Jeff Mangum Sings With the Instruments
The band as well as the music-playing things.

Jeff Mangum had a busy night out on the town in New York City on Friday. First, he and a few buddies, including Robert Schneider of the Apples in Stereo and Andrew Rieger and Laura Carter of Elf Power, took in the Os Mutantes show at Webster Hall. Then the crew made their way to the tiny Lower East Side club Cake Shop for performances by the New Sound of Numbers and the Instruments, both featuring Heather McIntosh of Circulatory System and Japancakes.

During the Instruments' set, Mangum joined the band for one song. According to my friend Mike Noble, who supplied the information about both the Os Mutantes and Cake Shop shows, "Mangum sat in with the Instruments on a song (er, stood in, sang in his loud I-don't-need-no-microphone way, wordlessly chanting." (He also joined the Instruments during their in-store performance at Sound Fix in Williamsburg the next day)

Mike was also nice enough to share some photos of the event with us. [MORE...]

Victoria Bergsman Leaves the Concretes

Time for another downer from the Concretes. A press statement released earlier this morning said:

"The Concretes have announced that lead singer Victoria Bergsman is departing the band to pursue a solo career. The band will continue playing together and are currently drafting songs for a new album. They performed without Bergsman at the Summercase Festival in Spain. They apologise to fans who were hoping to see them perform together."

Bergsman, a member of the band since its 1995 formation, is currently working on new material, according to the Concretes' website.

So scribble in "departure" under "theft" and "sickness" on that tally of Bad Things to Happen to the Concretes, and add this group of Swedes to the Unluckiest Bands of All Time list.

Video: The Concretes: Chosen One

Photos: Ghostface Killah and Rick Ross [Logan Square Auditorium; 07/20/06]

Hate to blaspheme, but Rick Ross wound up the highlight of this generally depressing show put together by Boost Mobile to reward folks who volunteered to clean a local park. (Awesome idea, seriously, but next time promote it better, please.) Ross delivered a brief but high-energy set that included "Chevy Ridin' High" and, of course, "Hustlin'". Despite the small and confoundingly unenthused crowd, he actually seemed happy to be onstage, never missing an opportunity to remind us that it took him "15 years to reach this point."

Props to the WGCI DJ who worked the crowd between sets, tossing out t-shirts and praise and inviting audience members onstage to freestyle and play "Simon Says". When attempts to start a motorcycle dance-off were thwarted because the house DJ didn't even have "It's Goin' Down", however, it became clear what kind of night this was going to be.

No doubt put off by the lukewarm reception, Ghostface headlined and went through the motions and the hits and not much else; he had a towel draped over his shoulders, but never needed to use it.

Hopefully Ghost is saving his energy for the upcoming Wu-Tang tour. Photos and dates after the jump: [MORE...]

Stream: Beck: "Cell Phone's Dead"

***UPDATE: BECK HAS TAKEN THE TRACK OFF OF HIS WEBSITE. SORRY!*** 

When word first leaked that Nigel Godrich was producing the next Beck album, we expected another introspective, low-key affair like the pair's previous collaborations, 1998's Mutations and 2002's Sea Change.We were wrong.

"Cell Phone's Dead", currently streaming from Beck's website, might as well have been produced by the Dust Brothers. It's typical Beck-funk, bricolage of electro, hip-hop, and Brazilian instrumentation.

As previously reported, Michel Gondry has directed the video. We predict that it will rule.

Tortoise Announce Shows

Like a certain sluggish animal, Tortoise are slooowly announcing fall tour dates in support of their forthcoming rarities box set, A Lazarus Taxon, due out August 22 on Thrill Jockey. Only three have been made public so far (in addition to a previously scheduled Switzerland festival appearance), but more are in the works, including one in the band's hometown of Chicago.

Tomorrow night in London, Tortoise will perform their 1996 classic Millions Now Living Will Never Die in its entirety as part of All Tomorrow's Parties' Don't Look Back series. The band is also supposedly working on music for a new album to be released next year. [MORE...]

Stream: Tortoise: Live at Metro

Exclusive: Mates of State Fall Tour

I know Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are supposed to be all lovey-dovey and stuff, but for a happy couple, they sure don't spend much time at home. Mates of State are one of those bands that are always on tour, and the next couple months are no different.

After a trek with Death Cab surrounding Lollapalooza, the couple will take a short break before heading out again with Barsuk labelmates Starlight Mints for a North American jaunt in September. [MORE...]

MP3: Mates of State: Fraud in the '80s

Konono Record With Bjork

Björk is such a tease. A few weeks ago, we told you she was "hanging out" and writing with Antony, though there was no guarantee that any fruits of the collaboration would appear on her next album. Now we also have word that Björk has recorded with Konono N°1, but none of those sessions are guaranteed to see release either.

Hopefully, both pairings, in addition to plenty of others, will be featured on the record, and all will again be right with the world. But for now, we're just a little anxious about the whole thing.

