Jackson Reissues Thriller With Kanye, will.i.am, Akon
T-Pain feels left out

Michael Jackson's bazillion-selling Thriller album turns 25 today, but the folks at Epic/Legacy are giving themselves a few extra months to plot a party befitting such a milestone. On February 11 the world over, and the following day in the U.S., the label will issue Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition, which features the original album boosted by the usual slew of unreleased tracks, rarities, and music videos. It's a must-own LP in any form, but this gets us especially excited: Kanye West will provide a remix of "Billie Jean" for the set. Sounds really good, doesn't it?

The disc also sports remixes of "P.Y.T." and "The Girl Is Mine" from will.i.am, and a new take on "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" from will.i.am and Akon. As for the strictly Jacko bonus material, this new Thriller has it in spades: Michael's original demo version of "Billie Jean", non-album tracks "Someone in the Dark" and "Carousel" (all available on 2001's Thriller Special Edition), and the previously unreleased "For All Time", recorded during the original Thriller sessions. The disc also includes a DVD featuring the iconic clips for "Thriller," "Beat It" and "Billie Jean", as well as Jackson's star-solidifying performance of "Billie Jean" from the "Motown 25" TV special in 1983. To top it off, Michael's checked in from CrazyworldNeverland to pen a "personal greeting" exclusively for this release.

In related news, rumors have been swirling that the Jackson Five will reunite for a tour next year. [MORE...]

Vetiver Plan Remix 12", Covers Album, New LP

There's just so darn much afoot in the land of Andy Cabic and Vetiver of late, what with a new 12" remix project, a covers album, and a proper LP on the way. They're set to emerge in roughly that order, so let's begin at the beginning, shall we?

While they were moving the levers at sessions for Vetiver's 2006 LP To Find Me Gone, Cabic and producer Thom Monahan decided to take a couple of the tracks in some very un-Vetivery directions. New drone-heavy, "deconstructive and electronic" visions of "You May Be Blue" and "Been So Long" will appear on a 12" due on Gnomonsong January 29, representing the first Vetiver recordings for the label Cabic himself co-owns (along with Devendra Banhart). Farmer Dave Scher (Beachwood Sparks) provides melodica and pedal steel on the tracks, while flute duties were handed over to Alissa Anderson (who's also contributed photos to this very website in the past).

Vetiver will release an all-covers LP in the coming spring, with takes on Townes Van Zandt's "Standing", Hawkwind's "Hurry on Sundown", Norman Greenbaum's "Hook & Ladder", Elyse Weinberg's "Houses", and Biff Rose's "To Baby" slated to appear.

Meanwhile, Vetiver also have a track on that Natalie Portman charity mix, and Cabic's been writing material for an all-new Vetiver disc, which he's hoping to record this spring.

Hot Chip, Optimo, Studio, Maps Remix Love Is All

Naming your band after an incomplete thought lends itself well to snarky headline writers and remix artists alike, as Love Is All are finding out. Come January 21, tunes from the Swedish indie-poppers' well-loved debut Nine Times That Same Song will be remixed, remade, and in the case of Chicken Lips' take on "Make Out Fall Out Make Up", even made to malfunction.

They're cleverly calling it Love Is All...Mixed Up, and in addition to remixes from the likes of Hot Chip, Maps, Metronomy, and the Optimo crew, there are new versions of familiar tracks from the Bees and Studio. The collection is due as both a CD and a download in the UK from Parlophone. No word yet on a Stateside release.

As of Halloween, Love Is All had nearly finished recording the proper follow-up to Nine Times. They hope to have it out in spring 2008. [MORE...]

Interpol Live, Remix EPs Available Right Now

Photo by Matt Ziegler

Today, right now, at this very moment, at select ThinkIndie.com-represented independent record stores, you will find a new Interpol record! Well, sort of. Interpol Live, the band's first officially released concert recording, is a six-song disc of live tracks culled from a set at London's Astoria Club this July.

It's a well-pared bunch: Turn On highlights "Obstacle 1" and "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down" rub up against Admire's "Pioneer to the Falls", "Mammoth", "Rest My Chemistry" and "The Heinrich Maneuver". You'll want to check ThinkIndie.com to see if your local noise emporium will be carrying the disc, and, if so, start movin'.

Also today, a remix EP creatively titled Our Love to Admire Remixed has showed up on iTunes. It includes that Phones remix of "The Heinrich Maneuver" as well as a take on that same track by the Scientist and a "Mammoth" rework by Erol Alkan.

