Jailed Pussy Riot member and political activist, Maria Alyokhina has been refused parole following a hearing earlier this week.

The decision was made after the hearings held on Wednesday and Thursday, which Alyokhina was not allowed to attend. The protester said she was taking a vow of hunger strike against her inability to attend the meetings.

Following the news, Sir Paul McCartney has voiced his support of the imprisoned in an open letter released on his official website:

“My personal belief is that further incarceration for Maria will be harmful for her and the situation as a whole, which, of course, is being watched by people all over the world.

“In the great tradition of fair-mindedness which the Russian people (many of whom are my friends) are famous for, I believe that you granting this request would send a very positive message to all the people who have followed this case.”

Last year, three members of the punk band were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and were sentenced to two years in jail following the performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The song requested that the Virgin Mary drive Russian president Vladimir Putin from power.

Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, have been named prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. Samutsevich was released in October.

[via CoS]

After their single ‘Get Lucky’ broke first day streaming records when it was released last month, Daft Punk now look set to do not only the same with their album Random Access Memories, but to smash the entire first week record too.

Tech site The Next Web report that the current record is held by Mumford & Sons for Babel, but that the French electronic duo are nearing that mark of 8 million with days remaining. This is quite a feat considering Daft Punk streamed the record over at iTunes a week prior to its official release.

It’ll also accumulate to what will be the music streaming platform’s most busy week since their launch five years back. Read out review of Random Access Memories here.

[via FACT]

Sally Shapiro will release a remix LP based around recent album Somewhere Else.

The Swedish singer, backed by producer/writer Johan Agebjörn, has compiled the aptly-named Elsewhere, which is due via Paper Bag on 28 May.

Among the contributors to the release are the likes of Nite Jewel, Little Boots, Young Galaxy, The Field and Dan Lissvik, as well as a reworking from former The Tough Alliance member Henning Fürst, a track which we previously premiered here.

The full tracklisting is as below, with The Field’s remix of ‘Lives Together’ streaming beneath it.

1. I Dream With An Angel Tonight (Lovelock Remix)
2. If It Doesn’t Rain (Dan Lissvik Remix)
3. All My Life (Mitch Murder Remix)
4. Architectured Love (Mauvais Cliché Remix)
5. Sundown (Nite Jewel Remix)
6. This City’s Local Italo Disco DJ Has A Crush On Me (Little Boots Discotheque Remix)
7. Don’t Be Afraid (Lost Years Remix)
8. Starman (Henning Fürst Remix)
9. What Can I Do (Young Galaxy Remix)
10. Lives Together (The Field Remix)

[via FACT]

Eminem has announced some of hip-hop’s most promising as the support acts for his upcoming European tour.

Among the openers are the likes of Kendrick Lamar and ‘Earlwolf’ – a combined live performance of Odd Future pair Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler the Creator.

As well as this, Earl has shared a track from his upcoming solo debut Doris, entitled ‘Guild’ and featuring Mac Miller. You can steam that beneath.

Here’s Eminem’s upcoming tour dates:

August
17 – Slane Castle, Ireland (Plan B, Earlwolf, Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse)
20 – Bellahouston Park, Glasgow Summer Session (Kendrick Lamar, Earlwolf, Yelawolf)
22 – Stade de France, France (Kendrick Lamar, Earlwolf, Slaughterhouse)

[via CoS]

Premiering music in SNL ad breaks, hiring out the Shard building in London, sending masks to half of the music industry, throwing an album launch party at an agricultural convention in Australia. What other wacky things could Daft Punk come up with to promote their recently-released new record? How about putting their name to a race car? Yep, that might just about do it.

And that’s very much what Columbia Records have done, sponsoring Formula 1 team Lotus at the Monaco Grand Prix. The French electronic pair even made an appearance in a promotional clip.

Here’s what it’ll look like:

And watch an advert for the whole thing below:

With music-orientated TV offerings slim pickings as of late, Channel 4 have decided to fill the gap in the market with two new music programmes set to pilot later this year.

The first, a quiz format entitled That Music Show, will be presented by Nick Grimshaw, offering both well-known celebrity and musical guests as well as live music performances. The other, Smells Like Friday Night will be hosted by an ensemble of Rizzle Kicks, comedian Rob Beckett and VICE presenter Billie JD Porter.

“These two shows provide us with a great opportunity to put music back on the agenda,” said Head of Formats Dominic Bird. No firm date has yet been given of their broadcast.

