Friday, February 13

Japandroids Announce Debut Album

Despite their utterly ridiculous name, the Vancouver duo Japandroids don't make electroclash. Rather, they make shouty, jangled-up anthemic fuzz-rock the way their compatriots in the Constantines do. And real talk: The world could always use more bands who sort of sound like the Constantines.

So we're happy to report that Post-Nothing, Japandroids' first full-length, comes out soon. Unfamiliar will release it in North America on April 28, only on vinyl and digital download. Sorry, CD fetishists. But if you buy the vinyl, the download comes free with it.

And coming up over the next couple of months, the duo will play a few shows in Vancouver and Toronto.

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Silversun Pickups Ready Sophomore Album Swoon

Silversun Pickups Ready Sophomore Album <i>Swoon</i>

Carnavas, the 2006 debut album from L.A. fuzz-poppers Silversun Pickups, met with a pretty subdued reaction around these parts, but it holds a special little place in this writer's heart. That album has, like, two really good songs on it, and considering how many bands manage zero really good songs per album, respect is due. Also, their "Lazy Eye" video was about the best thing to see heavy rotation on MTV2's "Subterranean" a couple of years back. I'm just saying.

In any case, I hope the effects-pedal abusers can manage a couple more really good songs on Swoon, their sophomore LP. Dangerbird will release Swoon on April 14.

Before the album's release, the band will unveil a couple of the new songs, "Panic Switch" and "Nice to Know You Work Alone", via one of those Guitar Hero: World Tour downloadable Track Packs. The Silversun Pickups Track Pack will also include one of those really good songs previously mentioned, the Carnavas single "Well Thought Out Twinkles". [Not a good way to avoid Smashing Pumpkins comparisons, guys. - Ed.]

Silversun Pickups are also partnering with Gibson/Epiphone to create a series of limited edition guitars that will be on display at various independent record stores on Record Store Day.

At the moment, the band only has one live date planned: April 17 at the Coachella Festival.

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Kills' Bus Thief Arrested; Band Readies New EP, Tour

Robbery by sudden snatching! Kills' Bus Thief Arrested; Band Readies New EP, Tour

Photo by David Hill

Last September, the Kills' tour bus went missing. The UK scuzz-rock duo parted ways with their bus and its driver on September 26, believing he'd meet up with them again in Austin shortly afterward. But neither the bus nor the driver showed up in Austin, which sent Federal police off on a search through both the U.S. and Mexico. A couple of weeks later, police recovered the bus in a Los Angeles parking lot after a fan spotted it and called it in. Miraculously, all the band's gear was still on board. But the driver still eluded them.

Well, no longer. As the Kills reported in a MySpace blog post on Tuesday, driver Brian Berkenkemper was arrested in Miami last Friday for crimes that had nothing to do with the tour bus swipe:

"remember that guy who stole our bus last october?

"well, he's been arrested in Miami for some robbery shit, and for trying to sell public parking spaces for 5$. have a look at his mug on the miami-dade county jail website. good news is, he's alive. the other good news is, he's in jail in florida and he's bald."

Oh snap! The Miami-Dade Inmate Profile System's website proudly displays Berkenkemper's mugshot, and he is indeed bald. His crime is listed as "robbery by sudden snatching." That guy probably has some interesting stories.

In other Kills news, on April 14 Domino will release their Black Balloon EP in the U.S. (The rest of the world gets it March 23.) The EP will feature the Midnight Boom track of the same name and acoustic B-sides. The band will also spend the entire spring touring, and here's hoping they have better luck finding a driver.

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Ronettes Member Estelle Bennett R.I.P.

According to an AP report, former Ronette Estelle Bennett passed away Wednesday at her home in New Jersey at age 67. Along with sister Ronnie and cousin Nedra Talley, Estelle helped create 1960s hits including "(Walking) in the Rain", "Baby, I Love You", and the unstoppable "Be My Baby", which came in at number six on Pitchfork's 200 Greatest Songs of the '60s list. It's one of the few songs everyone on earth seems to know by heart-- as if we were born with it-- and it will keep Estelle's voice alive for generations.

While Ronnie was the celebrated girl group's star, Estelle's backups were a vital part of producer Phil Spector's innovative wall of sound technique. The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Brother-in-law Jonathan Greenfield told the Associated Press, "Estelle was Ronnie's sidekick in the Ronettes. She was very much into fashion and worked with Ronnie on the whole look and style of the Ronettes." On her website, Ronnie Spector wrote, "To my beloved sister, rest in peace, you deserve it. I Love You."