In other Interpol news, the band is presently on a globe-spanning tour, though we're beginning to wonder if those photos they sent back from safari are Kosher. [MORE...]

Prefuse 73, Books, Petra Haden Rework Cornelius on EP
Better yet: nearly all of Cornelius' featured MySpace friends are cats!

Photo by Shannon McClean

A month or so ago when we first reported Cornelius' brief run of U.S. tour dates this January, we mentioned that "an EP composed entirely of other people covering Cornelius tracks" was on the way. It still is; but this ain't it.

Gum, the forthcoming 12"/digital EP from the Japanese noisemaker, finds its way to stores January 15. And, despite a paradoxically music-free a cappella cover of Cornelius' "Music" by Petra Haden, the disc is otherwise all Corny.

Which didn't stop Prefuse 73 or the Books from getting their interloping hands all over "Gum" and "Fit Song", respectively, for a pair of remixes that round out the EP. Note that the 12" version of the Gum EP is one of those limited editions, and comes with a free 320 kbps mp3 download of the whole thing. Both that and the digital version arrive from Everloving.

UPDATE: Bonus! Everloving e-mailed to say they've added two tracks to the 12": Ms. Haden's Japanese version of "Music", and a collaboration between Cornelius and Ryuichi Sakomoto entitled "Turn Turn". Though Petra's Japanese take on "Music" will appear on the digital release, the Sakomoto track may be a vinyl exclusive. The amended tracklist is available after the jump.

In the coming spring, Everloving will release a Sensuous DVD featuring videos for each of the album's tracks, plus live footage spanning Cornelius' entire career. Also due from Cornelius as the snow melts: a handful of recently added Japanese dates.

Furthermore, we're not joking about the cats. [MORE...]

NIN Remix Site Halted by Universal Music Group

A little more than a month or so back, we spilled what we could on Nine Inch Nails' mysterious Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D LP. The disc in all its forms is out today (November 20), but the accompanying website-- remix.nin.com, designed as a hub for submission and discussion of fan remixes-- might as well be a LOLcat at this point.

Seems "The Man"-- played, in this instance, by Doug Morris and his Universal Music Group-- doesn't want Trent and company R3M1Xing sans regulation while the project is being hosted by Universal. And, since Universal owns all the Nine Inch Nails master tapes (recall that NIN's former label Interscope falls under the Universal umbrella), the project is contingent upon their agreement.

In essence, the notoriously litigious Universal Music Group doesn't want to appear to be backing a copyright-disgregarding free-for-all when they've been spending so much time squelching such behavior elsewhere. They're not so much worried about Nine Inch Nails tunes becoming the subject of silly mashups as they are appearing like hypocrites (and, naturally, getting sued) for infringing on the copyrights of the other artists and songwriters who may be sampled or mashed by the Nine Inch Nails loyal.

As Trent writes in a statement on the NIN site (linked via Stereogum), "Universal feels that if they host our remix site, they will be opening themselves up to the accusation that they are sponsoring the same technical violation of copyright they are suing [YouTube and MySpace] for. Their premise is that if any fan decides to remix one of my masters with material Universal doesn't own-- a 'mash-up', a sample, whatever-- and upload it to the site, there is no safe harbor under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (according to Universal) and they will be doing exactly what MySpace and YouTube are doing. This behavior may get hauled out in court and impact their lawsuit."

Universal are willing to let Nine Inch Nails host the remix site, provided Trent's willing to take legal responsibility should any problems arise. In addition, Reznor writes, "part of the arrangement is having user licenses that the fans sign (not unlike those on MySpace or YouTube) saying they will not use unauthorized materials. If they WERE to do such a thing, everybody sues everybody and the world abruptly ends." Hyperbole, perhaps, but Trent's still mulling this one over, and as such, the "cool and innovative site" they have ready to launch is presently in limbo. "More to come" is the only indication of when we can expect the situation to change.

Hot Chip, Kelley Polar Remix Caribou on New Single

Photo by Sanchez and Kitahara

Dan Snaith and his Caribou thing may run towards 60s psych-pop revivalism, but when it comes to dropping a single for Andorra's swirling, harmony-soaked charmer "She's the One," he's erring on the side of the ultramodern. A single for the tune (which was co-written by the Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan, who also sings on it) is up in the iTunes store now via Caribou's European label City Slang. U.S. label Merge does not plan to release the single in a physical format. For a throwback sorta dude, Dan Snaith is all about embracing the now.

