Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy Team Up for Tour
New York Times critics, cocaine dealers rejoice

Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne will begin a string of U.S. tour dates together on March 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tour borrows a Young Jeezy phrase for its title, "The Street Dream Tour", and also includes Rich Boy, Fat Joe, Jim Jones, and Baby on the bill.

Get T.I. and R. Kelly on there, and it's a "Make It Rain (Remix)" reunion!

Young Jeezy has a few dates by himself before the tour starts, including a show tonight at Las Vegas' Icehouse Lounge. All confirmed dates are below. [MORE...]

Mew to Tour North America This Spring

Last month, Mew's 2003 album Frengers finally arrived in North America. Now, the band members themselves are headed this way, too. (Not for the first time, though. Oh no.)

The Danish trio has announced a spring tour, and it will kick off with several stops at SXSW in March. In addition, Mew will play Norway's Quart Festival this summer. [MORE...]

Brother Ali to Spread Undisputed Truth on the Road

Minnesota rapper Brother Ali's debut album Shadows on the Sun was one of the best albums of 2003; too bad most people didn't hear it. (I give you permission to stop reading this story and go listen to "Star Quality" over at the Rhymesayers website right now.)

Hopefully, that injustice will be righted this spring, when Brother Ali releases his second album, The Undisputed Truth, on Rhymesayers on April 10. Once again, it features Ali in collaboration with producer Ant (also of Atmosphere). If you pre-order the album from Rhymesayers' store Fifth Element, you get a free Brother Ali sticker and mixtape. And a lot of love.

Brother Ali will support the record with a jillion shows across America this spring. All dates will also feature Rhymesayers MC Psalm One and DJ BK One. [MORE...]

The Wrens Don't Announce New Album Details
Do Play Five Shows

Today, February 16, 2007, the Wrens did not announce the release date for their new album, the long-awaited follow-up to 2003's The Meadowlands. The New Jersey band did not reveal the record's title or track list, did not say what the first single is going to be, when said single would impact radio, or who directed the video. They did not offer pithy quotes about in-studio antics or what the album sounds like. They did not share an mp3.

Oh well.

[Thanks to reader Ira Gamerman] [MORE...]

Exclusive: Lindstrom to Produce New 120 Days Jams
Boredoms, !!! members to remix Lindstrom on forthcoming EP

It's a Norwegian affair: spaced-out disco maestro Hans-Peter Lindstrøm has joined forces with spaced-out friends, labelmates, and countrymen 120 Days, producing tracks set to appear on the quartet's upcoming sophomore LP.

Fans of one another's work-- and both signed to Smalltown Supersound-- Lindstrøm and 120 Days have rendezvoused in the studio with designs on fashioning three new cosmic jams. Look for those songs on a special 12" later this year, and on the follow-up to 120 Days' 2006 self-titled debut sometime after that.

In other news, Lindstrøm will soon release a 12" with vocalist and collaborator Isabelle Sandoo. He also has a remix EP on the way via Smalltown. Titled The Contemporary Fix, this one's a topsy-turvy affair: Eye from Boredoms, Justin Van Der Volgen from !!!, and labelmates Bjorn Torske all give esteemed remixer Lindstrøm a taste of his own medicine.

120 Days are out there right now, cris-crossing the world. They'll hit up North American, as previously reported, with Ratatat in March. Lindstrøm, meanwhile, works crowds in Japan with frequent partner Prins Thomas. Click "MORE" for another lovely, exclusive portrait of Hans-Peter and the 120 Days boys in the studio. [MORE...]

CSS, DFA 1979, Gossip on Wall of Sound Comp

The folks at the Wall of Sound label have decided that the dance influences in groups like CSS, the Gossip, Soulwax, and the now-defunct Death From Above 1979 constitute a movement.

So they're documenting it with a compilation titled Shock Rock. They will release the compilation on February 19, but a Shock Rock tour with a semi-rotating lineup of several of the featured bands kicks off tonight in Leeds, England.

One of those groups, Shy Child, will release their Wall of Sound full-length debut in May. [MORE...]

Sufjan Interviews Labelmate Rafter, Mentions Cali LP
Pitchfork starts 24-hour Stevens news service, SUF-SPAN

OK, Sufjan Stevens is officially procrastinating on his 50 States Project. As if ranking horror films and reviewing live gigs from his Asthmatic Kitty kin weren't enough, Sufjan has now taken to interviewing his labelmates.

Today he posted a Q&A with Rafter on AK's Sidebar, as part of the "Half-Week of Rafter Love". We wouldn't be surprised if Sufjan then took four consecutive "power naps," moseyed over to the vending machine for his ninth Mountain Dew of the night, and gazed detachedly out the window until dawn.

Sufjan's interview is a strange thing that has him alternating between the sincere and academic-- "Do you feel music should inspire the listener and/or the performer?"-- and the ironic and, um, neurotic: "You have red hair. Do you belong to a Redhead organization? Do you feel Redheads suffer special discrimination in society? Do you think Redheads have special advantages? Do you feel some ulterior motive in my capitalization of the word 'Redhead'?..."

The whole thing, however, is rather cute, and Rafter reveals his convoluted music-making process, the origins behind the wacky title of his recent LP (Music for Total Chickens), the joys of fatherhood, how he doesn't much care for Antony's vocals, and how "one of [his] favorite things to get from music is a sense of total doom and annihilation." Huh??

Read the entire interview here. Oh, and pssst, Sufjan? Pitchfork is, like, looking for a news reporter, so...

As part of the Half Week of Rafter Love, Asthmatic Kitty has also posted the winners from the Rafter music video contest and promises more Rafter-riffic content in the next couple days. Annnnd Rafter has officially agreed to collaborate with Sufjan on "a record about California," which means OMG SUFJAN POSSIBLY RELEASING CALIFORNIA ALBUM IN NEAR OR FAR FUTURE MAYBE.

