Bat for Lashes Return to North America in September

While we imagine having bats attached to one's eyelids to be a debilitating (or, at the very least, embarassing) ailment, Natasha Khan-- that's Bat for Lashes to you, bub-- seems to be thriving. Heck, she might even get a Mercury Prize! So next time you see a dude on the street with one sleeve longer than the other, just remember: he might be in These Arms Are Snakes or something.

That aside aside, the somewhat batty but always bewitching Khan and her Bat for Lashes will return to North America in September for just about three weeks of dates from Philly to Portland. Along the way she'll link up with backwoods folkies Lewis & Clarke for a spell of shows. [MORE...]

Lucksmiths Spring a Leak on Comp, Tour

Few things can bring a smile to one's face like a Lucksmiths song, but a Lucksmiths tour certainly is one of them. And a Lucksmiths double-disc compilation, too? Our grins done turned themselves inside out.

First up, Spring a Leak, the aforementioned 2CD set, which collects enough rarities, B-sides, radio sessions, remixes, and non-album potpourri to keep those frowns upside down through next spring (or next fall where they're from).

A joint venture between Santa Barbara indie pop mecca Matinée Recordings and the Lucksmiths' own Australian label Lost and Lonesome Recording Company, Spring also boasts a number of choice covers performed by the Lucksmiths, including tunes originally by the Magnetic Fields, the Modern Lovers, Bee Gees, the Ladybug Transistor, Boyracer, the Siddeleys, the Cat's Miaow, and, yes, the Smiths.

The whole shebang comes out September 10 (a Monday, but hey).

The Lucksmiths will also contribute an exclusive track called "Good Light" to a forthcoming compilation celebrating Matinée Recordings' tenth anniversary.

The festivities continue with a Lucksmiths U.S. tour this fall, kicking off September 21 in Los Angeles. Along the way, the Australian mirth-makers will cross paths with a number of indie-pop luminaries, including the Ladybug Transistor, the Brunettes, and labelmates Math and Physics Club. [MORE...]

Funny Guy Michael Showalter Readies Debut Album
He's outta heeeeere

Michael Showalter, one of the actors and writers behind "The State" and "Stella" as well as Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter (which he also directed), will release his first comedy album on November 13 via JDub Records.

The record, Sandwiches & Cats, is a mixture of stand-up, sketch, and improv comedy recorded in the studio and at shows this past July at Brooklyn's Union Hall and Chicago's Lakeshore Theater. In addition to guest appearances from Janeane Garofalo and Eugene Mirman, it features six tracks ("Erotica", "We Had to Do the Show!", "The Mountain", "Lake Wasood", "Sandwich Commandments", and "Erotica (Radio Edit Version)") performed by a band called the Doilies made up of Showalter and his friend/fellow actor Zak Orth.

Showalter's single scheduled live appearance is tomorrow, August 31, at Seattle's Bumbershoot festival with Stella, his group with Michael Ian Black and David Wain. [MORE...]

Daft Punk's Mind-Blowing Tour Continues

Photo by Kirstie Shanley

The rarity of Daft Punk's recently completed North American tour is suspect at this point, what with their October appearance in Vegas and trio of December dates in Japan (the venues of which remain a mystery to us thanks to our nonexistent grasp of Japanese are now yours thanks to a translation-savvy reader!).

But come to think of it, it's only right that messieurs Bangalter and de Homem-Christo would share their live show with the rest of the world, and they seem intent on doing just that with the addition of a Mexico City show and four Australian dates shortly following the ones in Japan.

According to the Daily Swarm, Daft Punk will play Mexico City's Palacio de los Deportes on Halloween. (What do you think their costumes will be?) The Australian tour is being billed under the moniker Never Ever Land, and it will also feature the Presets, SebastiAn and Kavinsky, Muscles, and the Bang Gang Deejays on their bills. These Aussie shows begin December 14 in Melbourne.

As previously reported, the live album Daft Punk Alive 2007 is out November 20 on Virgin. And this fall there will also be plenty of screenings of Electroma in advance of the robot Pinocchio's DVD release on Vice in January. [MORE...]

Lucky Soul Issue "Summer" Single, Tour in Fall

The exquisite London sextet Lucky Soul-- whose slept-on, Pitchfork-recommended Great Unwanted record you owe another spin right about now-- are set to release the second single from said record in the UK on September 3.

"One Kiss Don't Make a Summer" will get its own release on Ruffa Lane, backed with a non-LP track titled "That Hollywood Glow". The "Summer" affair will be available to a lucky few souls in a limited edition, gatefold, hand-numbered-by-the-band 7", plus the far less elaborate, far more ubiquitous CD single and download.

And, wouldn't you know it, Lucky Soul are touring. They'll shake, shimmy, and repeat all over Europe in September and October, regroup in early November, and head out again for a couple shows with the Wedding Present. [MORE...]

Stripes, Franz, QOTSA, Streets in XFM Documentaries
Also: Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Muse, the Verve

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, UK radio station Xfm will air a series of 10 documentaries about "10 of the most influential and significant albums released in each of Xfm's 10 years of broadcasting since its launch in 1997," according to a press release.

In the course of covering albums like the White Stripes' Elephant, Queens of the Stone Age's Rated R, Franz Ferdinand's self-titled debut, and the Streets' Original Pirate Material, the documentaries feature new, exclusive interviews with Dave Grohl, Beastie Boy Mike D, Oasis' Noel Gallagher, plenty of the bands themselves, as well as producers involved in the creation of the albums.

