Flaming Lips Set Release Date for Mystics

At last, the disc has a release date. Or rather, two: April 3 in the UK and April 4 in the U.S. The first single, "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song", (reportedly inspired by the band's cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody") is due March 27 in the UK. What, you thought the States would get a single? Dream on. All we get is the digital release of "The W.A.N.D." on January 10 through iTunes, Rhapsody, and all the other usual suspects.

The Lips also announced a few UK tour dates in April, following their appearance at the Florida jamfest Langerado in March. Here's what's scheduled for now, with more to come soon:

03-11-12 Sunrise, FL - Markham Park (Langerado Music Festival) *
04-19 Edinburgh, Scotland - Usher Hall
04-22 London, England - Royal Albert Hall
04-24 Birmingham, England - Birmingham Academy
04-25 Manchester, England - Apollo

* with Wilco, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Secret Machines, Rjd2, bunch of hippie bands

Though War's final tracklist remains up in the air at this point, Billboard.com reports that "Space Bible" and "Time Travel??", in addition to the two previously mentioned songs, are expected to make it on to the album. Coyne explained to Billboad, "There are some tracks we've delved into production-wise, where we're trying to get some of that heavy rock'n'roll with heavy guitar riffs, but not just to be aggressive. On the last couple of records, we've tried to be more expressive in beautiful ways. But sometimes, volume and intensity are great too."

In the meantime, the 1999 F'Lips masterpiece The Soft Bulletin will be reissued on DVD on January 31. In addition to the full album, remastered in glorious Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 sound, the DVD will include a buttload of outtakes, radio sessions, and videos.

Tracklist:

The Soft Bulletin:

01 Race for the Prize
02 A Spoonful Weighs a Ton
03 The Spark That Bled
04 Slow Motion
05 What Is the Light
06 The Observer
07 Waitin' for a Superman
08 Suddenly, Everything Has Changed
09 The Gash
10 Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
11 Sleeping on the Roof
12 The Spiderbite Song
13 Buggin'

Album Outtakes:

01 1000ft Hands
02 The Captain
03 Satellite of You

Radio Sessions:

01 Up Above the Daily Hum
02 The Switch That Turns off the Universe
03 We Can't Predict the Future
04 Remained Unrealizable

Video Extras:

01 Race for the Prize
02 Waitin' for a Superman

The Flaming Lips website also reports that the first four Lips albums, 1986's Hear It Is, 1987's Oh My Gawd, 1989's Telepathic Surgery, and 1990's In a Priest Driven Ambulance, will be reissued on vinyl by Rykodisc/Restless in the near future. The first two records will appear on white and clear vinyl, respectively, with other pretty colors to follow for the final pair. All the better to stare at while you're tripping on...Coca-Cola.

Flaming Lips: http://www.flaminglips.com/

House of Freaks, Gutterball Singer/Guitarist Murdered

Harvey's former bands never achieved widespread fame, but they did gain some attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s on college radio and MTV. House of Freaks, which featured Harvey on guitar and vocals and Johnny Hott on drums, pre-dated the two-piece band craze of our current decade. They released four albums in their six-year existence, for such labels as Rhino and Giant. In the early 90s, Harvey and Hott joined former Dream Syndicate member Steve Wynn in the band Gutterball, which recorded and toured throughout the first half of the decade.

Hott and his daughter were the ones to discover the burning house on Sunday, when they arrived to help set up for a New Year's Day party.

Harvey moved back to his hometown of Richmond from Los Angeles in the mid-90s to focus on his family. He worked for the Henrico County school system. Music wasn't completely out of his life, however, as he put together a new band called NrG Krysys in the last few years. The band played a New Year's Eve gig the night before the slaying. Harvey's wife, Kathryn, was-- along with Jim Bland, head of Richmond record store Plan 9-- the co-owner of a popular toy store, House of Mirth.

Steve Wynn told the New York Post, "It's just a shock. He was an amazing guy, a great guy. He and his wife loved life, and embraced all the good things in life. Being around him really inspired me and completely invigorated my love for writing music."

