RecaPitulation: Gonzales, Lou Barlow, Why?, Owen, Vic Chestnutt, Biclops

If this post were any bigger, we might need a second blog.

Ivory-tickler Gonzales - who in May broke the world record for longest solo-piano performance with a totally bonkers 27-hour-plus marathon - is conspiring to re-release his 2004 album, Solo Piano. The deluxe edition, due September 22 on Arts & Crafts, comes with the film “From Major to Minor,” which in turn comes with a guest spot by Feist. …

Our bud Lou Barlow - one of the first interviews IndiePit did when we launched waaay back in July ‘09 - is gifting fans with a selection from his upcoming solo album in celebration of Merge Records’ 20th anniversary this week. Here’s “Gravitate” from Goodnight Unknown, due October 6:

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Why? are planning a not-so-modest 21 shows in October, and 11 additional dates before and after that, following the September 22 release of their fourth effort, Eskimo Snow. The heartfelt, piano-obsessed Anticon act will be playing gigs with Islands, Mount Eerie and others; till that happens, lap up the below download of “This Blackest Purse“:

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We are really digging Monsters of Folk’s style. The Oberst/Mogis/Ward/James super-enchilada have put up a song for free on their site - all you have to do to get it is type in the word “please” on this page. Conor’s vocals are front and center on the uplifting “Say Please,” which will be featured on the band’s Shangri-La-released self-titled debut. Like every other album coming out in the fall, it seems, this one is also set for a 9/22 release. …

Joe Pernice has one hell of a vivid imagination. The troubadour and one-time Scud Mountain Boy is putting out a soundtrack to his book of fiction, the coming-of-age tale “It Feels So Good When I Stop.” Due on One Little Indian in early September, the audio collection consists mostly of covers, including Sebadoh’s “Soul and Fire,” Del Shannon’s “Go to Pieces” and Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me.” The book itself will be unveiled in 14 days. …

The Flamings Lips and My Morning Jacket have shared many a stage - at Bonnaroo and the like, for example - but if they were to take the same stage at the same time, the results might sound something like the Big Pink. Catch our drift with “Dominos,” one of the cuts from their September 22 debut, A Brief History of Love (4AD):

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We’ve heard about more husband-and-wife combos in the past month than we knew there were marriage certificates out there. The latest is whimsical folk team Inner Banks, who started work on their new album in 2006, a few months after singer Caroline Schutz completed her bed-rest following her delivery of twins. On Songs From Disko Bay, pegged for a September 15 release on Dag!, Schutz does her own mother and grandmother - professional singers both - proud. Enjoy the mystical track “Pyramids“:

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We’ve done some belly-aching about music festivals lately - here and here - but really, there’s no place we’d rather be this weekend than up in Seattle for the Capitol Hill Block Party. Check it: Sonic Youth, the Jesus Lizard, the Thermals, Mika Miko, Built to Spill and Deerhunter. Let us know how it went if you wind up going. …

Not sure if you’d be willing to pay for a new album by Hugh Cornwell? That’s OK - the Strangler is offering his latest, Hooverdam, for free on his Web site. Mindful of his iconic club-ready punk band’s international appeal, his site can be translated into 12 languages - leaving very little excuse not to pick up his fresh crop of songs. Cornwell will be calling attention to the release with a series of North American shows from September 8 in Philly through the 20th in Chicago. Here’s a clip of a recent live (and lively) performance in Paris of one of the cuts, “Going to the City”:

Mike Kinsella reflects about his newly acquired patriarchal status - he got married and had a kid in recent years - on the fifth album by Owen. On September 22, he turns over New Leaves (Polyvinyl), which is more ornate than past releases by his musical hobby. “Good Friends, Bad Habits” is a good example of the album - also since it reflects how Kinsella has started taking his life way more seriously since becoming a dad:

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That line about “petty thieves and addicts”? Yeah, that was a dig at said “good” friends. Chicagoans will have a unique chance to witness a whole different type o’ Owen this fall, when they’re joined by a full band for two September 18 record-release shows at Beat Kitchen. …

It’s been ages since we’ve run across anything that sounds even remotely like Brainiac, but the Press Fire! come pretty close with their song “Hard to Break“:

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Their Slanty Shanty EP Es Slash Tee just saw the light of day a couple of weeks ago. So does L.A. still need to prove that it has some of the most exciting young punk-rock talent on the planet? …

And here’s another one from those shady Slanty Shanty folks: “Autocathe” by self-described “electro-shitcore” one-man-affair Agape:

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Talk about screaming your head off. Sounds like Quintron’s evil twin. Look for a full outing from Agape in the fall. …

