New Pornographers' A. C. Newman thinks new solo album
New Pornographers principal dude A.C. (Carl) Newman says he has plans for his second solo album that, optimistically, could be released this fall. “On my own records, I’m left to my own devices. That can be both good and bad,” Newman told Billboard. The band is finishing up its U.S. tour in promotion of its latest album Challengers, and is set to play at a handful of summer festivals including the Summer Camp Music Festival in Illinois, The Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington, and the The All Points West Festival at New Jersey's Liberty State Park. Newman also revealed thoughts... read more
Hercules & Love Affair scores June U.S. release date
Disco is not dead! On the contrary, it's stronger than ever—as strong as Hercules, in fact—thanks to the dancefloor-igniting sounds of DFA Records DJ act Hercules & Love Affair. Despite the plurality of the name, Hercules & Love Affair is basically longtime New York City-based DJ/producer Andrew Butler, with guest appearances throughout the self-titled debut by a few colorful pals, including Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons), NYC soul-pop singer Nomi, and downtown DJ/promoter/jeweler Kim Ann Foxman. The band's moniker stems from the Greek myth of Hercules and his supposed affair with another man. "There's an image where he... read more
Natalie Portman adds Wuthering Heights to busy schedule
Natalie Portman has signed on to play the lead in cinema's latest stab at Emily Bronte's classic (and classically heart-wrenching) novel Wuthering Heights. The most famous film version of the novel released in 1939 starred Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards. A second attempt at the film was the 1989 Ralph Fiennes/Juliette Binoche interpretation that only grossed $624,643, according to Variety.com. The movie will be made under the able guidance of Ecosee Films, the U.K. production company who recently gave us Becoming Jane and Mrs. Brown, and will feature the scriptwriting abilities of Olivia... read more
The Roots plot four-month tour, appear everywhere
The Roots, autism awareness, a faux-conservative talk-show host, tax day and picnics. Now there are five things that you likely haven't seen together in one sentence, well, maybe ever. But in this instance, they have more in common than you'd every guess. The Philadelphia hip-hop group that pioneered a live, on-stage backing band to support MC Black Thought's rhymes appeared recently on Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars," a benefit in support of Autism Awareness Month. The Roots love the children. On tax day, The Roots appeared on Stephen Colbert's show as he broadcasted (for the first time ever)... read more
Black Crowes announce massive North American tour
Fresh off the release of The Black Crowes' first album in seven years (which you can read all about in our feature on the band), the group has announced a full-fledged North American tour, and boy is it a doozie. Covering 90 cities and extending from June to December, The Crowes' “Euphoria or Bust Tour" includes two acoustic sets at New York City's Town Hall Theater in November and a five-night run at The Fillmore in San Francisco in December. (Expect Maxim's review of the Fillmore shows in November.) The band is also performing a few dates with the Dave... read more
Over the Rhine to perform Ohio at Cincinnati event
Over the Rhine will perform at the opening of Cincinnati’s new National City Pavillion on May 24, christening the park with a special performance of their critically acclaimed double album Ohio. Husband and wife duo Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist and their bandmates Jacob Bradley and Mickey Grimm will take a break from their current Trumpet Child tour to play all 21 songs from 2003’s Ohio “from the first note to the last.” The performance will be the first, and likely only, time the band performs the album as a single composition. Detweiler and Bergquiest are Cincinnati natives, and said... read more
Kathleen Edwards releases new video, appears on Letterman
Kathleen Edwards has been a busy bee lately: she has a new album, a new video, upcoming tour dates and an upcoming appearance on late-night television. This will be the second time Edwards appears on the David Letterman show: the first time found her on a bus for 13 hours, desperately trying to get there on time to promote her debut album, Failer. Her performance is scheduled for April 22, and this time the Ottowa-turned-Toronto native is promoting her third album, entitled Asking for Flowers, which came out on March 4. Here’s hoping she gets to take a plane this... read more
Dëthkløk to headline brutal summer tour
Skwisgaar Skwigelf (taller than a tree), Toki Wartooth (not a bumble bee), William Murderface (Muderface Murderface), Pickles the drummer (doodly doodly doo doodly doo) and Nathan Explosion will rain chaos on 28 cities this summer. After becoming the highest charting death metal band ever with their release of The Dethalbum last year, Dëthkløk will tour with the support of reknowned metal bands Chimaira and Soilent Green. The mastermind behind the band and co-creator of Adult Swim show Metalocalypse, Brendon Small (also the voice of Explosion, Skwisgaar and Pickles), will bring the cartoon characters' music to life with the help of... read more
Poll: What is your favorite concert film?
