Ween Tour Cancelled as Result of "Intervention"

It's not everyday that Ween send out emails of a serious nature, but that's just what shook fans' inboxes yesterday afternoon. The band had embarked on a tour that was set to take them across the Heartland this fall, but as the email revealed, the tour was being cancelled as a result of unspecified health problems. A message from Ween manager Greg Frey explained the situation thusly: "There is a problem within the band that requires an immediate intervention for the health, welfare and safety of one of its members. For this member, years of touring have taken their toll. This is very sad, of course... but if something is not done now... the consequences could be even more dire than the cancellation of these dates." No more details were given as to the nature of the illness, or to the timeframe for recovery.

The band will, of course, be refunding all tickets for the cancelled dates, and are planning to reschedule the tour as soon as possible. Mickey Melchiondo posted the following info on their official website yesterday: "We are extremely sorry to those of you who purchased tickets and made travel plans, but we will be back and much better for it next year. We fully intend on making up the dates in the same cities and same clubs at a later time when our chi is better aligned or something. Again, we are very sorry about this, but it's necessary right now. Thanks for understanding." See you in the spring, boys.

Kanye West Starts Own Label

In a banner year for hip-hop, Kanye West could be considered the genre's MVP. His album The College Dropout has sold a whopping 2.3 million copies while simultaneously garnering ridiculous levels of credibility, and it seems there hasn't been a single week during the first half of the year that he didn't produce or guest on at least one song on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart-- and that's when the record wasn't scoring hit after hit of its own accord: "Slow Jams", "Through the Wire", "All Falls Down", "Jesus Walks", et fucking cetera.

Now, as his illustrious year winds down, West has signed with Sony to launch his own label, Getting Out Our Dreams-- and, as a longtime Roc-a-Fella associate (and current Rocafella artist), we feel safe in assuming that he's witnessed firsthand how Jay-Z handles business on his own terms. Billboard is also reporting that the deal includes a production pact, and that West's label has been given a long-term contract life.

The first record to be released by Getting Out Our Dreams will be John Legend's Get Lifted, which is currently scheduled for release on December 28th. A highly sought-after session man, Legend has previously worked with West on The College Dropout, where Legend delivered some piano and backing vocals. Finally, West is still out with Usher on The Truth Tour (not to be confused with the anti-Taco Bell tour helmed by Billy Bragg and Tom Morello's new band The Nightwatchmen), of which a few dates remain. On the move:

10-22 Rochester, NY - Rochester Institute of Technology
10-23 St. Petersburg, FL - Tropicana Field
10-29 Atlanta, GA - Clark University-Panther Stadium
10-30 Salem, VA - Salem Civic Center
11-10 Columbia, SC - The Colonial Center

Danger Mouse to Produce New Gorillaz LP

This time last year, DJ Danger Mouse was a young hip-hop producer who, despite having made good in underground circles on the strength of he and emcee Jemini's Ghetto Pop Life LP, was still largely unknown. A year later, he's got 2004's most talked about (and litigated) Jay-Z mash-up, The Grey Album, under his belt, and is fielding offers from some of the best in the game.

Perhaps the most notable news from DM camp presently is word that he's usurped Dan The Automator as Damon Albarn's partner-in-crime with pop group Gorillaz, who have a new album coming out next year. Albarn and Danger Mouse are currently in England co-producing the new Gorillaz album, which is tentatively slated for a spring release. While Dan The Automator will be sorely missed, if Danger Mouse's recent work with Prince Po and MF Doom is any indication, these tracks'll be more sweetly laced than Victoria's Secret lingerie. Talking to MTV, Mouse said, "We're pretty deep into it. We're both very excited about what's happening musically and I think it'll surprise a lot of people."

While he wasn't forthcoming with any details on the sound of the record, it's a pretty safe bet that there'll be a lengthy roster of guest vocalists (De La Soul are already confirmed), as on the first Gorillaz release. There are also completely unconfirmed rumors of an appearance of TV personality and cultural icon The Hamburglar, but they're mostly made up by me.

