Oldham, Johnston, Wolf Pay Tribute to Pet Sounds

Now that we've made our silly quota for the week, on to the news: all these hepcats and more have signed on for a star-studded tribute to everybody's Second-Best Album of All-Time. The disc, which preserves Pet Sounds's original track order, will arrive this fall courtesy of Spain's Houston Party Records. According to the label, its cheeky title, Do It Again: a Tribute to Pet Sounds, is a reference to Brian Wilson's notorious perfectionist tendencies with studio musicians (dude would frequently demand his players "do it again", seeking nothing less than the best).

Indeed, it would be nice:

01 Oldham Brothers: "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
02 Vic Chesnutt: "You Still Believe in Me"
03 Nobody and the Mystic Chords of Memory with Farmer Dave: "That's Not Me"
04 Centro-Matic: "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)"
05 Micah P. Hinson: "I'm Waiting for the Day"
06 Raygun: "Let's Go Away for a While"
07 Dayna Kurtz: "Sloop John B."
08 Daniel Johnston: "God Only Knows"
09 Mazarin: "I Know There's an Answer"
10 Jody Wildgoose: "Here Today"
11 Patrick Wolf: "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"
12 Architecture in Helsinki: "Pet Sounds"
13 The Wedding Present: "Caroline No"

Wilson, meanwhile, continues sailing the good ship S.S. Career Renaissance. He duets with daughter Carnie Wilson (of Wilson Phillips fame) on Carnie's forthcoming tribute to matriarchy, A Mother's Gift: Lullabies from the Heart. Her debut solo record, this Gift drops May 2 via Big3 Records. Good to know there's no ill-will between Carnie and the man who named her after a slang term for a carnival worker. Hee-haw!

Houston Party: http://www.houstonpartyrecords.com/

The Replacements Return!

According to Billboard.com, the tracks were recorded at producer Ed Ackerson's Flowers Studio. Josh Freese (Vandals, A Perfect Circle) played the drums; original drummer Mars opted out of stick duties in favor of recording backing vocals. No mention was made of former guitarist Slim Dunlap who performed with the band from 1987 to 1991, following original guitarist Bob Stinson's departure. (Bob Stinson died in 1995.)

Shit, even if these two new songs are an embarrassment, isn't that just the kind of Replacements-worthy fuckup that's always made them so endearing? Yeah, either way we win.

Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? is scheduled for release on June 13, and will feature 18 classic tracks alongside the pair of new recording. It will also mark the second officially sanctioned 'Mats compilation since the group disbanded in 1991, and the first to encompass their entire career, as 1997's All For Nothing, Nothing For All only documented their later, less influential, years on Sire.

Bring your own lampshade, kids:

01 Takin a Ride
02 Shiftless When Idle
03 Kids Don't Follow
04 Color Me Impressed
05 Within Your Reach
06 I Will Dare
07 Answering Machine
08 Unsatisfied
09 Here Comes a Regular
10 Kiss Me on the Bus
11 Bastards of Young
12 Left of the Dial
13 Alex Chilton
14 Skyway
15 Can't Hardly Wait
16 Achin' to Be
17 I'll Be You
18 Merry Go Round
19 Message to the Boys *
20 Pool & Dive *

* new tracks

As if that isn't enough news from the long-dormant outfit, a recent Rhino podcast revealed details of a Replacements box set tentatively due out next year. Featuring a new interview with founding member (and current Guns n' Roses bassist) Tommy Stinson, the podcast unveiled plans for a multi-disc package that will draw from the band's entire back catalog, including a host of previously unreleased material, as well as a DVD of live performances.

"It's been going on for awhile," Stinson said. "It's going to include all the Twin/Tone records, all of the Warner Bros. records, bonus tracks, some stuff that's been in the vault for awhile, as well as a DVD part. Our role is basically to listen to the outtakes, some stuff that's been sitting there for awhile, and find out what might be worth having and what might not be worth having. [We'll] probably have to mix a little bit, some of the stuff's been sitting in vaults for so long, it just kind of needs to be fixed."

