According to Billboard, Chinese Democracy, the long-awaited sixth GNR album, finally has a firm release date: November 23. Odd, though, because that falls on a Sunday. Even more odd — well, actually, not odd, but shitty — is that the album will be released exclusively through Best Buy. Incidentally, November 23 does share significance with China, as the date marks the first time representatives from the People’s Republic of China attended the United Nations, but I’m pretty sure Axl don’t give a sheeeeit.

Of course, Guns N’ Roses are wasting no time licensing their music, as track "Shackler’s Revenge" will debut in Rock Band 2, while "If the World" is expected to play during the end credits of director Ridley Scott’s latest film, Body of Lies, which opens tomorrow. Meanwhile, Dr. Pepper is gearing up to give you some free drinks. So, thank Axl, Dizzy Reed, Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson, Chris Pitman, Bryan Mantia, Richard Fortus, Bumblefoot, Frank Ferrer, and Geffen for that!

I still think it’s really funny that most of the album has been leaked.

UPDATE: A recent press release confirms everything. Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective’s ninth album, is set for release January 20 via Domino Records on CD, 2xLP and digital formats.

Okay, I’ll admit, I didn’t entirely believe Gorilla Vs. Bear when it speculated earlier this week that Animal Collective were releasing a new album in January 2009 called Merriweather Post Pavillion. Now? I believe it.

Thanks to Stereogum, all you have to do is poke around on Animal Collective’s website and you’ll find the forthcoming album’s tracklisting. First, you’ll see (and want to eat) a fish by Wolf Eye’s Nate Young, but if you click on the lettering, you’ll get another somewhat creepy video revealing the full tracklisting. Now that’s what I call a complete aestheticization of the tracklist!

Maybe somewhere between now and January, when the album’s released via Domino, they’ll add another click to let us hear the full album. In the meantime, check out Paw Track’s MySpace and see our animated mix tape enlarged and in action!

Merriweather Post Pavillion tracklisting:

1. In The Flowers 2. My Girls 3. Also Frightened 4. Summertime Clothes 5. Daily Routine 6. Bluish 7. Guys Eyes 8. Taste 9. Lion In A Coma 10. No More Runnin 11. Brothersport

Tourdates:

10.11.08 - Berlin, Germany - Berghain $ 10.12.08 - Warsaw, Poland - Fabryka Trzciny $ 10.13.08 - Krakow, Poland - Jazz Club Hipnoza $ 10.14.08 - Prague, Czech Republic - Archa Theatre $ 10.15.08 - Vienna, Austria - Arena $ 10.16.08 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Menza pri Koritu $ 10.17.08 - Bratislava, Slovakia - A4 $ 10.18.08 - Zagreb, Croatia - Teatat and TD $ 10.19.08 - Belgrade, Serbia - Dom Omladine $ 10.20.08 - Skopje, Macedonia - Mac MKC $ 10.21.08 - Thessaloniki, Greece - Principle Theatre $ 10.22.08 - Athens, Greece - Gagarin 205 $ 10.23.08 - Tel Aviv, Israel - Zappa 10.24.08 - Istanbul, Turkey - Babylon 10.25.08 - Valencia, Spain - Greenspace Festival 11.06.08 - Santiago, Chile - Industria Cultural 11.08.08 - São Paulo, Brazil - Planeta Terra Festival 11.09.08 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - La Trastienda 11.13.08 - Lima, Peru - Centro Fundación Telefónica

$ Axolotl

[Photo: Adriano Fegundes]

Sometimes news is short and sweet; this is one such instance. M. Ward, also known as Matt Ward, is ready to release a new solo record, titled Hold Time, and according to Paste, we should all get our greedy hands on it February 2009. That’s about all we have confirmed, but it’s great news nonetheless!

M. Ward is a man I envy a great deal, not just because he is a great musician (which he is), but because he has also worked with one of my all-time celebrity crushes Zooey Deschanel on their She & Him project (TMT Review). Actually, those two have confirmed a She & Him Volume 2. Oh, and that super-collaboration between M. Ward, Jim James, and Connor Oberst? Apparently it’s coming along slowly and should see light in either 2010 or 2011.

