Today, February 5, in the UK, release their latest single from last year s LP, Giddy Stratospheres , on CD, two different 7 s, and as an iTunes-only download. Each version as intended, because frontwoman Kate Jackson has tonsillitis. We wish her a plan, the Long Blondes will launch a UK/Euro club tour on February 9.
As , they ll spend several nights opening for the Kaiser Chiefs. Alas, there is still no word on an American release for the Long Blondes album. (Come on, people!
) But you can get a few Long Blondes tracks on the new compilation .
Folk Singer, Dylan Pal Eric von Schmidt Dead at 75 An inspiration to Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Ramblin Jack Elliott, and countless others, folk singer/songwriter passed away on February 2 in Fairfield, Connecticut, according to The New York Times. Eric was 75; the exact cause of death is not known at this time.
Son of Saturday Evening Post illustrator Harold von Schmidt-- and a skilled artist in his own right, painting album covers for Baez and others-- Eric von Schmidt re-worked folk classics and composed quite a few of his own, releasing several albums after settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the late 1950s. It was there that he would meet-- and influence-- Dylan, Baez, and others in the burgeoning folk scene.
Dylan, in particular, lauded the man extensively, declaring von Schmidt could sing the bird off the wire and the rubber off the tire in the liner notes to one of the latter s records.
Dylan also shouted out Ric in the opening to Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (which von Schmidt taught Dylan) on Dylan s first LP, and included a von Schmidt LP on the of 1965 s Bringing It All Back Home.
Along with Jim Rooney, von Schmidt penned a book about the Cambridge folk scene titled Baby, Let Me Follow You Down. While throat cancer and Lyme disease stifled his playing and singing in recent years, von Schmidt continued painting until his death.
Eric is survived by daughters Caitlin von Schmidt and Megan Richardson, as well as three grandsons. Joe Hunter-- pianist, Funk Brother, and Motown s first bandleader-- died Friday, February 2 at age 79, according to the Associated Press. The AP claims Hunter was diabetic, though the exact cause of his death was unknown when his son, Joe Hunter Jr.
, spoke to the Detroit News.
Hunter won three Grammys with the Funk Brothers, Motown s house band memorialized in the 2002 documentary . He was the label s first hire, and he played backup with Smokey Robinson in addition to contributing to songs such as Martha and the Vandellas Heat Wave and Marvin Gaye s Pride and Joy .
He did not, however, make the move with the label from Detroit to Los Angeles in 1972.
After the reception of two Grammys in 2003 and one in 2004, Hunter toured with a reunited version of the Funk Brothers. [Photo by Karen Sas, Artisan Entertainment] Frog Eyes' Mercer Talks Blood, Sweat, Tears, Bowie
Dan Bejar once suggested to me that all of my art is crumbling into that most classic and vaunted of forms: the drunken speech of the deposed dictator.
This May Day, why not inject a little chaos into the ol maypole dance routine by broadcasting the new LP? , the frenetic Victoria quartet unleashes its fourth full-length beast, the nine-track Tears of the Valedictorian, on May 1 via in the U.S.
and in Canada.
Since Tears perplexing song titles have our ribbons a bit tangled, Pitchfork went straight to Frog Eyes frontman Carey Mercer with a few e-mail questions. Thanks to the magic of interweb discourse, we learned a little about the new LP, the toil of touring, s auto show gig that wasn t, and the influence of David Bowie-by-proxy.
We re also more confused now than ever.
Pitchfork: Tears of the Valedictorian-- in 100 words or less, what s it all about?
Carey Mercer: Well, there are a few down with people songs and a few up with people songs, and a few songs that suggest an affinity for stock/archetypal tragic images.
Two songs are quite long.
Dan Bejar once suggested to me that all of my art is crumbling into that most classic and vaunted of forms: the drunken speech of the deposed dictator. Tears was mastered a little quieter than Californication, and therefore will not get as much radio play.
Pitchfork: The titles of the previous Frog Eyes albums proper have all followed the pattern: [definite article] [adjective] [noun]. This one is noticeably different. Any particular reason?
Why not name it, say, The Valedictory Tear?
Carey: I had the feeling that I was leaving all the nonsense of the last three records behind, and then the pompous absurdity of such a feeling made me remember, with a love in my heart, that my oldest friend cried while delivering his Valedictorian speech. My favorite art combines humor and crushing Pathos, human squalor and immutable, natural beauty.
That is why it is called Tears of the Valedictorian. On a cold night in Atlanta-- but not a hat cold night, according to Ira Kaplan-- Hoboken, New Jersey s beat some serious Ass before a packed house. Tickets to see the indie legends were going for as much as $75 outside-- a fair price, perhaps: with an over two hour long set, complete with three encores, the band never seemed to tire.
