Comprised of Amon Tobin and Joe “Doubleclick” Chapman, a new collaboration called Two Fingers will release a debut single, “What You Know,” in January. In an experimental mix of hip hop and drum & bass with guest vocalists, the production duo will have an album out in March on Paper Bag Records.
Stoner-metal outfit Witch has announced tour dates starting in late February with Tee Pee Records labelmates Earthless. Head to Tee Pee for the list.
Due to illness, Afrobeat star Femi Kuti has canceled his North American tour that was set to begin on Wednesday, January 7.
In anticipation of Bromst, his new full-length album due on March 24, Dan Deacon has posted “Get Older,” one of the album’s tracks, on imeem. Deacon also has a split 12″ with electronic brethren Adventure coming out on January 27.
Converge and Supermachiner (side project with vocalist Jacob Bannon and guitarist Kurt Ballou) each have a new album in store for 2009.
Bannon’s new experimental project, Irons, has a split 12″ with Pulling Teeth also due in 2009. Bannon’s label, Deathwish Inc., has a glut of releases planned for this year.
Chinese-American composer Wu Fei will perform on January 16, 17, and 18 in China to celebrate the recent release of her new album, Yuan, on Tzadik. Details can be found at her website.
Watch the brief trailer for Mastodon‘s new album, Crack the Skye, at the band’s website.
Fifty free pairs of tickets are being given away to Kronos Quartet‘s performance of Terry Riley‘s Sun Rings in France on January 16. To request a pair of tickets (by Monday, January 12), e-mail announcements@kronosquartet.org, with the subject line “Paris Sun Rings – MySpace”, including your name and e-mail address in the body of your message.
Bassist/guitarist Reed Mathis, a founding member of 15 years, has left Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey to pursue other endeavors. The group has a lineup with two new members that will perform for scheduled shows in January and February.
Founding drummer Pat Pengelly has quit Bedouin Soundclash, making the group, for now, a duo with Jay Malinowski and Eon Sinclair. The group’s February tour dates will remain intact.
These Arms are Snakes has announced a month-long US tour, primarily hitting the Midwest and East Coast, that begins in late February.
Madlib has a new disc for his Beat Konducta series — Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6 — that will be released February 10 on Stones Throw.
Danish weirdo rockers Powersolo will release their new album, Bloodskinbones, on February 23.
Via an interview with band manager Peter Mensch, the BBC reports that the instrumental members of Led Zeppelin — Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham (son of John Bonham) — are looking to tour and record a new album without Robert Plant. The article says that it is unknown whether the group will continue under the famous name, but in a separate interview with Mensch on musicradar.com, the manager emphatically states that “Led Zeppelin are over.”
Apple is finally doing away with DRM protection (short for digital rights management) on its iTunes music files.
Tonight, punk ensemble World/Inferno Friendship Society will perform a special one-off gig at New York’s Webster Hall. The show, a multi-media operetta based on the life of Peter Lorre, is part of the Under The Radar Festival.