Olivia Tremor Control Add More Shows

When last we checked in on our favorite deconstructors of psychedelic pop, the Olivia Tremor Control had reunited, played a couple of gigs, and announced four more shows to come. That was June, and as July begins to fade into the past, the outfit has announced another four engagements before the members of the band return focus to their own musical pursuits. Two of the latest shows are festival stops, one in Chicago for the Wicker Park Festival and the other being the rapidly expanding ArthurFest. After that appearance, the band will stay on the West Coast for a two-night stand in San Francsisco. Tall Dwarfs, whose Weeville and Fork Songs will be reissued by OTC-affiliated Cloud Recordings on October 25, remain ready to astound on four of the dates.

If you're scratching your head and wondering why you don't live in OTC's hometown, or even a really big city, you can also add Brazil to the list of envied locations. To cap off their little reunion spurt, the Olivia Tremor Control will play the Curitiba Rock Festival in Curitiba, Brazil either on September 24 or 25. The festival's schedule hasn't been been hammered out yet, but Weezer'll be there, and wherever Weezer dares to tread should be a perfect venue for the Olivia Tremor Control to fracture a few more pop-audiophiles' perception of pop itself. The other dates:

07-29 Chicago, IL - Subterranean #*
07-30 Chicago, IL - Wicker Park Festival
08-02 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #%
08-03 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #%
08-06 Athens, GA - Orange Twin Community #
09-05 Los Angeles, CA - ArthurFest
09-07 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
09-08 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall

# with Tall Dwarfs
% with A Hawk and a Hacksaw
* with Michael Columbia

Built To Spill Won't Stop Touring

Recently rejuvenated alt-rock heroes Built to Spill have once again expanded their 2005 tour, adding a bunch of dates to their already busy schedule. The tour, which kicked off in early May, will now keep the band on the road until mid-October. And while we're glad the boys are back on active duty, this is our fourth tour update since March. I mean who the fuck do they think they are-- Wilco? Being there:

07-31 Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party
08-06 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater
09-16 Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
09-17 Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
09-19 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
09-20 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
09-21 Little Rock, AR - Vino's
09-22 New Orleans, LA - House Of Blues
09-23 Houston, TX - Engine Room
09-24 Austin, TX - Zilker Park
09-24 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
09-26 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room / Ballroom
09-27 Fayetteville, AR - Dickson Theater
09-28 Saint Louis, MO - Mississippi Nights
09-29 Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
09-30 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls Fun House/Theatre
10-02 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
10-03 Boston, MA - Avalon
10-04 Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall
10-05 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
10-06 Louisville, KY - Headliners
10-07 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
10-08 Chicago, IL - Metro
10-09 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave / Eagles Club
10-11 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground
10-14 Missoula, MT - University Of Montana
10-15 Spokane, WA - Big Easy

As for the long-promised new studio LP the band have reportedly been working on since 2004, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it blip on their official website now notes that "a new Built To Spill album is coming (Fall 05)," though we have yet to hear an official release date. Anyway, whenever the hell it's released, the album will be the band's first since 2001's Ancient Melodies of the Future-- the artwork for which is still proudly plastered across their site. No really, they're just trying to get maximum mileage out of it!

* Built to Spill: <a

KCRW Podcasting "Morning Becomes Eclectic"

For those of you who aren't music nerds, you might want to learn a little lesson about Podcasts. I know what these things are, but I have no idea how to explain them. The Wikipedia, however, can: "Podcasting is a method of publishing files via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed to receive new files automatically. Podcasting enables independent producers to create self-published, syndicated radio shows, and gives broadcast radio programs a new distribution method."

Um...so you can download radio shows and listen to them later, without having to tune in at a particular time. Which is awesome, because really, who under the age of 30 even knows how to operate a radio knob anymore? Hell, I have a hard enough time adjusting my clock radio to the right station and have just come to grips with waking up to La Ley 107.9 every morning (which reminds me: me encanta el chokolate en la mañana!).