Harvey Family Memorial: http://www.bryanandkathrynharvey.net./

Johnson Plans Centro-Matic LP, Tour With Eitzel, Bazan

The new record, the band's eighth-ish full length, is entitled Fort Recovery, and will be released on Misra Records in the U.S. on March 7. They'll also be putting out a double-vinyl version of the record that will include three extra tracks: "Bucket Full of Nails", "Not Like Anyone Would Mind", and "Gunmetal and Engines". The other songs:

01 Covered up in Mines
02 Calling Thermatico
03 Patience for the Ride
04 I See Through You
05 In Such Crooked Time
06 For New Starts
07 The Fugitives Have Won
08 Monument Sails
09 Triggers and Trash Heaps
10 Nothin' I Ever Seen
11 Take the Maps and Run
12 Take a Rake

Preceding the album will be a single for "Triggers and Trash Heaps" that will be out February 7 with three other unreleased (well, until then) songs, in addition to the album version of "Triggers": "The Little Guitars", "Take a Rake (4-track demo), and "Triggers and Trash Heaps (acoustic)". An MP3 of "Triggers" is available from the Misra website right now.

On the touring front, Centro-Matic will be heading out for a few local Texas dates later in January, after which Johnson will embark on the "Undertow Orchestra Tour". It's a bunch of singer/songwriter types sharing the stage, playing each other's songs, and generally having a good ol' time-- think last year's Conor Oberst/M. Ward/Jim James extravaganza.

Those shows will feature Johnson traveling alongside Vic Chesnutt, Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), and Dave Bazan (ex-Pedro the Lion, Headphones), with the accompaniment of Centro-Matic multi-instrumentalist Scott Danbom. Watch out for low-flying Dylan covers.

Centro-Matic shows:

01-19 Denton, TX - Silverleaf *
01-20 Fort Worth, TX - Wreck Room *
01-21 Austin, TX - Emo's *#

* with Pleasant Grove
# with Micah P. Hinson

Undertow Orchestra Tour:

02-08 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
02-09 Carrboro, NC - Carrboro Arts Center
02-10 Arlington, VA - IOTA
02-11 Arlington, VA - IOTA
02-12 Philadelphia, PA - World Café Live
02-13 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
02-14 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts, Remis Auditorium
02-16 Grand Rapids, MI - Calvin College, Fine Arts Center
02-17 Chicago, IL - Park West
02-18 Madison, WI - Orpheum Stage Door
02-19 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
02-20 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop
02-21 Lawrence, KS - The Granada
02-23 Denton, TX - Hailey's
02-24 Austin, TX - The Parish
02-25 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington
02-27 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone
02-28 Nashville, TN - Belcourt Theatre
03-01 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse

His Name Is Alive to Release New Album, Tour With Low

Recorded and mixed at Defever's own Brown Rice studio in Detroit, Detrola is, according to a press release, "louder, stranger, sexier, weirder, more complicated, more suggestive, and even more violent than could be expected from HNIA." Decide for yourself:

01 Introduction
02 After I Leave U
03 I Thought I Saw
04 In My Dream
05 *C*A*T*S*
06 Your Bones
07 You Need a Heart
08 You and Me
09 Get Your Curse
10 Seven Minutes
11 Send My Face

Come January, HNIA will embark on a, for the most part, major-city tour across North America with Low and Death Vessel. "Alive" and "Death" on one roster? We'll see how well that goes over.

Dates:

01-26 Milwaukee, WI - Miramar Theatre
01-27 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
01-28 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
01-30 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
01-31 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
02-01 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
02-02 Somerville, MA - Somerville Theater
02-03 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw
02-04 Washington, DC - Black Cat
02-06 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
02-07 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
02-08 Millvale, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre

For those of you who aren't willing to fork over your babysitting earnings to pick up a record or concert ticket, HNIA is currently offering free Cloud Box and Detrola samples on their official website and MySpace page. Just like the miniature tasting spoons at the ice cream store!

