Musical duo The Swell Season, comprised of Frames frontman Glen Hansard and Czech pianist and singer Markéta Irglová, return with a followup to their multi-award winning soundtrack to Once. The pair just performed an exclusive live set for KEXP listeners last Thursday (you can still catch in on our Streaming Archive) but will be back again with a full band in November. Devendra Banhart also tops the list of new releases this week with his major label debut, What Will Be, and another musical duo, Tegan and Sara, are sure to land in KEXP listeners’ shopping carts. Heavy Trash, a projected co-helmed by Jon Spencer, not only have a new release this week but were live on air this morning (another reason to head over to our Streaming Archive). The Northwest represents with Portland’s Pink Martini and Seattle’s BOAT and Levi Fuller. Also recommended are the latest from Chuck Prophet, Fela Kuti, Bassnectar, and Echo & The Bunnymen, who just keep cranking out albums. And Wolfmother are back… with a new lineup but all the same rock! Check out more on Largehearted Boy’s list, but not before you sample this week’s goods:

• Two weeks ago, Seattle area audio engineer Tom Pfaeffle, who has worked for decades doing live and studio sound in the Northwest, was senselessly shot and killed. To celebrate his life, a memorial will held on Thursday, August 13th, at the Moore Theater. Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, who worked closely with Tom, and others will perform. All are welcome to attend and donations will be accepted to benefit Tom Pfaeffle’s wife and family. For more info, go here.

• In more sad news, Slum Village visage Baatin, better known to friends and family as Titus Glover, was found dead Saturday morning of unknown causes in his Detroit home. Glover left Slum Village in 2003 as he battled Schizophrenia and drug-related issues but had recently rejoined the group. Glover was 35 years old.

• Anyone who came of age during the birth of high speed internet access on college campuses will always remember their frequent encounters with the groundbreaking peer-to-peer program, Napster. Anyone who came to age during the birth of bit torrent and its infinite power will always fondly remember The Pirate Bay. The once ‘evil’ Napster, now legit like Michael Vick, recently placed a $10 million bid to buy The Pirate Bay from its recent purchaser, Global Gaming Factory, which has now officially refused the offer. Much like Napster before it ‘cleaned’ up its act, The Pirate Bay has a name cache for the world’s fickle, but greedy downloaders, and who wouldn’t want to try to cash it in?

• While the layers of Devendra Banhart continue to be slowly peeled sway by fans and critics alike, the David Bowie of freak folk finds his stock continually on the rise — just ask the executives at Warner Bros. who recently secured Banhart’s services. Their first gift: What Will We Be, Banhart’s follow-up to Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. The new LP is due in October.

• Spoon, who were wise in their infinite wisdom to begin their own festival, SpoonX3, are spreading their product even further. If you’re like me (and I hope you aren’t for your sake), you missed SpoonX3 but would love to have heard the group careen through their potent catalog. Well, you won’t have to hope for crappy bootlegs as the band is selling 256kbps MP3 and FLAC versions of their performances from all three nights of the festival. You can buy one, two, or all three shows from the band’s website store.

• Seattle’s Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band are debuting a fantastic new video for “Albatross Albatross Albatross” on Stereogum:

• Goliath Bird Eater, one of the many projects of Bobb Bruno (perhaps you read the review of Dreamt On via Agitated Atmosphere?), has the new cassette release, Blood Generation. It’s promised to be the guitar and drum duo’s heaviest sounding release to date. You can pick up through Caligulan Records.

• The on-again, off-again relationship Trent Reznor developed with thought diarrhea site Twitter is officially over. In a post on the Nine Inch Nails message boards, Reznor takes a long time to state what basically boils down to his frustration over trolls, haters, and those who would wish his recent engagement the worst. At least he’s wise to point out that it isn’t newsworthy — so this makes this post a bit ironic.

• Karl Blau readies Zebra, his latest effort for Northwestern pop outfit K due October 6th. Tours with Mount Eerie and LAKE are on the horizon, with an October 13th stop in Seattle written in the stars.

