Wrens, Frank Black, Long Winters on TMBG Tribute

Bar/None is taking They Might Be Giants full circle. In honor of the 20^th anniversary of TMBG's eponymous first album, which came out on Bar/None in 1986, the new Jersey label (in conjunction with MM3 Records) has released Hello Radio, a tribute album to everyone's favorite educational rockers.

Contributors to the disc include Frank Black, the Wrens, OK Go, and the Long Winters. [MORE...]

Video: They Might Be Giants: "Ana Ng"

Weezer Finished?

Rivers Cuomo finally made it across the sea. According to an MTV.com interview with the Weezer frontman yesterday, not only is he married and hanging at his in-laws' place in Japan (ahh, it all falls into place), he may be saying goodbye to his band for good.

It's no surprise that Weezer are, at the very least, on hiatus right now. Not much has happened with the band since they dropped Make Believe back in 2005, including regular conversation.

"Well, the band is all back in Los Angeles, and I sometimes I speak with Patrick, and I occasionally e-mail with Brian and Scott, but we've never mentioned getting together," Cuomo told MTV. "Really, for the moment, we are done. And I'm not certain we'll ever make a record again, unless it becomes really obvious to me that we need to do one."

There you have it. Not that the dudes are fighting or anything dramatic like that (they all served as groomsmen at Cuomo's wedding last month); it may, in Weezer's collective mind, simply be time to move on. We couldn't agree more. [MORE...]

Video: Weezer: "Perfect Situation"

Devendra Plans New LP, Film

Nothing like finding an updated entry in front of the color-changing orb on Devendra Banhart's official website, especially when it brings tidings of a new album.

In late September, Banhart will begin recording his next record, the tentatively titled Smokey, though he warns readers that this name will most likely be given instead to a movie accompanying the album ("its [sic] a one or so hour collection of tours, the writing and recording of the album, and images that make up Devendras [sic] home and life, it will have sound but be mostly scored").

The album, his second for XL Recordings, will be recorded "mostly in California (half on the land and half on the sea, a boat is being rented to track on) and a little in Rio De Janeiro." The music is described as "half extremely mellow, breezy, one quarter melancholic drone bummer, and one quarter equatorial pop." Since "its [sic] been a rough year," "the album is about simple hopes."

Possible guests on the project include Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs, Vetiver, Cibelle, Bat for Lashes, Moon and Moon, Bert Jansch, Hecuba, the Metallic Falcons' Matteah Baim, and more. Production will be handled by Banhart, Noah Georgeson, and possibly Arto Lindsay. [MORE...]

Stream: Devendra Banhart: "Chinese Children"

The Kooks Invade America

Brit kids the Kooks will attempt to carry their hype across the ocean with the U.S. release of their debut full-length Inside In/Inside Out on Astralwerks. Released last year in the UK, where it went double platinum, the album currently occupies the #2 position on the UK charts.

The teen quartet is hoping for similar reception in North America when Inside In/Inside Out appears stateside on October 3. But given the way every other recent NME buzz band that isn't Franz Ferdinand has fared here, they probably shouldn't get their hopes up. [MORE...]

Stream: The Kooks: Various Tracks

Sufjan, Byrne, Gibbard to Play 826 Benefits

Tour titles don't get much better than "Revenge of the Book Eaters". Awesomely enough, a student at 826NYC, a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn dedicated to helping kids ages 6-18 develop their writing skills, came up with the name. And now the tour is being used to raise money for the 826 organization, so more kids will soon think up cool concepts and stories and novels. Everybody wins!

Especially you guys. The Revenge of the Book Eaters tour will stop in six cities across America, with a rotating lineup of musicians, comedians, and writers including Sufjan Stevens, Jon Stewart, David Byrne, Stephin Merritt, Dave Eggers (who founded 826), Mark Kozelek, Aimee Mann, Ben Gibbard, Mountain Goats, Patton Oswalt, Andy Richter, Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, Ira Glass, David Handler, ZZ Packer, John Roderick of the Long Winters, and more.

The revolving cast of celebs will stop in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Ann Arbor to raise money for each city's respective 826 workshop. [MORE...]

Okkervil River Plot Fall Tour

Recently, Okkervil River tided over fans on the other side of the Atlantic with the European re-release of last year's Black Sheep Boy and Black Sheep Boy Appendix on Virgin, as well as a late spring tour of the UK and Europe.

This fall, Will Sheff and co. will take their autumnal tunes to other continents, playing a handful of dates in Australia and North America. They'll be accompanied by singer/songwriter Elvis Perkins on the U.S. tour, making stops at a number of venues that conjure the Old West: High Noon Saloon, Iron Horse Music Hall, and The Grey Eagle. Today, the band plays a one-off free outdoor show at Castle Clinton in Battery Park in New York City. [MORE...]