[via NME]

The good folks over at NPR recently set up their cameras and shot an entire James Blake concert when he stopped off at Washington DC’s 9:30 Club earlier this month.

Handpicking tracks from his first EPs, his self-titled debut and this year’s superb effort Overgrown, Blake provided a versatile set ranging from ground-shaking bass to tearduct-probing fragility. He never did manage to stand up from his keyboard though.

Watch in full below, over 90 minutes long in all:

[via FACT]

Electronic producer and ever-generous person, Ryan Hemsworth has made an EP of new material up for grabs online.

Following on from a series of free downloads, including a Backstreet Boys remix, Hemsworth has now released this Still Awake EP for absolutely nothing. It’s available to stream below, and downloadable here.

Couldn’t afford a ticket to this year’s Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona? Unable to get time off work? Simply forgot to book the flights? Well, don’t kick yourself too much as such key acts are having their sets broadcast live via Youtube.

Thursday’s offerings include the likes of Animal Collective, Phoenix, The Postal Service, Tame Impala and more. Not bad. Watch the live stream neatly embedded beneath:

The entire weekend’s schedule is as below, with all times in BST:

Thurs 23 May
17.25 – Wild Nothing
18.20 – Delorean
19.30 – Tame Impala
20.45 – Dinosaur Jr.
21.55 – The Postal Service
23.15 – Grizzly Bear
00.14 – Phoenix
02.10 – Animal Collective

Fri 24 May
16.50 – Pony Bravo
17.40 – Nick Waterhouse
18.30 – PEACE
19.30 – The Bots
20.35 – Manel
21.45 – The Jesus & Mary Chain
23.15 – James Blake
00.20 – Swans

Sat 25 May
16.00 – Guadaloupe Plata
16.50 – Extraperlo
17.35 – Adam Green & Binki Shapiro
19.00 – Poolside
20.00 -Dead Can Dance
21.20 – Wu-Tang Clan
22.45 – Orquestre Poly Rythmo De Cotonou
00.05 – Los Planetas
01.30 – Simian Mobile Disco
02.50 – Hot Chip

Following yesterday’s video airing on a Tokyo jumbotron, it looks like the ever-elusive Boards of Canada will give music from a proper broadcast via Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show this evening.

As Dummy report, Zane will be playing some material, possibly the same that featured in the aforementioned Japanese unveiling, tonight between 7PM and 9PM (BST).

The electronic outfit’s new album, Tomorrow’s Harvest is due 10 June. You will be able to listen to the show online here.

Following two back-to-back performances at London’s Roundhouse earlier this week, one of which saw lead singer Wayne Coyne cradle a baby’s doll, The Flaming Lips are set to appear on BBC Radio 6 Music later today (23 May) for a special live session.

The Oklahoma band will perform at the Beeb’s famous Maida Vale studios, airing live from 6PM-7PM BST. To get you in the mood for that, 6 Music have even provided a special printable cut-out Wayne Coyne mask, also shown below. Handy.

Flaming Lips will return to the 6 Music studios on Sunday, taking over the playlist for a whole hour between midday and 1PM. More info on that can be found here.

[via The Quietus]

As we previously reported, Iggy Azalea was a much welcomed guest of honour at Angel Haze‘s recent London outing at Scala, as they performed their collaborative take on Watch The Throne track ‘Otis’.

While we had to settle for some shoddy fan footage last week, a rather better quality version has been uploaded in the form of this “rehearsal” recording.

Listen to the hip-hop pair’s take on the Kanye West and Jay-Z number below:

[via CoS]

Two of the most hyped electronic acts of the moment, Brolin and East India Youth are to play a free show this month in the capital.

Taking place at East London venue Birthdays next Wednesday (29 May), the Double Denim and The Quietus-approved pair will team up for a special gig which also offers the welcomed prospect of some free beer for those who get down early.

RSVP for the event on Facebook here.

Photo by Howard Melnyczuk.

Avant-pop musician, Matthew Dear will play his only London date of the year at the end of the month.

Performing at club promoters Peculiar’s 1st birthday celebrations, Dear will appear at a yet-unnamed venue on 31 May. Support will come from Tomoki Tamura and Ibellini.

Tickets are currently £15 and available here. Dear released his latest album Beams on Ghostly International last year.

[Photo by Howard Melnyczuk, news via FACT]

Daft Punk are set to remix Daft Punk, as the French pair reveal they’re planning on dropping a series of reworked tracks from their recent album Random Access Memories.