Well, on July 21, Los Angeles's favorite public radio station KCRW (89.9 FM) began podcasting segments of its popular music program, "Morning Becomes Eclectic", which is hosted by Nic Harcourt. The premiere podcast was a 40-minute performance/interview featuring Los Angeles' own Goldspot.

The podcasts will be available for download both at KCRW.com and from the latest version of iTunes. They'll be available for two weeks with new and past shows will be added frequently. Harcourt says, "Since we began offering our non-music programs as podcasts, we've been inundated with requests to make music programming available. While the major labels are still figuring it out, the independent artists understand the value of this type of promotion, and I'm happy we're launching 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' podcasts with an L.A. group."

Happy podcasting.

The Wrens Prep EP, Album, and Tour

You would be forgiven to think a band like the Wrens, with well over a decade of steady touring, sporadic releases, unforgiving patches of bad luck, and label changes galore under their belts, would be just about ready to recede into the winter of their life, but you would also be mistaken. They may be approaching their twilight years as a band, but don't expect any pastel trousers, mesh slip-ons, or bingo outings with the "Golden Girls" any time soon. As Pitchfork found out recently, not only are plans to revamp and resusitate their Abbott 1135 EP continuing unabated (although certainly more slowly than the boys would prefer), but a new album is in the works; the first steps of recording are due to begin within the next two weeks. Pitchfork's own intrepid reporter Ryan Schreiber accosted, sorry, gently coaxed details about recording processes and upcoming developments out of the Wrens' singer/guitarist Charles Bissell last weekend in Chicago at something called the Intonation Festival:

Pitchfork: What's the deal with this EP?

Charles Bissell: It's a little bogged down at the moment...and the funny things is we just had a long talk with Cory [Brown, from Absolutely Kosher] about this, and I can't quite get it together the way we want to. The ironic thing is, we are about a week or two from starting the next record. It may end up where we have the EP done in August so we may it may end up kind of being open ended as far as what will come out first.

Pitchfork: How much new material do you have written for the next record?

Charles: [laughs] Ummm...none!

Pitchfork: Did you have songs pre-written then for the last few records or did you just come up with stuff in the studio?

Charles: On the last bunch it's always worked where we had a ton pre-written and then blitzed through them, assembled them, and recorded them. Then invariably over the course of time, go and change stuff-- whether it's several months with Secaucus or several years with The Meadowlands or something else with the EP. I just can't do that anymore...that's why I'm not worried about the songs. It always seemed to be the easy part, putting together two sections with four bars each and a catchy melody. Yeah, that's the easy part. Getting it to work the right way has always seemed been the hard part. That's what Les Savy Fav does so well, musically the songs format-wise are simple but it's what they do and how they do them live and those cool guitar parts that work so well.

Pitchfork: How many songs did you have to choose from for The Meadowlands before you put that out?

Charles: At that point we were stilling doing it that old way, like a really bastardized Lennon-McCartney way where you each show up with your songs. We probably showed each other in the band 25 songs each, which maybe 25 total were put together into working order...about 17 were recorded and then however many were on the record.

Pitchfork: So you are recording in the same way as always, with your home studio, and you will all convene there and start working on new stuff, right?

Charles: Exactly, our goal is to do it this time-- or at least as much as we can-- more like the way most bands do it. Prepare ahead of time what they want and then work with that and adjust a little, rather than recording some slapped ass version of the song and then fixing it all in overdubs.

Pitchfork: No projection on release then?

Charles: It's hard to say. I've never been this excited and had this many ideas about music in general in our band and what we want do. This is the only time in our life when I didn't have a full-time job and it's kind of a now or never kind of thing with productivity. I'd be really surprised if it came to the end of the year and it wasn't done.

Pitchfork: So the EP might come out after that?

