomorrow night, swings through SXSW in March, and wraps up with a couple fests-- including the Explosions in the Sky-curated All Tomorrow's Parties event in May. [MORE...]

RJD2 Announces Spring U.S. Tour

RJD2 doesn't exactly seem enthused about the prospect of heading out on a tour, but, as a musician, he recognizes he's duty-bound.

In a recent post to his MySpace blog, RJ announced his spring tour by saying that he'll be "peeling myself away from 'The Wire', 'Lost' and 'Prison Break' to go out with the band." Hey, it's awful cold out there these days, and the idea of vacating the couch to put the water on for mac'n'cheese-- let alone traverse the country-- is a fairly daunting one. Especially when there's the little matter of a prison break to attend to.

But as temps grow more temperate, RJD2 and the band will bring the heat to clubs across the nation. First up is a one-off at Sayreville, New Jersey's Starland Ballroom on March 1, with the proper tour kicking off April 1. Man, just think what these guys could do with a DVD player in the van! [MORE...]

David Yow Recovering, Appearing in Film
Qui guitarist Matt Cronk also hospitalized

David Yow-- of Scratch Acid, Jesus Lizard, and, most recently, Qui fame-- will trade the gurney for the silver screen at Los Angeles' New Beverly Cinema tonight (January 31).

It's the premiere of Al's Beef, a short-form Western by Dennis Hauck that features Yow himself in his first real acting role (excepting, of course, all those years of Tony-worthy stage theatricality).

Al's Beef tells the tale of a woman seeking revenge, and Yow plays a corrupt preacher. Sounds like an ace fit for the guy. The film stars Jordan Ladd, whose previous screen credits include Inland Empire, Grindhouse, and Hostel Part II, and Dean Stockwell, who you've probably seen on TV a time or two. Jorgan Geiger of Minus Story did the score.

Yow, as previously reported, was hospitalized earlier this week in Pittsburgh after one of his lungs collapsed. He was released Tuesday night, but Qui's live dates in February and March remain cancelled.

As if one trip to the hospital weren't enough for the guys, Qui guitarist/vocalist Matt Cronk also went to the emergency room this week. According to a MySpace bulletin, Cronk suffered three strokes and is afflicted with an "inflamed, infected, and strained heart." Yikes!

"Both [Yow and Cronk] are doing better with hopeful futures, but are not out of the woods yet," reads the bulletin, penned by Qui's third member and drummer Paul Christiansen (who we hope is taking his vitamins).

Christiansen plans to host Monday night karaoke at Los Angeles' Cha Cha Lounge to raise money toward hospital bills.

UPDATE: Check out these photos of Yow in Al's Beef:

Jim O'Rourke Reissues, New Album Due on Drag City

Jim O'Rourke-- producer, one half of Loose Fur, former Sonic Youth member, and experimental musician in his own right-- will enter the reissue game on May 20 with the help of Drag City. That's when the Chicago label will reissue O'Rourke's Tamper (1991) and Osorezan (2006).

Both reissues will feature the original albums sans the distraction of bonus tracks. Take that, Elvis Costello!

Following the release of those reissues, Drag City imprint Streamline will continue the unearthing with the release of Long Nights, "a double-disc release of pure drone that dates way, way back but is only now seeing the light of day," according to Drag City.

Finally, there's the matter of O'Rourke's new album. Details are scant for now, but he's planning to have it finished early this year.

UPDATE: We've got the tracklists for the old stuff now: [MORE...]

Peter Moren's The Last Tycoon Tracklist Revealed

Yesterday, when we spilled the beans on Peter Bjorn and John crooner Peter Morén's forthcoming solo debut, The Last Tycoon, we were unaware that we'd left out a "Missing Link". And a "Reel Too Real", an "Old Love", and even "Le Petit Coeur". In other words, the tracklist to the album, which is due April 8 on Quarterstick.

So now here it is, available after the jump. The four titles we've been kicking around for a few months were legit, though "I Don't Gaze at the Sky for Long" has lost its personal touch.

UPDATE: The label gave us the wrong info. The song is still called "I Don't Gaze at the Sky for Long".

In other news from Peter Morén, er, what we said before. [MORE...]

Eels Announce World Tour

Fresh off the dual release of their hits and rarities collections (Meet the Eels and Useless Trinkets, respectively), Mark Oliver Everett and his Eels will hit the road this winter and spring. Their tour begins on Valentine's Day in their home state of California before heading to Europe for a good five weeks. Then they'll return to North America before things wind back down in mid-April.

In other Eels news, Everett's UK-bestselling memoir, Things the Grandchildren Should Know, will be published in the U.S. this fall. [MORE...]

Thurston Moore Releases iTunes Live EP

Photo by Jason Bergman

Thurston Moore isn't just an author and a scorer of porn flicks (NSFW), he's also a solo artist! Who'da thunk, right? Okay fine, between last year's Trees Outside the Academy and its accompanying tour, the Sonic Youth frontman has stayed pretty active in the solo game.

