Jack White's Raconteurs Serve up First Single

Okay, that's a total fib, but this isn't: it's new single time. The Raconteurs have just today presented the fruits of their studio labour to the UK masses, in the form of a limited edition 7" single for "Steady, As She Goes" (no, that isn't a grammatical error). That same single won't arrive on U.S. shores until March 7; until then, our American readership can stare at these track titles and imagine just how these tunes might rock (or sample them on the Raconteurs' website, which is designed to look like those computers we played Green Globs on in middle school):

01 Steady, As She Goes
02 Store Bought Bones

According to their cheeky retro website, the Raconteurs will unleash their debut sometime this May, titled Broken Boy Soldiers. And who would have guessed? A full-scale tour is presently in the works. One thing's for sure, though: the between-song banter had better be damned good.

In related White news, the White Stripes have rescheduled the Japanese tour that was postponed earlier this month due to White's vocal cord problems. Those new dates are:

03-05 Tokyo, Japan - Zepp
03-06 Tokyo, Japan - Zepp
03-08 Nagoya, Japan - Zepp
03-09 Osaka, Japan - Zepp

The Raconteurs: http://www.theraconteurs.com/

Liars Announce North American Tour

The international jetsetting trio will set upon U.S. shores come May, march Sherman-style across the Southeast and beyond, before swooping up into Canada, taking a festival holiday in Spain, and then crash-landing back in the New World for more unbelievably intense noise-rock action. War may be hell, but noise-rock is ecstasy:

02-10 Thessaloniki, Greece - Mylos
02-11 Athens, Greece - BIOS
02-22 Birmingham, England - The Medicine Bar
02-24 Glasgow, Scotland - Nice'n'Sleazy
02-25 Sheffield, England - Plug
02-26 London, England - Curzon Cinema Soho
03-16 London, England - ULU
05-13 East Sussex, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (All Tomorrow's Parties) *
05-17 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
05-18 Washington, DC - Black Cat
05-20 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
05-21 Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light
05-22 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
05-26 Austin, TX - Emo's
05-30 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
05-31 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse
06-02 San Diego, CA - Casbah
06-03 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
06-07 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
06-08 Portland, OR - Dante's
06-09 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
06-10 Seattle, WA - El Corazón<br> 06-13 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
06-16 Barcelona, Spain - Sónar Festival
06-17 Barcelona, Spain - Sónar Festival
06-18 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
06-19 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
06-21 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace

* with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Oneida, Blood Brothers, Ex Models, Celebration, Imaginary Folk, Tall Boys, Magik Markers, Services

* Pitchfork Review: Liars: It Fit When I Was a Kid EP

Liars: http://www.liarsliarsliars.com/
Mute: http://www.mute.com/

Exclusive: New Sufjan, Meloy on Kill Rock Stars Comp

In addition to Meloy's offering, the all-star extravaganza features hot new cuts from Wooden Wand, Death Vessel, Great Lake Swimmers, Jeff Hanson, Nedelle, and Lovers, as well as an Illinoisey treat from the man the P-fork news office affectionately calls Suf-jeezy.

With The Sound the Hare Heard, KRS continues their illustrious compilation tradition, highlighting big-name songsmiths, label luminaries, and Pac Northwest upstarts. What's more, according to KRS prez Slim Moon, the label hopes to put together a tour chock full of Hare Heard talent. Until those fateful dates arrive, feast yr eyes on this fashionable, double-LP-styled tracklist:

Side A:

01 Devin Davis: "When The Angels Lift Our Eyelids in the Morning"
02 Laura Veirs: "Cast a Hook in Me"
03 Sufjan Stevens: "Adlai Stevenson"
04 Thao Nguyen: "Feet Asleep"
05 Wooden Wand: "Bones for Doctor Swah"
06 Death Vessel: "Dancers All"

Side B:

07 Essie Jain: "Why"
08 Jeff Hanson: "Daylight"
09 Imaad Wasif: "Other Voices"
10 Great Lake Swimmers: "Where in the World Are You"
11 Owen McCarthy (of The Everyothers): "Stargazers Are Blind"

