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Dizzee Rascal to Kick Off First Full North American Tour

It seems like artists are having trouble getting their tours started these days. Recently, M.I.A. had visa problems and the Game had trouble getting into Mexico because he didn't want people searching his bags. Dizzee Rascal was arrested a few weeks ago for carrying pepper spray, jeopardizing his upcoming tour of North America. We reported a few weeks ago that the Salt Lake City date might be postponed because he is schedule to appear in court that day-- in London. However, neither that show nor any other stops have been changed thus far.

On his official site, Mr. Rascal wrote: "I thought I'd just let you all know that I will be performing at all the dates on my forthcoming U.S and Canadian Showtime Tour. See you all there.. Diz." I'll be there, Diz.

Dizzee Rascal has appeared on this side of the world before, but this will be his first full headlining tour of North America. The fun begins tomorrow in Vancouver.

03-30 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
03-31 Portland, OR - Douglas Fir Lounge
04-01 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
04-02 Eugene, OR - W.O.W. Hall
04-04 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
04-05 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
04-06 San Diego, CA - Canes
04-08 Salt Lake City, UT - Lo-Fi Cafe
04-09 Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
04-11 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room
04-12 Austin, TX - The Parish
04-14 Houston, TX - Engine Room
04-15 New Orleans, LA - The Parish
04-16 Atlanta, GA - The Loft
04-18 Orlando, FL - The Social
04-19 Miami, FL - I/O Lounge
04-21 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
04-22 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
04-23 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
04-25 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
04-26 Boston, MA - Middle East Club
04-27 Montreal, Quebec - Club Soda
04-28 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
04-29 East Lansing, MI - Union Ballroom
04-30 Chicago, IL - Double Door

Dizzee Rascal: http://www.dizzeerascal.co.uk
Posted by Rob Kleckner in on Tue: 03-29-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Arcade Fire, Basement Jaxx to Play KCRW Festival

The summer festival season keeps growing and growing. According to a Billboard report, KCRW's World Music Festival will take place several times over the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. Keeping in tune with the station's solid programming, the festival looks to feature a host of good talent. KCRW's Nic Harcourt, host of "Morning Becomes Eclectic", will take on hosting duties for the opening event.

One of the highlights of the series will surely be seeing the Arcade Fire and David Byrne. Earlier this year, Byrne joined the Arcade Fire on stage in New York for a rousing rendition of the Talking Heads' "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)". The series will take place every few weeks and close on September 11, with an event called Destination Hawaii featuring an assortment of Hawaiian artists.

Here's the line-up thus far:
June 26: David Byrne; the Arcade Fire; Si*Sé; Extra Action Marching Band
July 17: Basement Jaxx; Röyksopp; Bossacucanova
July 24: Femi Kuti; Mos Def; Daara J
August 7: Yo-Yo Ma; Silk Road Ensemble
August 28: Black Uhuru; Maxi Priest; Desmond Dekker

KCRW: http://www.kcrw.com
Posted by Rob Kleckner in on Tue: 03-29-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Expanded D. Boon Album on the Way

Almost 20 years after their untimely dissolution, the legacy of San Pedro, Calif.'s the Minutemen is swiftly becoming a more accessible part of the indie rock canon. Last month, a feature-length documentary titled We Jam Econo premiered in the band's hometown, chronicling the band's trajectory from their beginnings to frontman D. Boon's fatal car accident in 1985, and Karate's recent In the Fishtank featured no less than four Minutemen covers. Additionally, according to Billboard, Richard Derrick, roommate of the late D. Boon, has revisited the band's legacy for D. Boon and Friends, a collection of sundry recordings. Much like the guitarist/vocalist's main act, the album is all over the map.

Originally released in 2003, the 33-track disc includes 1984-85 jam sessions between the two roommates (along with a third cohort), live Minutemen and Boon solo sets, a four-track recording of the song "Many as One", plus liner notes by Mike Watt and Meat Puppets drummer Derrick Bostrom. There are also songs taken from the only performance of Boon's side project Hammerdown, a bizarre spectacle allegedly drawing comment from Harry Shearer (aka Spinal Tap's Derek Smalls and The Simpsons', well, everyone) that it was the greatest thing he'd ever seen.

