In the case of Ting Tings, or anyone that’s ever sold their music to Apple, accepting the “sellout” is probably worth the bling that rolls in after being in an iPod commercial. See also: Feist, CSS, et al. Now if only we could get Chris Knox an iPod commercial. Or Tom Waits. Actually, given that two of my idols (knox, merritt) have succumbed to the all powerful commercial, I wouldn’t be surprised by the others hopping on the bandwagon to the bank.

Mario’s got a new album coming out June 8. You can sample a track at MySpace. (Looks like a few dates are planned around the release, including a stop at DC’s Red & Black.)

If you didn’t dig on the animated video, here’s a slightly more meatspace take on the catchy tune, Bag of Hammers. It also helps to confirm that Thao is indeed female, if you were wondering.

For a band that once released a new 7″ vinyl single every month for an entire year, going completely digital must feel like a shock to the system, but The Wedding Present has succumbed to technology with the release of “The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend”, a true to form single in both its Smiths-ishly wry title and punchy guitar hooks. David Gedge and the latest incarnation of The Wedding Present’s revolving door line-up will release the Steve Albini-produced El Rey on May 20 via Manifesto Records. It’s been an uphill climb for these perennial underdogs, but there’s something buoyant about David Gedge’s pop songs that can’t seem to keep him down for long. Stream the new single at the band’s MySpace, or purchase it here. 

After a successful and tasteful resurgence, the reunited original line-up of Gang of Four has been cut in half, as bassist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham have quit due to time constraints. Allen posted an amicable missive on his blog, explaining his decision:

“At the beginning of April, I decided that I could no longer continue to be a member of Gang of Four. My ability to give 100% to the band is limited and I feel that if I can’t do so, then I shouldn’t continue. As I expand my research and thinking about contemporary music distribution on Pampelmoose.com, and as I focus on online technology and social networking at Nemo Design here in Portland, I find myself conflicted about how the band’s new music should be released. To retain any credibility for Pampelmoose.com about what the future of music distribution will look like, I have to move on and not hold back Jon and Andy’s music plans.”

All of which means Jon King and Andy Gill will continue on as Gang of Four, unfortunately. A new album was in the works with the original four. No word yet on whether the final product will feature that line-up. I think I’d just call it a day if half my band quit, but King and Gill have carried on this way in the past. Remember Mall?  *Shudder*.

Instead of yelling “Sellout,” in this case I actually found Faded Paper Figures via the above Lexus commercial. (via)

I’ve grown up resignedly accepting the fact that there are some bands I’ll just never get to see live. Not because they’re dead, but because they had bad break ups or whatever various and sundry reasons caused their demise. Talking Heads is one example. Well, a few exceptions have creeped up on me over the years much to my delight. I got to see Bauhaus in 1998, which blew me away, not only because it was just surreal seeing a band that was so inextricably bound to my adolescence that I thought it was a permanent part of the past but because they were absolutely amazing.  And I saw The Police last summer, which was equally surreal, if not quite as energized. I’m not a big fan of reunions, per se, but I love music more than I hate reunions. The news of My Bloody Valentine’s regrouping shouldn’t have surprised me that much given the fact that just about every band on the planet is getting back together whether anyone actually wants them to or not, but I guess I figured Kevin Shields had morphed into too much of a freak hermit to pull it off. So, I’m beyond intrigued/excited to see how they sound 17 years after the release of Loveless, one of my favorite albums of all time.

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Elvis Costello’s been very public about his annoyance with making records in today’s iPod culture of instant consumption, so to acknowledge the impending death of the compact disc, Costello has issued his new record, Momofuku (explanation here), in only digital and vinyl formats. That’s right, no CD’s. So, he’s taking care of the hardcore fans with the vinyl and nodding to the future present with digital downloads. Those pesky, transient compact discs aren’t going to be collecting any dust in the Costello rack at your local record store. We’re lucky he even agreed to put out a record at all after saying he only cares about playing live anymore. He’ll be getting plenty of exposure this summer opening for that band The Police. I don’t know who will be able to afford his concert. I guess the corporate dicks who eat up all the spots at Superbowls. Stream Costello’s new record here.

Tom Waits is such a bad ass. For one thing, you never have to worry about hearing a Tom Waits song played during a commercial for nachos, as he is staunchly against using his music to sell products. The cryptically funny troubadour rarely tours, but I was lucky enough to catch him on a rare outing in 2006. Well, today his official website has a YouTube link to his a “press conference” announcing his upcoming Glitter and Doom tour, which hits twelve cities this summer. If you’re even casually familiar with Waits’ music and appreciate his sense of humor, do whatever it takes to see him live. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

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“Three Women”, the infectiously poppy new Stereolab video over at Pitchfork.tv, is a crash course in psychedelic animation. This is the first single off the band’s forthcoming Chemical Chords LP due out August 19th on Too Pure. Pitchfork also recently spoke with guitarist Tim Gane about the band’s first new album in four years and its bizarre recording methods.

