Tampa Calling

A selection of CDs, EPs, LPs, Digital Releases, DVDs and Box Sets that dropped today.

Arcade Fire, Miroir Noir DVD (Merge)
The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, When Sweet Sleep Returned (Tee Pee)
Bat for Lashes, Two Suns (Astralwerks)
Black Dice, Repo (Paw Tracks)
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Vs. Children (Tomlab)
Crystal Antlers, Tentacles (Touch & Go)
Del the Funky Homosapien, Funk Man: The Stimulus Package (digital self-release)
Doves, Kingdom of Rust (Astralwerks)
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, A Stranger Here (Anti-)
Erasure, Total Pop! (Rhino) [box set]
The Felice Brothers, Yonder Is the Clock (Team Love) Read the rest of this entry »

On February 18th, both the Chicago Tribune and Pitchfork ran stories that put a knife through the heart of the punk/indie world. Venerable Chicago label, Touch and Go Records would be closing it’s distribution wing and massively scaling back it’s own output. This decision, that I’m sure was made after all other options were exhausted, effects more than just T&G’s roster. They provided distribution for 23 other labels Read the rest of this entry »

Pitchfork recently ran a comprehensive guide to releases coming up in 2009. I’ve scaled it down to the highlights (no box sets, re-issues, vinyl, 7″ or overseas releases) and added a few as well. Click here to see Pitchfork’s complete guide.

JANUARY

06
*The Brighton Port Authority, I Think We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat (Southern Fried)
Glasvegas, Glasvegas (Columbia)
The Gourds, Haymaker! (Yep Roc)

13
Late of the Pier, Fantasy Black Channel (Astralwerks)
Lymbyc System, Carved by Glaciers (Magic Bullet)
My Dear Disco, Dancethink (Dancethink)
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Greatest Hits (Columbia Wal-Mart exclusive)
This Will Destroy You & Lymbyc System, Field Studies (Magic Bullet)
*Derek Trucks Band, Already Free (Sony Legacy)

20
*Andrew Bird, Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
*Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light (Secretly Canadian)
*Bon Iver, Blood Bank EP (Jagjaguwar)
Calexico, Live From Austin, TX (New West DVD)
John Frusciante, The Empyrean (Adrenaline Music)
Ice-T, Live in Montreux 1995 (MVD DVD)
Matt and Kim, Grand (FADER)
*The Modern Skirts, All of Us in Our Night (Modern Skirts Recordings)
A.C. Newman, Get Guilty (Matador)
Ben Nichols, The Last Pale Light in the West (The Rebel Group)
Or, The Whale, Light Poles and Pines (Seany)
Public Enemy, Revolverlution Tour 2003 (MVD DVD)
*Squarepusher, Numbers Lucent EP (Warp)
*Umphrey’s McGee, Mantis (Sci Fidelity)

27
*The Bird and the Bee, Ray Guns Are Not the Future (Blue Note)
Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun (Capitol DVD)
Circlesquare, Songs About Dancing and Drugs (!K7)
*Cotton Jones, Paranoid Cocoon (Suicide Squeeze)
*Dan Deacon/Adventure, Split 12″ (Carpark)
*Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino/Epic)
Hot Chip With Robert Wyatt and Geese EP (Astralwerks)
Kylie Minogue, Boombox: The Remix Album (Parlophone)
of Montreal, Jon Brion Remix EP (Polyvinyl)
Owen, (the ep) (Polyvinyl)
Rush, Retrospective 3 (Atlantic CD/DVD)
*RZA, Afro Samurai: The Resurrection (Wu Music Group)
Duncan Sheik, Whisper House (Victor)
Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream (Columbia)
*The Sway Machinery, Hidden Melodies Revealed (JDub) Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s what piqued my interest while sitting outside, soaking up this warmest of winter days and scanning the ‘Net:

• Eccentric R&B diva Erykah Badu on her freshly minted album New AmErykah, Part One (4th World War) (New York Times).

• More good news for everybody’s favorite singer/tabloid star and recent Grammy winner: “Amy Winehouse will not face charges” (Reuters).” On a related note, New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones weighs in with a rather pedestrian Winehouse “think piece” — did you know “the lens recording her movements is wider than anything a ’60s celebrity would have encountered”? It’s titled “Amy’s circus: The strange power of junkie retro soul.”

• Progressive-blues duo the Black Keys team with Gnarls Barkley-producer Danger Mouse on new album (Rolling Stone).

• Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy talks to Billboard about his upcoming solo tour — sorry, no Florida dates — and live album due out April 8.

• Arcade Fire “Rock Ohio for Obama” (Pitchfork); explain that they’re really not Canadians.

• Hipster alert: Ever heard of Neutral Milk Hotel (Slate)?

• Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs keep it funky in New Orleans (Village Voice).

• The soundtrack to the hit TV series Heroes drops March 18. Album features previously-released tracks by Dylan, Wilco, Bowie, My Morning Jacket and others; plus a new number by Jesus and Mary Chain dubbed “All Things Must Pass” (CMJ). The band recently performed the song on Letterman (here’s the YouTube clip).

• Hair metal has-beens like L.A. Guns battle over ownership of the groups’ names (Los Angeles Times).

• “Episode 23 of SMAsh Radio features an exclusive interview with local-boys-done-good, Tres Bien! They discuss touring, their love of Britney Spears, the Tampa Bay scene and also give us the scoop about their recent run on Fox TV’s Next Great American Band.” Click here to read my interview with Tres Bien! and check out the comment posted by “Alissa 69,” who questions whether the band “sold out.”