Nevertheless, a representative of Crammed Discs (the Congotronics label) confirmed that Konono spent "three days in Brussels last month... overdubbing their electrified thumb-pianos on several new Björk songs." Like we said, there are no guarantees that any of us will ever hear the results of the sessions. However, the group is currently in the middle of a massive world tour, so it couldn't hurt to go to a show and ask nicely. [MORE...]

M. Ward Preps New Album, Tour

The Mike Mogis/Adam Selzer-produced album, which Ward (who grabs a production credit as well) claims to be his "first band record" according to a press release, features guest spots from Neko Case and My Morning Jacket's Jim James, as well as backup from former Decemberist Rachel Blumberg and former Thermal Jordan Hudson, a pair he has been on the road with over the past 18 months.

In an interview with Billboard.com, Ward explained that the work's theme was assisted by his perusal of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five: "Something that I think about is what is going to happen in the country once these soldiers come home -- what happens to these families that have been broken up," he said. "I like the way these kind of novels had addressed the 'coming home.'"

Post-War's 12 songs include a "rollicking honky tonk" (again, the press!) take on Daniel Johnston's "To Go Home", and the CD will also include the video for "Chinese Translation" [MORE...]

MP3: M. Ward: To Go Home

Sound Team, Midlake, Cold War Kids Tour

Pitchfork whipping boys Sound Team are on the road right now, and they've brought a couple up-and-comers with them.

For a fairly new band, California's Cold War Kids have been playing and touring like seasoned (and much decorated) veterans. The Sound Team trek follows the simultaneous release of their EPs Up in Rags and With Our Wallets Full (on Monarchy Music), a spring tour with Two Gallants, and a summer tour of the U.S. and UK with Tapes ‘n Tapes and Figurines.

Also on board are Midlake, the Denton, Texas five-piece who have been making bandwidth waves with their single "Roscoe" from the full-length The Trials Of Van Occupanther. The Midlakemen have had a busy year in their own right, touring the UK and Europe with the Flaming Lips and the Earlies.

All three will be making a stop in Chicago for Lollapalooza. Said Cold War Kids, "This will be exciting and humorous for those of us who ten years ago, grew up in an age when Lollapalooza meant Tool, Dinosaur Jr. and Jane's Addiction. So come on out and ditch Kanye's set to see ours." Ha ha. [MORE...]

Video: Sound Team: Versus Pitchfork
MP3: Cold War Kids: Hospital Beds
MP3: Midlake: Roscoe

Stream: DJ Shadow: "Enuff", "You Made It"

Stream: DJ Shadow: Enuff feat. Q-Tip and Lateef
Stream: DJ Shadow: You Made It feat. Chris James

Final Fantasy Kicks Off Tour

For a D&D enthusiast, Owen Pallett sure gets out a lot. For this year's He Poos Clouds, he was recently nominated for Canada's Polaris Music Prize, and he's been otherwise busy touring as Final Fantasy and adding strings to the new Arcade Fire album. And he just keeps going.

Pallett is riding out the summer in style with a ton of recently added dates to his tour itinerary. Bring your 12-sided die, because it's unlikely he's been able to get any play in with such a busy schedule. [MORE...]

MP3: Final Fantasy: If I Were a Carp

Beauty Pill off Hiatus, on Tour

Emerging from a long slumber, he wipes his eyes. He yawns, stretches, and carefully climbs out from the cave. Hibernation's over, bitches! D.C. music-maker Chad Clark and his band Beauty Pill are back from their indefinite hiatus, making it, well, somewhat definite. There's a new track, a tour, album plans, and a lineup change, and everyone is still looking lovely.

In fact, Clark wrote a MySpace blog post yesterday titled "You should always be in love with your bandmates" that said "I just wanted to say that I have the most lovely bandmates. You should always be in love with your band. Not actually in love, mind you. That's bad. But, y'know, you should always love your bandmates. Love is good." Aww.

The new song, a demo titled "Ann the Word", can be streamed on Beauty Pill's brand new MySpace page and features multi-instrumentalist/semi-new band member Jean Cook on vocals. The finalized version of the track brags a hefty guest list, including Zeena Parkins on electric harp, Colin Stetson on bass clarinet, Kenta Nagai on shamisen, Joel Hamilton on loop-duty, and Carol Bui playing a guitar solo. A new album is in the works, though details remain vague at this time.

The band's member list now includes Clark, Cook (replacing Rachel Burke), Devin Ocampo (replacing Ryan Nelson), Basla Andolsun, Drew Doucette, and Chad Molter. As for what happened to the former members, check out Clark's recent MySpace post for the rundown.

Last night, Beauty Pill launched a small U.S. tour, one date of which will see them play alongside Danielson, Man Man, and more at Kentucky's Southgate House for the Lite Brite Indie Pop and Film Test. [MORE...]

Stream: Beauty Pill: Ann the Word

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