Deerhunter, Xiu Xiu, Sea and Cake Play Tanned Tin
Plus: Frog Eyes, Dirty Projectors, Acid Mothers Temple, Wolf Eyes, the Ex, Papercuts

The Tanned Tin festival has yet to completely finalize its lineup, but the artists announced so far already make it a pretty safe bet for anyone who happens to be in Castellón, Spain from October 31 through November 4.

Deerhunter, Xiu Xiu, the Sea and Cake, Acid Mothers Temple, Frog Eyes, Dirty Projectors, the Ex, and Wolf Eyes are all confirmed to perform. And as it stands now, the rest of the lineup includes David Thomas Broughton, Grouper, Papercuts, Bracken, Mia Doi Todd, Thee More Shallows, Dolorean, Laura Gibson, For Against, Tarentel, Lisabö, Boy Omega, and Raccoo-oo-oon.

Performances go down at numerous city venues throughout the fest, including Teatre Principal and Casino Antiguo.

Psychic TV, the Locust, Rhys Chatham Play ZXZW
Plus: Supersilent, Pantha du Prince, Psychic Ills, Meneguar, Niobe

For eight days, over the span of a whole city, over 200 artists will wreak their particular havoc in a rock'n'roll style. Nah, it ain't SXSW; it's ZXZW, the cheekily-titled annual "independent culture" festival, packing 'em in September 16-23 all across Tilburg, Netherlands.

The everpresent threat of carpal tunnel prevents us from sticking the whole lineup here, but Psychic TV, the Locust, Rhys Chatham, Supersilent, Psychic Ills, Pantha du Prince, Niobe, Meneguar, Negativland, and Crippled Black Phoenix stand out in the hodgepodge. And since no festival is complete without a nod to the old school, ZXZW's rounded up a classic: Clarence "Blowfly" Reid, creator of the 1965 track "Rap Dirty"-- often cited as the first hip-hop cut ever-- will also perform.

Frog Eyes Line Up Fall Trek

Photo by Sarah Cass

And it's off to Europe with the amphibian amblers of Frog Eyes! Carey Mercer and the crew (Krugless for the time being, we assure you) will take those peepers to the other side of the Atlantic on a month of shows kicking off in mid-October.

Just be careful, lads and lasses: it's a splendid continent for sure, but they've been known to dine on parts of the frog we North Americans wouldn't even touch at the petting zoo. If anybody tries to jab a fork in you, run. Otherwise, you'll know just what it's like to shed those Tears of the Valedictorian when a gaggle of hungry Parisians chase you and your merch box down the block. [MORE...]

The Ramones Come Alive on New DVD Anthology
Over 100 songs, with a total running time of 17 minutes

Rhino's all riled up and ready to let go of It's Alive 1974-1996, a live DVD anthology that collects more than 100 of the best-loved shout-alongs from punk icons the Ramones, cranked out at a breakneck clip over the band's twenty-two year history on many of the world's great stages.

The collection-- which follows the band from their CBGB infancy all the way to Argentina in the spring preceding their 1996 farewell tour-- is sure to keep the Jackies and Judies in your life anything but sedate for over four hours. It's Alive hits shelves October 2; a very inelegant-looking but painstakingly detailed tracklist for the thing follows the jump. [MORE...]

The Cure Postpone Fall Tour Until Spring
Nothing says warmth and rebirth like a veteran goth-pop band

Most folks who plunk down the cash to see a band nearly three decades in the making have no trouble watching them run through the hits, but try telling that to the Cure. Following their first dates in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in a billion years, the Cure realized that they couldn't just bring the same old show to their legions of devoted North American fans.

"We want to remodel/rework the live show for North America," they wrote by way of excuse on their website. "Change things around, incorporate new songs... and we need time and focus to do this." Time taken up by their previously announced string of North American tour dates, nearly all of which will sit on the back burner until the spring.

Boys, don't cry! Until the dates are properly rescheduled, they're holding onto their headlining spot at Mountain View, CA's Download Festival. What's more, the trio of Mexico City outings the Cure recently tacked on to the end of the now-axed dates will go on. They'll also perform at the same venue October 18 for MTV's Latin American Awards. Apparently Mexico City is better equipped to deal with Bloodflowers than Seattle. Who knew?

All tickets held for the cancelled shows will be valid for the updated dates in April and May of 2008, with refunds available to those who'd like to go that route.

In addition to reworking the live set, the Cure also want more time to put the wraps on their forthcoming double album-- the release date for which is now, according to Billboard.com, doing a similar hop from this fall to next spring. It's still sans title, but a few track names have emerged: "Lusting Here in Your Mind", "The Hungry Ghost", "The Perfect Boy", "Christmas Without You" and "Please Come Home". [MORE...]

Enon Rev Up for Fall Tour

Photo by John Ray Fuller

With their new album, Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds, finally set to follow up odds'n'ends collection Lost Marbles and Exploded Evidence after a two-year wait, Enon have revealed a more complete picture of their fall tour than we previously reported.

The tour now starts in Newport, Kentucky on October 5 and covers quite a bit of North America through mid-November. After that they'll head over to Europe for a handful of dates.

Touch and Go will release Grass Geysers on October 9. [MORE...]

Kevin Drew Sneaks Out Limited Edition Single

Amid all the hoopla surrounding the release of Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew Spirit If...-- the tour and 826 benefit appearance, the eyebrow-raising guest stars, the mp3 and the stream and the video, the pretty unicorns on the cover-- dreamy-eyed Kevin Drew's gone and snuck a little single into his release schedule.