When asked about the DVD, Stinson continued, "I think they've got the "Saturday Night Live" stuff, and some of the stuff we did in Europe, like "The Old Gray Whistle Test" and some TV stuff in Holland a long time ago. [We'll] just kind of put it all together and make a nice package of it."

Wow, and all we've really been itching for is an update on the long-promised overhaul of the 'Mats original LP catalog, which Billboard.com reports is currently in the works.

We'll keep you posted on details, but in the meantime, fans can keep busy with a pair of upcoming soundtrack efforts from both Westerberg and Stinson-- who are scoring the films Open Season and Catch and Release, respectively. The former is a kids flick and the latter is a Jennifer Garner movie. Sigh.

Twin/Tone: http://www.twintone.com/index.html

Kurt Cobain Immortalized/Desecrated as Action Figure

What's that, coming down the conveyer belt en masse, amid the hordes of hobbits, Hellraisers, and Jack Sparrows??  It couldn't be...good god, it is!

It's Kurt Cobain, resurrected in stunning action figure format!

Once merely a household name, Cobain will become a household item this June when National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) unleashes the very first KC action figure.  This charming piece of plastic resin captures the late Nirvana frontman mid-power chord, donning the very get-up he made famous in the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video.  Dude even comes with a chunk of high-school-gym-floor as a base; skanked-out cheerleaders sold separately.

Ex-grungers-turned-office-stiffs of the world, rejoice!  Now this titan of alternative music can duke it out with Ghostface and that Borg chick atop your monitor.  Oh yes.

And if that isn't enough to make you cry, ugly rumors are swirling about of late, rumors that Cobain's widow Courtney Love is attempting to sell a 25% stake in Nirvana's catalog for $100,000,000 to...drumroll please...a "private equity firm" partnered with U2's Bono!  Please let that not be true. Please, lord, please.

NECA: http://www.necaonline.com/

Interpol Drummer Talks Photos, Stipe, Interscope

The month-long show kicks off April 27 and features candid, Bush-snapped photos of concertgoers from across the U.S. and Europe. Sam's contribution? A seven-track, 30-minute accompanying soundtrack, composed with songwriter Dagon James and special guests under the collective moniker The Last Night. Pitchfork phoned up Mr. Fogarino to chat about the delicate process of photo-scoring, collaborating with idols, and the latest rumblings from the Interpol camp.

"The marriage was perfect," Sam enthused about the pairing of Bush's photographs and The Last Night's music. "It made it worthwhile. I don't think I would have done it otherwise".

The Last Night sprung to life after Fogarino mixed some tracks by James. "We established a really nice rapport and all of a sudden started writing music together," Sam recalled. That music will greet visitors at the Bespoke as they peruse Bush's photographs next month, but don't bother bringing your DAT recorders. Carry a few bucks instead, as a book collecting Bush's photographs will be released in conjunction with the gallery opening, bundled with a copy of The Last Night's debut EP/soundtrack.

Scoring pictures at an exhibition wasn't all gravy, said Sam. "We tried to [compose]...pop songs that created a similar mood to the photographs without trying to emulate [them]. What I mean by that is, a lot of the photographs are of teenagers [at] a rock show of some sorts, and so I could very easily create these songs that you thought these kids would be listening to".

"[That] would be way too obvious. Instead [we were] just sonically observing these kids, essentially creating an atmosphere outside of what they're doing".

This atmosphere is primarily "guitar-based", and features both Foggy and James donning "a couple hats". Vocal duties rest largely on James' shoulders, however Sam assured that "there's always room for a surprise".

Fogarino culled together quite a crop of his own influences to guest on these recordings, including Swervedriver/Toshack Highway lead Adam Franklin, Mercury Rev's Grasshopper, and a relatively-popular gentleman by the name of Michael Stipe.

The Franklin and Grasshopper collaborations came about routinely enough. The former contributes a guitar melody, vocals, and lyrics to a track, while ol' Grassy dropped by to "do something really brilliantly melodious or squawk like the no-waver he is," laughed Fogarino.