His Name Is Alive: http://www.hisnameisalive.com/

Rjd2 Collaborates with Aceyalone for Album, Tour

Of course, Rjd2 hasn't been completely silent since his last LP, contributing music to, among other things, Cage's Hell's Winter, the soundtrack to NBA 2K6, and the score for Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure video game.

As previously reported, Rjd2 will also appear at the Langerado Music Festival at Sunrise, FL's Markham Park, on March 11. The fest runs for two days and features the Flaming Lips, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, the Secret Machines, Drive-By Truckers, Lyrics Born, Kid Koala, and Wilco. You can also count on the spring/summer outdoor festival triple-threat of Ben Harper, G. Love & the Special Sauce, and Robert Randolph & the Family Band. Or you can go grab a beer. The rest of these tour dates probably won't have so much steel guitar:

02-04 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
02-16 San Diego, CA - Porters Pub *
02-17 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre *
02-18 San Francisco, CA - The Independent *
02-24 Chicago, IL - Metro *
02-25 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre *
02-26 New York, NY - Avalon *
02-28 Philadelphia, PA - 8th Street/Beyond *
03-11 Sunrise, FL - Markham Park (Langerado Music Festival)

* with Aceyalone

Magnificent City doesn't seem to have much steel guitar either, from what we hear. But it does have 14 tracks, including "Here & Now" which features a vocal performance by RJ. And they are...

01 All for You
02 Fire
03 Cornbread, Eddie and Me
04 Mooore
05 Supahero
06 High Lights
07 Disconnected
08 Caged Bird
09 Solomon Jones
10 A Sunday Mystery
11 Junior
12 Heaven
13 Here & Now
14 A Beautiful Mine

* Pitchfork Review: Aceyalone:

Rjd2: http://www.rjd2site.com
* Project Blowed: http://www.projectblowed.com

Ghostly to Release Monthly EPs, Idol Tryouts 2

Pushing the already avant (they like that word) boundaries of the downloadable music game, the label plans to offer monthly EPs of remixes, alternate takes, new songs, and b-sides through online retailers. The Ghostly Digital (or GDIG if yr cool) series will launch January 24 with Midwest Product's Swamp, and future releases by Mobius Band, Skeletons & the Girl-Faced Boys, Solvent, and others are planned.

Here's the Swamp tracklist:

01 Swamp (Warren Harding Version)
02 Cold Sore
03 Ohfas
04 Mumbler
05 Easter Surrenders

Betcha didn't know that our 29th president was a remix wizard, huh? Although Ghostly has offered to sell album packaging with MP3 downloads in the past, such shall not be the case with the GIDG series.

As if the prospect of fresh Ghostly music every month for the next year wasn't tantalizing enough, the label has also announced the March 7 release of their latest compilation, Idol Tryouts Two: Ghostly International Vol. Two, a sequel to the 2003 collection Idol Tryouts One: Ghostly International Vol. One. If that and other Ghostly comps, like 2002's Disco Nouveau, are any indication, it's gonna be classic.

As uncommitted to one style as the label itself, the double-CD/triple-LP Idol Tryouts Two is split into two ethereal minds, with the first half devoted to "avant pop" and the second to "SMM". What, exactly, is "SMM", you may ask? Is this some new sub-sub-sub-genre only Philip Sherburne knows about? The Ghostly people say "Stately Modern Melodies? Sensual Machine Music?", so we think they don't even know. But it's safe to say that disc two is a soothing assortment of background music, while the first enters the world of more salient Ghostly artists who have taken their electronic educations and thematically fleshed them through their pop music childhoods.