The series begins September 2 and continues backward chronologically with a new documentary airing every Sunday for 10 weeks. The full air schedule is listed after the jump. [MORE...]

Excepter, Pit Er Pat on Second Oneida Cover Tape
Oneida celebrating 10th anniversary

Furniture Records released the second of six installments of its Sheets of Easter Everywhere cassette singles club this week. In keeping with the concept of the series, the new volume features covers of Oneida's "Sheets of Easter" by Excepter, Pit Er Pat, and Pterodactyl, among others. Yes, they all do the same song.

Volume 2 clocks in at just under two hours, thanks in part to the Excepter and Pit Er Pat covers, which, at 20+ minutes each, are even longer than the original 14-minute track. The full tracklist, along with running times, is after the jump. Check out Pterodactyl's take via the download below.

Each installment of the series is limited to a run of 300 cassettes, so snatch yours up fast by following the instructions at the series' MySpace. You can also sign up to get each new volume as soon as it is released by sending an email to sheetsofeastereverywhere@gmail.com.

Future volumes of the series will feature "Sheets of Easter" covers by BARR, Plastic Crimewave Sound, Health, Best Fwends, and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, among others.

As for Oneida themselves, they're celebrating their 10th anniversary as a band with a bash this Saturday, September 1 at PS1 in Queens, New York. Joining them will be buddies Dirty Faces, Ex Models, and Sightings. They have a few shows lined up this fall as well. [MORE...]

Arthur & Yu Tour With Iron & Wine
Attack of the ampersands!!

Photo by Greg Lutze

Arthur & Yu-- a folky Pacific Northwest duo featuring neither an Arthur nor a Yu-- will soon hit the streets with Iron & Wine-- a folky Atlantic Southeast singer-songwriter named neither Iron nor Wine, and his entourage. Liars, all of you! Next thing you'll tell me there's no Belle nor Sebastian in that one band.

The Iron & Yu pairing joins forces to treat a slice of the U.S. to their wares in late September, after which Arthur & Yu will swap Iron & Wine for Great Lake Swimmers (our lawyers have yet to determine if and where they actually swim) and ride out the first half of October. They also have a trio of warm-up engagements over in Japan.

Wish them your best, as this marks Arthur & Yu's first full-fledged tour-- all in the name of their quite nice debut for Hardly Art (the label's name being yet another cold-hearted lie), In Camera. [MORE...]

Go! Team Bundle B-Sides for Proof Bonus EP

Photo by Jaime Beeden

It's official: bonus EPs are the new cowbell. And why not? With early album leaks anathema to labels indie and major alike, the promise of a few extra songs seems as good an incentive as any to actually buy a record.

So on to today's subject, the Go! Team. Like their peers Spoon and Pinback, the Go! Team will bolster the U.S. edition of their forthcoming release-- Proof of Youth, due September 11 via Sub Pop-- with a nice little bonus EP. This one collects four tunes, all of which also appeared as B-sides in the UK (so your friends a pond away needn't sulk, since they've already got these tunes; also, they're getting the album a day earlier via Memphis Industries. So there.).

Act soon though-- only the first Sub Pop pressing of Proof of Youth will come with this choice collectable, and pre-order season has already begun.

As a bonus to yr bonus EP, catch the Go! Team live all autumn long. [MORE...]

Black Dice Roll Out Fall Tour

What exactly did Eric Copeland mean earlier this month when he referred to the forthcoming Black Dice disc, Load Blown, as "pretty upbeat"? Find out October 23, when it comes out via Paw Tracks. (It's due out on the same label on October 29 in the UK.)

And then pester Copeland about how "Kokomo" isn't actually a cover of "Kokomo" when the band hits the road in November. Or, if you can't wait that long, bother Copeland during one of his solo shows with none other than Animal Collective, who his band recently remixed. [MORE...]

Photos: Papercuts / Casiotone for the Painfully Alone / Bowerbirds [Chicago, IL; 08/29/07]

Photos by Joseph Mohan

It's not often three excellent acts with Pitchfork Recommended or well-received recent albums under their belts cross paths at one venue, but such was the case last night at Schubas. Bowerbirds, just kicking off a tour in support of June's Hymns for a Dark Horse, set the stage for the evening while Papercuts, just wrapping up a tour behind February's Can't Go Back, closed things out. In the middle was Chicago's own Owen Ashworth and his trusty keyboards, still mumbling through tunes from last year's fine Casiotone for the Painfully Alone LP Etiquette.

Former Papercut Ashworth even joined his headlining ex-bandmates and played Hammond organ on a couple tunes. He also rocked an apt take on Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" during his own set. In summation, an exceptionally polite audience was treated to three short-but-sweet sets. And in the interest of full disclosure, we'd like to remind you that Bowerbirds' Hymns is out now on Pitchfork contributor Grayson Currin's Burly Time imprint.

PAPERCUTS


CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE


BOWERBIRDS





[MORE...]

Gogol Bordello Tour, Appear in Madonna Film

Photo by Eirik Lande

Watch those pocketbooks and secure those shawls: the gypsy punks are returning. Gogol Bordello, currently wrapping up a few U.S. dates at the end of a massive world tour in support of July's Super Taranta!, will make their way up and down the right side of North America yet again in October and early November.

In other Bordello news, frontman and sometime-thespian Eugene Hutz is set to play "A.K." in Filth and Wisdom, the directorial debut from the band's recent onstage collaborator Madonna. The shortform film, reportedly nearing completion, also features the whole band in archival footage. At this point, a reference to how much Swept Away sucked would probably be apt, but I'm out of coffee, so, uh: 5% on Rotten Tomatoes! [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.)