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As Steve Jobs concluded a music-heavy list of Apple product announcements yesterday in San Francisco, he introduced a surprise guest, Coldplay's Chris Martin, who took to the stage with a piano and unveiled a new song, "Wedding Bells."

"It could go terribly wrong," said the notoriously self-deprecating Martin as he prepared to play the tune, which he said "might not ever come out," and mentioned this might be its lone performance.

Like many songs in Coldplay's catalog, "Wedding Bells" had the feel of something instantly familiar, with Martin singing elegantly of love squandered. "Wedding bells ringing up upon that hill / And I don't wanna swallow such a bitter pill," Martin crooned in the chorus, which reminded us a bit of Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart." "You keep on movin' but baby I stay still / I always loved you and I always will."

Before playing it, Martin uncorked some clever Apple-related humor. "This is a new song that we've been working on called 'Coldplay 2.6.' It has a lot of features," he quipped. "It features seven different kinds of chord, including a new one that even our closest rivals have no idea about which [Apple's legendary designer of the iMac, iPod, etc.] Jonathan Ive designed. It's the chord of I-minor."

Martin, clad in a Flaming Lips T-shirt, also played "Yellow," from his band's 2000 debut album, Parachutes, and a scratchy-throated take on "Viva la Vida," the title track from Coldplay's 2008 album, which was featured in an iPod ad.

"This song was around for awhile, six months, and our record company said, 'This is not a hit single,' and they were probably right," Martin said before playing "Viva la Vida." "But with the weight of Apple, they managed to turn it from a pile of something terrible into our most successful song. So we're very grateful. Which proves that your marketing people can sell anything."

Click here to watch video of the performance. You'll have to fast-forward to the 1:11:47 mark to see Jobs introduce Martin, and to the 1:22:00 mark for "Wedding Bells." The video plays in Safari web browsers only.

San Diego noise punks Crocodiles haven't even released their sophomore album, Sleep Forever—it's out September 14—so we were pleasantly surprised this week when the band delivered a new four-song EP, Fires of Comparison, which you can download for free below.

Fires of Comparison album art
Click to enlarge

Recorded after they wrapped sessions for the loud, fuzzy Sleep Forever (watch the video and download an MP3 for the title track here), the EP veers into a mellow, trippy, semi-electronic vein and contains no vocals. Why? The band claims they contracted strep throat by sharing a pipe with a hobo in San Diego's Presidio Park.

Right-click-save-as on this link to download the EP.

Crocodiles, featured last year as a SPIN Breaking Out band on the strength of their debut, Summer of Hate, are hitting the road to support the new album. See tour dates below.

What do you think of the new EP? Sound off in the comments below.

Crocodiles tour dates:

9/17, Las Vegas, NV (Neon Reverb Festival @ Aruba Showroom)
9/20, Chicago, IL (Empty Bottle)
9/22, New York, NY (Mercury Lounge)
9/24, Brooklyn, NY (Glasslands)
10/26, Hoboken, NJ (Maxwell's)
10/27, Philadelphia, PA (Johnny Brendas)
10/28, Washington, DC (Rock N Roll Hotel)
10/29, Carrboro, NC (Cat's Cradle)
10/30, Atlanta, GA (The Earl)
10/31, Birmingham, AL (Bottle Tree Café)
11/2, Orlando, FL (The Social)
11/3, Miami, FL (Grand Central)
11/4, Tallahassee, FL (Engine Room)
11/5, New Orleans, LA (One Eyed Jacks)
11/6, Houston, TX (Mango's)
11/7, Austin, TX (Fun Fun Festival)

[Updated: 9:17 A.M.]

NEWS:

 

T.I. Arrested for Alleged Drug Possession in Los Angeles
The Atlanta rapper and his wife, Tiny, were booked for possession of a controlled substance. [TMZ]

'JACKASS' Stars to Appear in New WEEZER Video
Johnny Knoxville, Ryan Dunn, Chris Pontius, Wee-Man, and Steve-O skateboard and more in the band's "Memories" clip. [MTV]

PETE WENTZ's New Band BLACK CARDS Announces First Concerts
The electro-pop outfit will head to the UK for three gigs in late October. [Kerrang]

JOSH HOMME "Considered Breaking Up" QOTSA After NICK OLIVERI's Departure
"I'm playing for respect and I think Nick got a little confused about the real expectation was. It wasn't about partying," he says. [Zane Lowe]

CHRIS MARTIN Plays New COLDPLAY Song a iTunes Conference
The Brit frontman performs "Wedding Bells" in San Francisco. [NME]

CHRIS BROWN, TYGA Planning Joint Tour
Duo will support their hot new mixtape Fan of a Fan. [MTV]

B.O.B. to Open for JAY-Z and EMINEM's Detroit Stadium Gigs
The "Airplanes" rapper is drafted to the big leagues for Sept. 2 & 3 show's at Tigers Stadium. [Billboard]

