Excepter Visit Debt Dept. on New Paw Tracks LP, Tour

Beyond their obvious love of oversized food items, not a whole heck of a lot is clear about Excepter, but one thing remains a constant: they are weird.

With this lot, then, it's probably best to stick to the cut-and-dry and leave all the ooey-gooey oddity to them. So, then, there's Debt Dept., the forthcoming LP from Excepter and their first for Paw Tracks. The album arrives March 11 on CD, LP, and digitally, though there's a CD-only bonus track, "'Burgers", which recently made its way onto a 12" and even graced Forkcast in "medium rare" form.

The album was recorded in five days (spread over the course of nine months) and touched up by "four successive layers of building and erasing." Oh, yeah, and it's weird.

Things won't exactly get back to normal once the band hits the road with Debt on their minds, either. Excepter have a handful of East Coast dates scheduled over the coming months, with the next February 3 in New Haven. [MORE...]

Phosphorescent Plots Very Large Tour

Photo by Jesse Narducci

Phosphorescent has enough of last year's Pride for two continents. The Brooklyn-based songsmith will start a three-month road trip across North America and Europe on February 2. The tour begins with a show in Phosphorescent's home borough, and on various dates, he'll play with Bon Iver, Bodies of Water, and new labelmates Bowerbirds.

Here's hoping he brings along a drum corps to recreate the percussion in "At Death, a Proclamation". [MORE...]

SMD, CSS, Bloc Party DJs, Dizzee Do Gatecrasher Fest
With the Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, New Young Pony Club, Soulwax

Packing in 20 bands and 200 DJs in two days in Northamptonshire, England, Gatecrasher's Summer Sound System festival promises to be "the UK's biggest ever electronic music event". And with a lineup like this, it just might be: Headliners the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy (hello, 1997!) will be joined by Dizzee Rascal, Simian Mobile Disco, CSS, a Bloc Party DJ set, New Young Pony Club, Soulwax Nite Versions, Digitalism, Tiga, the Whip, Audiobullys, Paul Van Dyk, Tiga, Pete Tong, and Roni Size, along with many, many others.

The fest will also serve as a celebration of the 20 year anniversary of the birth of acid house, so expect smiley face iconography, like, everywhere. Summer Sound System takes place May 24-25 at the Turweston Aerodrome, with the music expected to go well into the six a.m. region each night.

Pack your dancing shoes, your Hypercolor t-shirt, and, of course, a pillow.

My Morning Jacket Reveal Album Title

Photo by Kathryn Yu

My Morning Jacket have revealed the title of their proper studio (read: non-Okonokos) follow-up to 2005's Z. The record's name, to be spoken in a booming, reverb-laden voice:

Evil Urges

Still without a tracklist, Evil Urges comes out June 10 via ATO, and the band has a handful of previously reported live appearances in the meantime.

Also, on January 29, Current TV's "All Eyes On" will air a portion of My Morning Jacket's Lollapalooza 2007 performance with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. [MORE...]

Hold Steady's Nicolay Auctions off Love Song

Photo by Kirstie Shanley

The Hold Steady's Franz Nicolay is-- to put it lightly-- a dreamboat. That moustache! Those ivory-tickling hands! That moustache! The man's hunkiness is simply not up for debate. What's more, he's also an accomplished composer, which, when coupled with the last sentence (and the fact that he's in the Hold Steady), adds up the full package.

Who wouldn't want a well-rounded fella like Franz serenading them just in time for Valentine's Day? Lonely, helpless sorts, that's who.

On Friday, February 8, Nicolay will participate in the third annual Cupid on Demand benefit auction at the Parlour in New York City. To the highest bidder will go an original love song, which the winner can dedicate to the object of his/her eye (though if we were the winner, we'd make Franz write the love song about us). The tune will be written in just one hour, and then recorded and performed by Mr. Nicolay that very night. Swoon city, man!

Other songwriters offering their services that evening are Clare Muldaur-Manchon of Sufjan buds Clare and the Reasons, Ollabelle, and Erin McKeown. Proceeds from the auction will go to the New Sounds Theatre and Beth Morrison Projects.

If you can't afford to dish out the big bucks for an original Nicolay composition, you can grab a piece of Franz-- though you'll have to share-- when he performs solo at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg February 2. Or, perhaps, check the Hold Steady on one of their UK appearances scheduled between recording sessions for their new album. Or you could catch a glimpse at this May's ATP vs. Pitchfork festival, which the Hold Steady will hold down. [MORE...]

Blood on the Wall Take to the Road

Trad-indie Liferz Blood on the Wall have a new record blowing up store shelves, and, consequently, eleven brand new reasons to rock the hell out on stage. And so they shall, getting even awesomer than Awesomer (which oughta be pretty damn awesome) as they barrel through the U.S. for a few weeks starting January 29 in Lawrence, Kansas.

As we mentioned before, the band will spend a little of their spell on the road trading stoner jam for "Stoner Jam" with the likes of Black Mountain. Don't forget the dryer sheets, kids.

