Songlines Festival

Photo by Paige Parsons

MP3:> Erykah Badu: "Window Seat"

On March 30, Universal Motown will release New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh, the new album from Erykah Badu. Last week, Badu posted "Jump Up in the Air and Stay There", a web-only bonus track, on her website. And this weekend, Badu posted the first piece of music we've heard from the album proper to her Twitter. "Window Seat" features production from Badu and James Poyser and drums from ?uestlove, and you can stream or download it above.

Photo by Paige Parsons

MP3:> Erykah Badu: "Window Seat"

On March 30, Universal Motown will release New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh, the new album from Erykah Badu. Last week, Badu posted "Jump Up in the Air and Stay There", a web-only bonus track, on her website. And this weekend, Badu posted the first piece of music we've heard from the album proper to her Twitter. "Window Seat" features production from Badu and James Poyser and drums from ?uestlove, and you can stream or download it above.

When splenetic backpack-rapper and slam poet Sage Francis recruited Will Oldham to appear on his 2005 song "Sea Lion", it was borderline shocking. Even though they tended to play the same venues, indie rappers and indie rock bands didn't have a lot to do with each other. Since then, the two worlds have moved ever closer to one another. And on May 11, Anti- will release Li(f)e, an entire album of Sage Francis teaming up with indie rock dudes. Progress!

Li(f)e is Sage's album-length critique of organized religion, and on it he collaborated with a backing band that includes Califone's Tim Rutili and Modest Mouse/Iron and Wine producer Brian Deck. For every song on the album, Francis recruited a different indie rock type to write the music, and Sage himself handled the lyrics. Collaborators include Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla, ex-Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle, Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, Tim Fite, and members of Califone and DeVotchKa. We've got the tracklist, along with a list of contributors, below.

Li(f)e:

01 Little Houdini (written by Sage Francis and Jason Lytle)
02 Three Sheets to the Wind (written by Sage Francis and Chris Walla)
03 I Was Zero (written by Sage Francis, Richard Terfry, Brian Deck, Tim Rutili, Jim Becker, and Gordon Patriarca)
04 Slow Man (written by Sage Francis, Joey Burns, and John Convertino)
05 Diamonds and Pearls (written by Sage Francis, Thomas Hagerman, Shawn Gilbert, Jeanie Schroder, and Nicholas Iurata)
06 Polterzeitgeist (written by Sage Francis, Tim Rutili, Jim Becker, and Brian Deck)
07 The Baby Stays (written by Sage Francis and Tim Rutili)
08 16 Years (written by Sage Francis, Kurt Read, Brian Deck, Tim Rutili, Jim Becker, and Gordon Patriarca)
09 Worry Not (written by Sage Francis and Tim Fite)
10 London Bridge (written by Sage Francis & Chris Walla)
11 Love The Lie (written by Sage Francis & Mark Linkous)
12 The Best of Times (written by Sage Francis & Yann Tiersen)

When splenetic backpack-rapper and slam poet Sage Francis recruited Will Oldham to appear on his 2005 song "Sea Lion", it was borderline shocking. Even though they tended to play the same venues, indie rappers and indie rock bands didn't have a lot to do with each other. Since then, the two worlds have moved ever closer to one another. And on May 11, Anti- will release Li(f)e, an entire album of Sage Francis teaming up with indie rock dudes. Progress!

Li(f)e is Sage's album-length critique of organized religion, and on it he collaborated with a backing band that includes Califone's Tim Rutili and Modest Mouse/Iron and Wine producer Brian Deck. For every song on the album, Francis recruited a different indie rock type to write the music, and Sage himself handled the lyrics. Collaborators include Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla, ex-Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle, Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, Tim Fite, and members of Califone and DeVotchKa. We've got the tracklist, along with a list of contributors, below.

Li(f)e:

01 Little Houdini (written by Sage Francis and Jason Lytle)
02 Three Sheets to the Wind (written by Sage Francis and Chris Walla)
03 I Was Zero (written by Sage Francis, Richard Terfry, Brian Deck, Tim Rutili, Jim Becker, and Gordon Patriarca)
04 Slow Man (written by Sage Francis, Joey Burns, and John Convertino)
05 Diamonds and Pearls (written by Sage Francis, Thomas Hagerman, Shawn Gilbert, Jeanie Schroder, and Nicholas Iurata)
06 Polterzeitgeist (written by Sage Francis, Tim Rutili, Jim Becker, and Brian Deck)
07 The Baby Stays (written by Sage Francis and Tim Rutili)
08 16 Years (written by Sage Francis, Kurt Read, Brian Deck, Tim Rutili, Jim Becker, and Gordon Patriarca)
09 Worry Not (written by Sage Francis and Tim Fite)
10 London Bridge (written by Sage Francis & Chris Walla)
11 Love The Lie (written by Sage Francis & Mark Linkous)
12 The Best of Times (written by Sage Francis & Yann Tiersen)

