Indie Rock Label Sub Pop Signs Indie Hip Hop Group Shabazz Palaces

via Seattle Weekly

Two EPs and just a pair of local shows into their existence, Shabazz Palaces -- the Seattle hip-hop duo featuring Digable Planets' Ishmael Butler -- have inked a deal with Sub Pop Records. Their full-length debut is due via the label sometime next year.

In a press release this morning, Butler, AKA "The Palaceer" and "Palaceer Lazaro" says:

"I think we both have a lot of love, appreciation, respect and energy for music and for each other. Recognizing the fact that business is necessary for maximizing exposure to it, I think we mutually feel that doing business is less a 'job' and more an opportunity to exercise those feelings in dope ass ways."

Shabazz Palaces by subpop

Indie Rock And Hip Hop Collide As Stalley Performs With Ava Luna

Recorded at New York City’s famed Chelsea Hotel, Stalley drops some mercurial bombs with uber cool indie rock band Ava Luna, as heard on Stalley's MadStalley: The Autobiography (mixtape).

Sage Francis 'Li(f)e' Album Artwork & Info

via ANTI-

The new album Li(f)e by hip hop iconoclast Sage Francis is an impassioned and timely critique of cultural hypocrisy and organized religion. The record’s cover art has been created by renowned artist and illustrator Shepard Fairey who first gained notoriety with his "André the Giant” street art and later with his iconic Obama “Hope” poster. For the cover of Li(f)e Fairey has employed his distinctive agitprop style to create a suitably provocative image of an unwavering and winged Francis caught in the crosshairs as flames rise beneath him.

“I really wanted to get a Shepard Fairey album cover sometime in my career,” Francis explains. “I eventually sent him a picture of me which was taken at my most destitute time when I didn’t have anything and I was crashing on my friend’s floor. I was making music but I had to obscure the way I looked because it didn’t fit in with the way people thought hip-hop was supposed to be. But eventually I just took this really ugly photo of myself in all my mutton chop biker mustache whiteness and made it my logo. And Shepard used that old photograph to make this amazing image for the album’s cover.”

Musically Li(f)e is refreshingly unique. Francis’ biting and sardonic wordplay now further empowered by talented musicians including producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine) and Jim Becker and Tim Rutili of acclaimed Chicago outfit Califone. Francis has also enlisted a roster of uniquely talented songwriters including ex Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle, Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie, Tim Fite, members of Calexico, DeVotchKa, and Mark Linkous (R.I.P.) of Sparklehorse – each of whose compositions were then interpreted by Francis and the band. The result is a challenging and defiantly honest new album from an ever evolving artist.

Sage Francis will be performing songs from Li(f)e at the upcoming South By Southwest Festival on Tuesday March 18 at The Independent, 501 Studios, 501 Brushy Street at 12:30 am.

Francis will then be embarking on a North American tour beginning with B. Dolan and Free Moral Agents starting this May.

Sage Francis Tour Dates:

SXSW @ The Independent on Thursday, March 18 at 12:30 a.m.

05/12/10 Cambridge, MA Middle East Downstairs 480 Massachusetts Ave
05/13/10 S. Burlington, VT. Higher Ground 1214 Williston Rd
05/14/10 Portland, ME. Port City Music Hall 504 Congress St
05/15/10 Ottawa, ON. Ritual Nightclub 137 Besserer Street
05/16/10 Toronto ONT The Opera House 735 Queen St. East
05/18/10 Detroit, MI. Alvin's 5756 Cass Ave.
05/19/10 Chicago, IL. The Bottom Lounge 1375 W Lake St
05/20/10 Milwaukee, WI. Turner Hall 1032 North Fourth St.
05/21/10 Minneapolis MN First Avenue, 701 First Avenue North
05/22/10 Columbia MO, The Blue Note 17 North Ninth Street
05/24/10 Englewood, CO. Gothic Theatre 3263 South Broadway
05/25/10 Salt Lake City, UT. Urban Lounge 241 South 500 East
05/26/10 Missoula MT. Badlander 208 Ryman St
05/28/10 Edmonton, AB. The Starlite Room 10030 102 Street NW
05/29/10 Calgary, AB. Distillery 615 7 Ave
05/31/10 Vancouver, BC. The Biltmore Cabaret, 2755 Prince Edward St.
06/01/10 Seattle WA, Showbox SoDo 1700 1st Ave.
06/02/10 Portland, OR. Berbati's Pan 231 SW Ankeny
06/04/10 San Francisco CA, The Fillmore 1805 Geary Blvd.
06/05/10 Santa Cruz, CA. The Catalyst 1011 Pacific Avenue
06/06/10 Los Angeles CA, Henry Fonda Theater 6126 Hollywood Blvd.
06/07/10 Solana Beach, CA. Belly Up Tavern 143 S. Cedros Ave.
06/09/10 Pomona, CA. The Glass House 200 West Second Street
06/10/10 Tempe, AZ. The Clubhouse 1320 E. Broadway Rd.
06/11/10 Tucson AZ, Club Congress 311 East Congress
06/12/10 Albuquerque NM Sunshine Theater 120 Central Ave. SW
06/14/10 TX, .DALLAS Granada Theatre 3524 Greenville Avenue
06/15/10 Austin TX, Mohawk, 912 Red River
06/16/10 Houston TX House of Blues - Houston 1204 Caroline Street
06/18/10 Orlando FL Club at Firestone 578 North Orange Ave.
06/19/10 Atlanta, GA. The Loft 1374 W. Peachtree
06/21/10 Carrboro , NC. Cat's Cradle 300 East Main Street
06/22/10 Washington DC Rock and Roll Hotel 1353 H St. NE
06/23/10 Baltimore MD, The Ottobar, 2549 North Howard St.
06/24/10 Philadelphia, PA. Trocadero, 1003 Arch Street
06/25/10 New York NY. Webster Hall, 125 East 11th St.