This latest edition isn't so much a reissue as it is an expansion of the original pressing. All direct orders from Derrick's Box-O-Plenty website will receive a CD-R with 23 minutes of additional material from the aforementioned sessions-- this album could be your life:

01 Everyone Was There
02 Fifth Gear
03 Deadline
04 The Waiting Stage
05 Indecision
06 Theme From Empty Box
07 The Long Road Home
08 Take You There
09 Freedom Forever
10 Jam #6
11 Binkys Round-Up
12 Too Much Fun
13 All Over the Place
14 The Viking Song
15 Just Around the Corner
16 As Long As (Parts 1 & 2)
17 Hammerdown I
18 This Land is Your Land
19 Hammerdown II
20 Our New Industrial Direction
21 Thats All There Is
22 My Part
23 Dont Look Now
24 Plight
25 Corona
26 But First
27 I Felt Like a Gringo
28 God Bows To Math
29 Themselves
30 Self-Referenced
31 #1 Hit Song
32 History Lesson - Part II
33 Many As One

The Minutemen: http://www.theminutemen.com/
Box-O-Plenty: http://www.box-o-plenty.com/
Posted by Joel Ebner in on Mon: 03-28-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Mia Doi Todd Announces Tour Dates

Self-described bard Mia Doi Todd has given us all a month for her latest album, Manzanita, to marinate in our over-crowded heads before announcing plans to hit the road in support of said album. Canny marketing scheme, or scheduling necessity? Only her booking agent and record label and PR person and Todd and maybe her friends know for sure. After playing a couple of L.A. shows and making several festival stops in Europe, Todd will head back Stateside to support the Books on the West Coast leg of their first American tour. Anyone feeling slighted by the lack of geographic coverage should take it up with Ms. Todd; all we can do is report the facts. Or, occasionally, stuff we make up. Shows:

04-05 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
04-15 Los Angeles, CA - Temple Bar
04-23 Ghent, Belgium - Route 05 Festival
04-24 Tilburg, Netherlands - Route 05 Festival
05-01 Haarlem, Netherlands - Het Patronaat
05-06 Barcelona, Spain - Omm Club
05-13 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey #
05-14 Portland, OR - Holocene #
05-16 Davis, CA - Memorial Union Coffeehouse #
05-17 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord #
05-18 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord #
05-20 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory #

# with the Books

Mia Doi Todd: http://www.miadoitodd.com/
Plug Research: http://www.plugresearch.com/
Posted by Zach Vowell in on Mon: 03-28-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Sage Francis Forced to Postpone European Tour

With only two dates remaining on a U.S. tour in support of his A Healthy Distrust LP, Sage Francis informed his agents, promoters, and label that he needed to go on hiatus. After playing more than 40 dates from early February to late March, exhausted, and with an aching throat, Francis also postponed his upcoming European tour until June. Sadly, this only adds more folks to the "everyone hates Sage Francis" club. The original European dates:

>> All Dates Postponed:
04-05 Evreux, France - Abordage
04-06 Paris, France - Point Ephemere
04-07 Dijon, France - La Vapeur
04-09 Orleans, France - Astrolabe
04-10 Geneva, Switzerland - L'usine
04-11 Frankfurt, Germany - Cooky's
04-13 Berlin, Germany - Kato
04-14 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
04-15 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
04-16 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
04-18 London, England - Cargo
04-19 Sheffield, England - Tuesday Club
04-21 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's
04-22 Bristol, England - Thekla
04-23 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
04-25 Manchester, England - Roadhouse

* Pitchfork Review: Sage Francis: Healthy Distrust
* Pitchfork News: Sage Francis Unveils Album and Tour Details
* Sage Francis: <a

Posted by Micah C. Harding in on Mon: 03-28-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Westerberg Reveals Comp Tracklist, Tour Dates

