Frightened Rabbit Sign to FatCat, Reissue Debut
Photos: Frightened Rabbit [Chicago, IL; 01/23/07]

Having already lured Mice Parade and Songs of Green Pheasant into its gaping maw, FatCat has naturally set its ravenous eyes on Glasgow trio Frightened Rabbit.

And the only way surname-less Scott, Billy, and Grant can escape the gnashing of teeth and the sting of stomach acid is by providing FatCat with sweet, sweet recorded music-- which they will do this fall, when Frightened Rabbit reissue a remastered version of their 2006 debut, Sing the Greys. As an appetizer, they'll serve up a single for "Be Less Rude" sometime before the album's release. They then plan to record some new material with producer Peter Katis (Interpol, the National, the Twilight Sad).

Catch these rascally Rabbit-men (if you can!) as they timidly play a handful of shows this summer, including a New York City gig on June 24.

And oh-- what's that now? You'd like to see Amy Phillips' photos from Frightened Rabbit's January 23 show at the Empty Bottle in Chicago? Well why didn't you say so! Bon appétit:

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Cat Power Wins Shortlist Prize

Out of a list that also included Band of Horses, Tom Waits, Beirut, Hot Chip, Joanna Newsom, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Girl Talk, Regina Spektor, and Spank Rock, Cat Power has emerged victorious as the winner of the 2006 Shortlist Music Prize for her album The Greatest. This makes Ms. Marshall (who was also nominated for the 2003 Shortlist Prize for You Are Free) the first woman to win the award.

A panel that included the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Sufjan Stevens, the Flaming Lips, and, um, Panic! at the Disco did the deciding for this year's prize, and in addition to the prize, Cat Power also received the dubious honor of a glowing review from KT Tunstall, another panelist. Tunstall called The Greatest "an immediate classic that will never age," which makes it sort of like Oil of Olay for your ears.

As part of a Shortlist digital promotion with the iTunes store, The Greatest is now available there with an exclusive extra track titled "Up and Gone".

Photos: Feist / Grizzly Bear [New York, NY; 06/11/07]

Photos by Kathryn Yu

Folks filled up New York City's Town Hall last night to hear that voice-- the voice that adorns this year's Best New Music-tagged The Reminder, the voice of sometime Broken Social Scenester Leslie Feist. And okay, some probably came to gawk at Ms. Feist, who is, if you'll forgive the colloquialism, quite a catch.

As it has since last week, Feist's sonorous circus act began with the mighty Grizzly Bear, whose tour duties never seem to end. The Brooklyn foursome is still conjuring selections from last year's exquisite Yellow House, and we can't complain too much about that.

The Feist/Grizzly Bear caravan remains in NYC tonight before rolling off to DC tomorrow. Each act plays some dates separate from the other as well-- with Grizzly Bear of course rocking the Pitchfork Music Festival in July.

Bonus! Tune in to "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" tonight to catch Feist, with Grizzly Bear singing backup.

FEIST






GRIZZLY BEAR

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Andrew Bird, Low Guest on New Fog LP
In 25 years, they'll do a lousy remake of this band with Selma Blair and that girl from "Lost"

On August 14, Minnesotan hip-hop-tinged pocket-pop tinkerers Fog will issue Ditherer, their follow-up to 2005's 10th Avenue Freakout, on Lex Records.

Whaddayamean "their"? Isn't Fog just one dude, Andrew Broder? Not anymore, apparently. It's a trio featuring Broder on guitar, Tim Glenn on drums, and Mark Erickson on bass.

Ditherer features pop-ins from the likes of Andrew Bird, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low, Phil Elverum of Mt. Eerie/The Microphones, Why?, Dosh, pedestrian (who contributes lyrics), and a few others. And, if that's not enough indie star power for you, remixes of Ditherer tracks by the likes of Jesu, Akron/Family and Dntel are on the way. Man, dudes rope in more talent than a Pharrell solo joint. And the song that Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker sing on is called "What's Up Freaks?" !!!

Those looking for a little peek behind the curtain of Ditherer would be advised to check out the "Ditherer: An Introduction" video, directed by famed music video pioneer Chuck Stadler and hyperlinked for your bemusement here.

Also, attention, citizens of North America and Europe: Fog are plotting a bi-continental jaunt for the coming months, though no dates have been firmed up just yet. [MORE...]

