Call the Black Lips Hotline: 949-836-7407
"Give us a ring if you are in trouble, need advice, or are just plain lonely."

Photo by Daniel Arnold

In between rocking countless shows and recording fine record after fine record, the Black Lips find plenty of time for out-and-out fun. Whether it's leading a parade and inspiring people to get arrested, playing a show at a WhirlyBall rink, acting in a movie, or hanging out with little kids, these Atlanta schemers always seem to be stirring up some sort of mischief.

For their latest move, the Black Lips have started their own hotline, with Boost Mobile footing the bill. Dial or text 949-836-7407 (or, if you will, 949-TEN-SH0P) and, in the unlikely event you miss the busy signal, you should be greeted by either Cole, Jared, Ian or Joe.

Apparently, the phone has been ringing off the hook; according to their publicist, they've received calls from as far away as France, Austria, and Qatar (the latter call from a soldier.)

On their blog, the Lips wrote, "We got a new phone and don't know what to do with it so we started a hotline. It's inspired by CB and Hamm radios, because people don't use those anymore, and we think truckers are cool. It'll give us something to do in the van. The minutes will probably expire, and I'm not paying for that shit. Give us a ring if you are in trouble, need advice, or are just plain lonely."

And, hey if it gets really annoying, they can always chuck that sucker out the window of the tour bus. Which reminds me: the Lips' tour-- the U.S. leg of which wraps over the weekend in their native A-town-- just got a little bigger, with a new trip to Europe in the first half of next month. As previously mentioned, they'll hit the UK pretty hard in May, with a stop along the way at the ATP vs. Pitchfork Festival in Rye, England. [MORE...]

Anti-Pop Consortium Kick Off Reunion Tour

Photo by Sarah Friedman

Last summer, we spoke with the four future-minded folks who comprise the Anti-Pop Consortium-- Earl Blaize, M. Sayiid, Beans, and High Priest-- just as they'd announced plans to reform for both a new album and a tour.

The album, which they had planned to get to work on back in October, is still a bit of a mystery. But that tour is upon us, and soon! It kicks off tomorrow night (March 22) with two shows in New York, followed by a trip to Europe that has the Consortium warming up a few crowds for Public Enemy's recently announced, All Tomorrow's Parties-assisted spins through their seminal It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. It's for Don't Look Back, which, appropriately, is just the kind of advice Anti-Pop Consortium have always taken. [MORE...]

Justice, Cee-Lo, Junior Boys, Matthew Dear Do WMC
Plus: Madlib, Cool Kids, Gui Boratto, Biz Markie, MSTRKRFT, A-Trak, M.A.N.D.Y., Moby

The scrappy indie kids have their SXSW, but for the 12"-happy, headphones-toting electronic music (and adventurous hip-hop) fiends of the world, it's all about the annual Winter Music Conference in perennially summery Miami.

This year's gathering descends on the Florida city March 25-29, with the core events going down at Miami Beach Resort & Spa and myriad satellite happenings hitting pretty much any other spot in town that can contain a booty-shaking bassline.

Sure, the Van Dyks and the Oakenfolds and the Tiëstos of the world will be there, but so will Justice, Cee-Lo Green (actually performing with Paul Oakenfold), Matthew Dear, Gui Boratto, Biz Markie, the Cool Kids, MSTRKRFT, Madlib, Moby, Fischerspooner, A-Trak, Dominik Eulberg, Erol Alkan, Ewan Pearson, Underworld, the Crystal Method, DJ Mehdi, Carl Cox, Frankie Knuckles, Chip E., Peanut Butter Wolf, M.A.N.D.Y., Nôze, Heidi, Henrik Schwarz, Metro Area, Âme, Tiefschwarz, Digitalism, Switch, Felix da Housecat, Boys Noize, Heartthrob, Para One, Princess Superstar, Butane, Kate Simko, Bugz in the Attic, Z-Trip, Shy Child, Vikter Duplaix, Steve Bug, Martin Landsky, Argy, Danny Tenaglia, Jimmy Edgar, Radio Slave, Loco Dice, Ben Watt, Cobblestone Jazz, edIT, and Jesse Rose, just to name a select few.

If your eyes can handle it, a full list of WMC goings-on awaits you here.

Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige Launch "Heart of the City" Tour

Though the "Heart of the City" tour-- the rap/R&B juggernaut featuring the pretty much inarguable leaders of both genres, Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige-- doesn't kick off 'til tomorrow, it seems Jay's itching for a little warm-up.

Tonight, Jay will take the stage at Miami Beach's Jackie Gleason Theater for a pre-tour show (what do you think the chances are that Mary shows up?). Then, he and the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul will join forces Saturday evening in Miami for the first of a month and a half's worth of collaborative dates.

