T.I.'s Paper Trail set to drop August 12
Grammy Award-winning rapper T.I. will release his third effort, Paper Trail, on Aug. 12. He's been hard at work on the album over the past few months, recording in his home studio while under house arrest for pending weapons charges. The album's first single, "No Matter What," is currently available for purchase here, or you can stream it here. Luckily, for his fans (and his record company), it appears he finished the album before being sentenced to a possible year in jail or 1,500 hours in community service, back in March. T.I. will also continue to uphold the rapper-turned-screen actor... read more
Bon Iver continues touring
Bon Iver continues touring in support of the accidental first album born of Justin Vernon’s wintry isolation in his father’s hunting cabin in northern Wisconsin. All Vernon wanted to do was hibernate, like this bear. Instead he got an album. Vernon experienced some bumps along the North American touring road involving the low-blow theft of a certain fannypack in Austin, Texas. Not one to be easily waylaid, Bon Iver continues on with it’s international leg of the tour with the following dates: May 10 - Camber Sands, UK @ Pitchfork vs. ATP 12 - Glasgow, UK @ ABC* 13 -... read more
Malkmus, Broken Social Scene, more to play Siren 2008
The Village Voice has announced the initial line-up for the 2008 Siren Music Festival in New York, featuring Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and Broken Social Scene. The Siren Music Festival is an annual event sponsored by The Voice at New York’s Coney Island amusement park since 2001. Each year, the festival spotlights emergent and veteran indie artists, including last year’s performers the Black Lips and the New York Dolls. This year’s event will take place July 19 from 12 noon to 9 p.m., and feature performers including The Helio Sequence, Beach House, Times New Viking and Annuals. As always,... read more
Break out the Sex Panther: Anchorman 2 (still) in the works
Recently, USAToday's Pop Candy blog pointed out to the world that, once again, rumblings have started concerning the possibility of a sequel to the much-loved Will Ferrell movie, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Two years ago, Ferrell attended the Toronto Film Festival, and spoke there about his desire to do a sequel, featuring Ron Burgundy as an European correspondent. Since, there hasn't been much in the way of news about it, but now that the filming of Step Brothers has been completed and it's heading for the theaters this July, perhaps Ferrell's busy schedule is beginning to clear up.... read more
Video for Scarlett Johansson's first single now online
In preparation for the May 20 release of Scarlett Johansson’s much-hyped debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head (or is it in celebration of the fact that a certain blonde actress-turned-singer is on the cover of a certain magazine?), the video for her first single has been released online. The clip is for the song “Fallin Down,” from Wait’ 1988 album, Big Time. All but one of the album’s 11 tracks are Waits covers (the other is an original song written by Johansson entitled “Song for Jo”), and altogether Anywhere I Lay My Head covers 30 years and eight albums... read more
Beck to release new album this summer
Let's do a quick rundown of a few of Beck's buddies/coworkers: Jack White, Danger Mouse, Radiohead... notice a connecting thread? Word started spreading on Monday that Beck would be "pulling a Radiohead/Raconteurs/Gnarls Barkley" and dropping some new pollution in the very near future either digitally or corporeally. After a two-day tempest, triggered by a secretly-sourced MTV News Blog, Beck's publicity folk confirmed this morning that Mr. Hansen will release his latest studio album this summer. Whether "this summer" means in the next four-to-six weeks, as MTV reported, remains to be seen. Perhaps Beck will preview some of the... read more
Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White star in guitar doc
Davis Guggenheim, the director-producer behind Al Gore’s environmental call to arms, An Inconvenient Truth, just finished a new documentary set to premier at Cannes later this month about the storied history behind the electric guitar and it’s players, Variety reports. Shot throughout London, Dublin, Nashville and Los Angeles, the film looks at the instrument and its sound from the perspective of three rock musicians who have impacted electric guitar playing across different generations: The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White. The film is titled It Might Get Loud, and features each musician detailing how he changed the sound of the... read more
Ingrid Michaelson stays on the road into the fall
Ingrid Michaelson will be hitting the road in June to headline a month-long tour before making multiple appearances on the festival circuit later this fall. Michaelson’s debut, Girls & Boys, was released in 2007. The album has produced several hits, including “The Way I Am,” which was featured in a snuggly sweater-themed Old Navy holiday ad campaign last December. She was also one of four artists to compose a song for Running With Scissors author Augusten Borroughs’ new audiobook A Wolf at the Table. Michaelson’s “Spare Change” appears alongside tracks from Patti Smith, Sea Wolf and Tegan Quin (of Tegan... read more
Joseph Arthur breathes life into digi-album Bag is Hot, tours
When an album is good, there always seems to be something that lingers about that final note, something that makes listeners wish that the record will go on forever. Now Joseph Arthur is answering that simple notion with an album that actually does go on, in theory, forever. “Bag is hot—like fresh popcorn for all the kids to grab,” Arthur said in a recent press release. “Digital hands eating the digital popcorn. This project is fun and doesn’t have to be precious, but it’s hard not to take it seriously and really work on it. It’s not, ‘Bag is getting... read more
Radiohead roundup, vol. 4: video semi-finals, world tour, etc.
