It's a satisfyingly busy time for music films at the moment. The excellent Nick Cave documentary, 20,000 Days On Earth, is upon us; following swiftly in its wake are biopics of James Brown and Jimi Hendrix.
Thurston Moore has announced details of his new album, The Best Day.
The album was recorded with Debbie Googe of My Bloody Valentine as well as Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and Chrome Hoof guitarist James Sedwards. The Best Day will be released on October 21 through Matador. Hear the album title track below.
Some logical excitement here this week about the impending Leonard Cohen and Aphex Twin albums; in the event you've missed it these past couple of days, you can hear Cohen's superb "Almost Like The Blues" further down this blog.
PJ Harvey has been announced as one of the names to receive an honorary degree from Goldsmiths University this year.
The singer, who was appointed an MBE last year, will accept the accolade from the London university next month, along with architect Dame Zaha Hadid, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, journalist Neal Ascherson and poet George Szirtes.
The ceremonies will take place between September 8 and 11. PJ Harvey will be awarded on Wednesday, September 10.
Roger Waters' documentary about his The Wall world tour is to receive its world premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Wall Live Tour took place between 2010 and 2013, becoming the highest-grossing tour for a solo musician.
The film utilizes footage from throughout the tour’s four-year run, which included stops in the UK and Europe, the US, South America, and Australia.
The film is credited to Waters and the tour’s creative director, Sean Evans.
Peter Buck is to release a new EP, Opium Drivel.
The 4-song, 7-inch will be released on October 21 on Mississippi Records, according to a story on Slicing Up Eyeballs.
The EP can be pre-ordered here.
A track, "Nothing To It", has been released from the forthcoming Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes project.
The album features lyrics that Dylan wrote while recording the original Basement Tapes in 1967 that have been put to music by Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James, T Bone Burnett and Marcus Mumford.
The first song from these sessions, "Nothing To It" is accompanied by an animated video that overlays abstract cartoons and Dylan's original hand-written lyrics.
Leonard Cohen has confirmed details of his forthcoming new album, Popular Problems.
The album will be released on September 22, a day after his 80th birthday.
It is Cohen's 13th studio album.
Those who pre-order Popular Problems digitally will receive an instant download of his new song, “Almost Like The Blues”.
You can hear the song below.
Last year, Warp Records embarked on a campaign for Boards Of Canada's "Tomorrow's Harvest" comeback that was notable for its obtuseness. Unmarked 12-inches were hidden in record stores, strings of numbers and inexplicable broadcasts were strewn enigmatically across the internet. At one point, I recall some talk of red moons and feverish online triangulations pointing to a bookshop near Edinburgh as the centre of the universe. It was all fun, and the album at the end of it all was great, but perhaps it wandered a little off course as it went on.
