Califone Tour the Great American West... and Wisconsin

MP3: Califone: The Orchids [from the Roots & Crowns LP]

Regina Spektor Tours North America, Israel

Regina Spektor will bring about peace in the Middle East next week, when she gets the entire populations of Israel and its neighboring countries to all sing along simultaneously to that one song with the line about "cleavage, cleavage, cleavage" at her concerts in Tel Aviv on March 10 and 11.

Then, after a couple anti-climactic weeks, the piano-playing singer/songwriter will tour North America starting in late March. She'll also hit Coachella and Bonnaroo.

Spektor recently appeared on the webcast comp Attic Jam, which was released February 14 and is only available via iTunes. She also dropped a live EP, titled Live in California 2006 earlier this month. It is available on CD and digitally on iTunes. [MORE...]

Video: Regina Spektor: Fidelity [from the Begin To Hope LP]

Hella Bring Outer Space to Earth Cities

MP3: Hella: The Ungrateful Dead [from the There's No 666 in Outer Space LP]

Fiona Apple, Jon Brion to Play L.A. Benefits

In an effort to raise funds for a friend, Fiona Apple will join Jon Brion on stage at his favorite Los Angeles venue, Largo, on March 5 and 9.

Apple's production manager, Gordon "Gungi" Paterson, was diagnosed with cancer last summer, and to lend a hand with the financial burden associated with his treatment, Fiona, Brion, Dave Palmer, David Garza, Nickel Creek's Sean and Sara Watkins, and more will perform at the pair of benefits. Proceeds will go to Gungi and his family.

"Gungi is one of those people that you just love, really actually LOVE, within five minutes of meeting him," Apple wrote on her official website. "As you may know, I am a girl prone to low days. I don't know how many times I got to soundcheck in a grumpy, nasty, teary rut, and when I saw Gungi, all nearly seven feet of him, across the empty theatre, and we waved to each other and he asked me how I was, I immediately got a jolt of life...His face is a pep-talk!...His eyes are HUGS!...

"He's my friend. I love him. He's helped me a lot when I have been in trouble. Now, he is in trouble, and I want to help him...If you can come to either of the shows at Largo, they should be pretty fun...and if you don't come, then maybe you'd like to donate 5 bucks or something...whatever you decide, I thank you, for being there for me, for giving a damn, and for making noise and for listening."

In related news, Jon Brion will play a one-off show at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago on March 9.

As previously reported, Apple will join Common and the Shins' James Mercer on mtvU's Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships committee. The Fulbright is a Department of State-sponsored program which allows college students to study abroad for a year while doing research on a project of their own design.

The aforementioned artists will lend a hand in awarding this year's batch of Fulbrights to four students who wish to "study how music can serve as a global force for mutual understanding."

Video: Fiona Apple: Not About Love [from the Extraordinary Machine LP]

12 Rods' Olcott Returns With Mystery Palace

Stream: Mystery Palace: Various Tracks

Maximo Park Announce U.S. Release Details

Maxïmo Park have secured a U.S. release date for their new album, Our Earthly Pleasures. Warp will release it Stateside May 8, and it is still scheduled for an April 2 release in the UK. The U.S. version will include the bonus tracks "Pride Before a Fall" and "Distance Makes". Both will appear as B-sides to the album's first single, "Our Velocity", which comes out March 19 in the UK.

A stream of "Our Velocity" is available at the band's MySpace.

As previously reported, Maxïmo Park have plenty of UK and European dates scheduled, quite a few of which are with Art Brut. A full U.S. tour is forthcoming. [MORE...]

Stream: Maximo Park: Our Velocity [from the forthcoming Our Earthly Pleasures LP]

Beirut Release eMusic EP, Work With Final Fantasy
Also book two NYC shows

Smart dude, that Zach Condon. He knows that in order to maintain the rabidity of your fan base, you have to keep them wanting more. Just a few weeks after the release of the Lon Gisland EP, Beirut have dropped a couple more morsels to feed the starving masses: the Pompeii EP, currently available only at eMusic. (It will be available soon in Europe via Rough Trade Digital.)

It consists of the songs "Fountains and Tramways" and "Napoleon on the Bellerophon". Both tracks were recorded before Condon made Beirut's debut album Gulag Orkestar.

Thanks to the folks at Rewriteable Content for pointing out the EP!

Beirut return to the stage at the 4AD SXSW showcase at Emo's on March 14, playing alongside labelmates Blonde Redhead, the Mountain Goats, Emma Pollock and Wolf & Cub. They'll also do a live KEXP set on March 16. And on May 6 and 7, they'll play the Bowery Ballroom in their adopted home of New York City.

A video for "Elephant Gun" is in the works, as is Beirut's second album. The band plan to return to their hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico to record in March and April. Griffin Rodriguez, who has worked with Man Man, Bablicon, and A Hawk and a Hacksaw, among others, will be helping out with the recording.

Condon and co. will also head up to Canada in May to work with Owen Pallett on the next Final Fantasy album.

MP3: Beirut: Elephant Gun [from the Lon Gisland EP]

Annuals Picked to Open for Blonde Redhead

MP3: Annuals: Brother [from the Be He Me LP]

Cinematic Orchestra Reveal New Album Details

This summer, Jason Swinscoe will return with the first Cinematic Orchestra album since 2002's Every Day. The new record, titled Ma Fleur, was conceived as the soundtrack to an imagined film. Swinscoe made use of a scriptwriter and photographer Maya Hayuk for inspiration, bringing unfinished pieces to them and writing more music based on their responses in the forms of short story scripts and photographs.

It's out on Ninja Tune on May 7 in the UK and June 5 on Domino in North America.

Swinscoe collaborated with longtime bassist Phil France on Ma Fleur's arrangements. He also assembled a trio of vocalists, each of which he used to voice specific characters or thematic elements of the Ma Fleur story. Legendary soul singer and previous Cinematic Orchestra collaborator Fontella Bass plays the part of the elderly protagonist, and Lou Rhodes plays a character in mid-life. The youngest member of the trio is Montreal's Patrick Watson, who sings on the beautiful album closer "To Build a Home".

Ninja Tune is offering the radio edit of "To Build a Home" as an MP3 download if you sign up for the Cinematic Orchestra mailing list here. It's worth it, but if you'd rather not provide an email address, you can stream the song from the group's MySpace.

The Cinematic Orchestra will tour Europe and the UK in April and May, with plans to play select North American venues in July. So far, only an NYC date has been announced. A full tour is in the works for the fall. [MORE...]

Stream: The Cinematic Orchestra: To Build a Home [from the forthcoming Ma Fleur LP]

Ryan Adams Unleashes His Tiger This June
ewww

Stream: Ryan Adams: A New Day on Ryan Minus Adams Dot Com

Exclusive: Voxtrot Reveal Debut LP Title, Tracklist

MP3: Voxtrot: Trouble [from the Your Biggest Fan EP]

Photos: Sebadoh [San Diego, CA; 02/26/07]

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