Parts & Labor Want Your Help for New Album
Dan Friel releases first solo album

As they record their full-length follow-up to last year's Mapmaker, jittery Brooklynites Parts & Labor are asking for help. The labor they seek comes in the form of a little recording work on the parts of their fans. As they explain in a press release:

Want to be on the next Parts & Labor album?

We're in the studio working on our next album. Send us some audio samples to use on the recording.

We're looking for snippets of noises, field recordings, found sounds, drones, speaking, etc.

Send audio that responds to any or all of these questions:

1. What's your favorite or least favorite sound?
2. What are you afraid of?
3. What do your parents sound like?
4. Where are you going, or where have you been?

The deadline for submissions is May 23.

Please keep the samples under 10 seconds. WAV or AIFF formats are preferred (but MP3s are okay too).

Email your submissions to partsandlaborsounds@gmail.com. Include your name for crediting purposes if you want.

Thanks,
Parts & Labor

PS: By sending us audio files, you're agreeing to let us use them on our audio recordings in any way we see fit, forever and ever. Don't send lawyers at us.

Between the work on the new album, a live date this month, and a trip to Europe in July, Parts & Labor have plenty on their plate for the moment.

That goes double for singer/knob-twiddler Dan Friel, who will release Ghost Town, his first solo album, via Important Records on May 13. The record's opening track is available for downloading over in Forkcast. [MORE...]

Abe Vigoda Prep New LP for Dean Spunt's PPM Label

California art punkers (and Smell regulars) Abe Vigoda are alive, well, and still making with the jams. Their latest, Skeleton, is due July 8 on CD and LP from Post Present Medium, the label owned and operated by No Age's Dean Spunt. What's more, PPM recently lined up a distribution deal with Chicago's Touch and Go Records, so no matter where you find yourself, Abe won't be too far off.

As previously mentioned, Abe Vigoda will contribute a forthcoming single to Aagoo Records' ongoing "David Horvitz 7" Picture Disc" series. They've also got a handful of shows on the bubble, all in L.A., and most of them at the Smell. Awfully nice scene ya'll have out there. Mind sharing? Oh, right, the record. [MORE...]

Sparks Perform Entire Catalog Over 21-Date Residency
New album, Exotic Creatures of the Deep, due later this month

No matter how dire things may get in this world, at least, it seems, we'll always have Sparks. The oddball avant-pop duo shows no signs of slowing down here in 2008, with a new album on the way and plans afoot to pay tribute to the 20 that came before it too.

Beginning May 16, Sparks will waltz into London's Islington Academy to perform their 1971 opus Halfnelson (aka Sparks) in its entirety-- and they won't leave the stage until June 11. Not even to pee. Well, okay, maybe to pee. And, fine, they'll probably go sleep now and then too.

But still, May 16 marks the beginning of "Sparks Spectacular", a mammoth 21-date London residency, over the course of which Sparks will roll through every last studio album they've blessed their adoring public with to date. That's 20 studio albums, each one given a single night in the spotlight. As for the 21st date? Sparks will relocate to London's Shepherds Bush Empire to premiere their brand new album, Exotic Creatures of the Deep, from start to finish.

Support at these gigs comes from the likes of the Rumble Strips, the Young Knives, the Electric Soft Parade, and Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip. What's more, anyone crazy enough to purchase a so-called "Golden Ticket"-- which grants its user access to all 21 of the "Sparks Spectacular" shows-- will receive an exclusive new Sparks song on CD entitled "Islington N1" and written especially for the occasion.

You'd think all this hoopla would have the brothers Sparks pooped, but oh no. The very night after their residency wraps, the guys embark on a brief tour of the Baltic region. They'll also grace Japan with their antics in July.

Exotic Creatures of the Deep, meanwhile, features 13 tracks and arrives May 19 in the UK via Sparks' own Lil' Beethoven imprint. Buyers can opt for either the regular or the fancy-booklet-with-foldout-poster format. But since you made it this far into a Sparks story, we know you're buying both. [MORE...]

Man Man/Bablicon Offshoot Icy Demons Go to Miami

Photo by Shannon Benine

Icy Demons are a band of pairs. The band has a pair of leaders in Man Man/Need New Body's Chris Powell (aka Pow Pow) and Need New Body/Bablicon's Griffin Rodriguez (aka Blue Hawaii). Those principal players hail from a pair of cities (Powell from Philly, Rodriguez from Chicago), and on their forthcoming third album, they pair their ineffably genre-crossing music with equally gonzo titles. After all, the record's called Miami Ice, and it has songs called "Who There???", "Jantar Mantar", and "Crittin' Down to Baba's".

Miami Ice also finds Pow Pow and Blue Hawaii collaborating with Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Russell Higbee (Man Man), Josh Abrams (Prefuse 73, Sam Prekop), and Chicago improviser Tomeka Reid. Pow Pow and Blue Hawaii's own newly formed Obey Your Brain label will release Miami Ice on July 15.

Shortly after the album's release, Icy Demons' touring ensemble will play the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival before heading off on a short Midwestern tour. Before that tour, the band has one Chicago show this month. [MORE...]

Cat Power Appears on New Beck Album
Said album might be appearing sooner than you think

Following in the footsteps of Radiohead, Trent Reznor (twice!), the Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley, and himself, Beck plans to release his new Danger Mouse-produced LP quite quickly-- in the next four to six weeks, to be exact, according to MTV.com

Universal Music Group wouldn't confirm anything, but we discovered that one of MTV's claims is very much true: the new Beck album will indeed feature contributions from Chan "Cat Power" Marshall. Hopefully in a more notable capacity than Beth Orton on Midnite Vultures, eh?

