Gravy Train!!!! Back With New Album & Tour

01 Jonny Makeup
02 Darque Tan
03 Stop the Wedding
04 I Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Get Rid of You
05 Bloopies (Skit)
06 (Evrybody Do) The Thingy
07 Ghost Boobs
08 Hump Lites
09 Pussy Sauce
10 Nudies from the Road
11 Gotta Get Outta Batwiddicals

Listening to a Gravy Train!!!! record at home means you can be alone and safe while you slyly listen to the likes of: "I wanna get in the whole world's pants, and when my beaver's hungry preemies ain't got a chance, I turn it out in granny glasses and hotpants, and my digs are decked out for statutory romance."

Live, however, even the most camouflaged wallflower won't escape Chunx's verbal caterwauling. But of course that's the fun of it. Dates:

07-09 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (record release party) *
07-19 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive #
07-22 Chicago, IL - Open End Gallery #
07-23 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop #
07-24 Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Art Works +
07-25 New York, NY - Knitting Factory $
07-26 Boston, MA - Great Scott +
07-27 Providence, RI - AS200 +
07-28 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa +
07-29 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
07-30 Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar %
07-31 Cologne, NJ - Galloway American Legion Post 430 %>br> 08-02 Atlanta, GA - MYQ Drunken Unicorn Room ^
08-03 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jack's %
08-05 Houston, TX - Mary Jane's %
08-06 Austin, TX - Emo's %
08-07 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves %
08-09 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress &
08-10 La Jolla, CA - ChŽ CafŽ %
08-11 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo %
08-12 Long Beach, CA - Koo's %
08-27 Silverlake, CA - Sunset Junction
08-28 Silverlake, CA - Sunset Junction

* with Top Ten & the Okmoniks
# with the Plus Ones
+ with Veronica Lipgloss
$ with Veronica Lipgloss & V.I.P.
% with V.I.P.
^ with V.I.P., Kill Me Tomorrow & Dance Disaster Movement
& with V.I.P. & the Okmoniks

* Gravy Train!!!!: http://www.gimmegravytrain.com
* Kill Rock Stars: http://www.killrockstars.com

Ex-Unicorns Members Form New Band

Elliot Aronow, the editor of the Simple Mission blog, says: "I know you've been wondering. Where is Nick Diamonds? Where is J'aime? Montreal? L.A.? NYC? Since winning the hearts of the masses as two-thirds of the Unicorns, the pair have been busy traveling around this country and theirs working on various and sundry projects including a brand new fantastique pop group called Islands."

Diamonds himself has described the new group's music as "F-14 Tomcat blah, blah," which we're told by Aronow is "French Canadian slang for fiery, shiny, and shimmering madcap pop." Obviously.

Available for download are two tracks, "Flesh" and "Abominable Snow", at the Simple Mission website, which can be heard by following the link below.

The Simple Mission: http://www.thesimplemission.com

Death Cab for Cutie Unveil Their Plans

Pitchfork spoke to Harmer just after the band had completed a photo shoot in New York and he spilled some details on the band's upcoming album, and major-label debut, Plans, which is due August 30. Fortunately, the band didn't go through any indie-to-major bullshit when they jumped ship from Barsuk to Atlantic. Harmer said the new label was fantastic and didn't interfere in the least. "I was as apprehensive as the next person going into the process," he said, "wondering how involved they were going to be, if they would keep looking over our shoulders. But with all honesty, they just let us do what we needed to do, and as thankful as we are for that, it was strange because we didn't expect it."

So no shenanigans? "Well, while we were up [in rural Massachusetts], there were two studios and for the first week, the guys from Jet were in the other studio, writing and rehearsing. Near the end of when they were there, they had some label people come up and one night we were just making a god awful racket trying to come up with a noisy part of the record. Banging on pots and pans and making all kinds of noise, to maybe later manipulate it into some ambient texture someplace. And the next morning, we come downstairs and they were like, 'Man, we don't know what you guys were doing up there, but it sounded amazing!' We were like, 'Wow, really?' It was a funny moment. If there was ever a major label moment, it didn't even come from our own label but another label entirely, which made us laugh a bit. We told them, 'Cool, well, tell everyone you know that you liked what you heard!'"

Produced again by band member Chris Walla, Plans picks up for where their previous album, Transatlanticism, left off. "It's not completely different", says Harmer. "There aren't any conceptual ties, but we approached it similarly. In some ways [Plans] is an extension of Transatlanticism, but more realized as an album, as a complete thought from start to finish. The performances are that much better, the sound, the production quality. We pushed hard to keep moving in the direction began with on the last album, and I think we'll keep pushing in that direction for awhile. Not everyone's going to like everything you do, obviously, but I'd be surprised if someone who liked Transatlanticism would not like this record."

