What Is Known of the New Boredoms Album??????
We enlisted the aid of Geraldo Rivera to help unlock the ancient mysteries

Dominique Leone & Chris Rediske report:
Yes! It appears that, after an extended five-year hiatus, Japanese mega power maxi super-rock mayhem pioneers Boredoms will return this fall with their first album since 1999's glorious psychedelic excursion Vision Creation Newsun. Titled Seadrum/House of Sun, the record is presently slated for a September 23rd release via Warner Music Japan! Unfortunately, this is all that is known! Fortunately, the speculative details are legion! And we can now offer to you the fruits of our hours upon hours research! Let's go!

In recent years, the elusive Boredoms had been thought to have disbanded, leaving frontman Yamatsuka Eye to record under the name Vooredoms, with the assistance of three drummers. However, no proper Vooredoms LP has ever materialized, despite the band's countless live performances over the past couple of years. Now something real weird has happened: A new disc, Seadrum/House of Sun, has been popping up on the websites of Japaese online CD vendors, credited not to Vooredoms, but indeed, to Boredoms, which suggests that it may, in fact, feature contributions from thought-to-be-departed guitarist Seiichi Yamamoto and bassist Hira.

Furthermore, the title of the album hints at something reported by a 2002 Wire article-- material laid to tape on a beach, with drums recorded underwater. A post on Yahoo!'s Boredoms group may shed more light on the subject, quoting Eye as saying that the band had recorded an album in 2001, but were having trouble getting Warner Japan to release it. Perhaps this is that record. Perhaps not.

One very curious detail about Seadrum/House of Sun is that the album bears the same catalog number as 2001's Rebore Vol. 3, raising doubts as to whether this is even a new Boredoms release at all. However, the Pitchfork interns* have been hard at work translating the Japanese text that accompanies the album at these CD vendors, and it definitely points toward a new studio Boredoms release. The translated text reads:

"Shaking! Amazement! A Thundering Blast of Fresh Air! Tears of Gratitude! Astounding! It's been a long time since their last release back in 1998, but a new work under the name Boredoms has been completed! The members have individually been playing in innumerable other bands over an incredible range, but finally the real thing starts! With the Boredoms' following of hardcore fans not only in Japan but overseas as well, what type of album is coming? This is an album to look out for!"

Seadrum/House of Sun's September 23rd release, unfortunately, does not extend to Europe or North America. As with all previous Boredoms records, it will be issued first in Japan only, meaning that, for the time being, fans will be made to pay outrageous import prices of around $35, including shipping.

Though the album title suggests the distinct possibility of a double album, every CD vendor listing the record at present shows only one disc, with only one track, of which the title is unknown (another parallel with the Rebore 1-3 discs). As every Vooredoms live show we've heard (ranging from 2002-2004) has featured one long, jammy track, ranging from just under 35 minutes to over an hour, that may indicate the direction of this new album-- or it may be a complete coincidence. In any case, we'll keep you up-to-date any new developments in the Boredoms' never-boring story, so stay tuned for more details.

* Ok, it was actually translated by a guy on the Boredoms list. Our Japanese intern is on vacation.

Exclusive!: David Lowery Reveals Details of Camper Van Beethoven's New "Sci-Fi Prog-Rock" Album
"Wacko-grape-koolaid-drinking-fascist-homophobe-Christian-right-winger-cretins" surely offended

Reunited indie rock pioneers Camper Van Beethoven have set October 12th as the street date for the Vanguard Records release of New Roman Times, their first album of all new material since 1989's Key Lime Pie. After reuniting as a touring entity back in 1999, the question of new material has been on the lips of many a CVB fan. In a lengthy email correspondence with frontman David Lowery, Pitchfork was able to get to the bottom of the band's decision to make a new album.

"We did a couple of reunion type gigs but vowed to not milk it unless we were gonna do a new record," Lowery explained. So after selling out three nights in a row at New York's Knitting Factory, the band decided it was time to get back to business. "Apparently, people still cared about us. We could still play the songs [and] we didn't feel stupid playing the songs we wrote 20 years ago. We just needed to try to write some new songs together."

Explaining the differences in the process this time around, Lowery stressed the importance of technology: "The biggest change is that we were able to collaborate a lot closer because each of us could just email ideas to each other. We then could work on them in our own time in our own way, at home, before we would have to all get together and rehearse to flesh out the songs."

However, despite recording the album digitally, technology's insurgent domination of the recording industry didn't keep the band from maintaining their feel-the-groove attitude. Lowery continued, "Almost all the recording was done with me, Greg, Jonathan, Victor, and Jimmy, all in the same room at the same time. The last five or six songs were done almost live. We all looked at [digital recording] as a way to get the results that we wanted in less time, so we could spend more time on the real creative aspects of being a musician."

New Roman Times is a concept album set in an alternate universe of sorts where the United States is divided into many different countries rather than states. The story unfolds through the eyes of a young soldier fighting for the Christian Republic of Texas as they invade the Republic of California. Nilla what?

"There is a strong storyline in the record," Lowery explained. "The idea of having a story was to have some self imposed boundaries to work within. But secondly to talk in an exaggerated manner about the current political climate. And by this I don't mean Bush. I mean the deep (and artificial?) division of our country into 'blue' and 'red', conservatives vs. liberals, secularists vs. fundamentalists, science vs. faith..." Or in other words: "Wacko-grape-koolaid-drinking-fascist-homophobe-Christian-right-winger-cretins vs. smart, tolerant and decent people." So we know which side he's on, then, right?