Finally, Danger Mouse is collaborating with Murs for a contribution to downloadable benefit album Genocide in Sudan. The release will feature unreleased tracks from Yoko Ono, The Pretenders, Thievery Corporation, and Tom Morello's Nightwatchman project, as well as previously released songs from Jurassic 5, Tortoise, System of a Down, X-ecutioners, and, uh, Gorillaz. Isn't it nice when things come full circle?

Camper Van Beethoven's Gear Stolen

Nothing like rounding all the old band members together again for a concept album and ensuing reunion tour, and being greeted by thieves in Montreal. Yes, the latest round of gear thefts lives on, as Camper Van Beethoven discovered on Tuesday night, when virtually all of the band's gear and touring merchandise was stolen by representatives of the lowest form of human life. Fans and strangers to CVB alike are encouraged to keep an eye out for the equipment in pawn shops and other such outposts, and if anything from the below list turns up you can contact the band's webmaster John Brainard at john@cursion.com, and the Montreal Police, while you're at it. In addition to the missing instruments, the band also lost some t-shirts and a road case of CDs. The purloined gear:

* Violin covered with stickers
* 1971 Strat (sunburst) with a few stickers
* 1969 Precision bass with a natural finish
* Green Charvel Surfcaster
* Black Jackson Surfcaster
* 2 Ibanez acoustic guitars
* Black Eric Clapton Strat
* Frankenstein Strat (black) and Telecaster (tobacco sunburst)
* Precision bass
* Gibson SG
* Danelectro semi-acoustic guitar

The true bitch of the situation, of course, is that Camper Van Beethoven just began their world tour on October 10th, and are scheduled to be on the road all the way into December. Nonetheless, the brave band appear to be perservering, so if you feel like seeing a band on a mission, here are the remaining dates:

10-22 Ferndale, MI - Record Time
10-22 Detroit, MI - Royal Oak Theatre
10-23 Indianapolis, IN - Luna Records
10-23 Indianapolis, IN - Birdy's
10-24 Madison, WI - Mad City Records
10-24 Madison, WI - Luthers Blues
10-26 Minneapolis, MN - Electric Fetus
10-26 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
10-27 Milwaukee, WI - Atomic Records
10-27 Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall
10-28 St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill
10-29 Chicago, IL - Metro / Smart Bar
10-30 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
10-31 Cleveland, OH - The Odeon
11-04 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
11-05 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
11-06 Seattle, WA - Crocodile
11-11 Norfolk, VA - The Norva (w/ Cracker)
11-12 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse (w/ Cracker)
11-20 Manchester, England - Manchester Academy
11-21 Birmingham, England - Carling Birmingham Academy
11-22 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
11-24 Barcelona, Spain - Bikini
11-25 Victoria, Spain - TBD
11-26 Valencia, Spain - Loco Club
11-27 Madrid, Spain - El Sol
11-29 Munchen, Germany - Feierwerk
11-30 Berlin, Germany - Kalkscheune
12-01 Dresden, Germany - Star Club
12-02 Wien, Germany - Flex
12-03 Ebensee, Germany - Kino
12-04 Neu-Ulm, Germany - NUBahnhof
12-05 Koln, Germany - Kantine
12-06 Frankfurt, Germany - Mousonturm
12-07 Hamburg, Germany - Knust

Hot Hot Heat Guitarist Dante Decaro Splits!

James Gregory reports
Another week, another fractured band. Canadian quartet Hot Hot Heat recently announced via their website that guitarist Dante Decaro has split from the group after completing work on the band's long-gestating third album. While no specific reasons as to the nature of Decaro's departure have been divulged, an official (read: diplomatic) statement on the band's website attempted to clarify matters. It was posted as follows:

"Dante has decided to leave Hot Hot Heat. We respect his decision, will miss him and he will always be a friend of the band. While Dante made his decision a while ago, he still co-wrote and recorded the new album with us and is as proud of it as we are. No decisions have been made as to who will fill the position. For now, we are focusing on wrapping up the new record for release next year and touring as soon as possible."