And the now is hugging back, with some new remixes of "She's the One" available on the single. Kelley Polar does his thing to the track, as do Hot Chip, in what must be their billionth remix of the year. Lucky for us, they're good at it.

Having just wrapped a trek around North America, it's off to Europe for Caribou. Dan and his arsenal of drumkits will make their way around the continent for the next month or so before calling it a year. There are rumblings of a new tour and a new EP early in '08, but all we know for sure is this: Caribou, along with a heaping scoop of your other favorite bands, will make their way back to England in May for the ATP vs. Pitchfork festival. [MORE...]

Modeselektor, Poirier, Yellowman, TTC on Scion 12"s
Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh exhibits art at Scion Space

The jury is still out on whether or not Scion cars look more like the actual future or the 1980s version, but that ambiguity perfectly matches the old-songs-made-new-again aesthetic of the Scion Remix Project, sponsored by the car company's Scion Audio/Visual label.

The Project consists of five digital singles, each highlighting a signature track from the following labels: Greensleeves, Vice, Ninja Tune/Big Dada, Light in the Attic, and Strictly Rhythm. In addition to the tracks themselves-- from artists such as Betty Davis, Yellowman, Panthers, TTC, and Ghislain Poirier-- the singles also feature remixes of each track. The list of remix contributors also includes Poirier as well as Federation Sound, Modeselektor, BSOD, and DFA's Holy Ghost!.

Scion A/V will unleash the Remix Project to online retailers on October 30.

So that's the audio, but how about the visual? Turns out Scion also runs a gallery space in Los Angeles, and that space will soon host an exhibition of works by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh. "Rugs During Wartime and Peacetime" opens November 17 at the L.A. Installation Gallery, aka Scion Space. According to the press release, the exhibit explores "the imagery we choose to bring into our homes and how we interact with it for the purposes of comfort and peace-of-mind rather than an esoteric sense of art for art's sake." Groovy. [MORE...]

Mos Def Signs to Downtown Recordings, Remixes Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." With Spank Rock
Remixing "D.A.N.C.E." is soooo pre-In Rainbows, dude

Photos by William Kirk

Looks like Mos Def's gone all upwardly mobile on us: the Brooklyn MC has packed up and moved Downtown. MTV News reports that the mighty Mos is the latest signing to Downtown Recordings, home to Art Brut, Gnarls Barkley, Eagles of Death Metal, and others.

Others like Spank Rock, who recently completed a remix of Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." with Mos Def and his Bangers & Cash associate Benny Blanco, according to MTV. Because, after all, that song could really use a good remix or two.

No word on just when you'll get to hear them "D.A.N.C.E.", or whether Mos has a follow-up to last year's troubled True Magic waiting in the wings. Or if the album is going to end up being the follow-up to itself.

Mos Def has been busy lately helping to lead the charge in support of the Jena Six, six African-American teenagers in Jena, Louisiana charged with attempted murder after the beating of a white schoolmate. The beating was allegedly in retaliation for white students' hanging of nooses on school property. Mos helped organize a mass walkout and protest in Jena in late September.

Fennesz, Matmos, Patton, Forrest Redo Foetus on Vein

Photo by Taylor Crothers

Industrial elder J.G. Thirlwell, aka Foetus, has gathered nine of his most glitched-out comrades-in-arms to reimagine Love, Foetus' 2005 album, on a collection called Vein.

Matmos, Mike Patton, Fennesz, Jason Forrest, and Tujiko Noriko are all part of the charge. And in addition to the regular helping of remixes, two of Vein's tracks, Jay Wasco's "L'overture" and Tom Recchion's "Corrodia Gravis", contain elements of several Love songs.

Vein comes out October 16 via Birdman and features album art designed by Thirlwell himself, as well as an animated video for "Time Marches On" by director Sam Sohlberg.

Adding a whole extra layer of meta to the project is Thirlwell's remix of the remix album into a single track, which he and the label have done to avoid the file-sharing of advance copies. They're calling it a trailer for the record, and you can listen to it at the link below.

Thirlwell also has a few other projects with which to busy himself, including the soundtrack to the third season of Cartoon Network show "The Venture Bros." and two forthcoming shows under his Manorexia alter ego. The first of those shows-- at New York City Whitney Museum on November 2-- will feature two sets, the second of which involves robots! [MORE...]

NIN Remix LP Tracklist, Release Date Revealed
New Order's Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, Switch, Paul Epworth all confirmed

Looks like Trent Reznor hasn't quite rid himself of Interscope just yet. The once-mysterious Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D album will be released on the label in a number of formats November 20.

