Gruff Rhys Coming to America Thanks to Conor Oberst
Also: More details of Gruff Rhys / Boom Bip collaboration

Pun-loving Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys will release Candylion-- his recent solo album-- in the U.S. on March 6 via Conor Oberst's Team Love label. It will come out on CD and four-sided LP (the fourth side is an etching).

Rhys' collaboration with Anticon-associated turntablist Boom Bip, previously reported to be under the moniker Delorean, is now called Neon Neon, though the currently untitled album they plan to release in the summer on Lex Records is a concept album about John De Lorean (yes, the one responsible for that De Lorean). Guests on the album include former Pharcyde MC Fatlip, Spank Rock, the Magic Numbers, Har Mar Superstar, and Kudu.

Rhys will get his tour on with a boatload of UK dates in March and April, though he does have a few dates before then in Italy and Wales. [MORE...]

Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid Speak in Tongues, Tour

Following two mini-albums in their Exchange Session series, the unlikely pairing of UK knob-twiddler Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet) and legendary NYC jazz drummer Steve Reid is ready to take it to the next level.

Come March 20 (March 19 in the UK), Domino and the duo will expand minds with Tongues, their third collaborative artifact. Featuring ten tracks that pit Hebden's mad-scientist array of electronic doodads against Reid's beefed-up drum kit and percussion palette, the disc was recorded entirely live, with no overdubs, at the Exchange in London. Mastered by a guy at the Exchange (whose name is Graeme Durham), the album even includes a tripped out rendition of "Greensleeves".

In an interview with Pitchfork back in November, Hebden described the collection as "a bit more punk" than his previous collaborative offerings with Reid.

There's beauty born of Hebden and Reid's struggle between synthetic and organic, and long-time fans of both mens' work and new converts alike will have an opportunity to take it in firsthand, as Hebden and the sexagenarian Reid hit the road this spring. Following two U.S. dates, our Tongues-smiths will hop the pond for a spate of UK gigs. Hebden promises more U.S. and worldwide dates later in the year.

As previously reported, Hebden and Reid performed along with Thom Yorke and the White Stripes on the inaugural episode of Nigel Godrich's "From the Basement". Download the episode now on iTunes or at the programme's website.

Finally, keep your eyes peeled for the previously mentioned new album from Hebden's other non-Four Tet project, Fridge. [MORE...]

Bill Callahan Dumps Smog Name, Drops LP

Indie boys and girls of the world: dress sexy, because today marks a funeral of sorts. Bill Callahan, who shed his trusty parentheses a few albums back, has officially put the rest of his Smog moniker out to pasture.

Maybe he's just trying to be more environmentally conscious following a year of record-high temperatures, or maybe his elfin girlfriend put him up to it, but from this point forward Bill Callahan will be simply and unambiguously known as Bill Callahan.

To celebrate this return to his roots, Bill-- who foreshadowed his de-Smoging by playing recent shows under the name his mother gave him-- will deliver another album for Drag City, his first as Bill Callahan and 739th overall.

Woke on a Whaleheart continues Bill's nautical infatuation and sets sail April 17 (UPDATE: RELEASE DATE PUSHED BACK TO APRIL 24), featuring guest contributions from arranger Neil Michael Hagerty (of the Howling Hex, Royal Trux, and Pussy Galore fame), backing gospel vocalist Deani Pugh-Flemmings, guitarist Pete Denton, and violinist Elizabeth Warren.

Get accustomed to the new Bill before Whaleheart awakens by scooping up single "Diamond Dancer", due via Drag City on March 20. The tune comes backed with an exclusive, non-album B-side from the Whaleheart sessions called "Taken", which also happens to be the essence of what Joanna Newsom told you when you tried to ask her out last weekend. [MORE...]

Benjy Ferree Launches U.S. Tour

Benjy Ferree talks the talk and walks the walk. Following the release of his debut LP, Leaving the Nest (Domino), last November, Ferree is, um, leaving the nest for a short jaunt through the States.

Tonight, he'll kick it off with a performance in Columbus, Ohio. And tomorrow, as previously reported, he'll join the Ponys, Sano, the Early Tapes, and DJ Matt Fields at Chicago's Schubas Tavern for the Tomorrow Never Knows festival. He'll continue on for the next nine days, finishing things up in Philadelphia on January 21. [MORE...]

Misra + Absolutely Kosher = <3

After months of surreptitious hand-holding and playing footsie under the table, Austin's Misra Records and Berkeley's Absolutely Kosher have finally decided to make it official.