Decaro joined the band in 2001 (two years after they formed), and his signature riffs played a significant role in transforming their once noisier sound into the punky new-wave approach that helped garner the band attention from both indie listeners and major labels. Fans will be interested to see how the split affects any future output from the group-- particularly with Franz Ferdinand nipping at their musical heels-- although, in the meantime, somebody should tell Andy Summers there's an opening for a guitar player in Canada.

Previous reports had the new Hot Hot Heat album-- their debut for Warner Brothers and their first full-length since 2002's Make Up the Breakdown-- tentatively set for a November release. As of yet, there's still been no official announcement as to a firm street date, full tracklist, or potential first single, but as we near 2005's first quarter, let there be no doubt that we'll know shortly. One way or another.

Trail of Dead fan site: http://www.trailofdead.org
Hot Hot Heat: http://www.hothotheat.com

Posted by Aaron Mandel in on Thu: 10-21-04: 12:00 AM CDT | Permalink

Cat Power Readies DVD, Begins Work on Next LP

One of these things is not like the other: Fight the Power, Black Power, Manpower, Mighty Morphin' Power, Cat Power. And if you can't guess which, you're crazy. Cat Power is one Chan (pronounced "Shawn," dudes) Marshall, who as Cat Power spends her time recording bare-bones original songs-- most recently on 2003's quite lovely You Are Free-- and covering such artists as Dylan, Lou Reed, and Moby Grape (also, she probably eats occasionally). Cat Power is also the subject of an upcoming documentary.

The film, entitled Speaking for Trees, is due to be released on October 26th via Matador and will mainly consist of a two-hour solo performance by Ms. Marshall in the middle of a forest. Ambient sounds included at no extra cost! Three "nature films" set to music from You Are Free will be included, and the package will also contain a bonus CD with the previously unreleased 18-minute track "Willie Deadwilder"-- an outtake from the "You Are Free" sessions. Plus, all that awesomeness will be packaged in a slipcase with foldout digipak along with a 64-page booklet created by filmmaker Mark Borthwick himself! Exclamation point!

In other, calmer Cat Power news, Marshall took a trip to Atlanta studio Zero Return this summer to begin recording the follow-up to You Are Free. No further concrete details about the upcoming album are yet known, as it's still very much a work in progress. Further recording sessions are set to go down in Barcelona, New York, and Jamaica. And last but not least, Cat Power will be playing one show after the release of the documentary on December 4th in North Adams, MA, home of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA).

The Album Leaf Embarks on World Tour

Jimmy LaValle has been in a whole lot of groups. He's either played in or collaborated with such projects as the ambient piano-rock group Tristeza, the crazy polyrhythmic rock outfit The Locust, the upbeat GoGoGo Airheart, and the not-so-upbeat Black Heart Procession. But The Album Leaf, that's his baby-- his solo project. Earlier this year, Sub Pop released his In a Safe Place to fairly widespread enjoyment. He was even able to drudge up guest performances from Sigur Rós vocalist Jon Thor Birgisson, Anima's Maria Huld Markan, Black Heart Procession's vocalist Pall Jenkins, and former Múm cellist Gyda Valtysdottir for the record. And as if that weren't enough Icelandishness, he also recorded the album at Sunglaugin, Sigur Rós' indoor pool-turned-studio.

Now, hoping to further spread the ambient and Iceland-influenced love that is The Album Leaf's current musical offering, LaValle will be touring Europe and the states during the upcoming cold winter months. Groups joining him on one part or another of the tour include the recently reunited American Music Club, one-woman band Sans-Xtro, MOR pop combo The Helio Sequence, former God Machine member Sophia, Nintendo tune-covering artists The Advantage, and the ever-touring Pinback. Dates:

10-21 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown #
10-22 Utrect, Netherlands - Ekko #
10-24 Berlin, Germany - Magnet #
10-25 Munich, Germany - Orange House
10-26 Vienna, Austria - Szene $
10-27 Salzburg, Austria - Nonntal $
10-28 Linz, Austria - Posthof $
10-30 Basel, Switzerland - Sommercasino $
10-31 Zurich, Switzerland - Abart Club $
11-02 Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur $
11-03 Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik $
11-04 Aarhus, Denmark - VoxHall $
11-05 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega $
11-06 Stockholm, Sweden - Sodra Teatern $
11-08 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Club $
11-09 Leipzig, Germany - Moritzbastei $
11-10 Tongren, Belgium - Velinx $
11-11 Koln, Germany - Gebaude 9 $
11-13 Bielefield, Germany - Forum $
11-14 Dusseldorf, Germany - ZAKK $
11-15 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique $
11-28 San Francisco, CA - Bimbos +
12-01 Los Angeles, CA - Avalon Spider Club +
12-03 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress +
12-04 Phoenix, AZ - Brick House +

* with Sanso-Xtro
# with Helio Sequence
$ with Sophia
+ with Pinback and The Advantage

Jandek Revealed!: Reclusive Songwriter Makes First-Ever Live Appearance at Scottish Festival

Iron & Wine Plans Winter World Tour

Check the striking constrast between the delicate, hushed strums of benevolent Southern folk artist Sam Beam and OH MY GOD HIS BRUTALLY UNRELENTING TOUR SCHEDULE. It's nuts-- and it's about to get nutser. The man's got two critically acclaimed albums and many, many tour dates behind him, but even with these admirable accomplishments under his belt, he wants more. What a greedy motherfucker! Leave some tour dates for somebody else, you know what I'm saying?

Indeed: Come November 1st, the man will be taking his music on an extensive cross-continental journey. Over the course of two months, Beam will play shows in England, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, and, yes, even California. Apparently, Europeans love the sounds of this swampy songsmith as much as Americans-- he's even featured on the Rebel Playlist, part of the legendary Steve Lamacq's BBC 6 Music show. This audience participation program provides a chance for listeners to vote on tracks that didn't quite make the cut for the regular BBC 6 Music showcase (and it's a slightly more amiable name than "Pump It or Dump It"). So exercise your right to vote about something that actually matters! Ahh, lighten up, ya fuckin' communazis. Datehole:

11-01 Bristol, England - Bonaventure
11-02 Edinburgh, England - Venue
11-03 Belfast, Ireland - Belfast Queens Festival
11-04 Cork, Ireland - An Cruiscin Lan
11-05 Dublin, Ireland - Whelans
11-06 Manchester, England - Roadhouse
11-07 London, England - St. Lukes
11-08 London, England - The Union Chapel
11-09 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
11-10 Newcastle, England - All Saints
11-11 San Sebastian, Spain - Gazteszena
11-12 Barcelona, Spain - Sidecar
11-13 Valencia, Spain - Black Note
11-14 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
12-06 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up
12-07 Los Angeles, CA - The Avalon
12-08 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
12-09 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
12-10 Eugene, OR - W.O.W. Hall
12-11 Portland, OR - Meow Meow
12-12 Seattle, WA - Neumos
12-13 Seattle, WA - Neumos

Get Him Eat Him Sign to Absolutely Kosher

Tired of Matt LeMay telling you that your band sucks? Welcome to Revenge City, USA. Get Him Eat Him, originally formed as Grumble Grumble in the February rain of Providence, Rhode Island, features LeMay on guitar and vocals, bassist Joe Posner, guitarist Jason Sigal, keyboardist Raf Spielman, and drummer Jeffrey Wood.

After a local club debut at AS220 and the obligatory hippie-bewildering performances at Brown University's Earth Day Festival and vegan/vegetarian co-op prom, the band recorded Casual Sex: The Demo in early May. The demo, recorded and mixed in LeMay's dorm room, attracted the attention of Absolutely Kosher's Cory Brown, who signed the band in July. Speaking via e-mail, Brown told Pitchfork: "If the bands on [Absolutely Kosher] have anything in common, it's stretching the boundaries of pop both outward and upward to create intensely compelling music. Get Him Eat Him fit that definition perfectly."

After announcing their signing in late August, the band-- still operating under their original moniker Grumble Grumble-- received a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer representing Chicago space-rock ensemble Grimble Grumble. In the interest of avoiding name confusion and legal expenses, Grumble Grumble decided to change their name to Handsome Dick Grumble Grumble, but upon further consideration settled on the name Get Him Eat Him.

