Shins, Strokes, Franz, Beck, Monkeys on SNL Live CD
Alas, you can only buy it at Target

Where's Don Pardo when you need him? On September 9-- yep, a Sunday-- Sony BMG will plaster endcaps at Target stores nationwide with an 11-track compilation of musical performances from the veritable guffaw institution "Saturday Night Live".

The descriptively-titled Live From SNL! Music Performances From Saturday Night Live collects the late night television exploits of Franz Ferdinand, the Shins, the Strokes, Beck and Arctic Monkeys, as well as Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Pink, Maroon 5, and a Band-less Dave Matthews. And here I thought I was the only one who'd put the Shins and Avril on the same mix.

Did we mention that you can only buy the CD at Target? Yes? Well, let's say it again. You can only buy this CD at Target.

It ought to go great with brightly colored plastic housewares and an Isaac Mizrahi towel set. [MORE...]

Jamie Stewart, Owen Pallett Guest on New Picastro LP

Listening to Toronto-based Picastro, who have a penchant for brooding tunes soaked in strings of anxious gloom, you might get to worrying if the act has ever known happiness. Rest your fears, though, as the trio's got plenty to smile about. Here, let's have a look.

First, a new record, Whore Luck-- Picastro's second for Polyvinyl-- comes out September 11. As if that weren't reason enough to flip those frowns, the guest stars should do the trick: eternal font of joy Jamie Stewart (of Xiu Xiu) and former Picastro member Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy).

Stewart lends backing vocals and percussion to an album-closing cover of the Fall's "Older Lover", while Pallett contributes some lovely piano, organ, and violin to various tracks. Picastro also put their own shadowy spin on Roky Erickson's "If You Have Ghosts" and a bunch of originals.

And nothing brings mirth to the hearts of bands and Pitchfork newswriters like tour dates! Picastro are crossing theirs off one-by-one right now. Tonight finds them in Grand Rapids with Marissa Nadler, and they have a Canadian run and a trip overseas on the horizon. [MORE...]

David Kilgour Tours U.S. With Euros Childs

Clean frontman David Kilgour's not just some recovering germaphobe. He's also a touring machine. New Zealand's crown prince of power pop will follow a string of dates in Kiwi country with a voyage to the commons alongside fellow foreigner/famed former frontguy Euros Childs (he, after all, of English spellcheck enemy Gorky's Zygotic Mynci).

Euros, fresh off his stay at the Miracle Inn, will wrap up some Euro dates of his own before making his way Statesward for the joint trip.

The tour will mark the U.S. debut of Kilgour's band the Heavy 8's, which features Alan Haig (the Chills, the Verlaines), Thomas Bell, Tony De Raad (the Mad Scene) and Taane Tokona.

Whaddya get when you cross Euros Childs and the guy from the Clean? Why, baby wipes, natch! Grrrroooooan. [MORE...]

A-Trak, Kid Sister, Cool Kids Team for Fool's Gold Tour
Plus: KavinSky, DJ Mehdi, Nick Catchdubs

Have ya heard? There are some new Kids on the block, and we sure ain't talkin' about Donnie. Make way for the crew from the Fool's Gold side of the tracks (read all about it): Kid Sister, the Cool Kids, and latest signing Kid Cudi, along with KavinSky, DJ Mehdi, and label founders A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs.

All of the above (minus Cudi) will take to the road in October as part of one hell of a party package tour. The Fool's Gold caravan rolls into Montreal on October 4 and doesn't slow down until it hits Toronto several weeks later (no worries, they dip into the U.S. in between). Along the way, A-Trak and Mehdi will tag team DJ, Kids Sister and Cool will drop rhymes, the others will do their respective thangs, and special guests will invariably turn up.

Following the omnibus tour, A-Trak and DJ Mehdi will jet to Europe for what's being billed as "The DJ Mehdi & A-Trak Spectacular Review".

Fool's Gold has a number of new releases burning up the dubplates in the months to come, including singles from the Cool Kids, Kid Sister, KavinSky, and Kid Cudi, as well as beats from abroad courtesy of Jokers of the Scene and Bag Raiders. [MORE...]

Future of the Left Have Many Future Projects, Uh, Left
Fitting, no?