We swear we'd stop writing about them if they'd stop doing stuff. But our dear Radioheads haven't quit, and so we'll dutifully report on the stuff—or things—they're doing. To that end, we bring you the fourth edition of the (admittedly no longer weekly) Paste Radiohead Roundup! Get excited! Radiohead embarks upon world tour: And they play Atlanta tomorrow night! (Squee!) Ahem... The seasoned amphitheater-hopping band opened its string of 48 dates Monday night in West Palm Beach, Fla. Fansite AtEaseWeb.com live blogs every show, if you're so into Radiohead (admit it, you are!) that you want to know how the... read more
Modest Mouse schedules post-R.E.M. dates with Brass Band
Way back in January, we told you that R.E.M. had netted quite a pair of openers for its Accelerate tour. Who were the lucky guests? A little band called The National, which did pretty well in an obscure ranking of the best albums of 2007, and another group of rapscallions who have designated themselves Modest Mouse, and who also happened to do serious damage to that little list we just mentioned. The latter group has decided that hanging out with R.E.M. is all well and good, but headlining is really where the fun is, which is why Modest Mouse has... read more
In wake of Iron Man's millions, Marvel piles up future films
A few years ago, could Robert Downey Jr. have imagined that he would helm an enormous superhero movie that would make $102 million in its opening weekend? Safe to say the ever-cynical actor would have found the proposition highly unlikely. And yet, here we are. Iron Man made (and very likely will continue to make) a lot of money, Downey’s career continues to move up and Marvel Studios is basking in the glory of the film that it produced. The studio produces films based on Marvel properties, so this success guarantees future projects and makes forthcoming successes much more likely.... read more
Sharon Jones appears on new Daptone compilation
Perhaps you haven’t heard, but funk and soul are back. Oh, you say that they never left? Well, you’re probably right, but just in case you had any doubts about their livelihood, the Daptone 7 Inch Singles Collection, Vol. 2 should leave you comforted. The digital-only compilation, which will be released on June 3, features 13 new hits from the Daptone roster, including notable bands like Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and really notable bands like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, who appear on the album with a cover of Kenny Rogers’ "I Just Dropped In to See What Condition My Condition... read more
Dr. Dog adds new tour dates, meets its Fate on July 29
Dr. Dog, a California based radio show host and animal behavioral expert, has announced new tour dates through the summer and into the... No, wait. That can't be right. Let's start over. Dr. Dog, a Philadelphia based indie-rock band that has garnered comparisons to a little group named The Beatles, has announced new tour dates through the summer and into the fall. Phew, that's better. The Philly fellas will be traversing the country in support of their new album, Fate, which hits stores July 29. Along the way, they'll share festival stages with acts that range from Method Man to... read more
My Bloody Valentine announces handful of U.S. tour dates
We've got an odd question for you, dear reader, but don't worry: it’s a simple yes/no. Ready? Okay, here we go. Do you think you've been gazing at your shoes enough lately? Regardless of your answer, get hyped: the legendary shoegaze rockers of My Bloody Valentine will tour the U.S. this fall. Sure enough, after playing in Europe this summer and headlining ATP New York in September, the Irish-Brit group will hit some of this country’s biggest cities through October, with a jaunt up to Canada to stop in Toronto. This will be your first chance to see the... read more
Eastwood's Gran Torino character descriptions released
In 1971, Clint Eastwood starred in Dirty Harry, a film that sported the tagline, "You don't assign him to murder cases, you just turn him loose." Since then, Eastwood brought Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan to life four more times, turned loose in '73's Magnum Force, in '76's The Enforcer, in '83's Sudden Impact and in '88's The Dead Pool, satiating our renegade-cop hunger time and time again. But before we get carried away with gratitude, let us not forget the other contributions Eastwood's made to the moviegoing public during the last few decades, stretching his wings as a director of... read more
Tom Cruise in talks for Mission: Impossible 4
That Variety reports Tom Cruise is currently in talks to star in the next Mission: Impossible movie is a surprise for several reasons. Not least among these is that Paramount cut its relationship with Cruise two years ago, blaming him for smaller box office returns for Mission: Impossible III. Then there is the fact that these days Cruise's biggest fan is himself. But if they can overlook his issues, then perhaps so can we. At least, that's what the studio is hoping. "I consider Tom Cruise a great actor and a good friend," said Viacom boss Sumner Redstone, the very... read more
The Office’s Creed Bratton returns to his rock ‘n’ roll roots
The Office’s Creed Bratton has released a new self-titled album, alerting many fans of the actor’s comedic work to his experience as a musician. Bratton has been a regular fixture on The Office since the series’ 2005 pilot. The actor often appeared in un-credited performances in the show’s early days, perhaps because he has always played himself. Long before his cubicle days, though, Bratton was better known as a member of The Grass Roots. The Grass Roots released their debut album, Where Were You When I Needed You, in 1966. The band members racked up one platinum album, two gold... read more
NIN releases The Slip completely digitally, completely free
Nine Inch Nailers (Rezinators?), now is the time you’ve been waiting for! Since 12:01 yesterday morning, Pacific time, the new Nine Inch Nails album, The Slip has been available for free download at NIN.com. You may have heard the single “Discipline” on a radio station or “Echoplex” on iLike, but now you can get the entire album for free. You couldn’t even pay for it if you wanted to, because there are no retail partners involved yet. However, if you absolutely insist, the album should be released on CD and vinyl sometime in July, and surely someone will let you... read more
Spiral Stairs curates excellent new Sled Island fest line-up
The second annual Sled Island Festival in Calgary, Alberta will take place June 25-28. Doubtful if there will be sledding, per se, but attendees will likely be having so much fun they won’t notice otherwise. Scott Kannberg, a.k.a. Spiral Stairs of Pavement, was selected to curate the incredible line-up, which takes a particular affinity to independent artists over the mainstream. “Sled Island is looking for a wide range of bands that stray outside the boundaries of commercial rock, whether you’ve been around for six months or six years,” says a press release on the festival’s MySpace. This year's line-up includes... read more
