Deerhoof Work on Friend Follow-Up, Plan Shows

A new Deerhoof album? It must be a year that ends with a number! Yes, the beloved Bay Area set-- who, apart from 2006, have released an LP every year in this millennium-- will keep the streak alive this October when Kill Rock Stars issues their latest slab of high-spirited head-scratchers. We know absolutely nothing else about it at this point, but when we do, you'll be the first to know. Yes, you!

We are, however, way up on Deerhoof's upcoming live plans, which see them trotting out the new tracks at a few choice locales over the coming months. There's a gig in Albany next weekend, a stop at the Roots Picnic, a Wordless Music Series show in Brooklyn, a Halifax Jazz Festival engagement, and, finally, one of them KCRW Hollywood Bowl things. The Wordless event is especially noteworthy for its opening act: NYC's own Metropolis Ensemble, who will perform an unlikely but awesome-sounding "remix" of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

In other Deerhoof news, they've got a new member, Satomi's got a new band, and Los Campesinos! have a new (and very short) cover of one of their jams. [MORE...]

Supergrass Tour With Foo Fighters
Give Diamond Hoo Ha a U.S. release date, but, alas, retain the title

Dave Grohl sure as hell remembers the 1990s, and so, too, do the boys of Supergrass. And that, one might cheekily suppose, is the driving force behind the Foo Fighters' decision to hire the Oxford foursome to open up each and every non-festival date on their forthcoming U.S. tour. Will the boozed-up Foos loyal warm to the rangy rock stylings of Supergrass? If they remember "Pumping on Your Stereo", you bet your ass they might.

A few weeks back, we mentioned that Supergrass' new one, Diamond Hoo Ha, didn't yet have a release date in the States. But no more! Astralwerks will issue Diamond Hoo Ha June 10. We also claimed they have UK dates on the way; still true, but now, expanded. See for yourself... [MORE...]

Photos: Tapes 'n Tapes [Minneapolis, MN; 04/10/08]

Photos by Stacy Schwartz

Dressed to the nines in collared shirts, sweater vests, and, okay, some t-shirts and jeans, Tapes 'n Tapes began their tour in support of the recently released Walk It Off in their hometown of Minneapolis last night. Their First Avenue set saw support from White Denim, who'll accompany the Tapes on their entire North American tour, and the Birthday Suits.

Catch the pastel-fond quartet at venues throughout North America and Europe this spring.

TAPES 'N TAPES





[MORE...]

Bassist Ira Trevisan Leaves CSS
Band readies new album for July release

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

CSS, you always know what to say. In what sounds like one of the most amicable departures in the history of these things, bassist Ira Trevisan has left the Brazilian electro-punk troupe due to what they're calling "personal reasons."

Ira explains her move in a statement posted on the band's MySpace blog: "I decided to move forward and dedicate more of my time to fashion and other projects. Just a big change of priorities, as I will never stop playing music. I am also a bit worried about climate change. People should care more and do something about it. I decided to fly less. CSS will always be in my heart. They said goodbye to their bass player, but they won a new life time fan. In health and sickness, in happiness and so forth. Blah blah blah, so help us God." See? Funny! Not sad! Well played, ya'll.

With Trevisan's exit, drummer Adriano Cintra will pick up the bass, and a session drummer (a CSS chum, it's claimed) will join the group in the live setting. What, no reality television auditions?

The band also took the opportunity to fill in a few details on their forthcoming LP. Well, just one detail, really: it'll hit the UK in July. More info is expected to follow soon, since, hey, July ain't so far off. For now, though, there's quite a little tour in the works, which kicks off May 5 in Cardiff. [MORE...]

Wire Reveal New LP Title, Tracklist, New Dates
Add Laika's Margaret Fiedler McGinnis to live lineup

Written by Colin Newman and Graham Lewis, and sporting "tunes with zoom", the 11th studio LP from post-punk legends Wire is due later this year. Titled Object 47, it's so named due to its place in the Wire catalog: when they get it out there, it will be the veteran band's 47th release. Release info on the nine-song Object 47 is pending, but the tracklist is available after the jump.

Wire have a handful of tour dates lined up as spring turns to early summer. At all stops, they'll be joined by Laika's Margaret Fiedler McGinnis on rhythm guitar. [MORE...]

Asobi Seksu Sign to Polyvinyl, Prep Third Album

New York dream-poppers Asobi Seksu have just announced that they've left the Brooklyn-based Friendly Fire Recordings for a new home at Champaign, Illinois' Polyvinyl Records.

The imprint-- North American home to the likes of Of Montreal and Architecture in Helsinki-- will issue Asobi's follow-up to 2006's Citrus later in 2008. Like Citrus, the forthcoming album will feature the production touch of Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, the Walkmen, Tokyo Police Club). The band's European releases, meanwhile, will still be handled by One Little Indian.

Asobi Seksu have plans to hit the studio in June, with European festival dates to follow this summer.

White Williams, Deerhunter Members Get Weird
As do members of Excepter, Ecstatic Sunshine, Rings

Psych weirdoes of the world, unite and take over. It's not quite globe-shaking, but on April 17, two new bands formed from left-of-center indie luminaries will invade NYC's New Museum as part of the Get Weird series.

