Sleater-Kinney Set U.S., UK Dates

Corin Tucker also appears on I Stand Alone, the new album from folk legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott, due out on Anti- on June 20. And, as previously reported, Janet Weiss has been putting in work on the new Bright Eyes album, due out sometime next year.

Entertain:

04-30 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella) *
05-02 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
05-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
05-19 Oxford, England - Zodiac
05-20 East Sussex, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (All Tomorrow's Parties) #
05-22 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
05-23 Cologne, Germany - Gebaude 9
05-24 Hamburg, Germany - Knust
05-25 Berlin, Germany - Maria
05-27 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
05-28 Brighton, England - Concorde 2
05-29 Bristol, England - Fiddlers
05-30 Leeds, England - Cockpit
05-31 Glasgow, Scotland - Oran Mor
06-02 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum (Primavera Sound Festival) ^
06-03 Reykjavik, Iceland - Nasa
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza) %

* with Tool, Madonna, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Massive Attack, Bloc Party, Sleater-Kinney, Mogwai, Wolf Parade, Gnarls Barkley, the Go! Team, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Art Brut, et al
# with David Cross, the Gossip, Spoon, Lightning Bolt, Joanna Newsom, Boredoms, Dungen, Radar Bros., Edith Frost, the Black Heart Procession, Fiery Furnaces
^ with Akron/Family, Animal Collective, the Boredoms, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Castanets, Constantines, Deerhoof, Dinosaur Jr., the Flaming Lips, Gang Gang Dance, Isobel Campbell, Jens Lekman, Lou Reed, Mogwai, Stereolab, Television Personalities, Vashti Bunyan, Violent Femmes, Why?, Xiu Xiu, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yo La Tengo, et al
% with Flaming Lips, Kanye West, Wilco Death Cab for Cutie, Secret Machines, the Go! Team, the Raconteurs, Queens of the Stone Age, the Shins, the New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, Built to Spill, Gnarls Barkley, Feist, Iron & Wine, Ryan Adams, Andrew Bird, Common, the Hold Steady, She Wants Revenge, Wolfmother, et al.

Sleater-Kinney: http://www.sleater-kinney.com/
Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com/

Boredoms to Tour Europe, America

To that end they've announced a spate of U.S. and EU tour dates, and if you know one thing, know the Boredoms' live spectacle is a rare and unique treat. So c'mon already people, get yr rejoice on!

Longtime drummer Yoshimi-- she of pink-robot-battling fame-- will be on board, along with two other drummers, and of course King Bore / maestro Yamatsuka Eye. As with anything Boredoms, details beyond that are sketch, so there's a chance they may retain the V8redoms moniker / play their entire catalog on kazoo / invoke the divine power of the sun to destroy us all. And we'll love it, best believe.

Hail the sunshine:

05-20 Camber, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (All Tomorrow's Parties)
05-22 Berlin, Germany - Maria am Ostbahnhof
05-26 Dublin, Ireland - Temple Bar Music Centre
05-29 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
06-01 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival
06-24 Chicago, IL - Intonation Music Festival
06-25 St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
06-27 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
06-28 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
06-30 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom

A date tentatively scheduled for Nantes, France has been cancelled, according to a European promoter. And a rumored six-disc Boredoms box set is also definitely not happening, according to the band's American label, Vice Records.

However, the Boredoms are slated to perform two free shows at New York's Deitch Projects gallery in early summer, as part of Yamatsuka Eye's "Drum Kit Parking Lot" exhibit. The installation opens July 7 and will feature 77 drum kits, set up by "eYe" (as he's known in the art world), and functioning as "artwork, architecture, and principally for activation," according to a press release. So bring the kids, this shit's interactive!

eYe will also collaborate with several other artists of note to create 20-foot murals for display and/or the blowing of minds.

Now please excuse me while I vanish into a plume of smoke.