Blitzen Trapper Make Summer Tour Plans

Photo by Jade Harris

Big doings in camp Blitzen Trapper. The Portland band wraps up their tour with the Hold Steady tonight in Columbia, Missouri, and today marks the (self-)release of the band's newest album, Wild Mountain Nation.

On June 23, they'll start things off all over again with a show in Seattle, followed by a full-on tour with David Vandervelde.

Vandervelde has his own new release in the works, the Nothin' No EP, which will come out June 19 on Secretly Canadian. [MORE...]

Timbaland Arrested for Beating Up a German Dude (?!)

Oh Timbaland. So talented, so egotistical, so... under investigation? According to a TMZ.com report, the Virginia producer was arrested yesterday (June 10) in Germany after sending a hotel bar patron to the hospital in a fight.

The fight took place after a Justin Timberlake concert in Cologne, Germany. It started in the lobby bar of the Hotel Intercontinental and moved to the street in front of the hotel.

The fight allegedly began after the bar patron-- a man the TMZ.com report calls "Robert F"-- "became visibly upset over his girlfriend talking to Timbaland... According to German reports, Timbaland then attacked the patron after Robert called him the 'n' word."

Two other people allegedly joined Timbaland in the fight, and he was released on bail this morning for 750 € (almost exactly $1,000 U.S.). Police say the incident is still under investigation.

We blame the whole thing on the violence and subliminal Satanic messages in Justin Timberlake's music.

T.V. Eye: June 11-17, 2007

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, June 11:

NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": El-P
CBS: "Late Show With David Letterman": Flight of the Conchords
ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live": Feist (rerun)
CBS: "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson": Lily Allen

Tuesday, June 12:

NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Feist

Wednesday, June 13:

CBS: "Late Show With David Letterman": Elvis Perkins
FUSE: "The Sauce": Lily Allen

Thursday, June 14:

NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Andrew Bird
NBC: "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno": Bloc Party

Friday, June 15:

IFC: "The Henry Rollins Show": Bob Mould

Report: Bonnie "Prince" Billy Performs I See a Darkness: Louisville, 6/10/2007
Plus Fred Armisen and Blowfly, too!

Photos by Matt Jordan, text by Eric Harvey

Bonnie "Prince" Billy-- playing his classic 1999 album I See A Darkness in its entirety-- opening for Blowfly, a 62-year-old Redd Foxx-as-George Clinton who performs in a mask and cape? "Saturday Night Live" star/indie rock gadabout (and onetime Pitchfork contributor) Fred Armisen, performing an ironic drum solo in character for four minutes before both of them?

This event must be sponsored by a local video store specializing in obscure, campy exploitation films, right? Right.

Louisville, Kentucky's Wild and Wooly Video staged Sunday night's sold-out event at Headliner's Music Hall, both to celebrate its 10th year of satiating the Ohio Valley's need for Roger Corman and Dario Argento films, and to support Kosair Charities, a local not-for profit that provides low-cost medical care for children. The highly entertaining evening exposed the connections between the realms of indie rock and paracinema, both of which exist on the margins of the entertainment mainstream, through appeal to small segments of entertainment consumers.

Fred Armisen's set, which was entirely too short, blended two of his popular music-related characters from "SNL"-- timbale-playing stand-up Ferecito and batshit Norwegian interior decorator Noony Schöener-- into someone named Jens Hanneman. Jens explained the theoretical concept behind his loony free-jazz drum solo and then played it with over-expressive glee (and, it should be noted, a high degree of competence).

However, the crowd was there for Louisville native Will Oldham, and the floor filled as he and his seven-piece band (including former Superwolf collaborator and Chavez/Zwan member Matt Sweeney) took the stage, clad in homemade Wild and Wooly t-shirts. The irony of performing a record as sparse and elegaic as Darkness as a celebratory gesture may or may not have been included in the plans for the show, but it didn't matter once the band launched into a ramped-up, expansive version of "A Minor Place".

The set significantly reworked the original songs, as could be expected from the notoriously shape-shifting Oldham. The biggest beneficiaries were the wonderful "Madeleine-Mary", which swelled the original into an electrifying romp, and "Death to Everyone", which turned into the most ominous of audience sing-alongs. Louisville indie legend David Pajo showed up to contribute guitar to "Song for the New Breed", and "Black" hewed most closely to the original version, eschewing all band members save Oldham and his violinist.

