Dr. Dre, Hollywood Producer

Now Dr. Dre has one more activity to help him procrastinate the recording/releasing of Detox: making movies. The good doctor and New Line Cinema have agreed to a multiyear feature deal, with Dre producing "dark comedies" before moving onto "other areas, such as horror," according to Variety.com. No word yet on whether or not he will journey into anything a little less morbid.

Dre has created a film company called Crucial Films (huge out-of-court settlement ahead!) to accommodate his new position, and he will deal heavily with the music aspects of his films. Phillip Atwell, the director of many Aftermath music videos, will co-produce with Dre, and it was New Line's Toby Emmerich who approached him a year ago about the move to movies. "He said, 'I want to be your Jimmy Iovine.' There was nothing more he needed to say," Dre said to Variety. But doesn't Dre already have a Jimmy Iovine?

Klaxons recently told MTV News UK that they would love to record an r&b album with the producer, but with this deal in place, we assume they'll get about the same treatment he gave the Game.

Akron/Family Launch U.S., European Tour

Akron/Family are gearing up to take 2006's Meek Warrior (Young God) on the road, both in the U.S. and Europe.

Tonight, the Fam kicks off the journey's stateside leg with a students-only show at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. They'll hit many more colleges (and a few clubs, too) before wrapping up the North American portion of the jaunt in mid-March. In April, Akron/Family will make their way to Europe.

As previously reported, the four-piece contributed to Do Make Say Think's forthcoming album, You, You're a History in Rust, which is due via Constellation on February 12 in Europe and February 26 everywhere else.

In other guest artist news, Akron/Family recently informed their MySpace blog readers that Balitmore's Lexie Mountain Boys lent vocals to their new album and "the hoedown freak-out soul-clap meter shot up to 11!" [MORE...]

Apples in Stereo Expand, Kick Off Tour

With New Magnetic Wonder (Simian/Elephant 6/Yep Roc) now in stores, the Apples in Stereo are launching a lengthy North American tour, most of which will be spent with pals Casper & the Cookies. They'll play two gigs in Lexington, Kentucky tonight: an instore slot early this evening at CD Central and, following that, a show at the Dame.

Apples have built up their trek since we last reported, and it now runs beyond SXSW, wrapping up in early April. They'll make an appearance at ATP Versus the Fans event in May as well.

In addition, the band is scheduled to perform on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on February 14. Valentine's Day canoodling with Conan after last year's late night Colbert affair, Robert Schneider? We're very disappointed in you! [MORE...]

Electrelane Ready Fourth LP, Tour With the Blow

Echoing Mr. Yorke's famous plea against alarms and surprises, the UK-spawned, Berlin-based ladies of Electrelane ask for No Shouts, No Calls on their fourth long-player.

The 11-track set follows up last fall's Singles, B-Sides & Live collection and 2005's Axes and arrives May 8 in the U.S. via Too Pure. According to the band's website, UK residents will see it on record store shelves in late April, while lucky Japan gets the disc first, in early April.

The quartet-- which includes Pitchfork contributer Mia Lily Clarke on guitar-- has a big show lined up at London's Scala on May 9, and will cross the pond for a series of U.S. dates with the Blow later that month. If you'd like to make a request during one of these gigs, however, would you kindly use sign language or make a poster or something? Thanks, dudes. [MORE...]

Lusine Recruits Tejada, Dear, Apparat for Remix Album
Also: Spectral kicks off Death series, North American "residencies"

Seattle techno producer Jeff McIlwain, aka Lusine, will release an album of remixes on March 20 via Ghostly International. The CD/digital version of the collection is titled Podgelism and features remixes of Lusine by John Tejada, Matthew Dear, Apparat, Lawrence, Robag Wruhme, and Lusine himself, among others. Ghostly will also release an abbreviated 12" version titled Podgelism: Select Remixes, which features four of the most dancefloor-oriented remixes. It is also scheduled for a March 20 release. Doug Seay's video for "Still Frame" will come with the CD.

Speaking of Ghostly's danceable side, counterpart label Spectral Sound will release the first 12" in the Death Is Nothing to Fear series on February 20. Death Is Nothing to Fear 1 features Audion (aka Matthew Dear) on the A-side and Bodycode and newcomer Pär Grindvik on the B.