Charles: It's hard to say, too. I still think in very simplistic terms as far as that stuff. We were told it might not be a good thing to release both of them too close to each other so maybe we'll push off the album till spring...

The New Jerseyites seem to get better with age live as well if their Intonation set was anything to go by. The bond between the band and crowd was irresistible, and the band pulled out all the stops, short of Cossack dancing, white tigers, and a guest vocal set by William Shatner, or did this reporter just miss those parts? Absolutely Kosher has added a few dates to the Wrens' touring schedule on the label's site.

07-21 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's, Jersey Beat Benefit
08-05 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club, Team Clermont's Summer Festival
08-06 Charlotte, NC - Tremont Music Hall
08-19 Cambridge, MA - The Middle East (with Jim Yoshii Pile-Up & Audible)
08-25 Houston, TX - mary jane's Fat Cats (with Jim Yoshii Pile-Up & Thane Matcek and his Band)
08-26 Austin, TX - (with Jim Yoshii Pile-Up & Centro-matic)
08-27 Denton, TX - Hailey's
09-09 Washington, DC - Black Cat
09-10 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom (with the Dudley Corporation)
09-15 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge, Absolutely Kosher Showcase (with Goblin Cock, the Dudley Corporation, and Jim Yoshii Pile-Up)
09-24 Bryn Mawr, PA - Bryn Mawr College

* The Wrens: <a

Fruit Bats Seek New Drummer

The Fruit Bats have recorded the follow up to 2003's Mouthfuls and Sub Pop will release the album, entitled Spelled by Bones, on July 26. After a series of supporting dates alongside such luminaries as label mates the Shins and Iron & Wine, and dates with Modest Mouse and Wilco, band leader Eric Johnson had every intention of recording a more cheerless album. According to Sub Pop, Johnson explained, "I was going to write this dark bummer record with shades of optimism, but my life started getting better."

Although the dim clouds have broken to reveal the same hopeful but tweaked pop that the Fruit Bats are known for, what we do see with the new album is a more pensive Johnson, reflecting on past histories, ruminating on the relationship between man and nature and finding unsuspected pockets of happiness in everyday life. While North America and Australia will see the new album on July 26, the UK and Europe won't be able to get their hands on it until sometime in September. Also tentatively penciled in for September are U.S. tour dates, depending on if a drummer can be found in time. Johnson is looking for a drummer in the mold of a "Mick Fleetwood or Nick Mason...steady moving with the occasional classic fill" who is based in or around the Seattle area, and who can commit to a few weeks of touring in the fall. Check out the band's site (link below) for details.

Here's the tracklist for Spelled by Bones:

01 Lives of Crime
02 Silent Life
03 TV Waves
04 Canyon Girl
05 Born in the 70s
06 Legs of Bees
07 The Earthquake of 73
08 Traveler's Song
09 The Wind That Blew My Heart Away
10 Spelled in Bones
11 Every Day That We Wake Up It's a Beautiful Day

* Fruit Bats: <a

ArthurFest Expands Its Lineup

A West Coast celebration similar to our own Intonation-- that is to say, an independent festival curated by an independent publication-- Arthur Magazine's aptly entitled ArthurFest looks to be a helluva way to spend Labor Day weekend in Los Angeles. Organized by the nationally-distributed, locally-run Arthur Magazine, and Spaceland Productions, the two day line-up initially boasted Sonic Youth, Sleater-Kinney, the Olivia Tremor Control, the Black Keys, Cat Power, the Juan MacLean, Merzbow, Comets on Fire, Dead Meadow, and Six Organs of Admittance at the top of the bill. The festival organizers have just announced a new round of acts, foremost of which is Yoko Ono, who will headline the second day on Monday, September 5. ArthurFest also soaked up Spoon for day two as a part of that band's intense post-Gimme Fiction frenzy.

