Mars Volta's Rodriguez-Lopez Releases New Solo Album

It seems the shortly forthcoming Mars Volta record didn't quite get the shredding out of guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's system. Rodriguez-Lopez will follow the January 29 release of the Mars Volta's The Bedlam in Goliath with a new album of his own.

Coming the week after Bedlam is Calibration, featuring contributions from the Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, and Beastie Boys collaborator "Money Mark" Ramos-Nishita.

Calibration is the seeming zillionth release under Rodriguez-Lopez's name in the past year, and it comes courtesy of N2O Records on February 5 in the U.S. A UK and European release will follow on February 25, and Japanese residents should check their local record store's shelves, since it came out there last month.

As previously reported, the Mars Volta are currently completing their U.S. tour before heading over to Europe in February. [MORE...]

Leonard Cohen to Tour This Year!

A Led Zeppelin reunion is great and all, but what if your interest in the music of the 1960s and 70s runs not in the direction of riffs and stomps but rather toward quieter waters. What of baritone vocals? What of steadily strummed acoustic guitars? What of poetry and references to fellatio received on an unmade bed in the Chelsea Hotel?

Fear not, gentle-music lover. Leonard Cohen has you covered. According to a post on the elderly songwriter's official forum (via Mojo's blog), "Leonard Cohen will be touring with his band in Canada and [the] U.S. in May and in Europe in the summer. More details will be announced in February." This tour will be Cohen's first in 15 years, according to Mojo. The blog also mentions a new Leonard Cohen album due out later this year.

But first, Cohen will make his way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10.

Josh Grier Reveals All About New Tapes 'n Tapes Album
Walk It Off due out April 8 on XL

It was October when we last spoke with Josh Grier of Minneapolis' Tapes 'n Tapes, and he and his band were in the middle of recording with megaproducer Dave Fridmann at his Tarbox Road Studios in upstate New York. In the interview, Grier described the big changes between these sessions and the far more modest ones that resulted in The Loon, the band's 2005 debut LP. He also touched on a reticence to lean too heavily on the studio setting and the oft-complex Fridmann style, preferring to "spend a couple days [on each song], get it right, and that's how it is."

The fruits of those sessions arrive in the form of Walk It Off, Tapes 'n Tapes' sophomore set. Sporting a bit more nuance and a heap more expectations than its spare and seemingly out-of-nowhere predecessor, Walk It Off will emerge April 8 on XL. (Check out the tracklist at the end of this story. There are songs called "George Michael" and "The Dirty Dirty"!)

The album all finished, we spoke with Josh about his impressions of the record months after its mixing and months still before its release, his take on lyric writing, and why you probably shouldn't expect another Tapes 'n Tapes disc any time soon.

Pitchfork: How did you come up with the album title?

Grier: Well, our drummer [Jeremy Hanson] came up with it. We were throwing around titles, and he was like "I've always liked the sound of the title Walk It Off." And we were like "oh, that sounds cool." At that point we had thrown around a lot of stuff and nothing had really passed it, so it was like "all right, let's go with that." It could be so many different things, and taken so many different ways, and then we realized like three weeks later that there's a lyric in the second-to-last song, "Lines", where we actually say "walk it off." And then we were like "oh, it's perfect!" [laughs]

Pitchfork: Are you pretty pleased with how the record turned out?

Grier: I'm really excited about it. It's cool that it's finally getting sent out to people and other people can finally hear it because, you know, we've been sitting on it for forever. [laughs] We haven't ever had to do this. Like with our last record, we recorded it on our own and when it was finished, we put it out. [laughs] There wasn't any "oh, it doesn't come out for five months..." So I'm really excited for people to hear it.

It turned out better than I ever could have imagined. Going into it, I had an idea of how I wanted it to sound but I had no idea how it was all going to turn out and it totally turned out better than I could've expected.

Pitchfork: Sonically, there's definitely a little more going on than there was on the last record, but it's not particularly busy or complicated. I'm sure the temptation to pile a lot of noise on the record is fairly strong, especially when you've got Dave Fridmann there, but you largely avoided it.

Grier: Well, we definitely were trying to keep it from being busy [laughs], so that's good to hear. When we talked last, I was saying how we were trying to not get too bogged down by the fact that we had all this crap that we could throw on it. You're in a studio and there's all this stuff and we were trying to avoid that temptation and focus on "all right, these are the songs and this is what it's like when the four of us play them." So that was kind of our attitude when we were recording it: "all right, I want it to sound like us playing these songs and not some crazy orchestration or something. I want it to sound how it's going to sound when we play it live."

Pitchfork: These songs definitely seem like they're made for the stage. Even the few sort of strummier, low-key songs have that punch. I wanted to ask you about those: they're not singer-songwriter songs per se, but there's definitely more emphasis on getting lyrics across. Would you say you're coming into your own as a songwriter a little bit more on this one?