BEN MOODY Speaks Out About EVANESCENCE's Split
"I am not going to sugar coat the events. I'm going to tell you exactly what happened…" [SPIN]

KATY PERRY Hits No. 1 on Album Chart
Teenage Dream topples Eminem, sells 259,000 copies. [Billboard]

GAGA, PERRY FARRELL, IGGY, YOKO Set for JOHN LENNON Tribute
Sonic Youth, Perry Farrell, RZA also set to join Plastic Ono Band performance in L.A. this October. [SPIN]

LAURYN HILL "Closer" to Releasing New Album
"It's been such a long time since I've gotten my voice and my ideas [out]," she explains. [MTV]

MY MORNING JACKET's Broemel Talks Solo Album
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: The guitarist performs new song "Heaven Knows" on a Nashville golf course. [SPIN]

 

MP3s & VIDEOS:

 

WATCH: New Video from CEE-LO
The Gnarls Barkley crooner channels Happy Days in clip for "Fuck You." [Pitchfork]

WATCH: New Video from BUILT TO SPILL
Indie vets play live at a party in this clip directed by Bob Odenkirk of Mr. Show and Breaking Bad. [Pitchfork]

WATCH: MARK RONSON's Bicycle Clip ft. SPANK ROCK
The producer shows his superhero alter ego in "The Bike Song" clip, also featuring the View's Kyle Falconer. [SPIN]

LISTEN: New HOT CHIP Remix
Hear a fresh cut off their upcoming remix EP, out next week. Plus: Hot Chip side project news! [SPIN]

WATCH: JOHN LEGEND and THE ROOTS Cover BILL WITHERS
See in-studio footage of a live performance of "I Can't Write Left Handed," off their collabo album Wake Up! (out Sept. 21). [2dopeboyz]

In October of 2003, tensions between Ben Moody and Amy Lee, the founding members of blockbuster goth-metal band Evanescence, reached their limit, causing Moody to exit the band during their European tour. While Lee has hinted about all the "bullshit" that went on, Moody has remained mum. Until now.

In a post to an Evanescence fan site, Moody ended seven years of silence to talk about his relationship with Lee, the in-fighting that led to his exit, and the fans of Evanescence who attack him and his new band, We Are the Fallen.

"For once, I am not going to paint the sugar coated pleasant version of events," he wrote. "I'm going to tell you exactly what happened."

On Lee and his departure from Evanescence:
"A cruel fact of life is that the person you are at 15, doesn't resemble the person you are at 18 and 21… and today I in no way resemble the person I was when I was in Evanescence. Sometimes you grow together and sometimes you grow apart. We both contributed to the resentment of the deterioration of our friendship that quickly turned into a downward spiral of animosity, conflicting opinions, and a very volatile environment. By the time we went on tour to support [2003's] Fallen, it sadly was over. Ironically, it was Amy and my absolute equal devotion to Evanescence that drove us to such extreme opposition. We had such opposing desires and personalities that mixed with the pride of youth and inexperience (and an extreme amount of insecurity and loss of direction on my part) led to an all out war.

Addressing and apologizing to Lee:
"I had tried before, out of ignorance, pride, and resentment, to convince Amy that she should leave. That we'd be better off and Evanescence didn't need her. I was hurt, and wanted her to hurt like me. Amy, if for some reason you happen to see this, I hope you know I never truly believed that. There was no way I would ever let someone walk on that stage and sing your lyrics."

On fans who pit Evanescence against We Are the Fallen:
"If [WATF] appear to be reminiscent in style [to Evanescence], it's because it's written and performed by the very same damn people," he wrote, referring to guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray, both former Evanescence members who made a dramatic exit of their own in 2007. "Accusing me of ripping off myself is just silly. It has been the greatest disappointment and hurt of my life that the very people that so passionately supported my life's work, who gave me the strength to walk away, were so quick to make me the villain. So many of you seem to be fighting a war that doesn't exist… This need to pick a side is only real in your head… Move on. If you decide you're willing and able to drop this imaginary competition between us two… Who knows? You just might be able to enjoy both [bands]. I certainly do."

Read Moody's entire post here, and click here to read an interview with Amy Lee, who told SPIN: "There's a lot of bullshit related to [the Evanescence] band name for me… but I'm ready to move past it. I've realized that Evanescence is who I am."

What do you think about Moody's blog post? Tell us in the comment section below.

While My Morning Jacket became one of the biggest rock acts in America over the past five years, guitarist Carl Broemel was casually tinkering away on his own material, an unfussy but elegant collection of mellow, acoustic-led Southern rock, with a touch of Nick Drake-esque whimsy. He just released his debut solo album called All Birds Say, featuring the lead single "Heaven Knows." Watch an exclusive acoustic video performance of the song below.