This may all be pretty vague, but we know there is more coming at some point, so feel free to rejoice!

No, not The Ruby Suns and, no, not Joe Versus the Volcano (a 1990 film starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, and Lloyd Bridges — fucking great movie). I’m talking about Volcano Suns, a Boston group founded in 1983 by Mission of Burma’s drummer Peter Prescott. Likened to groups like Hüsker Dü (Hüsker who?), Volcano Suns released six albums from 1985-1991 with a revolving cast of musicians.

Their first two albums, The Bright Orange Years and All Night Lotus Party, were originally released on Homestead Records, but Merge Records will do the band the honor of jizzing all over the albums January 27, 2009, just how the band always imagined. This will mark the first time the albums see release on CD, and this ain’t no shitty vinyl rip using one of those shitty USB turntables either. Both discs will be remastered by Bob Weston, world-famous musician/engineer who at one point played bass for Volcano Suns.

Bonus tracks are expected, but here are the original tracklistings to get you in the mood.

The Bright Orange Years original tracklist:

1. Jak 2. Descent Into Hell 3. Truth Is Stranger Than Fishing 4. Balancing Act 5. Promise Me 6. (I’m Gonna) Make You Mine 7. Cover 8. The Mouth That Roared 9. Cornfield 10. Animals 11. It’s Stewtime 12. Silvertone

All Night Lotus Party tracklist:

1. White Elephant 2. Cans 3. Room With a View 4. Blown Stack 5. Engines 6. Walk Around 7. Sounds Like Bucks 8. Four Letters 9. Dot on the Map 10. Village Idiot 11. Ride the Cog 12. Bonus Hidden Mystery Track

I really want to watch Joe Versus the Volcano again.

 NEW TELEFON TEL AVIV ALBUM NEWS:

New Orleans electronica ambient magic duo Telefon Tel Aviv are back after five years, and they have a new album called Immolate. Which is totally rad! They’re releasing the album January 20 on Bpitch. Yes!

 TRACKLISTING:

1. The Birds 2. Your Mouth 3. M 4. Helen of Troy 5. Mostly Translucent 6. Stay Away From Being Maybe 7. I Made A Tree On The Wold 8. Your Every Idol 9. You Are The Worst Thing In The World 10. Immolate Yourself

 TOURDATES:

10.08.08 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey 10.09.08 - Portland, OR - Holocene 10.10.08 - San Francisco, CA - Mighty 10.11.08 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon 10.15.08 - Montreal, QC - Club Lambi 10.16.08 - Toronto, ON - Wrong Bar 10.18.08 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Blind Pig

 MYSPACE LINK:

http://www.myspace.com/telefontelaviv

 BAND PAGE LINK:

http://www.telefontelaviv.com

The very strange/very talented band we know as Ween will be taking fans on a trip down bizzaro memory lane November 11 with the release of an early live CD/DVD package from MVD. The CD will contain an entire show from 1992 at The Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC (which happens to be one of my favorite venues). Those of you who have seen Ween live in recent years should expect something very different from this package, as early performances consisted solely of Dean and Gene Ween with a few samples, tapes, and a drum machine.

Meanwhile, the bonus DVD contains footage from several shows, including some from Halloween 1991 in Holland and 1992 in Columbus, OH. Actually, here’s the tracklist for the bonus DVD:

1. Captain Fantasy (Vera) 2. You Fucked Up (Vera) 3. Tick (Vera) 4. Boing (Vera) 5. Listen To The Music (WTSR) 6. Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy) (Vera/Staches) 7. Cover It With Gas And Set It On Fire (Vera) 8. Seconds (Vera) 9. Marble Tulip Juicy Tree (Staches) 10. Gladiola Heartbreaker (Vera) 11. Common Bitch (Staches) 12. The Goin’ Gets Tough From The Getgo (Vera/WTSR) 13. Reggaejunkiejew (Staches) 14. Old Queen Cole (Vera) 15. Shalom Absalom (WTSR) 16. Don’t Laugh (I Love You) (Vera) 17. Mountain Dew (Vera)