Deitch Projects: http://www.deitch.com/
Vice Records: http://www.vice-recordings.com/

Sonic Youth Honored by Library of Congress

This week, the Library of Congress announced the 50 inductees to its 2006 class. Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues", President Calvin Coolidge's inauguration, the first trans-Atlantic telephone conversation, Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill", Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day", Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street", the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced, Frank Zappa's We're Only in it for the Money, Wendy Carlos' Switched-On Bach, Gil Scott-Heron's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life were among those that made the cut.

And so was Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation. Whoa. Was somebody in Washington reading Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1980s list?

Here's what the National Recording Registry's website had to say about the album:

"Pioneer members of New York City's clangorous early 1980s No Wave scene, Sonic Youth are renowned for a glorious form of noise-based chaos. Guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo had previously performed with Glenn Branca's large guitar ensembles, and their alternative guitar tunings and ringing harmonies attest to this apprenticeship. On Daydream Nation, their third album, the group's forays into outright noise always return to melodic songs that employ hypnotic arpeggios, driving punk rock rhythmic figures and furious gales of guitar-based noise. Bassist Kim Gordon's haunting vocals and edgy lyrics add additional depth to the numbers she sings."

Dude! The Library of Congress wrote that! The Library of frickin' Congress! Do we live in a great country or what?

Of course, the thrill of being honored by one of our nation's highest institutions will pale in comparison to Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's previously-reported appearance on the May 9 season finale of the WB's hit series "Gilmore Girls". Along with their daughter Coco, the pair will perform an acoustic version of the song "What a Waste", from the forthcoming Sonic Youth album Rather Ripped (due June 13 on Geffen).

Joe Pernice, Yo La Tengo, Sparks, Sam Phillips, and actress/singer/comedienne Mary Lynn Rajskub will also make guest appearances on the show. It's likely that Lane will have a heart attack...and we'll have to wait until next season to see if she pulls through.

And what would a Sonic Youth news story be without information on some side project or other?

If the Gilmore gals are really on top of it, they'll reference the new Perfect Partner box set, released by Electra Productions this week. A souvenir from a music/film performance that toured across Europe in 2005, the set includes music, art, and other show-related artifacts. Perfect Partner, dreamed up by Gordon, artist Tony Oursler, and filmmaker Phil Morrison, featured Gordon, Moore, Jim O'Rourke, Ikue Mori, DJ Olive, and Tim Barnes improvising music to a film projection starring Michael Pitt (hot guy from The Dreamers and Last Days; his band Pagoda is on Moore's Ecstatic Peace label).

Included in the package are a vinyl 12" with a recording of the project on its A side and an etching by Gordon and JD Walsh on its B side, autographed prints by Gordon and Oursler, a Perfect Partner poster with artwork by Gordon, Oursler, and Walsh, a script of the film, and, best of all, a glitter bumper sticker.

Only 500 were made, so they're pretty expensive (£75, which is about $130). Still, a glitter bumper sticker!

Also on the market right now from Important Records are a 7" and book/CD by Sonic Youth six-stringer Lee Ranaldo. The 7", Vancouver Ambients 1-4, is the sixth installment in the label's Arts & Crafts series. Pressed on clear vinyl and packaged with a screen print designed and signed by the man himself, it was recorded with the all-star lineup of Alan Licht on guitar, Christian Marclay on turntables, and William Hooker on drums.

The book/CD is a combination mail-order exclusive featuring an autographed copy of Ranaldo's tome Road Movies (featuring photos by his wife, Leah Singer) and the disc Ambient Loop for Vancouver.

Both the single and the combo pack are limited to 500 copies.

Fiiiiiinally, we'd like to remind you that Sonic Youth have a bunch of shows coming up, including a mini-tour with Pearl Jam, sets at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, and All Tomorrow's Parties' "Nightmare Before Christmas" in December, curated by Moore.

