Pitchfork

New Video Works is a collection of recent live footage of bands from the much-ballyhooed Los Angeles underground music scene and their kindred spirits from the world at large. Collecting 30+ clips from such notables as No Age, Xiu Xiu, Deerhunter, High Places, Erase Errata, Mika Miko, Abe Vigoda, Lucky Dragons, Soft Circle, BARR, and many many others, the two-hour-plus set is due August 18 from No Age drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt's Post Present Medium label.

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons will celebrate their rhythmic fraternity as the Chemical Brothers with the release of another "best of" compilation, called Brotherhood.

Brotherhood is split between two discs. The first is a collection of some of the Chemical Brothers' biggest singles, plus a new track ("Keep My Composure", which features Spank Rock). The second collects the first 10 rare "Electronic Battle Weapons" tracks that lay "the rhythmic and melodic foundations for numerous tracks as well as provide some of the duo's most formidable mixes," according to a press release. This will be the first wide release of the "Electronic Battle Weapons" material.

Astralwerks will put out Brotherhood on September 2 in the U.S. (September 1 in the UK). It will be preceded by the digital single for new song "Midnight Madness" on August 19 in the U.S. (August 4 in the UK). "Midnight Madness" is an excerpt from "Electronic Battle Weapons 10".

The Chemical Brothers have some pre-Brotherhood live dates coming up in Europe, starting August 2 in Vigo, Spain.

It would appear that Elizabeth Powell is looking to expand the map in her Land of Talk. The Canadian rockers have signed on with Saddle Creek Records in the U.S., which will release the band's debut full-length, Some Are Lakes, in these parts on October 7. Canadians can get the record via Secret City, while Europeans need look no further than One Little Indian on October 6.

The ten-track set was recorded in the band's native Montreal with Justin "Bon Iver" Vernon (dude gets around!), and Saddle Creek plans to issue a digital single for the title track on August 26.

In other news from this lot, Liz Powell appears on the new LP from Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning, and Land of Talk have a pair of dates coming up pretty quick.

In January, we noted that Leonard Cohen would be embarking on his first tour in a decade and a half's time in 2008. And what a tour it's turning out to be! The poet laureate of the down-and-out has extended his all too rare time on the road practically into the winter.

Tough break, North American Cohen fans: Lenny's still strictly sticking to Europe. But hey, 2023's just around the corner, right?

As a candidate for public office, Blur stickman Dave Rowntree has been drumming pretty hard. Rowntree, as you may recall, unsuccessfully sought a local London council seat last year, and had been running for the Church Street seat in the Westminster City Council as the Labour Party candidate. This week, Rowntree came in second to Conservative nominee Mehfuz Ahmed [from BBC News, via NME.com].

All hope is not lost for candidate Rowntree, who in February was chosen as the Labour candidate for a Parliamentary seat in the next general election. You know, I've heard civil service is steady employment and everything, but once you get past 40, all the seams start splitting. Just a thought.

In other Blur news, Damon Albarn and his Gorillaz will release the soundtrack to their "Monkey: Journey to the West" "circus opera" later this year.

Contrary to Naked Eyes' claim, there is not always something there to remind us of bands gone by. No matter how many "hilarious" 1980s prom/John Hughes-style parties people throw, there just isn't room in this century for that much hairspray.

For one month this summer, though, there will be one very big thing to remind us of the hitmakers behind songs like "Don't You Want Me", "Heaven Is a Place on Earth", "I Ran (So Far Away)", and of course "Always Something There to Remind Me" (actually a cover, but who's counting?).

That thing is the Regeneration Tour, featuring a lineup of the Human League, ABC, Belinda Carlisle, A Flock of Seagulls, and the aforementioned Naked Eyes on most dates, plus Missing Persons, the Romantics, 10,000 Maniacs, and Tommy Tutone on a select few. Dead or Alive, originally part of the package tour, have bowed out due to health reasons.

The nostalgia begins August 1 in Phoenix.

This weekend, Nebraska sex-dance set the Faint will embark on a fairly massive tour. What's the occasion? Why, we're just a few short weeks away from Fasciinatiion, the band's first LP in some four years, which is due on their very own blank.wav label.

The tour kicks off in scenic (no, really!) Des Moines Sunday night, and, thanks to a truckload of recent additions, will find the band feeling Fasciinatiion off in Europe and Australia throughout the rest of the summer. Kill Rock Stars dance-rockers Shy Child, Pretty Girls Make Graves/Blood Brothers offshoot Jaguar Love, and batshit metal geeks Genghis Tron have all been pegged to open a smattering of the Faint dates in the States, which are listed for your dance-ticipation down yonder.

"Play With Fire" is an early period Rolling Stones tune, the B-side from the single for "The Last Time" that also appears on their 1965 album Out of Our Heads. "Playing With Fire" is that batshit Lil Wayne song from Tha Carter III on which Weezy F. implores whoever's listening to "assassinate me, bitch!" and so on.

The two tracks have a hell of a lot in common, musically. And as the Verve could certainly tell you, the Stones aren't too keen on the whole borrowing thing. Reuters reports (via Billboard.com) that Lil Wayne, his artistic collaborators, and his Universal Music Group-owned record label are being sued for copyright infringement by Abkco Music Inc., the publishing company that holds the rights to "Play With Fire".

As the Reuters report states, Abkco is claiming that "Lil Wayne's 'Playing with Fire' is a clear derivative of the Rolling Stones song with the original lyrics and music altered in a recognizable way." Which, uh, yeah, it is. The Stones are seeking unspecified damages from the lawsuit, though your "A Milli" joke is as good as mine. Abkco are also alleging that Wayne’s "Fire" features "'explicit, sexist and offensive language' and could lead the public to believe the company and the Rolling Stones approved of and authorized the new version." Because, of course, those dudes' hands are so clean.

And get this: According to another Billboard.com report, the Stones aren't just suing Universal... they're signing a deal with 'em! Because that makes sense.

Wayne, meanwhile, hits the Virgin Festival in Baltimore August 10 and the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans in late October.

How many labels does it take to put out a killer electronic compilation? At least a couple, it would seem. On August 26, Death From Above's relatively recent international oriented offshoot Death From Abroad will release Nobody Knows Anything, a collection of tracks from Berlin-based electronic imprint Supersoul Recordings.

Additionally, Death From Abroad will issue a single for the two Nobody Knows Anything tracks from electronic producer Plastique de Réve digitally and on 12" come July 29. Electronic? Soul? Hey, as long as we can dance to it, we're in.

Photo by Rob Sheridan

Trent Reznor has enlisted 50 McTrillion (read: five) bands to open for his tour in support of Nine Inch Nails' 50 McTrillion (read: two) new albums, The Slip and Ghosts I-IV, but perhaps you already knew that.

Deerhunter, Crystal Castles, White Williams, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Does It Offend You, Yeah? will provide the entrance music for Nine Inch Nails on their "Lights in the Sky" tour, which begins tonight (July 25) at the Pemberton Festival in British Columbia.

Ol' Trent's also added some shows south of the U.S. border since our last report. The new dates are in October.