As previously reported, former Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg is readying his first greatest hits collection (a sadly relative term in his case) devoted to his 12-year solo career. According to his official website, the 20-cut tracklist for Besterberg - The Best of Paul Westerberg has been finalized, and includes some of the more interesting "best of" selections in recent memory-- offering the stronger songs from the alt-rock hero's studio releases (on two different labels), plus a trio of soundtrack-only exclusives, two non-album B-sides, a pair of unreleased tracks from the Eventually sessions, and a lone selection from his side project/alter ego Grandpaboy. Now that's the kind of fan-conscious hits package we like to see (paying attention, Axl?)...no wonder they named the high school in Heathers after the guy. It's like this:

01 Dyslexic Heart
02 Knockin on Mine
03 World Class Fad
04 Runaway Wind
05 Things
06 Seein' Her
07 Man Without Ties
08 A Star is Bored
09 Stain Yer Blood
10 Love Untold
11 Once Around the Weekend (alternate mix)
12 Angels Walk
13 It's a Wonderful Life
14 Lookin' Out Forever
15 Nowhere Man
16 High Time (Grandpaboy)
17 Let the Bad Times Roll
18 What a Day (For a Night)
19 All That I Had
20 C'Mon, C'Mon, C'Mon

This collection marks the Westerberg's first release since 2004's pleasantly reliable LP Folker, and will be released on May 17 via Rhino. And while no updates on new studio recordings have surfaced, Westerberg has recently announced an additional 12 U.S. tour dates for his spring 2005 trek in support of the last disc. The lineup:

04-14 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave/Eagles Club
04-15 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
04-16 Louisville, KY - Headliners
04-18 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
04-19 Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
04-21 Covington, KY - Madison Theatre
04-22 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
04-25 Boston, MA - Avalon
04-26 New York, NY - Supper Club
04-27 New York, NY - Supper Club
04-29 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
04-30 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre Of Living Arts
05-01 Norfolk, VA - The NorVa

Finally, as we touched on in our last Westerberg update, Rykodisc is prepping a set of reissues of the Replacements' first four Twin Tone albums (which include the alt-rock benchmark Let It Be). The discs are expected for release on a yet-to-be determined Tuesday this fall, and are promised to include unspecified bonus tracks (finally an official CD release of the slacker-rock poems "If Only You Were Lonely" and "Don't Get Married"??). Rhino is also promising remastered versions of the band's four remaining Sire-released albums, but details on when we can expect them are currently scarcer than Chris Mars' whereabouts.

Paul Westerberg: http://www.paulwesterberg.com/
Posted by James Gregory in on Mon: 03-28-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Trail of Dead Expand North American Tour

In mid-February, we reported that ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead had announced a solid month's worth of tour dates all across North America. Considering that AYWKUBTTOD (our favorite acroynm) initially built their reputation on their explosive and destructive live performances, it shouldn't be any real surprise that the Austin band has added another 16 dates to their tour, this time paying more attention to that oft-maligned (but oh-so-lovely) left side of the American continent. They also plan to wreck two different Houses of Blues and play Petaluma, Calif., which should be interesting. The full tour plays out as follows:

03-30 Houston, TX - Engine Room
03-31 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
04-01 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
04-02 Orlando, FL - Tabu Nightclub
04-03 St. Petersburg, FL - The State Theatre
04-04 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds
04-06 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
04-07 Washington, DC - Black Cat
04-08 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
04-09 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
04-10 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
04-12 Boston, MA - Axis
04-13 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret Music Hall
04-14 Ottawa, Ontario - Capital Music Hall
04-15 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House Concert Venue
04-16 London, Ontario - Call the Office
04-18 Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
04-19 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
04-20 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theater
04-21 Urbana, IL - The Canopy Club
04-22 Chicago, IL - Metro
04-23 Madison, WI - James Madison Park
04-25 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
04-26 Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
04-27 Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre
04-28 St. Louis, MO - Mississippi Nights
04-29 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room
04-30 Austin, TX - Emo's
05-13 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
05-14 Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
05-15 Salt Lake City, UT - Lo Fi Cafe
05-16 Missoula, MT - The Other Side
05-17 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall
05-18 Edmonton, Alberta - Red's Entertainment Complex
05-20 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
05-21 Seattle, WA - Showbox Showroom & Lounge
05-22 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
05-24 Petaluma, CA - Phoenix Theater
05-25 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
05-26 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
05-27 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
05-28 San Diego, CA - Canes Bar & Grill
05-29 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
05-31 Fort Worth, TX - Ridglea Theater

