Kristin and Tanya live

The previously rumoured joint Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly live appearance later this year has been confirmed by Billy, Kristin's husband and manager, for October 6:

"The date is locked-in. Details will follow soon. It's looking like a solo set by each lady with a together set to finish. 2 shows, one night, The Brattle Theater in Cambridge, MA." [more]

Livonia Strings Download Released

"Livonia Strings contains tracks from the album Livonia, (4AD 1990) re-did with strings. These songs were re-recorded once in 2001 while under contract with our former label, and have now been re-did once again!!!

Livonia Strings originally appeared as part of the HNIA ten-CD box set called The Cloud Box in 2004 then as an individually sold CD in 2006 and finally available as a digital download via the Silver Mountain website in 2007.

"I read interviews with Prince, and Axl Rose, where they both said they had re-recorded all their old songs, although for different reasons. I decided to do the same." - Warn Defever 2006

Track listing:

01. July (13:32)
02. Carolines (13:41)
03. Fossil (12:32)
04. Ghosts (3:58)

As with all releases in the HNIA download series, Livonia Strings comes with printable sleeve art." [more]

6 Mix with Simon Raymonde and Frank Black

In the latest 6 Mix session on BBC 6 Music, Bella Union owner Simon Raymonde and Pixies frontman Frank Black present their mixes. [listen]

David Sylvian - When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima

"When loud weather ... was commissioned by the Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation on the island of Naoshima, Japan as part of the NAOSHIMA STANDARD 2 exhibition which ran from October 2006 to April 2007.

This release will only be made available in a limited edition format (a DVD digipak beautifully designed by our own Chris Bigg with cover art by Sachiyo Tsurumi) for a limited time after which it will be deleted from the catalogue. As the Foundation have decided to make the audio a part of the permanent collection on the island it will be there that the work will remain accessible once the samadhisound edition is ended." [more]

New Music by Scott Walker

"And who shall go to the ball?
Choreographed by Rafael Bonachela with new music by Scott Walker

With composer Scott Walker setting the scene for a sinister and primal ball, Rafael Bonachela's choreography And Who Shall Go To The Ball? cuts through the space, pushing the dancers into extreme connections, entangled in each others bodies, throwing their partners into flight, only to catch and grab and throw again and again ..." [more]

Tuesday 25 September 2007 - Wednesday 26 September 2007

Southbank Centre
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XX

Celebration Update

"I was so entranced by the excitement of these last few months that I had forgotten to update or post anything in awhile. This year so far has been nothing short of amazing. Starting with a 6 week recording session at Stay Gold in Brooklyn with all of our friends. I'm still feeling the love from it all. It felt magical from day one. We had the honor and privilege of working with the most talented people we know . We are so thankful to be able to do what we love with the people that we love, and we hope that the listener will feel that power when they hear the record. We are naming it "The Modern Tribe" for that reason. We have, for a while now, been working together on each others music, recordings and live. Each time is such an opportunity for growth and we have learned so much from our friends. It only seemed fitting to honor that by naming the record something that represents it. It is due out October 9th 2007, on 4AD. [more]

Andersen M Studio News

"Martin is currently preparing for an art exhibition at the Luis Adelantado Gallery, Miami. He will be showing new commissioned work alongside artists: Miltos Manetas, Lori Hersberger, Sze Tsung Leong and Johann Johannsson (4AD recording artist). The exhibition will take place sometime this Autumn." [more]

Atomweb

Under the studio name Atom, James Bates designed record sleeves for Mojave 3 and his brother Ashley's band Cuba. His print portfolio and the schism section in his website feature interesting sleeve scans, variations on 4AD artwork - and even a photo of the late John Peel wearing a Cuba shirt.

Piano Magic light Candle for Santa Maria

"Piano Magic and Klima play as part of the Nocturama film and music festival at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Seville, Spain on 26th July. The festival's concert choices were made by Piano Magic's European label, Green Ufos and will take place in the grounds of the splendidly named Monasterio de la Cartuja de Santa María de las Cuevas.

Future Conditional also make their DJ debut on 25th July following a set by ex-Cocteau Twin, Robin Guthrie. More information, including photographs of the inspirational setting, can be found here.

(from the Piano Magic site)

Farm Sanctuary Photo Album

"On June 16 and 17, ZOOP! A Benefit for Farm Sanctuary raised thousands of dollars as well as awareness about the plight of animals on factory farms. [...] John and fellow Mountain Goat Peter Hughes alongside Perry Wright of The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers roused the audience with their melodies and witty banter."

Some photographic impressions can be found [here].
(P.S. Doesn't the goat collage remind a bit of the We Shall All Be Healed artwork?)

50 Years of Helvetica feat. Vaughan Oliver

50 YEARS OF HELVETICA (17 July – 02 September 2007)
Design Museum
Shad Thames
London SE1 2YD
Daily 10am - 5.30pm
020 7940 8785

"The 50 exhibition, in the Design Museum Cafe, imagines the world from the perspective of Helvetica itself, highlighting events and inspirational things it has seen - and been influenced by - during its lifetime from the lunar moon landing to the first British nudist camp. For the exhibition, 50 leading designers and graphic artists from around the world have joined forces with Blanka and Candy to create a visual diary of 50 separate events from the last half century. The exhibition is a birthday party that pays homage to Helvetica’s massive influence on our visual culture.

2007 sees the fiftieth anniversary of Helvetica. Created in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas type foundry in Switzerland, the typeface was originally christened Neue Haas Grotesk. Its name changed to Helvetica in 1960 in an attempt to take the typeface to a wider international audience. Over the years the typeface has been celebrated widely and used in many renowned applications, implanting its own indelible place in design history. From the beautifully implemented New York Subway signage system by Vignelli to its usage on the lowly generic EXIT sign, the flexibility of the typeface seems to have no boundaries. 2007 even sees the Helvetica phenomenon celebrated on the big screen in Helvetica, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit. In its 50 year lifespan Helvetica has deservedly become the the most widely used and respected sans serif typeface on the planet.

