No Age, Marnie Stern, Hella Dudes on Zach Hill Solo LP

Hella drummer and Marnie Stern collaborator Zach Hill will release his very first solo album, Astrological Straights, via Ipecac on August 26.

Fortunately for us, Hill couldn't quite quell his collaborative tendencies, and the record's long guest list is chock full of juicy names: Stern, Hella bandmates Carson McWhirter and Josh Hill, both members of No Age, Les Claypool, !!!/LCD Soundsystem's Tyler Pope, one-time Flying Luttenbacher and former Hella bandmate Jonathan Hischke, former Rx Bandits saxophonist Steve Borth, the Advantage's Robby Moncrieff, Marco Benevento, and Chino Moreno of Deftones, aka the best band ever (maybe an exaggeration but not a joke). [MORE...]

Magnetic Fields Head to Europe, Prep Vinyl Reissues
Also put new album Distortion on wax

Photo by Kathryn Yu

Having recently wrapped his first tour in some time with the Magnetic Fields, Stephin Merritt is already itching to get back out there. Merritt and the Fields will head to Europe early on in the summer for a handful of recently announced dates in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and the UK, with a promise of "more to come shortly."

And speaking of more Merritt to come shortly, well, there's a Magnetic Fields vinyl campaign a-brewin' that spans two whole labels. Merge will carve The Charm of the Highway Strip into wax for a May 6 release, and will follow it up with Get Lost on LP this fall. And, sometime this summer, Nonesuch will throw this year's Distortion onto vinyl.

In other news: last week, Nonesuch issued a download-only single for Merritt's "The Man of a Million Faces" from NPR's Project Song thing, available at your standard online music retailers. [MORE...]

Fleet Foxes and Beach House Link up for Tour

Stock up on red wine, and prepare to get woozy. Best New Music buddies Fleet Foxes and Beach House will join up this June to wrap the UK and Ireland in layers of reverb on a co-headlining tour.

For Beach House, these new shows come after their other U.S. and European dates in support of sophomore album Devotion. Fleet Foxes, however, have shows sandwiched on both sides, including appearances at the Pitchfork Music Festival and the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival. The band's self-titled debut LP comes out June 3 via Sub Pop (June 2 in the UK via Bella Union). [MORE...]

Destroyer Kicks Off Trouble Tour Tonight

Minneapolis... ARE YOU READY TO ROCK? Sure you are. Here's a better question: ARE YOU READY TO BE DESTROYED? Yes indeedy, Mill City, prepare thyselves for the white-hot hard rock fury of DESTROYER, tearing down the walls of your 400 Bar. TONITE ONLY.

So, okay, Destroyer doesn't quite punish in the manner his name might suggest. But, in his wordy little way, Dan Bejar does slay live, and he'll do just that on a mess of tour dates from tonight through the end of May.

All this more than likely has something to do with Merge's March release of the Pitchfork Recommended Trouble in Dreams. But, hey, if Bejar and co. want to destroy us, we'll let them, no excuse required. [MORE...]

A Sunny Day in Glasgow Cover Pastels, Cut Singles, Tour
Also put debut on vinyl, get remixed by Asobi Seksu and Ulrich Schnauss

The sun has risen and set anew on the biggest city in Scotland plenty of times since the last time we heard much from Philly's A Sunny Day in Glasgow. But hey, here they are again! The band has a trio of vinyl releases and a handful of live dates on the way over the next few months.

First up on the release tip is a 7" featuring their cover of the Pastels' "Sometimes I Think About You", due May 26 from Slumberland. Then on June 3, WRAS-affiliated new label Geographic North will issue a 7" with a pair of brand new ASDIG jams. And finally, last year's Recommended Scribble Mural Comic Journal LP is due on vinyl sometime in early July, bolstered by remixes from Ulrich Schnauss and Asobi Seksu.

Then, there are the live dates, which find the band in California this week, and New York and Europe into the summer. Shine on, you crazy non-Glaswegians. [MORE...]

Half-Handed Cloud Splits 7" With Ariel Pink, Tours

Photo by Yoni Wolf

Asthmatic Kitty's Unusual Animals 7" series gets a third installment on May 20 with a disc split between Half-Handed Cloud, aka John Ringhofer, and Ariel Pink.

Half-Handed pal Bert Hiscock and Cryptacize's Nedelle Torrisi added cello and violin to HHC's A-side contribution, "Sewing Wind to Fabric". On the B-side, Ariel Pink contributes "Before Today". Illustrator Jared Chapman made the cover art for the 7".

Ringhofer has a couple weeks' worth of tour dates with Olympia-based LAKE in April and May. The next one is tonight (April 16) in San Francisco. [MORE...]

Morrissey Plans New Single, Show in Israel

Nuts to all that "love" business; all you really need is Morrissey.

Moz is set to release a UK-only single for recent live staple and Greatest Hits newbie "All You Need Is Me" May 19 on Polydor/Decca. B-sides include "Children in Pieces" and "My Dearest Love", recorded with composer Gustavo Santaolalla, as well as a live version of David Bowie's "Drive-In Saturday" from a spring 2007 gig in Nebraska.

