On April 16, will reissue their four albums originally released on the label. Mercury Records will reissue The Tenement Year (1988), Cloudland (1989), Worlds in Collision (1991), and Story of My Life (1993), all digitally remastered with bonus tracks and, occasionally, tweaked tracklists. The Wire s David Stubbs contributes extensive liner notes to each release.
will pay tribute to Ubu associate Peter Laughner with the November 6 release of some lo-fi demos, rehearsals, and live tracks he left behind before his death in 1977. Laughner was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who played with proto-Ubu band Rocket From the Tombs as well as an early version of Pere Ubu. The Smog Veil collection is currently untitled.
Just before the Fontana reissues hit stores, Pere Ubu will embark on a short tour of the U.S. Then, just after the reissues are released, the band will skip over to Europe for a whole month s worth of shows in support of their newest album, .
In between, frontman David Thomas will play one show in Cleveland with side project .
His van leads somewhere, but it's not yet to your door Animal rights activist, rabble-rousing punk lifer, and handsome devil s been accused a lot of things over his storied career, but laziness just ain t one of em. He ll spend his summer throwing his weight-- which we estimate to be a lean, mean 93 pounds-- behind the fresh to def both at home and abroad on a nearly non-stop tour he ll inaugurate tonight in Philly.
Your tax dollars will be working overtime Thursday night at Ted s gig in our nation s capital, which the fine folks of ring out over the nation s car speakers? Hard to say for sure, but it of our fearless leaders.
for Pharmacists fans looking to go all Rex Morgan M.
D. on of Ted and company. A bit of bubble-filling could translate into big winnings for ten guffaw-makers, with the spoils coming in the form of tickets for the grand victor s choice of Pharmacists dates, scarves, a PETA hip bag, The contest ends April 5, so you d be advised to start warming up your , the deft-handed amongst you still have a snatch up Living With the Living complete with the soon-to-be-extinct Mo Living EP.
Cop that disc! Jack White to Play Elvis in New Film? NME.
com reports that has signed on to play the King of Rock n Roll in , a new film from Orange County director Jake Kasdan. White s publicist confirmed that Jack did take part in this movie , but would not elaborate as to whether or not he actually plays Elvis.
It makes sense if you think about it, though: both married under curious circumstances, both were fond of Nudie suits, and both are among rock s acest interpreters of black music.
White, whose previous acting turns in Cold Mountain and Coffee and Cigarettes won him critical praise, will join such cast members as John C. Reilly, The Office s Jenna Fischer, Saturday Night Live s Tim Meadows, Chris Parnell, Kristen Wiig, and David Koechner. The flick, apparently a parody of Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, was co-penned by director Kasdan and 40 Year Old Virgin scribe Judd Apatow.
On May 5, will release the first U.S. single off the Arcade Fire s epic sophomore LP.
Keep the Car Running comes backed with Broken Wind -- which is not to be confused, of course, with 2005 seven-inch cut Cold Wind UPDATE: THE SONG IS CALLED BROKEN WINDOW , NOT BROKEN WIND . MERGE SENT OUT THE WRONG TRACK NAME. WE WEREN T MAKING A GRADE SCHOOL JOKE, WE SWEAR!
-- and arrives with typically lavish packaging on 7 vinyl. their latest North American pilgrimage-- which includes stops at and other celebratory events-- on April 26.
Patrick Wolf Bound for New York, Europe
Preps new single; praises Björk, Beth Ditto on website There s a new Wolf in indie America s midst, and we d do well to welcome this one with open arms and lots of glitter.
, having just support of his -inducted third LP, ( via /Universal)-- has revealed plans to make a 2007 U.S. foray at last early next month.
the eve of his April-long European jaunt. Not surprisingly, all of them go down in someplace called Ne Wyork. Never heard of it.
To celebrate his New World landfall, Wolf will release a single featuring The Magic Position s title track on April 9...
in the UK. Like lots of things in that exotic land, it comes in more formats than you could ever possibly need, including CD and two different seven-inches. Naturally they all have different B-sides, and of course you must collect them all in order to Wolf, who with program, posted earlier this month on his website.