The album's first single is expected to be "Soul Meets Body", and the band shouldn't have trouble coming up with some B-sides, as they recorded several more songs than what made it onto the album. Guest spots on the album include Beulah's Bill Swan and Harvey Danger's Sean Nelson.

Tracklist:

01 Marching Bands of Manhattan
02 Soul Meets Body
03 Summer Skin
04 Different Names For the Same Thing
05 I Will Follow You Into the Dark
06 Your Heart Is An Empty Room
07 Someday You Will Be Loved
08 Crooked Teeth
09 What Sarah Said
10 Brothers on a Hotel Bed
11 Stable Song

Death Cab have a few festival gigs lined up through the September, before a full North American tour later this fall. Dates:

07-07 Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
07-24 Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
07-30 San Diego, CA - San Diego Street Scene
08-06 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater
08-13 Osaka, Japan - SummerSonic
08-14 Tokyo, Japan - SummerSonic
08-18 New York, NY - Central Park SummerStage
09-24 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits

* Death Cab for Cutie: <a

Franz Ferdinand Reveal New Album Title

Describing the sound of a band is one thing; describing album cover art is another beast altogether. For example, this writer would have described the Franz Ferdinand debut album cover art as a throwback to the classic geometric abstract art of Mondrian and Malevich, expressing the mechanical written movement of Russian futurist fonts, reflecting a faux-Socialist/Realist political movement, with a nod to early Factory Records minimalist imagery.

Someone who certainly would have a better grasp of the Franz Ferdinand cover-design-thing is the Glasgow art-wave-obsessed foursome's main man himself, Alex Kapranos, who has revealed to the UK press what the future holds for Franz's album artwork and titles-- basically more of the same. In speaking with the NME, the lithe singer laid down the skinny on the Franz art aesthetic, claiming that the only changes in store for the new album due in September will be the color selection. Like their debut, there will be no title to the new disc, and the cover will now boast a black, red, and pale green surface as opposed to the first album's mix of dark brown, orange, and cream.

Said Kapranos: "The whole point is that the album doesn't have a title. We decided quite a while ago that we didn't want to give any of the albums titles, they were just going to be called Franz Ferdinand. The albums are going to be identified by their colour schemes rather than a title. The contrast of different colours creates a different mood. We experimented with different combinations of colours and this one stuck. At one level they looked good together, and they capture the mood of this record quite well."

Needless to say, a lot has happened to the band since the days they used an abandoned warehouse in Glasgow to host illicit art house rave-ups. But when the excitement of the accolades and award nominations subside, the business of making new albums must be at hand. As is the case when a debut album takes off commercially and critically, there's a lot of expectation and speculation as to what is in store for the difficult second album. The band will spend the next while selecting the final tracklisting from a stash of songs, some of which have been premiered and tested at various live dates recently. Among the titles which will make up the album are: "Turn It On", "Do You Want To?", "Your Diary", "I'm Your Villain", "What You Meant", "Outsiders", "Walk Away", "Well, That Was Easy", "Evil and a Heathen", "Eleanor, Put Your Boots Back On" and You Could Have it So Much Better". Rumors of a new song called "Arts of Pleasure" are unsubstantiated at this time...

TV on the Radio: http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk/

TV on the Radio Drop More Hints on Album

The recording process just finished, and mixing is under way. The album was recorded at Sitek's Staygold Studio (say that three times fast!) in Brooklyn and recorded by Sitek himself, per usual. As for the sound of the new album and what to expect, he says it will be "very large, full production, personal, anthemic, and worthy of makeout sessions with the sky. We have really been influenced by our personal lives more than music. Not to say we don't breakdance to other music, but we have been rather insular for most of the process."

Guests abound on this album, including Katrina Ford (Celebration, Lovelife), Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear), Martin Perna and Stuart Bogie of Antibalas, and members of Dragons of Zynth and Omegamoon, as well as some other "special people." He expects the first single to be either "Wolf Like Me", "I Was a Lover", or "Playhouses". Always a good sign to have more than one choice for a single, usually means the tunes are good. As for a title and release date, they're still unsure, as Sitek says, "Look, we let you take our bra off; the panties will have to wait."

Finally, he tells us, "This has been a strange and incredible time for us and hopefully we will reflect that enough to make you feel like you are in the hotel rooms with us, on the plane with us, asleep in the grass with us, stomping your feet and shaking your fist at the naysayers with us, not answering our phones with us, staring at the future in disbelief with us, accepting the miraculous with us, giving it back with us."