Most of the universe knows Graham Nash primarily as the former frontman of the British Invasion band the Hollies or as the least famous member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. But the freak-folk scene, a scene that loves to pay respects to forgotten forbears, is about to bestow tribute-album shine upon Songs for Beginners, Nash's 1971 solo debut.

On May 25, Grassroots will release the tribute compilation Be Yourself: A Tribute to Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners, on which various luminaries will cover each song on Nash's record. Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Vetiver, Brendan Benson, and Nash's daughter Nile Nash will all make contributions. The album will serve as a benefit for Camp Winnarainbow, Wavy Gravy's performance art camp.

The folks at Grassroots are pressing 1,000 limited 180-gram vinyl copies of the album, only available through the label's website. They'll include a bonus 7" of additional material, including covers of a few songs from Wild Tales, Nash's second solo album. We've got the tracklist for both the album and the bonus EP below.

Be Yourself: A Tribute to Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners:

01 Port O'Brien/Papercuts: "Military Madness"
02 Brendan Benson: "Better Days"
03 Nile Nash: "Wounded Bird"
04 Vetiver: "Used to Be a King"
05 Robin Pecknold: "Be Yourself"
06 Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "Simple Man (Hombre Sencillo)"
07 Moore Brothers: "Man in the Mirror"
08 Alela Diane: "There's Only One"
09 Mariee Sioux with Greg Weeks: "Sleep Song"
10 Sleepy Sun: "Chicago"
11 Various artists and Nile Nash: "We Can Change the World (Reprise)"

Bonus 7":

01 Tyson Vogel: "Hey You (Looking at the Moon)"
02 Johnathan Rice: "On the Line"
03 Jonathan Wilson and special guests: "And So It Goes (Music Gets You High)"
04 Bart Davenport: "Better Days"
05 Citay: "Military Madness"

Most of the universe knows Graham Nash primarily as the former frontman of the British Invasion band the Hollies or as the least famous member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. But the freak-folk scene, a scene that loves to pay respects to forgotten forbears, is about to bestow tribute-album shine upon Songs for Beginners, Nash's 1971 solo debut.

On May 25, Grassroots will release the tribute compilation Be Yourself: A Tribute to Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners, on which various luminaries will cover each song on Nash's record. Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Vetiver, Brendan Benson, and Nash's daughter Nile Nash will all make contributions. The album will serve as a benefit for Camp Winnarainbow, Wavy Gravy's performance art camp.

The folks at Grassroots are pressing 1,000 limited 180-gram vinyl copies of the album, only available through the label's website. They'll include a bonus 7" of additional material, including covers of a few songs from Wild Tales, Nash's second solo album. We've got the tracklist for both the album and the bonus EP below.

Be Yourself: A Tribute to Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners:

01 Port O'Brien/Papercuts: "Military Madness"
02 Brendan Benson: "Better Days"
03 Nile Nash: "Wounded Bird"
04 Vetiver: "Used to Be a King"
05 Robin Pecknold: "Be Yourself"
06 Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "Simple Man (Hombre Sencillo)"
07 Moore Brothers: "Man in the Mirror"
08 Alela Diane: "There's Only One"
09 Mariee Sioux with Greg Weeks: "Sleep Song"
10 Sleepy Sun: "Chicago"
11 Various artists and Nile Nash: "We Can Change the World (Reprise)"

Bonus 7":

01 Tyson Vogel: "Hey You (Looking at the Moon)"
02 Johnathan Rice: "On the Line"
03 Jonathan Wilson and special guests: "And So It Goes (Music Gets You High)"
04 Bart Davenport: "Better Days"
05 Citay: "Military Madness"

Photo by Michael Alan Goldberg

You know who tours a lot? Mastodon. Mastodon tours a lot. Last year, they followed Crack the Skye with a European tour opening for Metallica, as well as a North American trek with Kylesa and Intronaut, then another with Converge, High on Fire, and animated death-metallers Dethklok. You'd think all that work would earn them a nice, long break, but no.

