Original Bad Brains Ready New Album
With Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch donning the producer cap

After recently releasing a live DVD and playing three sold-out shows together to commemorate the closing of CBGB, D.C. hardcore legends Bad Brains seem to be back in commission. According to Billboard.com, the original quartet-- which consists of vocalist H.R., guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jenifer, and drummer Earl Hudson-- are planning the spring release of a currently untitled album, produced by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, aka MCA.

"The lawyers are finishing up the last little tidbits of it," Dr. Know told Billboard.com. "There's a lot of dubs, and there's some old school-meets-new school Brains. Not moderate tempo, but fast tempo. Yauch said, 'Man, I want y'all to do some old school-type shit,' so we did it like that. I want to start working on the next one, because we did that one two years ago already." He also mentioned four song titles, two of which are dubs ("Article" and "Kingdom Come") and two of which are rock songs ("It's All Rock 'n' Roll" and "Let There Be Light").

Dr. Know is also eager to begin work on his first solo album. "I want to sit down this winter and start hashing her out. I've got a few little riffs working, but I want to sit down and perfect them, put some people together, and record them up. There's going to be total crazy special guests-- whoever I can get. A lot of people said they would participate: Flea, Mos [Def], the Living Colour guys, Darryl, Earl, and H.R."

Bad Brains are considering the release of additional archival video footage as well. One such show, shot by a friend of the band, features them playing with the Circle Jerks, Living Colour, and Leeway.

Yo La Tengo, Animal Collective on Shortbus Soundtrack

So yes, John Cameron Mitchell's (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) new film Shortbus is the one where some dude sings our nation's national anthem into another dude's butt. Perhaps you've also heard it's a skin flick with heart, or that it takes a thoughtfully candid look at the sexploits of various dispossessed persons, or that it's phenomenal and/or abominable.

What you may not have heard is that it also boasts a bangin' soundtrack featuring an exclusive cut by Yo La Tengo, among other treasures. And who better than lovemonkey Conor Oberst and his Team Love label to bring that amor-rific soundtrack to the streets? Shortbus (the CD) arrives November 7 bearing previously unreleased YLT tune "Wizard's Sleeve" alongside still fresh selections from Animal Collective, Azure Ray, the Hidden Cameras, controversial Swedish glam-rockers the Ark, and even a few Shortbus (the film) stars: Sook-Yin Lee, Justin Bond (aka Kiki of Kiki & Herb fame), Scott Matthew, and Jay Brannan. Perfect for, dear god, sing-alongs with your friends! [MORE...]

M. Ward, Six Organs, Okkervil Head Tanned Tin Fest
Also: Portastatic, Psychic Ills, Chosen Darkness, Lisa Germano, His Name Is Alive

Hold any European trip-financing raffles lately? Proceed with caution. Wait, forget that-- risk it all to get to Castellón, Spain for the eighth edition of the Tanned Tin music festival, running from November 9-11 (with special opening and closing events on the days bookending the fest).

Tanned Tin brings together an impressive array of musicians of an autumnal persuasion and takes place at several venues across the city: Centro Municipal de Cultura, Teatre Principal, and Casino Antiguo. Might want to ditch the cell phones, clinking beer bottles, and boisterous buds, however, as Tanned Tin's website boasts "an almost religious silence" accompanying past festival performances. Yikes!

Acts scheduled to perform include: M. Ward, Six Organs of Admittance, Okkervil River, Psychic Ills, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, David Thomas Broughton, Lisa Germano, Portastatic, His Name Is Alive, the Radio Dept., Magik Markers, and more. Wonderful, spectral folkstress Annelies Monseré will open the festival with a free show on November 8. Make the jump for the complete event schedule. [MORE...]

Karen Dalton's In My Own Time Reissued

Seattle's Light in the Attic Records, home of the Black Angels, the Os Mutantes resissues, and the Jamaica to Toronto compilation, has just announced its newest release: a remastered edition of Karen Dalton's 1971 lost classic In My Own Time, due out November 7 on CD and vinyl.

"Karen whosits?" you say.

Circa 1960, Dalton was a regular performer at the pass-the-hat clubs in New York's Greenwich Village, where she'd gig with the likes of Dino Valenti, Fred Neil, and Bob Dylan. She was often compared to Billie Holiday (and hated it). But, perhaps because she interpreted other people's songs ("When a Man Loves a Woman", "Katie Cruel") and (dare we say it?) was a Native American woman, she's been largely forgotten by the public.