Broemel says the support of his bandmates helped him summon the resolve to actually release the songs. "They gave me really honest feedback about the music as it was coming together," he tells SPIN.com. "Their blessing, their collective thumbs-up helped me get the confidence to put myself out there."

MMJ frontman Jim James even helped Broemel nail down the tracklisting for the album. "I was kind of desperate at the end because I had to turn in the album, and to me, the sequence was super crucial," he says. "Jim came back with a really interesting sequence that basically ended up being what I used."

The performance video below was filmed at VinnyLinks, a nine-hole, all-par-3 course in Nashville. Broemel and his childhood pal, Andy Snyder, made the video on a steamy, hot day this summer, when the course was nearly empty. "We just snuck out there," Broemel says. "I mean, I paid my six dollars to go play and we just kind of goofed around."

In the video, Broemel sings, whistles, and strums away on an autoharp during a break from the golfing action. And while his performance of the song is quite pretty, his athletic prowess is not: At the end of the clip, his scorecard shows a score of 84 -- almost 60 strokes over par.

And while they could have made the guitarist seem like an ace player, they opted for stark realism. "We were trying to stage a really long putt that went in, but it stopped a little short, which was actually funnier," admits Broemel.

Golf actually provides a frequent escape on the road for Broemel and MMJ bandmates Bo Koster and Patrick Hallahan, but he'd like to see one other musician join the trio in a dream foursome: "I heard Alice Cooper's a really good golfer," he says. "I'd love to hang out with him and play."

While he's busy with My Morning Jacket's ongoing recording efforts, and their upcoming five-night stand in NYC where they'll perform each of their albums in its entirety, Broemel will play a few live shows to support All Birds Say. Click here for dates.

Watch the video and tell us what you think in the comments section.

WATCH: Carl Broemel, "Heaven Knows"

With four revered albums to their credit, British electro-pop collective Hot Chip have become sought-after remixers for everyone from Gorillaz to Amy Winehouse and Bright Eyes. But We Have Remixes (out Sept. 7) collects five fresh mixes of the group's own material, all culled from this year's One Life Stand -- get a taste below via an exclusive stream of "We Have Love," as reworked by London DJ/production duo Hot City.

The mix strips back singer Alexis Taylor's vocals almost completely, and draws out the original track's icy synth grooves into a minimalist throb.

"It's just a fun electro remix, a really creative way of using a lot of the original elements, but it's still quite different," Hot Chip keyboardist/programmer Felix Martin tells SPIN.com. "It's nice when someone's obviously taken a lot of care with how they do the mix."

And as with many remixes of Hot Chip songs, Martin says, the Hot City mix was executed by friends of the band: Keyboardist/vocalist Joe Goddard has booked pals Hot City (who recently signed to respected U.K. indie label Moshi Moshi) to spin at his Greco-Roman Soundsystem parties in London.

"We felt confident and happy with the mixes that came back from this album, which we basically commissioned ourselves," says Martin of the EP. "It doesn't have anything to do with the record label -- it's more like collaborations with friends."

The EP arrives as Hot Chip prepares to embark on a U.S. tour with LCD Soundsystem in October, but Martin says he's got something else on the back burner for next year: Lanark, his side-project with Hot Chip bandmate Al Doyle.

Describing it as "a pop album with a singer," Martin says he hopes to have the Lanark album out sometime in 2011, or whenever Hot Chip's busy schedule allows for it. "We go through periods where we're really productive and write a lot of material," he says, "but we want to give the album time to come together properly."

Check out Hot City's Hot Chip remix here, and tell us what you think in the comments section.

LISTEN: Hot Chip, "We Have Love (Hot City Remix)"

Yoko Ono's star-studded We Are Plastic Ono Band concert in Los Angeles this October will boast guest appearances from Lady Gaga, Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop, and many more.

At the gigs, set for October 1-2 at L.A.'s Orpheum Theatre, Ono, 76, will perform Plastic Ono Band material she wrote and recorded with her husband, Beatles great John Lennon, playing with a band featuring her son, Sean Lennon, Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto fame), and Japanese indie rocker Cornelius. Hand-picked artists will join the band onstage, much like the We Are Plastic Ono Band show in Brooklyn this past February, where guest stars included Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, and Scissor Sisters.

Gaga is set for the October 2 performance, along with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, while Iggy Pop will appear October 1, with Nels Cline and Mike Watt. RZA, Perry Farrell, Carrie "Princess Leia" Fisher, actor Vincent Gallo, Paul Simon's son Harper, and more will appear on both nights.

Fans can expect something similar to the Brooklyn show, where the band played selections from Plastic Ono Band's catalogue, including an all-star jam finale of 1969's "Give Peace a Chance." The set also featured newer material culled from Ono's surprising 2009 album, Between My Head and the Sky.