Daydream nations:

04-19 Paris, France - "Le Mouv" on Radio France
04-20 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
06-14 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
06-17 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel * 06-18 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival $
07-06 Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand #
07-07 San Diego, CA - Cox Arena #
07-09 Los Angeles, CA - Forum #
07-10 Los Angeles, CA - Forum #
07-13 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl #
07-16 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium #
07-18 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium #
07-29 Yuzawa-machi, Japan - Naeba Ski Resort (Fuji Rock Festival) ^
08-03 Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center (92.3 K-ROCK Presents Kuyahoga) +
08-05 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza) +%
12-08-10 Somerset, England - Butlins Minehead (ATP's Nightmare Before Christmas) &

* with Be Your Own Pet
$ with Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Ben Folds, Common, My Morning Jacket, Cat Power, Atmosphere, Amadou & Mariam, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Magic Numbers, Dungen, Andrew Bird, et al
# with Pearl Jam
^ with Broken Social Scene, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Franz Ferdinand, the Hives, Mogwai, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Scissor Sisters, Snow Patrol, Super Furry Animals, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolfmother, the Zutons, et al
+ with Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, Secret Machines, the Hold Steady, She Wants Revenge, Wolfmother, the Go! Team
% with Kanye West, Wilco, the Raconteurs, Queens of the Stone Age, the Shins, Sleater-Kinney, the New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, Built to Spill, Gnarls Barkley, Feist, Iron & Wine, Ryan Adams, Andrew Bird, Common, et al
& with Iggy & the Stooges

Sonic Youth: http://www.sonicyouth.com/
National Recording Registry: http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-nrr.html
Important Records: http://www.importantrecords.com/
Electra Productions: http://www.electra-productions.com/

Flaming Lips, Death Cab, Go! Team Rock Pre-Lolla Fest

In a bid to offer more to rock n' roll fans than the chance to gaze longingly at Bono's sunglasses behind plexiglass at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland will host actual, live musicians (who weren't at Woodstock) at the inaugural 92.3 K-ROCK Kuyahoga Festival. Taking place Thursday, August 3 at the Blossom Music Center in nearby Cuyahoga Falls and costing a measly $19.50 - $39.50 (before service charge), the festival will feature names familiar to anyone who already dropped $130 on those Lollapalooza tickets (starting the next day in Chicago). Names like: The Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, Sonic Youth, Secret Machines, The Hold Steady, The Go! Team, She Wants Revenge, Wolfmother, and more acts to be announced soon.

That's all fine and good, but it seems to me there's a glaring omission on this list. "They sold more than 15 million records. They recorded with The Notorious B.I.G. They recorded with 2Pac. They won a Grammy. They redirected hip-hop's sonic direction. Only one rap group has these impressive feats on its extensive resume..." wait for it...Cleveland's own: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

As their official website points out, Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone and Wish Bone have nothing left to prove in the music bizz, but that doesn't mean they're ready to rest on their laurels. It's just that when you have a resume that strong, you don't go out begging for work. Employers come to you. So organizers of the Kuyahoga Festival, your headliners are waiting for your call.

* Kuyahoga info: http://hob.com/tickets/eventdetail.asp?eventid=38434/

Bone Thugs: http://www.bonethugsnharmony.com

Spank Rock Sexes You Up With LP, Tour

On Tuesday, April 18, Spank Rock release their debut album YoYoYoYoYo through Big Dada. Get ready for music to celebrate nights you'll want to remember (but might not be able to).

Tracklist:

01 Backyard Betty
02 What It Look Like
03 IMC
04 Rick Rubin
05 Touch Me
06 Bump
07 Sweet Talk
08 Chilly Will
09 Far Left
10 Coke n Wet
11 Competition
12 Screwville, USA

Spank Rock hits the road today, and will spend the next three months partying across North America and Europe.