Tracklist:

Disc One: Avant Pop

01 Solvent - "An Introduction to Ghosts"
02 Matthew Dear - "Send You Back"
03 Outputmessage - "Sommeil"
04 Skeletons + The Girl-Faced Boys - "Fit Black Man"
05 Kill Memory Crash - "Press + Burn"
06 Dabrye - "Magic Says"
07 Mobius Band - "Electronic Piano"
08 Daniel Wang - "Berlin Sunrise"
09 Charles Manier - "Bang Bang Lover (Original)"
10 Benoit Pioulard - "The Depths & the Seashore"
11 Solvent - "Spin Cycle"
12 Lawrence - "Wasting a Fall"
13 Mobius Band - "The Loving Sounds of Static (Junior Boys Remix)"

Disc Two: SMM

01 Loscil - "Umbra"
02 Deru - "Straight Speak"
03 Sybarite - "Sanctuary"
04 Cepia - "Ramp"
05 Cepia - "Hoarse"
06 Kiln - "Isthmus"
07 Greg Davis - "Amaranthine"
08 Lusine + David Wingo - "Locks"
09 Aeroc - "A Little Something"
10 Christopher Willits - "Colors Shifting"
11 Terre's New Wuss Fusion - "Love on a Real Train (Risky Business)"
12 Twine - "Gliding in On"
13 Tim Hecker - "Sundown6093"
14 Richard Devine - "Murman"

"The tracks on this compilation are music in its rawest sense," says Ghostly owner and master compiler Sam Valenti IV, who adds that the music in this album answers our current, troubled times through a return to the self. "Not raw in the sense of blood and guts, but raw in their purity. Like everything Ghostly does, they invite the listener to think for himself. Each track is a pure redefinition of American pop and ambient music."

Whatever, dude. We just think it sounds cool.

Ghostly International: http://www.ghostly.com/
Idol Tryouts: http://www.idoltryouts.com/

New Antony, Devendra Songs Included on Benefit Comp

Curated by Tibet and Mark Logan, the five-disc set includes previously unreleased material by a galaxy of alternate universe stars, including Devendra Banhart, Vashti Bunyan, Current 93, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, Damon and Naomi, Teenage Fanclub, Matmos, Six Organs of Admittance, William Basinski, Isobel Campbell, and Pitchfork Single of the Year winner Antony. (That thudding sound you hear is the The Wire's staff's jaws dropping simultaneously.)

All proceeds will go to MSF's work on the African AIDS crisis.

Not Alone is due out in mid-January, and is currently available for pre-order from the Jnana website. And it's cheap, too: only $24.99 plus postage.

Mega tracklist:

>>Disc 1
01 irr.app.ext - "Fly Away and Then What?"
02 Damon and Naomi - "A Song for You"
03 John Contreras - "Brian"
04 Mirror - "Forgotten Language of Light"
05 Fursaxa - "In Lieu Of"
06 Baby Dee - "When You Found Me"
07 Howie B - "Yesterday I Was a Cow"
08 Tom Recchion - "Sea World"
09 Matmos - "A Song for the Appeal"
10 Blue Eyed Black - "Sweet Shadow Heart"
11 Eric Lanzilotta - "An Exploration of a Spacious Yet Enclosed Domain (excerpt)"
12 Little Annie - "Freddy and Me"
13 Colin Potter - "It's Coming"
14 Keiji Haino - "fleeing panic-stricken shriveled equal temperament"
15 Allen Ginsberg - "On Another's Sorrow"
16 Devendra Banhart - "A Sight to Behold"
17 David Surkamp - "With Out Borders"

>>Disc 2
01 Jarboe - "Mantra"
02 L - "The First Flower People"
03 Richard Buckner - "Do You Want to Go Somewhere"
04 Cyclobe - "Indulge Yourselves With Our Delicious Monster"
05 Six Organs of Admittance - "You Will Be the Sun"
06 Dolly Collins - "Poor Sally Sits a Weeping"
07 William Basinski - "Because"
08 Edward Ka-Spel - "Sticks & Stones (version)"
09 Larsen - "Il Sogno Di Momi"
10 Vashti Bunyan - "The Same but Different"
11 Angels of Light - "Song for My Father"
12 Thighpaulsandra - "Star Malloy"
13 Suishou no Fune - "In the Clouds"
14 Pantaleimon - "Change My World (Alternative Mix)"
15 Aube - "Movement"
16 Mr Durt - "Denial"
17 Michael Yonkers - "Somebody"