The bands are called Fakey and Hex Message. The former is a "power trio" consisting of Joe Williams (aka White Williams), Deerhunter's Moses Archuleta, and Ecstatic Sunshine's Matthew Papich. The latter is a collaboration between Excepter's Dan Hougland, Rings' Abby Portner, gallerist Pascal Spengemann, and artist Andrew Kuo.

Curated by former FADER editor-in-chief Alex Wagner, Get Weird is a performance series at the New Museum that happens on the third Thursday of each month.

Man Man and Yeasayer Kick Off Joint Tour Tonight

Things are bound to get a little hairy once Man Man and Yeasayer take to the stage tonight on the first of many stages they'll share on their previously reported joint tour of North America. I mean, hell, just look at 'em!

Man Man, fresh off this week's release of Rabbit Habits, and Yeasayer, still ridin' high on All Hour Cymbals, will join forces through the rest of April and the first bit of May before wrapping their shared stint at the ATP vs. Pitchfork festival near Rye, England.

Man Man will break briefly to hit Coachella, and they've lined up a pre-ATP date sans the sayers of Yea in Towson, Maryland. Both bands also have a slew of overseas gigs to attend to after they rock ATP, and Yeasayer will take one of the many stages at Lollapalooza come early August. [MORE...]

Leila Signs to Warp for New LP, Opens for Bjork

Iranian electronic producer Leila Arab has signed to Warp for the release of her third LP under her first name. Some eight years in coming, the follow-up to Courtesy of Choice is called Blood, Looms and Blooms, and it features guest appearances from Specials vocalist Terry Hall, Tricky collaborator/solo artist Martina Topley-Bird, and longtime Leila pal Luca Santucci, among others. Warp will release Blooms in the UK on June 9.

Leila has a fair number of live dates supporting Björk in April and May, but our first studio sample of her new tunes will come in the form of two singles. Warp will release the "Mettle" 10"/digital single on April 21, then follow it with the "Deflect" single on May 26.

U.S. release dates for the album and the singles are still being finalized, but Warp is planning for "Mettle" to make its way over in mid-to-late April and Blooms to follow in mid-to-late June.

You can view the alluring cover of Blood, Looms and Blooms, along with Leila's dates, after the jump. [MORE...]

Radiohead Chart With "Nude" Unexpectedly

For all their critical and online popularity, it's easy to forget that Radiohead aren't exactly Alicia Keys/John Mayer/T-Pain in terms of pure sales figures. So when their newest single, "Nude", debuted at number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week-- becoming, on paper anyway, the band's biggest hit since "Creep"-- it came as an interesting surprise.

That surprise is especially interesting because the song probably would not have made the Hot 100 if it weren't for its non-traditional release format. Recall that the band not only released the In Rainbows version of "Nude" last week; they also released five of its component parts via iTunes as "stems" for use in the creation of fan-made remixes. The complete song sold just under 13,000 copies in its first week, but since Billboard counted the cumulative sales of the song and all five stems (totalling just under 60,000), Radiohead = Top 40 stars, at least for the week [via Idolator].

UPDATE: A Billboard.com report posted today notes that "Nude" did not in fact chart on a "technicality", but that the five "Nude" stems were technically considered "remixes" of the track, and thus included in the Hot 100 tally under standard chart policy regarding remixes.

Maybe this means the band will finally live up to its name and fight Usher comeback singles all summer for ultimate car stereo ubiquity. Not that Radiohead will have time to pay attention to the battle, as they hit the road running in early May and more or less don't stop until August is through. [MORE...]

Photos: Gnarls Barkley / Santogold [New York, NY; 04/10/08]

Photos by Kathryn Yu

From "Crazy" to just plain Odd, Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green and Danger Mouse are certainly an interesting pair. Last night at New York's Highline Ballroom, the neo-soulsters kept their heads on straight to jam through some tracks from their sophomore album, The Odd Couple, plus some Gnarls classics too.

The new disc, you may recall, was thrust upon the public with hardly a peep of advance warning. And then they tried to give all their fans seizures! Does that make them crazy? Possibly.

Meanwhile, rising star Santogold warmed up the crowd with a few cuts from her forthcoming self-titled debut. Find more photos of both acts and a few dates below, then catch Gnarls on "Saturday Night Live" tomorrow evening, April 12.

GNARLS BARKLEY










SANTOGOLD



[MORE...]

Coldplay Reveal Viva la Vida Tracklist

Coldplay, the self-described "very heavy soft rock" troupe you know and your mom loves, have seen fit to unveil a tracklist for their forthcoming Brian Eno/Markus Dravs-produced fourth LP with the silly name. Chris and company couldn't quite hold Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends to the nine tracks they'd reportedly been hoping for, but with a title like that, it's probably best to go big all around. The disc will be released June 16 in the UK on Parlophone and June 17 in the U.S. on Capitol. It will sell well.

Coldplay still have but a trio of dates on what will probably become a rather massive tour undertaking: a spot at the inaugural Pemberton bash along with BFF Jay-Z, and two dates at Japan's Summer Sonic festival.

Oh, and, um, LOL. [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.)