As was widely reported last week, The Cure plans to release four new singles on the 13th of each month leading up to the release of its (surprise, surprise) as-yet-untitled 13th studio album in September. First up on May 13th is “The Only One”, which is backed by the non-album b-side “NY Trip.” Each single will feature unqiue b-sides and will be available in physical and digital formats. Sounds great, right? Well, one thing all the news reports forgot to mention is the fact that “The Only One”, which is streaming at The Cure’s official website, isn’t so good. It’s been rough being a Cure fan for the last, oh, decade or so. With each successively worse album, it gets harder and harder to defend the bright spots, which in all honesty were sorely lacking on 2004’s self-titled monolithic retread produced by nu-metal fruitcake Ross Robinson for reasons still unfathomable. It was the aural equivalent of stepping in gum. And there’s no return to form here. Robert Smith is still out of ideas, lyrics, and editors. “The Only One” has the unwelcome happy-go-lucky feel of “High” off Wish- not exactly a choice song to imitate. It’s innocuous alterna-pop with gratingly insipid lyrics mixed up so high that the music almost sounds incidental. Smith’s idiosyncrasies ceased to be charming the moment “Friday I’m in Love” landed on the charts in all its cloying indulgence. That patronizing, pandering stab at blatant commerciality paved the way for Smith’s manipulation of his fanbase ever since. This may be the first Cure album I avoid altogether.

I’ve been reading some ho-hum impressions of Scarlett Johansson’s debut single, “Falling Down”, and, after listening myself, I must say I’m sort of surprised by the complaints. It’s nowhere near as meh as people are saying. I was expecting it to be horrible based on some of the hyperbolic headlines. Granted, it’s not great. It’s tough to cover Tom Waits, though. So, points just for trying. And I think Scarlett sounds like Sinead O’Connor in the lower register parts, which is certainly not a slight. I know Scarlett can sing; she’s just very subdued on this single. The video is right boring, though. But guess what? The whole storyline is “Scarlett Johansson gets all hotted up”, so you know it can’t be that bad.

After weeks of sold out shows in Europe, Damon Albarn’s opera, Monkey: Journey to the West, makes its way stateside for a brief run at Charleston’s Spoleto Festival May 22 - June 8. Tickets range from $25 to $65 and the opera will be held at the Sottile Theater at the College of Charleston.

Here’s a preview of the opera, for which Blur/Gorillaz frontman Albarn wrote the score, artist Jamie Hewlett designed the visuals, and Chen Shi Zheng directed:

Yesterday, a friend asked what I had been listening to lately. My mind went blank. We had discussed Crystal Castles earlier, but I couldn’t think of anything else. Of course, it wasn’t for lack of listening that I couldn’t name anyone in particular. I listen to music all the time. A lot of which falls through the cracks or doesn’t make it into my head in time to share with friends.

Anyhow, here’s what I’ve been “spinning” the past week or so. Perhaps others will chime in. I know last.fm provides this sort of service, but sometimes it’s nice to just hear from folks directly.

K’s rotation:
She & Him (still can’t stop listening to this. I think I have a crush on Zooey)
Santogold
Los Campesinos
Crystal Castles
Thao Nguyen
The Notwist
Caribou
Maps
The Replacements (re-releases inspired a re-visiting of their catalog)
DeVotchKa
MGMT

Ready for Summer? Apparently Summerville, South Carolina is a good place to start. Check out the retro summer sounds of The Explorers Club. “The band draws on the soul-satisfying vocal style made famous by the Beach Boys and the Association, and pairs it with arrangements patented by the likes of Phil Spector, the Left Banke and the Zombies.”

The Explorers Club - “Do You Love Me?”
(via)

Dwindling record sales of artists big and small doesn’t elicit a lot of sympathy from consumers these days. In an age when typing in your favorite artist into your favorite Bit Torrent engine is the de facto response to having to pay actual money for music, being in a band is more of a gamble than ever, particularly if you want to make any money at it. The most common complaint I hear from touring bands is that people don’t buy CD’s anymore. Bands make their money off t-shirts and specialty hoodies as opposed to the actual art form their trying to promote.

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Pas de chat! Ok, it was on BoingBoing, so I’m sure everyone’s seen it, but I couldn’t not post it.

This is my favorite song off my favorite record of the year so far (Foals’ Antidotes). No matter what else I get my hands on, I keep coming back to (and consequently cannot stop listening to) this record. I know the post-punk/dance-punk flavor is wearing thin for many, but Foals just do it exactly right. It’s catchy as fuck. It rocks. And you can dance to it. Eat shit, naysayers.