“We’re working on some mixes ourselves. So, yes, there will probably be Daft Punk mixes of Daft Punk,” Thomas Bangalter told BBC Radio 1′s Pete Tong recently. “Usually, we never mix ourselves, that’s something we feel we’re interested in doing this time.”

But with many numbers throughout the record lending themselves to reworking, where are they going to start? Their first single, of course. “The first track we’re remixing is ‘Get Lucky’. That will be out by the end of June.”

The bonus track from Random Access Memories‘ Japanese release recently emerged online, streamable here.

[via NME]

Washed Out, aka electronic musician and chillwave graduate Ernest Greene, has revealed he’ll release his second album this summer.

Following on from 2011 debut Within and Without, new effort Paracosm is scheduled for release via Weird World in Europe and Sub Pop in North America come 12/13 August.

Paracosm was recorded with Animal Collective and Deerhunter producer Ben Allen and is said to contain over 50 different instruments as well as samples. A far cry from his bedroom producer background, then.

The album’s title refers to the notion of creating an imaginary world in one’s mind, which might also give you a little idea what to expect.

Until it drops, watch a trailer to the release below:

Cardiff’s Sŵn Festival have revealed the first details surrounding this year’s leg of the annual music showcase event.

The fest will return later this year, running from 17-20 October, with Deerhunter unveiled as the first headlining act.

More artists will be announced on 10 June, when wristbands are set to go on sale. But before then, they’ve given us a little taster of what calibre of bands to expect, with Bradford Cox and co scheduled to play the Friday night.

Deerhunter’s show will be included in the price of a one-day or weekend ticket, as well as being available at a standalone price of £14 here.

Despite closing its doors in 2006, iconic New York venue CBGB relaunched last year as a music festival. Now, celebrating its 40th year since initially opening, it’s back for a five-day event.

The second CBGB Music & Film Festival will run from 9-13 October in the Big Apple, proclaiming to be ”NYC’s largest ever showcase of music, film, art, social awareness, entertainment industry workshops and conferences.”

It’ll also feature 700 acts performing across 175 venues in the city. Last year saw the likes of Guided By Voices, Cloud Nothings and The War on Drugs appearing at the fest.

Meanwhile, CBGB is set to be the subject of an upcoming new movie, starring Alan Rickman and more.

[via SPIN]

Having been a bit quiet on the release front the past twelve months of so, electronic producer Star Slinger seems to be gearing up to something, announcing a series of live dates for this coming summer.

Confirmed via his Tumblr page, the cut-and-splice musician has revealed he’ll play a handful of UK dates in London, Dublin and Nottingham during June, before heading across the pond in July. Among the North American dates are stop-offs in Miami, Seattle and Chicago.

You can check out the complete schedule of live dates below:

Following the enormous, and somewhat unexpected, success of their debut album, Leeds fourpiece Alt-J have confirmed they’ll begin working on its follow-up over the next few months.

Speaking to the Daily Star recently, the band’s keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton said that they will enter the studio during the summer, with a handful of tracks already in the works. “Some songs have been started and almost finished,” he told the tabloid. “It’s feeling good.”

Unger-Hamilton went on to talk about the relief of finding time to buckle down and starting recording again. “It’s been hard to write on the road because we don’t [always] have access to our instruments,” he continued, before joking: “Maybe we’ll do a Futureheads and make an a cappella album”.

The indie quartet released An Awesome Wave in May 2012, winning the Mercury Prize for it in November.

[via CMU]

Hot off the back of their new album release, which garnered some fantastic press as well as some less favourable, Daft Punk look keen to collaborate on new music with Nile Rodgers once again.

Rodgers has apparently, according to the Daily Star, found some lost music that he believes “they’d love to work on”. The unreleased material dates back his Chic days and has been stored away – until now. The veteran musician says he “trusts” Daft Punk as producers, which is why this stuff is finally being unearthed.

The unheard music is rather varied, according to the legendary guitarist: “There’s some solo stuff, tracks by Johnny Mathis and Fonzi Thornton, the soundtrack to a film called Alphabet City, and Chic recording in Stockholm.”

[via CMU]

The 17th annual Webby Awards was held earlier this week, celebrating the best in online culture and “excellence on the Internet”.

The web and music have long gone hand-in-hand, so much so that Tumblrcore is now conisdered a valid genre. Among the musical guests at the ceremony this year were Grimes, awarded ‘Artist of the Year’, Frank Ocean,  receiving the ‘Person of the Year’ accolade, and Tanlines performing live.

