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Thursday, June 18

New Blur Music Possible

Maybe!

Now that the Blur reunion is officially underway with "wish you were there" live YouTube videos and outrageous quotes, the question remains-- will their current tour lead to a new Blur album?

Based on a BBC interview, the answer could very well be yes.

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Premiere: Polvo: "Beggar's Bowl"

Earlier this month, we reported that the reunited North Carolina slash-and-burners Polvo had signed with Merge and were set to release their first new album since 1997. In Prism won't be out until September 8, but we've got a song from the album right here.

"Beggar's Bowl" is a serious post-Slint banger, jammed with the sort of math-rock guitar theatrics that nobody does anymore.

MP3:> Polvo: "Beggar's Bowl"

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 18, 2009 at 1:15 p.m.

Tags: Audio, Polvo, Premiere

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Hear the Very Best Song With Ezra Koenig

Earlier this week, we broke you off with the news that the Very Best, the collaboration between Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and Euro DJ duo Radioclit, are getting set to follow up their great mixtape with an official debut album. Warm Heart of Africa is due this fall from Green Owl.

Now you can hear the album's title track, which features Mwamwaya trading off vocals with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig over Radioclit's impossibly buoyant track. The song is streaming on the Abeano Music blog here.

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Broken Social Scene Play Surprise Show (With Feist!)

Plus video! Broken Social Scene Play Surprise Show (With Feist!)

It was just like old times at Toronto's Courthouse last night when Broken Social Scene took the stage as surprise headliners of their label Arts&Crafts' NXNE showcase. The night was special enough, but it automatically turned near-legendary when Feist-- who hasn't toured with the band in years-- showed up for a couple songs, including unreleased rarity "New Country", which is embedded after the jump. It looks and sounds amazing.

There's also a relatively high-quality YouTube rip of a new song below. According to the message board Broken Telephone, five new songs were played: "World Sick", "Forced", "Your Hate", "Small Big", and "Meet Me in the Basement".

According to a report from the National Post, the new stuff "seems less space jam arty and the feedback guitar noodling was held back. Maybe with the guys all doing individual art projects, Broken Social Scene will focus on being a straight ahead indie rock band."

As previously reported, BSS are currently recording their official follow-up to 2005's self-titled album in Chicago with Tortoise's John McEntire.

There's another Arts & Crafts showcase-- featuring another "Surprise Headliner"-- at the Courthouse tonight.

Here's a photo by Zack Vitello of Feist, Kevin Drew, and Pitchfork contributor/This Book Is Broken author Stuart Berman, rocking out together:

Click for videos and setlist.

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Dead Body Found at Bonnaroo

Photo by Matt Jordan

After last weekend's Bonnaroo Festival wrapped up, the cleanup crew found a dead body on the festival grounds.

The Tennessean reports that on Tuesday, Bonnaroo workers found the body of an unidentified white man in his 20s in a tent. The man was apparently last seen alive around 3 p.m. on Monday, and police believe he may have been from Alabama. There were no signs of trauma on the body. Police are conducting an autopsy.

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 18, 2009 at 11:45 a.m.

Tags: Bonnaroo, Festival

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Air Announce New Album: Love 2

Dig out the velvet throw pillows! Air Announce New Album: <i>Love 2</i>

Just when we were beginning to forget that French musicians don't traffic exclusively in EQed-to-death monster-house jams, Phoenix came along with the weightless Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and reminded us that, oh yeah, the French can also be pretty great at luminously suave pop music. Now that our appetite for smoove, starry-eyed Gallic studio-rat music has been restored, it's the perfect time for Air to drop a new album. And that's exactly what they're doing.

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News in Brief: Bloc Party, Harlem, Shannon Stephens, Green Man Festival

Photo by Francis Chung

-- Still-incredibly-popular twitch-rock kingpins Bloc Party will release a new single, "One More Chance", on August 10 via Wichita. Producer Jacknife Lee twiddled the knobs. Pray it's not a Biggie cover.

-- The Matablog reports that the lo-fi Austin trio Harlem have signed to Matador. The band's self-released debut Free Drugs;-) is available via Matador Direct, and they are now recording their second album, set for release in 2010.

-- On September 8, Asthmatic Kitty will release The Breadwinner, the new LP from the Seattle-based singer-songwriter and former Sufjan Stevens bandmate Shannon Stephens. Bonnie "Prince" Billy covered her song "I'll Be Glad" on Lie Down in the Light.

-- A whole mess of esoteric rock heroes will descend upon Crickhowell, Wales August 21-23 for the Green Man Festival. The fest's basically unfuckwithable lineup includes Animal Collective, Jarvis Cocker, Bon Iver, Wilco, Roky Erickson, Dirty Three, Camera Obscura, Andrew Bird, and Grizzly Bear.

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 18, 2009 at 9:50 a.m.

Tags: Album, Bloc Party, Festival, Green Man, Harlem, Matador, Shannon Stephens, Signing, Single

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Pinback Announce Tour

They've got a new home at Temporary Residence and a new album coming sometime next year, but Pinback aren't sitting around waiting for Rob Crow's beard to get longer.

This fall, the San Diego indie stalwarts will tour North America extensively.

Dates below:

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Wednesday, June 17

Beck Enlists Devendra, MGMT, Lidell to Cover Albums for His Website

First up: The Velvet Underground Beck Enlists Devendra, MGMT, Lidell to Cover Albums for His Website

Photo by Beck/Drew Brown, front page photo by Autumn de Wilde

When most of us have extra spare time on our hands, we end up zoning out in front of "Daisy of Love" reruns or rereading Watchmen for the billionth time. Beck, on the other hand, challenges himself to record cover versions of entire albums as quickly as possible. Different strokes, I guess.