>>Disc 3
01 Bevis Frond - "Someone Always Talks"
02 Sarah Hallman - "Snowballin'"
03 Faun Fables - "The Transit Rider"
04 Luke Doucet - "Unbelievable"
05 Jad Fair - "Right on the Line"
06 Unveiled - "Endless"
07 Antony - "Hole in My Soul"
08 Charlemagne Palestine - "Espoir Guerison"
09 Alex Neilson & Richard Youngs - "House of Constant Song"
10 Anomoanon - "Hit the Road"
11 James William Hindle - "Back Home Again"
12 Isobel Campbell - "The Beat Goes On"
13 The Bricoleur - "Prah Pip Ta"
14 Sorrow - "Long Dark Shadow"
15 Teenage Fanclub - "I Need Direction (Alternative Version)"
16 Mary 5E - "Therapy"
17 Sundial - "Crazy Horses"

>>Disc 4
01 Jeremy Reed - "Helioqabalus"
02 NQ Arbuckle - "Huntsville Affair"
03 Shannon Lyon - "No Thing"
04 The Hafler Trio - "The Work of Washing"
05 Marissa Nadler - "Judgement Day"
06 Max Richter - "Flowers for Yulia"
07 Bill Fay - "It's the Small Things Now"
08 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "Song for Doctors Without Borders"
09 Lynn Jackson - "Waiting for the Sky to Fall"
10 Nurse With Wound - "Ubu Noir"
11 Clodagh Simonds - "The Glacial Lake"
12 Shirley Collins - "Come My Love"
13 7 Year Rabbit Cycle - "Pirates"
14 John Terrill - "Stoney Mansion"
15 Brett Smiley - "Our Lady of the Barren Tree"
16 Linda Perhacs - "Parallelograms"
17 Current 93 - "Sunset"
18 Pearls Before Swine - "Our Lady"
19 Thurston Moore - "Sex Addiction"

>>Disc 5
01 Marc Almond - "Our Love My Love"
02 Simon Finn - "Crow Flies"
03 Stephanie Volkmar - "The Gate of Polished Horn"
04 Small Creatures - "City of Dreams"
05 Thee Majesty - "Thee Seeding Ship"
06 Jim O'Rourke - "Naoru"
07 Scott Stapleton - "Shadow Makes a Snow Angel"
08 John Maslen - "Everything Was Handed Down"
09 Jooel - "Over the Sea"
10 Ghostigital - "Bump"
11 Amy Curl - "The Robin's Tiny Throat"
12 srmeixner - "Wild Spaces (excerpt)"
13 Mount Vernon Arts Lab - Untitled
14 Coil - "Broccoli"
15 Shock Headed Peters - "Aaron's Rod (Spared)"
16 Ghost - "Daggma"

Jnana Records: http://www.jnanarecords.com/
Doctors Without Borders: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Death Cab for Cutie Prep Plans Videos

The project, entitled Directions, was spearheaded by the production company Otaku-House, run by filmmaker Aaron Stewart-Ahn and DCFC bassist Nick Harmer, apparently trying to catch up with bandmates Gibbard and Walla in the extracurricular department. Each clip was created by a different director, including video veterans Lance Bangs and P.R. Brown, graphic novelist Jeffrey Brown, Death Cab photographer Autumn de Wilde, and Rob Schrab, the man behind "Heat Vision and Jack" and Channel 101.

Fans of the band members' handsome faces will be disappointed to learn that Death Cab for Cutie do not actually appear in any of the films. Those of us who think that Harmer should wear a hat and hide in the back more often will not.

Directions tracklist:

01 "Marching Bands of Manhattan" directed by P.R. Brown
02 "Soul Meets Body" directed by Cat Solen
03 "Summer Skin" directed by Lightborne
04 "Different Names for the Same Thing" directed by Autumn de Wilde
05 "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" directed by Monkmus
06 "Your Heart Is an Empty Room" directed by Jeffrey Brown, animated by Eliza Kinkz
07 "Someday You Will Be Loved" directed by Ace Norton
08 "Crooked Teeth" directed by Rob Schrab
09 "What Sarah Said" directed by Laurent Briet
10 "Brothers on a Hotel Bed" directed by Chris Grismer
11 "Stable Song" directed by Aaron Stewart-Ahn
12 "Talking Like Turnstiles" directed by Lance Bangs

No word yet on whether Directions will be released as a DVD or some other tangible project in the future. Guess we'll just have to wait until Plans sells millions of copies and is reissued in a Limited Edition Deluxe Platinum Special Collector's Edition Gold Box Set.