Grier: I don't know, that's a tough question. I've definitely been writing for longer, but I wouldn't ever presume that I'm coming into my own. [laughs] You know? I'm definitely happy with how everything turned out on the record, and I always like to try different things out, so it's like "well, we're making a different record, so let's try some different things out and not try to do the same thing all over again." [laughs] [MORE...]

Coachella 2008 Announced (Update: Full Lineup)
Includes Portishead, Kraftwerk, Verve, Death Cab, MMJ, Breeders, Animal Collective, Hot Chip, Jens, M.I.A., Spiritualized, Streets, National, Stars, Justice, Battles, Dan Deacon, Rilo Kiley

Front page photo by Anoulay Tsai

Let the 2008 festival season begin, North America! Here we have the much-anticipated lineup for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, taking place April 25-27 at Empire Polo Field in hot, sticky Indio, California. Organizers made the big announcement at a press conference today in Mexico City, according to the LA Times.

UPDATE: Got the poster now (see above)

The biggest surprise? No My Bloody Valentine, who were heavily rumored to be playing this year's fest. The second biggest surprise? How underwhelming it is in comparison to years past.

Among the big ticket items: Roger Waters of Pink Floyd performing Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, Portishead playing their first American show in forever, the reunited Verve, uh, Jack Johnson. But hey, Kraftwerk!

Other acts scheduled to play the fest (compiled from various sources) include the Breeders, Death Cab for Cutie, Jens Lekman, My Morning Jacket, M.I.A., the Raconteurs, the Streets, Animal Collective, Stars, Black Lips, Rilo Kiley, Spiritualized, Love and Rockets, Battles, Dan Deacon, Justice, Kid Sister, Vampire Weekend, I'm From Barcelona, Man Man, Hot Chip, the Field, Black Mountain, Diplo, Crystal Castles, Madness, Mum, Tegan and Sara, UNKLE, Chromeo, Autolux, Louis XIV, Cold War Kids, Junkie XL, VHS or Beta, Cafe Tacuba, Bonde Do Role, Aesop Rock, Yo Majesty, Fatboy Slim, Midnight Juggernauts, Akron/Family, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, the Cinematic Orchestra... ah, hell, you can read the poster.

So still pretty great, right?

Take a good look at that lineup, folks. Chances are you're going to see some combination of all of those names at least 15 more times within the next few months as the festival season gets underway.

AEG Live and Goldenvoice, the people behind Coachella, are expected to announce a festival for later in the summer which will take place at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey. Radiohead and Jack Johnson-- there he is again!-- are reportedly the headliners.

Jonny Greenwood's Blood Score Denied Oscar Nod?

Just when we thought Jonny Greenwood pretty much had it made after this whole Radiohead thing blows over, along comes this little setback. According to a report from Los Angeles Times' The Envelope, Greenwood's much-feted, 8.1-earning score for Paul Thomas Anderson oilman flick There Will Be Blood will not be eligible for an Academy Award nomination this year.

Those noms will be announced tomorrow morning, and until this development many expected Greenwood's score would easily make the cut. According to sources quoted by The Envelope, however, it's been disqualified because "the majority of the music was not composed specifically for the film."

The parts of the score in question come from Greenwood's British Composer Award-earning piece Popcorn Superhet Receiver (which, incidentally, made its U.S. premiere just last week). The There Will Be Blood score did, however, already earn a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nomination. Nonesuch, which released the score, has not yet responded to a request to confirm the Oscar disqualification.

Despite this apparent slight, Greenwood does have a few other things going for him. He helped Radiohead put together a pretty decent record called In Rainbows, and he'll join the band as they play some live concerts later this year. [MORE...]

Mick Barr's Ocrilim Signs to Hydra Head

Like many of his brethren in the world of extreme music, guitarist Mick Barr has released records under a cornucopia of names. He has worked with the likes of Orthrelm, Octis, the Flying Luttenbachers, and Hella's Zach Hill, putting out records on such labels as Ipecac, 5RC, Tzadik, Gravity, and Troubleman Unlimited.

Add another name and another label to the pile: On February 5, Hydra Head will release of ANNWN, the newest offering from Barr's Ocrilim alias. ANNWN, which we think means "multi-part song cycle" in Wookie, is composed of seven pieces of music written for multiple electric guitars. The shortest one ("Part 7") is seven minutes long and the longest one ("Part 2") is 15 minutes long. [MORE...]

Kim Gordon/Becky Stark Film Details Revealed
Director also does video project with Devendra Banhart

Photos by Luke Gilford and Natalie Rodgers

From Sonic Nurse to..."sadistic doctor"? That's the big screen turn we can expect out of Kim Gordon in the previously reported, forthcoming short film from director/screenwriter Alia Raza.

Pure White Light, as they're calling it, has been in production most of this month and also stars Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark, OK Go's Damian Kulash, and writer and fashion maven Liz Goldwyn.