Side C:

12 Simone White: "The American War"
13 Nedelle: "Poor Little City Boy"
14 Southerly: "Dumbing Down"
15 Colin Meloy: "Lazy Little Ada"
16 Corrina Repp: "The Sound You Warn"

Side D:

17 The Moore Brothers: "Waves of Wonder"
18 Aliccia BB (of Slumber Party): "Best Friend Forever"
19 Danielle Howle: "Kill My Love For You"
20 Lauren Hoffman: "Another Song About the Darkness"
21 Lovers: "Honea"

2006 is set to be a huge year for Kill Rock Stars, with 48 releases scheduled for release in these 12 months. KRS and its artsy lil' sister label 5RC have gone on a serious signing spree of late, bringing a whopping ten new artists into the fold. According to Slim Moon, KRS just picked up Mary Timony, Wooden Wand and the Sky High Band (jeez, another Wooden Wand project?), Erase Errata, They Shoot Horses Don't They, Imaad Wasif (of alaska! and the Folk Implosion), and Mikamiko, while 5RC totally scored with Inca Ore, Knife Skills, Mick Barr (Orthrelm) and Zach Hill (Hella), and OCS. Put yr Google skillz to work and hear all these rad bands before your friends! Yes!

In addition, new discs from KRS vets Seconds, Anna Oxygen, Two Ton Boa, John Congleton of the pAper chAse, and Aliccia BB of Slumber Party, are all in the works. Whew.

And finally, KRS has at last revealed its designs on that big indie bacchanalia in the sky, South by Southwest. The Olympia-based label will dominate Thursday, March 16 with two star-studded soirees. How festive!

Here in the day:

03-16 Austin, TX - The Flamingo Cantina - Laura Veirs, Wooden Wand, Imaad Wasif, Comet Gain, Knife Skills, Spider and the Webs, Panther

Here in the night:

03-16 Austin, TX - Emo's Annex - The Gossip, Xiu Xiu, Erase Errata, Two Ton Boa, The Old Haunts, They Shoot Horses Don't They

Kill Rock Stars: http://www.killrockstars.com/
5RC: http://www.5rc.com

Rare Devendra, Postal Service, Meloy on Yeti Comp

The third volume of the esteemed zine Yeti has finally arrived, and it's a multimedia monster crushing any and all small presses in its path. Among its many treasures, the 244-page book contains interviews with Devendra Banhart, Neko Case, and William S. Burroughs (the latter previously unpublished); writing by avant-garde figurehead Henry Flynt, Galaxie 500/Damon and Naomi bassist Naomi Yang, and psych-sludge band the Apes; and illustrations by E*Rock and Carson Ellis (a.k.a. the Decemberists' graphics mistress and Colin Meloy's babymama). Cot damn.

And then there's the CD. Everything on it is previously unreleased, with the exception of three extremely rare recordings from alt-folkie Jolie Holland, gospel legend Washington Phillips, and I, Rowboat (a.k.a. Fruit Bats in their protozoan stage). So that means Yeti's got songs by Devendra, Iron and Wine, the Postal Service, and Colin Meloy that you've never heard before. What an embarrassment of riches.

The abominable snowman is jealous:

01 Terrified Kid - "On Santa's Lap"
02 Devendra Banhart - "Oh Me Oh My the Way the Day Goes By (demo)"
03 Jolie Holland - "Don't Get Trouble on Your Mind"
04 The Lights - "Victims of the Pleasures of the Sense of Hearing"
05 The Robot Ate Me - "We Were Humans"
06 I, Rowboat (Fruit Bats) - "U.S. Mint"
07 Dan Melchior & the Broke Revue - "Dumb Nostalgia"
08 KRMTX - "Palace of Divinity"
09 Henry Flynt - "Hillbilly Jive (version)"
10 Iron and Wine - "John's Glass Eye"
11 Timesbold - "Fencepost"
12 Steffan Basho-Junghans - "Rondo"
13 Devendra Banhart - "The Daughter of a Man Was Mammalian and Oh So Well Brested (demo)"
14 Haley Bonar - "Holiday in Outer Space"
15 Postal Service - "Recycled Air (live radio version)"
16 World - "Eternity Desert"
17 Dream Lovers - "Song for My Daughter"
18 Dead Science - "Hiroshima Love Song"
19 The Apes - "Apes Guide to Apes"
20 Birdbrain - "Heat"
21 Blues Goblins - "A Plague Upon the White House"
22 Colin Meloy - "Everyday Is Like Sunday (live)"
23 Mad Scene - "Western Garden + Outro"
24 Nov. 16 - "I'd Like to Think"
25 Ian Nagoski - "Pipe Sketch"
26 Devendra Banhart - "Todos Los Dolores Lla Se Van"
27 Washington Phillips - "What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?"

According to Yeti powerman Mike McGonigal, "healthy confusion is always the goal." McGonigal plans to continue blowing minds in 2006 with the April release of Yeti 4, featuring Werner Herzog, Destroyer, Michael Hurley, and Judee Sill in its pages and Mike Doughty's recordings of Ethiopian musicians on disc. To give you an idea of what else to expect from future issues, Yetis 1 and 2 included tracks from Elliott Smith, Calexico, Harry Smith, and Iron & Wine (covering Stereolab's "Peng!" and the Flaming Lips' "Waiting for Superman").

Yeti: http://www.yetipublishing.com

DFA Remix Collection Due in April

Many of these mixes are extremely rare and/or out of print. So quit scouring Soulseek and get ready to hear this stuff pumped out of Bose systems at every boutique in town.

Beat connection:

CD:

01 Le Tigre - "Deceptacon"
02 The Blues Explosion - "Mars, Arizona"
03 The Chemical Brothers - "The Boxer"
04 Soulwax - "Another Excuse"
05 Radio 4 - "Dance to the Underground"
06 Fischerspooner - "Emerge"
07 Gorillaz - "Dare"
08 Metro Area - "Orange Alert"
09 Hot Chip - "Just Like We (Breakdown)"

Double vinyl:

A Gorillaz - "Dare"
B Radio 4 - "Dance to the Underground"
C Le Tigre - "Deceptacon" / Metro Area - "Orange Alert"
D The Blues Explosion - "Mars, Arizona"

Like what you see? Good: Chapter Two, expected to hit in late summer, is slated to include Murphy's and Goldsworthy's takes on Goldfrapp and Nine Inch Nails among others. DFA Records also plans to release new material from LCD Soundsystem, the Juan Maclean, Black Dice, Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom, and Black Leotard Front within the coming year. Shake down!

DFA: http://www.dfarecords.com/

Orthrelm Plot North American Tour

On the coattails of OV's spot on Pitchfork's fave albums of 2005 list, as well as a PLUG Awards nomination for "Best Avant Album of the Year", the Washington, DC duo of Mick Barr and Josh Blair will tour as Orthrelm for the first time in more than two years. One has to wonder, though: can the group freak out hard enough and play the entire 45-minute piece? Maybe they'll split it up, or perform some selections from their 2002 99-track EP Asristir Vieldriox. At least there are plenty to choose from. Don't forget yr surgical mask:

