Beach House releases new video, preps for tour
We haven't seen such creative use of a church, confetti, crutches, a fish and dissolves since, well, ever. Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand of Beach House hop and sway their way through their newest video for "You Came to Me," the first from their upcoming sophomore album Devotion (Feb. 26). The video, directed by Baltimore's Skizz Cyzyk, features the duo shrouded in as much (if not more) darkness as Queen in "Bohemian Rhapsody." Beach House will tour with Papercuts in support of the release just two days after its release. Drumroll, please: Related links: BeachHouseMusic.net Beach House on MySpace Got... read more
Death Cab announces album release date, title
Having been teased with a tiny glimpse of its upcoming album this past December, Death Cab For Cutie is finally letting on some concrete details regarding the upcoming release. The album, Narrow Stairs, is set to come out May 13, just in time for summer. Meanwhile, here is another Death Cab teaser: A certain music, film, and culture publication might just be featuring the band in a prominent way that very same month. Rest assured, you won't be able to predict this story. More will be revealed in the months to come. Narrow Stairs tracklist: 1. Bixby Canyon Bridge 2.... read more
Mastodon to exude energy, mayhem all over U.S., Canada
While Powerthirst promises many things, including "menergy," "rawberry" made with "real lightening" (sic), and the power to make your babies run "abnormally fast," it somehow doesn't promise mayhem. Enter Rockstar. Not only does the energy drink brand have an official URL that was seemingly inpsired by a 14-year-old boy's chat room handle, but it is also the proud/titular sponsor of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem touring festival. Like many traveling fests of this particular ilk, Rockstar Energy Mayhem will include plenty of non-music activities such as autograph signings and video games, as well as other interactive activities and "great surprises" that... read more
Aerosmith to star in its own Guitar Hero game
It used to be that when you loved a band, you learned about them by flipping through books and rock magazines. Video-game maker Activision felt it might simplify matters if you just became the band. Guitar Hero junkies can look forward to Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which is slated for release this June and also happens to be the first Guitar Hero title to focus on the music and career of a single band. As players progress through the game, they will play along to Aerosmith’s greatest hits, as well as songs by notable artists with whom the band has collaborated.... read more
Foals announce tour dates in support of upcoming LP
Paste is proud to present (drumroll please) the Top Three Reasons that the Foals love you. 3. Don't let their name fool you. The Foals are neither young nor equine. Formed in 2005 in Oxford, England, the quintet of male 20-somethings are entirely human. Bearing comparisons to both Battles and Bloc Party (but more accessible than the former and more complex musically than the latter), the Foals created their music out of a desire to bring the listener something both intricate and danceable. That's right - this band wants you, the listener, to have fun. Dance! Party like it's ...... read more
Kanye West reveals tour dates, hangs out in car trunk
What better way to celebrate the day after Valentine's Day (take that, Hallmark!) than with a viewing of the new Kanye West "Flashing Lights" video? Why, this Spike Jonze/Kanye-directed clip has everything you and your sweetie need for the day after a night of romance: a roasty-toasty fire, a Playboy model in skimpy lingerie, a speedy automobile, some light bondage (for the adventurous lovers)—and...wait, she stabs Kanye with a shovel at the end? And then the screen abruptly cuts to black? Before the song's even over? On second thought, maybe scrap that whole video-watching idea and consider presenting your significant... read more
Rain (and ninjas) to fall on next Wachowski brothers film
Sometimes a mega popstar needs to do an action movie. Korean pop star Rain—who has sold out countless venues throughout Asia—will star in a new film by the Wachowski brothers (directors of the Matrix trilogy and writers of the V for Vendetta screenplay), slated to shoot in Berlin from March to July. Ninja Assassin will not be Rain's first time starring in an action flick. Under his real name, Jung Ji-hoon, Rain starred in I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK by Park Chan-wook, director of the highly acclaimed Korean thrillers Oldboy and Lady Vengeance. This movie won't mark Rain's first... read more
Rhino revives Replacements, reissues recordings
Rhino Records is continuing its tradition of breathing new life into artists whose work has made a grand impact on music. This time the focus is on The Replacements, a band that made an incredible mark on shaping the alternative sound throughout the '80s and early '90s. As Billboard.com reports, their first three albums (Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash, Hootenanny and Let it Be) and an EP (Stink) will be simultaneously released on April 22. If that wasn’t enough goodness to get music lovers quivering, all the albums will feature previously unreleased material. The recordings feature all... read more
Glossed in Translation: Be Kind Rewind
“It comes back to what ‘Sweding’ is: even if your resources are really limited, you don’t let your limitations limitate you,” says Michel Gondry in his endearing French-limitated English, expressing both his love of the handmade and the raison d’être for his new comedy... read more
Bob Mould to play select UK dates