However, one look at In My Own Time's liner notes will set you straight. The ten tracks were originally recorded by Harvey Brooks (who played with Dylan on Highway 61 Revisited), and masterminded by Michael Lang (who, like, totally signed a young Billy Joel and co-founded Woodstock). Dalton, who sings and plays the twelve-string guitar and banjo, was backed by dudes from the Gaslight and the Cock and Bull (two Greenwich Village clubs), and also Robbie Robertson's the Band.

Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith Group guitarist, wrote the album's introduction. His essay is joined by testimonials from Nick Cave (who, along with the rest of the Band Seeds, considers Dalton a hero) and Devendra Banhart, who purposefully recorded Cripple Crow at Bearsville-- the same studio where Dalton created In My Own Time.

"Pretty much, when I tell the story of how I got into Vashti Bunyan," said Banhart in an interview with Pitchfork about Dalton, "where I was living out in France and didn't have anywhere to stay, I always say that the two things that really kept me alive-- that became my pillow, and my food, and my blanket, and my bed, my friend-- that was listening to Bunyan's Just Another Diamond Day LP and Karen Dalton's 'Ribbon Bow'." When Banhart returned to New York, he paid 50 bucks for the In My Own Time LP, which probably also meant living on beans and really, really cheap whiskey for at least a week afterwards.

Video: Tokyo Police Club: "Nature of the Experiment"

Enter into the fast-paced blissfulness of Tokyo Police Club's new video for A Lesson in Crime EP track "Nature of the Experiment". Warning: this baby may induce seizures.

Featured in the colorful, George Vale-directed clip are an assortment of intriguing around-the-house junk, white noise, some seriously cool boots, and an astonishing waste of plastic wrap. Its bustling nature is telling of both Tokyo Police Club and, humorously, Tokyo (even though the band actually resides in Canada). A+, dudes.

[MORE...]

Nas Says Hip-Hop Is Dead

Jay-Z continues his run of either completely selfish or completely misguided decisions as president of Def Jam with the December 19 release of Nas' debut for the label, Hip-Hop Is Dead. So now both Ghostface and Nas get to experience the joy of having their albums buried at a time when shopping for the biggest holiday of the year is winding down.

Questionable business plan on the part of his label head aside, Nas' album looks promising. It's tracklist-less at the moment, but-- as you should know (if you don't, listen below)-- first leak "Where Y'all At" was a good sign of the MC being in top form on the LP.

He's certainly not lacking star power on the "featuring" side of the equation. Kanye produced and provided the hook for "Still Dreamin'"; Snoop Dogg appears on "Play on Player"; the Game guests on "Q.B. True G", which Dr. Dre produced; Damian Marley appears on "White Man's Paper (War)", which samples Marley's father; Scott Storch produced "Carry on Tradition"; surprise Midas will.i.am produced both the title track and the Sam Cooke-sampling "Unforgettable"; and Nas himself flipped a James Brown sample in producing "Where Are They Now".

Considering Def Jam's recent approach to promoting their non-Jay artists, this might be the last time you hear about Hip-Hop Is Dead, so mark your calendars. One month is probably enough time for you to forget all about the disappointment that Kingdom Come is sure to be.

CMJ Report: Wednesday [Brandon Stosuy]

All photos by Casey McKinney

The Twilight Sad [Fontana's; 8 p.m.]

CMJ boot camp began on trash night in Chinatown, Metallica's "Master of Puppets" lifting spirits in Fontana's upstairs bar. Meanwhile, in the basement, noisy Glasgow pop group the Twilight Sad tore eardrums: The quartet's self-titled EP's great, but I imagine if I hadn't heard it three dozen times, I would've failed to untangle the melodies from the feedback. They opened with vocalist James Graham wielding a drum stick and smashing cymbals along with the fresh-faced, Campbell Soup-kid drummer. But it was the Daniel Johnston t-shirt wearing guitarist who stole the show with his awkward teenage Kevin Shields impersonation-- all the more charming because he was out of tune. Strumming in a slapdash style, now again sipping from a cup with a Yankees logo on it, he looked bored and utterly fascinated at the same time. Still, despite the white noise hubbub, the general focal point remained the swoony Graham, who another Pitchforker later called the most attractive man alive. Well, he must've been scared of his own beauty because he kept his eyes shut for 75% of the set, issuing romantic utterances about kids on fire in the bedroom, running out of time, the invisible boy, and feeling bitter, so very bitter. Halfway through, amplifier problems led to a slight delay, so a bearded oldster jumped on stage and read, gently, a poem, "Twilight Sad." It was a great calm in the storm, but had me wondering: What came first, the poem or the band? Anyone?