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead: http://www.trailofdead.com/
Posted by Zach Vowell in on Mon: 03-28-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Stephen Malkmus to Play Select U.S. Dates This Summer

When Matador Records says that Stephen Malkmus will be supporting his new album with "selected dates," they mean it. This summer, Malkmus will be crisscrossing the United States in support of Face the Truth, hitting a whopping six cities in no less than 30 days. To be fair, Matador has stated from the start that Malkmus would be doing minimal touring for this album, so those of you in Philadelphia, New York, and Minneapolis (and Cleveland?!?) can just count yourselves lucky, we guess. As for us, we'll just play the CD really really loud and clap at the end of songs. Dates:

06-05 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
06-07 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
06-09 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
06-10 Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
06-12 Minnapolis, MN - First Avenue
06-14 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
07-04 New York, NY - Battery Park (w/ Yo La Tengo, Laura Cantrell)

Stephen Malkmus: http://www.stephenmalkmus.com
Matador Records: http://www.matadorrecords.com
Posted by Chris Rediske in on Mon: 03-28-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Russian Futurists Album Out This Spring

Since 2003's Let's Get Ready to Crumble, Matthew Adam Hart finally got around to assembling people other than himself into the hitherto bedroom-bound one man show The Russian Futurists. And though he toured large portions of North America and Spain with that new band, Hart instinctively went back to seclusion to record his next album, Our Thickness. In fact, according to his website, he admitted that he "rented a cabin up north for a portion of the making of the album. I was alone with no phone or anything, and was forced to work on the record most of the day. I spent the rest of the time eating catfish and drinking whisky like Huck Finn of something." Now we know where the thickness comes from. The album will be released on May 3 on Upper Class Recordings, and includes 10 of Hart's patented lo-fi love songs. There's probably some heartbreak in here somewhere too:

01 Paul Simon
02 Sentiments vs. Syllables
03 Our Pen's Out of Ink
04 Still Life
05 Hurtin 4 Certain
06 Why You Gotta Do That Thang?
07 It's Over, It's Nothing
08 Incandescent Hearts
09 These Seven Notes
10 2 Dots on a Map

And this time around, there's no assembly required for Hart as far as band members go. The Russian Futurists are already on the road, in Italy, and will also stop by Spain before beginning an massive tour of North America. That portion will included a CD release party in Toronto on April 23 and 40 shows with Caribou and Junior Boys, which was an already enticing bill in itself:

03-24 Vittoria, Italy - Piazza G. Bruno
03-25 Palermo, Italy - Ask 191
03-26 Catania, Italy - Mercati Generali
03-27 Reggio C., Italy - Prima Rosa
03-28 Siderno, Italy - Mister Orange
03-31 Monsano, Italy - Blaster
04-01 Bussolengo, Italy - Gate 52
04-02 S. Valentino, Italy - Sans Papiers
04-03 Shiavo di Marsciano, Italy - Red House
04-06 Marina di Massa, Italy - Baraonda
04-07 Fano, Italy - Sonic Lab
04-08 Milano, Italy - Cox 18
04-09 Livorno, Italy - The Cage
04-10 Bari, Italy - La Taverna
04-13 Madrid, Spain - Moby Dick
04-14 Oviedo, Spain - Centro Cultural
04-16 Barcelona, Spain - Apolo's
04-23 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo (w/ The Cansecos)
04-26 Kingston, Ontario - Elixir Night Club #
04-27 Ottawa, Ontario - Babylon #
04-29 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret #
04-30 Ithaca, NY - Noyes Community Center #
05-01 Annandale On Hudson, NY - Bard College #
05-02 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse #
05-03 Cambridge, MA - Middle East #
05-04 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #
05-05 Brooklyn, NY - Northsix #
05-06 Providence, RI - The Living Room #
05-07 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero Theatre #
05-08 Charlotteville, VA - Satellite Ballroom #
05-09 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 #
05-10 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn #
05-11 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues Parish #
05-12 Houston, TX - Mary Janes Fat Cat #
05-13 Austin, TX - The Parish #
05-14 Denton, TX - Haileys #
05-15 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Saloon #
05-17 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre #
05-18 Salt Lake City, UT - Egos #
05-20 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress #
05-21 Phoenix, AZ - Modified Arts #
05-22 San Diego, CA - Casbah #
05-24 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland #
05-25 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill #
05-27 Portland, OR - Berbatis Pan #
05-28 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey #
05-29 Victoria, British Columbia - Lucky Bar #
05-30 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards #
06-01 Calgary, Alberta - Broken City #
06-02 Edmonton, Alberta - New City Liqwid Lounge & Suburbs #
06-03 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Amigos #
06-04 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabaret #
06-05 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar #
06-06 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews #
06-07 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle #
06-08 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop #
06-09 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick #
06-10 Hamilton, Ontario - The Casbah #

# with Caribou, Junior Boys

* Pitchfork Review: The Russian Futurists: Let's Get Ready to Crumble
* The Russian Futurists: <a

Posted by Zach Vowell in on Fri: 03-25-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Dandy Warhols Album on the Way

Head back in time with us for a second, back to the magical late-90s. The Dandy Warhols, having not totally worn out their welcome yet, embarked on their 15 minutes of mainstream power pop fame, via MTV's loving support of the video for "Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth". Remember that? Cool, well maybe now you'll be able to whip up a little excitement as we report that the Portland, Oregon band are prepping the release of a new studio album for mid-2005.

According to their official website, Odditorium or Warlords of Mars (named for their studio, the "Odditorium") will be the band's fifth album, and the first since 2002's Welcome To The Monkey House (the "Monkey House," sadly, was rejected as a studio namesake). The group spent the better part of 2004 writing and recording the disc, and while we have no firm details on a release date or tracklist, a post on their site tentatively promises it for a summer release. The record will be preceded by a single, "Smoke It", for which the band has also completed a video.

And while we're talkin' Dandy Warhol, fans (or foes) might want to check out the upcoming DVD release of Dig!, the strangely fascinating 2004 documentary chronicling the rise and fall of the once-tight kinship between the Dandy's Courtney Taylor and Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe. Taken from over 1500 hours of footage spanning seven years, the drug and jealousy packed film (which was honored Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival-- tell that to your shrink, Metallica!) was directed by Ondi Timoner (who has previously shot videos and documentaries for Paul Westerberg, the Vines, and Lucinda Williams), and will hit stores on April 12.

Dandy Warhols: http://www.dandywarhols.com/
Dig!: http://www.digthemovie.com/
Posted by James Gregory in on Fri: 03-25-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Wolf Eyes Set U.S. Tour Dates

Detroit noise-rockers Wolf Eyes are piling all their ear-wrenching equipment into a bus this spring to travel throughout the U.S. and Canada. Among the notable stops, the Michiganians will share a stage alongside other experimental artists, including a performance with Animal Collective and a shared bill with Thurston Moore. The dates:

03-31 Easthampton, MA - Flywheel #
04-01 New York, NY - Knitting Factory Club Inc
04-01 Newark, NJ - Douglass Student Cetner at Rutgers
04-02 Harrisonburg, VA - MaCRock
04-04 Bowling Green, OH - Howards Club
04-26 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig *
05-01 Indio, CA - Coachella Music Festival
05-12 Sao Paolo, Brazil - Servicio Social do Comercio
05-19 San Diego, CA -The Casbah
05-20 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo Club
05-21 Victoriaville, Quebec - Festival Actuelle