Tickets are already onsale for the event via Ticketmaster.

Who will steal the show come October? Sound off in the comments section.

Meet super-producer Mark Ronson's alter-ego: a pompadour-sporting French b-boy whose mission is to protect bicycles from the thieves of the world. Get introduced in the video below!

The fun new clip for "The Bike Song," a pop-funk jam with a hip-hop drum beat, soul guitar riff, and bomping synths from Record Collection, Ronson's Sept. 28 album, starts with the Brit songwriter stepping out the backdoor of a Japanese TV show to answer the call of duty. Then it's go-go gadget bike and voila: Ronson is in a badass leather jacket pedaling along with a massive speaker attached to his handlebars.

Meanwhile, the song's guests—the View frontman Kyle Falconer and Spank Rock—encounter a little trouble: Falconer's bike is stolen by a disguised caper. Ronson sends a distress signal via his special speaker and conquers the perp. Our hero!

The trio then hook up with three cute young ladies in snazzy '60s mod dress and go for a ride. "Don't you want to go for a joyride on my tandem / Put a honey on my Huffy," raps Spank Rock.

But wait! There's one problem: Guys, c'mon -- wear a helmet!

WATCH: Mark Ronson & The Business Intl, "The Bike Song"

[Updated: 5:03 P.M.]

NEWS:

 

B.O.B. to Opener JAY-Z and EMINEM's Detroit Stadium Gigs
The "Airplanes" rapper is drafted to the big leagues for Sept. 2 & 3 show's at Tigers Stadium. [Billboard]

BEN MOODY Speaks Out About EVANESCENCE's Split
"I am not going to sugar coat the events. I'm going to tell you exactly what happened…" [SPIN]

KATY PERRY Hits No. 1 on Album Chart
Teenage Dream topples Eminem, sells 259,000 copies. [Billboard]

GAGA, PERRY FARRELL, IGGY, YOKO Set for JOHN LENNON Tribute
Sonic Youth, Perry Farrell, RZA also set to join Plastic Ono Band performance in L.A. this October. [SPIN]

LAURYN HILL "Closer" to Releasing New Album
"It's been such a long time since I've gotten my voice and my ideas [out]," she explains. [MTV]

MY MORNING JACKET's Broemel Talks Solo Album
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: The guitarist performs new song "Heaven Knows" on a Nashville golf course. [SPIN]

SEX PISTOLS Launch Their Own Perfume Line
Unisex scent comes in bottle featuring the band's classic "God Save the Queen" imagery. [Billboard]

LADY GAGA Debuts New Song Live
Pop star previews her upcoming album by playing the piano ballad "Living on the Radio" in St. Paul, Minnesota on Monday. [MTV]

DIRTY PROJECTORS to Release Expanded Version of 'Bitte Orca'
Experimental Brooklyn band's breakout release will be re-issued September 28 as a double-disc set featuring rare material. [Pitchfork]

LINKIN PARK to Perform at MTV VMAs
Alt-metal band will play their No. 1 single, "The Catalyst," live for the first time at the Sept. 12 ceremony. [MTV]

 

MP3s & VIDEOS:

 

WATCH: New Video from BUILT TO SPILL
Indie vets play live at a party in this clip directed by Bob Odenkirk of Mr. Show and Breaking Bad. [Pitchfork]

WATCH: MARK RONSON's Bicycle Clip ft. SPANK ROCK
The producer shows his superhero alter ego in "The Bike Song" clip, also featuring the View's Kyle Falconer. [SPIN]

LISTEN: New HOT CHIP Remix
Hear a fresh cut off their upcoming remix EP, out next week. Plus: Hot Chip side project news! [SPIN]

WATCH: JOHN LEGEND and THE ROOTS Cover BILL WITHERS
See in-studio footage of a live performance of "I Can't Write Left Handed," off their collabo album Wake Up! (out Sept. 21). [2dopeboyz]

WATCH: WEEZER Cover WHEATUS
Power-pop rockers played "Teenage Dirtbag" at Reading and Leeds Festival last weekend. [Stereogum]

WATCH: THE RAVEONETTES Cover THE STONE ROSES
Swede garage rock duo release an arty video for their version of "I Wanna Be Adored." [Stereogum]

WATCH: JACK WHITE's Wife KAREN ELSON Performs Live
The model-turned-rocker plays "The Ghost Who Walks" on KCRW. [YouTube]

LISTEN: BRANDON FLOWERS Full Album Preview
EXCLUSIVE: Hear clips from all 10 songs on the Killers frontman's upcoming solo effort, Flamingo, out Sept. 14. [SPIN]

WATCH: GREEN DAY Debut New Song Live
Bay Area punks play "Cigarettes and Valentines" in Denver, record marathon set for live album. [SPIN]

WATCH: EDDIE VEDDER & JOHNNY DEPP Join PATTI SMITH
Natalie Maines and Ben Harper also perform at the benefit for the West Memphis 3. [SPIN]

Killers frontman Brandon Flowers is branching out on his own for the first time ever with Flamingo, his debut solo album, out Sept. 14—hear preview clips of all ten songs from the record below!