Posted by Ryan Dombal on February 13, 2009 at 11:10 a.m.

Tags: Estelle Bennett, Obituary, The Ronettes

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Get Ready to Get Sick of the New Green Day Album

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's... nah, it's still pretty predictable Get Ready to Get Sick of the New Green Day Album

The next Grammy Awards ceremony won't be for another year, but we already know who's going home with a bunch of trophies, and we know it without actually hearing a note of the album. Ambitious years-in-the-making follow-up to ambitious years-in-the-making album? Check. Veteran act who did their best work about fifteen years ago but who still inexplicably carry a vague aura of hipness? Check. Screwed by Grammy voters in the past? Check. Still sell records, but not so many records that it'll look like the Grammy voters are just glomming onto whatever's popular? Check. Big-name producer? Check. Ass-ugly cover art? Check. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Album of the Year: Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown.

In 2005, the Berkeley trio released American Idiot, their big statement about Bush America, and in the process morphed from a remarkably great and consistent major-label pop-punk machine to a bloated, portentous stadium band, a move that worked out pretty much exactly how they must've hoped it would. And by all accounts, Green Day have responded to weighty expectations with something equally weighty.

Reprise will release 21st Century Breakdown, complete with fake-edgy Sixten-inspired cover art, in May. According to MTV, the band recorded the LP with Nevermind producer Butch Vig. And according to Rolling Stone, the album's 16 tracks will come divided into three "acts": Heroes and Cons, Charlatans and Saints, and Horseshoes and Handgrenades.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the song titles include "21st Century Breakdown", "Know Your Enemy", "Before the Lobotomy", "March of the Dogs", "Restless Heart Syndrome", and "21 Guns". Rolling Stone, MTV, and Entertainment Weekly have all heard a few songs. All of them seem to like it, and two of them mention the Who.

Posted by Tom Breihan on February 13, 2009 at 10:50 a.m.

Tags: Album, Green Day

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Meet the New Pipette

Hopefully she doesn't get too comfortable, for her own sake Meet the New Pipette

The lineup of the British twee pop girl-group the Pipettes has gone through more changes than circa-2000 Destiny's Child. Now, that new revolving door has let in a new member. Her name is Beth Mburu-Bowie, and she's totally cute! Of course she is-- she's a Pipette!

The story so far: Last year, OG Pipettes Rose Elinor "Rosay" Dougall and Rebecca "RiotBecki" Stephens left the group, with only Gwenno Saunders remaining. (Dougall has since struck out on her own.) Their replacements were Saunders' sister Ani and the pop songwriter Anna McDonald. But then McDonald also left the group about six months later. Yesterday, the band announced her replacement in a video blog on their website. (Warning: Whole lot of mugging going on in that video.)

According to the video, the Pipettes are working in the studio right now, and they plan on doing more of these video blogs. As previously reported, producer Martin Rushent, who has worked with the Human League, is producing their new record.

The reconstituted trio has a show coming up on March 20 at the London nightclub Matter's Wonky Pop night.

Posted by Tom Breihan on February 13, 2009 at 10:10 a.m.

Tags: Pipettes, the

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**Company Flow Talk Funcrusher Plus Reissue**

El-P: "When a Company Flow song comes on it's like getting shot with a fucking nail gun. Everything else is like palm trees." Company Flow Talk <i>Funcrusher Plus</i> Reissue

Company Flow Talk <i>Funcrusher Plus</i> Reissue

For hip-hop progressives Company Flow, being "independent as fuck" was a moral code of conduct and a chest-puff boast. El-P, Bigg Jus, and Mr. Len weren't just independent...they were independent as fuck. There's a difference. With their lone LP, 1997's Funcrusher Plus, the New York crew railed against capitalism and major label rap while offering an alternative that was equal parts rebel yell, lo-fi RZA-style bap, and Orwellian paranoia. It didn't go platinum. But its sound and spirit hit the underground hard, expanding the idea of what hip-hop could sound like.

Funcrusher hasn't been in print since 2006, but the record will start recirculating in remastered form May 5 courtesy of El-P's own Definitive Jux label. (The album was originally Rawkus Records' first LP, though the relationship between Company Flow and their old label has since turned ugly.) The new Funcrusher will boast rare tracks from the group's early days ("Juvenile Techniques", "Corners 94") and late-era songs cut before their 2000 breakup ("Simple", "DPA", and "Simian Drugs").