At the moment, the woolly Atlanta metal warriors are on a European tour. They'll follow that up with some Mexican dates before linking up with Metallica to play Central American stadiums. Incidentally, when you're opening for Metallica at Central American stadiums, you've done the right thing with your life. When that's done, they'll embark on yet another U.S. tour; Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, and Valient Thorr will open. And when they finish that, they jet back out to Europe for some dates on the travelling Sonisphere Festival, the same tour that will unite 80s thrash titans Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth. Oh yeah, and Mastodon's soundtrack for Jonah Hex will come out this summer.

We've got all Mastodon's dates below.

Mastodon:

02-08 Hamburg, Germany - Gruenspan
02-09 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Club
02-10 Frankfurt, Germany - Batschcapp
02-12 Vienna, Austria - Arena
02-13 Munich, Germany - Backstage
02-14 Cologne, Germany - Essigfabrik15
02-16 Wolverhampton, England - Wulfrun
02-17 Bristol, England - Academy
02-19 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland
02-20 Manchester, England - Academy
02-21 Newcastle, England - Academy
02-23 Nottingham, England - Rock City
02-24 London, England - Roundhouse
03-01 Guadalajara, Mexico - Estadio Tres de Marzo
03-03 Monterrey, Mexico - Estadio Universitario
03-05 Guatemala City, Guatemala - Estadio Mateo Flores *
03-07 San Jose, Costa Rica - Saprissa Stadium *
03-08 Panama City, Panama - Plaza Figali *
03-12 Caracas, Venezuela - La Rinconada *
03-13 San Juan, Puerto Rico - Coliseo de Puerto Rico *
04-16 Charleston, SC - Music Farm  ^
04-17 Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theater ^
04-18 Richmond, VA - The National ^
04-20 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head ^
04-21 Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom ^
04-22 Hartford, CT - Webster ^
04-23 Worcester, MA - Palladium (New England Metal and Hardcore Festival)
04-24 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground ^
04-26 Pittsburgh, PA - Palace Theater ^
04-27 Rochester, NY - Water Street ^
04-29 Grand Rapids, MI - Orbit Room ^
04-30 Indianapolis, IN - Vogue ^
05-01 Columbia, MO - Blue Note ^
05-03 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater ^
05-04 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater ^
05-05 San Diego, CA - House of Blues ^
05-07 Pomona, CA - Fox Theater ^
05-08 Oakland, CA - The Missing Link
05-09 Reno, NV - Knitting Factory ^
05-10 Eugene, OR - McDonald Theater ^
05-11 Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory ^
05-13 The Shrine - Billings, MT ^
05-14 Fargo, ND - The Venue ^
05-14 Omaha, NE - Sokol Hall ^
05-16 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall ^
05-18 Madison, WI - Orpheum ^
05-19 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club ^
05-20 Memphis, TN - Minglewood ^
05-21 Knoxville, TN - Valarium ^
05-22 Lexington, KY - Busters ^
06-16 Warsaw, Poland - Bemowo Airport ( Sonisphere Festival)
06-18 Zurich, Switzerland - Jonschwill Degenaupark (Sonisphere Festival)
06-19 Prague, Czech Republic - Mimon Airport (Sonisphere Festival)

* with Metallica
^ with Between the Buried and Me, Baroness, Valient Thorr

Photo by Michael Alan Goldberg

You know who tours a lot? Mastodon. Mastodon tours a lot. Last year, they followed Crack the Skye with a European tour opening for Metallica, as well as a North American trek with Kylesa and Intronaut, then another with Converge, High on Fire, and animated death-metallers Dethklok. You'd think all that work would earn them a nice, long break, but no.

At the moment, the woolly Atlanta metal warriors are on a European tour. They'll follow that up with some Mexican dates before linking up with Metallica to play Central American stadiums. Incidentally, when you're opening for Metallica at Central American stadiums, you've done the right thing with your life. When that's done, they'll embark on yet another U.S. tour; Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, and Valient Thorr will open. And when they finish that, they jet back out to Europe for some dates on the travelling Sonisphere Festival, the same tour that will unite 80s thrash titans Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth. Oh yeah, and Mastodon's soundtrack for Jonah Hex will come out this summer.

We've got all Mastodon's dates below.

