Richard Swift unveils new online documentary series
Los Angeles singer-songwriter Richard Swift is shooting and editing a new online documentary series to give viewers a little bit of insight into the otherworldly workings of his imagination. Swift’s Ground Trouble Jaw series is pure oddball fun, complete with wacky situations and special effects in the vein of director Michel Gondry. Episode 3 of the series, “Attack of the Tape Monster!,” chronicles the creation of a vicious tape monster that quickly turns on its creators, a'la Frankenstein. The shaky black and white footage is a throw-back to 1950s horror films, complete with sinister bolts of lightning. The first five... read more
The Replacements: Replacements Twin-Tone Reissues
As if to fulfill some... read more
Conor Oberst to release solo album on Merge
It's barely been a year since the release of the last Bright Eyes full-length, Cassadaga, so yesterday's news came as a bit of a bleeding-heart-stopper. Turns out that instead of collaborating with M. Ward, as we guesstimated late last year, the gooey center of Bright Eyes—Conor Oberst—has been holed up in a magical land of elves somewhere in Mexico, quietly working on the first solo album he's made since before he was legal (to drive, perv!). It must've been tough for Merge Records to keep this under the lid for months, seeing as they'll be the first label besides Oberst's... read more
Flaming Lips, Roots, Girl Talk to rock Des Moines festival
This Independence Day, Des Moines will welcome what appears to be Lollapalooza's Midwestern baby sister at Iowa's own inaugural summer music festival 80/35. In addition to Iowa localites, the fest will feature the Flaming Lips, The Roots, Yonder Mountain String Band, Drive-By Truckers and Girl Talk on July 4 and 5. And in case you were wondering, 80/35 stands for the juncture of Interstates 80 and 35 in downtown Iowa in Western Gateway Park. As one Iowan MySpace user puts it, "I pooped a little when I heard the Lips were coming to town!" There you have it, folks. Iowa's... read more
Aimee Mann talks @#%&! SMILERS with Paste
A few weeks ago, Aimee Mann (whose smiling face graced our second issue ever) took some time out of her busy schedule to chat with Paste editor-in-chief Josh Jackson. The two talked about the power of keyboards, séances, being bad at blogging and, of course, @#%&! SMILERS, Mann’s imminent new album. Her new record is scheduled to hit stores shelves June 3, and Mann will be touring this summer as well. Curious about what she had to say for herself? That’s what we thought. Eavesdrop on the conversation here. Related links: Feature: The Evolution of Mann AimeeMann.com Feature: Paste’s 100... read more
Catching Up With... Aimee Mann
When we were going through our Aimee Mann photos for the second issue of Paste back in 2002, we were surprised that in one of them, she’d broken into a beautiful, wide grin. Because we couldn’t recall seeing a picture of her smiling, we ran it on our cover. That’s why I cracked up when... read more
Ron Sexsmith tours with Nick Lowe, unveils Strategy in July
Exit Strategy of the Soul may be Ron Sexsmith’s first release via Yep Roc, but the album is his 10th solo project to date. And though July 8 may seem worlds away from April, to help pass the time, Sexsmith has already started a spring tour with Nick Lowe. The tour began in Boulder, Colo., on April 15. Meanwhile, because he was in town, Sexsmith attended Feist’s set at Vanderbilt University’s Rites of Spring on Saturday. During her performance, she played “Secret Heart” from his self-titled album, which also was on her sophomore release Let it Die. Sexsmith's new album... read more
Nels Cline Singers kick off series of dates tonight in NYC
Nels Cline had been playing guitar for decades before he was "that totally awesome dude who wails for Wilco." In fact, the L.A.-born Cline has been working as a guitarist and songwriter since 1967. And so it makes sense that between promoting last year’s Sky Blue Sky with the band, Cline is playing a few shows with his Nels Cline Singers, showing off the experimental jazz he loves best. If you won’t be in New York City this April, or near the northern border this June, you can also listen to Cline’s audible genius on Cryptogramophone labelmates The Jeff Gauthier... read more
Coachella 2008 set times announced
The set times for the magical, mystical festival known as Coachella have just been announced. Reminiscent of Lollapalooza 2006, which featured My Morning Jacket paired against Iron & Wine and The New Pornographers overlapping both Broken Social Scene and the Violent Femmes, Coachella-ers will have to contend with scheduling dilemmas out the wazoo. Aesop Rock and Santogold, Cut Copy and Jens Lekman, the list goes on and on. And that's just Friday. Saturday will require black market cloning of people who really can't live with out seeing Prince, Calvin Harris, Akron/Family and Portishead (which should include pretty much everyone in... read more
Ry Cooder to release final album in California Trilogy
Master songwriter and storyteller Ry Cooder will release a new record, I, Flathead, and an accompanying novella June 24 on Nonesuch/Perro Verde Records. Flathead is the final chapter in Cooder’s California Trilogy, which began with 2005’s Chavez Ravine and continued with 2007’s My Name is Buddy. The new album contains the purported recordings of fictitious musician Kash Buk and his band the Klowns. The 95-page companion novella follows Buk and his alien friend Shakey as they trek across rural California, meeting a host of colorful characters along the way. Cooder produced the album and wrote or co-wrote all of its... read more
Hot Chip plans massive tour, releases new single
The boys from Hot Chip plan to take over the world (or at least the Western hemisphere) over the next few months. With a fresh (currently in the works) tour that spans as far into the future as October, and includes appearances at many A-list festivals of the season (Coachella, ATP vs. Pitchfork, Glastonbury, Austin City Limits), you'll have the opportunity to see them play "Over and Over" for the next few months. Get ready to "Shake a Fist," y'all. The London-based quartet will release a new b-side on May 11 along with remixes of "Ready for the Floor" and... read more
Bell X1 returns to the U.S.