Revenge of the nerds:

04-13 Montreal, Quebec - Main Hall
04-14 Hamilton, Ontario - The Pepper Jack Café<br> 04-15 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern
04-16 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
04-17 Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar
04-18 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
04-19 Milwaukee, WI - Onopa Brewing Company
04-20 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
04-21 Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar
04-22 Denton, TX - Hailey's
04-23 Austin, TX - Emo's
04-24 Houston, TX - The Proletariat
04-26 Atlanta, GA - The Drunken Unicorn
04-27 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
04-29 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
04-30 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs
05-10 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
05-11 Paris, France - Solid Steel at Triptych
05-12 Paris, France - Radio Nova
05-13 Bern, Switzerland - Wasserwerk
05-14 Cologne, Germany - Gebäude 9
05-15 Munich, Germany - Atomic Café<br> 05-16 Berlin, Germany - Knaack
05-19 London, England - Fabric
05-22 Sheffield, England - Club NME at The Plug
05-23 London, England - Barfly
05-24 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's
05-25 Leeds, England - The HiFi Club
05-26 Manchester, England - Roadhouse
05-27 Newcastle, England - Digital
05-28 Nottingham, England - Stealth (Dot to Dot Festival)
06-01 Copenhagen, Denmark - Rust
06-02 Oslo, Norway - Bla
06-07 Vancouver, BC - Plaza Club
06-08 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
06-09 Portland, OR - Holocene
06-10 San Francisco, CA - Boca
06-11 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
06-12 San Diego, CA - The Casbah

Spank Rock: http://spankrock.net
Big Dada: http://www.bigdada.com

Geoff Farina, Ex-Karate, Goes Solo

Pitchfork spoke to Farina about the EP and his upcoming tour plans via email, and he said that the sound of the EP is similar to his last solo release, Reverse Eclipse, only "more acoustic. It's just guitar and vox like my other solo LPs." He also confirmed that he continues to work on full band music, just in a more ear-friendly way. "I've started recording some new band-oriented music at Andy Hong's studio (Kimchee) this month, with Luther Gray playing drums. I can't really say much about it until it becomes more definite, but I'm hoping to have a band-oriented recording out sometime early next year."

Until then, he already told you:

01 Femmes Damnees (Secret Stars cover)
02 Already Told You
03 Molasses to Rum
04 Kin of Carbons

He's also just wrapped up a brief tour of Japan, where they're for some reason privy to another EP that Farina says may or may not be released in the States, although he does say he may re-record some of the tracks for a future U.S. release. That tracklist, should you be eBay savvy (or just obsessive/compulsive):

01 White Off the Waves
02 All Points West
03 Shoe In (Secret Stars cover)
04 Biosphere II
05 On the Road Again (Bob Dylan cover)

Finally, he's planning on heading out for a solo tour of the East Coast next month before (tentatively) heading for Europe in the fall, and though the East Coast dates are still being announced, here's what we can tell you:

05-05 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
05-06 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
05-07 Arlington, VA - IOTA

Thermals, Menomena, Talkdemonic, Blow Get Remixed

Holocene Music focuses on local Portland music, teaming knob-twiddling beat merchants with shaggy rockers to create electro-twee swirl-jams. On Tuesday, April 18, the label will release its first compilation, the Liars-esquedly titled it's importland to me to be one step further than one step beyond. It features PDX luminaries like the Thermals, Menomena, Talkdemonic, and the Blow remixing and being remixed by each other.

Tracklist:

01 Menomena - "Twenty Cent Revolt" (Talkdemonic's Artists of These Instruments the Drums Remix
02 Blitzen Trapper - "Whiskey Kisser" (Kittenz Remix)
03 The Blow - "The Love That I Crave" (Strategy's Strata Club Remix)
04 YACHT - "SHTML" (Emergency Ghost's Silly Granny Remix)
05 Point Juncture, WA - "The Siesta Movement" (Dizzy Starhouse Remix)
06 Alan Singley - "On Leaving" (DJ Tant's Starlight Airport Remix
07 Snuggle Ups - "Ferris Wheel" (PGE's Makeout Sweetness)
08 The Thermals - "No Culture Icons" (Ovian Remix)
09 Point Line Plane - "Descender" (Solenoid Remix)
10 Hustler White - "Deadly Toe Ring" (DJ ASSCLAPP Remix)
11 01 (Pop Music) - "Don't Tell Me" (E*Rock Remix)
12 The Kingdom - "Love Is My Nation" (Copy Remix)
13 Bobby Birdman - "Holiday the Ghost" (Toothfairy Remix)
14 Talkdemonic "June Song" (Spleenless Remix)
15 Thanksgiving - "Get Married" (World Remix)
16 The Plants - "Acorn Child" (Strategy's Sitar Remix)