Liferz is out now thanks to The Social Registry. [MORE...]

The Dodos Issue Visiter on Frenchkiss, Tour

On March 18, Frenchkiss Records will welcome a brand new Visiter. At least, that's the ruse songwriter Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber have used to get in the door with the second LP (and first for Frenchkiss) crafted under their preferred moniker, the Dodos.

Care to take a peek at the elusive Dodos for yourself? They'll be, well, live at a handful of gigs over the next few months, including a few stops at SXSW. The Dodos will trade the Columbidae family (if we're talking biology) for the Akron/Family when they join the band for their set at Coachella. [MORE...]

Bowerbirds Sign to Dead Oceans
Tour with Phosphorescent

Photo by Derek L Anderson

North Carolina trio Bowerbirds have signed to steadily rising Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar offshoot Dead Oceans, where they'll join a roster that includes Dirty Projectors, Bishop Allen, Evangelicals, Phosphorescent, the Explorers Club, White Hinterland, and Citay. Kudos to the label for assembling one of the strongest collections of indie/folk weirdoes out there, and kudos to the band on their new home.

Bowerbirds' first release for Dead Oceans will be an expanded edition of last year's Hymns for a Dark Horse, originally issued on Pitchfork staffer Grayson Currin's Burly Time label. It will feature two bonus tracks and will be released on CD as well as vinyl.

The 'birds will head out on tour this winter with new labelmate Phosphorescent, supporting his own 2007 album, Pride. [MORE...]

Nellie McKay Tours, Does "A Prairie Home Companion"

Amidst the chatter of the above-average children and the talk of Powdermilk Biscuits pouring out of your radio this Saturday evening, you may just hear a voice even more familiar to you than the gentle baritone of Mr. Garrison Keillor.

Kooky crooner Nellie McKay will perform as part of a broadcast version of Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" tomorrow night (January 26) in St. Paul, Minnesota; she'll also take part in an un-broadcasted concert with the troupe tonight. Joining Garrison and Nellie will be BR549 frontman Chuck Mead, bluegrass belter Becky Schlegel, humorist Roy Blount Jr., and, as ever, a bunch of jokes only middle-aged Midwesterners find funny.

McKay has a ton of other dates to attend to over the coming months, including quite a few in similarly unorthodox spots. In addition to performances at a Family Planning Advocates Conference in Albany, a couple arts museums, and a record shop, she'll appear with comedy writer/producer Ben Karlin's "Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me" stage show twice. Wacky, sure, but that's the McKay way. [MORE...]

Guillemots Seeing Red on New LP, Single, Live Dates

Guillemots! It's a name to which you can't help but annex an exclamation point, given the exuberant, over-the-top pop these ambitious Londoners specialize in. And joy of joys, we'll get another heady dose of the stuff come spring, when Guillemots unleash their sophomore album, Red.

Red follows up 2006's Pitchfork Recommended Through the Windowpane and collects 11 adventurous tracks. Look for it March 24 in UK shops via Polydor, with a U.S. release tentatively slated to follow this autumn.

Prior to Red's unveiling, Guillemots have a little advice for us in the form of first single "Get Over It". That one hits the British Isles March 17, though a final tracklist has not yet been determined. Keep an eye out for a "Get Over It" video as well.

Migratory birds by nature, Guillemots will take to the skies on the eve of spring and alight in a few venues around their native Great Britain. Um, yay! [MORE...]

Willie Nelson Celebrates Birthday With Box Set, Tour

To celebrate his 75th birthday on April 30, country legend Willie Nelson is piling on the presents...for us. Legacy has a whole year of releases planned, starting with a four-CD, 100-song box set called One Hell of a Ride.

Featuring tunes from across Nelson's five-decade-spanning catalog, One Hell of a Ride will come out on April 1 with liner notes from Joe Nick Patoski. Patoski's biography of Nelson, Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, will also come out this spring via Little, Brown.

Then on April 29, Legacy will release #1s, a single-disc collection of Nelson's country and pop chart-toppers.

Even more Willie Nelson releases on Legacy have yet to be announced, but for now, we have this: a big long tour starting in February. [MORE...]

Sera Cahoone Serves Up Sophomore Album on Sub Pop

Relatively recent Sub Pop signing Sera Cahoone has worked in cahoots with Band of Horses and Carissa's Wierd in the past, but it's her solo star that shines on the drummer- turned-frontlady's forthcoming sophomore offering (and debut for Sub Pop).

Only as the Day Is Long arrives March 18 and follows up Cahoone's self-titled first disc from 2006. Nestled amid the CD's holographic rainbows are 10 tracks, noted (in the press release, anyhow) for their quiet intensity.

Look for Cahoone at SXSW in March, although she'll first join S (aka Jenn Ghetto) and labelmates Grand Archives for a pair of shows February 20 in Seattle. Hey, that's practically one Bridwell short of a straight up Carissa's Wierd reunion! Nudge, wink, etc. [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.)