Just the other day, I was thinking to myself “Isn’t it about time for a new Andrew Bird album? Because I could really use one.” Turns out, it is that time, which is great! Due January 27, 2009 from Fat Possum Records, Bird will bring us Noble Beast, the follow-up to 2007’s Armchair Apocrypha (TMT Review). The new album will consist of 12 tracks, with the new single “Oh No” ready to be heard right here. In typical Bird fashion, this song is very literate and features his signature violin and whistle.

To prepare for the unleashing of Noble Beast, Bird will be making a few live appearances to road-test some of his new material. (The inclusion of Bird’s alter ego Dr. Stringz may or may not rear his head on these dates.) Meanwhile, the Bird man will be appearing on the new Final Fantasy EP, Plays to Please, out October 21.

Noble Beast tracklisting:

1. Oh No 2. Masterswarm 3. Fitz and the Dizzyspells 4. Effigy 5. Tenuousness 6. Nomenclature 7. Not a Robot, But a Ghost 8. Anonanimal 9. Natural Disaster 10. Confess 11. Souverian 12. On Ho!

Andrew Bird remaining dates:

10.07.08 - New York, NY - Hiro Ballroom 10.07.08 - Brooklyn, NY - BARACK ROCK Music Hall of Williamsberg 10.08.08 - Portsmouth, NH - The Music Hall 10.09.08 - Albany, NY - Swyer Theatre 10.10.08 - Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre 10.19.08 - Los Angeles, CA - Largo at The Coronet 10.20.08 - Los Angeles, CA - Largo at The Coronet

All right, ya’ll! Get your white owls, get your meth, get your skins, don’t forget your 40oz, cuz the stirring saga of the incomparable Wu-Tang Clan is gonna give it to your TV raw-butt-nekkid with Wu: The Story of the Wu Tang Clan. According to Billboard, the Gerald P. Barclay-directed doc will air on BET from November 13 to 16 and drop on DVD November 18, along with an additional CD of greatest hits of the Clan proper and their approximately nine million side projects.

The documentary includes interviews by Wu-Tang insiders, as well as all nine Clanners themselves (or ten depending on your opinion of Cappadona), who will also appear on BET’s 106th and Park on the DVD drop date. In addition to all this Wu news, the Killa Bees have joined forces with The Orchard to re-release their entire discography digitally.

And oh yeah, you can still grab 8 Diagrams (TMT Review) anywhere that totally sweet records are sold. Finally, this is a picture of the Wu-Tang sweatshirt I wore while writing this story.

Wu-Tang is the greatest.

It’s one thing to flog a dead horse. It’s a whole other matter to scoop up that dead horse’s remains, jerky them, then cobble them together repeatedly for a voracious dried meat-eating, music-buying public. Obviously, if the dead horse is beloved British indie-pop band The Smiths, it appears anything is fair play in the repetitious compilation game (and no, don’t worry Smiths fans, we would never insinuate that any of you would ever be caught eating horse meat...).

If anyone should be afforded some leeway with flogging its recorded legacy it may as well be The Smiths. In addition to being ridiculously influential, they were a unique brand who tended to treat every record as important, as opposed to putting out singles with throwaway B-sides merely to sell albums. Consequently, many of their greatest songs did not get automatic placement on regularly-released albums. The Smiths also went through unbelievably prolific periods that produced a slew of classic tracks (I seem to recall an old Select Magazine interview with Johnny Marr in which he tells of writing the music for "This Charming Man," "Still Ill," and "Pretty Girls Make Graves" in one night, with Morrissey penning lyrics for all three the next day!). It is worth everyone’s time to own at least one Smiths collection and, fully aware of this fact, Rhino will throw its hat into the ring, also knowing full well that Hatful of Hollow, Louder Than Bombs, The World Won’t Listen, The Best of The Smiths, Vol. 1, The Best of The Smiths, Vol. 2, Singles, and The Very Best of The Smiths have already been released. The latest rush and a push is called Hang the DJ: The Very Best of The Smiths, and it will be released October 7 in both single- and double-disc versions.