Here are a series of highlights from the event:

Grimes picking up her ‘Artist of the Year’ Webby and saying just a little over five words.

Tanlines perform live at the event.

Jerry Seinfeld wins Webby for ‘Outstanding Comedic Performance’.

Steve Wilhite given ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for inventing the GIF.

Tumblr win ‘Best Website Community’ and say ‘Fuck Yeah!’ as a response.

[via Stereogum]

With most festival-goers barely recovered from last weekend’s events, Brighton’s The Great Escape festival have plotted the dates for their 2014 outing.

The premium UK music showcase will return next year from 8-10 May. This follows 2013′s leg which saw the fest sell out for the first time in its eight year history.

“A huge thank you to everyone who made TGE 2013 so brilliant,” festival director Kat Morris said. “To all the incredible artists that played, to the panellists and keynote speakers who blew our delegates away, to every person that attended, our wonderful partners and our amazing production team. We are so excited to announce the dates for 2014 right off the back of this year’s festival and hope to see you there.”

Photo by Howard Melnyczuk.

Following the release of Monomania earlier this month, Deerhunter have revealed that they’ll head to Europe for an extended stretch of live dates this autumn.

These will kick off in October at Dublin’s Vicar Street, before heading to Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff and Brighton. Bradford Cox and co will then travel across the continent the rest of the month, through to November.

Check the full schedule of dates below, with tickets on sale today.

October
11^th – DUBLIN, Vicar Street [TICKETS]
12^th – BELFAST, Empire Music Hall [TICKETS]
13^th – GLASGOW, The Arches [TICKETS]
15^th – MANCHESTER, Academy 2 [TICKETS]
16^th – LEEDS, Stylus [TICKETS]
17^th – LIVERPOOL, East Village Arts Club [TICKETS]
18^th – CARDIFF, Solus (SWN Festival) [TICKETS]
19^th – BRIGHTON, Concorde 2 [TICKETS]
21^st – ANTWERP, Trix [TICKETS]
22^nd – AMSTERDAM, Paradiso [TICKETS]
23^rd – HAMBURG, Übel and Gefährlich [TICKETS]
24^th – BERLIN, Festaal Kreuzberg [TICKETS]
25^th – MUNICH, Feierwerk [TICKETS]
26^th -  PRAGUE, Meet Factory [TICKETS]
27^th – VIENNA, Wuk [TICKETS]
29^th – ZURICH, Rote Fabrik [TICKETS]
30^th – FRIBOURG, Fri-Son [TICKETS]
31^st – LYON, Epicerie Moderne [TICKETS]

November
2^nd – TOURCOING, Le Grand Mix [TICKETS]
4^th – ROUEN, Le 106 [TICKETS]

German-born American rapper, J. Cole has brought his new album due date forward a week in a call of arms to Kanye West.

West’s preposterously-named Yeezus is set to come out on 18 June in the States, with Cole’s effort Born Sinner previously expected a week later. That all changed once he found out Yeezy had a new record on the way, however.

“I’m not going to sit [here]… I worked too hard to come a week later after Kanye West drops an amazing album,” Cole said on the news. “It’d be like, ‘Oh and J.Cole dropped too, a week later.’ Nah. I’m going to go see him on that date. He’s the greatest. So it’s like, I’m a competitor by nature so it was instant, it wasn’t even a thought.”

It’s not the first time Kanye’s been caught up in a beef of this kind either, back in 2007 50 Cent bet West that he’d sell more albums with Curtis than Graduation did. Fiddy ended up eating his words and losing the bet.

Watch Cole’s recent performance on his LP’s title-track on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon below:

[via The 405]

Antony and the Johnsons‘ Antony Hegarty is to stage a solo art show from the end of the month at the Sikkema Jenkins gallery in New York.

Hegarty, known for his ventures into other artistic mediums, will host an exhibition called The Cut, based around themes surrounding his 2012 album Cut the World.

The work, a press release from the musician says, was inspired by Hegarty’s poem of the same name and attempts to “address universal artistic or social ideas and poetically suggests the healing potential of art”.

It’ll run from 31 May – 12 July, with more information available here. Until then, read ‘The Cut’ by Hegarty beneath:

The Cut
The cut on her face
The blood from under her skirt
A red fountain carries me
Towards my destiny
The cut in the sky
Out pour father’s eyes
Dive deep in the snow
Cold seed for the spring
Harvest of my creativity
The cut on her face
Portal of our race
Spurned majesty sighs
For that cut!