Bob Mould, former Hüsker Dü/Sugar fellow and tireless solo artist/formidable DJ, will be bringing the rock to a few lucky UK cities in May following his March North American tour. They are: May 23 - Glasgow @ ABC 24 - Manchester @ Academy 2 26 - Birmingham @ Academy 2 27 - London @ KOKO Mould's massive road trip comes in the wake of the Feb. 5 Anti- Records release of District Line, his most recent full-length solo effort. The milestones keep coming, as Mould also celebrated the fifth anniversary of his Washington D.C. DJ collaboration with Rich Morel, Blowoff,... read more
Mark Helprin
I’ve spent 35 years as a reader and literary critic, and still, to this day, I have never... read more
Enjoy your Weeds with a Call Girl this June
Scandalous money-making side-projects of wholesome-seeming ladies-next-door will light up the fictionalized television market in June, when Weeds returns early for a fourth season, juxtaposed with British import, Secret Diary of a Call Girl. The former picks up with dealer-mom Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) adjusting to a literal, wildfire-induced blaze-up of her own neighborhood, while Diary follows the life of a legal secretary by day, call girl by night (Billie Piper, of Dr. Who fame). O, the duality of woman. Diary, which really should have been called Hookers, just because it’s fun to say, “I need to get home in time... read more
Rothbury Festival reveals bands, environmental concern
It seems that American music festivals are multiplying faster than animals that multiply very quickly. We wish we could be more specific about which animals, but we’re prejudiced toward music news, rather than biology. Time is money, after all. At any rate, the latest event to enter the crowded American festivalplace is Rothbury, billed as the “Next Evolution in U.S. Music Festivals.” One could quibble with the wording, since it’s pretty tough to have successive evolutions, but why be haters when the festival is all about good music and better environmental consciousness, right? Rothbury, which will take place July 3–6,... read more
Scarlett Johansson and David Sitek talk Tom Waits album
Joe’s Pub in New York is known for gathering industry types for debuts of major label artists. Tuesday's event was only different in that the crowd consisted of a handful of shaggily clad journalists and the artist on stage had an unusually familiar face. Scarlett Johansson was there, answering questions after the house speakers played through Anywhere I Lay My Head, her album of Tom Waits covers which is set for release on May 20. Paste happened to be in NYC, and caught the last three tracks of the album as well as the question and answer session. The record... read more
Pere Ubu announces spring tour dates
Having emerged from the Cleveland scene over 30 years ago, post-punk band Pere Ubu has announced it's still alive and warbling with a new mini-spring tour in support of its most recent full-length, Why I Hate Women. The quintet only plans on taking its shows--and lead singer David Thomas' "gruff caterwauls," as one Paste concert review of them and recent Band of the Week Mahjongg put it--to four cities. Two of the dates, which dot the South, will also feature a live underscoring of Roger Corman's 1963 film X, The Man with the X-Ray Eyes. May we relay a quote... read more
eMusic.com starts new Selects program
Let's talk digital music. Listeners today (the ones who aren't stealing their music on P2P networks) still pay retail prices at iTunes and Amazon.com for what amounts to a series of zeroes and ones. To a casual fan looking for the hot new Soulja Boy jam, the iTunes/Amazon route is a legit way to download major label releases while putting your two cents into the artist's wallet. But adventurous ears that need more varied stimulation can turn to eMusic.com, the independent, subscription-based digital retailer established in 2003. The site has grown exponentially since its creation and now offers over three... read more
The Eagles to headline Stagecoach 2008's added third day
The brains behind the Stagecoach Country Music Festival (Coachella's alter-ego) just added a third day - Friday, May 2 - to its schedule, and have pulled down none other than The Eagles to headline it. The event, billed as "California's country music festival" features other big-name country, bluegrass, folk, roots rock and alt.country acts like Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, the Judds, Carrie Underwood and Big & Rich. The added opening day alone boasts John Fogerty, Trisha Yearwood, Shelby Lynne, Glen Campbell and Rissi Palmer. The Eagles released their most recent album, the extremely-high-selling Long Road Out of Eden, last year,... read more
British Sea Power: Do You Like Rock Music?
British Sea Power employs any... read more
Jim Jarmusch to Control Bill Murray, Javier Bardem, more
When we last left him, Jim Jarmusch was readying his first feature in years. Called The Limits of Control, the film is a road movie being shot by Jarmusch and Christopher Doyle about a mysterious protagonist traveling across Spain. And now, less than a month before shooting is set to begin, more casting announcements have started coming in about the film. While Isaach De Bankole will be playing the film's lead, Jarmusch is enlisting the help of many past contributors. First and foremost of these is Bill Murray, who worked with Jarmusch previously in Broken Flowers and Coffee and Cigarettes.... read more
Kathleen Edwards plans major U.S. tour
Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards will release her new album Asking for Flowers March 4 on Zoe Records, and set out on a 21-date U.S. tour shortly after. Edwards burst onto the folk rock scene back in 2003 with her brooding debut album Failer, and won rave reviews for her 2005 follow-up Back To Me. Since her first album was released, she has performed with the likes of Aimee Mann, Willie Nelson and My Morning Jacket, and has seen her music showcased on television’s Austin City Limits and in Cameron Crowe’s 2005 film Elizabethtown. Edwards’ upcoming tour, her first in more... read more
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