In other Death Cab news, the band's New Year's Eve performance at the Giant Village festival in Los Angeles, alongside such strange bedfellows as the Black Eyed Peas, the Crystal Method, and John Digweed, was postponed due to weather concerns (insert Fergie pee joke here).

Those left out in the rain can console themselves by catching Death Cab on suddenly blog-worthy "Saturday Night Live" on January 14, with guest host Scarlett Johansson. (Hippest "SNL" pairing since Jack Black and the Strokes?) The weekend before, on January 8, Gibbard and Harmer will be interviewed by the New York Times' Jon Pareles in front of a live audience at the CUNY Graduate Center, as part of the Times' Arts & Leisure weekend. Sorry, Pareles fans, the event is already sold out.

Also sold out is Gibbard's January 10 solo performance at NYC's Bowery Ballroom, on a bill with American Analog Set's Andrew Kenny and Nada Surf's Matthew Caws. Frontman's Union Local 202 meets after the show, apparently.

And as previously reported, Death Cab for Cutie have a European tour scheduled for February and early March. Those dates again:

02-04 Malmo, Sweden - KB
02-05 Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller
02-06 Stockholm, Sweden - Berns
02-11 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
02-17 Vienna, Austria - Arena
02-19 Fribourg, Switzerland - Fri-son
02-20 Zurich, Switzerland - Abart
02-21 Milan, Italy - Transilvania Live
02-23 Barcelona, Spain - Bikini
02-24 Madrid, Spain - Copernica
02-27 Paris, France - Trabendo
02-28 London, England - Astoria
03-01 London, England - Astoria
03-02 Nottingham, England - Rock City
03-03 Manchester, England - Academy
03-04 Glasgow, Scotland - Garage
03-05 Newcastle, England - Northumbria University Stage 2
03-06 Portsmouth, England - Wedgewood Rooms
03-07 Brussels, Belgium - AB Box
03-08 Amsterdam, Netherlands - The Melkweg

Death Cab for Cutie: http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/
Otaku-House: http://www.otaku-house.com/

Influential Guitarist Derek Bailey Dead at 75

Bailey was a pioneer in his explorations of unconventional guitar methods and sounds, releasing hundreds of recordings and collaborating with scores of musicians of every stripe, from Cecil Taylor to Pat Metheney to Ruins. He continued right up until his death, forging a formidable discography of guitar work devoted to what he called "nonidiomatic improvising".

After working as a conventional jazz session man in the 1950s, Bailey formed the free jazz group the Joseph Holbrooke Trio with drummer Tony Oxley and bassist Gavin Bryars in the mid-1960s. Throughout that decade, Bailey collaborated with musicians like Evan Parker, Dave Holland, and John Stevens, in collectives such as the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and the Music Improvisation Company.

In 1970, Bailey, Oxley, and Parker founded what many refer to as the first British independent, musician-operated record label, Incus Records. The label based its business model on funneling most of its revenue back to the artists who made the albums (without any Tony Wilson-style dramatics). Incus continues to operate to this day, with over 100 recordings (most of them out of print) to its credit. John Zorn, Jim O'Rourke, Eugene Chadborne, Fred Frith, Anthony Braxton, Keiji Haino, Susie Ibarra, and countless other stars of the experimental music universe have all recorded for the label.

In 1976, Bailey initiated the ever-evolving Company festival, which featured hundreds of players from a variety of disciplines, and took place annually at locations all over the world until 2002. In 1980, he published the landmark book Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice in Music, which examined the improvisatory tradition throughout musical history.