02-05 Berlin, Germany - Club Transmediale Festival
02-08 Norfolk, VA - Relative Theory Records
02-09 Winston-Salem, NC - The Werehouse
02-10 Chapel Hill, NC - Wetlands Music Hall
02-11 Myrtle Beach, SC - The Social
02-12 Orlando, FL - Will's Pub *
02-13 Tampa, FL - Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark *
02-14 Tallahassee, FL - The Beta Bar
02-15 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
02-16 Athens, GA - Caledonia
02-17 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
02-18 Champaign, IL - Cowboy Monkey
02-19 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Saloon #
02-20 Tulsa, OK - The Mercury Lounge #
02-21 Odessa, TX - Einstein's Revenge #
02-22 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room #$
02-24 San Diego, CA - Che Café #
02-25 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell #&
02-26 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory #^
02-27 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill #
03-01 Portland, OR - Food Hole #
03-02 Olympia, WA - Yes Yes #
03-03 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project #
03-04 Missoula, MT - Higgins Alley #
03-05 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge #
03-06 Denver, CO - Monkey Mania #
03-07 Lincoln, NE - Knickerbockers #
03-08 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club #
03-09 Dubuque, IA - Busted Lift #
03-10 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen #
03-11 Traverse City, MI - American Legion
03-12 Toronto, Ontario - The Boat
03-13 Montreal, Quebec - Friendship Cove +
03-14 Boston, MA - Great Scott %
03-15 New Haven, CT - BAR %
03-16 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head %
03-18 New York, NY - Tonic %@

* with Yip-Yip
# with Zombi
$ with Skeleton Key
& with Bipolar Bear
^ with Books on Tape, Young People
+ with Athletic Automaton
% with Growing
@ with Blue Velvet

An Orthrelm/Behold the Arctopus split CDEP is due out March 29 on Crucial Blast, and a collaboration between Barr and Hella drummer Zach Hill is in the works for Kill Rock Stars. Barr will release a solo record under his Ocrilim moniker this spring on I & Ear Records. Does this dude ever sleep?

Orthrelm: http://www.millionraces.com/orthrelm.htm
Ipecac: http://www.ipecac.com/

The Concretes Ready Sophomore Album

The follow-up to the Concretes' self-titled 2004 LP, In Colour was put to tape in a pair of unlikely, albeit intriguing, twin cities-- Stockholm, Sweden and Omaha, Nebraska-- with production duties helmed by Bright Eyes/Rilo Kiley/Cursive producer Mike Mogis.

While we imagine the final product won't stray too far from the sugar-spun tunes the indie-pop confectioners are known for, a press release for the album went boasts that "In Colour is classic Americana and Southern Soul rerouted via Northern Europe. Evocative of a line of records that veers between Dusty in Memphis and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours through to Cat Power's The Greatest and Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake It's Morning."

Which can only mean one thing: The Concretes have hired Terence Trent D'Arby as their publicist.

Anyhoo, In Colour features lead vocals from guitarist Maria Eriksson and drummer Lisa Milberg for the first time, with the latter duetting with the Magic Numbers' Romeo Stodart on "Your Call".

The full tracklist:

01 On the Radio
02 Sunbeams
03 Change in the Weather
04 Chosen One
05 Your Call
06 Fiction
07 Tomorrow
08 As Four
09 Grey Days
10 A Way of Life
11 Ooh La La
12 Song for the Songs

The album's first single, "Chosen One", is due out on CD and 7" February 27 in the UK. The song is backed by "Reverberation" and "Postpone It".

A handful of live dates have also recently been announced in support of the album, with the Concretes hitting up six UK cities in mid-February. A more robust schedule is expected to be announced post-album release. The current lineup:

02-15 Bournemouth, England - The Old Fire Station *
02-16 London, England - Brixton Academy #%
02-18 Liverpool, England - Liverpool Academy 3 $
02-19 Wolves, England - Wolves Civic Hall #
02-20 Edinburgh, Scotland - Edinburgh Corn Exchange #
02-21 Blackpool, England - Blackpool Empress Ballroom #
02-22 London, England - Scala

* with M Craft
# with Magic Numbers
% Shout Out Louds
$ with Jim Noir

The Concretes: http://www.theconcretes.com/

Mp3 Blog Soul Sides Bringing Rare Tracks to CD

Journalist/activist/DJ/all-around cool dude Oliver Wang (or O-Dub if you're nasty) has maintained Soul Sides, one of the best audioblogs on the net, since early 2004. An invaluable source of unearthed R&B, soul, funk, and hip-hop tunes, Soul Sides uses Wang's bottomless record collection for its source material.