SPIN.com interviewed Flowers about the record earlier this month—check it out here.

Flowers just completed a short U.S. solo tour, which kicked off in his hometown of Las Vegas. He'll head across the Atlantic in September for more gigs, with a bigger, broader U.S. jaunt to follow later this fall.

Listen to these exclusive 45-second preview clips below, then tell us what you think in the comment section!

LISTEN: "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas"

LISTEN: "Only the Young"

LISTEN: "Hard Enough"

LISTEN: "Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts"

LISTEN: "Playing with Fire"

LISTEN: "Was It Something I Said?"

LISTEN: "Magdalena"

LISTEN: "Crossfire"

LISTEN: "On the Floor"

LISTEN: "Swallow It"

Covers of rock classics like Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." Massive 20,000-person sing alongs. Pyro, confetti, and a beer-guzzling Drunk Bunny: Green Day's summer tour is a total blowout. And Saturday night in Denver it got even better: The Bay Area punks debuted a never-before-heard song. Watch video below.

The tune, "Cigarettes and Valentines," is a power-punk jam that sounds more like Green Day's ragtag roots than their rock operas of late (see American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown). Which makes sense: According to Punk News the song was the title track from the band's planned follow-up to 2000's Warning, which was scrapped after the master tapes were stolen.

And it gets better: Before the song's performance, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told the audience that the band's set that night—a two-hour-plus punk marathon—was being recorded for a live album, leading to speculation that "Cigarettes and Valentines" will finally see release with the upcoming effort.

Watch video of Green Day ripping through "Cigarettes and Valentines" below, then tell us what you think in the comment section.

WATCH: Green Day, "Cigarettes and Valentines"

Eddie Vedder, Johnny Depp, and Patti Smith rocked for justice Saturday night in Little Rock, Arkansas. Watch video below.

The trio performed at the capital city's Robinson Hall for a rally to support the West Memphis 3, three then-teenagers who were convicted of murdering three children in Arkansas in 1993, despite evidence, including recent DNA tests, that point to other suspects. (Two of the West Memphis 3 were sentenced to life in prison, another to death. Legal proceedings are ongoing. Read more about the case here).

The Pearl Jam frontman and the Pirates of the Caribbean actor, both on acoustic guitar, joined Smith onstage for "Dancing Barefoot," a ballad from her 1979 album Wave. Ben Harper and Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines also performed at the benefit, and later joined Depp, Vedder, Beatle offspring Dhani Harrison, singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur, and Smith to play another track of the New York beat's, "People Have the Power."

According to Spinner, Vedder performed his own set earlier in the night, including "Rise," from his Into the Wild soundtrack, and a cover of Tom Waits' "Rains on Me." Maines joined EdVed for versions of John Doe's "Golden State" and James Taylor's "You Can Close Your Eyes."

"I'm here to show my support for the West Memphis 3," Vedder said. "And to try to raise the visibility of the case at this crucial time ... Why are they innocent? Because there's nothing that says they're guilty."

Watch the performance videos below, then tell us what you think in the comment section.

WATCH: Vedder, Smith, and Depp Play "Dancing Barefoot":

WATCH: Harper, Maines, Vedder, Depp, and Smith Play "People Have the Power":

Here's a rundown of the essential albums available online and in record stores today:

Jenny & Johnny, I'm Having Fun Now
Gently concealing sadness with sparkly trimmings.
Read Review >>

 

Richard Thompson, Dream Attic
Still-raging folk-rock don unleashes searing live set.
Read Review >>

 

Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses, Junky Star
Man of constant sorrow nixes peaceful, easy feeling.
Read Review >>

 

Sonny & the Sunsets, Tomorrow Is Alright
If that lounge band at the beach resort didn't suck.
Read Review >>

 

For indie rapper El-P, album artwork is as essential as the recording itself, especially on his new, mostly-instrumental mixtape Weareallgoingtoburninhell-megamixxx3, which features the graphic design of comic book artist Travis Millard. In the exclusive video below, the rapper and the artist talk together onscreen about how the artwork for megamixxx3 came to life.

"At this point, I feel like the stuff Travis does for these mixes is indispensable," El-P tells SPIN.com of Millard, who also did the artwork for his 2008 mix, megamixxx2. "I won't do these albums without him."

Millard, who helms Fudge Factory Comics out of LA's Echo Park neighborhood, says he based his latest creation off the previous mixtape and El-P's 2007 album, I'll Sleep When You're Dead, both of which featured scary looking birds.