Long live Helvetica... Happy Birthday!

Contributors:
1957 Spin, 1958 Vince Frost, 1959 Bleed, 1960 Ros Shiers, 1961 The Designers Republic, 1962 Farrow, 1963 Antoine et Manuel, 1964 Ian Wright, 1965 Fabio Ongarato, 1966 Experimental Jetset, 1967 Parra, 1968 Kam Tang, 1969 Build, 1970 Hamish Muir, 1971 Fred Flade, 1972 Ben Drury, 1973 Darren Firth, 1974 James Jarvis, 1975 Rinzen, 1976 Airside, 1977 Niklaus Troxler, 1978 Jonathan Ellery, 1979 Oliver Jeffers, 1980 Glenn Leyburn, 1981 Barber Osgerby, 1982 Alan Kitching, 1983 Conor & David, 1984 Michael Gillette, 1985 NB Studio, 1986 North, 1987 Cartlidge Levene, 1988 Luca Ionescu, 1989 Jenny Mörtsell, 1990 Emmi, 1991 Marc Atlan, 1992 Alexander Gelman, 1993 Hellovon, 1994 Image Now, 1995 Lars Müller, 1996 Kiosk, 1997 Kim Hiorthøy, 1998 Genevieve Gauckler, 1999 Adrian Shaughnessy, 2000 Winkreative, 2001 Commonwealth, 2002 Angry/Aad, 2003 Phunkstudio, 2004 Luke Prowse, 2005 Vaughan Oliver, 2006 Rob Ryan, 2007 Exhibition overview."

Dot Dash release Wolf & Cub remix 12"

On July 21, Dot Dash, Wolf & Cub's Australian home label will release a double remix 12" (DOT010). The A side was previously featured on a promotional CD-R for "This Mess", Wolf & Cub's first single from the album "Vessels".

Tracks:
This Mess (Serge Santiago Dub) ; Conundrum (Boxcutter Autumn Drum)

Pixies and Kim Deal Tribute Updates

From the American Laundromat Newsletter:

DIG FOR FIRE – A TRIBUTE TO PIXIES ~ Dang! The tracks are coming in and they are exceeding our expectations. The bands covering the Pixies have done so with utter reverence and it shows in the tracks. We cannot wait to share these with you. Here is the list of bands/songs:

Bedroom Walls - 'Stormy Weather'
British Sea Power - 'Caribou'
Bunnies - 'Alec Eifel'
Charles Douglas - 'Bone Machine'
David Miller - 'Manta Ray'
Dylan In The Movies - 'Down To The Well'
Elk City - 'Monkey Gone To Heaven'
Fashion Victims - 'Hey'
Joe Harvard Band - 'In Heaven (Everything Is Fine)'
John Strohm - 'Where Is My Mind?'
Joy Zipper - 'Wave of Mutilation'
Julie Peel - 'The Happening'
Knife and Fork (featuring Eric Drew Feldman) - 'Motorway To Roswell'
Mogwai - 'Gouge Away'
Morning Theft - 'Ana'
OK Go - 'Gigantic'
PC Munoz - 'I Bleed'
The Commons - 'Here Comes Your Man'
The Rosebuds - 'Break My Body'
They Might Be Giants - 'Havalina'

Naturally we’ll have some surprises and hidden tracks too. Now keep in mind all these tracks will not be on the regular tribute CD so if you want em' all you should pre-order the 1st Pressing ASAP. We’re also getting some really cool alternate versions which will only appear as part of the limited edition 1st pressing bonus 3-song 7” vinyl so if you haven’t pre-ordered this yet you’ll want to before we close it out.
Buy it here

GIGANTIC – A TRIBUTE TO KIM DEAL ~ This tribute has been really fun to work on. Some of our favorite indie bands have turned-in outstanding versions of Kim’s songs. We’re really blown away by the talent on this record. Bands from all over the world have covered Kim’s work in the Breeders, the Amps and the Pixies. You can view the album art created by our good friend David Yurchuk on our official myspace page.
Visit here

Danger Global Warming Project feat. Vaughan Oliver and Mark Atkins

"The Danger Global Warming Project is a multimedia creative initiative designed to raise awareness of climate change with original images, sound and video material."

If Live Earth did not quite convince you, click here, buy a DANGER GLOBAL WARMING tape and use it for your audio-visual contribution to raise awareness of climate change worldwide.

Vaughan and Mark Atkins (photographer of TV On The Radio, Scott Walker and The Late Cord sleeves among others) have co-contributed their imagery.

Emma Pollock - Various Prod. remixes

"Last year 4AD commissioned Various to remix a version of Emma Pollock’s song Limbs. VP eagerly obliged, laying down their own unique take on the track, and re-recording the vocals to get the sound they desired. 4AD didn't quite know what to make of the result. They liked it, but, concerned at the absence of the original vocals, were reluctant to put it out. Rather than consign it to the scrapheap, VP decided to build on it, at the same time starting work on another Pollock remix, Fortune. The results of their labours are the two tracks set together on this 7". First we have the downbeat 'Limbs', a haunting melody driven forth by a churning, yearning beat. Then comes 'Fortune'. With its epic sounding beats reigned in by Pollock’s vocals, the track starts big and slowly strips away the bass, leaving the us finally with only the high-pitched sound beneath. Two very different tracks set together, a juxtaposition to engage and delight Various' growing set of fans."

(from Norman Records)