There's more: Medicine frontman Brad Laner, Kranky's own Growing, Brightblack Morning Light, Fatso Jetson, the Modey Lemon, Nora Keyes of the Centimeters, Viking Moses, Residual Echoes, and Geronimo were sprinkled across the two-day/two-stage lineup. As previously reported, legendary bluesman T-Model Ford will be dispensing his hard-won wisdom at an information booth while rare films will be screened if people feel like melting their minds with avant-garde images rather than out-there sounds, and the recent announcement has added an appearance by Vortex creator and sound artist Henry Jacobs, a timely Karl Rove Appreciation Tent, and a workshop conducted by the New Energy Collective. Details on the film screenings will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Two-day passes went on sale last night, one-day tickets for $40 are still up for grabs in a Clear Channel/Ticketmaster-free atmosphere. Don't wait too long though, because the tantalizing prospect of more "surprise guests" graces ArthurFest's promotion material, and those fine folks, whoever they are, might just sell this mutha out.

Roger Waters Prepares Opera

Sit down; brace yourselves. Roger Waters wrote an opera. This is the type of thing that encites spontaneous combustion. Or revolution, in this case. Waters has channeled the epic, opera-esque tendencies of his Pink Floyd days of yore into an actual, balls out, full-scale opera. The opera, Ca Ira, which will debut as a 2xCD from Sony with a DVD documentary on the making of the project, is a history of the French Revolution set up three-act style for full orchestra, soloists, and choir.

The makings of the opera started in 1989, the bicentennial of the revolution, when songwriter Etienne Roda-gil asked Waters if he could use some of his songs for an opera based on a libretto he had written with his wife, Nadine. The project came to a halt after the death of Nadine, who died of leukemia. Work resumed in 1997 when Waters began to translate the libretto in English and finished the full orchestral score.

Seeing as this is Roger Waters, no one can doubt that this will be a monstrous and "unabashedly emotional", as Waters puts it, venture. But judging by Waters' statements to the Associated Press on the opera, it will probably be more than anything we could imagine. "It's not just a piece about the French Revolution, it's about revolution in a much broader sense, and it's about the capacity that human beings have for personal change. The piece is an exultation and an encouragement to those of us who believe the human race can discover its humanity and its capacity for empathy to the point where it may be possible for us at some point to guarantee the basic human rights of the individual (around the world)."

Breathe and digest that first. If that's not inspiring enough to go out and save the world via my guitar, I don't know what is. Take that, Bono.

While the piece will be performed in concert in Rome in November, goals have been expressed of it being performed by an opera company. The CD release of Ca Ira, scheduled for Septeber 27, will include a 60-page booklet that features Waters' lyrics based on Roda-Gil's original French libretto as well as the original illustrations by Nadine Roda-Gil that chronicle and portray the "spirit" of the French Revolution.

* Ca Ira: <a

Bloc Party Schedule North American Shows

"K"-hating British indie/dance rockers Bloc Party are going to be on the road from now until it's time to start thinking about 2006. You might think to yourself, "Whoa, that's a lot of touring, and it's only July!" You might also be oblivious: They've basically been on the road for all of 2005. And to think they've somehow found time to start thinking about their next album! These guys need a time out.

For those of you who were upset you missed out on catching one of their North American gigs earlier this year, stop being a such a baby: They're coming back in September for a run of shows from sea to shining sea. But more on that in a minute...

Bloc Party have also just announced that they will release a remix of their debut album, Silent Alarm, aptly titled Silent Alarm Remixed. It'll have the same track order as the original album, and will feature remixes by M83, Death From Above 1979, Four Tet, Nick Zinner, and others. The first pressing will have a second disc with bonus tracks ("Storm and Stress", "Always New Depths", and "Skeletons"). Vice will release this lil' gem on September 13.