Rafter heads to SXSW in mid-March, while Sufjan woos the Grand Rapids masses at a long-sold-out Calvin College gig March 30.

Malajube Tour the World

Malajube will end their post-Trompe L'Oeil hibernation with their first full American tour. They begin tomorrow night in their hometown of Montreal before traveling to the U.S., then to Europe, and then back to Canada.

Au revoir, dudes. [MORE...]

Clientele, Portastatic on Go-Betweens/McLennan Tribute
Exclusive: Contest held to determine final compilation contributor!

When Go-Betweens co-leader Grant McLennan unexpectedly passed away last May, the music world mourned the loss of a dear family member, a friend, and a brilliant, intuitive songwriter. For anyone who had been touched by Grant's music over the last 30 years, it was like losing someone very close.

While never quite a commercial smash, Australia's Go-Betweens nonetheless etched an enduring legacy, charming critics and fans alike with warm, thoughtful pop songwriting. Seeking to pay tribute to Grant and his extraordinary music, Go-Betweens superfans David James Buckner and wife Sherri decided to compile a fitting tribute album.

Love Goes On collects exclusive covers of Go-Betweens favorites and Grant McLennan solo tunes from artists who count Grant and his oeuvre as a profound influence. It should hit shops in early September via David and Sherri's own Rare Victory label and will feature liner notes penned by The Big Takeover's Jack Rabid.

Confirmed contributors include the Clientele, Portastatic, Brookville (aka Ivy's Andy Chase), kiwi rock stalwarts the Bats, Sarah Records graduates the Orchids, Bobby Wratten's post-Field Mice project Trembling Blue Stars, Belle & Sebastian collaborator Future Pilot AKA, and ex-Auteurs/Black Box Recorder gent Luke Haines. Other likely participants include Ivy (re-working their cover of "Streets of Your Town", originally from the Guestroom LP) and Church frontman and McLennan's Jack Frost partner Steve Kilbey (tackling "The Wrong Road").

Hear comp selections from Portastatic, the Orchids, and more at the label's MySpace.

As David told Pitchfork via e-mail, "We have been incredibly pleased and heartened to see the enthusiasm with which this project has been embraced by artists of various cultures and epochs."

But wait-- there's room for one more! Due to a last-minute cancellation, Rare Victory is seeking one final contributor for Love Goes On, to cover title track "Love Goes On!" (originally released on the Go-Betweens' 1988 LP 16 Lovers Lane). Interested parties should shoot an mp3 of their entry to rarevictory@gmail.com no later than March 29, 2007. The label will choose a winner on the basis of "originality, melodicism, and sound quality."

Bear in mind that all entrants, while retaining ownership of their songs, agree to keep them exclusive to Love Goes On for at least 12 months from the release date. Fair enough, why not give it a whirl? [MORE...]

Dios (Malos) Hit the Road, Share Exclusive New MP3

In a bid for better days ahead, the men of Hawthorne, Califoria's Dios (Malos) embark on a U.S. tour next week with pals the Changes (Chicago reprazent!!) and the Spinto Band (Delaware u at??).

While litigation may have turned the band's neutral Dios into grim Dios (Malos), they aren't the least bit down about it. Instead the upbeat troupe is hard at work on the follow-up to 2005's Dios (Malos), tentatively titled Life Between the Tides.

As a special post-Valentine's Day love-hangover treat, Dios (Malos) have graciously shared an unmastered version of new jam "In Control of the OJ" with you, the loyal reader! Rejoice! "In Control" boasts some sunny surface melodies, but its the chaos brewing beneath that intrigues us most and befits that parenthetical aside haunting their name. [MORE...]

P.O.S. Tours With k-os, Warped Tour

Punk-rock friendly Rhymesayers MC P.O.S. is hitting the road with Canadian rapper k-os, Fall Out Boy friends Gym Class Heroes, and punk band RX Bandits starting this weekend in Boston. The tour will wind its way around North America until its end on April 7 in Baton Rouge.

In the summer, he will travel on the Warped Tour, which will also feature k-os. [MORE...]

Clipse, Mos Def, Chuck D Featured in PBS Documentary
Also: 50 Cent, KRS-One, Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, M-1 (Dead Prez), Russell Simmons, Michael Eric Dyson

Not that we're displeased by any means, but we never thought someone would get prominent members of the rap community like Clipse and 50 Cent to go on camera and discuss issues like sexism, violence, homophobia, and masculinity for a documentary about gender roles in hip hop. And then get that documentary to air on PBS. But that's just what Byron Hurt has done.

And if a member of Kid 'n Play can be a college professor, why not?

In Hip Hop: Beyond Beat and Rhymes, which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Hurt examines these issues through interviews with artists, activists, authors, and executives. In addition to Clipse, 50 Cent, and a whole host of scholars, interviewees include Chuck D, Mos Def, Russell Simmons, KRS-One, Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez's M-1, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Doug E. Fresh, D12, cultural critic Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and former Vibe editor-in-chief Emil Wilbekin. Hurt also interviewed several young women at Spelman College as well as aspiring MCs and hip hop fans across the country in order to get an interesting cross-section of opinions.

On the PBS website, Hurt gives an idea of the kinds of questions he asked: "What do today's rap lyrics tell us about the collective consciousness of black men and women from the hip hop generation? How do black men feel about the representations of manhood in hip hop? What does homoeroticism in hip hop media look like?"

It's a very interesting subject for a "loving critique" of hip hop music and culture, and we're marking our calendars for February 20, when the film will air on the Terrence Howard-hosted "Independent Lens" from 10:00-11:00 p.m. Check your local listings here.

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.)