[via Pitchfork]

Ever outspoken, former Smiths frontman Morrissey has penned an open letter asking his fans to stop eating famously extravagant French dish foie gras.

Foie gras is a dish made from the liver of a duck or goose, which Morrissey – and avid vegetarian – has taken a certain disliking to. In the statement released via his semi-official fansite True To You, he applauds Prince Charles’ decision to stop serving the food at his formal gatherings, while turning his sights on the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, who he attributes it as a favourite meal of.

“It isn’t nice and you shouldn’t do it,” Moz opens the letter, before continuing: “Foie gras production is illegal in the UK, yet the ever-so-correct Fortnum and Mason have found suppliers in France who will keep their shelves stocked… would you please write to them/contact them and exert pressure on them to stop selling such a savage beyond belief ”product”.”

You can read the entire letter in full beneath:

“It isn’t nice and you shouldn’t do it

Congratulations to Prince Charles for banning foie gras from all his functions.
However, unsurprisingly, this most savage and cruel commodity continues to be the favorite “dish” of smiling mother-to-be Kate Muddleton (from whom, in fact, we expect no less.)
Foie gras production is illegal in the UK, yet the ever-so-correct Fortnum and Mason have found suppliers in France who will keep their shelves stocked – possibly with the hope that smiling Kate will wobble in and place an order for her unborn child.
Since Fortnum and Mason are now the only department store in London who are associated with the pitiless atrocity of foie gras, would you please write to them/contact them and exert pressure on them to stop selling such a savage beyond belief ”product”.

Fortnum and Mason
181 Piccadilly
London W1A 1ER, England

Twitter: @FortnumandMason

http://www.fortnumandmason.com

thank you!

Morrissey
22 May 2013″

[via Pitchfork]

“You just sit in your apartment watching Saved By The Bell and eating ramen noodles, and sometimes you spice things up by having Lucky Charms,” says U.S talk show host Conan O’Brien in his mock video response to Taylor Swift‘s recent single ’22′.

Not entirely happy that the representation of what it’s like to be a newly-graduated, perpetually-confused post-teen is truly depicted in Taylor’s track, O’Brien decides to hark back to what things are actually like when you’re at that age. Or at least what they were like back when he was 22.

“When you’re 22, the only reason you go out at night is to watch St Elmo’s Fire, which is out in the theaters and you’re excited because your favourite actors are in it: The Brat Pack.”

Watch the full clip below:

And for comparison’s sake, here’s the Swift original:

With their first album in nigh eight years dropping next month, Boards of Canada have continued their guerrilla marketing campaign by airing a first instalment of music from the record on a video screen in central Tokyo.

Following a series of now highly valued secret decoder vinyl releases, the electronic outfit premiered a new video earlier today in the Japanese capital at exactly midnight local time.

You can check out some fan footage of that below, via CoS. Meanwhile, new record Tomorrow’s Harvest is out 10 June via Warp.

Summer Camp have confirmed they’ve completed their second full-length and follow-up to 2011′s Welcome To Condale.

“It’s official. Our album is finished. The masters have been signed off, the B-sides have been mixed. It’s on”, singer Elizabeth Sankey wrote on her personal blog. “There is always a waiting period of a couple of months after you finish an album,” she continues. “And that means we have ample opportunity to think back over the past year of writing and think about everything.”

Sankey proceeds to run through all the complications that arise from having a whole year to make album #2 when, with most debut LPs that borrow from previous tracks released on EPs, there’s not that prolonged period of writing and recording that comes next.

A summer playing festivals and then trying to record, she says, made the group make up short songs consisting of the “best bits” of music, rather than whole cohesive tracks. Going through different phases of music tastes, like listening to Toots & The Maytals, also seems to warp judgement also, making the group want to “put steel drums on a song” or insert “searing guitar solos”.

But despite the stress of “sobbing in a corner for ten minutes”, making “moodboards” or having nobody like the song you think is “not even the best song we’d ever written, the best song anyone, ever, in the entire world, had written”, it seems like it all manages to come together in the end.

Three of the “best” songs on the album, Sankey writes, were spawned from the “inevitable last month” when the bad had “officially ‘stopped writing’.”

There’s no set due date for the upcoming release, but it’s expected to be within the summer months. Until then, check out our Best Fit session with the group below:

The Scottish Album of the Year Award (SAY Award) have announced that they’ll let the public help them decide on their final shortlist for this year’s accolade.

The ceremony, akin to the Mercury Prize, returns for its second year, with organisers revealing today that a public vote will be held to pick one of the ten-strong shortlist.