Beach House [Cake Shop; 10:15 p.m.]

Ushering in a different sort of calm, downer Baltimore duo Beach House quietly owned the Cake Shop. The room was packed, leaving eyes to rest on hippies nodding themselves to careful, contented sleep on the bar, while others lined like trees against the wood-paneled wall, swaying. Beneath the field of cricket stars, it felt like we were indeed holed-up at the band's namesake, about to attend a Magnetic Fields/Brightblack Morning Light apple orchard picnic. Musically, the guitar/keys/vocals were Damon & Naomi backed by meteor slides. The male half of the band looks a lot like Devendra Banhart-- I was waiting for him to get up and flail shirtless with henna on his head. Thankfully, they remained subtle and downcast, digging into a "Lovelier Girl" before disappearing like a soft-edged dream.

The Slits [Knitting Factory; 12 a.m.]

A friend pointed out that the Slits more than made up for the Twilight Sad's lack of tuning. True…how long does it take to get those strings aligned? "Girls invented punk rock, not England" filtered from the P.A. before the seven- to eight-person band started playing. Ari Up-- dressed in a dayglo Jah paint-splatter sorta cheerleader outfit–- was insistent on reminding us everything she invented after forming the band in 1976. Or, she spoke in the third person, e.g. "now this is a Slits' bass." Later, her smiling but still annoying refusal to continue playing until the sound person got rid of some monitor boom reminded me why I generally avoid reunions: zero urgency, lack of context. She mentioned their first NYC gig (besides Up, only bassist Tessa Pollitt is an original member) in 1979 on 2nd avenue. Maybe it would've been better then? For our troubles, we heard "Typical Girls", "Shoplifting", and "Newtown", but the background singers couldn't sing and I wondered if eight people making music together have ever sounded so thin. I could concoct something phatter with a match and a Dixie Cup. Trust me.

120 Days [Cake Shop; 2 a.m.]

It's fitting that dudes named after a de Sade text would have me out until 4 a.m. on a school night. There were sound problems here, too, with repeated requests for more drum machine in the monitor. That aside, 120 Days played the best set of day two. (The Strokes boy band that bounced before them stood off to the side smoking cigarettes and peering all Springsteen-like, knowing they'd been beaten, at least this time.) When I saw the quartet in Oslo, it was obvious they were onto something; this late Cake Shop show proved that the fuckers have arrived-- the sound was denser than when it flew outdoors (obviously; there's less space to disappear into) and there was joyful Happy Mondays dancing by the band and audience. As vocalist Ådne Meisfjord noted, "Oh, the girls are dancing." Sure-- of course, the boys were dancing, too.

For his part, Meisfjord stripped down to his undershirt and made like a raver. A wonderfully extended "Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)" arrived as a finale, complete with pause/breath-catch/skree extension. Around that time, a girl told me she'd traveled all the way from Toronto to catch the band, though she'd seen them in her city a few days earlier. I might not trek that far, but I'd definitely check them out again…maybe at one of the 3,000 other shows they're playing this week.

Dinosaur Jr. Tour Around Xmas ATP

Dinosaur Jr. have announced a bi-continental tour surrounding their stint at the Thurston Moore-curated All Tomorrow's Parties' Nightmare Before Christmas event.

Lou Barlow, J Mascis, and Murph will take to the road late this month, meeting up with Sonic Youth and Thalia Zedek along the way.

On December 6, Barlow will open the trio's London gig with an acoustic solo set. On December 16, Mascis will perform a solo set in Germany, opening for Sonic Youth.

As previously reported, Dinosaur Jr. plan to release a new album, produced by John Agnello, in Spring 2007. It is, according to a recent entry on Barlow's website, "very nearly complete," though we still don't know anything with regard to its title, label, or release date. A DVD from the band is also on its way. Directed by Mascis' brother-in-law Phillip Virus, it documents the first half of the band's reunion tour, and hits stores May 8.