According to Raza, "The movie is about self-identity in the age of aesthetics and consumerism. It tells the story of a woman's journey from insecure, lonely ingenue to jaded sophisticate."

That story was penned by Miranda July, who met Raza through a Me and You and Everyone We Know producer and suggested the budding director choose a short story from one of July's collections and adapt it for the screen.



Stark plays the aforementioned "lonely ingenue" (that's her with Raza pictured above), while Kulash plays Stark's husband "who may or may not love her," according to Raza. Goldwyn portrays "a catty friend."

Pure White Light will be submitted to festivals, with screenings in New York City and Los Angeles planned but not yet set in stone.

And Raza's brush with indie rock royalty will hardly end there. In February, NYC gallery Greene Naftali will play host to several video pieces from Raza that feature Devendra Banhart, as well as actress Chloë Sevigny. As Raza describes, these are "one-take, real-time based diptychs dealing with grooming rituals, luxury consumerism, and decay." Devendra + grooming rituals = ROFL

Justus Kohncke Stays Safe and Sound on New LP

Last year, Justus Köhncke became Kinky Justice, releasing an EP of covers of the likes of Iggy Pop and the Velvet Underground called Music and Lyrics (alas, no Hugh Grant guest spot).

But now Köhncke is headed back to the dance floor with Safe and Sound, his third album on Kompakt. It's due out February 19.

The Doppelleben follow-up is a 10-track instrumental workout anchored by a cover of "Feuerland", a 1974 tune by Michael Rother of Kraftwerk/Neu!/Harmonia. You can hear that brooding track by clicking here.

A world tour in support of Safe and Sound is expected, but for now Köhncke has a chunk of European dates to play in the next few months. [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: January 21-27, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, January 21:

ABC: The View: Moldy Peaches
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Ringo Starr

Tuesday, January 22:

Syndicated: Live With Regis and Kelly: Ringo Starr
FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: Bob Mould
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Josh Ritter

Thursday, January 24:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Super Furry Animals
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Ringo Starr

Friday, January 25: ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Sia

Saturday, January 26:

FOX: Fearless Music TV: British Sea Power, Bell X1, Devotchka, Old 97s, Metric

Nigel Godrich Music Show Hits Stateside Television
Guests include: Thom Yorke, Sonic Youth, White Stripes, PJ Harvey, Beck, Jarvis, SFA, Shins

"From the Basement" to your living room, the music variety show from Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich sure has been making strides.

For starters, it's no longer merely an interweb entity. When we last touched base with Godrich-- just before the first episode's web premiere in December 2006-- he expressed unease at the possibility of licensing his series to television. As Godrich said then, "They were quite prepared to put it out on TV if we would take a sponsor, like a mobile phone company or whatnot, and I was just like, 'No fucking way, that's just not the point at all.' The idea is to be independent-- to have no agenda...it's got to be neutral."

Now it seems Godrich has found a viable solution (or eased his stance some), as "From the Basement" is presently airing on the UK's Sky Arts network as part of its Centre Stage programming. What's more, "Basement" will grace U.S. television screens (high definition ones, anyway) beginning February 22 on 24-hour music network Rave HD.

Stateside audiences will be treated to the initial six episodes, featuring heaps upon heaps of ace musical talent. Among the guests: Thom Yorke, the Shins, the White Stripes, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Beck, Jarvis Cocker (pictured), José González, Jamie Lidell, Super Furry Animals, Albert Hammond, Jr. (The Strokes), Eels, Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy), Autolux, Free Blood, Envelopes, and Architecture in Helsinki. Check the complete U.S. schedule below. [MORE...]

Roxy Music Anthologized on DVD

For your (home theater viewing) pleasure, Roxy Music have raided the vaults for The Thrill of It All: A Visual History 1972-1982, a double-DVD collection of television performances, music videos, live appearances, and the like from the seminal art-rockers. Due Stateside on February 5 via Virgin/EMI, the set collects 38 clips from the band's heyday, including their first filmed performance (1972 at the Royal College of Art), Brian Eno's last filmed appearance with the group (at an April 1973 festival), and a cut culled from a 1979 ABBA TV special.

As for that rumored Roxy Music reunion with Brian Eno? Well, it's been almost two years since we reported it, and nothing's happened yet. [MORE...]

Black Moth Super Rainbow Busy With Tour, Side Stuff
Power Pill Fist releases sophomore album

Black Moth Super Rainbow will trot out their wacky-vocal wares on tour this March. Starting March 10, the band will Gum up the U.S. for three weeks, including a stop at Graveface Records' South by Southwest showcase.

Appearing at that same SXSW showcase will be Power Pill Fist, the equally out-there side project of BMSR bassist Ken Fec. Fec's second album under the Power Pill Fist moniker is called Kongmanivong, and it comes out via Graveface on February 26. [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.)