The two respectable indie imprints announced yesterday that they have entered a "strategic partnership" (according to a press release), combining their management under one Emeryville, California roof and streamlining their operations (while remaining separate entities), which means more, better, hotter indie product for you and your roommates in 2007 and beyond.

Each label will maintain its individual roster, but will be run by the same staff. (Sort of like Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar, if that makes sense to you.) Absolutely Kosher's Cory Brown will oversee both labels, taking over for departing Misra label manager Phil Waldorf.

Misra sprung to life in 1999, the collective vision of Mendoza Line singer/guitarist Timothy Bracy, activist and Future of Music Coalition co-founder Michael Bracy, attorney Paige Conner Totaro, and business guy John Matouk. They were later joined by musician Nicholas Bischoff and financial analyst John Clardy. And in a cool twist, the label's lawyer is John P. Strohm, who used to be in the Blake Babies and the Lemonheads.

Misra's rad roster includes folky folks like Shearwater, Will Johnson/Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel, Great Lake Swimmers, the Mendoza Line, Phosphorescent, Summer Hymns, and all-around crazies Evangelicals.

Absolutely Kosher, meanwhile, has been Cory Brown's baby since 1998. The eclectic label blessed the world with quite a few stellar releases, including one of Pitchfork's all-time favorite records, the Wrens' The Meadowlands, as well as superlative discs and vinyl from Sunset Rubdown, Xiu Xiu, the Mountain Goats, Frog Eyes, Goblin Cock, the Jim Yoshii Pile-Up, +/-, the Dead Science, and Pitchfork scribe Matt LeMay's own Get Him Eat Him. [MORE...]

Decemberists Auction Instruments, Clothes for Charity
Including the guitar Chris Funk played on the Colbert Report!

Attention Decemberists obsessives! Want to dress up in a jacket that once belonged to Colin Meloy? Play the B.C. Rich Warlock shredded by Chris Funk during last month's Decemberists vs. Stephen Colbert guitar solo duel? Re-enact scenes from the Picaresque album artwork?

Now you can!

Starting today, the Decemberists are auctioning off all sorts of autographed goodies, including instruments, clothing, artwork, CDs, posters, and more, on eBay. Proceeds will go to p:ear, a Portland-based organization that, according to its website, "builds positive relationships with homeless and transitional youth through education, art and recreation to affirm personal worth and create more meaningful and healthier lives." Can't argue with that.

As previously reported, the Decemberists are gearing up to tour Europe in February, and a spring trek is also in the work.

For information on Meloy's "5 Favorite Things Thus Far in 2007" and an apology from Chris Funk for losing the aforementioned Decemberists vs. Colbert guitar challenge (and an explanation of why the Warlock has got to go), cruise on over to the band's MySpace blog.

Or, for live performances of "O Valencia!", "The Crane Wife 3", and "Sons and Daughters" as well as a series of interviews, hit the AT&T Blue Room. [MORE...]

Kanye West Gets HBO Show
Rick Rubin, Borat/"Curb Your Enthusiasm" Dude Are Executive Producers

Look past the differences in skin color, social and geographical background, and diamonds worn per square inch of body surface, and you can see the common bond between "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Larry David and Kanye West: the sometimes crippling self-consciousness (don't forget about "All Falls Down"!).

And now West can add "subject of his own HBO show" to the list of similarities, as Billboard.com (via the Hollywood Reporter) reports that the MC and producer will be the subject of an HBO series developed by "Curb Your Enthusiasm" executive producer and director Larry Charles.

Charles-- also the executive producer of "Entourage"'s first two seasons and director of Borat-- will team with the project's other executive producers (West, superproducer Rick Rubin, and West's manager G Roberson) to present "a day in [Kanye's] crazy, hectic life."

West is also still working on the feature film inspired by his music that he began last March in cooperation with Anonymous Content and New Line Cinema. He will act in the film, which will be "a multi-perspective portrait of the U.S. as seen through the eyes of West and several filmmakers."

Video: Justin Timberlake/Rock Plaza Central: "SexyBack"

Call it horseback. The equestrian-loving Rock Plaza Central's cover of "SexyBack" now has a video, and it's by one of the more amazing YouTube users we've come across. Going by the name of DanceTomatoTree, the director mashes up the audio of the RPC version with the action-packed video for Justin Timberlake's original. And what do you know? Chris Eaton's vocals synch up pretty well with Justin's singing in the video, even though he doesn't do too much of it.