Vic Chestnutt and Guy Picciotto just can’t seem to get enough of each other: The everlasting Georgia troubadour has huddled once again with the Fugazi-an, this time for Chestnutt’s September 22 release, At the Cut. The album is coming through Constellation, home to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion, members of which also appear on the fall chestnut. …

Fudgecicles - how did we miss the Che Arthur Three’s Like Revenge? Out last week on Past Futures, the rock odyssey features fiery post-punk outbursts, weepy confessional acoustic tracks - and lots and lots of guitar. We swear we were just going to compare the vocals to Justin Sinkovich from Atombombpocketknife - even though we totally forgot till now that Mr. Arthur was one of the axemen for that woefully missed Chicago crew. …

Also just out - as in, yesterday - is a five-song EP from Montreal’s Rome Romeo. Imagine a moody, slightly experimental garage-rock band playing in a bar, a tipsy Debbie Harry liking what she hears, and then her bum-rushing the stage and seizing the microphone. The self-titled release hit streets courtesy Machette Records. …

Heavy Hometown are so slurry and damaged-sounding they make Anton Newcombe look cold-sober. Action Figures - which the band just self-issued last week - could’ve been made after the guys got shot up with Novacaine. And yet they still manage to win their way into our hearts:

“Haircut Chair”

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“Strange Wave“

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Male Bonding - who have shared a stage with Mika Miko (see our review of a recent MM show) - are now part of the Sub Pop family. Riding the surf-revival wave (sorry, we couldn’t resist), the Londoners have a Flipper tribute 7-inch to their credit - a claim not many other bands can brag about. Go to their MySpace page and see what the fuzzy fuss is all about. …

A round of applause for Holiday Matinee, who are making their new e-store eco-friendly. Everyone seems happy about it:

Trevor Dunn - he of Mr. Bungle and Fantômas fame - has finally gotten around to writing some new rock tunes after a 10-year dry spell. Along with other musicians who have collaborated with Xiu Xiu, Devotchka and others, Dunn’s MadLove undertaking will make its formal introduction on September 29 via White With Foam. And of course this’ll be coming on Ipecac - like we even needed to tell you that. …

Get ready for doom: The Gates of Slumber have wrapped recording for their next studio slab. Hymns of Blood & Thunder - the title calls to mind Mastodon’s “Blood and Thunder” from their 2004 album, Leviathan, don’t it? - will hoist its haunches on September 13 through Rise Above. …

Have you grabbed Clutch’s new one, Strange Cousins From the West (Weathermaker Music), which slipped out last week? Even if you did, you missed one of the tracks, “Metroliner Special” - since it was left on the cutting-room floor. The laid-back, groovy song finds Neil Fallon wryly musing about New York, William Randolph Hearst, pocket watches and more. Go here and plug in your e-mail address to get the extra track. …

Arty French metal band Gojira won’t be using their days off from the Metallica/Lamb of God tour to read books or play video games: They’ll be staging a series of side shows with help from Burst and Zoroaster. We’re guessing the tickets will be just a little bit cheaper for the off-date shows. Don’t miss our recent profile of Gojira’s label, Prosthetic. …

The end of the beginning has begun: Through the Eyes of the Dead are in the process of putting another batch of songs through the thresher. Expect to hear the bloody final results sometime early next year on Prosthetic. …

We always had a feeling Cannibal Corpse and iTunes were a match made in heaven. The grindcore band - and really, what better term is there for an act called “Cannibal Corpse”? - went to the trouble of binding together all its releases into a comprehensive box set. The figures so far by the lifelong Metal Blade-rs? Sixteen albums and 196 songs - and counting. …

Holy headache, Batman: Biclops have just posted on MySpace a taste of their next record, and we’re so afraid it’ll blow out our speakers that we’re going to restrict it to headphones only. With obvious allusions to Mastodon, “Salieri” is almost eight minutes of limber experi-metal. The album doesn’t have a name or label home yet, but everything will be in its right place soon enough. If you like what you hear and have some booking connections, drop the band suggestions via band@biclops.net. …

The metal overload continues on Whiplash’s MySpace page, where the hot-sauce chefs just broke out the amusing power song “Fight or Flight.” Our favorite part: the lyrics ”Mommy says go for the eyes! Are you hypnotized? Fight or flight!” The song will resurface on the veteran NJ trio’s Unborn Again (Pulverised), which will torment the masses in early August. …

Shocker: The Jim Rose Circus tour has been put on hold due to an injury. Specifically, WWE wrestler Kizarny smacked the titular ringleader into oblivion with a metal chair in Santa Ana, California, over the weekend. The tour should start again in September, and if beloved crackhead Jake the Snake is part of it once again, we’ll be trying to get in.