Bailey developed carpal tunnel syndrome in his last years, but continued to play guitar right up until his death. In fact, in 2005, he he released a solo album on John Zorn's Tzadik label titled Carpal Tunnel, wherein he explored methods of playing around his illness.

A fitting epitaph for Bailey was recently given to LA Weekly by guitarist Nels Cline (Wilco, Geraldine Fibbers). Cline said, "He was one of the most important sonic innovators on any instrument in the last 50 years. When I saw him last year in Barcelona, I thanked him for being such a courageous and tenacious seeker, and for making it possible for cowards like me to benefit."

Incus Records: http://www.incusrecords.force9.co.uk/

Thunderbirds Are Now! Lose Drummer, Talk New LP

"It is with great sadness that we announce the departure of our beloved drummer Michael Durgan from the Thunderbirds Are Now! fold. After four-plus years as a member (and the only original one left standing, at that) Mike is going to be moving on to the real life issues that playing in a full-time touring band sometimes make impossible to tend to. Please know that the split is completely amicable and we all remain great friends, and that his presence and dedication to the band will be truly missed."

Durgan's last performance with the band was on New Year's Eve at the Lager House in Detroit. Thunderbirds guitarist Ryan Allen told Pitchfork this week that Matt Rickle, of fellow Detroit group Javelins, will fill in behind the kit for the band's February and March tours dates, which include a trek through Australia with French Kiss Records labelmates Les Savy Fav and the Hold Steady, an American tour with Rahim, and a gaggle of performances at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas in mid-March, including a French Kiss showcase. Come fly away:

02-21 Los Angeles, CA - Avalon *
02-25 Sydney, Australia - Gaelic Club *
02-27 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner Hotel *
03-01 Perth, Australia - The Rosemount *
03-02 Adelaide, Australia - Jive *
03-03 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo *
03-04 Sydney, Australia - TBA *
03-09 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen #$
03-10 Milwaukee, WI - Onopa Brewery $+
03-11 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground $%
03-12 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot $
03-13 Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory $
03-14 Denton, TX - Hailey's $
03-15 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-16 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-17 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-18 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon $
03-19 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn $
03-20 Nashville, TN - The End $
03-21 St. Louis, MO - Creepy Crawl $^
03-22 Dekalb, IL - Kickstand $&

* with Les Savy Fav, the Hold Steady
# with Call Me Lightning
$ with Rahim
+ with Plastic Constellations
% with Criteria
^ with The Octopus Project, Team Up!, Micahveil, Think Thank Thunk
& with Inspector Owl, My Other Car Is a Kayak

Allen said that the band hopes that Rickle will stick around for the recording of Thunderbirds' forthcoming third album, tentatively titled Make History, and due this coming summer. As for the sound of the record, Allen had this to say:

"We're trying to write songs that have a bit of timelessness to them. I want to attempt to make something...that doesn't just feel comfortable existing in a genre that could be gone in two years. So I guess people should expect a bit more variance in the songs. Expect some acoustic guitars, lots of harmonies and vocals, and some layering that we didn't get to do on the last one. But also expect tons of energy and our version of fast rock songs, with crazy keyboards and guitars and all the stuff that people liked about Justamustache."

He continued, "It won't be a total overhaul or a drastic change, but there will be enough of a change that maybe the white belt kids might not get it. Or maybe it'll open their eyes to the fact that there's something more to music than a tight t-shirt, girl jeans, and sassy, spastic screaming. Who knows? Maybe it'll totally suck! I guess what I'm trying to say is that we're capable of a lot more than a disco beat and some angular rock thing...so expect more than just that on the next album."

Thunderbirds are Now!: http://www.thunderbirdsarenow.com/
Frenchkiss Records: http://www.frenchkissrecords.com/

Supersystem Plot January Tour

Not content with keeping all the good tidings (not to mention that New Band Smell) to themselves, Supersystem will head out on tour in support of Always Never Again again, starting this Friday in New York City.

