The Gits' Mia Zapata Memorialized in Documentary

Seattle punks the Gits, led by riot grrrl par excellence Mia Zapata, were at the height of their powers in 1993 when a single inhuman act brought their promising trajectory to an abrupt halt. While walking home on the night of July 7 of that year, Zapata was raped and murdered.

It took over a decade for police to find Zapata's killer and put him to justice. Meanwhile, the tragedy shocked and horrified the members of the Seattle music community that had embraced Zapata-- but at the same time, it united them. In response Zapata's death, several members of this community founded Home Alive, an organization which continues offering self-defense classes and educating folks through community outreach programs to this day. Zapata also left her mark on more than a few charismatic frontwomen to emerge over the years.

The legacy of the Gits and the circumstances surrounding Zapata's untimely passing are examined in depth in The Gits, a feature-length documentary that has been making the festival rounds and will soon hit a theater and/or DVD player near you. Directed by California filmmaker Kerri O'Kane and packed with rare footage of the Gits' formative years, The Gits will screen at theaters around North America in the coming months. It emerges in DVD form July 8 via Liberation Entertainment.

A list of cities where you can catch The Gits follows. More screenings and theatrical runs are expected to be added, so do yourself a favor and bookmark the film's website for updates. [MORE...]

Battles, Diplo, Lidell, Vamp Weekend Do SummerStage
Plus: Afrika Bambaataa, Seun Kuti, A-Trak, Kid Sister, Black Dice, Sharon Jones/Dap-Kings

NYC's City Parks Foundation has assembled the program for Central Park SummerStage's 23rd season, and as expected, it's chock full of summery sweetness.

A small sampling of the artists playing Central Park's Rumsey Playfield between June 13 and August 17 looks like this: Battles, Jamie Lidell, Vampire Weekend, Kid Sister, Afrika Bambaataa, Diplo, A-Trak, Mavis Staples, Seu Jorge, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Black Dice, Santogold, Born Ruffians, Gang Gang Dance, Plastic Little, Los Lobos, Bebel Gilberto, Alejandro Escovedo, Thievery Corporation, Vieux Farka Touré, Los Lonely Boys, Kinky, Richard Price, Stephanie McKay, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, Gilles Peterson, Kid Cudi, Skatalites, and the Roy Hargrove Big Band.

Since all SummerStage events are free of charge, City Parks Foundation is also hosting benefit concerts to raise money for the performing arts festival. Those benefit shows include appearances by the National, Yeasayer, Mark Knopfler, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Sonny Rollins.

The Week That Was [ex-Field Music] Preps Debut

Not to be upstaged by his brother and fellow former Field Musician David's School of Language project, Peter Brewis has revealed the details of his own solo scheme. Peter will release a self-titled disc under the name the Week That Was via Field Music's old hang Memphis Industries. The record comes out August 18 in the UK and September 23 in North America.

The Week That Was is an eight-song, 32-minute affair, and it features contributions from David Brewis and third Field Music member Andrew Moore, among others.

The Week That Was has just a pair of tour dates in the future, starting with a London show in the week that is. [MORE...]

Built to Spill Bringing Perfect From Now On to NYC
And Dinosaur Jr. and the Meat Puppets are along for the ride

Outta site! They're doing it at ATP New York, they're doing it in Pioneertown, California, and now, they're doing it in the Big Apple...twice. Yep, Built to Spill will run through all eight epic tracks of their near-flawless 1997 jammer Perfect From Now On at New York's Terminal 5 September 25 and 26. That's the weekend after they do the same for the unwashed many at ATP New York way upstate in the Catskills.

And, in case one of the premiere guitar bands of our day reliving one of their finest hours ain't enough, the Terminal 5 gigs find the band heading a bill that also sports two of the finest guitar bands of any day: Meat Puppets and Dinosaur Jr. Now there's a couple encores somebody better fucking rush to YouTube.

Of course, your usual Built to Spill show is something to be seen, and there's plenty to feast your face on when the band kicks off their not-entirely-Perfect tour later in the month. Oh, and if it's a Perfect night in you're looking for, you can catch Built to Spill on either the latest "Pancake Mountain" DVD or the new CD from the "Tim and Eric" bunch. [MORE...]

Tim Hecker, Mt. Eerie, Marissa Nadler Play Suoni Fest
Plus: Retribution Gospel Choir, Oneida, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Excepter, Sun City Girls' Bishops

A whole host of experimental, avant garde, and just plain rockin' music-makers will perform at Montreal's Casa del Popolo and La Sala Rossa venues next month as part of the eighth annual Suoni per il Popolo.

The program takes place from June 1 to June 30, and it includes sets from Mount Eerie, Oneida, Retribution Gospel Choir, Powerhouse Sound (featuring Ken Vandermark and members of Tortoise), Hüsker Dü's Grant Hart, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, Marissa Nadler, Excepter, Tim Hecker, the Sun Ra Arkestra, the Nels Cline Singers, Vic Chesnutt, Sun City Girls' Alan and Sir Richard Bishop, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Hard Cell (Tim Berne/Craig Taborn/Thom Rainey), MV & EE With the Golden Road, Picastro, Paal Nilssen-Love & Magnus Broo, and Thalia Zedek.

Bon Iver Adds Dates With Wilco, Bowerbirds

Photo by Shannon McClean

For all the "dude who made the record in the cabin" talk, Justin "Bon Iver" Vernon sure does enjoy a good outing. Once he's done knocking out his previously reported European run, a little garden party, and, of course, some big to-do in Chicago, the wooly Wisconsinite will head out on another run of dates [via Brooklyn Vegan].

The fresh itinerary finds Justin and company sharing bills with Bowerbirds, A.A. Bondy, and, for a few stops in August, the fellow scruffy Midwestern sorts in Wilco. Perhaps the hibernation bit only applies to the winter months? Ask us again in, like, October. [MORE...]