Through the course of the evening the attended learned that James McNew hates poetry and heard covers of the Velvet Underground s I Heard Her Call My Name and Sun Ra s Somebody s in Love. In addition to several songs off latest LP ( ), YLT rocked several fan favorites, including Sugarcube , Stockholm Syndrome , and Autumn Sweater off 1997 s I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. Even though, as Kaplan claimed, is only YLT s second favorite Atlanta venue-- the Masquerade, where they were infamously billed as Yo La Tango, is number one-- the band did not disappoint the sell-out crowd, who were still clamoring for more well past midnight.
Yo La Tengo wrap up their U.S. this week, then ship off to Japan and Australia.
hits April 17, 2007. On that day, all that has passed will cease to exist and we will return to the black void from whence we came. Our memories will be erased, our bodies will crumble to ash, the earth will become ether, the stars will collapse unto themselves, the sun will burn out.
Time s forward march will stop. History will end. God will die.
And no one will care. Oh yeah, a new album is coming out that day, too. From the looks of , it seems it will have 16 tracks, one of which is called The Beginning of the End .
Tomorrow, February 6, Chicago label will release Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neal Hemphill Vol. 1. (It s available on eMusic now.
) It s a compilation of soul from Birmingham, Alabama in the 60s and 70s named for plumber-turned-studio owner Neal Hemphill. Hemphill was responsible for a great deal of the music produced in the city during that time, and the 23-track compilation includes tracks by Frederick Knight (who wrote Ring My Bell , a hit for Anita Ward), the Blue Notes, and Ralph Soul Jackson.
Rabbit Factory will also use the two Jackson tracks on a 45 release in conjunction with the compilation, with Set Me Free on the A-side and Take Me Back on the B.
The label has offered both tracks for download at the links below. Set Me Free is an uptempo plea backed by a female chorus, while Take Me Back is a little more wistful. Despite a few snags, the mighty just keeps on rushing.
The emotive Austin folk-pop troupe has announced plans to release a new album-- the follow-up to 2005 s quite well-received -- later this year. Indeed, the boys were in the studio just a moment ago, laying new jams to tape with producer Brian Beattie (BSB, Don t Fall in Love With Everyone You See).
They ve had to abandon recording for the moment, however: Okkervil frontman Will Sheff regretfully revealed to hounds recently (special thanks to reader Kevin Lok for the tip) that he has been forced to cancel his tour with Josh Ritter.
All those emotional outbursts strained Sheff s voice considerably; he s following his doctor s advice and resting up while keeping his trap shut. My voice is damaged and the only thing that will really make it get better is not using it for a little while, wrote Sheff. We wish him a speedy recovery.
On a brighter note, Okkervil River will play an Austin show at the University of Texas Hogg Auditorium on April 21. They re also onboard for SXSW, playing Quack!Media and Found magazine s day party (at Bourbon Rocks) and s night showcase (at the Mohawk) on March 15.
Additionally, the Okkervils serve up a deluxe reissue of Black Sheep Boy, bundled with companion EP and bonus goodies, on March 6 via Jagjaguwar. Titled Black Sheep Boy (Definitive Edition), the two-CD set boasts both releases plus B-side The Next Four Months , the fine animated for For Real , and a new video for an alternate version of Appendix s No Key, No Plan .
The Definite Edition further bolsters its claim of definitiveness by including a big fat booklet and a gold-embossed sleeve, according to a press release.
We re told it combin[es] style and substance like never before, which, while hyperbolic, still sounds pretty damn sweet.
Chin Up Chin Up, Boris Yeltsin to Tour Midwesterners and are teaming up for a tour later this month. The former is supporting ( ) while the latter is pushing a reissue of ( ).
Both Chin Up Chin Up and SSLYBY have dates on their own as well, including stops at SXSW.
Hidden away in the top right-hand corner of s website, written in small font in the Future Releases, Radio + TV section , it says this: So it seems that Bj o rk has set a tentative release date for her highly anticipated new album-- you know, that features collaborations with Antony, Timbaland, Lightning Bolt s Brian Chippendale, and many more. That would be May 7, a Monday-- so we assume that s the European release date.
Thanks to eagle-eyed reader Jason Hoyos for pointing it out! , Bj o rk is playing Coachella, Glastonbury, Roskilde, and Poland s Open er festivals this spring and summer. Next stop: your neighborhood block party!
No, we have no idea what s going on here either. But it Fox that mysteriously appeared alongside the on the album s yesterday. If you turn the thing upside down, the text of that fable is written, alongside what seems to LSF, Wolf Parade, Islands Members Team Up for Benefit has called upon his friends in high places for the benefit of his nonprofit .