In a post to Nine Inch Nails' website yesterday, Trent laid out all the details for the remix album. In addition to previously confirmed remixers the Faint, Sam Fogarino of Interpol, Fennesz, the Knife's Olaf Dreijer, Ladytron, Saul Williams, and Bill Laswell, Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D also contains previously rumored, now confirmed remixes from New Order's Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, Switch, Paul Epworth, and a ragtag crew of others, including a fan.

Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D will be available as a digital download, a CD/DVD-ROM combo, and a triple-disc LP. The digital download and CD/DVD-ROM share the same tracklist, but the latter "also contains a DVD-ROM (not a movie) that contains every track from Year Zero in multitrack format for you to do with what you please." He adds, graciously, "Mac or PC."

Both the vinyl and the CD come packed in a six-panel jacket designed to match Year Zero, though a number of tracks are exclusive to each. But frankly, Trent doesn't really care which version you buy, or if you buy it at all.

Having trouble sorting through your options? Let Uncle Trent explain:

"I can make this easy for you: if you just want to hear the tracks as cheaply as possible, get it digitally. The highest fidelity will likely be [the] Amazon [digital music store] (through legal means). If you want something that's aesthetically cool and will enhance any collection, get the vinyl. Trust me, it looks great. The extra tracks are fairly minor embellishments to the whole (and surely someone will upload them instantly). If you want higher quality tracks legally, a nice package AND a complete multitrack of the whole record, get the physical CD / DVD ROM." You're the boss!

Trent's straight talk express kept on rollin':

"**insert comment from NINSUX: 'I thought he said all the multitracks were going to be posted online, now he wants us to PAY for them??'

Relax, friend. One second after this package goes to the manufacturing plant someone will kindly upload those missing multitracks and everything will be OK. If they don't soon enough for your liking, just yell loudly out the window and I'll do it myself."

Awesome! We love it when artists leak their own albums!

He continues: "As for the record itself, I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. Remix records can be disposable garbage (of which I myself have been guilty of to some extent) but this collection feels good to me. I reached out to heroes, friends, and strangers. I encouraged those I approached to do anything and insert themselves as much as possible into the track. Some of the stuff that was done earlier led me to choosing other people to balance things out. The Pirate Robot Midget mix is a fan's work-- I thought it was great, it filled a need and I asked permission to use it here.

"It's always interesting for me to hear my work reinterpreted-- I hope it is for you as well."

Upon the release of Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, Trent and co. will launch remix.nin.com, designed as a hub for submission and discussion of fan remixes. [MORE...]

Boards of Canada, Islands, Xiu Xiu Join Why? on Single
So do Dump (James McNew of Yo La Tengo), Dntel, Half-Handed Cloud

Avant-rap folkie Why? (aka Yoni Wolf) and crew (pictured leftward) are set to release a pair of 12"s for new single "The Hollows" in the U.S. and the Europe on Anticon and Tomlab, respectively. The Anticon-issued "Hollows" single is due November 19, and in addition to the title track, it sports a remix by Dntel, and covers of older Why? tracks by Xiu Xiu and Half-Handed Cloud.

The Euro Tomlab single-- out November 18 but subject to change-- gets a Boards of Canada remix and covers by both Dump (James McNew of Yo La Tengo's other thing) and Islands. Hey, Boards of Canada! Glad to hear you guys are still around.

"The Hollows" features the three main Why? dudes (Yoni Wolf, Josiah Wolf, Doug McDiarmid) along with guest stars Doseone (Subtle), Nedelle (the Curtains/Cryptacize), and Andrew Broder and Mark Erickson of Fog.

But wait, a single generally accompanies an album, right? Correct. Alopecia, the forthcoming Why? LP, will drop March 11 from Anticon in the States. Again, Tomlab will handle things in Europe, though the release date for that has not been nailed down. "By Torpedo or Crohn's", the track that Dntel remixes on "The Hollows" U.S. single, and "Good Friday", the song Boards of Canada tackle on the Euro version, will also be included on Alopecia. Yup, they're releasing remixes before the originals.

Why? currently have exactly one tour date scheduled, and it's a special one. They'll play New York's Knitting Factory this Sunday, October 14, and the cost of admission is exactly $1.00. Being cheap, the thing's gonna sell out fast, so be a smarty and shoot an e-mail to whyrsvp@gmail.com to guarantee entry. [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.)