Broken Bells: Danger Mouse & James Mercer Indie Rock Project L.A. Showcase

via the Los Angeles Times

Broken Bells, the hotly anticipated new project between Danger Mouse and the Shins' James Mercer, had a coming-out-party Friday night (Feb. 19), performing at the intimate Bootleg Theater for industry pals and those lucky enough to score some of the tickets that went on sale Friday morning. With a capacity of about 200, tickets didn't last long, and Pop & Hiss was forced to head home to watch some Olympic ice dancing instead.

Nevertheless, plenty of amateur videographers were in attendance, and YouTube continues to help bring some context to rock 'n' roll myth-making. Above, Mercer and Danger Mouse, performing as part of what we're told was a six-piece band, dig into lead-off track "The High Road," from the act's upcoming March 9 release of its self-titled effort.

With Mercer tapping his falsetto, and the slow, trippy introduction of background harmonies, Broken Bells manages to sound familiar yet contemporary, like the uncovering of a vintage album given some modern electronic flourishes. Or, to use a musical reference point, a more soulful take on the folksy-electro sound used to great effect by the Beta Band.

Broken Bells, which will appear at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, pulled out some rock-crit-approved covers, including the Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" and Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson & Clover."

Danger Mouse & The Shins' Frontman James Mercer Form Broken Bells

via Reuters

NEW YORK (Billboard) – Observed over Stellas in the lounge at the Soho Grand, Danger Mouse and James Mercer make an unlikely pair.

Mister Mouse -- whose birth name is Brian Burton -- has a neatly trimmed Afro and goatee; he could be the founder of some startup that combines social networking, crowd-sourcing and, say, cats. Mercer, best known for fronting the indie rock act the Shins, looks like Kevin Spacey. Burton represents his home base of Los Angeles -- he's a multiracial genre-crossing musician whose iPhone screensaver is a picture of ferrets dressed as characters from "The Wizard of Oz." Mercer lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, who owns an organic bedding company, and two kids. He worries about public schools and his backyard compost pile.

But when one half of Gnarls Barkley and the man behind Natalie Portman's favorite band met at a festival in 2004, things clicked. They kept in touch, hung out at other fests and finally tied the knot in 2008 and formed Broken Bells. Now, almost two years later, the pair is about to release a self-titled album, due March 9 on Columbia.

"It was good timing for both of us," Mercer says. "I was trying to figure stuff out and I wanted to do something different. I tossed around the idea of a solo record, but in the end, I'm glad Brian was looking for someone to work with, because it would have been crazy for me to do it on my own."

The album the pair created is multilayered and almost psychedelic, tethered by Mercer's steady vocals -- and it manages to sound almost nothing like the Shins or Gnarls Barkley.

Mercer is quick to add that the new project doesn't mean that the Shins are defunct. Burton says that Gnarls Barkley is on hiatus while he works on Broken Bells and Cee-Lo records a solo album, but notes that the future is unpredictable. "I never feel like I have to do anything," he says. From his pioneering Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up "The Grey Album" to his production work on Beck records, Burton's career has been built on anything but predictability.

Read the rest of the full article here:
Reuters - Danger Mouse, James Mercer ring in Broken Bells

GZA Talks Indie Rock Collaborations With The L.A. Times

How did you end up collaborating with The Black Lips and King Khan?