Lamenting the deadly, unspoken segregation still manifest in his home country and the deep, dark, invisible, conservatism, boring, lazy, top forty pop music charts, [and] grey, endless hours of radio programming, Wolf frontlady and recent UK press darling Beth Ditto, among others. means so much to me to look around and see Beth Ditto, all fire and graces blazing, Bjork coming back from her self made palace of technology, flesh, volcano and supernatural reality with a new, much needed voice in the army and apparently quite the disco shoes to match..
.Even Britney, ready to go with your head shaved, umbrella in hand. There you go, Brit-- someone still loves you.
Paste magazine cover stars (!?) and (!
??) will prove they re truly all about the this spring, as the across the purple mountain majesty of the USA.
Appropriately, many of these events on the Steady s just-announced tour occur in the Midwest, where the streets are paved with socialist notions among the winos over in Europe. They ll also commingle with festivals/drug-orgies. Hopefully all the other dates in America s infallible capitalistic ideals.
Hopefully my cheek enjoys the massage it s getting from my tongue right now.
A toast to reader Jeff Benson for the tip!
Finally, it s not too late to submit your 11th hour entry for the Hold Steady , but act fast!
They re due March 31.
Blame it on all that brotherly love: Philly bands don t front when it comes to civic pride. A whole slew of Illadelph natives will wind their way into the Rebel Capitol for the first-ever , poppin off all over the 215 April 9-15.
Over seven nights, in five different clubs, Philly rock s top-shelf will yet again prove Camden can t hang. Plenty of local acts will pop up throughout the week-- peep the mondo bizarro antics of Golden Ball s Thursday night set if you dare-- but Saturday night s bill is the heftiest, with a four-tiered blowout from Dr. Dog, Bardo Pond, Illinois, and the Spinto Band.
Attendees of the show will receive discounted entry to that evening s Klaxons gig at Transit, which ll serve double-duty as the festival s official afterparty and, you know, a showcase of rollicking Brit-rock. Full schedule after the jump.
Adult Swim promos, and delivering last year s LP (which cracked quite a few folks best of 2006 lists), L.
A. s has been beat-maker, who happens to be a nephew of recently deceased jazz icon Alice Coltrane. Lotus will serve up his debut Warp release, a four-track, 12 vinyl-only EP, this June.
Keep your browsers clicked to for a stream from that 12 Turns out Flying Lotus is the first L.A.-based Warp artist, and if the man s press release quote is to be believed, he s thrilled to be onboard (duh): Warp is the absolute best home for my work.
They ve made history by putting out some of the craziest beats on the planet, and they want to continue doing it. Warp knows that there s a lovely thing goin on in L.A.
so by being their first L.A. artist.
..I got a lot of work to do.
Woozy Baltimore duo released a vinyl version of their excellent, via on March 20. The LP comes pressed on white vinyl and features different artwork from the CD release; if you hurry, you can still pick up one of the limited 500 copies.
Don t forget that, in addition to a March 29 appearance at the Crossroads Film Festival in Jackson, Mississippi, Beach House are in May.
Turns out they ll join the rainy-day quartet a few dates later now May 12 in Atlanta. Mission of Burma, Jawbreaker, Travis Morrison Contribute to Callum Robbins Benefit Comp The outpouring of support for Callum Robbins is nothing short of heartwarming. Young Callum turns fourteen months old today and is the son of Jawbox/Burning Airlines/Channels rocker J.
Robbins and Channels Janet Morgan. , he suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (Type 1), a disorder that often leads to death at a very young age, and for which there is no cure.
Callum s parents began seeking donations for expensive SMA treatments back in December; since then, big names like , , and have stepped up to help Callum s cause, along with countless other fans and musicians the world over.
As J. Robbins wrote on his late last week, My wife Janet and I have been overwhelmed by the kindness and support of the creative and caring people around us in response to our son Callum s diagnosis of SMA. Robbins and Morgan have expressed similar sentiments on , the blog they regularly update on behalf of their son.
More benefits and fundraisers, meanwhile, pop up by the day; consider this a brief digest of the latest happenings. As before, you may donate directly to Callum s family by clicking .