And now, those deep cuts will be available to everyone, even those without a DSL connection. Wang has partnered with Zealous Records to bring the listening public Zealous Records Presents Soul Sides Volume One, a compilation of rare soul music, which will hit stores March 21.

How rare, you ask? It's got Aretha Franklin's sister, Erma, singing the original recording of "Piece of My Heart." It's got Donny Hathaway doing John Lennon's "Jealous Guy". It's got Clarence Reid before he was Blowfly. Consider yourself schooled.

Tracklist:

01 Charles May and Annette May Thomas - "Keep My Baby Warm"
02 Clarence Reid - "Master Piece"
03 Lee Moses - "Time and Place"
04 Amanda Ambrose - " (I Ain't Singing) No More Sad Songs"
05 Erma Franklin - "Piece of My Heart"
06 Donny Hathaway - "Jealous Guy"
07 Linda Lyndell - "What a Man"
08 Jimmy Jones - "Live and Let Live"
09 Ann Sexton - "You're Gonna Miss Me"
10 Johnny "Guitar" Watson - "Loving You"
11 Joe Bataan - "Ordinary Guy"
12 Weldon Irvine - "Morning Sunrise"
13 William Bell - "I Forgot to Be Your Lover"
14 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "All Over Again"

A portion of the proceeds from the disc's sales will go to the nonprofit Rhythm and Blues Foundation, an organization that provides financial and medical assistance to older R&B artists who, to be blunt, got screwed over by the system, ya'll. So by buying this CD, you can damn the man, save the empire, and take a soul trip all in one fell swoop.

* Rhythm and Blues Foundation: http://www.rhythm-n-blues.org/

Soul-Sides.com: http://www.soul-sides.com
Zealous Records: http://www.zealousrecords.com

Nightmares on Wax Prepare Fifth LP

Semi-accurate at its best, a marketing ploy for the over-30 crowd at its worst, trip-hop at its height was blunted hip-hop beats mixed with a dash of jazz and a dollop of house music and given a fuzzy name.

Nevertheless, there were a few gems to pop up from this morass. One of the masters of the genre was and is George Evelyn, aka DJ E.A.S.E., aka Nightmares on Wax, who, after creating classic rave-era singles such as "Dextrous" and "Aftermath" became one of the leaders of the Headz crowd. His 1995 and 1999 albums Smokers Delight and Carboot Soul were sultry, silken, and rugged, with jazz stabs in all the right places and a penchant for inducing lazy head nods, chemically enhanced or not.

After a three-year break from releasing albums, Evelyn is back in his NOW guise with In a Space Outta Sound, due out March 7 on Warp Records.

Space features songs that jump from reggae to African percussion to Motown to a "Persian snake charmer's harpsichord," according to a Warp press release. Evelyn's influences include Curtis Mayfield, Quincy Jones, Sarah Vaughn, Duke Ellington, James Brown, dancehall, and old school hip-hop, all of which can be heard in ample amounts on the new record, bouncing up against each other comfortably (check out the dub slow-burner "Flip Ya Lid"-- it's pure Sunday afternoon aural bliss).

Featured vocalists on Space include Chyna B, Sara Garvey, and Moses, who has worked with Zero 7 in the past. NOW will head out on the road in 2006 with a handpicked soundsystem, the Irration Steppas. Dates to come.

Still smokin':

01 Passion
02 The Sweetest
03 Flip Ya Lid
04 Pudpots
05 Damn
06 You Wish
07 Deepdown
08 Chime Out
09 Me!
10 I Am You
11 Soul Purpose
12 African Pirates

Nightmares on Wax: http://www.nightmaresonwax.com/
Warp: http://www.warprecords.com

Seattle Grunge Revived on New Compilation

Sleepless in Seattle (god, could they really not come up with a better name?) includes semi-popular cult bands (Screaming Trees, the Melvins), long-thriving success stories (Mudhoney, Supersuckers), and a bunch of groups that incubated future stars (Blackouts members joined Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, Green River peeps became Pearl Jam, Treepeople's Doug Martsch is the frontman for Built to Spill, etc.)