Sam treaded lightly when approaching Stipe, however: "I thought about asking him to sing this one song in particular...[but] I didn't want him to feel like I was exploiting him".

The response from Michael was positive, and interesting, to say the least. "He delivered [his ideas] to me on a cassette tape. Inside his own little cassette deck...It's amazing, he's probably been working this way since the inception of R.E.M.. I'm kinda wondering, what songs were written on this little cassette deck?"

Granted, Stipe doesn't actually sing on the Last Night EP, but he did contribute a vocal melody and lyrics to the song "What She Wore". And Sam's mighty jazzed about his little cassette deck: "he's never getting it back. I'm going to run away to L.A. now and sell it and buy a big house".

The Interpol kitman appreciates having The Last Night as an alternate creative outlet and hopes to keep the train running. "Maybe even just to create an excuse to work with [James, Franklin, Grasshopper, and Stipe] again, it would be worth it for The Last Night to continue," he decided. "If I find the right muse and the right excuse to do it, then while I'm not doing stuff with my main squeeze-- that sexy girl that is Interpol-- I'll do it".

"Soundtrack to Nothing" runs through May 27; The Last Night's shoegaze-esque EP tracklist runs something like this:

01 What She Wore
02 Run
03 Maybe...
04 News of Space
05 No Mother Knows
06 Nothing
07 Sometimes

As for Fogarino's main squeeze, well, a lot of murmers have been spreading across the internet about her recently. So, Sam, is it true: have Interpol signed to Interscope?

"Blatant rumor," Fogarino said. With Interpol's contract with Matador "officially up", the band do plan to shop around their latest wares when the time is right. They've begun writing the follow-up to Antics, and Fogarino reports that the process is "moving right along where I think it should...we're all pretty much on fire about it". For now, however, the major-label-leap rumors milling about are just that, and Sam playfully entreats aspiring gossip-mongers to invent some of their own.

"Let's think up [a label] that doesn't exist anymore," he joked. "Casablanca. They put out the Village People back in the day...and they love Interpol. They're coming back, just for us".

Sorry to break the news to you, Sam, but Casablanca still exists. They put out Lindsay Lohan's records. So Interpol would be in good company.

Christy Bush: http://www.christybush.com/
Bespoke Gallery: http://www.bespokegallery.net/
Interpol: http://www.interpolnyc.com/
Matador: http://matadorrecords.com/

Surprise! Brian Eno Collaborates With Paul Simon

Mom will be happy to learn that Eno has spent the last few years working under the radar with Paul Simon, according to Billboard.com. Surprise, the album that is the fruits of their labor, is now ready for the public ear, is slated for a May 9 North American release via Warner Bros., and a May 8 release for the rest of the world.

Surprise features guest appearances by guitarist Bill Frisell, drummer Steve Gadd, and pianist Herbie Hancock. When perusing the tracklist, note the inclusion of Simon's "Father and Daughter", which appeared in The Wild Thornberrys Movie and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Surprise:

01 How Can You Live in the Northeast
02 Everything About It Is a Love Song
03 Outrageous
04 Sure Don't Feel Like Love
05 Wartime Prayers
06 Beautiful
07 I Don't Believe
08 Another Galaxy
09 Once Upon a Time There Was an Ocean
10 That's Me
11 Father and Daughter

In slightly cooler Eno news, the man will appear on BBC2's "The Culture Show" on April 6 to talk about "77 Million Paintings", his audio-video installation at Japan's Laforet Museum. Mark Alberding, a contributor to the authoritative Eno fansite EnoWeb.co.uk, described the project, writing, "There are three interconnected rooms, each containing different configurations of screens displaying images generated by the 77 Million program with soundtracks that could fairly be described as 'typical Eno installation music'. The first room has subdued lighting sufficient to view a few cibachrome prints, presumably printed from the electronic artwork, interspersed amongst the variously sized screens. The second room is darker, has more screens and a very large video projection screen showing the images. The third room is completely dark and has a wall of different sized screens arranged in a pyramid shape and set above a mirrored floor. This room has benches so you can sit down and watch the images unfold, which they do v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y."