Morrissey's 2008 plans include a European tour, which right now features a headlining slot at London's O2 Wireless Festival on July 4 and a performance in Tel Aviv, Israel on July 29 [via Idolator]. The Tel Aviv show has drawn criticism from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, who accuse Morrissey of violating his avowed anti-racist attitude by performing in Israel. [Via the Daily Swarm]

A new album, helmed by producer Jerry Finn, is also in the works for the fall. But more immediately, there's the Under Review DVD detailing the making of the Smiths' classic-amongst-classics, The Queen Is Dead, and a pair of boob tube performances on "The Late Late Show With Craig Fergson" on April 28 and 29. He'll perform "All You Need Is Me" and "Irish Blood, English Heart", respectively. [MORE...]

Thurston, MacKaye, Watt in Record Store Documentary
Also: Glenn Branca, Noam Chomsky, members of Talking Heads, Of Montreal, Black Keys

Did you know that corporations tend to disregard the interests of small businesses, that people want to buy fewer physical copies of musical artifacts when they can get them on the internet for free, or that Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye tends to interview for documentaries in kitchens while wearing a hoodie and a black beanie? If any of these things catches you by surprise, then a forthcoming documentary called I Need That Record! The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store will probably be very informative for you.

The movie, directed by Brendan Toller, explores the reasons why independently owned record shops are getting scarcer through interviews with MacKaye, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Mike Watt (Minutemen), Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Glenn Branca, Chris Frantz (Talking Heads), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Bryan Poole (Of Montreal), writer Legs McNeil, smart dude Noam Chomsky, and plenty of music business folk across the U.S.

The rough cut of I Need That Record! premieres May 3 at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, but the final cut and theatrical/DVD release are still forthcoming. In the meantime, you can watch the trailer at the link below or check out clips from the movie by clicking here.

This would also be an appropriate time to remind you: Record Store Day is April 19!

Earles & Jensen Reissue Prank Call Classic on Matador
Devendra Banhart, Matt Sweeney, Archer Prewitt contribute to liner notes

Cat Power is great, but her music's not exactly a picker upper. And Malkmus is sometimes funny, but in more of a heady way than a spit-coffee-at-your-computer-screen way. Thus, Matador has rectified its comedy void with the forthcoming reissue of Earles and Jensen's out-of-print double-disc Earles and Jensen Present... Just Farr a Laugh: The Greatest Prank Phone Calls Ever! Vols. 1 & 2. After a few delays, the record finally arrives April 22 May 6-- another delay!

The duo consists of Brooklynite Jeffrey Jensen and Memphis resident Andrew Earles, both writers and jacks of several other trades as well (e.g., Jensen was once the bass player for Homestead Records' Smack Dab). The Just Farr a Laugh reissue package comes with a book of photos, drawings, and written forewords from a host of cool contributors. Devendra Banhart, Matt Sweeney, and Archer Prewitt all lend drawings to the book, and the list of foreword writers includes Matador co-head Gerard Cosloy, Gregg Turkington (aka Neil Hamburger), and Neil Pollack.

As for the audio contents of the record, the title pretty much says it all, although the MP3 samples linked below say it even better.

The Chap Sign to Ghostly to Release New Album

Electro-rocking London foursome the Chap have signed to electronic-heavy label Ghostly International to release their third album, Mega Breakfast.

The record comes out July 1 in the U.S., although all the band's live affections for now will go to other countries. They have two Greek dates in April and a steady stream of European shows through early June. [MORE...]

Wombats Sign to Roadrunner in U.S., Issue LP, Tour

The Wombats are a zippy, upbeat little musical unit from Liverpool with a whole lot to say. How fitting, then, that for the U.S. release of their LP The Wombats Proudly Present... A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, they've signed on with Roadrunner Records-- home to, um, a bunch of mean-looking dudes. Anyhow, Roadrunner will issue the set June 24.

And, man oh man, does this lot ever like to tour. With a ton of European gigs on the way, and a few in the U.S. as well, you are going to have a hard time not seeing the Wombats this spring and summer. [MORE...]

Roskilde Festival Lineup Announced
My Bloody Valentine, Jay-Z, Neil Young, Cat Power, M.I.A., Grinderman, Liars, Hot Chip, Streets, Dan Deacon, Gnarls Barkley, Girl Talk

A couple names have loomed large over the bill for this year's Roskilde Festival. As previously reported, the recently reunited My Bloody Valentine and the recently ubiquitous Radiohead lead the charge for the festivities taking place July 3-6 in Roskilde, Denmark (with a warm-up featuring local bands from June 29 to July 3). But now that the full lineup Roskilde 2008 has been announced, Thom and Kevin and them better make more than a little room.

Joining Radiohead and My Bloody Valentine at this year's big to-do are Jay-Z, M.I.A., Cat Power, Neil Young, Liars, Grinderman, Hot Chip, the Streets, Dan Deacon, Girl Talk, No Age, Gnarls Barkley, Goldfrapp, Battles, Black Mountain, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Jay Reatard, the Notwist, Band of Horses, Holy Fuck, José González, Yeasayer, Slayer, the Raveonettes, At the Gates, Santogold, Tokyo Police Club, Dillinger Escape Plan, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Supersilent, Extra Golden, Lykke Li, the Gossip, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Vieux Farka Touré, Various Production, Familjen, the Count and Sinden, Shackleton, Cadence Weapon, Joan as Police Woman, Kate Nash, the Chemical Brothers, Efterklang, Digitalism, Lady Saw, Dengue Fever, Kings of Leon, MGMT and, yes indeedy, Judas Priest.

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