"For this round, I wanted to reference that theme and push it further with color," Millard says. "I had a little pile of drawings I'd been working on for it, but when El-P sent me the album, I found myself just zoning out and drawing this feathery hell ball thing that eventually became the cover. I didn't set out to create anything specific, it was more about just drawing and meditating on the music."

"The first thing he showed me was the bird from the inside cover and I loved it immediately," El-P says.

"Thank goodness he was into it," quips Millard, who lists Minor Threat's Out of Step, Beastie Boys' License to Ill, and Pavement's Wowie Zowie among his all-time favorite album covers. "Otherwise he might've thrashed me with one of his vicious lyrical swattings."

Watch the video below and go deeper into Millard's creative direction for El-P's album artwork, then tell us what you think in the comments section.

WATCH: El-P & Travis Millard

[Updated: 5:56 P.M.]

NEWS:

 

LADY GAGA Debuts New Song Live
Pop star previews her upcoming album by playing the piano ballad "Living on the Radio" in St. Paul, Minnesota on Monday. [MTV]

DIRTY PROJECTORS to Release Expanded Version of 'Bitte Orca'
Experimental Brooklyn band's breakout release will be re-issued September 28 as a double-disc set featuring rare material. [Pitchfork]

LINKIN PARK to Perform at MTV VMAs
Alt-metal band will play their No. 1 single, "The Catalyst," live for the first time at the Sept. 12 ceremony. [MTV]

EL-P, Comic Book Artist Millard Talk Album Cover
EXCLUSIVE: Travis Millard explains how he created the wild artwork for the MC's new mixtape. [SPIN]

LIL WAYNE Collaborating with TECH N9NE from Prison
“His people have been contacting us already, so I’m anxious to see what he sends me," says the Kansas City, MO, rapper. [Vibe]

DRAKE to Release New Album This Year?
"[It's] real possible!" says Young Money's Mack Maine. "Why not? Give them what they want... expect the unexpected." [MTV]

BLINK-182 to Record New Album After Current Tour
"We're all in a better place now, we really enjoy being in Blink-182, it's not a job or a commitment," says Mark Hoppus. [NME]

CMJ Lineup: SURFER BLOOD, GREG DULLI, GHOSTFACE KILLAH
Dean & Britta, the Blow, School of Seven Bells, and hundreds of others will also rock New York City October 19-23. [SPIN]

Why They're Called... GRINDERMAN
FInd out why the Nick Cave-led band isn't named Vortex and the Teenage Jerks. [SPIN]

BARONESS Cover DESCENDENTS on New Album
Georgia metal band play the legendary punk band's tune "Bikeage" on their upcoming 7-inch. [Punk News]

BUILT TO SPILL Extend Fall Tour
Idaho indie vets will deliver their noodling guitar solos across America through November. [Market Wire]

 

MP3s & VIDEOS:

 

LISTEN: BRANDON FLOWERS Full Album Preview
EXCLUSIVE: Hear clips from all 10 songs on the Killers frontman's upcoming solo effort, Flamingo, out Sept. 14. [SPIN]

WATCH: GREEN DAY Debut New Song Live
Bay Area punks play "Cigarettes and Valentines" in Denver, record marathon set for live album. [SPIN]

WATCH: EDDIE VEDDER & JOHNNY DEPP Join PATTI SMITH
Natalie Maines and Ben Harper also perform at the benefit for the West Memphis 3. [SPIN]

WATCH: THE WALKMEN Cover R.E.M.
New York indie band perform the legendary Athens, GA, band's "Driver 8" for the AV Club's Undercover series. [AV Club]

LISTEN: New Song from MATT & KIM
The Brooklyn duo unveil "Camera," off their November 2 release Sidewalks. [Facebook]

WATCH: ROBYN Covers BJORK
Dance diva honors Icelandic legend at Sweden's Polar Music Prize ceremony by performing her 1996 single "Hyperballad" with full orchestra. [YouTube]

LISTEN: THE THERMALS Stream New Album
Hear the Portland, OR, punk group's upcoming release, Personal Life. [NPR]

WATCH: ARCADE FIRE: Interactive Video for 'The Suburbs'
The web-based, multimedia clip uses Google Maps of your childhood address. [SPIN]

Halfway through Vampire Weekend's Friday night set at Vancouver's Malkin Bowl, singer-guitarist Ezra Koenig made a surprising confession: The group had a mild case of the jitters.

The reason? According to the well-mannered, Topsiders-sporting frontman, he and his bandmates had just come off a three-week break. The men of Vampire Weekend evidently keep up a work schedule that's never going to get them pegged as slackers, and the time off seemed like an eternity to them.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Photos by Rebecca Blissett

Having been away from each other for a while, the New Yorkers were worried that the kick-off show of their current North American tour would find them sounding rusty.