Ah, just another day in the life of a man who answers to no one.

A limited edition CD is available at the museum, as well as a computer program companion for "77 Million Pantings". Eno Web reports the tracklisting for the CD as:

01 Never Stomp
02 System Piano
03 Bonk 12
04 Luxor Night Car
05 Targa Summer
06 Cold
07 Little Slicer
08 Surf Birds
09 Targa

Oh, and those "Eno back with Roxy Music" rumors? Bullshit, says Eno Web. "All that happened was that Brian popped in to visit the members of the group when they were in the studio. Hearing of this, some journalist somewhere decided that it is a truth universally acknowledged that a solo artist in possession of a fine career must be in want of tinsel jackets, peacock feathers, ego clashes, laundry ruminations and everything else that goes with rejoining a band he left 33 years ago. Great oak false rumours from tiny fact acorns grow."

Brian Eno (Fan Site): http://enoweb.co.uk/
Paul Simon: http://www.paulsimon.com/

Seu Jorge Tours North America

Everyone seems to fall for the oft-proclaimed "coolest man on earth"; if his Life Aquatic director, Wes Anderson, is calling him that, then it's probably true.

Knockouts:

03-30 New York, NY - Beacon Theatre *
03-31 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre *
04-01 Washington, DC - Lisner Auditorium *
04-27 New York, NY - Irving Plaza #
04-28 Miami, FL - North Beach Bandshell
04-30 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
06-16 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-18 San Francisco, CA - Sigmund Stern Grove $
06-20 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
06-22 Seattle, WA - Neumos
06-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Centre for the Performing Arts (Vancouver International Jazz Festival) %
06-24 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabaret
06-26 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
06-27 Madison, WI - Union Theater
06-28 Chicago, IL - Metro
06-30 Toronto, Ontario - Harbourfront Centre
07-01 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
07-02 New York, NY - Central Park Summerstage
07-05 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts
07-06 Quebec City, Quebec - Quebec City International Summer Festival

* with Cesaria Evora
# with Chris Berry and Panjea
$ with Aimee Mann
% with Esbjorn Svensson Trio

Jorge recently lent his songwriting, singing and guitar and flute playing talents (flute!? What can't this guy do?) to a track on fellow Brazilian compatriot Cibelle's new album, The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves, which will be released in Europe on April 10 on Crammed Discs and in North America on May 9 via Six Degrees Records.

The album was recorded over an 18-month span in London, São Paolo, and Paris, and was co-produced by Cibelle, Apollo Nove and Mike Lindsay of Tunng. It also features the ubiquitous Devendra Banhart (duetting on a version of Caetano Veloso's "London, London"), frequent CocoRosie collaborator Spleen (voicing a couple of songs, including the Tom Waits-penned "Green Grass") and Lindsay on "weird piano, spaceships and virtual instruments."

Spaceships!

Seu Jorge: http://www.seujorge.com/
Cibelle: http://www.cibelle.net/
Crammed: http://www.crammed.be/

Melt-Banana, Ex Models Honor the Birthday Party

Thankfully, that won't be necessary. On April 4, Release the Bats: The Birthday Party as Heard Through the Meat Grinder of Three One G will be available from - you guessed it - Three One G Records. Nick Cave's early-80s band will be covered by Rah Bras, Numbers, Some Girls, The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, Ex Models, and many others on the compilation.

Quoth the press release: "On this compilation you can hear your favorite bands recreating, or maybe just butchering, your favorite Birthday Party songs." They said it, not us!

The album will feature artwork by former Mark McCoy of Charles Bronson/Holy Molar/The Oath and will also be available on limited edition colored vinyl.