Originally, it came about through my manager Heathcliff [Berru]. The bands were fans of Wu-Tang and I and we decided to perform together. It worked out well; they’re good musicians and we have a mutual admiration and love. The thing is, they were already connecting with me in some way first. I’d never heard their music before, but I was feeling it and when I saw both of those groups perform live, I knew I could work with them. The vibe was there.

Much of current hip-hop -- particularly the more mainstream iteration -- is characterized by glossy shiny-sounding production. Did some of your desire to work with the Black Lips and King Khan stem from the similarity of their lo-fi aesthetic to the beats you came up rhyming on?

That’s my problem with the stuff today -- it doesn’t sound raw and uncut. When the Black Lips sent a track over to me, I thought it sounded like a Beastie Boys track, the way the singer was singing and flowing on it. He was right in the pocket. You don’t get hip-hop that sounds that gritty anymore, you get some Auto-tune, ping-pong computer-made and Casio stuff.

And the collaboration with Devendra Banhart?

GZA: I met Devendra at Coachella. I watched him and Gang Gang Dance perform and thought they both put on really great performances. I was like ‘who is this guy,’ because he was rocking, and it turned out that he was a big fan. When I met him, he told me what an honor it was and how much he loved “Liquid Swords” and Wu-Tang. So it was a beautiful connection.

A lot of rappers have tried to chase whatever trend was hot, whether it’s Auto-tune or getting the hottest R&B hookman on a track, but you’ve carved out a different path.

I think it’s about being original and creative. You’ve got to be comfortable with yourself. There’s no set way to do anything. Sometimes you have to go outside the box, sometimes you can do things the standard way. Like you don’t have to have a beat to write a song, sometimes you can write lyrics without the music. A lot of artists think that to be current, you have to follow what’s out there and do something that’s so unlike what you normally do. It can work but it doesn’t if you chase it.

What’s the current status of your next album with the indie-rock collaborations? Also, what’s going on with the Wu-Tang? Are there plans to do another album?

I’ve got some songs done for my own album, but I’m still writing and recording. There’s been talks about doing another Wu-Tang album and going out on the road to promote it. We’ve just all got to get together and do it. (source)

(MF) Doom: New Album Collection And Working With TV On The Radio Guitarist

via press release

DOOM is one of the most original and uncompromising voices in hip-hop. From his work in the 90's with the seminal KMD to his legendary releases under a variety of aliases including MF Doom, Madvillain, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Dangerdoom & more, his prolific body of work has always valued artistic integrity and creativity over anything else. As numerous and varied as his albums are, DOOM also has a thick catalog of guest appearances, remixes, non-album tracks, & vinyl only singles. For the first time, Unexpected Guest presents many of these hard to find tracks as a mix CD, executed and overseen by the Super Villain himself.

With a list of co-conspirators which includes marquee level names such as Talib Kweli, Ghostface & GZA as well as underground heroes Vast Aire, CountBass D & Kurius, the music on this disc highlights DOOM's ever-present trademark wit and taste for raw and ominous beats. On "Trap Door," he spits couplets like "No curse words / DOOM the worst church nerd verse heard" over a plucked bass and guitar line from producer Jake One that sounds like the funkiest spy movie soundtrack imaginable. "Sniper Elite" sees the emcee united with the late J Dilla, and is one of the many tracks featured that has yet to see an official CD release. The album will also feature a never before heard live version of DOOM's classic "I Hear Voices" from the Operation Doomsday album.

Peppered with his signature comic book dialogue and vintage sound clips, Unexpected Guests presents a treasure trove of DOOM obscurities which should shed light on material that even some hardcore fans may have missed. It's a frenetic, virtuosic look at a true hip-hop original.

Tracklist (Final tracks and running order TBA)
01. Get 'Er Done ft. DOOM - Jake One
02. Fly That Knot ft. DOOM - Talib Kweli
03. Sniper Elite ft. DOOM - Dilla Ghostface DOOM
04. Trap Door ft. DOOM - Jake One
05. Sorcerers ft. DOOM & Invizible Handz - John Robinson
06. Da Supafriendz - Vast Aire
07. Quite Buttery - Count Bass D ft. DOOM
08. ? - DOOM ft. Kurious
09. All Outta Ale - DOOM
10. E.N.Y. House - Masta Killa
11. Bells of DOOM - DOOM
12. My Favorite Ladies - DOOM
13. Street Corners (Remix) - Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck & GZA

Also read here:
MF Doom and TVOTR’s Dave Sitek to release album