The shortlist, which cuts the longer list already revealed in half from 20 acts, will be made public on 30 May. The public vote will be held on 27 May via the SAY Award website, open for only 24 hours.

The eventual winner will be unveiled at ceremony in Barrowlands on 20 June, receiving a £20,000 cash prize. The full list of current nominees is as below:

Admiral Fallow – Tree Bursts In Snow
Auntie Flo – Future Rhythm Machine
Calvin Harris – 18 Months
Dam Mantle – Brothers Fowl
Django Django – Django Django
Duncan Chisholm – Affric
Emeli Sandé – Our Version of Events
Errors - Have Some Faith In Magic
Human Don’t Be Angry – Human Don’t Be Angry
Karine Polwart - Traces
Konrad Wiszniewski & Euan Stevenson – New Focus
Lau - Race The Loser
Meursault – Something For The Weakened
Miaoux Miaoux – Light of the North
Paul Buchanan – Mid Air
PAWS – Cokefloat!
RM Hubbert – Thirteen Lost & Found
Stanley Odd – Reject
The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know
The Unwinding Hours – Afterlives

Following a series of reissues recently on Domino Records, Julia Holter is set to release her first album on the label later this summer.

Loud City Song is due for release on 19 August, the follow-up to 2012′s Ekstasis. You can check out its opener, ‘World’ streaming below, with the album’s tracklisting as follows:

1. World
2. Maxim’s I
3. Horns Surrounding Me
4. In The Green Wild
5. Hello Stranger
6. Maxim’s II
7. He’s Running Through My Eyes
8. This Is a True Heart
9. City Appearing

What’s the easiest thing to name your album? Album, like Girls did? Basically nothing, like Sigur Ros did? Or just settle for a good ol’ fashion self-titled effort? Well, things were a bit more complicated for Toronto electro-pop outfit DIANA who have been made to change the name of their self-titled debut after it emerged that there’s already an album called Diana by a band named Diana.

Not wanting to get sued, the group have now amended its title to Perpetual Surrender - perhaps a headnod to their out forfeit itself. It’ll still come out on 19 August via Jagjaguwar. You can listen to a cut from that LP, ‘Born Again’, streaming below.

[via The 405]

With data from streaming services soon to be incorporated in gold and platinum certifications, it was only a matter of time before there was a streaming-only chart countdown. And now music platform Spotify have done just that, launching two separate charts.

The first will be a simple rundown of its most played tracks throughout the past seven days, while the second will be the most shared songs via social networking sites. Each country will have their own different version of these.

This follows news that Spotify will start showing play statistics on many new tracks. It’s not yet known whether the company will do the same for albums, or whether or not they’ll launch an albums chart also.

[via CMU]

Jailed Pussy Riot member and political activist, Maria Alyokhina has taken a hunger strike vow in a protest against a Russian court’s refusal to let her attend her own parole hearing.

A local court in Berezniki ruled that Alyokhina must stay in her jail cell for the hearing that will take place from Wednesday through to Thursday. Via video link, the protester said: ”Let the troika sitting here – the judge, the prosecutor and the colony employee – decide my fate”, before announcing she will begin a hunger strike in response.

Last year, three members of the punk band were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and were sentenced to two years in jail following the performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The song requested that the Virgin Mary drive Russian president Vladimir Putin from power.

Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, have been named prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. Samutsevich was released in October.

[via The Guardian]

Cali indie-rock outfit, Giant Drag returned for their first album since 2005′s Hearts And Unicorns earlier this year – and now will head to the UK for a supporting tour in September.

The band, fronted by Annie Hardy, released Waking Up Is Hard To Do via Full Psycho Records back in March and will play tracks from the release at show in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds and other UK cities.

It’ll be Hardy’s final performances in order to, as she says in a statement, “say goodbye to the band properly so I can concentrate on my new project Annie Hardy and the Psychos”.

The full touring schedule is as below:

September
12 Brudenell, Leeds
13 Deaf Institute, Manchester
14 Kazimier, Liverpool
15 Broadcast, Glasgow
16 The Cluny, Newcastle
17 Borderline, London
18 The Fleece, Bristol
19 Green Door Store, Brighton

[via DIY]

Odd Future-affiliated production duo, The Jet Age of Tomorrow will a free LP in the form of Jellyfish Mentality this week.

