Video: Silver Jews: "I'm Getting Back Into Getting Back Into You"

Ever wonder what it'd be like to stalk Silver Jews' David Berman and wife Cassie through a Jerusalem marketplace to the tune of this Tanglewood Numbers jam? Well, thanks to director Michael Tully, now you can.

Boris Launch U.S. Tour Tonight
Shill for cigarette company

The countdown to Armageddon is on, doombabies. Boris will wrangle in the moonlight this evening when they launch their two-legged, September/October journey through the States tonight in Birmingham, Alabama. Philly's Pearls & Brass will lend support for the first leg.

Several dates on the tour are sponsored by the Zig-Zag cigarette company as part of their "Zig-Zag Live" tour. What is up with all these lame tobacco tours recently? Phoenix/French Kicks, the Roots, now this. Sorry, folks, but it doesn't matter how much money you throw at cool bands, we're still going to think that smoking sucks.

Following up the tour comes the previously reported Boris/Sunn 0))) collaboration Altar, due via Southern Lord on-- surprise, surprise-- Halloween.

Boris aren't stopping there: Important Records will issue the exquisitely-packaged, two-years-in-the-making, vinyl-only Boris release Vein later this month. [MORE...]

Sufjan Preps Xmas Box Set
Elf/human pyramid attempt proves fatal for three North Pole-dwellers

Should you awaken this December 25 to find a suspicious bulge at the bottom of your stocking, don't fret just yet (unless you've been particularly naughty)-- it's probably just that Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmas box set that Asthmatic Kitty is planning to drop on the unsuspecting, candy cane-munching masses come November 21.

First off: yes, these are the festive Sufjan tunes that were all over all those blogs. Most of them, anyhow. The creatively-titled five-disc set compiles newly mixed and mastered versions of four of Stevens' infamous Xmas EPs-- slapped together by Sufjan and his buddies over four of the last five Decembers and sent exclusively to friends-- as well as a new gaggle of seasonal selections recorded just this June.

Each of the five discs features Sufjan and pals' takes on a number of holiday favorites, including "Silent Night", "Jingle Bells", "The First Noel", and no fewer than three versions of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" (one with comma, two without-- but no "Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version", alas).

Sufjan-philes will also be delighted to find a number of exclamation-ridden tunes penned by Suf-jeezy himself in the spirit of the season, such as (we are not making these up) "Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!", "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!", "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!", "Get Behind Me, Santa!" (sorry Sufjan, these kids beat you to it), and my personal favorite, "Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)". Cheeky!

Just in case 42 yuletide tunes aren't enough for ya, the fine folks at Asthmatic Kitty have packed this puppy to the brim with bonus bric-a-brac, including stickers, essays, short stories, songbooks, music videos, comic strips, and, according to the AK website, "an original Christmas Family Portrait painting of Santa Sufjan (with wife and kids!)"-- wait a minute! Sufjan's married? And he has kids?! We're not even going to touch that.

Sufjan also has a huge tour going down and he's writing for magazines.

So be good, boys and girls, and scope the tracklist after the jump. [MORE...]

Goldfrapp Announce Single, NYC Gig
Starbucks announces new drink, worst pun ever: Goldfrappuccino

Prefacing the previously reported Flaming Lips/DFA/Múm/andsomuchmore extravaganza that is the upcoming Goldfrapp remix record, We Are Glitter (due October 17 via Mute in America only), comes a newly announced single for Supernature hit "Fly Me Away". The five track affair arrives September 26 as a digital download only, and includes several remixes (including two by Carl Craig as C2) and an exclusive B-side of the previously unreleased "Boys Will Be Boys". Full tracklist after the jump!

In support of the remix record, single, and recent success of Supernature and Black Cherry hits ("Ooh La La" was in a Diet Coke ad and on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance", and "Strict Machine" made its way into Verizon Wireless' Chocolate commercial and a "Nip/Tuck" promo), Goldfrapp will perform at New York's Roseland Ballroom on October 18. Should be glam-tastic. [MORE...]

Liars, Sunn 0))), Erase Errata Head Frieze Fest
Co-curated by Pulp's Steve Mackey

Talk about bringing people together! It seems like every location out there is pulling its weight in the fall festival craze. Most recently, London's Frieze Art Fair, put together by frieze art magazine, revealed its own live off-site music event, Frieze Music 2006.

FM'06 takes place over two days (October 13-14) at London's Hippodrome. The appropriately artsy-fartsy list of performers include Liars, Sunn 0))), Erase Errata, the Curtains, an all-girl English drum troupe called Leopard Leg, and more. Full lineup after the jump.

This year's festival was curated by Pulp's Steve Mackey, frieze Associate Editor Dan Fox, and Upset the Rhythm, a London-based DIY promoter/record label. [MORE...]

Mouse on Mars Prep Varcharz, Tour
Lithops record also in the pipeline

Supposedly, some anime films cause epilepsy due to their repeated flashing images. Guess that makes Mouse on Mars, the trio of Jan St. Werner, Andi Toma, and Dodo Nkishi-- who describe their brand of innovative techno as "epileptic music"-- the aural equivalent of anime. Their music is bright, pulsating, cartoonish, and liable to leave you jittery. For those of you who like to flout good health and warning labels, we are pleased to announce that Mouse on Mars will deliver a new album entitled Varcharz on September 12. The album will see release in the U.S. thanks to Mike Patton's Ipecac imprint.