Though the three members have worked separately this millennium, they reunited for a show in 2007. Will this reissue spark another meeting of the Company Flow minds? Based on a conference call with all three members earlier this week, nobody's ruling a reunion out-- but it would have to be on their strictly independent terms, of course.

Pitchfork: Why reissue Funcrusher Plus now, 12 years after its original release?

El-P: Because everyone wants to release a record on its 12th anniversary! Perfect timing. I don't know...why the fuck are we doing this? It hasn't been available for a while and we finally got our shit together. We had to get the rights back from Rawkus...which I don't wanna talk about at all. The album should be out there. It's not something I ever thought would just disappear.

Pitchfork: So there's no special significance to the number 12 necessarily?

El-P: I think I got my first hand job at 12.

Mr. Len: I could make something up: There's three guys in Company Flow. And four years is how long a presidency lasts. Take the four and multiply it by the three and you get 12. Now, you add the one and the two in 12 and that's three...which is how many people who were in Company Flow. Knowledge that!

Pitchfork: Listening back to Funcrusher now, it's a little creepy how the dark mood of it matches the mood of 2009.

El-P: Even I was taken back by some of what we were saying. We just saw through shit-- we never subscribed to the idea that things were great back then. Even the idea about the music industry collapsing under the weight of its frivolous products seems to have come true. But I don't think that it took geniuses to see that as being inevitable.

Bigg Jus: It just so happens that geniuses made it happen. [laughs]

Len: We tried to tell you the sky was fallin', y'all just didn't wanna listen.

Pitchfork: So you're still holding that against everybody?

Len: The whole country. [laughs]

Bigg Jus: No! We're all about change now!

El-P: [deadpans] We're all about the hope.

Jus: You sound like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh.

Pitchfork: So uplifting! Are you guys not excited about our new president?

Len: I'm very excited about it. But it always sucks to be the first person to do something, especially at a time when everything's fucked up. We're talking about 600,000 people losing their jobs in a month, millions in a year. To fix that you're circling money through an economy that has already crumbled. But at least someone's trying to do something now.

Pitchfork: How would you compare your overall perspectives now to when this album originally came out?

El-P: That CoFlow record was us on some fuckin' angry societal perspective shit and some love-for-hip-hop shit. I haven't changed in terms of the way I look at things but I started writing more about myself, drawing from my own personal experiences-- things that sort of take precedence over just ideas.

Jus: I kinda did it in reverse. I started more introspective and then went back out to investigate what was going on in the world. Turns out things weren't too far off from where they were when we were doing Company Flow. I don't like being negative but a lot of things still look the same to me at this point. There's just a different patina on it.

El-P: I agree. For me, all the political ideas are still involved, it's just that I started writing from a different point on the graph. A lot of people thought Funcrusher was super dark and hopeless, and I don't think it was hopeless in any way. We were on some affirmation shit. We knew what we thought was right and we were fuckin' assholes about it. We were reacting to a whole bunch of bullshit, especially when it came to music. All the hip-hop shit that we grew up loving just seemed to need a fuckin' reinforcement. Now it's a whole different scenario. But a lot of those issues obviously still remain.

Jus: I'm proud of the "independent as fuck" vibe to the record, and how we stayed pure and didn't get watered down by all the crap that was in the industry. It was good to be part of a record that helped spearhead that independent movement, even though it still has taken way too long to take hold.

El-P: I remember sitting at my kitchen table, cutting up letters and pictures and trying to glue them on there so we could make artwork for our black and white promo. We were just giggling, like "This is some fucking independent as fuck ass shit right here!" We loved it. Now it's part of the collective consciousness-- it's standard practice to start a record label, put your shit out, get your own distribution deal. I wouldn't say that we made that happen, but I would say that we were one of the first, if not the first cats to really know that was what we wanted to do.

Pitchfork: You mentioned how you guys did some asshole things back in the day. Would you do anything differently if you had the chance?

El-P: Maybe we wouldn't have broken up. [laughs]

Jus: That would be it for me. Now that everybody is older you kind of understand that people go through phases, and it's about keeping a continuity. I'm glad we're at least talking about it now.

El-P: Ultimately, I think we always did it the right way. Even when we broke up it was like, "Let's not do this on bad terms." We always held ourselves to some sort of code that we weren't gonna fall into all the same traps that everyone else falls into.

Len: There were no diss records, no silliness.