Due Friday, the pair (Matt Martians and Hal Williams) have collaborated with the likes of SBTRKT, Mac Miller, Kilo Kish and more for this third effort. OFWGKTA members Earl Sweatshirt, Hodgy Beats et al will also appear on the release.

You can listen to one of the tracks ‘On!’ right now below, with the full tracklisting beneath that.

1 Mushy
2 Special K (Wombats)
3 Warping Walls
4 Desert N’ The Dark (JAOT Dub) [ft. the Stepkids]
5 ON!
6 Juney Jones [ft. Mac Miller and Speak]
7 Panic on Pluto (interlude) [produced by SBTRKT and Matt Martians]
8 Not So Scary ft Kilo Kish
9 Love in Water
10 Lily Pads
11 A Place Where Lovers Go [ft. Jesse Boykins III]
12 Machines Machines (interlude)
13 One Take [ft Earl Sweatshirt and Casey Veggies]
14 SuperFINE
15 The Door’s Door
16 Asia [ft Mike G]
17 Squares
18 Wonderful World [ft. Domo Genesis and Vince Staples]
19 Naked [ft. Hodgy Beats]
20 Airport (interlude)
21 Telephones

A collection of previously unreleased material by the late experimental composer Arthur Russell is set to be premiered at an exhibition in Detroit this weekend. If you can’t wait for that, or simply unable to make it, you can listen to one of the highlights right now in the form of this alternate version of Talking Heads‘ ‘Psycho Killer’.

Previously unheard, the track features Arthur Russell on cello duty and David Byrne in typically brilliant form. Listen to all that below, with thanks for Dazed Digital for the stream.

More info on the Detroit event can be found here.

Despite being a disco legend, Giorgio Moroder had never got behind a pair of decks before. Until last night, that is, when the recent Daft Punk collaborator performed his first ever DJ set live in New York.

Part of the billing for Red Bull Music Academy’s night at Brooklyn club Output, Moroder spun some of his career-long back-catalogue, Donna Summer was in abundance, as well as Random Access Memories track ‘Giorgio by Moroder’.

You can listen to the entire thing, 75 minutes in all, below:

[via CoS]

With her new, and fourth, full-length due next week, Laura Marling is planning some special to celebrate the release – unveiling details of a series of upcoming Secret Cinema shows.

The multiple events, set to take place at surprise locations across East London from 13-26 June and 18-21 June, will feature actors, artists, dancers and more – as well as a live performance from Marling herself.

Tickets go on sale Thursday (23 May) at 1pm GMT, available via the Secret Cinema website. Listen to Once I Was An Eagle online in full via here.

Photo by Lucy Hamblin.

Possibility the coolest music lecturer since Kode9, Four Tet gave a talk at the Red Bull Music Academy recently on how he structures his sets.

Many an electronic producer has become stumped on how to transfer their bedroom or home studio made tracks to the dancefloor, but Kieran Hebden was on hand to give an informal audience of onlookers a few tips.

You can watch that seminar of sorts below, as well as a recent RBMA talk with Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder.

[via FACT]

London-based scuzz-pop types, Splashh have revealed details surrounding their forthcoming debut album release.

The record, entitled Comfort, will come out via Luv Luv Luv on 2 September. It’s available for pre-ordering here.

As well as this, the group have confirmed a flurry of live dates to precede the release. You can check those out in full below, with the record’s cover art beneath.

May
30 Newcastle, Think Tank
31 Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy

June
1 Nottingham, Chameleon
2 Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
4 London, Cargo
5 Manchester, The Soup Kitchen
7 Southampton, Lennons
8 Brighton, The Hope

[via CMU]

East London noir-goths, O Children are set to team up with Deptford threepiece Drop Out Venus and noise-pop pair Crushed Beaks for a special show next month in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

The three bands will play London’s Cargo on 1 June as part of the Big Mix Festival, a celebration of music, comedy and more, all in support of the charity.

Tickets are free with a Big Mix wristband, or £5 entry without. RSVP for the event here and get tickets now here.

Listen to a track by each band below:

With the record streaming a good few weeks prior to its actual release, at the tail end of a promotional campaign that seemed to go on forever, you’d be forgiven to feel like you’ve listened to the new Daft Punk album to death before it was even released this week. Luckily, however, there’s a new track you might not have heard to keep you entertained.

No BPM are pointing to this daydream-like track ‘Horizon’, claiming it’s the bonus track from the Japanese release from Random Access Memories. Washed synths, sorrowful robotic vocoder: seems about right.

 Listen beneath:

The bassist from David Bowie‘s Spiders From Mars band, Trevor Bolder has passed away at the age of 62.