First up, Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino has put together a benefit at NYC s Bowery Ballroom on April 16.
The bill includes college rock icon Bob Mould, Radio 4, and Mercury Rev offshoot Harmony Rockets, with special guests promised. Score tickets .
Shortly before that, on April 7, Lovitt Records post-hardcore mainstays Fin Fang Foom head a benefit bill at Durham, North Carolina s Bull City Headquarters.
Red Collar and Caltrop will also play. Details .
Next up, a heap of artists have contributed tracks to the 2xCD compilation For Callum, available for purchase .
All proceeds go to Callum s care fund, and the 32-cut comp includes tunes from Mission of Burma, Jawbreaker, Travis Morrison, Channels, David Grubbs, Engine Down, Maritime, Joe Lally, The Life and Times, Medications, Pilot to Gunner, the Eternals, Arcwelder, Chad, the Oranges Band, and more.
Michigan-based quarterly music and culture publication , meanwhile, has started a subscription drive to raise funds for Callum Robbins. For every new subscription, they ll donate $5 to Callum s family.
For details, click .
Finally, even folks closer to Callum s age group have pledged to help the little guy. The adolescent members of Ohio pop act are inviting other bands featuring at least one member aged 18 or under to contribute to their downloadable Callum benefit compilation, The Magnetic Bunny Seaside Summer Compilation.
It s due to arrive June 6 via ShiSho s own Magnetic Bunny imprint. Interested participants can contact the band via the , and confirmed contributors include Artillery Road, Bonzai, Dirty Spanglish, Empty State, Fiasco, the Flairz, Kara Hopkins, L.E.
G.S., Lot 40, Magnolia, Mod Rocket, ShiSho, and, um, a band called that apparently consists of a preschooler.
Kids give their bands the darndest names!
And of course, don t forget the Dismemberment Plan reunion going down at DC s Black Cat. Due to an avalanche of demand (gee, whooda thunk it?
), the band have added an extra date, , meaning they ll play April 27 and April 28. Nas, Public Enemy, the Roots, MF Doom Rock the Bells The bi-coastal, three-date festival went from to probably the best hip hop festival in the country with the recent announcement of its full lineup.
Joining the Wu-Tang Clan and Rage Against the Machine on all dates are Public Enemy, the Roots, Pharoahe Monch, Mos Def, EPMD, Cypress Hill, Sage Francis, Immortal Technique, and Jedi Mind Tricks.
The artists who will perform only on select Rock the Bells dates are Nas, MF Doom, Hieroglyphics, Mr. Lif, Murs (solo), Felt (Murs with Atmosphere s Slug), Blackalicious, the Coup, Cage, Blueprint, Brother Ali, Living Legends, Grouch Eligh, Hangar 18, and Lucky I Am.
Hi-Tek, Rahzel, and Supernatural will host the festival, which also features DJs Icy Ice, Rocky Rock, Mike Relm, Mark Luv, and C-Minus.
Currently, your only other chance to see Rage Against the Machine is at . Nas, however, kicks off in Cleveland on April 2. Hope you re sitting down for this one: in a rustic European setting, over a summer weekend, there s going to be a music festival.
Many notable artists will play there, often on the same day. Camping will be available for those who seek it. Weren t ready for that, were ya?
This year s , taking place on the banks of Loch Fyne near the presumably very old Inveraray Castle in Argyll, Scotland August 31-September 2, will host the keep-crumblin , moat-ripplin headlinin antics of , , and . The bill also includes the resurrected , the Yo La Tengo-beloved , the best new music made by , the audible spin-art that is , the messy punk of , and a swarm of others. Fret not, dancemongers; though the fest s current lineup may seem bloated with rocker-types, the loungey Frenchies of are the first of what festival organizers promise will be plenty more electronic acts in their Manicured Noise Tent.
For the whole of the confirmed lineup, lookee here: Bj o rk, Beastie Boys, Primal Scream, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai, LCD Soundsystem, the Go! Team, the Only Ones, Idlewild, CSS, Tilly the Wall, Nouvelle Vague, King Creosote. Do you have a news tip for us?
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