Kansas City Music Blog

By ANDY VIHSTADT

Black Magic

Holding onto his Pixies pseudonym for a little while longer, Black Francis is hitting us with a new mini LP. SVN Fingers, which is a reference to the Irish mythological figure that had seven digits and toes, comes out via Cooking Vinyl on April 1. Grab the lead-off track below, thanks to Fluxblog. Also, Black has a video for “I Sent Away” and a new non-album song, “Serious Curious,” streaming on his MySpace page.

Black Francis: “The Seus” MP3

Banned in the UK

James has been irrelevant on this side of the pond for some time now (see “Laid,” circa 1993), but the Manchester act deserves a nod for its latest album cover. Hey Ma comes out in the UK on April 7 and is the band’s first LP in seven years. Because of its controversial artwork, the album cannot be advertised on street billboards, which is a big deal over there. No word on when the US will have a chance to weigh in, but you can listen to some of the new album at the group’s MySpace page.

Leftovers

Photo by Adriano Fegundes via MySpace

Baltimore's Animal Collective is releasing some cutting-room-floor material from the Strawberry Jam sessions in May. Stream the title track from the upcoming four-track Water Curses EP at Prefix Magazine.

Murphy’s Law

9th Wonder and Buckshot are teaming up again for The Formula, out April 15 on Duck Down Records. The video for the first single, “Go All Out,” reminds us that no one misses Dave Chappelle more than Charlie Murphy. Watch it below.

PB&J

Peter Moren (of Peter, Bjorn and John) is releasing his solo debut, The Last Tycoon, on Touch and Go Records April 8. Stereogum got dibs on the first single. Grab it below.

Peter Moren: “Social Competence” MP3

SXSW

For a decent archive of streaming and downloadable goodness from SXSW, check out Largehearted Boy, right here.

Also, prior to last week's festival, writer Paul Ford struck comedy platinum by writing six-word reviews of all 763 songs in the SXSW bittorrent file. Don't ask, just go here.

Sneak Previews

The Long Blondes: “Here Comes the Serious Bit” MP3
Taken from Couples, out 4/8 on Rough Trade

Destroyer: “The State” MP3 courtesy of Fluxblog
Taken from Trouble in Dreams, out Tuesday on Merge

The Kills: “Cheap and Cheerful (Mathmatikal Rerub)” MP3 courtesy of Indie Blog Heaven
Original version appears on Midnight Boom, out Tuesday on Domino.

3/18

Destroyer, Trouble in Dreams (Merge)
The Kills, Midnight Boom (Domino)
She & Him, Volume 1 (Merge)

4/1

Apples in Stereo, Electronic Projects for Musicians (Yep Roc)
Black Francis, Svn Fingers (Cooking Vinyl)
The Black Keys, Attack & Release (Nonesuch)
R.E.M., Accelerate (Warner)
The Sword, Gods of the Earth (Kemado)

4/8

The Breeders, Mountain Battles (4AD)
Clinic, Do it! (Domino)
Gnarles Barkley, The Odd Couple (Atlantic)
The Long Blondes, Couples (Rough Trade)
Man Man, Rabbit Habits (Anti)
Colin Meloy, Colin Meloy Sings Live! (Kill Rock Stars)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Pershing (Polyvinyl)
Spoon, Don’t You Evah EP (Merge)
Tapes ‘n Tapes, Walk it Off (XL)
Wye Oak, If Children (Merge)

4/15

The Brian Jonestown Massacre, My Bloody Underground (Suma)
9th Wonder & Buckshot, The Formula (Duck Down)

4/22

Atmosphere, When Life Gives You Lemons… (Rhymesayers)
Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid (Geffen)
Flight of the Conchords, Flight of the Conchords (Sub Pop)
Lyrics Born, Everywhere at Once (Anti)
Tokyo Police Club, Elephant Shell (Saddle Creek)