Smiths fanatics will already have everything on these two discs but will undoubtedly pick up the album for the cover art alone. New recruits primed to pray at the feet of Morrissey and Marr will delight in Hang the DJ’s indie anthems, including a small smattering of (mostly previously released) curios: the outstanding "Jeane," ("This Charming Man" B-side, later covered by Billy Bragg), "Money Changes Everything" ("Shoplifters of the World Unite" instrumental B-side, later used by Johnny Marr on Bryan Ferry’s "The Right Stuff"), and "I Keep Mine Hidden" ("Girlfriend in a Coma" B-side and the last song The Smiths ever recorded). There are also a number of live tracks, including a cover of "What’s the World" by fellow thoughtful Mancunians James.

These tracklistings aren’t funny anymore:

Disc One:
1. Hand in Glove
2. Reel Around the Fountain
3. This Charming Man
4. What Difference Does it Make
5. Still Ill
6. Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
7. William, It Was Really Nothing
8. How Soon Is Now?
9. Shakespeare’s Sister
10. Barbarism Begins at Home
11. That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore
12. The Headmaster Ritual
13. The Boy With the Thorn in His Side
14. Bigmouth Strikes Again
15. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
16. Panic
17. Ask
18. You Just Haven’t Earned it Yet Baby
19. Shoplifters of the World Unite
20. Sheila Take a Bow
21. Girlfriend in a Coma
22. I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish
23. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

Disc Two:
1. Handsome Devil (Live)
2. Jeane
3. This Charming Man (New York vocal)
4. Back to the Old House
5. These Things Take Time
6. Girl Afraid
7. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
8. Oscillate Wildly
9. Stretch Out and Wait
10. Meat Is Murder (Live in Oxford)
11. Asleep
12. Money Changes Everything
13. The Queen Is Dead
14. Vicar in a Tutu
15. Cemetary Gates
16. Half a Person
17. Sweet and Tender Hooligan
18. I Keep Mine Hidden
19. Pretty Girls Make Graves (Troy Tate version)
20. Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
21. What’s the World (Live in Glasgow)

Carey Mercer is a busy man. Between leading Frog Eyes (TMT Review) and sharing the lead in Swan Lake (TMT Review), you’d think there was already enough on his plate. This is obviously not the case, as Mercer will be releasing his second full-length solo album under the moniker Blackout Beach later this year.

The album is called Skin of Evil and arrives December 2 via Soft Abuse. This non-animal-related release will span 10 tracks, including some of the best titles I have heard all year: “Biloxi, in a Grove, Cleans Out His Eyes,” “Astoria, Menthol Lite, Hilltop, Wave of Evil 1982,” and “William, the Crowd, It’s William.” Describing the album, Mr. Mercer explained to Pitchfork:

I wrote this record because I desired to make something that stays on task. I picked an easy task: desire, longing, flight, the sorrow of absence...the DNA of most good songs. The heart of the record is simple to describe: beautiful Donna and the men she has left. Eight past lovers, some bitter, some crushed, all in some state of duress, all still in love. Each dude gets his song. Donna gets her song. William, her boyfriend, gets his song.

Sounds like fun!

Skin of Evil tracklist:

1. Cloud of Evil 2. Biloxi, in a Grove, Cleans Out His Eyes 3. Three Men Drown in the River 4. William, the Crowd, It’s William 5. The Roman 6. Woe to the Minds of Soft Men 7. The Whistle 8. Nineteen, One God, One Dull Star 9. Sophia, Donna, I Was Down the River Waiting 10. Astoria, Menthol Lite, Hilltop, Wave of Evil 1982