We just can't wait to hear the damn thing! Here's that tracklist we mentioned:

01 Playhouses
02 I Was a Lover
03 Province
04 Snakes + Martyrs
05 Wolf Like Me
06 Tonight
07 Dirty Whirlwind
08 A Method
09 Let the Devil In
10 Blues From Down Here
11 Wash the Day Away

* TV on the Radio: <a

Prefuse 73 Added to Intonation, Two-Day Passes Scarce

Now, we don't like to go around all snobby and pretend we're better than other people (sike!), but if we do say so ourselves, that is one fine motherfucking lineup. Yes, the Intonation Music Festival is comin' up around the bend; as of this very minute, it's only three-and-a-half weeks away. And with the door closing fast on your chance to scoop up those limited $22 two-day passes-- they're supposed to be on sale through July 9, but we're already running low on 'em-- your opportunity to spend two sunny-ass summer sizzlers with twenty-five of the greatest independent bands on Earth is ticking away without your consent. Sincerely, this is the kind of magic you just don't fuck around with: If you want in, you best snatch those suckers now.

Oh, what, a deal-sealer? Christ, you'd think 88 cents a band would be enough! What are you, some kind of asshole? Alright, look. We like you a lot, we think you got potential, we like your moxie. And because we're feeling like Mr. Generous today, we'll throw in one more. Ladies and lads...

PREFUSE 73!!

Yes, that Prefuse 73. Indeed, glitch-hop pioneer Scott Herren has signed on at the last minute, sporting a five-piece touring lineup that, judging from their recent shows, could quite easily be dubbed the rightful successors to the title of World Famous Supreme Team (or, for those in more of a Letterman mood, The World's Most Dangerous Band). If I had it in me right now to elucidate how sick their last Chicago performance was, I promise you would be like "holy crap." And did we mention that lovable Biz3 Publicity is hooking you up with a just-ridiculous string of incredible DJ sets by Pelican, Dungen, El-P, Diplo, Jean Grae, and Will Oldham throughout the day? Suffice to say, this is some first-class Dune shit: Come out and watch dudes kill people with sound.

As stated previously, it's all happenin' at Chicago's Union Park over two gorgeous summer days-- Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17. Plus, the shit ain't only bands: In addition to the DJ set, there'll also be a massive record fair courtesy of WLUW, a variety of food, clothing, and art vendors, secure bike parking on-site, and a bunch of schoolkids impressing everyone by creating their own album covers. Children under 10 will be admitted free, but only if they promise to stop whining and put that back.

Oh yeah, and we've finally got the schedule. Synchronize your watches and begin your stage-to-stage training regimen, 'cause when the weekend of the festival comes, you'll want to relax and enjoy the music. Go:

>> Saturday, July 16:
1:00 Head of Femur
1:30 Pelican
2:00 The M's
2:45 A.C. Newman
3:30 Magnolia Electric Co.
4:30 Four Tet
5:30 Broken Social Scene
6:30 The Go! Team
7:20 Prefuse 73
8:00 Death From Above 1979
9:00 Tortoise

DJ Stage-presented by Biz3
3:30 Laurent from Pelican
5:30 Will Oldham/Jean Grae
7:30 Will Oldham/Jean Grae

>> Sunday, July 17:
1:00 Thunderbirds Are Now!
1:30 Dungen
2:00 Xiu Xiu
2:45 Out Hud
3:30 The Hold Steady
4:30 Andrew Bird
5:30 Deerhoof
6:30 The Wrens
7:30 Les Savy Fav
8:30 The Decemberists

DJ Stage-presented by Biz3
3:30 Reine from Dungen
5:30 El-P
7:30 Diplo

Biz3: http://www.biz3.net/
Intonation Music Festival: http://www.intonationmusicfest.com/

Flaming Lips DVD Video Collection Due Soon

01 Mr. Ambulance Driver
02 SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy
03 Fight Test
04 Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
05 Do You Realize? (UK Version)
06 Race for the Prize
07 Waitin' for a Superman
08 This Here Giraffe
09 When You Smile
10 Bad Days
11 Christmas at the Zoo
12 Be My Head
13 She Don't Use Jelly
14 Turn It On
15 Frogs
16 Talkin' 'Bout the Smiling Deathporn Immortality Blues (Everybody Wants to Live Forever)
17 Phoebe Battles the Pink Robots
18 Are You a Hypnotist? 19 Do You Realize? (U.S. Version)

In other Flaming Lips news, the band's website claims that filming and production continues unabated on their full-length feature film Christmas on Mars, scheduled for release either at Christmas 2005 or mid-2006 depending on where you're reading your music news. And while we're talking about the visual side of the Lips, and you long to see the boys in action, here's some dates coming up, including one aboard the high seas:

07-15 Masontown, WV - Marvin's Mountaintop, All Good Music Festival
07-30 San Diego, CA - Qualcomm Stadium, Street Scene Festival
10-14 to 17 San Pedro, CA to Ensenada, Mexico - Xingolati Groove Cruise of the Pacific

Flaming Lips: http://www.flaminglips.com/

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)