MP3: Okkervil River: "No Key, No Plan"

Out Hud Break Up

Looks like it was indeed one life to leave for electro-punks Out Hud, who have called it quits. The confirmation of the band's dissolution comes after months of speculation and rumors. Today, band member Molly Schnick made the following terse statement: "Yes we did break up. We figured everyone already knew. There are clues about it all over the last record. Solo records to follow..."

Well, now everybody does know.

The spirit of Out Hud lives on in sibling band !!!, featuring members Nic Offer, Tyler Pope, and Justin Vandervolgen. They are currently on tour in Europe and finishing up their third album.

MP3: Out Hud: "It's for You"

Ian Curtis Movie Begins Shooting

Sure to excite (or enrage) many a disaffected, morose fan, filming for Control, the long-awaited movie about Joy Division's late frontman, Ian Curtis, began this week. Directed by veteran music video director and photographer Anton Corbijn, the film focuses on the tumultuous last years of Curtis' life before he committed suicide in 1980, at the age of 23 and shortly before the band was to depart for its first American tour.

Control deals with Curtis' romantic conflicts with his wife, Deborah, and his mistress, Annik Honore, his increasingly debilitating epileptic seizures, and his performances with Joy Division. Filming will take place in the English towns of Nottingham and Macclesfield (where Curtis lived and is now buried). The film will be released in the UK by Momentum Pictures sometime in 2007. [MORE...]

New Mars Volta Album in August

Start teasing that hair out, because Amputechture, the third full-length from the Mars Volta, will be released August 22 on Universal. A follow-up to 2005's Frances the Mute, the new album features eight tracks that, in typical MV fashion, are long-- some of them 10 to 17 minutes-- with the entire album running over 76 minutes. We hope 70 of those minutes consist of flute solos. You can hear one of the songs, "Viscera Eyes", on the band's MySpace page.

Produced by Mars principal Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and mixed by Rich Costey, Amputechture (oh so punny!) also features contributions from guitarist John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Paul Hinojos (who tours with MV and used to play with Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez in At the Drive-In).

Jeff Jordan designed Amputecture's Andrew Wyeth-on-acid cover art. Titled "Big Mutant", the painting depicts three working class fellows carrying the head of some sort of um, big mutant. [MORE...]

Stream: The Mars Volta: Various Tracks

Win a Date With Jens Lekman!

Want to go on a date with Jens Lekman? Want to go to the Pitchfork Music Festival for free?

Who doesn't?!

The sweet Swedish indie-pop star is currently holding a contest on his website; the winner receives VIP guest list spots for the opening night party, as well as both days of the festival. All you have to do is create a beat for a new Jens song. The info is here. Hurry, the contest ends Friday! Festival tickets are almost gone; by the end of the week, this might be the only way to get them! And we don't want Jens to be lonely!

Not that he necessarily would be: when Jens hits the States for the short American tour leading up to the festival, he'll be joined by a six-piece, all-girl backing band. On paper this has all the makings of a great Hanna-Barbera cartoon, with Jens driving his tour van across America, getting scared at inopportune moments, and then his sassy lady sextet solving mysteries while he hides behind a tree.

The perfect sidekick for Jens would be a talking octopus, but accompanying him instead is fellow Swedish pop star Frida Hyvönen. Hyvönen will be opening for Jens at all U.S. dates except for the festival. (No offense, Frida! We just didn't know you were coming!)

Jens plans on previewing a few songs from his upcoming album in his sets, so this would be the opportunity to gently suggest that it's not too late to throw in a few pseudo-biographical tunes about a touring Swede solving mysteries in a van. [MORE...]

MP3: Jens Lekman: "Black Cab"

Sufjan Announces Euro Tour

Two avalanches in two days! Yesterday, Sufjan Stevens released The Avalanche, a collection of outtakes from his Illinois album, on Asthmatic Kitty. And now, he's added a European leg to his fall tour.

Looks like he's planning a "50 Passport Stamps Project"... [MORE...]

Stream: Sufjan Stevens: The Avalanche Part Three

Sigur Rós EP Coming to America

Need to add a little ethereality to your day? Some monumental crescendos and panoramic wilderness scenes? Sigur Rós is there for you, as the band pre-released their new EP/DVD yesterday on iTunes. Titled Saeglopar, the audio/video release officially arrives in North American on August 8 via Los Angeles-based indie label Worker's Institute, which has released music by Amiina and Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Featuring one track from Takk and three new tracks expanding on music from both the Baba Tiki Dido EP and the Untitled EP, Saeglópar also contains three videos, which, incidentally, the BBC recently used for all trailers of its Wimbledon 2006 coverage. ‘Cause, you know, nothing says tennis like a few tow-headed kids wandering through the Icelandic countryside building cairns and setting vans on fire. [MORE...]

MP3: Sigur Ros: "Untitled 4"

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