Later this summer, Holocene plans to offer two remixes 12"s, one of Copy's "Assassinator" and the other of Strategy's "Tomorrow May Never Come." Next up is a Gang of Four 12" series, featuring tweakages of "Not Great Men" (Phones extended version), "Anthrax" (Blood Brothers remix), and "Paralyzed" (Tortoise remix). Additional reworkings by the likes of Strategy, Safety Scissors, and more will be announced soon.

Holocene: http://www.holocene.org
Holocene Music: http://www.holocenemusic.com

TuneCore Helps Indie Acts Go Digital for Cheap

Nevermind that digital music retailers themselves take a hearty cut of each download sale, and perhaps reasonably so; what's more, just to get a song on iTunes or another service, an artist must utilize a label, or if unsigned, something called an "aggregator", to gain access to online music stores--and each of these generally takes a share of every download sale as well.

Enter TuneCore, a self-described "enabler", whose mission is to get unsigned artists into digital stores without compromising their rights or their monies. Launched on January 25 of this year, the new service charges a flat fee to deliver music to digital retailers, rather than the ongoing per-download percentage fee of labels and aggregators. TuneCore claims to be the first service of its kind and has already attracted a notable clientele base, including Frank Black and up 'n comers Tapes 'n Tapes.

In a nutshell, TuneCore offers artists "access to the channels of music distribution without having to give up any rights, [and] 100% of the revenue generated from the sale of their music, with no contract in a non-exclusive arrangement that can be terminated whenever they like," according to founder Jeff Price, who also runs spinART Records.

Sound too good to be true? TuneCore has kindly put together a tome of an FAQ here, which pretty much explains every remote nook and cranny of their operation.

But your mathematical mind wants numbers, doesn't it? Here're a few to crunch: according to TuneCore's FAQ, a single $0.99 song sold on iTunes generates $0.70 for the artist. If the artist in question is aligned with a label or aggregator, that service will take between nine and fifty percent of the artist's profit, on every single song download-leaving them with as little as $0.35. Pretty crumby, man.

With TuneCore, artists pay a one-time delivery fee for each digital retailer utilized, and a very reasonable yearly maintenance charge, et voila! It's just you and Gnarls, reigning atop the UK downloads chart. Or, at the very least, it's the full $0.70 on every iTunes U.S. download. And iTunes is just one of dozens of services TuneCore is partnered with; according to Price, others include Rhapsody, Napster, Walmart, Yahoo!, MTV, Virgin Digital, HMV, Trans World Entertainment, MusicGremlin, iMesh, Cdigix, Synacor (Adelphia, Charter, RCN), eMusic, and more.

If the digital age just isn't your thing, TuneCore also offers cheap CD manufacturing and distribution catalog listing, the details of which you may read about on their website.

For an unsigned band like Tapes 'n Tapes, TuneCore proved the perfect fit. "It really seemed like a no-brainer for us," manager Keri Wiese told Pitchfork. "It's a great way for a tiny label or unsigned band to get their music into iTunes. We found it very appealing that we retained all the rights, just paid a one-time fee and then in turn received all the money that iTunes, Rhapsody or whomever pays (no percentage taken out, like most distributors do), and could easily remove everything if we wanted."

Wiese reports that the brothers Tapes have had no problems with the service thus far, and "would highly recommend TuneCore for any band that's trying to do it on their own."

"[Using TuneCore] was still a little scary," Wiese admitted, "because they were so new and unproven. But Frank Black being their first customer sealed the deal for us. Frank's no dummy!"

True dat.

TuneCore: http://www.tunecore.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.)