Tokyo Police Club will be releasing their new one, Elephant Shell, later in April but a new song has already mysteriously leaked early.

“In a Cave” comes off of Elephant Shell (wish it was Elephant Chews), their debut full length album and first partnership with Omaha’s Saddle Creek Records. According to the band:

We are all really excited to finally announce the release date of our record. It will be in stores in the US, Canada, and Australia on April 22nd and UK, Continental Europe on May 5th. We are also going to be releasing a bonus remix EP along with the record. Stay tuned for more details on that!

We'll be making the trip down to Austin for SXSW to play a few shows. Our friends at The Onion are throwing a couple of parties that we'll be partaking in along with The Saddle Creek Showcase on Saturday night at The Dirty Dog Bar. Hope to see you there.

We are also finishing up the routing for our UK/European tour in late May/ early June so we should have even more dates to announce in a week or so. Also, wanted to let people in Australia and Japan know that we haven't forgotten about you, we should have some shows in your neck of the woods coming later on this summer!

Our tour starts in a few weeks and we'll be playing a bunch of the songs from the new record! See you there!

New Tokyo Police Club “In a Cave”

In support of Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, this Sunday and Monday (3/2, 3/3) members of the Canadian band Arcade Fire will be playing 2 free shows in Ohio.

Win, Will, Regine and Jeremy will be performing on Sunday at Stuart’s Opera House (Nelsonville) and Monday at Beachland Ballroom (Cleveland).

Both shows start at 7pm and are first come first serve (the Cleveland show at Beachland is also 18+).

Why are a group of Canadians so interested in American politics? According to the band:

Though the Arcade Fire is known as a Canadian band, Win and Will were born and raised in the U.S. (and spent their formative years in Texas), Regine is a dual citizen whose dad served in Vietnam, and Jeremy Gara is just a really nice Canadian who likes playing music and is sick of explaining to Americans what universal health care means.

Arcade Fire Free Shows Next Week in Ohio

The Black Cab Sessions take singers and musicians around London in a, wait for it, black cab and have said musician(s) prove they have chops by having them perform in the back of the cab with nothing more than an acoustic instrument.

The sessions are already on the 31st installment and even they express amazement that it’s taken this long to have a Spoon edition. Britt Daniel gladly got into the stranger’s cab recently (Spoon played London on Monday) and performed the band’s “I Summon You” from this summer’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

If this cab’s a-rockin’, it probably needs new struts.

Britt Daniel “I Summon You” Black Cab Session

[Via]

Photo: Angela Jimenez

Classic Mission of Burma albums Signals, Calls, and Marches, Vs., and The Horrible Truth About Burma are getting the reissue / remaster treatment via Matador Records on March 18th.

For the vinyl remasters, engineer George Marino is making sure the process stays “old fashioned” and the vinyl is going to be created directly from the master (instead of analog > digital > analog > digital etc). The result will be a sound more authentic to MoB’s signature sound as well as not the “glossy” sound remasters sometimes get, even when on vinyl.

Mission of Burma Remastering CLIP 1




Mission of Burma Vinyl Mastering Clip 1

Daniel Johnston has proven to be an anomaly in the music world. His small fanbase swelled beyond Austin, TX in the 80’s and, thanks in part to nods from bands like Jad Fair, Sonic Youth, Spiritualized and Nirvana, his notoriety grew to a national level throughout the 90’s.

In 2005, Johnston was the subject of the award winning The Devil and Daniel Johnston documentary that focused on his life, his music and the bipolar disorder that he has struggled with for most of his life.

A.V. Club recently spoke with Johnston at length about his career to this point, his own reaction to seeing a documentary about his own life and what the future holds for him. Particularly interesting is Johnston’s feeling that The Devil and … should’ve been provided with a laugh track. According to Johnston:

"It was funny to me, because that was the fattest I've been. It's like Abbott and Costello. Fat dudes—somebody to laugh at. The whole film, I looked like some kind of monster. I'm trying to lose weight, and it really makes me mad, because I haven't been able to. I want to get some girls and try to look all right. I'm drinking diet soda and everything."

The Onion A.V. Club: Daniel Johnston Interview

photo by: Danielle Millea

Vampire Weekend are cursed. The band has been in London for the Shockwaves NME awards and last night, while leaving a party at the Hoxton Hotel, drummer Chris Tomson was struck by a car. The car sped off leaving Chris for dead but luckily Tomson was able to receive immediate medical attention.

Tomson was sent to the Royal London Hospital with head and neck injuries and was kept overnight for observation. Since then, doctors have declared Tomson fit and will dispatch him today with “bumps and bruises”. Tomson’s accident comes on the heels of keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij’s recent illness.

Police are looking into reports that Paul Simon was driving the perpetrating car.