Sorry, but nothing doing. Right from the set-opening "Holiday," the band came off as a well-oiled, firing-on-all-pistons machine. Playing an open-air venue in Vancouver's heavily treed Stanley Park, Vampire Weekend didn't exactly blow the bank on staging. All you got was a bargain-basement light rig and four guys who looked like they do their shopping at Old Navy.

Instead, Koenig, bassist Chris Baio, drummer Chris Tomson, and guitarist Rostam Batmanglij pretty much let the music do the talking. And right from the moment they first bounded out, Vancouver was on board, the crowd busting its best moves during "California English" and belting out en masse the chorus to "M79."

Surprisingly, Vampire Weekend was heavier than it sounds on its self-titled debut, and the recently released Contra, unleashing sprays of machine-gun punk during "One (Blake’s Got a New Face)," and laying down a mammothly menacing groove in "Cousins."

It was during such standouts that Tomson proved himself the group's unsung hero. Visually he looked great, attacking his kit with a thrilled abandon that was part Ringo Starr and part Keith Moon. Musically, the guy was a marvel, his endlessly inventive stick-work verging on mesmerizing.

His bandmates were equally tight, with major props going to Baio, who spent most of the night busting crazy-legged, Muppets-like dance moves. Batmanglij looked like he could have used a can or two of Red Bull, but his complete lack of presence was compensated for by Koenig, whose enthusiasm was infectious right from the moment he trotted on-stage while waving to the crowd.

Vampire Weekend wasn't shy about mixing things up. In one of the show's highlight-reel moments, Baio rolled out a stand-up bass and Tomson left his kit to position himself mid-stage in front of a single snare. That mid-set diversion was for "Byrn," a drone-soaked dalliance that dragged indie-rock through the backstreets of Istanbul.

Mostly, though, Vampire Weekend gave its clearly enraptured audience exactly what it came for. The band has made its name—not to mention the cover of SPIN—by blending sun-splashed pop with breezy Afrobeat. There was no shortage of that mix on this night, from the percussion-bombed "I Stand Corrected" to the genre-hopping epic "Diplomat’s Son."

Koenig and Batmanglij might call New York home, but, from the exotically incandescent, highlife sounds they wrung out of their guitars, you'd swear they'd just stepped off the plane from rural Ghana.

And, most impressively, they didn’t seem to blow a note all night long. If this was Vampire Weekend when it's rusty, the group can seriously stop worrying about using up its vacation time.

Welcome to the weekly SPIN.com feature "Name That Band!" in which we get the inside stories behind the mysterious monikers of some of our favorite artists. (See past episodes of Name That Band! here.)

This week: Legendary rocker Nick Cave's Grinderman, whose Grinderman 2 is out September 14.

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Why Grinderman: "We went into the studio without a name," admits drummer Jim Sclavunos, who along with Cave, multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, and bassist Martyn P. Casey formed the band in 2006. "We'd known we were going to record, we just never thought to come up with a name ahead of time. When we finally got around to it, we found that all the names we wanted to use were taken. No matter how far out on the name limb we went, someone had been there first. For example, we considered the charmingly derogatory C**t Ox. There was already a Captain C**t Ox on MySpace. Things were looking pretty hopeless. Then one day we were jamming and Nick was riffing on the lyrics to a John Lee Hooker song called 'Grinderman Blues.' For whatever reason, that just seemed to fit. It felt appropriately malevolent."

Previously Rejected Names: "For a moment, it looked as if we might call ourselves Vortex."

Best Band Names Ever: "Lothar & the Hand People. This was a psychedelic band from the late '60s. Lothar wasn't the name of anyone in the band; it was the name of the theremin that they used. Or at least that's how legend has it."

Worst Band Name Ever: "Despite my love of Lothar & the Hand People, they're an example of a pet peeve of mine regarding band names. I don't like So and So and the Somethings. Like Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. I have an ideological problem with that style of band name. It sets up a dichotomy between the singer and the band. You either have a band or you don't. It shouldn't be presented as two separate entities. Even Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, I don't like that. The Bad Seeds? How tough do they think they are? It seems a bit overwrought. It's got a venerable history, though."

The titular Suburbs of Arcade Fire's latest album are purposefully ambiguous in location, but their just-released, interactive, web-based "video" for "We Used to Wait" allows fans to watch in awe as their own childhood address becomes part of the action.

On a website called The Wilderness Downtown, its title cribbed from the song's lyrics, users are prompted to enter the address of "the home where you grew up," and press enter. Once the address is found, the video -- directed by Chris Milk, whose credits include Kanye West's "All Falls Down" and Gnarls Barkley's "Gone Daddy Gone," among others -- springs to life, launching multiple browser windows filled with animation of trees and birds, and live action of a teenager in a hoodie running down rain-soaked suburban streets.