Tracklist:

01 Like Eating Glass (Ladytron Zapatista Mix)
02 Helicopter (Whitey Version)
03 Positive Tension (Jason Clark of Pretty Girls Make Graves remix)
04 Banquet (Phones Disco Edit)
05 Blue Light (Engineers "Anti-Gravity" mix)
06 She's Hearing Voices (Erol Alkan's Calling Your Dub)
07 This Modern Love (Dave P. and Adam Sparkle's Making Time remix)
08 The Pioneers (M83 Remix)
09 Price of Gasoline (AUTOMATO Remix)
10 So Here We Are (Four Tet Remix)
11 Luno (Bloc Party vs. Death From Above 1979)
12 Plans (Replanned by Mogwai)
13 Compliments (Shibuyaka Remix by Nick Zinner)

Meanwhile, the lads recently had a chat with the NME regarding their new album. Frontdude Kele Okereke (oh wait, they can't hate the letter "K" after all...) told the mag: "We recorded two songs about a week ago, and we're not sure which is going to be a single now, but it's either going to be a song called 'Hero' or a song called 'Two More Years'. We've written about 20 songs, and we'll have more by the end of the year, and we're going to start next year off by recording a new album. We really can't wait."

Well, actually, they must wait because they've got a fuckload of tour dates coming up that will take the band into December. Seriously, a fuckload:

North American Dozen:

09-08 Boston, MA - Avalon Ballroom *
09-09 New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom *
09-10 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory *
09-12 Toronto, Ontario - The Docks *
09-13 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre *
09-14 Chicago, IL - Congress Theatre *
09-16 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium *
09-20 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium *
09-21 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre *
09-22 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre *
09-24 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits
09-26 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle

* with the Kills and Noisettes

International Fuckload:

07-21 Sydney, Australia - The Metro
07-24 Byron Bay, Australia - Splendour in the Grass Festival
08-13 Osaka, Japan - SummerSonic Festival
08-14 Tokyo, Japan - SummerSonic Festival
08-26 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-28 Reading, England - Reading Festival
09-04 Bologna, Italy - Independent Days Festival
10-02 Edinburgh, Scotland - Usher Hall
10-04 Glasgow, Scotland - Carling Academy
10-05 Middlesbrough, England - Town Hall
10-06 Newcastle, England - Northumbria University
10-08 Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange
10-09 Norwich, England - UEA
10-10 Portsmouth, England - Guild Hall
10-12 Sheffield, England - Octagon
10-13 Birmingham, England - Carling Academy
10-14 Birmingham, England - Carling Academy
10-16 Nottingham, England - Rock City
10-17 Liverpool, England - Royal Court
10-18 Leeds, England - University
10-20 Manchester, England - Apollo
10-21 Manchester, England - Apollo
10-22 Leicester, England - De Montford Hall
10-24 Cardiff, Wales - University
10-25 Bristol, England - Carling Academy
10-26 Exeter, England - University
10-28 London, England - Brixton Carling Academy
10-29 London, England - Brixton Carling Academy
11-06 Belfast, Ireland - Ulster Hall
11-07 Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
11-10 Brussels, Belgium - Les Halles De Schaerbeek
11-11 Lille, France - Aeronef
11-12 Strasbourg, France - Salle des Fetes
11-14 Paris, France - Zenith
11-15 Nantes, France - La Carriere
11-16 Bordeaux, France - Le Vigean
11-18 Madrid, Spain - Aqualung
11-19 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
11-25 Zurich, Switzerland - Earshakerdays Festival
11-27 Stuttgart, Germany - Longhorn
11-28 Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
11-29 Dresden, Germany - Alter Schlachthof
12-01 Bielefeld, Germany - Ringlokschuppen
12-02 Dusseldorf, Germany - Tor 3
12-03 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/b/bloc-party/silent-alarm.shtml">Bloc Party: Silent Alarm
href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-07/19.shtml#bloc">Bloc Party Continue Work On New Album
* Bloc Party: <a

Boards of Canada Prep New Album

As sentimental as aged childhood Polaroids, as pastoral as an endless green meadow, the ambient electronica of Boards of Canada is infused with a nostalgic soul that feels as familiar as home. The Scottish duo of Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin create sonic palettes that pulsate the warmth of a summer day or make cherished memories come alive, especially in the now classic Music Has the Right to Children. Boards of Canada is the soundtrack for the search of time lost.