Quite a few gigs have been added since we checked in on 'em last time, so if you were feeling neglected, you may want to take a second glance. (Sorry, Denver-- you're still neglected. An April 23 show at the Pepsi Center was announced and cancelled within the same day, for some reason.)

Mary's live plans are all tied up with "Heart of the City", but Jigga, as you know, has been expressing a fondness for the headlining spot on a number of big ol' summer shindigs. Jay's taking the top of the bill at the Hove Festival-- about damn time, too!-- as well as Glastonbury, British Columbia's recently-announced Pemberton Festival, and Germany's Splash! Festival. He'll also join Linkin Park for a one-off gig just after Glastonbury at Milton Keynes, England's National Bowl. [MORE...]

Atlas Sound Signs to 4AD in Europe

Photo by Matthew Taplinger

Deerhunter frontman turned Atlas Sound juggernaut Bradford Cox has signed to 4AD for the release of Atlas Sound's debut, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, outside of North America on May 5. It seems a spot-on match in aesthetic terms, and the label will expand upon the work done by Kranky in North America by adding an extra disc of new material to the release (details forthcoming).

Bradford's planning a full-blown European tour for May, but right now the only two scheduled Atlas Sound performances are in mid-May at the Explosions in the Sky-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival and July 19 at the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival.

Deerhunter will end their hiatus with a few European dates in May and June, including an appearance at ATP vs. Pitchfork. [MORE...]

The Presets Present New Album, Single, Live Dates

Aussie electro-pop duo the Presets have unveiled the details surrounding their second album, and its title is strikingly close to that of countryman Mel Gibson's Mayan adventure epic Apocalypto. Apocalypso (which we'd be remiss not to point out is also the name of a Mew song) is the follow-up to 2006's Beams, and it will arrive via Modular April 12 in Australia, May 12 in the UK, and May 13 in the U.S.

Apocalypso's first single "My People" is available now, and a music video for the track resides at the link below. A follow-up single for "This Boy's in Love" lands March 29 in Australia, April 1 in the U.S., and April 8 in the UK.

The Presets have a heap of Apocalypso support dates scheduled all the way into June, including shows in-- you guessed it-- Australia, the UK, and the U.S. (plus Canada). [MORE...]

The Honeydrips Open for Jens Lekman on U.S. Tour

The Honeydrips and Jens Lekman share both a home city-- that'd be Gothenburg, Sweden-- and an ability to crank out easygoing pop music that's just as easy to love. And, starting tonight, both Jens and the Honeydrips (spearheaded by one Mikael Carlsson) will share something else: stages across the U.S. on a brief tour.

These 'drips, as you may recall, received Pitchfork's first "Recommended" nod of 2008 for last year's fine Here Comes the Future LP. And so, if you were planning to show up just in time for Jens, well, now you know why that's a bad idea. [MORE...]

The New Tilly and the Wall Album Has No Name
But it does have 11 songs, a release date, and an accompanying tour

I'd like to tell you the name of Tilly and the Wall's forthcoming Mike Mogis-produced LP. Really, I would. It's just that, well, it doesn't have one.

Sure, in a pinch, one might think to call it O, since every copy will come with a circular frame on the front in which the many different artworks (including, crafty types, your very own) will be inserted. But that's not exactly it. And one might be tempted to call it Untitled, but if that's what the band wanted, they would have called it that, no? Same goes for "self-titled".

So it's just got no name whatsoever. We will all have to learn to cope.

Whatever the new Tilly and the Wall album is or isn't called, it is arriving from Team Love June 17. Apart from your standard spate of instruments and sprawling tunage, the 11-track disc features a stomp group (à la these guys), an all-female tap-dance trio, and even a few pots and pans to add to the unique percussive mix. With all the time it takes to properly mic a saucepan lid, who has the time to name anything?

The disc comes rather close on the heels of both Tilly's new, non-album single and Tilly member Derek Pressnall's Flowers Forever LP. And, indeed, both Tilly and Flowers Forever have a handful of live dates. See if you can tell 'em apart at the gigs after the jump. [MORE...]

Los Campesinos! Cover Bikini Kill, Deerhoof on Single
Also cover Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

We don't expect to hear shout-outs to Yes and King Crimson from them any time soon, but Los Campesinos! will once again indulge their progressive impulses on their second self-proclaimed "concept single."

"My Year in Lists" is the newest tune from Hold on Now, Youngster... to get the single treatment, and it will be released in the UK on April 14 via Wichita.