# with Thurston Moore & Jim O'Rourke
* with Animal Collective

Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com/
Posted by Micah C. Harding in on Fri: 03-25-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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Art Brut to Issue Debut Album in May

Rare is the debut record as funny, smart and fresh as Art Brut's "Formed a Band", a shambling mess of DIY prank-rock adjudged the 38th best single of 2004 by Pitchfork. And so the multitudes did sing with joy upon hearing of the May 23 UK release of Art Brut's debut longplayer, Bang Bang Rock and Roll, on Fierce Panda/Bannana. It'll be preceded three weeks earlier by the single and video for "Emily Kane", which frontman Eddie Argos wrote to entice his long-lost teenage girlfriend to look him up.

"Yeah, it's about [the real] Emily Kane," Argos told Pitchfork. "It was quite shrewd, really, because I knew if I wrote the song she'd get in touch somehow. And she did. But she's got a boyfriend, which is rubbish. Has he written her a song? Has he? No, he hasn't. But I have. Anyway, Emily Kane did phone me up, but I told her it's an ironic song, because I couldn't admit to her that I love her. So I'm writing another song now called 'Emily Rang', about how actually it's true-- I do love her. Then I'll probably tell her that song's ironic, too."

Argos says that while the songs may be familiar from Art Brut's singles, MP3s, and live sets, not all of these versions are. "Songs like 'Rusted Guns of Milan' have changed so much live, it's like a different song. That's the one I have the most fun with live-- I can really go off on one. The album version is really not much like the live version."

That said, Argos resisted the temptation to update the line in "Formed a Band" that proclaims his ambition to "write the song that makes Israel and Palestine get along." He says, "Since Israel and Palestine are getting on quite well now, I tried to change it to India and Pakistan, but it didn't sound right on the album. But the point is like the same, isn't it?"

Another scrapped idea would have turned the album into a rock opera about the Gatti Gang, a bumbling cell of Italian guerrillas. "They were the Milan-based cell of the Red Brigades in the 80s," according to Argos. "They were just really, really inept as terrorists. And 18,000 lira was the one bank robbery they managed to do-- about £4.83." Hence the album closer, "18 000 Lira". The Gatti Gang concept also survives in two other songs, "Stand Down" and "Rusted Guns of Milan".

Ebullient and enthusiastic as he is, Argos seems more relieved than excited to be finished with the album. "The drums and bass were recorded on analog, and my voice and the two guitars were recorded separately in a digital studio. But never at the same time-- it was really frustrating. It got built a bit a time, like Legos or something. So we didn't ever get to rock out together in the studio or anything.

"It's nice to get it all out of the way so we can start writing new songs. I want to do another album this year, but I don't think we're going to." Until such time, you'll have to make do with these:

01 Formed a Band
02 My Little Brother
03 Emily Kane
04 Rusted Guns of Milan
05 Modern Art
06 Good Weekend
07 Bang Bang Rock and Roll
08 Fight
09 Moving to L.A.
10 Bad Weekend
11 Stand Down
12 18,000 Lira

* Pitchfork Feature: Pitchfork's Top 50 Singles of 2004
* Art Brut: <a

Posted by Jason Toon in on Fri: 03-25-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink
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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.)

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Fri: 05-16-08: 07:00 AM CDT
Cat Power, Vampire Weekend Play Rogers Picnic

Thu: 05-15-08: 04:15 PM CDT
Radiohead, Live Nation Respond to Virginia Washout

Thu: 05-15-08: 03:30 PM CDT
The Dodos Extend Tour All the Way to the Fall

Thu: 05-15-08: 02:30 PM CDT
Weezer Issue New Single, Cover Talk Talk, The Band

Thu: 05-15-08: 01:45 PM CDT
Nas Shares Some New Album Details, Tours

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