Pitchfork

Franz Ferdinand will contribute the new song "Hallam Foe Dandelion Blow" to director David Mackenzie's forthcoming film, Hallam Foe. According to the Franz website, the track "was recorded during the band's most recent tour of Latin America and is described as a 'lyrical drunken waltz.'"

The soundtrack will come out on Domino some time next year, and will also include music from Franz's Domino labelmates Sons and Daughters, Psapp, and Four Tet.

In a recent interview with The Daily Record, Franz frontman Alex Kapranos described the new music, which does not use any drums, as "quite dark and full of whimsy."

According to several short descriptions from across the Internet (including IMDB), the movie, filmed in Edinburgh, Scotland, is about a teenager, Hallam (played by Jamie Bell, aka the kid from Billy Elliott and that Green Day video), who becomes a voyeur following the suicide of his mother-- a death which he is certain was a homicidal strike by his new stepmother. Sounds strikingly similar to another H-titled British tale out there, huh?

Those interested in Hallam Foe can scope out its production blog and character MySpaces here, here, here, and here, respectively. The film opens in the UK on February 7, 2007.

Kapranos also published the book Sound Bites: Eating on Tour With Franz Ferdinand in the UK earlier this month. A collection of the singer-guitarist's previously published food columns in the Guardian, it is due to be published by Penguin in the U.S. on January 2, 2007.

In other news, Franz Ferdinand are one of many bands (and artists, writers, athletes, etc.) who generously decorated and autographed canvases to raise money for the disabled children's charity Whoopsadaisy as part of artists Julie Ann Gilbert and Cameron Ross' Stars on Canvas exhibition.

In addition to Franz, Fatboy Slim, the Kooks, and a host of others contributed art to this worthy cause. The pieces will be auctioned off at www.StarsAuctions.com and in a final, real-life auction set to take place on November 26 in Brighton, England.

As previously reported, the band recently contributed to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation benefit compilation Give. Listen. Help. Filter Magazine and Urban Outfitters teamed up for the release, which will be distributed exclusively in Urban stores and on the clothing merchandiser's website. The band is also featured on Buena Vista Social Club's forthcoming collaborative record, Rhythms del Mundo, out today (November 14) on Hip-O Records/Universal Music Enterprises (details available here).

Finally, don't forget to catch the rerun of Franz Ferdinand and What Made Milwaukee Famous on PBS series "Austin City Limits" on November 25.