Bolder joined Bowie’s live group in 1971 and can be heard on Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Aladdin Sane, and Pin Ups. He later left in 1976 to join seminal hard rock outfit Uriah Heep, which he was a member of until 2011.

Bowie has called Bolder a “wonderful musician and a major inspiration for whichever band he was working with”, while overall “a tremendous guy” and “great man”.

Watch Bolder in the video for ‘Starman’ below:

Photo via Pitchfork

The bi-annual Independent Label Market is set to return to London’s Spitalfields Market this July for this summer’s edition of their music celebratory event.

The fourth instalment of the day set up to celebrate the UK’s best indie labels, this round of the day will take place on Saturday 13 July. Regulars in having a stall, Bella Union, XL, Domino and more will be joined by the likes of Matador and 4AD, appearing at Independent Label Market for the first time. Each label will be cutting out the middle man and offering a series of special releases or rare items up for sale to the general public.

You can find a full list of the imprints taking part below. Check out photos from last Xmas’ event here and here.

4AD
Angular
Because
Bella Union
Big Dada
Brownswood
Caught By The River
Chess Club
Critical Heights
Dead Oceans
Domino
Fabric
Factory Benelux
Faux Discx
Fierce Panda
Fire
Fortuna Pop!
Full Time Hobby
Gringo
Heavenly
Hingefinger
Hospital Records
Houndstooth
Huntley & Palmers
Jagjaguwar
!K7
Killing Moon Ltd
Laissez Faire Club
Les Disques du Crépuscule
Lex
LoJinx
Mais Um Discos
Matador
Monotreme
Moshi Moshi
Ninja Tune
No Pain In Pop
O Genesis
Phantasy Sound
PIAS
Pink Mist
Proville
R&S
Robot Elephant
Rocket Girl
Secretly Canadian
Song By Toad
Sonic Cathedral
Soul Jazz
Soundway
Strut
Swamp 81
Tough Love
Trilogy Tapes
Upset The Rhythm
WIAIWYA
XL
ZZK Records

Photo by Howard Melnyczuk.

For somebody so adamant on his music being taken as art, Kanye West does go a strange way about it. It’s now emerged that he’s been working with the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith, on some new material.

It turns out that Kanye headhunted the former rapper, now more of an actor, to return to the music world. ”I’ve been messing around with Kanye, we went to the studio a couple times,” he recently told Hip Hollywood. “I might get the bug. I’m not gonna do it unless I’m truly inspired, but Ye’s been pushing me a little bit.”

They had previously been photographed together at a studio in Brazil. West’s new album, Yeezus comes out 18 June, while Smith last released a record in 2005.

[via NME]

Oxford band Trophy Wife have some good news and some bad news for you. The good first, as it kind of leads into the bad: they’ve released their debut album online. But don’t get too excited, as they’re breaking up too.

The 11-track self-titled effort is available via Bandcamp as a name-your-price download, with the band releasing a statement on Facebook saying that it’s the “right time” for them to split and “make new music” separately.

Before they do part, however, they’ll play a handful of finale shows during June. Stream the release via Best Fit below those dates in full beneath.

June
10 – Manchester, Night & Day Café
11 – Leicester, The Cookie Jar
12 – Bristol, Start The Bus
13 – London, Birthdays
14 – Oxford, O2 Academy 2

Reformed post-hardcore legends, At The Drive-In have announced that they’ll give seminal LP, Relationship of Command, another reissue outing.

The band initially re-released a limited number of coloured vinyl on Record Store Day back in April, but now they’ll offer up a full repressing via Transgressive on 5 August. You can pre-order it now here.

It’s the latest in a series of reissues from the recently reunited group, following Acrobatic Tenement’s repressing earlier this year.

Reportedly working on a new album currently, Cloud Nothings are set to return across the pond for a European stint this summer.

With their new material, premiered at their SXSW appearance, sounding “noisier” than previous record Attack On Memory, it’s likely that they’ll take this upcoming opportunity to showcase some of the tracks.

The band will stop off in Germany, Italy and other EU countries, as well as Visions Festival in London on 10 August. Check out the full schedule beneath:

August
1 Prague, 007
3 Austria, Vienna, B72
5 Germany, Munich, Strøm
6 Switzerland, Luzern, Treibhaus
7 Italy, Ravenna, Hana-Bi, Ravenna
9 Croatia, Sibenik, Terraneo Festival
10 London, Visions Festival

[via DIY]