"Tbtf" comes backed with exclusive cut "One Night Man" on limited edition white 7" vinyl. Arts & Crafts will begin serving the single up August 28, and it features cover art by Drew himself, making it ideal for both turntable and mantlepiece. No more word yet on a physical release for "Backed Out on the...", however, which A&C still insists is the album's first single.

And in the spirit of sneakiness, Drew has also added a secret (whoops!) MySpace show to his travels, popping off August 28 at T.T. the Bear's Place in Boston. [MORE...]

RZA, GZA, DJ Qbert Do Chess Fest/Tournament

Photo by Shaminder Dulai

On paper, the Hip-Hop Chess Federation's 1st Annual Chess Kings Invitational looks like a wet dream comprised of all things Wu-Tang. The Clan's RZA and GZA will be there-- alongside DJs Qbert and Disk, chess champ Josh Waitzkin [pictured, right], and a few surprise guests-- taking part in the awesomely named Life Strategies All-Star Panel about the role music, chess, and martial arts have played in their success.

The RZA will also compete in the Invitational's main event: a chess tournament featuring the likes of Hieroglyphics' Casual, Living Legends' Sunspot Jonz, and mixed martial arts fighter Ralek Gracie as players and Rakaa of Dilated Peoples as the host.

The Invitational-- co-sponsored with the HHCF by Ubisoft, publisher of the forthcoming Chessmaster: The Art of Learning video game and Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition computer game-- will feature plenty of other events as well, including open chess games, kung fu film showings, information sessions about educational opportunities, and a charity auction.

The event takes place on October 13 at the San Francisco Design Center.

Magik Markers Announce BOSS Fall Tour

Photo by E. Jason Wambsgans

Recovering noiseniks and current Sonic Youth BFFs Magik Markers have announced the dates of a fall tour in support of their forthcoming complete-with-actual-"songs" LP, BOSS.

The record comes out on Ecstatic Peace on September 25, and the tour begins five days later in New Haven, Connecticut. [MORE...]

YLT, Byrne, Diplo, Sigur Ros Do New Yorker Mag Fest

Billed as "a weekend celebration of arts and ideas," the lineup for the latest New Yorker Festival delivers what it promises: over the weekend of October 5-7, the venerable literary and cultural institution will host a truly impressive roster of artists participating in unique, intimate performances and discussion forums at many venues across the city.

Friday night's New Yorker dance party should prove more exciting than that name would suggest, hosted as it is by critic of note Sasha Frere-Jones and so funkdafied by Diplo. Saturday has S/FJ chatting it up with Fiona Apple and giving a talk called "What Isn't Hip Hop?" (Alan Jackson, dude). Saturday also finds Sigur Rós-- as is so often their way-- doing a lot of stuff at once: performing acoustically, conversing with New Yorker staffer John Seabrook, and holding the first showing of their film, Heima. Renaissance man David Byrne hosts a multimedia event called "How New Yorkers Ride Bikes" featuring music, discussion, film, readings, and Calvin Trillin. Perhaps he'll read one of his delightfully droll poems about the Bush administration! "There once was a man on a Segway..."

Saturday also finds Jersey lifers Yo La Tengo giving a talk "with music," while a "Guitar Gods" performance with Dick Dale, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Living Colour's Vernon Reid, and the Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez goes on in another borough. First daughter of country music Roseanne Cash will perform and chat. The full roster hasn't been announced yet, but at this point, Sunday seems to have been turned over entirely to 20th century classical music. WOO PHILIP GLASS

The complete schedule of events will be posted online September 10, and will appear in the September 17 issue of the magazine.

Descendent Suffers Heart Attack, Needs Your Help

Karl Alvarez, bassist for beloved pop-punk founding fathers Descendents as well as Descendents offshoot ALL, suffered a minor heart attack on August 11.

Physically, he is recovering well, but since he doesn't have health insurance, the medical bills he incurred found him unprepared to deal with the financial repercussions of a heart attack. Thus, Alvarez's friends have set up a MySpace page and Paypal account dedicated to the cause of helping him pay these bills, whether through direct donations or the organization of benefit shows. To donate via Paypal, visit the MySpace page here.

Events like this remind us just how essential health insurance is, and we'd like to remind those readers who happen to be musicians of the Future of Music Coalition's Health Insurance Navigation Tool (HINT), the program on which we reported last year that aims at helping musicians figure out the confusing world of health insurance and come up with affordable ways to incorporate it into their lives. As FMC Executive Director and indie rocker in her own right Jenny Toomey reminded us, "[Once you] realize that it's not a luxury, that it's essential, then [you] budget to pay for it."

Sunn O))) Bring Doom, Gloom, Jesu's Broadrick on Tour

Photo by Drazen Smaranduj

What's that low, insistent, mildly ominous but oh-so-compelling clatter coming from the corner of the club? Nah, it ain't old Rusty the dusty refridgerator: it's Sunn O))), who have recently announced an epic three-date West Coast tour for the first bit of November.

In addition to the fair piece of drone Sunn O))) brings to any situation, Jesu's Justin Broadrick will provide both guitar and "cold, dark cloud formations" on these November dates, while Mayhem belter Attila Csihar is on the "Vokills." Get it? These shows will apparently follow the close of recording sessions for a new full-length Sunn O))) banger, slated for release next year.

And, lest you'd forgotten, Sunn O))) have that Oracle 12"/CD for you to hunt down, and yet another show scheduled for 2007: a meet-up with Boris to perform last year's Altar LP from front to back. [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.)