Joanna Newsom Unveils Orchestral U.S. Tour
Everybody else is doing it, so why can't she?

Last fall, when the ethereal Joanna Newsom toured the UK in support of Ys, she was accompanied by full orchestras. Now, finally, America will get to experience the grandeur, as Newsom has scheduled four U.S. orchestral shows this October and November. Details about the specifics of the shows are scant; right now, all we know is that 28 instrumentalists will accompany her at the Los Angeles date at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on November 9.

Joanna and the Ys Street Band hit Europe in August and September, before gearing up for the orchestral undertaking. [MORE...]

Video: Joanna Newsom: Sprout and the Bean [from The Milk-Eyed Mender LP]

Sally Shapiro's Romance Comes to North America

MP3: Sally Shapiro: I'll Be by Your Side [from the Disco Romance LP]

Devendra Announces Thunder Canyon Tracklist
"Shabop Shalom"!

Stream: Devendra Banhart: Tonada Yanomaminista, Rosa [from the forthcoming Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon LP]

!!! Team Up With the Field for Fall Tour

Stream: Gui Boratto: Hera (The Field remix) [from the Chromophobia Remixes Part 1 12-inch]
Stream: !!!: Must Be the Moon (Hot Chip Remix) [from the Must Be the Moon 12-inch]

Minus the Bear Get Laser Light Show, Tour With Subtle
Duuuude, lasers!

Following a series of in-store appearances and a festival appearance, Seattle-based math machines Minus the Bear will throw themselves into a fall tour. But first...it seems the Bears are about to become beacons of light: On August 21, Seattle's Pacific Science Center will put on a laser show set to tracks from Minus the Bear's forthcoming Planet of Ice (still out the very same day from Suicide Squeeze). Minus the Bear laser light show! Just like Pink Floyd!

The band will also perform on WXPN's "World Café Live" series October 8, and a video for Planet of Ice's "Knights" is in the can. And, of course, they're also playing on a nearly nightly basis in front of crowds in exchange for money. Subtle, Ela, and the Helio Sequence will provide support. [MORE...]

MP3: Minus the Bear: Throwin' Shapes [from the forthcoming Planet of Ice LP]

Led Zep Best Of, Remains DVD & Soundtrack Due
Got a whole lotta stuff

Led Zeppelin, repackaged and reissued? A Led Zep best of? Nah, it's nothing new. But there's plenty you haven't heard in new releases of The Song Remains the Same on DVD and its soundtrack album, and a lot to teach your kid brother or sister about the fine art of rockin' on the forthcoming greatest hits comp Mothership.

November 13, Mothership-- yet another hefty Led Zep best-of-- will see release on Atlantic Records/Rhino. It's got just about every song you'd expect, a few you'll miss (no "Lemon Song"?), and comes in a standard two-CD set, a "deluxe" version with a bonus live DVD, a "collector's edition"-- which seems to be the "deluxe" with limited-edition packaging-- and a four-LP vinyl edition complete with "collectible memorabilia" (sword? bong?).

Then there's The Song Remains the Same, Led Zep's totally weird, not-unfairly-maligned Tolkien fantasy/concert film. The new Atlantic/Rhino-issued Song soundtrack, out November 20, is actually rather different this time out, with a whole lotta tunes that didn't show up on its original release added. There's also some previously unreleased takes on Zep classics from the three-night Madison Square Garden run from which the original album was culled.

And what would a rollout of a soundtrack be without an accompanying DVD release? Song Remains the Same will get just that on November 20 on Warner Home Video. It features fully remixed and remastered 5.1 sound and 40 minutes of bonus material. There's also even more previously unreleased takes on Zep classics, a BBC sit-down with Robert Plant and manager Peter Grant, footage from the Drake Hotel robbery that took place during the shooting of the film's concerts, and a Cameron Crowe radio show. Ooh, Cameron Crowe!

The DVD will come in a standard format, Blu-ray, HD, and a two-disc "Limited Collector's Edition," which includes a t-shirt, the soundtrack, lobby cards, copies of the original invites to the film's debut, and the tour schedule from the Song run. [MORE...]

Video: Led Zeppelin: Over the Hills and Far Away [from the Houses of the Holy LP]

Feist/Bloc Party Remixer Boys Noize Preps Album, Tours

Stream: Feist: My Moon, My Man (Boys Noize Remix) [from the forthcoming Oi Oi Oi LP]

Photos: Deerhunter, Ladybug Transistor, Starlight Mints at Team Clermont Summer Festival [Athens, GA; 07/25-26/07]

Photos by Rich Merritt

PR firm Team Clermont commenced its 10th Annual Summer Festival and Blue Ribbon Ball in true Athens style, with local favorites Deerhunter playing the Caledonia Lounge yesterday. The Starlight Mints and Ladybug Transistor officially opened the festivities the day before at the 40 Watt Club, and photographer Rich Merritt was there to capture the action.

As you can see, it was such a special occasion that Bradford Cox actually wore a shirt and pants!

As previously reported, the festival will wrap up with a Pabst-sponsored Blue Ribbon Ball, which is apparently something akin to a high school prom (except the booze is presumably legal), hosted by Bobby Conn. Dates for the remainder of the festival are below.

DEERHUNTER


THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR


STARLIGHT MINTS

[MORE...]

M83 Issues Digital Shades, Works on New LP

Anthony Gonzalez of French shoelookers M83, with the help of Before the Dawn Heals Us co-producer Antoine Gallet, has gathered a number of home recordings and Eno-inspired ambience for a collection he's calling Digital Shades vol. 1. The accumulation of hazy sounds might not seem far off from your average M83 record, but Gonzalez' insistence on making measured moves in the studio and working at his own pace lend Digital Shades its gauzy, experimental vibe.

The Digital Shades project predicates another, perhaps more exciting M83 tidbit: Anthony cobbled the Digital Shades material together while in the studio working out on new, proper M83 album for release in January. Digital Shades will be released digitally September 3 on Gooom/EMI, and on CD and vinyl in France around the same time.

Thanks to Brad Honer for the heads up.

M83 also contributed new music to the HBO Voyeur Project. (Carlos D, Clint Mansell, and made some music for it, too.) You can download the pieces "Une Nuit Pour Nous" and "Je Doute et Je Crie" for free from iTunes now.

M83 presently have no tour dates scheduled.

Stream: M83: Sister Part 2 [from the Digital Shades vol. 1 LP]
MP3: M83: Une Nuit Pour Nous [from the HBO Voyeur Project]
MP3: M83: Je Doute et Je Crie [from the HBO Voyeur Project]

Little Ones Play Gigs With Voxtrot, Kaiser Chiefs, 1990s

MP3: Crystal Castles vs. the Little Ones: Lovers Who Uncover [from the Oh MJ single]

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's a Reissue

Video: Sex Pistols: Pretty Vacant [from the Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols]

Kings of Leon Tour With Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Go ahead and try to tell them apart in that picture

Video: Kings of Leon: On Call [from the Because of the Times LP]
MP3: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Weapon of Choice [from the Baby 81 LP]

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