Weary, perhaps, of hearing the resounding resigned utterances of "curses!" when folks referenced the ex-McLusky members of Future of the Left's debut album, the Welsh wailers have given the fans something to rejoice about: they've stuck Curses on iTunes already in the UK, well in advance of its release. The album drops in a physical way September 24 in the UK on Too Pure, and October 9 January 29, 2008 in the U.S. Yankee fans can get their digital Curses in early, too, though not 'til September 25.

There will also be a single for Curses cut "Small Bones Small Bodies". The track itself is available for download now in the UK, and a UK-only 7" with two exclusive tracks-- "The Big Wide O" and "I Need to Know How to Kill a Cat", if you must know-- will be released September 10. Poor Mittens!

Future of the Left are touring through the foreseeable future. They'll open up for Floridian agit-punkers Against Me! on one heck of a lot of October dates. [MORE...]

Strut Label Reborn, Preps Grandmaster Flash, Moroder

For a few years around the turn of the millennium, the UK-based Strut imprint was a beat-digger's golden goose, churning out choice comps packed with rare and classic tracks covering everything from disco to early hip-hop to afrobeat. Then, in 2003, Strut closed up shop. The people wept, and the genres of disco, afrobeat, and hip-hop were soon forgotten.

Now the people can rejoice once more, as dance/electronic mavens !K7 have revived the Strut imprint, with designs on some ace releases in 2008.

Tops on the agenda is the first studio album in ten years from recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash. Flash began recording this one just last month and promises (via a press release) "the emphasis [placed] firmly on jump-up party anthems...[and] a mouth-watering line-up of guests." Just be sure to wipe your mouths before the jumping up and partying.

The as-yet-untitled Grandmaster Flash LP is due next year and will be a joint release between Strut and Flash's Adrenaline City Entertainment.

After that, stay tuned for another installment in the excellent Disco Not Disco series, a collection from mustachioed disco godfather Giorgio Moroder titled Evolution, and a set of Eddy Grant's disco work.

Strut's founder Quinton Scott will serve as A&R guy for Strut 2.0.

Peanut Butter Wolf Rallies Stones Throw for 2K Sports

Video games, indie hip-hop and zombies? Throw in some Doritos and a few unscrambled cable channels towards the top end of the dial, and you've got yourself quite a Saturday afternoon.

One suspects the folks behind Stones Throw Records spend quite a few of their Saturdays hopping back and forth between their decks and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 9 or whatever (sorry, our resident gamer's out for the week), so they're the perfect crew to craft a soundtrack for the forthcoming digital hoops-travaganza, NBA 2K8. And, with liberal use of the pause button, a wide swath of the Stones Throw roster, and a few other top-tier MCs, that's exactly what they did.

UPDATE: ALTHOUGH 2K SPORTS AND STONES THROW DID COLLABORATE ON THE CD AND 2K SPORTS IS LICENSING A FEW SONGS FOR PROMOTIONAL PROJECTS, THE MUSIC IS NOT A SOUNDTRACK TO ANY SPECIFIC GAME.

Stones Throw head honcho Peanut Butter Wolf has compiled B-Ball Zombie War, a twenty-track collection of Stones Throw artists and kindreds-- including Madlib, MF Doom, Talib Kweli, J Dilla, and Q-Tip-- dribbling out the syllables and the smoky beats that serves as a "companion piece" to the game. Both the game and The soundtrack album will hit shelves October 2, with a resulting tour featuring PB Wolf, Madlib, J.Rocc and others to follow in November and December. [MORE...]

Prince Paul and Bernie Worrell Are Baby Elephant
Guest spots from David Byrne, George Clinton, Yellowman, Shock G, Nona Hendryx

Shocker: Prince Paul's next album will be a collaboration! Featuring a far-flung spate of guests! In a breezy yet funky style! Gosh, next thing you'll tell me, the album's gonna employ at least a couple skits and a faint whiff of wacky humor throughout the proceedings...

But this isn't De La or Handsome Boy Modeling School. This is Baby Elephant, Paul's partnership with keyboard legend Bernie Worrell-- he of Parliament/Funkadelic and Talking Heads fame-- and longtime collaborator Newkirk. Back in January of 2006, Paul told us about the project: "[Worrell]'s an accomplished musician and I'm some B-boy cat," he said. "I don't want people to think it's like some hip-hop beats over him playing. We're trying to invent something."