Martin Scorsese's Shine a Light recently hit theaters. What is your favorite concert film? [1147 votes total] The Last Waltz (316): 28% U2 3D (172): 15% Stop Making Sense (191): 17% Gimme Shelter (69): 6% Sign o' the Times (16): 1% The Song Remains the Same (43): 4% Rust Never Sleeps (49): 4% The Kids are Alright (83): 7% The Grateful Dead Movie (38): 3% Other (170): 15% Full Results Comments... read more
Band of the Week: Torche
Pummeling, earth-shattering noise married to gorgeous melodies: It’s the golden egg so many underground acts have searched for, but only a handful have had the chops to pull off. Sonic Youth has made a career of the combination, My Bloody Valentine collapsed... read more
Deerhunter unveils Microcastle at secret Brooklyn show
[Above photo by Jeffrey Beaumont, from A Year of HYPERLIVING] Last Friday, Deerhunter gave the world its third album, Microcastle. To be fair, the whole world was not in attendance, because the concert venue was rather small and was announced at the last minute, and much of the world was not able to stop by a small Brooklyn art gallery last week to purchase tickets. Deerhunter and four other bands played the Market Hotel, a mind-bogglingly amazing (also: mind-bogglingly hot) loft largely off the beaten path in Brooklyn. The presence of four other bands (including the absurd [in a good... read more
Wale joins Mark Ronson's label, preps Seinfeld mixtape
Few rappers could a.) freestyle over Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." and b.) appear on a remix alongside Lil Wayne while still sounding original. Behold the genius of Wale, the Washington, D.C. MC who's taken the torch from Dischord Records to become the leading musical light in our nation's capital. Sound like a mass of hyperbole? Super-producer Mark Ronson believes. "There's not that much hip-hop coming out that excites me," Ronson told MTV News back in August. "Not like it was. Everything I heard from this kid, I just loved. The more and more I heard his stuff, the more excited I got."... read more
Coldplay announces Viva La Vida tracklist
Coldplay recently confirmed the tracklist for its fifth album, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends. As previously reported, Chris Martin and company worked on the project with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs in London, Barcelona and New York. The album will be released June 17, which means Coldplayers the world over are that much closer to having some questions of high importance answered. Namely, just which translation of “viva la vida” are they referring to? Can this follow up match the 10 million copies of X&Y that have been sold to date? Will they tour soon? Will... read more
Thao Nguyen and Rilo Kiley get down, stay down on tour
Fresh off her travels with Xiu Xiu , Thao Nguyen and her Get Down Stay Down have signed on for the rest of the spring with Rilo Kiley. The 23-year-old Michael J. Fox-loving Thao will be play in most of North America, Canada and Europe through the middle of June, promising smart, folk-pop for all. MP3: Thao - ”Bag of Hammers” Dates: April 10 - Pomona College @ Claremont, Calif. 11 - Echo @ Los Angeles, Calif. 12 - Rasputin @ Berkeley, Calif. 12 - Bottom of the Hill @ San Francisco, Calif. 14 - Blue Lamp @ Sacramento, Calif.... read more
Talib Kweli, Two Gallants, more to play Noise benefit shows
Noise for the Needy, a Seattle-based non-profit organization that raises money for charities through its summer music festival, has announced some initial artists for this year’s shows. Held throughout Seattle in June, the festival brings together over 30 bands from a variety of genres. This year, proceeds from all concerts will go to Urban Rest Stop, an organization offering individuals and families clean and safe restrooms, showers and laundry facilities in Seattle for free. A calendar of complete shows scheduled is forthcoming. A kick-off movie event is scheduled for May 14 at The Triple Door featuring David Schmader’s Showgirls, at... read more
Robert Pollard to release new EP, album, book
Prolific singer/songwriter and former Guided By Voices leader Robert Pollard will release a new album and a book showcasing his art this summer, according to his website. Robert Pollard Is Off To Business will be released on Pollard’s own label, Guided By Voices Inc., which he launched this year with managers David Newgarden, Rich Turiel and Eric Weiss. Frequent Pollard collaborator Todd Tobias produced the work. The release of Pollard’s new album will coincide with another release, that of the book Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard, published by Fantagraphics. The colorful coffee table book will be... read more
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People to hit WiiWare
Do you has what it takes? Test your mettle (and trade in that skirt you're wearin' for a nice pair of camos) this June, when the folks behind HomestarRunner.com team up with Telltale Games to bring you the 3-D point-and-click-em-up adventure, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. (Or "SBCG4AP," which, astonishingly, actually may be less pronounceable than "fhqwhgads.") The more-than-a-little-awkwardly-named game debuts in June on WiiWare (and PC). Strong Bad informs us that there will be "five awesome episodes" (or "action-sodes") and that "you download them over your internet-style connection!" Careful, though. Whatever Homestar might think, that Wii controller's... read more
Ladyhawk preps for U.S. tour, documentary release
Not to get all Jerry Seinfeld here, but what’s the deal with Canadian rock bands? I mean, what’s the deal? It's like, they rock, and they're not from the U.S. or the UK! They must be putting something in the Labatt Blue up there because over the past few years, bands like Black Mountain, Tokyo Police Club and The Besnard Lakes have been putting out album after album of pure rock goodness that would make Neil Young proud. Incidentally, these bands all seem to sport some serious lumberjack-style beards, which probably serve as a survival mechanism for those cold winter... read more
Mugison tours with QOTSA, Mugiboogie gets U.S. date
This summer, Canadians will see faces melt almost as swiftly as the last vestiges of winter ice when award-winning, genre-defying Icelandic musician Mugison crisscrosses the country on a tour with American gut-rumbling rockers/burgeoning foodies Queens of the Stone Age. In between curating Aldrei fór ég su∂ur, an annual festival held on Iceland's remote West Fjords, and starting a family, the self-taught multi-instrumentalist known as Mugison somehow found the time to record his third LP, the wildly eclectic Mugiboogie. “There was to be no time reference, no time frame,” Mugison says in a statement about the album. “The lyrics had to... read more
Black Francis announces new date for Svn Fngrs
Black Francis, who, like Prince, is hardly ever mentioned without a history of past nomenclatures, has announced that the Cooking Vinyl release of his “mini-LP” Svn Fngrs has been fittingly pushed back to the day most associated with American procrastination, April 15. The 20-minute albumette was originally planned for March, and has been available online since April 1, but it’s okay, because a statement on behalf of Mr. Black, er, Francis, has apologized for “any confusion this may have caused,” and stepped back to let the man himself do the bulk of the hype. “I won't bother you here with... read more
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 50 Best Albums of the Decade…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
The 20 Best Live Acts of the…
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Gregory Alan Isakov - The Moon Song
Patrick Watson - Man Like You
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