To create a background for the story, the band did a great deal of research covering such topics as alien mythology, Roman history, genetically modified crops, classic surfing beaches, Victorian England, Mexican drug trafficking groups, and cryptography. If all of this sounds a bit complicated for a Camper Van Beethoven album, allow Lowery to calm your fears: "This makes it sound heavier (and more coherent) than it really is. Remember it's CVB after all. It wouldn't be a record if some pot wasn't smoked."

If you were to chronicle the shift in sound from Camper Van Beethoven's debut, 1985's Telephone Free Landslide Victory through Key Lime Pie, you'd see a band that matured, yet continued to incorporate a bevy of influences in their melting-pot of indie folk rock. So how does the New Roman Times compare to the past? According to guitarist Greg Lisher, the album is most similar to 1986's self-titled LP, and although Lowery doesn't completely agree, he does see where Lisher is coming from. "It's as if this record is centered on that point in our career. Some Kaleidoscope or Fugs hillbilly stuff with social commentary; some deep English blues rock fading into prog rock riffs; a little eastern European ska; and some southwestern Fairport Convention.

"We didn't really care if the record 'fit' into the catalogue. We didn't want to set out and try to make a record that ignored the last 15 years of our musical careers and more importantly the last 15 years of music created by other bands... It was most important to us that the record be really good and be very Camper-esque. I can't define that, but a sci-fi prog rock concept record fits the bill." It seems apparent that, much like their other records, New Roman Times stands alone as its own sonic declaration, and that is precisely what makes it fit in. Finally, the tracklist:

01 Prelude
02 New Sons of the Golden West
03 51 7
04 White Fluffy Clouds
05 That Gum You Like is Back in Style
06 Might Makes Right
07 Militia Song
08 R and R Uzbekistan
09 Sons of the New Golden West Reprise
10 New Roman Times
11 The Poppies of Balmorhea
12 The Long Plastic Hallway
13 I am Talking to this Flower
14 Come Out
15 Los Tigres Traficantes
16 I Hate this Part of Texas
17 Hippy Chix
18 Civil Disobedience
19 Discotheque CVB
20 Hey Brother

Hayden Tours North America
Bar brawl with Tom Waits results in broken bones, hearts

Out to prove once again that no one can sing a sweeter song about being mauled by a grizzly bear or skating over frozen ponds in search of your dead wife, deadpan Canadian folkster Hayden Desser is packing up his brown sweater, green shoes and the Elk-Lake Serenaders and heading out on tour, according to Hardwood Records' official website. Hayden's latest excursion is a part of his Elk-Lake Serenade tour, titled after his dusky and introspective May release-- which was, in turn, named after an antique 1930's kickdrum.

Hayden's fourth studio full-length-- released in the U.S. via Badman in May, and in Canada by Hardwood Recordings-- has encountered considerable success north of the border this Summer, remaining on or around the top of the Canadian Campus/Community Radio Airplay charts, where it's been hangin' out with (and above!) heavyweights like Sonic Youth and the Beastie Boys. It remains to been seen if the discriminating, Modest Mouse-loving ears of the U.S. will be as welcoming. All the same, Hayden and the Elk-Lake Serenaders will be playing a variety of dates around the country and in Canada next month, at a variety of clubs that look something like this:

09-07 Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall *
09-08 Buffalo, NY - Sphere *
09-09 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop *
09-10 Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe *
09-12 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
09-13 New York, NY - The Knitting Factory *
09-14 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw *
09-16 Portland, ME - Big Easy *
09-17 Boston, MA - Paradise *
09-18 Philadelphia, PA - Khyber *
10-07 London, England - Bush Hall
10-08 Darvel, Scotland - Darvel Music Festival
10-12 Detroit, MI - Magic Bag *
10-13 Grand Rapids, MI - Division Ave. Arts
10-14 Chicago, IL - Schuba's *
10-18 Winnipeg, Manitoba - West End Cultural Centre *
10-20 Regina, Saskatchewan - The Exchange *
10-22 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall *
10-23 Edmonton, Alberta - Myer Horowitz Hall (U of A) *
10-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - Vogue Theatre *
10-27 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
11-01 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord

* with Elk-Lake Serenaders and Cuff the Duke

Stars of the Lid Side Project Due in October
Poor Texas is really getting the shit beat out of it these days

One half of sound-art combo Stars of the Lid, Adam Wiltzie's latest project, The Dead Texan, is an audio/visual collaboration with artist Christina Vantzos. The self-titled CD/DVD set is scheduled for an October 4th release on Chicago's Kranky label.

Vantznos is a filmmaker from Wiltzie's adoptive hometown of Brussells, and her work has recently been showcased at festivals in the U.S. and Europe. According to Kranky, Vantznos is also currently working on a documentary film on teenage life in Scotland.

Wiltzie's contributions to the project are reportedly nebulous would-be Lid tunes, worked over with strings, piano and a wash of SOTL guitar trademarks. The arrangements have been dubbed "mini symphonies" by their composer, with Kranky's online press drawing comparisons to the soundtrack work of George Delerue and Zbigniew Preisner. The chamber-style compositions range from wide-scoped and melodic to atmospheric vignettes, scored to compliment the seven accompanying video selections.

Kranky.net has released the following tracklist for the audio portion of the set:

01 The Six Million Dollar Sandwich
02 Glen's Goo
03 A Chronicle of Early Failures - Part 1
04 A Chronicle of Early Failures - Part 2
05 Taco de Macque
06 Aegina Airlines
07 When I See Scissors I Can't Help But Think of You
08 Girth Rides a (Horse)
09 La Ballade d'Alain Georges
10 Beatrice Part 2
11 The Struggle

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)