Barlow has some news on the solo front as well. As he continued in the aforementioned post, "I'm working on a CD EP for my friend Jesus right now...I figure it's good practice for my next solo LP to throw some new + old songs together...get my engineering chops back, twiddling knobs...flexing the old hard-drive...Jesus has a label. He does lotsa one-off CDs for indie-types like myself...That will come out and I will do my best to get a box or two to sell on this here site..."

In addition, the bassist recently fell into a "small quantity" of Winning Losers: a Collection of Home Recordings (1994, Smells Like Records) reissues. Tacked on to the disc is the "Losercore" seven inch, now on CD for the first time ever. Barlow also acquired a 12" vinyl of Folk Implosion's Dare to Be Surprised, so stay tuned to see if these rarity items pop up on his online "merch table."

Finally, we'd like to remind you that Barlow, Eric Gaffney, and Jason Loewenstein have reunited Sebadoh. The legendary three-piece will tour this spring, from late February to early April. Specific dates have not yet been confirmed. [MORE...]

CMJ Report: Wednesday [Amy Phillips]

All photos by William Kirk

The Knife's performance at Webster Hall last night wasn't just great, it was kind of revelatory. Olof and Karin Dreijer, dressed in black coveralls and black ski masks (or was it blackface makeup?), were just a small part of the entire immersive experience, a combination rave/art installation/laser light show.

They stood both behind and in front of screens, on which were projected trippy geometric shapes, childish drawings, and ghastly figures, and were flanked on the stage by balloons bearing images of distorted faces. The way the elaborate light show hit their own faces made the pair look alternately like jack-o-lanterns, monkeys, or bank robbers, which pretty much sums up the varying moods of the performance: mischievous, playful, terrifying.

I'm not sure how much live music the Dreijers actually performed. Karin's mouth definitely moved, and Olof was certainly hitting something with his giant drum sticks, but it wasn't clear whether or not those motions corresponded with anything inside the crystal clear, surround sound sonic stew enveloping the venue. They played rejiggered versions of Silent Shout favorites such as "Like a Pen", "We Share Our Mothers' Health", "Forest Families", and the title track, and even threw in a shimmering, subdued take on "Heartbeats". The music was flashier and more dance-oriented than on record, much closer to Euro-trance/cheese/trash than I'm used to. Of course, it sounded amazing. So we're confronted with the reality of one of the best albums of the year, by one of Pitchfork's favorite bands, delivered using tropes that send the authenticity police into fits of rage: lip-synching, silly dancing, cool light show, superclub dance beats. Does that mean the Knife's performance was insincere, or lightweight, or somehow less worthy than that of a band sweating through a set, pounding on their own instruments and pouring their hearts out on the mic? Fuck no. Does it mean that we need to alter our antiquated notions of "worthiness" and "realness" in pop music performance? Fuck yes.

The Knife [Webster Hall; 11:30 p.m.]

After being flattened by the Knife, I headed to this weird (but kinda cool) afterparty at the West Side meat market Club B.E.D. It was dubbed the "Zombie Prom", so the place was full of people with fake blood on their faces and, inexplicably, a pair of dudes dressed up like Pac-Man. (Nobody seemed to care that Halloween was a day earlier.) But the main attraction was a performance by Lupe Fiasco, who tore up the place like it was a stadium packed with screaming fans, rather than a half-full loft space populated by distracted VIPs.

I was hoping to hear him perform "The Cool", given that this was the ZOMBIE prom, and it's possible that he did, but I arrived about halfway into his set. So I caught "I Gotcha", "Kick, Push", "Daydreamin'", and other Food & Liquor tracks, as well as a mixtape cut in which he rhymes over Gorillaz. Lupe was sporting a pencil-thin moustache, and while I usually am quite anti-moustache in general, it looked pretty badass on him.

Lupe Fiasco [Club B.E.D.; 1 a.m.]

Photos: Lee "Scratch" Perry's Shoes! + Tour

The headdresses, the microphones, the Js...it's safe to say we've been aware of Lee "Scratch" Perry's colorful personality for quite some time now. But nothing, nothing could have prepared us for the kicks the reggae man wore to an interview at SIRIUS Satellite Radio's New York City headquarters last September.