Release the tracklist:

01 The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower - "Pleasure Heads Must Burn"
02 Das Oath - "Friend Catcher"
03 T Cells - "Deep in the Woods"
04 Cattle Decapitation - "Sonny's Burning"
05 Year Future - "Blundertown"
06 SSION - "Nick the Stripper"
07 Ex Models - "Mutiny in Heaven"
08 Les Georges Leningrad - "Riddle House"
09 Rah Bras - "Mr. Clarinet"
10 Melt-Banana - "Faint Heart"
11 Chinese Stars - "The Plague"
12 Celebration - "King Ink"
13 Kill Me Tomorrow - "Junk Yard"
14 Get Hustle - "A Dead Song"
15 Numbers - "Cry"
16 Error - "Wild World"
17 Daughters - "Marry Me (Lie Lie)"
18 Some Girls - "Release the Bats"

* Three One G: www.threeoneg.com

The Birthday Party: http://www.thebirthdayparty.com.au

Josh Ritter Readies New LP, Tours

Well, unfurrow those skeptical brows, because Josh Ritter is no Nicole Ritchie. He's just a singer-songwriter from Idaho who's releasing his fourth LP, The Animal Years, on April 11, and his parents were never on TV just like ours weren't, so he's all right.

The new record finds Ritter working with producer and former Red Red Meat/Califone member Brian Deck, who was behind the boards for Modest Mouse's The Moon and Antactica, Iron & Wine's Our Endless Numbered Days, and other faves. Drawing inspiration from literature and history, Ritter describes The Animal Years as "an escape from the present" and compares it to "a silent film - a mysterious old movie reel unearthed somewhere - about America today."

The Silent Film: Now With Sound! And Without Pictures!:

01 Girl in the War
02 Wolves
03 Monster Ballads
04 Lillian Egypt
05 Idaho
06 In the Dark
07 One More Mouth
08 Good Man
09 Best for the Best
10 Thin Blue Flame
11 Here at the Right Time

Ritter kicks off a tour next week in Canada, and then meets up with NYC's Hem for the U.S. leg of the tour, before heading off to the U.K. for several dates. (He's huge in Ireland! Really!) After his British Invasion, he'll tour Europe and then return to the U.S. for some West Coast shows.

Come and knock on my door:

04-06 Kingston, Ontario - The Elixir
04-07 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret
04-08 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
04-10 Wakefield, Quebec - Black Sheep Inn
04-11 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Stage Nine
04-13 Clinton, NY - Hamilton College
04-19 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom *
04-20 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
04-21 Chicago, IL - Double Door *
04-22 Indianapolis, IN - Birdy's *
04-23 Newport, KY - Southgate House *
04-25 Annapolis, MD - Ram's Head *
04-26 Alexandria, VA - Birchmere *
04-27 Philadelphia, PA - World Café Live *
04-28 Fall River, MA - Narrows Arts Center *
04-29 Boston, MA - Avalon *
05-02 New York, NY - Tribeca Film Festival
05-03 New York, NY - Tribeca Film Festival
05-04 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *
05-05 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *
05-06 Shelburne Falls, MA - Memorial Hall *
05-09 Birmingham, England - Glee Club
05-10 Manchester, England - Academy 2
05-12 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
05-13 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
05-14 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Empire
05-15 Glasgow, Scotland - Oran Mor
05-17 Bristol, England - Fiddler's
05-18 Brighton, England - Gardener Centre
05-19 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
05-20 Paris, France - Café de la Danse
05-23 Cologne, Germany - MTC
05-24 Berlin, Germany - Club 103
05-26 Copenhagen, Denmark - Little Vega
05-27 Stockholm, Sweden - Berns
05-28 Oslo, Norway - Bla
05-29 Hamburg, Germany - Stage Club
05-30 Brussels, Belgium - AB Box
05-31 Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Paradiso
06-03 Seattle, WA - Triple Door #
06-04 Seattle, WA - Triple Door #
06-05 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge #
06-07 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall #
06-09 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre #
06-10 San Diego, CA - The Casbah #

* with Hem
# with Richard Swift

Josh Ritter: http://www.joshritter.com

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.)