Vampire Weekend's Paul Tomson Involved in Accident

Jersey City’s WFMU (91.1 FM) has taken great pains to remain not only freeform, but also to continue to exist as one of the country’s last non-commercial radio stations. To help handle production costs, once a year the station holds an annual fundraiser. The time, it is now.

This Sunday will mark the halfway point of the WFMU’s fundraising drive and, as is tradition, NJ’s own Yo La Tengo will take requests from pledge givers. The band has been doing the “request-a-thon” for the station since 1996 and have even released the best on a CD.

If you’d like to partake, Yo La Tengo will be on the air with WFMU this Sunday (3/2) from 5pm to 8pm (EST). Pledge and help WFMU, as we know it, stick around.

Yo La Tengo “Request-a-Thon”

Heroes, the show favored by fans of young looking girls and racial stereotypes, will capitalize on the success of the show with a brand new soundtrack, available only in Best Buy and “select digital service providers” on March 18th.

The soundtrack is set to include a brand new Jesus and Mary Chain song (“All Things Must Pass”), the New Pornographers, Bob Dylan, My Morning Jacket, David Bowie, Imogen Heap, Nada Surf and Death Cab for We-Can’t-Even-Spell-No Cutie.

Remember, if you’d like the album, you must purchase it in Best Buy only or a week later in your favorite used records store.

Heroes Soundtrack:
1 Wendy and Lisa - Heroes Title
2 Wendy and Lisa - Fire and Regeneration
3 Brighton Port Authority featuring Iggy Pop - He's Frank
4 New Pornographers - All For Swinging You Around
5 Wilco - Glad It's Over
6 Nada Surf - Weightless
7 Panic! At The Disco - Nine In The Afternoon
8 My Morning Jacket - Chills
9 Wendy and Lisa - Natural Selection
10 Shelia Chandra - ABoneCroneDrone 3
11 Imogen Heap - Not Now But Soon
12 Death Cab For Cutie - Jealously Rides With Me
13 Jesus and Mary Chain - All Things Must Pass
14 Wendy and Lisa - Homecoming
15 Bob Dylan - Man In The Long Black Coat
16 Yerba Buena - Maya's Theme
17 Chemical Brothers featuring Spank Rock - Keeping My Composure
18 David Bowie - Heroes

Heroes Soundtrack Includes Brand New JAMC

Tom Took a Long Coffee Break Yesterday. You Know What He Needs? A Waterboardin’!

One Good Way to Prepare Your Staff and Students Is to Have Drills. If They Involve Guns Though, You Should Probably Give Them a Head’s Up.

Shocking: Hot Girls Flying from Florida to LA Accused of Being Bratty, Entitled Twats. Girls Maintain That They Are ‘Hot’ and Everyone Else Is Just ‘Jealous’.

Man Critical After Finding Poisonous Substance In Hotel Room. Though This Happens Daily, This Time, The Substance Was Ricin.

If I Send You Nude Photos of Myself Via Text Message or the Internet, You’ll Be the Only One to See Them Right? Stupid Teens in Trouble for Being Stupid.

USA! USA! USA! One in 100 US Adults Getting Their Meals for Free.

The $1 Million Iraq Vacation.

Being a Woman: Serious Business. Might Even Present a Hurdle for a Presidential Candidate.

Woman Finds ½ of a Frog in Her Fast Food Salad. Authorities Find That That Was the Only Nutritious Thing in There.

Like the Old Saying Says, It’s Like Taking Money from a Ruthless Biker Gang…Something Something.

Grizzly Bear stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW yesterday, running through a number of favorites as well as debuting a new one, “While You Wait for Others”. Due to the studio’s recording capabilities, the performance can still be heard by those other than the public radio listening yuppies on their way to work.

Grizzly Bear has dates planned for the upcoming weeks including April shows in Brooklyn with Paul Simon. Yes that Paul Simon.

Mar 01, 2008 Los Angeles, CA Walt Disney Concert Hall, with the LA Philharmonic

Apr 05, 2008 Cincinnati, OH MusicNOW Festival at Memorial Hall

Apr 23, 2008 Brooklyn, NY Love in Hard Times: The Music of Paul Simon (American Tunes Series), at Brooklyn Academy of Music

Apr 24, 2008 Brooklyn, NY Love in Hard Times: The Music of Paul Simon (American Tunes Series), at Brooklyn Academy of Music

Apr 25, 2008 Brooklyn, NY Love in Hard Times: The Music of Paul Simon (American Tunes Series), at Brooklyn Academy of Music

Apr 26, 2008 Brooklyn, NY Love in Hard Times: The Music of Paul Simon (American Tunes Series), at Brooklyn Academy of Music

Apr 27, 2008 Brooklyn, NY Love in Hard Times: The Music of Paul Simon (American Tunes Series), at Brooklyn Academy of Music

Grizzly Bear “While You Wait For the Others”