Mouse on Mars produced Varcharz at their St. Martin Tonstudio in Düsseldorf. The album's title is a bungling of the word "wortschatz," which means "vocabulary." Got it, ja? Varcharz partially grew out of the sessions for 2004's Radical Connector, but promises to showcase the group's harder and more experimental qualities and call to mind its unpredictable live shows. And while it does not abandon the pop realm altogether, Varcharz-- unlike its predecessor-- features no vocals.

While Mouse on Mars have left the friendly confines of Thrill Jockey for Varcharz, they've not abandoned their old label completely. In fact, Lithops, the glitchy solo project of Mouse's St. Werner, will follow up this year's Queries (Sonig) with the release of Mound Magnet. The set arrives November 7 via Thrill Jockey. Tracklists for both Varcharz and Mound Magnet after the jump.

Lithops will also open a number of dates on Mouse on Mars' forthcoming tour, a North American jaunt with French DJ quartet Birdy Nam Nam that kicks off this November. Finally, MoM would like us to know that Germany's first female chancellor, Angela Merkel, has "bad mouth breath." Cheeky! Ponder that for a few months, and then get your jitter fix with live Mouse on Mars. [MORE...]

Le Tigre Member Revamps Hair Salon

In Le Tigre's "Fake French", Kathleen Hanna sings, "I've got Plan B ability." She's talking about birth control, not Option X over Y. Still, the metaphor applies to bandmember (and Snarla author) Johanna Fateman's new project: Along with her BFF (and recent Seattle transplant) Shaun Cottle, Fateman is revamping Seagull, a beauty salon in New York City's West Village.

The first unisex barber shop in New York (and, some claim, the entire U.S.), Seagull opened in 1971. It's named after the title character in Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull, an actual bird who realizes that squabbling over food is, like, totally lame and maybe he should learn to fly instead. Fateman and Cottle's revamp includes custom-designed furniture by David MacLean, vintage styling chairs, and tchotchke-stylee magic from the co-owners' personal collections.

Seagull is staffed by a fistful of professionally trained stylists, and also a rotating group of hungry artists and off-tour musicians-- basically everyone you ever wanted to pick up on the subway and didn't. Fateman is the receptionist (and if you've seen the "Well Well Well" video, you'll know it's a job she has down pat), and Cottle wields his steez as a hair stylist and color specialist. Before moving to New York, he spent seven years at Vain, the only salon in Seattle where you can bring in a box of crayons and necklaces, then ask if they'll dye your hair to match. (They will.)

When Fateman isn't at the receptionist desk, she's working on LIBBER, a new project with Tracy + the Plastics' Wynne Greenwood. According to the zine Lesbians to the Rescue, LIBBER "brings percussion-based songs and video in a marching-band style to the stage."

Does this leave any time for Le Tigre? It's not impossible. (And Hanna does sing about "multiple alliances, whoah oh oh.") In the meantime, our hair's looking sweet.

Acid Mothers Temple/Ruins Tour in "Battle Formations"
Insert Voltron/Dragon Ball/Pokémon joke here

Three guys, seven bands, nine cities, one traveling Japanese festival. Sound nutty? Some of the craziness can be attributed to the fact that the men behind the music are Acid Mothers Temple's Tsuyama Atsushi and Kawabata Makoto, and Ruins' Yoshida Tatsuya-- touring together in numerous arrangements, among them Acid Mothers Temple SWR.

Now it's common knowledge that AMT and Ruins are two of the most exciting psychedelic artists active today, but what's with the new SWR arrangement? According to Tatsuya, "SWR is the AMT Family's most powerful battle-formation yet...their crushingly acute freakout sound will pulverize the world's legions of wannabe psych groups." Fuck with that, Devendra!

The Japanese New Music Festival, featuring the aforementioned trio and now in its fourth year, will travel across the bars and lounges of North America over the course of the next week. Here's the kicker-- for each gig, Atsushi, Tatsuya, and Makoto will arrange themselves in seven different band formations (including SWR). All in one night!! We're not sure how long each act will go on for, or how on Earth these dudes will have the necessary stamina to go all out like this, but it's looking like the Japanese psych rock spectacle of the summer, and it's nearly upon us!

The bands include Acid Mothers Temple SWR, a drum and sampled-bass solo incarnation of Ruins called Ruins Alone, experimental punk band Akaten, a cappella ensemble Zubi Zuva X, humorous improvisers Zoffy, improv pair Shrinp Wark, and the all-encompassing Seikazoku. Holy moly. But seriously, there's no sense trying to describe this shit-- just go see it. [MORE...]