(Babes in Toyland are also on the comp, even though they were from Minneapolis, not Seattle. But we're not complaining about that. We are, however, complaining that Emerald City metal gods Queensrÿche were left out in the rain. Even though they have no real connection to the bands on this collection or to grunge in general, they do have a wikked ÿ in their name. See? Queensrÿche.)

Accompanying the music is a booklet detailing the mid-80s/early-90s rise of the Pacific Northwest scene by Seattle music historian Clark Humphrey. No word yet if it will also include stereotypically hilarious cartoons depicting couples dumpster-diving in plaid flannels and baby doll dresses, but one can dare to dream.

Smells like nostalgia:

01 Blackouts - "Happy Hunting Ground"
02 Mr. Epp & the Calculations - "Mohawk Man"
03 U-Men - "Solid Action"
04 Green River - "Come on Down"
05 The Melvins - "Grinding Process"
06 Malfunkshun - "With Yo' Heart (Not Yo' Hands)"
07 Screaming Trees - "Orange Airplane"
08 Mudhoney - "In 'n' out of Grace"
09 Babes in Toyland - "He's My Thing"
10 Tad - "Giant Killer"
11 Coffin Break - "Crawl"
12 Treepeople - "Guilt Regret Embarrassment"
13 Skin Yard - "Hallowed Ground"
14 Gruntruck - "Tribe"
15 The Gits - "Second Skin"
16 Love Battery - "Half Past You"
17 Hammerbox - "Trip"
18 Seaweed - "Losing Skin"
19 7 Year Bitch -"The Scratch"
20 Supersuckers - "Creepy Jackalope Eye"

In other grunge revival news, Billboard reported last month that an onslaught of Tad-related material is due next year. In addition to a DVD documentary and CD of unreleased songs, frontman Tad Doyle is working on solo projects and bassist Kurt Danielson is writing a book. It's about coffee, heroin, rain, Singles, and wearing boxers on your head. Kidding!

Sleepless in Seattle: The Birth of Grunge: http://www.birthofgrunge.com/
Livewire Recordings: http://www.livewirerecordings.net/

Fiery Furnaces' Matt Friedberger Talks Solo Project

Yes, albums. This summer, Friedberger will unleash not one but two solo records on the brand-new label 859 Recordings. The LPs will be paired together, Outkast-style, and will be respectively titled Holy Ghost Language School and, tentatively, A Miserable Life for Nieces.

Currently holed up in Key Club Studio in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Friedberger took a break from recording to chat with Pitchfork about his ambitious new project.

"They sound very nice," Friedberger said of his two bundles of joy. "And entertaining. The one record is a story record, [about] a guy from Chicago [who] goes and starts a business school for English in Japan that operates by xenolalia, you know, to do the business transactions. So they get the Holy Ghost and start speaking in tongues to negotiate." Wow, sounds like a lost Zappa record.

Added Friedberger, "even if that sounds like a silly story, it's just fun for a record because then you get speaking in tongues and you get to have people getting happy on it."

As for the other record? "It's unfortunately got me singing all the time. It's not very aggressive, I would say. Actually, there's a lot of guitar solos, I guess."

True solo affairs, Holy Ghost and Miserable Life will be decidedly sibling- and matriarch-free. "I'm afraid it's just me," Matt joked. "There's a lot of machines playing on it...they have their own personalities. Like, this is kind of weird: This Tapco 4400 Reverberations system has a definite personality. But yeah, there's no other people."

So why the sojourn into solo-hood? "Eleanor's on vacation," Matt revealed. "We have a logjam of records, so [this is] the only way to have something come out relatively quickly."

"And I don't have to bother Eleanor to get her to sing all this crap, so...that's the advantage. It's an act of mercy."

