Sebastian Grainger, former drummer and lead singer of Canada’s sadly defunct Death From Above 1979, has a new band called Sebastian Grainger & The Mountains. The quartet’s myspace page has three “working mixes” posted, and they sound very, very promising, despite being a far cry from DFA1979’s glorious pummeling bass/drums attack. From the default [...]

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I know it pays the bills and everything to sell the remains of your dignity to soulless corporations, but would you really want a classic song off your defining early LP associated with Grade D beef that’s barely fit for human consumption? It’s probably a clever marketing ploy, since Joe Jackson has a new [...]

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I freakin’ love Depeche Mode, but honestly, I never cared all that much for “Personal Jesus.” It’s flimsy little guitar riff (wait, someone in Depeche Mode owns a guitar?) is too cheap and choppy, and it’s trite, blues-like progression makes for one of the weaker cuts off Violator. And Mr. Gore, just how exactly does [...]

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After an unexpectedly popular first season of its dryly understated HBO series, Flight of the Conchords, the New Zealand comedy duo comprised of Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie has a full-length LP in the works with Sub Pop, who released a teaser EP, The Distant Future, back in August. Billboard is reporting that all of the songs expected [...]

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Never one to shy away from political haughtiness of his own, folk-punk troubadour Billy Bragg has chimed in on the Morrissey “not a racist” PR scandal via The Guardian’s editorial pages. Bragg lightly slaps Morrissey for stirring up drama when the former Smiths singer knows good and well everything he said was caught on tape. Morrissey [...]

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Sometimes Throwing Muse and longtime solo artist Kristin Hersh has created CASH Music (the acronym stands for Coalition of Artists & Stake Holders), which is a ”new music business model” wherein artists post free mp3’s in multiple formats for listeners to critique, remix, or even produce. Hersh is no stranger to this process, as I was [...]

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Echo & The Bunnymen have made plans to recreate their monumental 1984 album Ocean Rain live in concert with a full orchestra in tow. The show is scheduled for September 16, 2008 at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Despite the fact that drummer Pete DeFreitas died over 18 years ago and bassist Les Pattison abandoned the [...]

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After reuniting in 1998 for the enormously successful Resurrection Tour, art-punk pioneers, Bauhaus, have taken their time putting together new material. The band originally split in 1983 after lead singer Peter Murphy fell ill during the recording of its then swan-song Burning from the Inside, allowing guitarist Daniel Ash to take up the slack. The taking up [...]

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Evan Dando recently told Billboard that his resurrected version of The Lemonheads is set to release a new album next spring. Recording will begin in January, but Dando is tight-lipped about the whole thing because he’s afraid of jinxing it. He’s not back on the crack again is he? Considering the ho-hum return of The [...]

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I guess it takes a fan revolt to force Prince into writing his best song in years. After threatening to sue his own fans for posting his likeness on their fan sites devoted to him, Prince has taken his tirade one step further: he’s written a diss song about the whole situation. When the fan [...]

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So, Thom Yorke shoots down Paul McCartney for a duet request. He is a Beatle, but I still don’t blame Yorke’s decision. What’s Paul done for you lately? Or in 20 years? The Starbucks record? Poor Paul had to comment on the rebuff publicly, explaining how Yorke had said “he couldn’t because he only [...]

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In case you missed Conrad Keely’s Interscope bashing screed on Trail of Dead’s official website just over a week ago, fear not, as the cached version shall live on, having made the rounds across everyone’s RSS feeder, anyway. The band’s manager, Asif Ahmed, has since fielded questions regarding Keely’s diatribe and the band’s split from Interscope, saying it [...]

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Seattle’s Sub Pop Records is taking digital distribution into its own hands with a new mp3 shop. Its current online catalog is running 200 albums deep. No individual track purchases are available yet, and the encoding is only 192kbps. But, Sub Pop is open to criticism and welcomes user feedback to help improve the store. Albums are [...]

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Clover, the little-known backing band that played on Elvis Costello’s debut, My Aim Is True, some thirty years ago is reuniting with Costello for the first time since they all left the studio when the album wrapped. The cause is for Costello’s long-time friend and fellow musician, Austin De Lone, whose son suffers from “Prader-Willi [...]

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More less-than-reliable news has surfaced claiming that things might be brewing in the My Bloody Valentine camp. Billboard is sourcing the Daily Swarm with the scoop that Kevin Shields has indirectly confirmed that My Bloody Valentine will release new music by the end of this year. He appeared in an interview segment with The [...]

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News of Pete Doherty’s recent “recovery” from drug addiction was taken with exaggerated rolls of the eyes the world over. It was more than a little disingenuous to expect people to buy news that Britain’s most willfully notorious junkie was suddenly all cleaned up. Doherty has forced cynicism upon his press with blatant and comical setbacks [...]

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Prince is an asshole. I’ve never heard of a celebrity who made it so difficult to be a fan. He won’t even let his fans call themselves fans. They’re “fams.” Now he’s threatening to sue said “fams” for posting pictures their tattoos if they bear his royal likeness. What a cock. I realize Prince has always restricted access [...]

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Parlophone isn’t just going to sit back and watch Radiohead rake in all the money now that the band has jettisoned the mothership. The ousted label already has plans for a box set, comprised of all six of Radiohead’s studio albums, which will be available on December 10 via the band’s website. The set will also [...]

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Lingerie model Jeanette Sliwinski was found guilty of “reckless homicide” for slamming her car into another car containing Silkworm drummer Michael Dahlquist and two friends, who were stopped at a red light on their way to lunch on July 14, 2005. Although, the judge rejected an insanity plea, Sliwinski’s defense successfully argued that she was [...]

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Last night at a show in Columbia, SC Murder By Death announced that its new record, Red of Tooth and Claw, would be out by the end of February. And Blabbermouth has word today that the typically pop-punk home Vagrant Records will be releasing it. The band tried out several new songs last night, and [...]

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