YYYs, Broken Social, Antony Head Glasgow Fest
Also: Yo La Tengo, Gang of Four, the Fall, Tapes 'n Tapes, Hot Chip, Camera Obscura, Guillemots

Glasgow, you are in for a treat! Americans won't be the only ones reveling this weekend, as accompanying the awesomeness of Indian summer (weather) we have the Indian Summer Festival! This one goes down September 2 and 3 in Glasgow's Victoria Park and reads like a Pitchforker's wet dream: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Broken Social Scene, Antony and the Johnsons, the Fall, Yo La Tengo, Gang of Four, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Hot Chip, Camera Obscura, Guillemots, and more have gathered in Scotland to perform at the event. Complete lineup ahead. Keep yr pants on, dudes. [MORE...]

Merge Acts Celebrate Orange Club's Anniversary
Revelers include Superchunk, David Bazan, the Rosebuds, Ashley Stove, more

You know that bar? The one right around the corner? Just down the street? Where all the indie rockers go for a drink? Your Rainbo in Chicago? Your Clem's in Brooklyn?

Carrboro, North Carolina isn't Brooklyn, and it ain't Chicago either, but it has its own musician's watering mecca and-- get this-- it's down on Main Street. Orange County Social Club, founded by former Merge Records retail and mail order manager Tricia Mesigian five years ago, has become that place for Carrboro, a small town of just under 20,000 bordering Chapel Hill, the town whose indie rock Merge has helped make famous for more than a decade.

Mesigian left Merge to start the bar, but her original label crew-- which includes Superchunk and Merge co-founders Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan-- has been good for business. In the label's guide for out-of-towners at their four-day 15th anniversary party in June of 2004, they endorsed OCSC as the official label bar of choice, and McCaughan has sported OCSC apparel in the artwork for Portastatic's Autumn Was a Lark and Summer of the Shark.

As such, Merge (which isn't 21, btw) helps the bar celebrate its fifth birthday this month, beginning tonight (September 1), as Superchunk and Chris Lopez's Tenement Halls team up for a show at the Cat's Cradle. On September 18, it's "acoustic jams" night at the OCSC, with former Lion named Pedro David Bazan, Jeremy Chatelain (Jets to Brazil, Cub Country), Regia's Louis Schefano, Jenny and Lee Waters of Work Clothes, and Seven Mary Three's Jason Ross (cumbersome choice, eh?).

The real kicker, though, is September 24's show at OCSC: Glorious Merge guitar poppers Ashley Stove play for the first time since 2001, joined by Victory Factory-- the new band of Pipe wildman Ron Liberti-- and Hundred Aires, the new bag of Mayflies USA frontman Adam Price. The Rosebuds and former Spatula guy Chuck Johnson join up for the Carolina cocktail. Nights devoted to karaoke and "Family Feud" (September 6 and 12, respectively) split up the rock nights, but all the cool kids will totally be scoping Rusted Root at the Cradle, anyway (Oh, snap!).

And, in the spirit of giving back, OCSC will donate a portion of all September profits to the MusiCares Foundation. [MORE...]

Mclusky Dudes Return as Future of the Left

Following the break-up of short-lived but much-loved Welsh trio Mclusky, former frontman Andy Falkous is going back to the future, embarking on a new project with ex-Mclusky drummer Jack William Egglestone and bassist/vocalist Kelson Louis Tregurtha Mathias. (I'm loving these Welsh prep school boy names!). Falkous plays guitar and provides vocals for the Cardiff-based trio, who came together originally last year as a quartet and call themselves Future of the Left.

Future of the Left has posted a few demos on their MySpace, where they've described themselves as "beholden to loud rock music." Expect them to rock loudly at a smattering of shows around the UK this September, beginning tonight.

09-01 London, England - Monarch
09-02 Brighton, England - Engine Rooms
09-08 Southampton, England - Joiners Arms
09-09 Bath, England - Moles
09-10 Cardiff, Wales - Clwb Ifor Bach

As for other Mclusky members, ex-bassist Jon Chapple recently put out an album with Shooting at Unarmed Men (for which he handles guitar/vocals), while ex-ex-drummer Mat Harding is lending his stick skills to kooky Cornish band Bugga.

Polyphonic Spree Announce EP, Tour

Twenty-six singing and dancing robers come up to you, chanting the words "REACH FOR THE SUN!" Of course, you cough up that wallet...to grab some dollars for a Polyphonic Spree ticket, that is!!

The exuberant pop troupe/cult have announced their first U.S. tour in over a year. The majority of the trek will see the Spree showing up frat-favorite headliner Matisyahu, though for a few days, they'll top the bill, supported by Good Records (chief Spreeman Tim DeLaughter's label) acts Philip E Karnats and Pilotdrift.

The Spree spent early 2006 recording their third album, The Fragile Army, in studios across the country, including Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago. Co-produced by the pAper chAse's John Congleton and the Speekers (DeLaughter and fellow Spreester Julie Doyle), the disc is slated to arrive in early 2007 after numerous delays.

Can't stand the...wait? The Spree's got yr back: they'll release the iTunes digital exclusive Wait EP this Tuesday, September 5. Featuring two Army tracks and covers of tunes by Nirvana ("Lithium"), the Psychedelic Furs ("Love My Way"), and DeLaughter's former band, Tripping Daisy ("Sonic Bloom"), the collection should sate fans' appetites until whenever that album finally comes out. [MORE...]

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.)