Ethereal piano-pop band Black Mamba has become the latest artist to sign with San Diego label Single Screen Records. They are currently finishing up a 6 song EP, which will be released through the label on 12-inch vinyl in early 2009.
And while you’re eagerly awaiting the release of their EP, do yourself a favor and go see them live. They’ll be playing at the Beauty Bar with Drew Andrews and Boomsnake on December 9th, and at The Casbah with Tape Deck Mountain and Madison County on December 22nd.
Paul McCartney is pushing for the release of the lost Beatles song “Carnival Of Light”. The track was recorded in 1967, and has only once been played for an audience. While this initially sounds like great news, I must admit to having some concerns.
San Diego veterans The Boyish Charms are nearly finished with the recording of their new EP, to be titled Infinity In Its Infancy.
Set for a March release, the EP will boast a whopping eight songs, which is like two EPs in one, or one slightly-short full length, or even four singles. The ample number of tracks shouldn’t come as a surprise; the prolific band already has six full length albums, three EPs, and a seven-inch in their illustrious discography.
British girl group The Pipettes have had a tumultuous year. Shortly after their terrific debut album, We Are The Pipettes, hit American shelves, two of the trio’s members left to pursue other projects. Remaining member Gwenno Saunders soldiered on, recruiting her sister Ani Saunders and Anna McDonald to replace them, and the new lineup was set to record their eagerly awaited follow-up album.
It would appear those plans have hit a snag: today the Pipettes camp announced the departure of Anna McDonald, leaving the group once again short a member. The reason for the departure, according to the band’s announcement, is that McDonald wanted to “pursue a song-writing career outside of the band.” The band insists that plans to record the next Pipettes album are still afoot, and they are currently searching for the “perfect Pipette”.
Last night’s Colbert Report featured the indomitable Stephen Colbert announcing, like many influential conservative figures, his coveted endorsement for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Despite this, Colbert won’t be voting for Obama. He’s a conservative, for Chrissake.
After recently releasing a new track, Eminem has stirred rumors about a comeback, but he first has a memoir to publish. The new book, titled The Way I Am: A Tale of Self-Love, is expected by Eminem to comfort the world and explain his long and painful absence from our lives.
The memoir, to be released October 28, will contain long-winded details about his early careers as a “factory floor sweeper and short-order cook” will likely bring hope to ignorant and semi-retarded white Floridians who cite Eminem’s dirtball-to-greaseball Cinderella story as an inspiration.
The late Warren Zevon’s self-titled album will be reissued on November 11.
Originally produced by Jackson Browne and featuring celebrity members of the 1970s, this version will include fifteen unreleased tracks on a second CD.
According to Rhino,
[The second disc] contains 15 unreleased tracks, including different versions of every song on the album. Several demos capture Zevon alone at the piano, including a poignant take on Frank And Jesse James, a song he wrote while touring with The Everly Brothers. A demo Zevon recorded for Hasten Down The Wind features a full band. In addition, the collection presents alternate versions of Poor Poor Pitiful Me and Carmelita along with different takes from the sessions for Join Me In L.A. and Desperados Under The Eaves. The live bonus track of Mama Couldn’t Be Persuaded was recorded in October 1976 during an appearance on the Cleveland radio station WMMS.
Chicago’s super-awesome Pit Er Pat are hitting the road this fall in support of High Time, their new album due out on 10/21. This effort finds the band traveling down a dusty and dark path with guitars, sequencers, drum machines, and a slew of foreign percussions.
Just in time for Black Friday, the good people at Rhino will release a 45-track Smiths compilation that “collects it all: Hits, B-Sides, Live Cuts & Rarities”. The Sound of the Smiths will be available as either a single-disc or two-disc collection on Nov. 11.
The single disc version won’t include anything on Disc 2, which looks to be the disc over which existing fans will drool.
The Decemberists have finished tracking their new full-length record, to be titled Hazards Of Love, and are about to begin mixing. The band is otherwise tight-lipped regarding its follow-up to 2006’s The Crane Wife, but we’ll keep you posted as details emerge.
Chicago post-rockers The Sea and Cake have completed Car Alarm, their followup to 2007’s Everybody. The new record, their eighth LP, is scheduled for release on October 21.
According to Thrill Jockey, Car Alarm sounds like “The Sea and Cake in overdrive…a band that’s honed its songs to a hard edge.”
Frankly, this band “in overdrive” is kind of hard to imagine, but it’s also really interesting to know.
Good news on the Vic Chesnutt front. Coming off the heels of his really good release “North Star Deserter,” Mr. Chesnutt teamed up with Elf Power to record Dark Developments.
A tuneful collision of Athens institutions finds fruition this fall when Orange Twin releases Dark Developments, Vic Chesnutt’s collaboration with Elephant 6 psychsters Elf Power. As intriguing as this combination may seem for fans of either act, the final sonic results reveal a daunting sum much greater than even the involvement of such esteemed parts would imply.
Personal information that you submit to Owl&Bear (through comments or contest entry) will not be shared with third parties for marketing or advertising without your consent.
The late Warren Zevon’s self-titled album will be reissued on November 11.
Chicago post-rockers 