Turn My Teeth Up!, Baby Elephant's debut album, contains a few blasts from Worrell's past. George Clinton shows up twice, and David Byrne appears on "How Does the Brain Wave?", which you can download below. Reggae giant Yellowman, Digital Underground's Shock G, and Labelle crooner Nona Hendryx, are among the other guests on the album, due on Godforsaken Music September 11. But will it outsell Curtis? [MORE...]

Antony Makes Progress on LP, Film; Big Ups Beyonce

Photo by Chico De Luigi

Say, Antony, what's the latest? You've been doing "a lot more work on the new album" at New York's Allaire Studios? You're spending your days "editing and mulling over different versions of each song, trying to figure out what goes where"? And your new record is almost ready for mixing? You don't say!

Oh, but Antony did say all this and more on a recent update on his website (linked via NME.com). That eagerly-anticipated album he mentions will be the follow-up to 2005's I Am a Bird Now, and Antony's third with the Johnsons.

Mr. Hegarty also shared some words about his contribution to the soundtrack to the forthcoming Dylan biopic I'm Not There, for which he collaborated with Currituck Co.'s Kevin Barker to cover "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". "We did it slow and minor," Antony wrote.

He then waxed ecstatic over Turning, the previously reported film version of a multimedia project he put together in 2004 with video artist Charles Atlas. "It looks great. The interviews with the models are poignant."

Antony also geeked over the original piece: "Turning was so magic. That was my favorite thing I have ever been a part of."

What's more, Antony lends his one-of-a-kind pipes to a new tune called "Roar" from Brooklyn-based Hercules and Love Affair, whose debut LP will drop via the unstoppable DFA in 2008. The "Classique 2 / Roar" 12" is out now.

And, most significantly, as Antony wrote, "I saw Beyonce live last week. She was incredible and cried real tears during 'Flaws and All'. She was just the best." Dude, collaborate already!

Justice Collect MSTRKRFT, Braxe/Falke, Jackson Mixes

"Five billion remixes later, and someone got it exactly right." That's what we wrote about Alax Braxe and Falke's remix of Justice's ubiquitous "D.A.N.C.E." back in July over in the Forkcast. The folks at Ed Banger/Because seem to agree.

Leaving four-odd billion remixes behind, they've handpicked the Braxe/Falke mix, along with the similarly successful Jackson & His Computer Band and MSTRKRFT takes, as well as a live version from the Justice-bringers themselves, for the "D.A.N.C.E." remix EP, due September 24. So now, you can D.A.N.C.E. all night! Or for, like, twenty minutes anyway.

In other Justice news, they'll hit the road on and off (mostly on) for the next few months, and the MSTRKRFT remix of "D.A.N.C.E." pops up on that Steve Aoki mix, mercifully sans Mickey Avalon. And they'll be in Las Vegas this weekend for some reason. [MORE...]

Meneguar Allow Strangers in Their House, Tour
Offer a far cuddlier alternative to the men of Gwar, for sure

Perhaps you took in Meneguar's short but spiky I Was Born at Night EP in its initial run in 2005. Perchance you caught it when it was reissued last year. Or maybe you're not aware of Meneguar, the Brooklyn-based rock enthusiasts who hearken back to a time when Modest Mouse were just a band who said "got-damn" a lot.

Either way, there's much to learn: Meneguar's Strangers in Our House is coming to a recorded media outlet near you September 25 from Troubleman Unlimited, and they themselves will be dropping off copies over the next two months on a frankly epic tour, kicking off Thursday in Amsterdam. Details supporting both those statements follow the jump. [MORE...]

That Jens Lekman Tour Just Keeps Getting Bigger

Photo by Kristin Lidell

This autumn, as Night Falls Over Kortedala-- and Malmö, and Moscow, and Nottingham, and Cleveland for that matter-- eager audiences can look forward to being smacked upside the head. Not by muggers, mind you, but by some of the sweetest, catchiest, cleverest, heartfeltest pop songs you're liable to hear this year.

Those superlative-worthy tunes come courtesy of Mr. Jens Lekman, who's tricked out his touring itinerary with a whole bunch of new shows since our last dispatch. In addition to that stretch of Swedish dates with laugh-meister Todd Barry, Jens will also tour Sweden solo, take that previously mentioned dip into North American waters, and close out the year with a run through the UK. With Josh Rouse. Um, who killed the party this time? [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.)