While Oldham and company's wonderful performance of Darkness proved that revelry and mourning are but two spots on the same performative continuum, headliner Blowfly tested the true gonzo-ness of the mostly beardo-austere indie crowd. He poured on his signature Dolomite-esque misogyny, wearing a loose-fitting, sequined superhero suit while reworking funk standards into the most basic of puns. Thus, "Freddie's Dead" becomes "Freddie's Dick is Dead," the refrain from Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street" is rhymed with "beat your meat," and so forth. Only the 'sploitation diehards stuck around (approximately 40% of Oldham's audience), but Blowfly's performance—a hybrid of nasty comedy, performance art, and music—was a fitting capper to the evening.

FRED ARMISEN:

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New Young Pony Club Prep Fantastic Debut
Photos: New Young Pony Club [Brighton, England; 06/08/07]

With the setting of each sun, UK disco-pop sensations New Young Pony Club get a little older, their sound a little more worn-in. But that don't mean we can't love them like we did when first we met. If our Club shows a little more experience around the edges than it used to, well, we'll take it.

And, though it feels like we've seen these Clubsters through a lot, when the Modular-issued Fantastic Playroom hits UK shelves July 9, it'll be the first time all that newfound grit comes out in full length.

For those of you looking to spare a week's worth of wrinkles on your Pony Club before linking up with them, a single for the Fantastic's third cut (and Intel commercial track) "Ice Cream" will be released seven days before its resulting album.

Oh, and the kids will stick close to their home continent for a bunch of shows throughout the summer. For a taste of that action, check out Max Tollworthy's shots from New Young Pony Club's June 8 show at Brighton, England's Concorde.






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Prince Reunites With Wendy & Lisa!
But the question remains: Is the water still warm enough?

In our recent clearinghouse of all things purple, we mentioned that the details we had on Prince's upcoming album Planet Earth were a bit, er, scant.

Well, now they're less scant. We've got a release date-- two, actually! Planet Earth will hit July 24 in North America, and July 16 on the rest of, um, planet Earth. And a record label! Columbia Records, come on down.

First single "Guitar" hits radio June 11 (hey, that's today!), but I'm sure all of you have taken full advantage of the marvels of the computer age and downloaded "Guitar" to your Verizon Wireless phone already, right? (Yeah, us neither.)

But the BIG BIG news about the new album is that it finally reunites Prince with Purple Rain protégés Wendy and Lisa, who "are among the musicians appearing on 'Planet Earth'," according to a press release. (That's all we know about their involvement.) YES! Can a full-on Revolution reunion be far behind? We sure hope so. It's not like the doctor guy has anything better to do. [MORE...]

Daft Punk's Electroma Coming to North America

Daft Punk's oft-promised Electroma-- the tale of "two robots who journey across a mythic American landscape of haunting, surreal beauty on a quest to become human"-- has been under wraps for far too long for those of us on the North American continent. And, like an inhuman cyborg without its batteries, we simply will not stand for it.

The feature-length film, written and directed by the hardly-daft Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, will make its way to our shores through screenings at number of festivals this summer, before hitting shelves in the fall from the enablers at Vice Records. If there's not a dramatic mask-removal scene at the end of this thing a la Return of the Jedi, I'm gonna demand my $15 back.

Generous sorts that they are, Daft Punk aren't letting their summer plans stop there; they're pitching in to help the uncoordinated dance on a summer-long tour, and they've even found time to throw a lifeline to an under-recognized rapper in need. [MORE...]

Jose Gonzalez Announces More Fall Dates

Photo by Fredrik Egerstrand

José González is getting a head start on the promotion of his sophomore LP, In Our Nature (out September 25 on Mute), by announcing the first of two U.S. solo tours he will play in the fall.

González's first U.S. tour begins in earnest September 27 in New York City, though he does have one NYC date scheduled in August. James Blackshaw and (as previously reported) Savath & Savalas will open for him on select dates. The second U.S. tour, as well as dates in the UK and Europe are not yet announced.

González will pass the time between now and his fall tours with South American, European, and Japanese dates that continue tomorrow (June 12) in Mendoza, Argentina. He will also digitally release "Down the Line", the first single from In Our Nature, on August 14. [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.)