Song titles for the more straightforward record include "Betcha Don't", "Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company Resignation Letter", "Wisconsin River Blues", "Do You Remember?", "Big Bill Crib and His Ladies of the Desert", "PS 213 Mini-School", "I Love You Cedric", "Nola", "Servant in Distress", "Up the River", "Motor Man" (about "the guy who runs the ‘L' train"), "Hialeah", and "Quick as Cupid".

Holy Ghost Language School may include "Seventh Loop Highway", "The English English Teacher" and "ATA Flight 4377" ("That's my favorite one," proclaimed Matt).

Clearly, Friedberger has high aspirations for his art: "I hope they're very friendly," he said of the records. "Nice for people to put on in the background."

So, any final words for Pitchfork, Matt?

"Well, don't make fun of me too much."

No problem, Mr. Burger and Fries. Just kidding!

As previously reported, Matt, Eleanor, and the whole Fiery gang will head out on the road in February. Here are those dates again:

02-10 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
02-11 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom
02-13 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle *
02-14 Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre *
02-15 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel *
02-17 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder *
02-18 St. Petersburg, FL - The State Theatre *
02-19 Orlando, FL - The Social *
02-20 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds *
02-22 Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar *
02-23 Nashville, TN - Exit / In *
02-24 St. Louis, MO - Mississipi Nights *
02-25 Champaign, IL - High Dive *
02-27 Indianapolis, IN - The Music Mill *
02-28 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *
03-01 Millvale, PA - Mr. Small's Theatre
03-03 Ithaca, NY - Cornell University
03-04 Providence, RI - Rhode Island School of Design Auditorium

* with Deadboy & the Elephantmen

The Fiery Furnaces: http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com/

Grandaddy Call It Quits

"We've seen an erosion happening," Lytle said. "I use the word ‘erosion' in the most natural way I possibly can. It's not entirely such a bad thing. We have just, throughout the years, always looked at every album coming out as ‘Wow we've got another album, now what?' So that's still going on right now, it's just that it's a lot different. We're not jumping on that big rock n roll conveyor belt that happens when the album's done.

"Everybody has been set free to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue, whether it be amateur poker playing, or [becoming] veterinarians, or working in a hot dog stand."

While Lytle will continue making music, he has no plans to use the Grandaddy name for something it's not (see: INXS, Queen, the Doors, etc.) "I think myself and the rest of the band hold that [name] pretty sacred," he said. "It definitely won't be this random assembly of crap shot players. There are plenty of people who are capable of standing up there and executing the songs. But it wouldn't be comfortable for anyone."

He added, "For whoever gives a shit, they can rest assured that it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's no sadder than...I'm likening it to the natural crumbling of canyon walls. It can be sped up or done in by artificial forces. I just think we saw the opportunity to bring it to an end, to do it and still remain friends."

As for Lytle's next step, well, he's not so sure what that will be. "All I'm working on now is regaining a pure appreciation for just playing music, just sitting and playing music. It seems to have been attached to and saddled by a lot of stuff. It's getting fun again.

"I don't intend on ever stopping. I've actually tried to stop a bunch of times, but it's not really possible. Sometimes I hate it so much, because it's something that fatigues me. I'm going to do something, but I have no idea what."

Just Like the Fambly Cat, with its sweeping, fuzzed-out soundscapes and hearty guitar crunch serving as a fitting epitaph for the band. Here's the tracklist:

01 What Happened
02 Jeez Louise
03 Summer... It's Gone
04 Oxygen/Aux Send
05 Rear View Mirror
06 The Animal World
07 Skateboarding Saves Me Twice
08 Where I'm Anymore
09 50%
10 Guide Down Denied
11 Elevate Myself
12 Campershell Dreams
13 Disconnecty
14 This Is How It Always Starts
15 Shangri-La (outro)

In less dramatic Grandaddy news, the band's 1999 Single to Snow Ratio EP is available online for the first time, courtesy of the Rhapsody music service. Comfort yourself with these tracks:

01 Hand Crank Transmitter
02 Jeddy 3's Poem
03 MGM Grand
04 Protected From the Rain

Grandaddy: http://www.grandaddylandscape.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.)