In other Beck news, he's added a few dates to that summer tour of his since our last report. Oh, and did you hear about his new album? It's got Cat Power on it! [MORE...]

Wildbirds & Peacedrums Issue Debut Worldwide, Tour

Swedish husband and wife duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums released their sophomore album, The Snake, in their native country in March, but the rest of the world is just catching up to their debut. Leaf is giving that first record, Heartcore, a U.S. release on May 6 and a worldwide release on May 12.

The lovebirds will fill the world with compoundnouns this spring and summer on livedates that start May 9 in Castellón, Spain. Along the way, they'll play with Jens Lekman, Caribou, Matmos, Born Ruffians, and A Hawk and a Hacksaw. [MORE...]

Brendan Canning's BSS Presents LP Details Revealed

It's a family affair yet again for the next installment of the Broken Social Scene Presents series, this time featuring Scene co-founder Brendan Canning at the helm. Something for All of Us... is Canning's entry into the series, and it's due July 22 (not May 27 as previously reported) in North America from Arts&Crafts.

Produced by Canning in Toronto with Ryan Kondrat and John LaMagna, the set is rife with the sort of folks you'd expect on such an affair. Scene regulars Kevin Drew (who led the first installment of the BSS Presents series), Justin Peroff, Andrew Whiteman, and Ohad Benchetrit all make appearances, as do friends like Stars' Amy Millan, Metric's James Shaw, Jason Collett, the Stills' Liam O'Neil, and Land of Talk's Liz Powell. Canning and frequent BSS/Apostle of Hustle contributor Lisa Lobsinger duet on a tune called "Antique Bull".

The whole Scene, including Amy Millan, will hit the road later this week for the first of quite a few of those European tour dates we mentioned a while back. Expect to hear tunes from the whole BSS catalog as well as a few new tunes from the Canning LP. And, in keeping with the album's title, there are North American festival appearances aplenty to come later in the summer. [MORE...]

Sybris Link With Absolutely Kosher for New LP, Tour

Chicago quartet Sybris will serve up their latest platter of good old-fashioned indie rock on June 3 with the release of Into the Trees. The record, Sybris' second full-length, is the follow-up to their 2005 self-titled debut. It's also their first for their new label, Absolutely Kosher.

Following a hometown record release show on May 9, Sybris kick off a U.S. tour with Unwed Sailor May 23 in Lawrence, Kansas. That jaunt wraps in late June, giving Sybris a solid three months to prepare for their Austin City Limits Festival appearance. [MORE...]

Yet Another Surprise New Nine Inch Nails Album
And it's free

Once again, Uncle Trent has a gift for you. A brand new Nine Inch Nails album, The Slip, is available for download from the NIN website "one hundred percent free," "as a thank you to our fans for your continued support."

The download comes in various formats ranging in quality and you get a PDF with liner notes. CD and vinyl versions will be available in July, just in time for the Nine Inch Nails summer tour with the killer opening band lineup.

The Slip features the new single "Discipline", which has been available from the NIN site for a couple weeks.

Thanks, Trent! [MORE...]

Gregor Samsa Issue Rest, Tour Tirelessly

With members dispersed in New York, Chicago, Boston, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia, Gregor Samsa wrote, recorded, and mastered their latest full-length offering, Rest, all over the damn place. Which, you know, probably isn't the easiest way to go about making a record. You can reward Gregor Samsa for their service by picking up Rest-- in one of five exciting formats-- starting May 13 thanks to The Kora Records.

Gregor Samsa will soon reform like Voltron for a European tour, which has them playing some shows with Brooklyn-based Kayo Dot. [MORE...]

The Cure Herald New Album With Series of Singles

Move over Radiohead-- there's another group of mopey Brits with an unusual release strategy. No, the Cure aren't enacting a pay-what-you-want scheme for their forthcoming, to-be-titled new album, but they are building anticipation for the record in a creative way. Seeing as the follow-up to 2004's The Cure will be the band's 13th studio album, they've decided to release a single on the 13th of every month until the album's September 13 release on Suretone/Geffen.

Naturally, there will be four of these singles, and the first one arrives May 13. On its A-side will be "The Only One", and on its B-side will be "NY Trip". The second one, released June 13, features "Freakshow" on the A-side and "All Kinds of Stuff" on the B-side. Neither of these B-sides will appear on the album. The contents of the July 13 and August 13 singles have yet to be announced.

On May 9 in Washington, DC, Robert Smith and co. will kick off their previously reported North American tour featuring support from 65daysofstatic. [MORE...]

High Places Sign to Thrill Jockey, Prep Debut Album
Hit the road with Deerhunter, release 03/07 - 09/07 on CD

Looks like High Places now have even more friends in some, er, lofty locales. The Brooklyn new primitivism duo has signed on with Chicago's esteemed Thrill Jockey imprint for the release of their debut full-length, an as-yet-untitled affair due September 23.

Before then, however, we'll get a physical CD release of the eMusic digital singles compilation 03/07 - 09/07, which this very website awarded a not-too-shabby 8.3 and bestowed with a similarly-unshabby Best New Music tag earlier this year. Thrill Jockey plans to have some copies of the CD ready in time for High Places' upcoming spring tour of the European continent, on which they'll be joined by the unstoppable Deerhunter. The CD comp should be widely available come July.

And guess what, High Places? Pitchfork is so excited about your new record deal we've decided to throw a party in celebration! It's called the Pitchfork Music Festival, and you are so invited. You too, readers!

Finally, in the interest of full disclosure, we should mention that High Places include the sister of a former Pitchfork staffer. [MORE...]

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