The search will renew itself again when a new album from Boards of Canada is released stateside on October 18. Their first effort since 2002's Geogaddi, the album was produced by the duo themselves and is "very much classic Boards, building on themes and sounds that can can be heard in their intervening remix work for Beck, cLOUDDEAD and Boom Bip," according to their label, Warp Records. No album title has been announced yet and the tracklist is still being confirmed.

In between albums, Boards of Canada remixed Boom Bip's "Last Walk Around Mirror Lake," have had their work performed by the London Sinfonietta, contributed a psychedelic remix of cLOUDDEAD's "Dead Dogs Two," seen the reissue of Music Has the Right to Children, and remixed Beck's "Broken Drum" off Guero. Come October, these shards of light will burst through as a blinding parade.

* Boards of Canada: <a

Spoon Announce Tour Dates

Spoon specialize in the spooky and spectral: the things that go bump in the night, the things that make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end, the eerie calm where dread lives. Spoon thrive off the tension of space and silence on record, and their live sets are no different. In the midst of a banner year for the band, who saw Gimme Fiction crack the Billboard 200 charts, the Prince-influenced "I Turn My Camera On" play on "The O.C.", and the inking of an international distribution deal with Matador, they have announced dates in the U.S., Australia, and Europe.

The UK single for "I Turn My Camera On" is in stores now, available both as a 7" and a CD. Recently, Spoon opened for Interpol throughout Western Europe; this time around, not a bespoke gentleman will be in sight. That doesn't mean you can pass yourself off as Carlos D just by showing up in a red tie. Seriously, we're onto you. Dates:

07-23 Atlanta, GA - 99x Festival
07-24 Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
07-30 San Diego, CA - Street Scene Festival
08-12 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks
08-18 Boston, MA - WFNX Festival (free show)
09-05 Los Angeles, CA - Arthur Fest
09-08 Melbourne, Australia - Northcote Social Club
09-09 Melbourne, Australia - Corner Hotel
09-10 Adelaide, Australia - Fowlers Live
09-11 Perth, Australia - Rosemount Hotel
09-14 Canberra, Australia - Green Room
09-15 Brisbane, Australia - Tivoli
09-16 Sydney, Australia - Metro
09-17 Newcastle, Australia - Bandroom
09-23 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
09-28 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's
09-29 Manchester, England - Roadhouse
09-30 London, England - Koko
10-01 Brugge, Belgium - Cactus
10-02 Berlin, Germany - Kalkscheune
10-03 Frankfurt, Germany - Cooky's
10-04 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
10-05 Munich, Germany - Orange House
10-06 Treviso, Italy - New Age
10-07 Rome, Italy - Circolo
10-08 Bologna, Italy - Coveo
10-09 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
10-11 Paris, France - Nouvelle Casino
10-12 Bordeaux, France - TBA
10-13 Barcelona, Spain - Razz 3
10-14 Madrid, Spain - Moby Dick
href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/spoon/gimme-fiction.shtml">Spoon: Gimme Fiction
href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-05/31.shtml#spoon">Spoon Kick Off Gimme Fiction Tour

Tortoise, Daniel Lanois Announce Collaborative Tour

Fresh from placating die-hard fans and winning over newbies with their ferocious Intonation headline spot, the mighty men of Tortoise will be playing some dates in October with producer extraordinaire Daniel Lanois. The producer-to-the-stars' site claims that while the masters of serious intent and slow-burning melodies will be playing their own set at every date, they will also provide the backing for his own sets.

