Andrew Bird Whistles While He Works... And Finishes New Album!

By Mike McHugh on Oct 6 2008

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.

By David Nadelle on Oct 6 2008

If this story wasn’t so sad, I could have run with a very lame Vacation plot crammed full of Clark Griswold’s fish-out-of-water hijinks. But because robbery is never funny, and because touring is never relaxing at the best of times (especially when you are far from home and reliant on limited travel possessions for your job and sanity), this news is just plain devastating and depressing. Last week, Chicago noise addixxx Pelican got four bags of belongings stolen from their rental van in Rome while out sightseeing. (The band is currently touring around Europe with Torche.)

I’m pissed when someone steals one of my popsicles from the freezer at work, so I can’t even imagine how shitty it must feel to lose a bunch of personal and professional items. There are always many worthwhile causes vying for your hard-earned money, but if you happen to be particularly flush with extra pocket change this week, donating a few bucks to Pelican would produce a significant karmic rebound. Here’s the statement from the band:

Our otherwise excellent tour of Europe hit a severe stroke of bad luck this week. Two days ago we had a spare half hour to spend in Rome before heading to the venue, so we decided to go see the Coliseum. We parked nearby and went to take a brief twenty minute walk around the area. When we returned to our van we found that it had been broken into, despite being parked on a major street in broad daylight. Four bags were stolen, the contents including computers, passports, wallets, ipods, our soundguy's microphone collection, and, most devastatingly, a number of personal journals and two portable recording devices containing hours of song ideas that are now lost forever.

The calculated loss of this theft is several thousands of dollars. Unfortunately our band only earns us a very meager living and some of us are already in the hole from years of trying to make a living as musicians. This incident therefore poses a devastating loss and puts us in a very compromised financial position. Although we realize that there is a worldwide financial crisis going on, if there are those of you who have the means and desire to help out our gratitude would run deeper than words could express. We've set up a Paypal account at the address pelicanrobbed@gmail.com. Anything you can offer, even simple condolences, would go a long way. Thanks so much for reading.

Remaining dates:

* Torche