What we're even more impressed with is DanceTomatoTree's video for Lil Wayne's Lil Weezyana mixtape track "Famous": a Wikipedia-browsing video that starts with a search for "famous" and leads-- simply through clicking links in related articles-- to a click on Lil Wayne's entry. It's one of those "ooh, technology" moments that reminds us that before our computer screens cause us all to go prematurely blind, the internet can still give us a few good times.

Ex-Test Icicle Balls With Saddle Creek Peeps

New year, new leaf. With the defunct Test Icicles now but a blip in the 2005 buzz bin, former frontman Devonte Hynes has set down some new paths-- including one that has him crossing Omaha's famed Saddle Creek Road.

As previously reported, Dev's already stirring up mayhem with the gentlemen from Michigan's Whirlwind Heat, as Lightspeed Heat. And he's still got that regrettable Naked Babes thing going on with Tom Vek and two dudes from Semifinalists. Almost by default, whatever else he's working on is going to be more high-minded, so perhaps it's appropriate that he's hooked up with hotshot Omaha producer Mike Mogis to record his debut solo album under the Lightspeed Champion moniker.

"Mike Mogis is a dude, and this record is gonna be sweet," gushed Dev on his website, "as long as I don't overdose on 'Jimmy Jones [sic] - so fast you'll freakkkkk!!!!!' sandwiches and as long as I stay out of the local 'showgirls.'"

Faint kit-kicker Clark Baechle will provide drums on the record, which Domino hopes to release later this year-- and even Bright Eyes played his part: "Conor Oberst stopped by the studio," wrote Dev, "to say 'hey' and stuff which was cool." Dev thanked Conor by stealing his internet signal.

Songs include "Everyone Is Listening to Crunk" ("probably the most personal song on the album"), "Devil Tricks for a Bitch" ("seriously, I'm sorry for the horrible titles"), and an as-yet-untitled "12 minute song". Apparently there's even going to be cello on this record!

And pivot on over to Lightspeed Champion's MySpace to check out a short Wurlitzer ditty called "REYSTRRIGSTE ODYSSEY", as well as the melodic (!) pop romp "I Wish I Was a Camel", which wouldn't make a bad Super Furry Animals B-side. I can't believe I'm saying that.

Video Premiere: Beach House: "Master of None"

Just as 128 kbps mp3s desecrate the laborious masterstrokes of guru producers, YouTube just doesn't do a video like this any justice. But hey, for now, we're stuck with it, so deal.

Beach House buddy Justin Durel takes a cue from Victoria Legrand's opening line "You always go to the parties," taking our "Master of None" on a vertiginous first-person flutter through some festive gathering. Perhaps he or she is a participant in the celebratory proceedings? Or perhaps we're dealing with a ghost who's returned to bask in life's idle joys one last time?

While the set-up brings to mind Jonas Akerlund's bleary-eyed first-person protagonist/raging drunkard in the infamous Prodigy "Smack My Bitch Up" clip, the mood here is decidedly void of the chilly vindictiveness that seethes through that video. Instead, Durel leads us on a warm, woozy waltz across the twilight dreamland that Beach House evoke and inhabit so well. Party on, dudes.

Lily Allen Announces U.S. LP Bonus Features

Like any quality vehicle, Lily Allen's debut Alright, Still has been tricked out to hit the streets. Two bonus cuts  have been added to the album's tracklisting for its U.S. release (January 30 on Capitol). The 50 Cent-biting "Nan You're a Window Shopper" and a Mark Ronson remix of "Smile" (which we assume is the same song mentioned here). Also, Capitol claims that the disc will be the first American full-length release ever to be packaged with U-MYX, software enabling listeners to create their own mixes of the album's tunes.

Great, just what we needed-- more "LDN" mash-ups.

Allen is lined up for a slew of Big Day Out appearances, as well as dates across Japan and Europe, a February 2 gig on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno", and a SXSW slot. She's also been selected to headline MTV's first-ever Discover and Download tour, the dates for which have yet to be confirmed.

A Lily Allen Rhapsody Original Sessions EP with three live tracks will be released on February 6. Plus "Smile" is on the soundtrack for Electronic Arts' upcoming expansion pack, The Sims 2 Seasons, which is due next month. So get on perfecting that Allen look-alike Sim. And, for the last time, please refrain from any and all dirty-minded shower cheats (NSFW)! [MORE...]

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