Ypsilanti, Michigan's indie pop outfit Lightning Love will release the Girls Who Look Like Me through Quite Scientific on January 31st. You can stream and download "Deadbeat" from said EP on Bandcamp. Preview the other three tracks on the label's website. [lightninglove.com]
Chino Moreno's (Deftones) side project Crosses has scheduled some shows in California in early 2012, with Secret Empire and Dawn Golden & Rosy Cross as support. They'll then skip the country for Lollapalooza Chile and Quilmes Rock in 2012 in Argentina. Studio photos have been popping up, hinting that a debut full-length is due next year, too. [www.crossesmusic.com]
New York's Cults will kick off 2012 with a massive tour in continued support of their debut, self-titled full-length. The duo will perform at The Standard West in Hollywood, CA on New Year's Eve. The extended North American leg begins on March 2nd in Hoboken, NJ. [cultscultscults.com]
Radiohead will issue two b-sides from The King of Limbs sessions, "The Daily Mail" and "Staircase", as a single on December 19th. The songs were performed at Nigel Godrich' From The Basement sessions, where the recordings were captured. [www.ateaseweb.com]
Tool has started scheduling an early 2012 North American tour. They are a dozen dates in thus far, but no official word from the band has been released. We're still not holding our breath for a new album, though. Time will tell. [toolshed.down.net]
According to MyDesert.com, Queens of the Stone Age are said to be recording their long-awaited new album at Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree, CA. As well, the band posted on Facebook that they are "deep into [makin'] the new album" and "[locked] away in the desert". [www.facebook.com]
Director Nickolas Rossi recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for his proposed Elliott Smith documentary, to be titled Heaven Adores You. The film will reportedly be a "visual journey and an intimate look at the singer's prolific songwriting, and the impact that he had on his fans and other musicians today". The campaign met its goal one day ago. Accordingly, production will begin with an end goal of 2013 (the 10th anniversary of Smith' death). [www.kickstarter.com]
Diamond Rugs features members of Deer Tick, The Black Lips and Los Lobos. They'll release a long player in the spring of 2012 via Partisan Records. For fun, the group recorded a holiday tune, "Christmas In A Chinese Restaurant", and posted in on SoundCloud. On December 29th, Rugs will make its live debut at The Earl in Atlanta, GA. [www.partisanrecords.com]
Iceland's Agent Fresco will visit the US next year to play SXSW and Canadian Music as well as promote their new polyrhythmic rock/pop album, A Long Time Listening. Check out their video for "Implosions" on YouTube. Stream more music on SoundCloud. [agentfresco.is]
Coldplay has announced their 2012 North American touring schedule, in support of Mylo Xyloto. The dates a scattered from April to August. [coldplay.com]
Tindersticks will return on February 21st with The Something Rain through Constellation, which finds "supple compositions spiked with a fine balance of barbed edges and sparkling fizz". Watch the video for "Medicine" on Vimeo. [cstrecords.com]
Air recently contributed a modern, cinematic score to a restoration of the 1902 silent film Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon). The duo then decided to turn the work into a full album, featuring vocals from Au Revoir Simone and Victoria Legrand of Beach House. The full-length will be released on February 7th through Astralwerks in the US. Hear Legrand in "Seven Stars" from the album on NME. [www.nme.com]
Miike Snow has released "Devil's Work", the first track from their forthcoming sophomore album, Happy To You, due March 27th. Stream the song on SoundCloud. Check out a video from director Andreas Nillson on YouTube. According to a post on Facebook, the song is "not a single...it's a slice of what's to come". The official single is due in January. [www.miikesnow.co.uk]
Jamie Smith recently spoke to The Creator's Project about creating music. During the piece, Smith revealed the majority of the music he's working on now is for The xx, the group is about to start recording and the new album is partially influenced by club music. They aiming to have it ready for the 2012 UK festival season. [www.thefader.com]
M83 has announced an extended North American tour throughout April and May. The tour is in support of their new album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. The trek kicks off on April 22nd at The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA. [ilovem83.com]
Miami's Blonds released their debut EP, Dark Roots, today. Cari Rae and Jordy Asher describe their music as a "day dream in a dreary-painted world". Stream the full EP on Bandcamp. [blonds.bandcamp.com]
Andrew Bird will release a his seventh solo album, Break It Yourself, on March 6th through Mom+Pop. Bird will kick off a tour around the record on March 15th at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, TX, [www.andrewbird.net]
According to Cigarettes & Red Vines, Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) was once again tapped by Paul Thomas Anderson to score his upcoming film, The Master. British jazz trio Zed-U recorded some music for Greenwood, according to a tweet from Babel. Despite Babel reporting that the film will appear in 2013, it's likely that the US release is still planned for 2012. [cigsandredvines.blogspot.com]
Avey Tare recently told 77 Square that he relocated back to Baltimore to begin work on a new Animal Collective full-length. The group just finished "two weeks of writing sessions and put together five new songs". Josh Dibb (Deakin) will likely rejoin the lineup for the upcoming record and the "full recording sessions" will begin in January. [host.madison.com]
Now that work has wrapped on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo soundtrack, Trent Reznor has set his sights to 2012. First, a How To Destroy Angels full-length is expected. As well, Reznor recently told Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1 that he'll be "spending a good portion of [2012] writing" for Nine Inch Nails. [www.nme.com]