Dandy Warhols Fire Up New Label to Release Sixth LP

Alt-rock lifers the Dandy Warhols have followed the interstellar-album-title path they established with 2005's Odditorium or Warlords of Mars with their new record, Earth to the Dandy Warhols.

Earth comes out this summer on the band's new label, Beat the World, but it is already out in one form. Enterprising fans will find the record among the collections of over 10,000 AMI jukeboxes across the U.S. Then, beginning May 19, the record will be available through a digital subscription service the Dandys are launching through their website.

While the band's less rabid fans wait for a physical release date, the Dandy Warhols have scheduled a fair number of European shows for July. They're also planning some Pacific Northwestern dates for June, and a full-blown North American tour this fall. [MORE...]

Outkast's Big Boi Reveals More Solo Album Details

They call him Daddy Fat Sacks, General Patton, Hot Tub Tony, and, from time to time, even Billy Ocean. But on his forthcoming solo debut, you can call him Sir Luscious Left Foot. Or the son of Chico Dusty.

Yes, Big Boi, the rappinger half of Outkast, recently spoke to Billboard.com about his forthcoming LaFace/Zomba solo album, Sir Luscious Left Foot ... Son of Chico Dusty, which he says he's "shooting to finish... by the end of August." Wait, I always thought it was Sir Lucious Left Foot? Eh, either way, the man does have some good lookin' feet.

"This album is Big Boi to the extreme," he told Billboard, making us wonder how exactly he'd characterize the decade-and-a-half of finely-tuned lyrical maximalism he's given us thus far. "It's like a recession special. I'm talking about what's going on in the world, with everything from rising gas prices to the election. It's just my insights on life up to this point." The album will feature production with from longtime 'Kast collaborators Mr. DJ and Organized Noise. Wooo!

Surely by now you've heard the first single from the disc, that Andre 3000 and Raekwon-assisted "Royal Flush" fire. Both Big Boi and Rae will be shooting a video for the track with Bryan Barber in the coming weeks, though Andre's busy schedule may keep him from the set. The second single from the disc, "The World Is Too Big," sports a guest vocal from none other than Ms. Mary J. Blige.

Billboard also reports that Big Boi is working on taking his ballet on an international tour.

As for Andre, well, that busy schedule of his reportedly includes a new fashion line, a role in the WTO protest flick Battle in Seattle, and his very own solo album, tentatively set for a fall release. You know, you guys could release both solo albums at once or something...

Mates of State Hit the Road With Headlights

It's a June swoonfest! Indie-pop mainstays Mates of State and indie-pop up-and-comers Headlights have joined forces for a U.S. tour that will take place next month.

Headlights are supporting the album they released earlier this year, Some Racing, Some Stopping. By the time the joint jaunt rolls around, Mates of State will also have a new album in tow. It's their forthcoming fifth full-length, Re-Arrange Us, due May 20 on Barsuk.

Both bands also have dates apart littered through the spring and summer. [MORE...]

Indie Rock Hits the Funny Pages, Again

Gosh, it sure seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry in a button-up and a vest is talking up Vampire Weekend nowadays. Right?

Sally Forth might seem like the world's least likely source for left-field indie rock references, but check this out: for roughly the last decade, the strip's been penned by one Francesco Marciuliano, who looks like a dude who digs Vampire Weekend and Trail of Bread. Man, what a strange gig to have.

Thanks to Phil Bucska for the tip.

As for Vampire Weekend, they've added a ton of dates since our last report, and here they are, after the jump. [MORE...]

Death Cab Challenge You to a Round of Call of Duty 4
They will possess your heart, television set, analog sticks

Oh, sure, they'll follow you into the dark... then they'll drop your punk ass with a grenade. This Friday (May 14), one half of beloved geek rockers Death Cab for Cutie will hook up to the Xbox LIVE nerd aggregation service internet gaming platform and take on all comers for a rousing round of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as part of Xbox's "Game With Fame" program.

Starting at 7 p.m. ET, Xbox LIVE Gold members can shoot a friend request to Nick Harmer (GWF DCFC Nick) and/or Jason McGerr (GWF DCFC Jason) and opt for a chance to play with the dudes when they start things off around 7:30.

Shame there's no Crazy Taxi for 360, huh? That would just be too cute.

As for the Cab's less sedentary pursuits, well, Narrow Stairs is out now, and the band is gearing up to kick off their tour in high style May 24 in Bend, Oregon. [MORE...]

Nurse With Wound Set to Unleash Huffin' Rag Blues

If there's a new Nurse With Wound album-- and there will be, soon-- you know damn well already who is gonna be on it: one Steven Stapleton, who's led this particular danger-laden ward for three decades or so at this point. But what of the other folks who helped Stapleton put the finishing touches on the forthcoming Huffin' Rag Blues LP? Well, there's UK sound artist Andrew Liles, who had a sizable hand in crafting Huffin' Rag, plus Lynn Jackson, Freida Abtan, and Matt Waldron, all of whom contribute vocals. All prepped for the Nurse's next visit? Eh, not so fast: Huffin' Rag Blues is due June 24 on United Dairies/Jnana.

The near future will also see the arrival of a Nurse With Wound 12" entitled "The Bacteria Magnet" and a vinyl version of last year's NWW/Faust meetup Disconnected, both via Dirtier Promotions. Sometime after that we should see an Important Records-stamped collaborative effort from NWW and Italy's Larsen, who famously crafted a pair of XXL albums with Xiu Xiu.

Stapleton and company have a quartet of live engagements to their credit. The most immediate, a date in Paris, finds Stapleton creating a soundtrack to the 1922 F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, Sunrise) flick Der Brennende Acker. [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.)