• Not a bad week for staying at home and catching your favorite bands on the late night talk shows. Gomez, Miike Snow, Arctic Monkeys are definitely not to miss, but if you didn’t catch Femi Kuti the last time he was on Tavis Smiley, you shouldn’t miss out. Also, Interpol frontman Paul Banks will perform songs from his solo project, Julian Plenti, on Friday, and Seattle represents with Fleet Foxes on SNL. Here are the week’s highlights:
  Monday, August 3

  Conan O’Brien: Gomez

  Tuesday, August 4

  Jimmy Fallon: Arctic Monkeys
  Last Call: White Lies (R)
  Tavis Smiley: Femi Kuti (R)

  Wednesday, August 5

  Last Call: Lily Allen (R)
  Jimmy Kimmel: Miike Snow

  Thursday, August 6

  David Letterman: St. Vincent (R)
  Late Late Show: Glasvegas
  Last Call: Ida Maria (R)

  Friday, August 7

  Late Late Show: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
  Jimmy Fallon: Julian Plenti

  Saturday, August 8

  Saturday Night Live: Fleet Foxes
  

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  • Wanna feel old? The Smashing Pumpkins recently have been jamming with a 19 year old drummer named Mike Bryne, hanging out in the studio with the kid, and even working on demos with the Oregon youngster. An update on the Pumpkins website states” Billy has been working with young (19) Mike Byrne on demos. Word from the studio is that Mike is an exceptionally talented and gifted drummer and things are going very well. And that is that.” If you want to see some clips of who Corgan calls “the drummer of the future,” go here.
  • What other festival could host Jimmy Buffett and Passion Pit on the same night? Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, TN, kicks off tonight and rolls through the weekend, mixing the hippie jam bands like Galactic, Gov’t Mule, and Phish with hipster jam bands like Animal Collective, The Decemberists, and Of Montreal. Check out the full lineup at Brooklyn Vegan, which also includes a list of bands whose performances AT&T will be streaming live. David Byrne (no relation to Mike above) curates his own stage tomorrow, with Santigold, St. Vincent, Dirty Projectors and Katzenjammer. Here’s The Knux pitching the festival for all of you holdouts:
• In a pun taken farther than most, Pavement multi-man Bob Nastanovich took a fan out for a “Date with Ikea“. The young lady, Jenny, is pretty hell bent on getting a new bed that isn’t an air mattress.
• Peanut butter and Jelly. Ying and Yang. Simon and Garfunkel. Le Tigre and… Christina Aguilera? According to Pitchfork, the brash punk dance trio are working with the former Mouseketeer in the studio. Although it may seem out of nowhere, Aguilera has recently worked in the studio with Goldfrapp, Ladytron, and Sia. Those are some seriously strong women. Who’s next, Beyonce?
• Ready for the most egotistical tour of 2009? Kanye West has announced a tour later this year along with diva queen Lady Gaga. Says Kanye, “We’re doing it together, with no opening act.” With two heads that big, we’ll see how that works out. Glitz. Glamour. Gaga. Gag me.
• Okay, maybe not as weird, but Britpop icons Oasis enlisted freak folk hippie Devendra Banhart to remix a track from their latest, Dig Out Your Soul. Banhart’s choice? “(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady,” which you can listen to for free, but you gotta register at Oasisinet first.


Chona Kasinger

• Fresh off their tour with The Kills, The Horrors have announced dates for their own US tour later this year. The tour kicks off in Boston on September 15 with a Seattle date scheduled for October 6 at Neumo’s.
• Bat for Lashes is extending their North American tour, so if you didn’t catch them last night, you can see Ms. Kahn and company at Neumo’s on August 26.
• Jack White never stops making music, but it’s usually with other people. However, the Detroit rocker has recently said that he hopes to begin working on a solo album by the end of the year. The dude has a lot going on. Let’s hope he finds that time.
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