Eggers publishing house, event, set to take place March 15 at New York s Symphony Space. Performing at the event will be an indie supergroup comprised of s , s Dan Boeckner and Hadji Bakara, and The show will also feature comedy, music and[/or] extreme power point author/Wired contributing editor Joshua Davis, and author/former Late For a home-recording singer/songwriter, Mark Linkous and his touring version of appeared on stage at Austin s this past Friday with a surprising air of professionalism. Linkous-- decked out in an ensemble coat, vest, slacks, and discriminating footwear-- stripped away much of the lo-fi trickery from the night s songs, preferring to rely more on his voice and memorable lyrics.
Bittersweet numbers like Spirit Ditch and Apple Bed never upstaged uptempo songs like Hammering the Cramps -- which, following opening set of siren vocals and slow-burn hypnotics, provided a welcome contrast. Not all the tricks were forsaken, though, as Linkous more often than not cloaked his voice through his trusty processed microphone.
This was Sparklehorse s first date on their first U.
S. tour in quite some time, so maybe it was too much to ask for Experimental Linkous. And really, disappointments were practically non-existent (minus the omission of Shade and Honey !
). If Astralwerks ever decides to put out a Sparklehorse greatest hits collection, they needn t look much further than this night s setlist.
Sparklehorse and Jesse Sykes the Sweet Hereafter continue their through March.
One of rock n roll s longest-festering disputes vanished into thin air today, as it was announced that the world-conquering mega-corporations known as and . have decided to give peace a chance and end their ongoing trademark battle. You see, the Beatles holding company is named , and has held that name, as well as its logo of a shiny green apple, for decades.
In 1991, the band and the computer makers agreed to share the name, so long as the latter didn t enter the music business. The advent of iTunes and the iPod in this decade kind of mucked that up. According to the Associated Press, today s settlement gives Apple Inc.
ownership of all the trademarks related to Apple. In addition, Apple Inc. will license certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use.
Eternally black turtleneck-clad Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, We love the Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks. It feels great to resolve this in a positive manner, and in a way that should remove the potential of further disagreements in the future.
Naturally, talk has turned to the possibility of a Beatles-Apple Inc.
partnership, with a deal for the band s music hitting the iTunes store rumored to be in the works. The Beatles are one of the last holdouts against the selling of legal downloads, forcing music fans to resort to all kinds of crate-digging, eBay price gouging, and dangerous underground bootlegging just to hear Yesterday . Not.
We like when he sings / But we still miss Goodie Mob / Where is Big Gipp now? In anticipation of their February 11 performance at the Grammys, Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse have found yet another way to drum up interest in . This time, it s a run and judged by the fictional (we think) CEO of St.
Elsewhere , A.B. Vidal.
Don t think that just any haiku praising the film-obsessed duo will do, though. In fact, it s probably best not to mention Gnarls Barkley in your haiku at all, because Vidal has limited the thematic possibilities to either Solitude or Pineapples. Or, if you can manage it, both, according to Gnarls Barkley s website.
The winner(s) of the competition will receive three limited-edition Gnarls Barkley lithographs (one each for Crazy , Smiley Faces , and Gone Daddy Gone ). Vidal will announce the winner(s) on the day of the Grammy performance, which means aspiring poets have six days to complete their haiku. But remember, if you show friends and family your solitude/pineapple-themed work, they will think you re crazy (possibly).
As , Gnarls Barkley will tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in late February/early March in between a few festival performances.
With their new album barely a week old, have announced a spring North American tour supporting it. They re in Europe right now, and will take half of February and most of March off before hitting the road on our shores starting April 10.
Much clapping will ensue.
No pressure, guys. It's not like you have to live up to the fastest-selling debut album in UK history or anything.
revealed on their website today that they will release their second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, on April 23 in the UK. (No American release date has been set yet.) UPDATE: It will be released on April 24 in the U.
S. It will be preceded by the single Brianstorm (not a typo, we think) on April 16. (April 17 in the U.
S. We assume the album will be on , but that has not been confirmed yet. Yes, it will be on Domino.
Thus, the Arctics have joined Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Arcade Fire, and Bloc Party in the dugout of high-profile indie bands spending the first half of 2007 bracing for the sophomore slump. (Who next? Band of Horses?
Tapes n Tapes?) Arctic Monkeys spring/summer touring itinerary is starting to take shape, with gigs at Coachella, Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, and Glastonbury already scheduled. At the end of July, the band is hosting its own festival at Lancashire County Cricket Ground in Manchester, England.
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