But then it gets personalized, as the site begins to draw satellite images from Google Maps, using your address as the centerpiece, and layering the animation atop what should be familiar streets and houses. And, if your neighborhood has been photographed for Google's Street View service, where you can see 360-degree views from pedestrian level, those images are used too, giving the sense that the hoodie-clad runner is exploring your hometown.

It's much better experienced than described -- click here to try it out and tell us what you think in the comments section.

The first wave of artists for the annual music, schmoozing, and booze marathon that is New York City's CMJ Festival have been unveiled, and the lineup is already worth the five sleepless nights and hungover mornings: Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah, Greg Dulli, Surfer Blood, Dean & Britta, Bayside, the Blow, Senses Fail, Langhorne Slim, Two Door Cinema Club, School of Seven Bells, and hundreds of others will all rock Manhattan October 19-23. Start training now.

Other highlights include singer/songwriter Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra, who will debut their Bad Books project; lovebirds Dean And Britta playing alongside Andy Warhol's Screen Tests (a series of silent film portraits of celebrities and the artist's friends); and Denver gypsy punk outfit DeVotchKa performing in a circus tent.

And there's more: Four Tet, Helmet, Lissie, Foreign Exchange, Katzenjammer, Kristen Schall & Friends, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Salem, Small Black, Big Freedia, Dominique Young Unique, Angus & Julia Stone, Frankie and the Heartstrings, and Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. will also perform.

See the lineup here, and check back as (many, many, many) more artists are added to the bill. (Over 1,200 bands in total will perform). To buy passes to the CMJ Music Marathon, click here.

What do you think of the CMJ lineup? Tell us in the comment section below.

[Updated: 7:08 P.M.]

NEWS:

 

FEIST Recording New Album in Paris
Songstress is working on the follow-up to her breakout album The Reminder with collaborator Chilly Gonzales. [Guardian]

VAMPIRE WEEKEND Kick Off Tour in Vancouver
After a three-week hiatus, the quartet return with true vigor and without a trace of rust. [SPIN]

DRAKE and NICKI MINAJ Annul Prank Marriage
After the Young Money rappers send fans into frenzy after announcing marriage, they end it all on Twitter. [Billboard]

CMJ Lineup: SURFER BLOOD, GREG DULLI, GHOSTFACE KILLAH
Dean & Britta, the Blow, School of Seven Bells, and hundreds of others will also rock New York City October 19-23. [SPIN]

MICHAEL JACKSON: King of Music Downloads
The late singer beats Lady Gaga and Elvis as the most downloaded artist of all time. [MTV]

SHELLAC Plan Tour
Chicago math-rock legends, fronted by producer Steve Albini, hit the road this week. [Pitchfork]

JOHN LENNON's Toilet Seat Sells for Over $15,000
The commode had once been a part of the Beatles rocker's Tittenhurst Park estate in Berkshire, England. [Spinner]

'GLEE', 'MODERN FAMILY', 'MAD MEN' Win at EMMY AWARDS
Top Chef, Breaking Bad, Temple Grandin and more also win at Sunday night ceremony. [MTV]

Why They're Called... GRINDERMAN
FInd out why the Nick Cave-led band isn't named Vortex and the Teenage Jerks. [SPIN]

BARONESS Cover DESCENDENTS on New Album
Georgia metal band play the legendary punk band's tune "Bikeage" on their upcoming 7-inch. [Punk News]

BUILT TO SPILL Extend Fall Tour
Idaho indie vets will deliver their noodling guitar solos across America through November. [Market Wire]

 

MP3s & VIDEOS:

 

LISTEN: New Song from MATT & KIM
The Brooklyn duo unveil "Camera," off their November 2 release Sidewalks. [Facebook]

WATCH: ROBYN Covers BJORK
Dance diva honors Icelandic legend at Sweden's Polar Music Prize ceremony by performing her 1996 single "Hyperballad" with full orchestra. [YouTube]

WATCH: DIE ANTWOORD and APHEX TWINS Perform Together
Two rap groups teamed up Saturday night at the London Electronic Dance Festival. [Pitchfork]

LISTEN: THE THERMALS Stream New Album
Hear the Portland, OR, punk group's upcoming release, Personal Life. [NPR]

WATCH: VAMPIRE WEEKEND Cover BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN at Tour Kickoff
Indie kings play “I’m Goin’ Down” in Vancouver, BC. [Stereogum]

WATCH: ARCADE FIRE: Interactive Video for 'The Suburbs'
The web-based, multimedia clip uses Google Maps of your childhood address. [SPIN]

DOWNLOAD: KANYE WEST, BON IVER, JAY-Z, RICK ROSS, NICKI MINAJ Collabo
The song, "Monster," will be included on an upcoming five-song mini album with Jay-Z called Watch the Throne. [Kanyeuniversecity]