Funk these dates:

01-06 New York, NY - Knitting Factory *
01-07 Washington, DC - Black Cat *#
01-08 Chapel Hill, NC - Wetlands *#
01-09 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn *
01-10 Nashville, TN - The End *
01-11 St. Louis, MO - Hi Pointe *
01-12 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
01-13 Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks *
01-14 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber *
01-15 New Haven, CT - Bar Night Club *
01-16 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa *
01-17 Cambridge, MA - The Middle East (upstairs)*

* with French Toast
# with Ris Paul Ric

Supersystem: http://www.supersystemband.com/
Touch and Go: http://www.tgrec.com/

Coldcut to Release First Studio Album in Nine Years

The pair have taken their sweet time with their latest studio album, Sound Mirrors. When the disc hits UK stores later this month (and the U.S. in February), it will have been nearly nine years since the last Coldcut artist album, 1997's Let Us Play. Ahh, 1997, when "electronica" was going to take over the world. Sigh...

Sound Mirrors will be available as a single CD, a limited-edition double CD, and a triple LP, and features twelve star-studded tracks. Check out this loaded deli tray:

01 Man in a Garage (featuring John Matthias)
02 True Skool (featuring Roots Manuva)
03 Just for the Kick (featuring Annette Peacock)
04 Walk a Mile in My Shoes (featuring Robert Owens)
05 Mr Nichols (featuring Saul Williams)
06 A Whistle and a Prayer (featuring Andrew Broder)
07 Everything Is Under Control (featuring Jon Spencer and Mike Ladd)
08 Boogieman (featuring Amiri Baraka)
09 Aid Dealer (featuring Soweto Kinch)
10 This Island Earth (featuring Mpho Skeef)
11 Colours the Soul (featuring Dom Spitzer)
12 Sound Mirrors

The album's first single, "Everything Is Under Control", is available now via iTunes, with remixes by Underdog (aka Trevor Jackson of Playgroup and Output Records), Solid Groove, DJ Kentaro, and the Qemists. The second single, "Man in a Garage", is scheduled for release January 9, with remixes by Snap Ant, Nick Franglen of Lemon Jelly), Bonobo, and Daedelus on the b-side. "True Skool" will be released as a single in April, and "Walk a Mile" will follow in June. Damn, with that many singles, are these guys trying to compete with 50 Cent or something?

More and Black will take their multi-media "VJing" show on the road throughout the first half of the year, starting next week in Belgium. Late winter and early spring will find them spinning across Europe and North America.

More beats and pieces:

01-14 Brussels, Belgium - AB Club
01-16 Berlin, Germany - Icon
01-17 Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso
01-18 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
01-19 London, England - Cargo (album launch party) *
02-18 Bexhill, England - De La Warr Pavilion
02-19 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
02-22 Manchester, England - Academy 2
02-23 Birmingham, England - Custard Factory
02-25 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
03-01 Strasbourg, France - Laiterie
03-02 Lille, France - Aeronef
03-03 Paris, France - La Cigale
03-04 Crans, Switzerland - Montana Caprices Festival
03-09 Milan, Italy - Magazzini Generali
03-10 Rome, Italy - La Palma
03-11 Bologna, Italy - Link
03-14 Toulouse, France - SDF Ramonville
03-15 Clermont Ferrand, France - Cooperative de Mai
03-16 Barcelona, Spain - Apolo
03-17 Madrid, Spain - Sala Heinekin
04-10 Vienna, Austria - Flex
04-15 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
04-19 Brighton, England - Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
04-20 Bristol, England - Academy
04-21 Gateshead, England - Sage
04-25 Sheffield, England - Sheffield University
04-26 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
05-02 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
05-03 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
05-05 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
05-06 Seattle, WA - Neumos
05-10 Chicago, IL - The Abbey Pub
05-12 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
05-15 Boston, MA - Paradise
05-16 New York, NY - Irving Plaza

* with Robert Owens, Mike Ladd, Mpho Skeef

* Pitchfork Review: Coldcut and the Guilty Party: Re:volution EP

Coldcut: http://www.coldcut.net/
Ninja Tune: http://www.ninjatune.net/

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