Really, bag the Jamaican flag and replace it with these babies, because they embody the country and its music like nothing I've ever seen before. Plus it's nice to know the seventy-year-old Perry is still in good health-- he'd have to be to lift these clunkers off the ground. The photos come courtesy of SIRIUS's Elise Brown. Scope one more after the jump. [MORE...]

CMJ Report: Wednesday [Nitsuh Abebe]

Dr. Dog [Bowery Ballroom; 10:25 p.m.]



Wednesday night at the Bowery Ballroom felt like a Battle of the Bands' Awkward Names. The shaggy hippies of Dr. Dog played a pretty glorious pop set, but is that a medical degree that dog has? (These guys seem more homeopathic.)

Cold War Kids [Bowery Ballroom; 11:25 p.m.]





Then the skinny-jeaned Christians of Cold War Kids staggered around for a bit, their singer coming off like an embittered Taylor Hicks yelling at you from the next barstool. (The band name denotes that they grew up amid crisis and drama, man.)

Tapes 'n Tapes [Bowery Ballroom; 12:30 a.m.]





Then came Tapes 'n Tapes (where's the other apostrophe, guys?), who turned out a markedly high-energy and bottom-heavy set-- tight and professional, packed with rockers from their earlier days, and a decent distance from the slacker delicacy of their debut LP, The Loon. Don't let their half-beards fool you: These guys bounced, beamed, and thanked the kids in front politely, like a band that's enjoying success in both senses of the word "enjoy."

CMJ Report: Wednesday [Ryan Schreiber]

Professor Murder [Pianos; 10:00 p.m.]

Lit from the fading embers of dancepunk, Professor Murder's set at Pianos proved everything their Pitchfork-recommended debut EP, Professor Murder Rides the Subway, suggested: You can't bury the genre that's not dead. Drawing as much from dub's legendary forefathers as from Solid Gold-era Gang of Four, Professor Murder's mellotron-drenched, echoplex-informed art-funk packed the room. But how does a band with just a five-song EP (one of which is a 22-second segue) handle a full set? Easy: Start late, and preview plenty of new material. If the evening's performance was any indication, their forthcoming debut could be a cold-blooded killer.

Figurines [Mercury Lounge; 1:00 a.m.]

So this was the sixth time I've seen Denmark-based rockers the Figurines...since March. It's not that I go out of my way to catch them whenever they're in town (alright, I sorta do); they're just that hard-working. Their latest album, Skeleton, finally saw North American release this year after having been available in their homeland since February 2005, establishing them, in my mind, as one of this year's most underrecognized indie bands. Their shows are always competent, if not necessarily revelatory-- but last night, as on the recent Chicago stop of their just-completed U.S. tour, they were tight beyond belief, easily winning over a crowd that had mostly turned out to see...

Girl Talk [Mercury Lounge; 2:00 a.m.]

I was sure after seeing the Knife's set at Webster Hall just two hours earlier that I'd already witnessed the quintessential CMJ performance of 2006. But for all the mind-blowing spectacle that went into the Sweden electronic duo's psilocybic special effects, Girl Talk's DJ/not-DJ set at Mercury Lounge was way more fun. Blowing up the show we saw at Chicago's Empty Bottle in September for a stage nearly twice the size, GT mastermind Gregg Gillis wasn't 10 minutes into his set before he'd invited up more than 50 people to dance (and eventually strip him to his underwear).

Girl Talk records give the impression of slaved-over mash-ups, meticulously stretched and pitchshifted to sync flawlessly, but last night's set list was worlds apart from the one I'd seen just over a month earlier, suggesting he may work faster than anyone realizes. In addition to completely reworking popular moments from the awesome Night Ripper, he also made room for brand new cuts (including Kelis' "Bossy" and Nelly Furtado's "Maneater"), spontaneously connecting one track to the next. Playing well beyond his usual 45 minutes, he finished out the set by announcing, "I promised I wouldn't pull out this Nirvana shit tonight, but...", ending an already massive set with his notoriously PA-shattering cover of "Scentless Apprentice". By the time it was all over, at 3:00 in the morning, the crowd was half-naked, drenched in beer, sweat, and a little blood from that one poor stagediver-- and ready to get back up at noon the next day and start all over again.

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.)