Fiery Furnaces Plan Summer Tour and Fall Album
Even the Fiery Furnaces have limits to their unconventionality. For example, like regular bands, they sometimes put out albums and tour. What a bunch of sell-outs. The band should be right at home with fellow peculiars Tortoise and the Sea and Cake on Chicago’s Thrill Jockey Records, which will release their next album in October. Besides the LP's title, Widow City, no other titillating information is available. However! A few new songs have been guaranteed to show up on the Furnaces’ “Fourth of July Tour” (which includes no July 4 performance, ha ha). It goes exactly like this: June: 21... read more
Robert Pollard Announces New Albums, Return to Stage
Despite breaking up indie-rock crusaders Guided By Voices in 2004, former frontman Robert Pollard continues to put out music at a pace that would make Ryan Adams blush. The irrepressible songwriter, who has over 900 songs registered to his name, will release two new albums simultaneously on October 9. “I’m busier than I ever was,” Pollard, 49, says. “I’m putting out six or seven albums a year.” Coast to Coast Carpet of Love and Standard Gargoyle Decisions, which Pollard will put out under his own name on Merge, will be complementary albums - one pop, one punk. Originally conceived as... read more
U2, Eno and Lanois Songwriting Together in Africa
Longtime collaborators U2, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois are putting their heads together again for an undetermined project. One would assume the result would be more sweeping, socially-conscious anthems, but on U2’s website Bono is quoted as saying “it’s very different, quite experimental and kind of liberating.” The group’s creative base is the medieval Moroccan city of Fez, where director Stephane Sedanoui shot the warbly, colorful video for Achtung Baby’s “Mysterious Ways” (hopefully, Bono is still working the frilly red shirt). Eno and Lanois produced U2’s breakthrough 1987 album The Joshua Tree, but U2 drummer Larry Mullen said this is... read more
Over the Rhine to Trumpet New, Pre-Rock Influences
The prolific, Cincinnati-based duo Over the Rhine (see Paste's 100 Best Living Songwriters) plans to self-release its eleventh studio album, The Trumpet Child, on August 21. A four-piece for most of its 16-year career, Over the Rhine is currently driven by the literal marriage of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist. With The Trumpet Child, the two have said their goal is to take turns “waking the dead in true New Orleans ragtime fashion.” To help achieve this musical voodoo, Detweiler cites "pre-rock" influences such as Cole Porter and Frank Loesser. Despite a tour with Bob Dylan and the existence of... read more
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings to Release Third LP This Fall
Apparently, something about Augusta, Georgia breeds boundless energy in the few successful musicians connected to the golf-centric city. Sharing the zeal of late former resident James Brown’s paramount, sweaty-browed workaholism, native Sharon Jones, and her band the Dap-Kings have played 267 shows in 14 countries since the release of 2005’s Naturally. Jones and the Dap-Kings will release their third Daptone Records full-length, 100 Days, 100 Nights on September 25. The dedicated soulstress has been a staple of the New York funk scene since she moved to Brooklyn as a teenager during disco’s prime years and began back-up work for gospel... read more
Sigur Rós Gets Bookish With In A Frozen Sea
As summer comes creeping in (for half the world, anyway), Sigur Rós fans have a new opportunity to seek refuge from heat and humidity in the glacial world of Iceland’s most famous band. In A Frozen Sea: A Year with Sigur Rós chronicles the homecoming leg of the band’s 2006 tour in 32 pages of intimate photographs, quotes, and commentary from the band members themselves. Pairing the stunning visuals of the Icelandic landscape—from capital city Reykjavik to more rural settings featuring mountains, glaciers, and (hopefully!) fjords—with the band’s distinctly dreamy orchestral rock, the book seems likely to serve double duty... read more
Paste's Jay Sweet Talks Venues With Fox 25
Massachusetts is home to two of Paste’s 40 Best Music Venues, Iron Horse Music hall in Northampton and Cambridge’s Club Passim. It’s also home to Paste’s editor-at-large Jay Sweet, who’s recently become a staple on Boston’s Fox 25 Morning News program, stopping by monthly to chat about the latest news in music and film. Sweet’s most recent appearance finds him discussing Paste’s 40 Best Music Venues list with host Gene Lavanchy. Check out the clip here and be sure to pick up a copy of Paste’s June issue (Parker Posey on the cover) for the full list of the US’s... read more
The Hottest State To Feature Emmylou, Norah, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, Bright Eyes, Feist, More...