Dear is currently on a North American tour under his Audion alias. His remaining DJ dates continue through March, and Spectral is calling them the first installment of a bi-monthly North American "residency", which sort of sounds like a regular old tour to us. April and May's "residency" will feature Bodycode. [MORE...]

Spiritualized's Pierce Returns to Earth for UK Tour
New Spiritualized album due in 2007

Things are looking up for Jason Pierce, Spiritualized principal and Spacemen 3 pilot. Having battled back from a bout with "advanced periorbital cellulitis with bilateral pneumonia" in summer 2005, Pierce returned to the road last fall with his special "Acoustic Mainlines" tour. Dude must like that road almost as much as he loves the cosmos, because he's at it again.

This April, the Spiritualized "Acoustic Mainlines" tour lands in five UK cities (including one Dirty Three-curated All Tomorrow's Parties engagement). Joining Jason for these gigs-- at which he'll play material from both the Spiritualized and Spacemen 3 catalogues, as well as covers-- are a string quartet, gospel singers, and Spiritualized guitarist Doggen on Rhodes electric piano.

Meanwhile, J. Spaceman continues work on the long-awaited new Spiritualized album, presently set for release later this year. It's the one he called "the work of the devil...with a little guidance from me" in a press release.

Pierce also joins Massive Attack as a special guest at tonight's Brixton Academy gig in London, a benefit show to raise money for the HOPING Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping children in Palestinian refugee camps. Actually, Pierce is probably up there massively tripping out onstage as you read this. [MORE...]

Exclusive: LCD Soundsystem Announce Tour

Prepare, North American scum: LCD Soundsystem is coming our way. James Murphy and his disco machine have announced a post-Coachella trek across the continent (with a couple of hometown NYC warm-up shows beforehand). Peppered in between full-band gigs will be DJ sets by Murphy and bandmate Pat Mahoney in various cities. (All of the venues for those DJ sets are yet to be announced, however.)

"North American Scum", the first video from LCD Soundsystem's new album Sound of Silver is on display over in Forkcast right now.

And Murphy's quest to send the album to number one on the Billboard 200? Well, the number one album this week (Norah Jones' Not Too Late) sold 400,000 copies according to Billboard.com. Better get to work winning over soccer moms, James. [MORE...]

Panda Bear Reveals Earth-Shattering Three-Date Tour
UPDATE: Tour Is Actually a Gargantuan FIVE DATES LONG

With Person Pitch already poised for a year-end list takeover (we know, it's not even March yet, but we can't contain ourselves), Panda Bear has announced a whopping three-date tour that doesn't kick off for another whopping four months. But whatever dudes! We're still five whopping shades of excited right now.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Aaron Savage, we have learned that Panda Bear has two English dates scheduled as well: one in London on March 8 and one in Manchester on March 9.

Noah Lennox, as the zookeepers know him, leaves the panda den on June 21 in search of bamboo and merriment. Hopefully he'll sate his appetites in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New York City, because that's it for his present travel itinerary. Afterwards he returns to the den to get back to work on the next Animal Collective record or play croquet or do whatever he does while listening to Beach Boys records in his free time.

As previously reported, Person Pitch razzle-dazzles 'em on March 20 via Paw Tracks. FatCat also treats U.S. and Canadian record-buyers to a 12" of "Bros" on February 21.

Meanwhile, Noah's partner in Animal Collective crime, Avey Tare, hits us with his previously mentioned collaboration with ex-Múm gal Kria Brekkan on April 24. It's called Pullhair Rubeye and Paw Tracks claims all responsibility for this one as well. [MORE...]

Feist Tracklist Revealed

At last, we can finally gaze longingly, thrillingly at Leslie Feist's shapely, beautiful, luscious...tracklist. Yup, all thirteen songs on the previously reported The Reminder, due April 23 worldwide, and May 1 in Canada and the U.S.A., have been revealed. And boy are they SEXY. In a girl-next-door, best friend kind of way.

OK, not really.

The album was produced by Feist, Gonzales, and Renaud Letang.

Thanks to reader Scott Pollack for the tip. [MORE...]

Sufjan Reviews My Brightest Diamond Gig
UPDATE: Also reviews Curtains show that same night

Looks like two can play this review game: newly bearded Sufjan Stevens ditched the wings and donned his critic's cap, today posting a live review on Asthmatic Kitty's website of a January 17 show at New York's Tonic. The performer? None other than bandmate/labelmate/BFF My Brightest Diamond.

