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...]

Gnarls, Feist, Devendra, Deerhoof Play KCRW Fest

KCRW's World Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles will return for its 10th year this summer. The SoCal public radio station will celebrate a decade of collaborating with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association by infusing Sundays throughout the summer with sweet tunes and inspired matchups.

The weekly festival's six installments feature such stellar lineups as Devendra Banhart, Gilberto Gil, and the Album Leaf with Mike Heron from the Incredible String Band, Feist and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Gnarls Barkley, Youssou N'Dour, and Deerhoof, and Thievery Corporation with Seu Jorge.

KCRW's World Festival begins on June 22 with Thievery/Jorge headlining a show that also features Bebel Gilberto, Los Amigos Invisibles, and Federico Aubele. The full lineup is after the jump.

The Hollywood Bowl also has several notable non-World Festival shows scheduled throughout the coming months, including Brian Wilson on September 12-14, Nick Cave and Spiritualized on September 17, and Etta James and Solomon Burke on August 13. [MORE...]

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists to Open for Pearl Jam
Don't they just look like one big happy Photoshopped family?

Hmmm, wonder if they'll spend any time talking politics? Pearl Jam have made their selections for the opening slots on their forthcoming summer U.S. tour, and dashing young punk Ted Leo and his Pharmacists are among them.

It seems Ted and company will take up with Eddie etc. starting June 19 in Camden, New Jersey and follow the stadium-rock staples through the rest of the month. Actually, it sounds like a good choice all around: Pearl Jam get one of the best live bands in the world to front for 'em, and Ted can school the masses to the ways of the world a few more folks at a time than he's generally accustomed. Plus he gets to rock Madison Square Garden!

Kings of Leon, who are kind of the complete antithesis of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, will open the rest of Pearl Jam's tour.

Ted, sans Ed, hits the UK next month. He also recently remixed Spoon's "Don't You Evah" for an upcoming single, and appears on the just-released DVD of the first season of "Human Giant".

As for Pearl Jam, the rest of their dates are available after the jump. Eddie Vedder has a solo West Coast trek going down at the beginning of April. [MORE...]

El Guincho Signs to XL/Young Turks

Photo by Daniel Cantó

Welcome to the big (indie) leagues, El Guincho! As the latest signing to XL Recordings/Young Turks (according to a Drowned in Sound report confirmed by the Beggars Group), you join a label family that includes Thom Yorke, M.I.A., and Vampire Weekend, just to name a few heavy-hitters. May they be merciful in their hazing.

The deal covers both the UK and U.S., and XL/Young Turks plans to deliver El Guincho's genre melting pot of a debut, the Best New Music-inducted Alegranza!, later this year. (For the moment, it's available on import outside Spain via Discotea Océano.) We hope it's just in time for his set at the Pitchfork Music Festival!

Before then, folks on El Guincho's side of the pond have ample opportunities to catch their new hero in action. Find out where below. [MORE...]

Kimya Dawson Tours Into Summer

Hide your switchblades, Kyuss records, and anarchist cookbooks, kids, because in the next few months, there's a good chance your town will be the target of a cuteness invasion. And there's no way to resist! In other words, (sorta) former Moldy Peach and current hot-hot-hot Juno songstress Kimya Dawson is on tour.

The tour takes Dawson through the U.S., UK, Europe, and Australia, and most of her dates are with her husband, Angelo Spencer. Her other tourmates include Paul Baribeau, Spoonboy (son of Soundgarden's Spoonman, no doubt), L'Orchidee D'Hawai, and even, on one date, Band of Horses.

Dawson's next show is this very night (March 20) in Tallahassee. [MORE...]

Hey Kids! It's a One-of-a-Kind, Four-Hour-Long Charity Remix of Radiohead's "Videotape"...on VHS!

There's no doubt about it: Radiohead inspire people. They gave producer Amplive the impetus to craft a whole remix album (which, despite hang-ups, did finally see the light of day) and they've arguably provoked a number of post-In Rainbows name-your-price schemes and 11th hour album announcements.

And now Radiohead have touched UK knob-twiddler James Rutledge (aka Pedro) in a special way, the way that makes you want to create a 240-minute remix and, sure, why not, throw it on a VHS tape.

Believe it: Four glorious hours of In Rainbows' haunting closer "Videotape", committed to an obsolescent media format, with accompanying visuals from Philip M. Lane and some pretty swank cover art designed by Jacob Blandy.

Rutledge's press release happily accounts for any thoughts you might be having right now: "Is it a comment on the state of the music industry, or music PR? Fan boy tribute? Ambient epic? Inspiring idea? Bad joke? Deranged waste of time? You decide."

Or you can decide if you're the one lucky person who scores the one existing copy of this piece that makes even The Disintegration Loops seem radio-friendly. Rutledge intends to auction off his unique remix of "Videotape" and donate all profits to the UK-based Missing People charity. Auction details are forthcoming, so until then, looks like you have a little time to ask mommy what a "VHS" is.

"Videotape (James Rutledge Remix)" sleeve art:

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