News for a New Year

Welcome to 2006! Sorry I'm a little late; it's the first week of classes and things are pretty crazy around here. But enough about that.

Now when I mean news, I don't just mean news stories. I also mean new things! New releases! New tour dates! And the announcements have been coming rapidly, so here's a little catch-up for any of you who are a little overwhelmed by all of it.

First and probably foremost on everyone's mind is the confirmation of Belle and Sebastian's tour with the New Pornographers. The dates are:

02-25 Toronto - The Docks
02-26 Montreal - Metropolis
02-27 Boston - Avalon
02-28 Boston - Avalon
03-02 NYC - Nokia Theatre
03-03 NYC - Nokia Theatre
03-04 Philadelphia - Electric Factory
03-05 Washington - 9.30 Club
03-06 Washington - 9.30 Club
03-08 Nashville - Ryman Auditorium
03-09 Louisville - Brown Theatre
03-10 Chicago - Riviera
03-11 Milwaukee - Riverside Theatre
03-12 Minneapolis - Orpheum Theatre
03-14 Dallas - Granada Theatre
03-15 Austin - Stubbs (Matador SXSW Show)
03-18 LA - Wiltern
03-19 LA - Wiltern
03-21 SF - Concourse @ The SF Design Center
03-23 Portland - Roseland Ballroom
03-24 Vancouver - Commodore
03-25 - Paramount

And lucky any of you who actually get to go to any of those. Meanwhile, look for the release of their new album, The Life Pursuit, as well.

Pitchfork has quite a list of upcoming tours. Here's a few:

Stereolab is making a trip around the country and the world, with the following tour lineup:

03-01 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar
03-02 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
03-04 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
03-05 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
03-06 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
03-07 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
03-09 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
03-10 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
03-11 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
03-12 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
03-14 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre
03-15 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
03-16 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
03-17 New York City, NY - Town Hall
03-18 New York City, NY - Town Hall
03-20 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
03-21 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
03-22 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
03-24 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
03-25 Dallas, TX - TBA
03-28 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
03-29 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
04-10 Berlin, Germany - Volksbuhne
04-12 Paris, France - La Cigalle
04-14 London, England - Koko

The band is also planning to release three simultaneous singles. More details are located here.

Of Montreal is going on a whirwind tour:

01-14 Honolulu, HI - Anna Bananas
01-15 Honolulu, HI - Thirtynine Hotel
01-20 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon *
01-21 Houston, TX - Numbers *
01-24 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress *
01-26 San Diego, CA - Epicentre *
01-27 Los Angeles, CA - Ex Plex (below the Echo) *
01-28 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
01-31 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
02-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
02-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
02-04 Los Angeles, CA - TBA
02-05 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse *
02-07 Dallas, TX - Granada *
02-08 Oklahoma City, OK - TBA
02-09 Austin, TX - Emo's *
02-11 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
02-15 Gainesville, FL - TBA #
02-16 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder #
02-17 Orlando, FL - The Social #
02-18 Miami, FL - PAC #
02-19 Jacksonville, FL - Jackrabbit's #
02-22 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Music Hall
02-23 Nashville, TN - The End
02-24 St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle
02-25 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note (True False Film Festival)
02-26 Newport, KY - Southgate House
02-28 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle %
03-01 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite %
03-02 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom %
03-03 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom %
03-04 Portland, ME - Space Gallery %
03-05 Cambridge, MA - Middle East %
03-06 Hanover, NH - Fuel Rocket Club %
03-07 Montreal, Quebec - Le Tulipe
03-08 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
03-09 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
03-10 Chicago, IL - The Metro
03-11 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club ^
03-12 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground ^
03-13 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck ^

* with Grand Buffet, MGMT, DJ Jester the Filipino Fist
# with the Late B.P. Helium, James Husband
% with the M's
^ with Saturday Looks Good to Me

The band also has some recordings up their sleeves. Again, more details located here.

Andrew Bird is flying around this upcoming February:

02-02 Milwaukee, WI - Miramar Theatre *
02-03 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club *
02-04 Bloomington, IN - Buskirk-Chumley Theater *
02-06 Louisville, KY - Louisville Free Public Library *
02-07 Lexington, KY - The Dame *
02-09 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
02-10 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder (Florida State University) *
02-11 Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum *
02-13 Oxford, MS - Proud Larry's *
02-15 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant *
02-16 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop *
02-17 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon *
02-23 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Café *
02-24 Duluth, MN - Weber Music Hall at UMD *

* with Martin Dosh, Haley Bonar

He's recording, too, and Pitchfork has details here.

Guess what, Columbus! Mogwai is coming to town:

01-07 Dublin, Ireland - Temple Bar Music Centre *
01-08 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Spring and Airbrake *
01-10 London, England - ICA ^
01-11 London, England - ICA &
01-12 London, England - ICA @
01-13 London, England - ICA *
01-14 London, England - ICA $
01-21 Moscow, Russia - Apelsin
01-24 Tokyo, Japan - Unit ~
01-25 Tokyo, Japan - Unit #
03-01 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium %
03-02 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts %
03-03 Lexington, KY - The Dame %
03-04 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom %
03-06 New York, NY - Avalon %
03-07 Baltimore, MD - Sonar %
03-08 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle %
03-09 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel %
03-10 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge %
03-11 Atlanta, GA - Whirly Ball Atlanta %
03-12 Atlanta, GA - Whirly Ball Atlanta %
03-14 Houston, TX - Numbers %+
03-15 Austin, TX - Stubb's (Matador SXSW Showcase) =

^ with Errors
^ with Part Chimp vs. Alexander Tucker, DJ Keith Cameron
& with Uncle John and Whitelock, DJ Dr Kiko
@ with Gruff Rhys, DJ Dr Kiko
$ with Electric Wizard, DJ Gary Aspden
~ with Melt-Banana
# with Afrirampo
% with Growing
+ with Torche
= with Belle and Sebastian, Cat Power

Don't know who Growing is, but it's going to be a fantastic show. Finally, the Wexner puts on a good show again!

Alright, now for some new releases coming out in 2006:

Bloc Party is coming out with a follow-up to Silent Alarm, and they claim it will be "less brash."

Sonic Youth also has a new album, which is yet untitled.

Weezer is working on some new songs, but Rivers is going to college? Something tells me that won't last very long.

For more information about upcoming album releases, check out this article from The News Tribune.

Alright, well that's a good catch-up. Let's see what else is going on in the world.

Bill Gates is teaming up with MTV, and it's not to make him look cool. It's actually to create Urge, a music service to compete with iTunes.

Singer Lou Rawls has passed away at the age of 72.

It's splitsville for Pedro the Lion. TW Walsh has left the band to go back to software engineering. Frontman David Bazan plans to continue as a solo artist.

Oh, Gallagher brothers.. How I've missed reading about your weekly/daily feuds. Now usually it's one or both of them teaming up against some unsuspecting, innocent band whose name just happens to pop up in their heads, but this is different. This time, Noel and Liam are actually feuding with... gasp... each other! Apparently the delightful duo can't decide who gets to sing at this year's Brit Awards. I'd suggest a duet, but I don't think either of them learned to share in kindergarten.

Upcoming Columbus Shows

01.15 - Matisyahu - Newport Music Hall
02.13 - Sigur Ros - Promowest/LC Pavilion
03.02 - Mogwai w/ Growing - Wexner Center
03.04 - Autobahn 6 featuring Joy Electric and Norway - Joes Java, Wilmington, Ohio
03.06 - The Books - Wexner Center

Okay, that's all for now. Hopefully this is good enough to last you for a couple days. Peaceout.