Time to add another solo goody to Thurston's resume: the Live From SoHo EP, an iTunes exlusive that hit the digital retailer yesterday. It captures Thurston accompanied by SY drummer Steve Shelley, Chris Brokaw, Samara Lubelski, and Matt Heyner performing at the Apple Store in New York City's SoHo neighborhood last October. The set list consists of nine tunes from both Trees and Psychic Hearts, Thurston's previous solo album.

As previously reported, Thurston and the rest of Sonic Youth will head Down Under in February for a series of shows before he and the New Wave Bandits play an NYC date with Roky Erickson on March 1. [MORE...]

Xiu Xiu Fun: Video Zine, Song Project, Haiku Offerings
Inhibition none/ Nightmares disguised as records/ Xiu Xiu I love you

Good old Xiu Xiu, never for want of ways to draw us into their twisted art rock world. There was the Polaroid thing, of course, and the subsequent books, and the sound sculpture, just to name a few. Now we have the recently launched official website for sixth album Women as Lovers, which arrived this week via Kill Rock Stars.

Just what wonders await those who click the link up there? For starters, how about your very own personal haiku penned by the one and only Jamie Stewart? Stewart will serve up 17 meticulously arranged syllables to the first 234 people who submit a photo of themselves rocking a copy of Women as Lovers. Details here.

If you'd rather give than receive, how about lending your voice to a new Xiu Xiu instrumental and sharing the results with the world? The band is asking fans to sing over a track called, for now, "Untitled: Will You Please Sing on This". Intone, coo, shriek, shout, or mumble over the dancey number, give it a new name, and upload it. A couple fan offerings are already available for your ears here.

And if both giving and receiving are a bit too active for your tastes, why not sit back and get acquainted with "I Do What I Want When I Want", the new Xiu Xiu video magazine (not to be confused with the Women as Lovers track)? A giggly and quite possibly high Greg Saunier of Deerhoof inaugurates the series with a brainy discussion of "Star Trek", William Shatner, television theory, and Tourette syndrome.

Finally, it would be a sad year indeed if there weren't a Xiu Xiu tour going down. No need to worry about 2008 though, which officially becomes a happy year on March 7. [MORE...]

Monster Bobby Needs You to Name His Tune

Sometimes after you nail a winning melody, finesse some fitting chord changes, and pen the perfect lyrics, there just isn't a drop of creative juice left to devote to the fine art of nomenclature.

Such is the recent plight of Pipettes backbone and indie-pop songwriter Monster Bobby, who had no trouble summoning all the component parts of a new tune for his next album on Hypnote, but has found himself hopelessly stuck on a name.

That plight soon developed into a tour-wide quest for a title, but even show-goers failed to come up with anything that tickled Bobby's fancy. Monster Bobby now turns to you, loyal patrons of the interweb, for the divine arrangement of letters, spaces, and punctuation that folks will forever connect with his composition.

Download the song at the link below, rack your brain for that title of titles, and submit your suggestions direct to Bobby via his MySpace. The person who comes up with the best name is promised "some kind of lovely glittering prize."

The forthcoming Monster Bobby album, meanwhile, is titled Forty Winks and will feature 40 different one-minute jams about-- how clever-- sleeping and beds and the like. Which means you'd better come up with a damn good title, since you'll be up against 39 others on roughly the same subject.

And while we're on the subject of Monster Bobby, it wouldn't hurt to know that he's got a trio of London dates lined up, plus he'll appear tonight (January 30) on Radio 1 as part of a "BBC Introducing... Night on Radio 1" special. Bobby's bit is expected to air around 7 p.m. Eastern, so tune in! [MORE...]

MBV Add More Shows, Including Roskilde and Oya

Contrary to a lot of expectations, the My Bloody Valentine Carnival and Olde Tyme Reunion Show won't stop at Coachella this April. The band's dates remain concentrated in the summer, with a few added since our last report.

MBV are now scheduled to appear at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark in early July (alongside Radiohead), as well as at the Øya Festival in Norway in early August. They've also added a July show in Paris and a fifth (and apparently final) ATP-sponsored show at London's Roundhouse at the end of June.

Oh, and (we wish) they (would) also have a full-blown North American tour starting right now! [MORE...]

Destroyer Announces North American Tour
Hello Blue Roses schedule Brooklyn show

As promised, Mr. Dan Bejar and his Destroyer will bring their rollicking recondite revue on the road this spring for a fairly extensive North American tour. Kicking off in Minneapolis come mid-April, Bejar's bunch will unpack their adjectives all over the continent through May, recounting his Trouble in Dreams all the while. That new album emerges March 18 on Merge in the U.S.

Can't bear another moment without your Bejar? Well, if you can hang tight 'til March, there's always South by Southwest, at which Destroyer are slotted to appear. Or, for a quicker fix, you could always check out the album with the really long name Bejar and ladypal Sydney Vermont recently issued as Hello, Blue Roses. That particular coupling has a lone scheduled date, February 16 at Brooklyn's Glasslands alongside Locust labelmates Begushkin. [MORE...]

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