Legendary Slovenian industrial band Laibach will be returning this fall for their first US tour since 2004. The dates are:

09.22.08 Seattle, WA Showbox @ The Market
09.23.08 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
09.25.08 San Francisco, CA Independent
09.26.08 Los Angeles, CA Key Club
09.28.08 Tijuana, Mexico El Foro
09.30.08 New York, NY Fillmore

For more info on Laibach and their other recent projects (which include LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE - “the laibachian interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach’s work The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge)”), check out their website at : www.laibach.nsk.si.

One of the more pleasant musical surprises of last year was the release of new material from Information Society, the electronic pop group best known for the 1988 dance club hit “What’s On Your Mind? (Pure Energy).” Though the “Oscillator” EP and “Synthesizer” full-length featured newcomer Christopher Christopher Anton on most of the lead vocals, original members Paul Robb and James Cassidy maintained the essence of classic Information Society while giving it a modern edge. In an email interview, Robb discussed reasons for the band’s return, clarified that original vocalist Kurt Harland IS very much part of the current line-up, and more.

From the official Devo website:

McDonald’s & American Idol Go Low
By Co-Opting DEVO’s Energy Dome

We recently discovered that DEVO has once again unwittingly intersected with mainstream pop culture.

McDonald’s fast food restaurants are offering a series of American Idol TV show themed toys in their children’s Happy Meals. One of the toys is named "New Wave Nigel", who sports an orange jumpsuit, punk shades, and an unmistakable DEVO Energy Dome. Flipping a switch plays a DEVO-esque song (which sounds a bit like a mutated version of DEVO’s Doctor Detroit.)

See video here.

Was DEVO ever contacted by McDonald’s, American Idol, or anyone else involved in making and distributing this toy wearing their trademark headgear?
Of course not.

Pioneers who got scalped….again.

UPDATE: According to an Australian Associated Press article (brought to our attention via a boingboing post), Devo are now taking legal action against McDonalds.

“We are in the midst of suing them,” [Bass player Gerald] Casale told AAP.

“This New Wave Nigel doll that they’ve created is just a complete Devo rip-off and the red hat is exactly the red hat that I designed, and it’s copyrighted and trademarked.

“They didn’t ask us anything. Plus, we don’t like McDonald’s, and we don’t like American Idol, so we’re doubly offended.”

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our interesting interview with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo!

“With this album, I just wanted it to be different, more like an iPod on shuffle,” says Juno Reactor’s Ben Watkins on why the recently released ‘Gods & Monsters’ is his most varied album to date. \”The way people listen to music nowadays, and the way I listen to music, isn’t to sit down and listen to a whole album. I listen to a whole lot of stuff flung together. And I thought maybe that would be a good way to approach an album.”

Working with a wide variety of musical collaborators, Watkins has come up with a highly cinematic sounding collection that ranges from pounding dance tracks to jazzy down-tempo to the first Juno Reactor songs driven by his own lead vocals. In a phone interview, Watkins discusses the making of “Gods & Monsters,” his approach to collaborations, why he chose to do his own vocals, and more.

By continually pushing the creative limits of sampling technology, Meat Beat Manifesto have managed to remain just as innovative as they were when they unleashed “Storm The Studio” back in 1988. Elements of such styles as dub, hip hop, industrial and jazz have been heard in Meat Beat Manifesto’s music throughout the years, but their sound has never been derivative of any particular style. Rather, founder Jack Dangers and whomever he is collaborating with at a particular time use electronic music technology to get around any type of musical boundaries that a more traditional band may encounter. Meat Beat Manifesto are back with a new CD, “Autoimmune,” and are hitting the road with a truly multimedia live. We recently did another phone interview with Jack, where he talks about the beginnings of the band, video sampling technology, and more.

After a decade long absence, trip-hop pioneers Portishead are back a new album. Appropriately title ‘Third” (it’s their 3rd release, if you don’t count the live album), the disc will be release on April 28th in the UK and the following day in America.

We did an interesting interview with member Geoff Barrow back when the first Portishead album, “Dummy,” was released. Barrow spoke about the creative processes within the band, their interest in film music, and more. The article is available in our archives- check it out here!

For a taste of “Third” you can visit the Portishead myspace page and hear a sample of the track “Machine Gun.” For even more, check out the “Portishead in Portishead” video at current.com. It features performances of 7 songs from the new album.

The Young Gods will be releasing a new acoustic album, “Knock On Wood,” on April 18th in Switzerland / April 21st in Europe. They have posted some music samples from it on their myspace page. While known for their creative use of digital sampling, The Young Gods have in recent years been doing acoustic performances that prove their sound can adapt to a non-electronic format. When we spoke to member Franz Treichler last year, he said that the experience would probably lead to an acoustic release. And now it has!

I never thought it would happen, but Yaz have reunited for a tour! Known as Yazoo outside of the US, the duo of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke are starting off with UK and European dates before coming to America in July. Six shows have been announced:

Jul 07 - Oakland, CA (Paramount Theatre)
Jul 10 - Los Angeles, CA (Orpheum Theatre)
Jul 11 - Los Angeles, CA (Orpheum Theatre)
Jul 14 - Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre)
Jul 16 - New York, NY (Terminal 5)
Jul 17 - New York, NY (Terminal 5)

In a press release posted on the Mute Records website, the members had this to say about the tour:

Vince Clarke: “It’s been really good going back to these songs after such a long while. Many of them have never been played live. I’m looking forward to performing them with Alison for all the fans who’ve enjoyed our music through the years but never had a chance to see Yazoo in concert”

Alison Moyet: ”Playing this material live is not about revision for me, it is about finishing something we started – writing, recording, performing. Three parts of a whole. A salmon cycle. It’s like going home.”

The tour coincides with the release of a new 4 disc box set, “In Your Room.” For more info, visit the official Yaz/Yazoo website at yazooinfo.com