Although you might recognize Lanois' name from the backs of CDs bearing artist brand names such as U2, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan, or seen his face throughout your secret collections of taped Grammy Awards presentations, he is also a keen musician in his own right, having released his share of solo albums over the years outside from his "other job." His latest, Belladonna, is perhaps the impetus for the Tortoise tour, as it is an all-instrumental collection primarily featuring one of Lanois' much-beloved obsessions, playing the pedal steel. In other Tortoise collaborative news, the band's site claims the release date for the Overcoat Recordings Tortoise/Will Oldham covers album will be October 11.

The Tortoise/Lanois hook up starts on October 6 in Boston, takes in both coasts, and ends in Los Angeles on October 22. Both Tortoise and Lanois will be playing some scattered dates apart before and after this announced tour.

Tortoise tour dates:
07/22 Calgary, Alberta - Prince's Island Park, Calgary Folk Festival
07/23 Calgary, Alberta - Prince's Island Park, Calgary Folk Festival
07/24 Edmonton, Alberta - The Starlite Room
09/25 Austin, TX - Zilker Park, Austin City Limits Music Festival

Daniel Lanois tour dates:
07/27 New York, NY - Hudson River Blues Festival
09/30 Urbana, IL - Krannert Center, Wall-2-Wall Guitar Festival
10/01 Urbana, IL - Krannert Center, Wall-2-Wall Guitar Festival
02/03/06 New York, NY - Zankel Hall @ Carnegie Hall, New York Guitar Festival

Tortoise/Daniel Lanois tour dates:
10/06 Boston, MA - Sommerville Theatre
10/07 New York, NY -Irving Plaza
10/08 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
10/10 Chicago, IL - TBA
10/11 Madison, WI - Barrymore Theatre
10/12 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
10/14 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
10/15 Salt Lake City, UT -Suede
10/17 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
10/18 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
10/19 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
10/20 San Francisco, CA -The Independent
10/21 San Francisco, CA -The Independent
10/22 Los Angeles, CA - Avalon

Carl Barât Readies Mix Comp, Solo LP

Like an indie rock NOW!, the ongoing UK series Under the Influence has been offering up all-star mixtapes from such artists as Morrissey, Paul Weller, and Super Furry Animals for the past few years. And while not always completely riveting, the latest addition features one of the more interesting packages in the series, with an eclectic mix of 15 tracks hand-picked by former Libertines co-founder Carl Barât. You know, the cute Libertine...

Originally released in the UK this past June, Barât's compilation has recently been given a U.S. release date of August 23, and features relatively obvious selections from UK punks the Clash ("Remote Control"), the Stranglers ("No More Heroes"), and the Jam ("Eton Rifles"), as well as a few surprises-- like Pulp's "Sorted For E's And Whiz", and Bob Dylan's Rueben Carter musing, "Hurricane". Influences:

01 "Dream a Little Dream" - The Mamas and the Papas
02 "Oh! You Pretty Things" - David Bowie
03 "Hurricane" - Bob Dylan
04 "The Universal" - Small Faces
05 "Son of a Gun" - Tha La's
06 "Sitting Up Straight" - Supergrass
07 "Personality Crisis" - New York Dolls
08 "Remote Control" - The Clash
09 "Eton Rifles" - The Jam
10 "No More Heores" - The Stranglers
11 "Too Much Too Young" - The Specials
12 "Bigmouth Strikes Again" - The Smiths
13 "Who's Got the Crack" - The Moldy Peaches
14 "Sorted For E's And Whiz" - Pulp
15 "Fit But You Know It" - The Streets

And with the Libertines now out of order, Barât has signed to Mercury records imprint Vertigo, and is currently assembling tracks for his solo debut-- leaving Vertigo Managing Director Greg Castell to gush: "Carl is one of the greatest talents in modern music. His contribution to the Libertines was fundamental to the band's success and we're delighted to have the opportunity of working closely with him."

According to the official Libertines site, which strangely keeps tabs on his post-band activity, the LP should see a release by the end of this year, although nothing has been confirmed yet.

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.)