El-P: I never released my diss record: "Hey Len and Jus, I Hate You Fucking Guys". I recorded that shit, but I just felt it was a little harsh. [laughs]

Pitchfork: Do you think that Funcrusher is easier for the uninitiated to compute now?

Len: You have to be a special kind of teenager to dig it-- that's not a slight to a lot of teenagers out there, but they don't know how to absorb music. It takes a special kind of person to get into anything from that era, where it's a little more thought-provoking. It's not straight shoot-you music. If we're gonna shoot you, it's gonna be pretty damn entertaining.

El-P: When we came out there were motherfuckers who were like, "What is this crazy space rap from the future?" And at the same time I started seeing people refer to it as "old school" or "classic." We always thought that we were ahead of our time but maybe we weren't or maybe that time has caught up or maybe it's passed. It's hard to front on this shit though. When we made Funcrusher we thought it was the hottest shit on the planet, and when people didn't get it we were kind of like, "Well fuck you then!"

Pitchfork: Did you actually say that to people?

El-P: No, we said it in a mirror. [laughs] Actually, we probably did say that shit in interviews.

Len: We were on some arrogant-ass shit.

El-P: You couldn't tell us shit because we all knew how much we lived hip-hop culture. I reveled in the fact that when a Company Flow song comes on it's like getting shot with a fucking nail gun. Everything else is like palm trees.

Pitchfork: A lot of people say Funcrusher was ahead of its time, but it's not like there's tons of stuff like that out now. I look at it as something that's more unique to its time.

Jus: I thought the album was following a logical step for the culture, which was basically about doing new shit and being original. Somehow along the way that totally got lost. I don't think other people could kind of keep up with where it was going. Besides the fact that we also didn't really make dance music.

El-P: Not just "didn't really make" dance music...I guess we made shit that people could uprock to on occasion. [laughter] At this point, I don't think it would sound jarring to anybody who kept their ear open to underground hip-hop in the last decade. If you were to play it to someone who only listens to the shit that's on the radio, they're probably going to have the same fucking response as they did when we dropped this shit, which is 50 percent saying "What the fuck is this garbage?!" and 50 percent saying "Holy shit, I haven't heard hip-hop like this." We always drew people down the middle-- there were never people who were like "Eh, it's all right." It was either "I wanna find those guys and beat them senseless because their crazy noise is hurting me" or "This is fucking incredible."

Pitchfork: Have you ever been surprised by someone who you wouldn't think would like the album?

El-P: My mom likes it. [laughter] It was different back then: We were in The Source, DJ Premier was rocking our shit on his mixtapes, KRS-One was rapping above our instrumentals. We kind of came out at the perfect time because people hadn't yet created subgenres so we were thrown into the pantheon of rap music in general. There wasn't a lot of people being like "Wow, they listen to this kind of rap." But when I was a kid I just assumed everyone should like this shit because I felt like I was the ultimate hip-hop fan. Like: "Yo, this adheres to my very fucking strict standards of what a dope record should be." I was 21 so I was pretty fucking high on myself.

Pitchfork: Do you worry about falling back into a sense of nostalgia with this reissue? I feel like when bands start re-releasing old material it might suggest their current work is less valuable.

El-P: I'm not gonna front-- that was something that may have held me back from getting into it for a while. At the end of the day, it's about the fact that we made this record and we're getting a chance to put it back out there. It's like a catalog piece. None of us are fucking washed up old dudes. It's not like, "Hey, let's take this to Vegas!"

Jus: I thought the best way to go about things would be to do a couple of new songs. I think the validity of what we've done is already secured. People already know what we're doing separately, but I'm personally throwing it out there to the guys that I'd love to do new material. I still have the same love in my heart for cats.

El-P: I hate you. [laughter]

Jus: I figure people would be cringing on that one.

El-P: You dropped the love bomb.

Pitchfork: Do you guys have any formal plans to record new stuff together?

El-P: Nah. We've always said that one day we'll get together to do some new songs but it's just dirty to think of it in any other way. I don't feel like planning to do it and being like, "We're releasing a record!" is the way to go. I love how we came in and fucking destroyed shit and then dipped. It was painful at the time but I don't regret it. As far as music and art goes, motherfuckers are dope artists, so you can never close that door.

Posted by Ryan Dombal on February 13, 2009 at 7 a.m.

Tags: Bigg Jus, Company Flow, El-P, Interview, Mr. Len, Reissue

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Throbbing Gristle Schedule Extremely Rare U.S. Tour

Photo by Paul Heartfield

Considering their reputation as live provocateurs and lynch pins in the outre late-70s post-punk scene, it's surprising that UK industrial heroes Throbbing Gristle have played less than 50 shows ever. And that they've never played New York City.

