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...]

Yo La Tengo, M. Ward Join Bright Eyes Orchestral Gala

Bright Eyes photo by Paparazzi by Appointment

How do you make the prospect of Bright Eyes playing with an orchestra that much more enticing? Answer, thy name is opening acts. And opening acts? Thy names are Yo La Tengo and M. Ward.

Ward, as you may recall, has long been a companion to Conor Oberst, opening tours for the young troubadour stretching back to the Lifted days, and even doing that three-sensitive-dudes-with-guitars triptych tour along with Conor and My Morning Jacket's Jim James. Yo La Tengo, as you may recall, have been making music since Conor was a toddler.

Both will set the stage for Bright Eyes and the Los Angeles Philharmonic September 29 at the Hollywood Bowl. And although there are no immediate plans for either opener to receive orchestral backing themselves, who's to say whether Ward and Oberst will exercise their BFF-dom in some fashion, or whether Ira, James, and Georgia will dance a little jig to "Hot Knives"? Guess you'll just have to drop by to find out.

Bright Eyes also has plenty of shows sans string sections, Yo La Tengo have tacked some engagements onto their Freewheeling tour, and M. Ward's got himself a few gigs too. [MORE...]

The Slits' Return of the Giant Slits Reissued

Photo by Anton Corbijn

Chances are, if you know the Slits, you know Cut. That cover! Those songs! That influence! That cover! You're probably less familiar with what came next: The Slits followed Cut, their 1979 debut, with 1981's Return of the Giant Slits, an expansive pastiche of jarring punk, limber Afrobeat, and ghostly dub. The record was never released in the U.S. and rarely heard in the rest of the world, but with the Slits' recent return to the stage, the folks at Blast First (petite) want to change at least some of that.

On October 8, they're reissuing Return with new artwork, classic photos (like the one above) by noted lensman Anton Corbijn, and a bonus disc containing an interview and dub versions of a number of the original LP's tracks. All this should restore the neglected gem to its proper place: on your CD shelf next to Cut. [MORE...]

Marc Bolan's Birthday Celebrated With Reissues, More

September 16 will mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Marc Bolan, mastermind behind glam-rock titans T. Rex. Bolan died only a few weeks before what would've been his 30th birthday, and in remembrance of both anniversaries, a number of Bolan projects are underway in the next few weeks.

First up is "Souls We Miss", an exhibition of photographs of Bolan taken by the late Keith Morris. The photos will be exhibited at London's Redferns Music Picture Gallery for the seven weeks following September 14. On September 15, London's Shepherd's Bush Empire will host Marc Bolan: The Celebration, a concert featuring Marc's son Rolan, Marc Almond of Soft Cell, producer Tony Visconti, T. Rex tribute band T. Rextasy, Blondie's Clem Burke, and many more.

There are also several Bolan documentaries in the works, including a BBC 4 special, ITV's "20th Century Boy" airing September 8, and a BBC Radio 2 program on September 15. Apparently, the ITV special contains such revelations as the fact that Bolan lost his virginity at age nine. Whoa.

Then come the records, and there's a lot of 'em. Edsel Records will release a trio of T. Rex vinyl singles with previously unavailable tracks on each B-side. September 17 sees "Metal Guru" backed with an acoustic demo of "The Slider". The next Monday finds "Children of the Revolution" paired with a electric demo of "The Leopards". And October 1 finds "20th Century Boy" matches with "Teenager in Love", an acoustic duet between Marc and his longtime girlfriend, soul singer Gloria Jones.

Following on October 1, also on Edsel, is Live 1977 + In Conversation, a double-disc set consisting of live cuts and an interview. The first disc contains performances from the final T. Rex tour, with punk icons the Damned guesting on the encore of "Get It On". The In Conversation disc is culled from an interview conducted by Steve Wright with Bolan and Gloria Jones. It includes several acoustic on-air performances.

Finally, on October 15, Edsel will release Interstellar Soul, a three-CD set collecting exclusive tracks, home demos, and other rarities. The package will arrive in a numbered edition of 5000. A fantastic amount of tracklist information for these reissues is available after the jump. [MORE...]

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