[Above: Jesse Harris] One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others? By the time we finish this, uh, paragraph? Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Cat Power, Bright Eyes, Jesse Harris, Feist, M. Ward, Hall and Oates, Brad Mehldau and The Black Keys. You have 30 seconds, so choose wisely. All right, pencils down. If you picked "Hall and Oates," then you answered correctly. But what do the other musicians have in common? All of them and a few others are featured... read more
Bob Odenkirk Gets Super, Talks To Paste
The stars of Bob Odenkirk’s Derek & Simon: The Show shorts are just “two guys hitting on girls,” but with Odenkirk behind the wheel you can rest assured that the guys’ feeble attempts will reach levels of hilarity unmatched by everyday passes at love. In one episode called “Pity Card,” produced in conjunction with HBO and featured on the second issue of McSweeney’s Wholphin DVD quarterly, Simon takes a girl on a date to Washington DC’s Holocaust museum, rattling her sheltered notion of humanity and earning him some awkward sympathy points. The battle for female affection continues in subsequent episodes... read more
The Mendoza Line Preps Two-CD Set, Offers mp3
On August 21, Glurp Records will release The Mendoza Line's 30 Year Low, a two-disc collection comprising both a mini-album of new material and a second disc of demos, live tracks and cover songs of artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Richard Thompson, Cole Porter and Arab Strap, amongst others. Not only does this collection of tracks mark the end of band members Tim Bracy and Shannon McArdle's artistic collaboration, but their marriage as well. Yikes. Sounds like pretty lighthearted, happy-go-lucky stuff to us. But hey, Okkervil River's Will Sheff guests on the album, and you can download and listen to... read more
Tom Waits, Kronos Quartet, More Rock For Peace
Recorded at a September 21, 2003 benefit concert held at the Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, the Dalai Lama, Tom Waits, Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass, Anoushka Shankar and more will be featured on Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation. Out July 10 on Anti-, the album will highlight the Dalai Lama's 20-day tour of the U.S., which culminated in the concert. Proceeds from the sales of the CD will benefit Healing the Divide (a non-profit organization Richard Gere formed in 2001 in order to aid humanitarian crisis) and its Tibetan Health Initiative, which... read more
Monolith Festival Reveals Initial Line-Up
Red Rocks isn't just the place for your perpetually-stoned cousin to catch the Widespread Panic/Bob Weir/moe. triple threat hippiethon anymore. In fact, just today the inaugural Monolith festival, which will be held on September 14 and 15, announced its initial line-up. Presented by Esurance, Monolith is the first ever multi-day, multi-stage festival to grace the legendary stage of the Morrison, Colo. venue. With such a distinction, you've got to bring the noise. As such, the first line-up announcement consists of the Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, Kings of Leon, Spoon, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Broken West, Brian... read more
White Stripes Announce Friday Show in Nashville
In a move of utter last-minute proportions, the White Stripes have announced that they will perform a show this very Friday, May 18, at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville, Tenn. The Stripes' website is calling this show "intimate" without further explanation, but a quick glance at the Citysearch entry for the Cannery Ballroom finds users replying in the affirmative when questioned whether or not said venue is crowded. This probably means that you'll want to pay close attention to the pre-sale that launches at noon central time tomorrow (Thursday, May 17) on WhiteStripes.com. Keep in mind the two-ticket limit, though,... read more
Paste Is Turning Five Years Old!
Paste is about to turn five. That's right, we're entering the pre-K realm of music publications, and you can help... Have thoughts about Paste? Write us a note for our expanded letters section in the special July issue of the magazine. Just email editor@pastemagazine.com and include your home city and state. ... read more
Feist To Tour U.S. In June
Feist has announced plans to tour throughout much of June in support of The Reminder, her second U.S. album released May 1. Currently on tour throughout Canada, next month she’ll work her way all the way from Massachusetts to California. In between, she’ll stop in New York City for two nights at Town Hall (the first date sold out in four hours, prompting the addition of a second show) and in Manchester, Tenn., for a performance at Bonnaroo. The Reminder was recorded on the outskirts of Paris at La Frette, a two-centuries old manor house where Feist and her musical... read more
Mark Olson to Release Solo Record
Jayhawks co-founder Mark Olson will release his first solo album, The Salvation Blues, June 12 on Hacktone Records. Olson wrote and recorded songs on Salvation over a two year period of intense travel that took him to Norway, Poland and Minnesota, among other worldly places. “I just kind of roamed around,” Olson said in a recent statement. “I was doing what I wanted to. I tried to write as best I could, for once in my life. I pushed myself on this one, more than I ever have.” Related links: Mark Olson with the Creekdippers Mark Olson fansite Hacktone Records’... read more
Suzanne Vega Gets Digital in Time
Suzanne Vega becomes an avatar, then writes about who made her. We don’t know what that really means, either, but last summer, Vega’s appearance on the Infinite Mind public radio show was turned into a virtual concert on the internet virtual world Second Life. She returned the favor by writing a feature on Second Life creator Philip Rosedale in this week’s Time Magazine. “I already knew what an avatar was. But what was Second Life?” writes Vega in her article. “Would I have to wear a special heat-seeking suit against a blue backdrop while I sang?” In other Vega news,... read more
TuneCore Music Service Launches
Although the digital music business is still remarkably young, many competitors have already come and gone. TuneCore Inc. hopes its flat-free distributor, the first of its kind, will earn the start-up some staying power. TuneCore announced its official launch yesterday, coinciding with a series of programs initiated by its strategic partner, Bay Area instrument retailer, Guitar Center. After a year of live-beta testing, which has helped unsigned artists and indie labels generate over $1.2 million from digital downloads, TuneCore's infrastructure is ready to expand to accommodate Guitar Center's massive customer base. As the first and only distributor to work on... read more
Stream New Straylight Run Single
Long Islanders Straylight Run won't release their sophomore LP, The Needles The Space, until June 19. Thanks to the good folks at Universal Republic Records, though, you can stream the album's first single, "Soon We'll Be Living In The Future," now. Just click here, and enjoy the sweet sound of sibling harmony, courtesy of frontpeople John and Michelle Nolan. Related links: Straylight Run’s homepage Straylight Run on MySpace Universal Republic’s homepage ... read more
David Bowie Gets Webby
ALthough far better known for his interstellar rock career and gender-bending alter-egos, pop icon David Bowie is also a modern media mogul, and that's the side of him that will be honored on June 5 when he receives a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award. Once called the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, the Webby Award is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Apparently, the "Thin White Duke" has done more than his fair share to promote the arts via the online world,... read more
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