Mastodon:

02-08 Hamburg, Germany - Gruenspan
02-09 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Club
02-10 Frankfurt, Germany - Batschcapp
02-12 Vienna, Austria - Arena
02-13 Munich, Germany - Backstage
02-14 Cologne, Germany - Essigfabrik15
02-16 Wolverhampton, England - Wulfrun
02-17 Bristol, England - Academy
02-19 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland
02-20 Manchester, England - Academy
02-21 Newcastle, England - Academy
02-23 Nottingham, England - Rock City
02-24 London, England - Roundhouse
03-01 Guadalajara, Mexico - Estadio Tres de Marzo
03-03 Monterrey, Mexico - Estadio Universitario
03-05 Guatemala City, Guatemala - Estadio Mateo Flores *
03-07 San Jose, Costa Rica - Saprissa Stadium *
03-08 Panama City, Panama - Plaza Figali *
03-12 Caracas, Venezuela - La Rinconada *
03-13 San Juan, Puerto Rico - Coliseo de Puerto Rico *
04-16 Charleston, SC - Music Farm  ^
04-17 Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theater ^
04-18 Richmond, VA - The National ^
04-20 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head ^
04-21 Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom ^
04-22 Hartford, CT - Webster ^
04-23 Worcester, MA - Palladium (New England Metal and Hardcore Festival)
04-24 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground ^
04-26 Pittsburgh, PA - Palace Theater ^
04-27 Rochester, NY - Water Street ^
04-29 Grand Rapids, MI - Orbit Room ^
04-30 Indianapolis, IN - Vogue ^
05-01 Columbia, MO - Blue Note ^
05-03 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater ^
05-04 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater ^
05-05 San Diego, CA - House of Blues ^
05-07 Pomona, CA - Fox Theater ^
05-08 Oakland, CA - The Missing Link
05-09 Reno, NV - Knitting Factory ^
05-10 Eugene, OR - McDonald Theater ^
05-11 Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory ^
05-13 The Shrine - Billings, MT ^
05-14 Fargo, ND - The Venue ^
05-14 Omaha, NE - Sokol Hall ^
05-16 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall ^
05-18 Madison, WI - Orpheum ^
05-19 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club ^
05-20 Memphis, TN - Minglewood ^
05-21 Knoxville, TN - Valarium ^
05-22 Lexington, KY - Busters ^
06-16 Warsaw, Poland - Bemowo Airport ( Sonisphere Festival)
06-18 Zurich, Switzerland - Jonschwill Degenaupark (Sonisphere Festival)
06-19 Prague, Czech Republic - Mimon Airport (Sonisphere Festival)

* with Metallica
^ with Between the Buried and Me, Baroness, Valient Thorr

-- On March 13, a pretty seriously badass group of metal bands will descend upon Columbus, Ohio for the second annual Scion Rock Fest. Cannibal Corpse, Shrinebuilder, Voivod, Brutal Truth, YOB, Absu, D.R.I., Pelican, Hate Eternal, Trap Them, Saviours, Liturgy, and others will play, and tickets are free if you RSVP here.

-- On March 23, California-based stoner-rockers Dead Meadow will release a DVD called Three Kings, a sort of hybrid concert doc and fantasy film, via Xemu. It'll come packaged with a CD or LP featuring new songs and live recordings.

-- Chemikal Underground will release The Law of Large Numbers, the new album from former Delgados member Emma Pollock, on March 2. Pollock's husband and fellow former Delgado Paul Savage produces.

-- Also on March 2, Fat Possum will release Hologram Jams, the second album from the ex-Blood Brothers band Jaguar Love and the band's first since shedding a member and becoming a duo.

-- On March 13, a pretty seriously badass group of metal bands will descend upon Columbus, Ohio for the second annual Scion Rock Fest. Cannibal Corpse, Shrinebuilder, Voivod, Brutal Truth, YOB, Absu, D.R.I., Pelican, Hate Eternal, Trap Them, Saviours, Liturgy, and others will play, and tickets are free if you RSVP here.

-- On March 23, California-based stoner-rockers Dead Meadow will release a DVD called Three Kings, a sort of hybrid concert doc and fantasy film, via Xemu. It'll come packaged with a CD or LP featuring new songs and live recordings.

-- Chemikal Underground will release The Law of Large Numbers, the new album from former Delgados member Emma Pollock, on March 2. Pollock's husband and fellow former Delgado Paul Savage produces.

-- Also on March 2, Fat Possum will release Hologram Jams, the second album from the ex-Blood Brothers band Jaguar Love and the band's first since shedding a member and becoming a duo.