It's a little rare for a band to decide to tour in the same foreign country on the same album twice in one year. It is even stranger that a band would consider it after its mode of transportation burst into flames the last time around. So, either the members of Bell X1 don't fear the reaper or they like the U.S. too much to care. This time around, the Irish quartet will concentrate its efforts on the East Coast, revisiting only two cities from before (with good reason as they've sold out New York’s Bowery Ballroom twice). We hope... read more
Ghostly International and Adult Swim team up for free comp
On Sunday (April 20), the record label Ghostly International digitally released its collaboration with Adult Swim, those purveyors of late night animation entertainment, called Ghostly Swim. It's a "genre-busting" collection of 19 songs, the label writes in a statement. "Ghostly Swim explores the Avant-Pop style that the Ann Arbor/New York City label has been been championing for the past 9 years." The free compilation includes tracks from the label's artists and friends, including Matthew Dear, Dabrye, Tycho, Aeroc, The Chap, School of Seven Bells, Deastro, Milosh, FLYamSAM and Dark Party. You can download the entire album and artwork here. The... read more
Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis work on new album
Willie Nelson is no stranger to collaborations. A partial list of his working buddies includes Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, Sinéad O'Connor, David Crosby, Kris Kristofferson, Julio Iglesias, Johnny Cash and Ryan Adams. Wynton Marsalis is also no stranger to collaborations. So it makes sense that these two non-strangers to collaborations have decided to record an album together. Although our preferred title, He’s a Little Bit Country, He’s a Little Bit Jazz and Classical, was sadly eschewed for the more evocative Two Men With The Blues, the album is still an exciting event. Two Men features songs recorded during... read more
David Byrne and Brian Eno reconnect with album, tour
Hey...did you hear the news over your local art-rock watercooler? You know, about David Byrne, former lead singer of the Talking Heads, and his new artistic collaboration? That's right, friends: Byrne's working with Fatboy Slim! But before you start to drool over the possibilities of that pairing, it's best not to bury the lead any longer: Byrne is also at work with his old partner in musical paradigm shifting, Brian Eno. As The Daily Swarm first alerted us, the two have produced a new album together that should arrive via Nonesuch by the end of the year. Byrne is calling... read more
HEALTH unleashes disco, tours Europe
“Beautiful noise” group HEALTH will release a remixed version of its self-titled debut album this month, and is currently amidst an extensive European tour. HEALTH//DISCO is not actually a disco album. However, it does feature 11 remixed songs from the band’s 2007 debut, including tracks from Crystal Castles, Acid Girls, Pink Skull and Thrust Lab. The album also contains an enhanced DISCO+ portion with remixes from artists including Toxic Avenger and Captain Ahab. The album is due May 13 on Lovepump United Records. The band recorded its debut, HEALTH, in one of the members’ favorite places: the downtown L.A. all-ages... read more
Foy Vance: The Homebird's Chorus
Belfast's streets used to be war zones. Its population suffered through curfews, car bombs and religious murders. It ushered the word terrorist into the spoken lexicon. But the city has gone fairly quiet these last 10 years. It's beautiful in fact, thriving economically and... read more
Weeds soundtrack to hit online right before season four
The Showtime network followed up its scandalous announcement of an early return for the hit show Weeds with a digital-only release of last season's soundtrack. The DVD of Weeds' third season will accompany the June 3 online release of its soundtrack, which starts off with the show's opening theme “Little Boxes,” covered this time by Randy Newman. Other noteworthy artists in the soundtrack include The Dresden Dolls, Ween and 4 to watch veteran Beirut. Meanwhile, season four begins June 16. Tracklist: 1. Randy Newman - Little Boxes 2. Page France - Chariot 3. That 1 Guy - Buttmachine 4. Beirut... read more
Abigail Washburn announces new album, extensive tour
Folk songstress and banjo master Abigail Washburn will embark on a 100+ date North American tour this week, in support of her new album to be released next month. Washburn’s sophomore record, Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet, will be released May 20 on Nettwerk Records. The album was composed and arranged by the Sparrow Quartet, comprised of Washburn, Bela Fleck (banjo), Ben Sollee (cello) and Casey Driessen. Fleck also produced the record, which Washburn described as an effort to “intentionally create art that is more than what I ever thought I was capable of.” Washburn visited China for the... read more
The Roots: Rising Down
When The Roots aren’t coiling slow jams around... read more
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