In the wake of their name change, Get Him Eat Him played a handful of New England shows, opening for labelmates Frog Eyes and The Wrens. The band is hoping to record their debut album, tentatively titled You Jerk, this January. In the meantime, Casual Sex: The Demo, packaged in hand-decorated digipaks, is available for purchase from the band's website, and from Absolutely Kosher.

Futureheads to Headline North American Tour

Just one month removed from their American debut as an opening act, The Futureheads are gearing up for their own headlining tour-- which ought to coincide nicely with the October 25th stateside release of their self-titled (and quite excellent) full-length debut on Sire Records.

Since we last left these Sunderland chaps, they've been happily reveling in the predictable British overexposure that attends so many brilliant (and even more totally unbrilliant) UK bands-- their album was released on 679 Recordings, the soon-to-be-unstoppable UK label that's also home to future electro superstar Annie, psych-pop maniacs The Earlies, and distorto-rockers Death from Above 1979. It was followed by the first single "Decent Days and Nights" (that is, if you don't include "First Day", which appeared on the album but was first issued in the summer of '03). Before we knew it, the band had embarked on a fateful tour with The Franz Ferdinand Music Machine for a well-received North American tour in September.

Which brings us up to now. Currently: The Futureheads have just released the latest single off their debut, "Meantime", which is sitting nicely at #5 on the NME charts. And that means it's just about time for the backlash, baby! The band is now wrapping up a UK tour with The Zutons, although they actually had to cancel two dates (yesterday's and today's) to film an episode of "Later with Jools Holland", which will air October 22nd. This polite apology surfaced on The Futureheads' official website: "The band apologize to the legions of fans who were undoubtedly only going to see them and maybe catch The Zutons for a bit on the way out, but we hope that the same will understand the extenuating circumstances at work here and, hey, maybe cut us some slack." No slack for you! Dates:

11-01 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
11-03 New York, NY - Canal Room
11-04 Cambridge, MA - TT The Bear's
11-05 Philadelphia, PA - Beyond Nightclub
11-08 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
11-10 Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle
11-11 Minneapolis, MN - The Ascot Room
11-13 Denver, CO - The Larimer Lounge
11-16 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile Cafe

Polyphonic Spree Cover Lennon's "Xmas", Tour UK

The Polyphonic Spree covering John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". Go ahead, close your eyes, picture it. Wait, that's not your imagination-- that's reality! Yes, the Texas-based chorus-poppers have gone and did it, and plan to release the tune as the B-side to their new single, live staple "2000 Places", on November 15th. The track will also lead off Maybe This Christmas Tree, the third installment of the hipsters-do-holidays comp that this time out also features contributions from The Raveonettes, Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion, and Lisa Loeb, among various and sundry others.

Though Polyman Tim DeLaughter and the gang have largely dispensed with extensive U.S. tour dates, under the right circumstances you can still catch 'em live this year; for example, if you're an impending Nobel Peace Prize winner. Verily, the Spree will perform a coupla tunes in Oslo on December 11th as part of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, which, for the record, will this year honor African activist Wangari Maathai. And in the event that Wangari can't squeeze you on the guest list, the Polyphonics will conduct a brief UK tour in the interim. Pollstar-derived Specs:

10-30 Liverpool, England - Liverpool University
10-31 Sheffield, England - Leadmill
11-01 Glasgow, Scotland - Queen Margaret Union
11-02 Birmingham, England - Carling Birmingham Academy
11-04 Manchester, England - Manchester Academy
11-05 Bristol, England - Carling Bristol Academy
11-06 London, England - The Astoria
11-08 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theater

Finally, there is the matter of the Spree's fifth annual Holiday Extravaganza, a mind-blowing Yuletide fete transpiring this year in Grand Prairie, Texas on December 19th. March on over to the band o-fficial website if you'd like tickets, but do march quickly, 'cause it'll sell out faster than you can say "tix are over (if you wanted them)."

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.)