But all that's about to change as the reunited band will make disturbing noises in front of humans during a five-date U.S. tour this April. Along with their first NYC show, the tour is highlighted by their Chicago debut and a spot at Coachella. It's their first visit to the States since 1981.

The mid-recession American jaunt seems apropos given the band saw their music as "a series of dispassionate reports on 'the savage realities of fading capitalism'," according to Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again. What better time to turn normals against their capitalist system than right now?!

Speaking of normals, we never thought we'd see the day when Throbbing Gristle-- purveyors of all that is dreary, shocking, clangy, and cold-- play one of the most skin-baking and sunny festivals on earth, Coachella. Though, according to their website, they'll at least avoid the mid-day rays: the 60-minute Coachella set will take place on a tented stage around 7 p.m. And since my handy sunset calendar says the big ball of fire will drop around 7:30 in California on April 19, it sounds like you'll finally have that romantic TG sunset backdrop to pop the question to your high school sweetheart.

Fans in New York and Chicago will be treated to two separate sets: a new live soundtrack to the 1980 movie In the Shadow of the Sun and a second set filled with all the Throbbing Gristle non-hits you know and love. As another NYC/Windy City bonus, the band will take part in an autograph signing at those two gigs. But they're very clear: one item per customer only. So you're going to have to pick between your vintage Genesis P-Orridge meat puppets.

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Thursday, February 12

Iron & Wine Announce Rarities Comp, All-Request Tour

Requesting "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" immediately outs you as a Twilight fan Iron & Wine Announce Rarities Comp, All-Request Tour

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

Iron & Wine released their debut album in 2002, which in a weird way makes Sam Beam the spiritual godfather of the all the wispy beardy-folk masses swarming the planet in 2009. In any case, Beam's now deep enough into his career that Iron & Wine have enough material for a double-CD rarities compilation. And his skyrocketing popularity (thanks in no small part to the inclusion of The Shepherd's Dog's "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" on the Twilight soundtrack) means the demand for Iron & Wine music remains high.

On May 19, Sub Pop will release Around the Well, a 2xCD/3xLP set divided between Beam's home recordings and full-band studio fare. Among the goodies: covers of the Postal Service's "Such Great Heights", New Order's "Love Vigilantes", and the Flaming Lips' "Waitin' for a Superman".

Also in May, Iron and Wine will play a quick run of U.S. dates at some extremely small venues, and they're letting fans pick the set lists this time. On the band's website, you'll be able to vote for which songs you'd like to hear each night. And if you miss the shows, they'll be available for download soon after at the Played Last Night site. Democracy!

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U2 Plot Five-Night "Letterman" Takeover

Maybe I'm just a complete sucker, but I get the impression U2 are really, you know, trying with their new album, No Line on the Horizon (out March 3 on Interscope). The cover is relatively mysterious. Bono's back in the makeup chair. And though first single "Get on Your Boots" suggests they're trying way too hard (as does the video...and the Grammy performance), I'll take that over the alternative (see: their last album). When you've been the biggest band in the world for a couple decades, simply trying at all goes a long way.

The creepily ageless Irish crew (seriously, the Edge might look younger now than he did in the "Numb" video) will dig in for an unprecedented five-night run on "The Late Show with David Letterman" starting March 2 (via AP). A Joaquin Phoenix rap cameo during U2 week is still being negotiated.

Considering the just-announced White Stripes appearance set for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"'s February 20 curtain call and this U2 spectacular (not to mention recent "SNL" spots from TV on the Radio and Fleet Foxes) we seem to be living in a mini late night musical guest golden age right about now.

Posted by Ryan Dombal on February 12, 2009 at 4:35 p.m.

Tags: Letterman, TV, U2

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Friday, February 13

Japandroids Announce Debut Album

Silversun Pickups Ready Sophomore Album Swoon

Kills' Bus Thief Arrested; Band Readies New EP, Tour

Ronettes Member Estelle Bennett R.I.P.

Get Ready to Get Sick of the New Green Day Album

Meet the New Pipette

**Company Flow Talk Funcrusher Plus Reissue**

Throbbing Gristle Schedule Extremely Rare U.S. Tour

Thursday, February 12

Iron & Wine Announce Rarities Comp, All-Request Tour

U2 Plot Five-Night "Letterman" Takeover

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