(UPDATE: It seems that Mr. Stevens had a very busy evening on January 17. He also reviewed the Curtains show at Cake Shop that same night for the Asthmatic Kitty website. Sorry we missed that the first time!)

Before you raise the conflict-of-interest flags, however, note that while Asthmatic bills the piece as a "Live Review", it's really more of a heartfelt appreciation-- a platform upon which Sufjan extolls the musical virtues of Shara Worden, ponders the metaphysics of show-going and having so many friends, and geeks out like the classically trained musician he is (OMG Interlochen!). We already know Sufjan has some lit game, and here he flosses it with eloquence.

Sufjan also discussed openers Soovin Kim (violin) and Jeremy Denk (piano), who rocked some Charles Ives compositions-- "This, thankfully, dampens the party vibe in the room," said Sufjan-- and avant-pianist Gabriel Kahane, whose pieces included "a meandering lieder based on Craigslist entries." Stevens approached the young man afterwards: "By the bar, I tell him it would make a stunning Broadway show. Better than Cats. I regret saying it. Gabriel looks mortified. Have I dampened the party vibe even further?"

Hahaha, that Sufjan, always so self-deprecating! Hah. Hah. Anyway.

Of Worden, Sufjan wrote, "Shara is one of a kind. With the elegance and responsibility of a great performer, she reconciles the academia of Ives with the jousting of Broadway without even trying. Her songs draw you in, settle in your gut, stick with you for days, but without the ordinary flourishes of pop music, or the formal pageantry of classical music."

Read Sufjan's entire five-paragraph essay here.

Oh, and our Suf-radars tell us that Mr. Stevens is fast approaching from several directions: he covers "Free Man in Paris" on that Joni Mitchell tribute, out April 24, joins pals Rosie Thomas and Denison Witmer for some tunes on Rosie's These Friends of Mine, out now digitally and next month physically, and performs-- along with My Brightest Diamond-- at the previously reported Music Now festival (Cincinnati; April 5-7). Sufjan also plays Grand Rapids' Calvin College on March 30 and appears in the Danielson movie, coming to DVD April 10. Whew.

Finally, My Brightest Diamond, as you know, hits the road next month with the Decemberists. Prior to that she bounds across Europe with elegance and responsibility and stuff like that. [MORE...]

Bonde do Role Announce Album Details, Tour
Album title: Bonde do Role With Lasers

Lasers! LASERS!!!

Bonde do Role are mastering their debut album, Bonde do Role With Lasers, for a June 5 release on Domino. Because everything is made better by the addition of lasers.

Contrary to a previous report, the "Solta o Frango" single will come out digitally and as a 7" on March 19 in the UK. In the U.S., CD and 12" versions of the single will follow on March 20. The single will come with the original, instrumental, and a cappella versions of the song, and the U.S. version will have a bonus track titled "Rap do CB".

You can watch a behind-the-scenes "making of" clip about the "Solta o Frango" clip here. And check out a Pitchfork exclusive remix of "Gasolina" here.

Bonde also have a tour coming up. It starts with four dates in London, three of which are on the same night. When it's time to party, Bonde party hard. [MORE...]

Shins Kick Off Tour, Stay in Top 10

The Shins have a Top 10 album for the second week in a row. After debuting at number 2 on the Billboard 200 last week, their new album Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop) is number 8 this week, with 53,000 copies sold, according to Billboard.com.

Congrats, guys! You sold more than the latest Madonna CD/DVD.

The pop stars will take their show on the road, as their tour with Viva Voce kicks off tonight in Minneapolis.

As previously reported, the Shins are also scheduled to play KCRW's sixth annual A Sounds Eclectic Evening fundraiser in L.A. this April. Additional performers include Lily Allen, the Cold War Kids, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Bitter: Sweet, and the Pinker Tones.

Dates:

02-08 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
02-09 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom *
02-10 Chicago, IL - Congress Theater *
02-11 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant *
02-12 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall *
02-13 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall *
02-15 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium *
02-16 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue *
02-17 Boise, ID - Egyptian Theatre *
02-18 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre *
02-19 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom *
02-20 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater *
02-21 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
02-25 London, England - The Astoria
02-26 London, England - Bush Hall
04-14 Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheatre (KCRW: A Sounds Eclectic Evening 6)

* with Viva Voce

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