Pitchfork

Photo by Ingrid Z

Battles, the Battles, Mountain Battles, and now, Battle, the fourth full-length from noted pusher of envelopes Patrick Wolf. The Wolf-man is all set to unleash his follow-up to The Magic Position this coming spring, but the big news today-- beyond the record's title-- is the unique-ish manner in which young Patrick is releasing it.

You may recall that Wolf has started his own label, Bloody Chamber Music, named in homage to novelist Angela Carter's matter-of-fact description of the heart. BCM will indeed release Battle, but not without a little help from the person reading this news article right now. Hey, that's you!

Wolf and his Bloody Chamber Music have teamed with Bandstocks, a website and music-funding model that asks fans to put their money where their, er, ears are. It's pretty simple, really: If you like an artist and wish to see that artist continue making music, and you would like help bankroll the process, well, you can purchase "stock" in said artist via Bandstocks. In return, stockholders apparently get a share in the profits from sales of the resulting music, plus that thing you like keeps on existing, which makes Bandstocks just like a grassroots microcosm of the capitalist economic system, but with music, and no bailouts. And something called "Sexy Marvin".

For a little more insight into what to expect from Battle, Patrick has shared this little video blog entry, rife with album teasers and the news that a second companion album-- possibly called Battles of Love?-- is also on the way. Check it:



Perhaps 2009 will also see the release of the long-awaited Patrick Wolf DVD, and/or the fruits of the man's Patti Smith collaboration? A guy can dream, anyway.