The concept of the "My Year in Lists" single is, essentially, shortness. Combined, all three of the single's B-sides clock in at the 1:49 duration of "My Year in Lists". They are also all covers, of songs by Deerhoof, Bikini Kill, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, respectively. So sort of like the opposite of prog rock, then. [MORE...]

Sufjan, Danielson Play Serena-Maneesh Dude's Fest Gig

Photo by Kathryn Yu

Fun facts about Moi, Norway: it has a population of about 2,000, it's the home of Serena-Maneesh frontman Emil Nikolaisen, and it will soon play host to a Nikolaisen-curated festival show featuring Sufjan Stevens.

The event sweeps through the NorDan factory in tiny Moi on August 23, as part of the month-long Dalane Festival of Culture, according to a Stavanger 2008 writeup. Along with Sufjan-- an unlikely friend of Nikolaisen who played on Serena-Maneesh's self-titled LP-- Danielson will also perform, while members of the Ladybug Transistor and the Loch Ness Mouse (for whom Nikolaisen used to drum) will collaborate as the Loch Ness Transistor.

The bill thus far is rounded out by Minneapolis' Happy Daggers and Nikolaisen's fellow Norwegians Black Feather (aka Harald Frøland of Jaga Jazzist), Ingrid Olava, Frode Jacobsen (of Madrugada), Elvira Nikolaisen, and I Was a King. A "psychedelic chamber-pop version" of Serena-Maneesh known as S-M Intergalactic Makkverk will grace the stage as well.

Nikolaisen put together the concert in conjunction with Smalltown Supersound label boss Joakim Haugland (also on the bill under his Disk guise) and I Was a King's Frode Strømstad.

Thanks to reader Magnus Heie Gregersen for the tip.

Sage Francis, Busdriver, Kool Keith Rock Paid Dues
With Fatlip, Boot Camp Clik, Hieroglyphics, Black Moon, Murs, Little Brother, Dilated Peoples

Provided the weather holds and all the East Coasters' planes get in on time, tomorrow (March 22) is going to be quite a Saturday in San Bernardino, California. A motherload of indie rap's finest will take the stage at the city's NOS Events Center for the third annual Paid Dues Festival.

Once again hosted by Murs-- who is apparently running for President-- the big day out will feature performances from Sage Francis, Hieroglyphics, Busdriver, Kool Keith, Boot Camp Clik with Black Moon, Fatlip & Omni, Little Brother, Dilated Peoples, Little Brother, Jedi Mind Tricks, Living Legends, Visionaries, Mac Lethal, Yak Ballz, P.O.S., B. Dolan, and Isaiah.

Attendees should also be on the lookout for a "special surprise guest appearance" from somebody or other. Soulja Boy, perhaps? NO GUYS STOP I DIDN'T MEAN IT...

New Elvis Costello Album Due on Vinyl, Download Only
Kick out the jams, Momofukus!

We're going to be in for quite a treat in 2038 when Elvis Costello gives the deluxe double-disc reissue treatment to his forthcoming new album, Momofuku.

But first, he's got to go through that whole "original issue" process, so he has enlisted Lost Highway to put the album out on April 22, according to a Billboard.com report.

The report also reveals Costello's nontraditional release strategy for Momofuku. At least at first, it will come out only on vinyl, with a digital download code inside the package. But it will be supported with a tour-- that previously announced one with the Police.

Since Elvis Costello can never have just one project going on at once, he will also celebrate the world premiere of Nightspot, a Twyla Tharp ballet he scored, on March 28 at the Arsht Center in Miami. According to his website, March 31 will reveal a new "session" from the Coward Brothers, Costello's partnership with producer T-Bone Burnett. It's a "live studio recording of the soundtrack for a stop-frame animation feature adapted from the James Ensor painting, 'Christ's Last Entry Into Brussels'."

And if that wasn't weird enough for ya, Costello's website explains that said Coward Brothers album, Henry and Howard's Last Entry Into Brussels, will be distributed in an even more non-traditional manner than Momofuku: "U.S. edition of record will be released on a state-by-state basis, in alphabetical order. Due to problems with piracy, only one copy will be manufactured for issue in each state or international territory. Individual copies will be encoded with the new, KNARP discriminators and secreted in the racks of selected stockists. Those discovering each unique disc will be free to do with it as their conscience draws it."

That last thing might be a big joke, though. We're not sure. Wouldn't put it past Elvis Costello, though.

Also, in case we have failed to draw the proper attention to this fact so far, THE RECORD IS CALLED MOMOFUKU. We hope the whole thing sounds like the "Boom Shakalaka" chant in the Muppet Treasure Island scene where Miss Piggy is revealed to be the queen of the tribe of wild boars. [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.)