We’re just going to throw it out there that this collaboration between current Tripwire feature, King Khan, and former Tripwire feature, Black Lips, will probably sound like “good old rock & roll” and will probably also be a little “crazy” and “wild.” The recording may also have involved dudes spitting on or in each other.

Press release!

When the Black Lips had to flee India after almost getting arrested (long story) and getting their passports confiscated (longer story), they fled to Berlin to hole up with their old pal and label-mate King Khan. Mark Sultan (aka BBQ, one half of King Khan & BBQ Show) also happened to be there, and it happened to be freezing in Berlin that week so no one really wanted to leave the house. So what do a bunch of garage-rock all-stars (and international refugees) do in the middle of winter in cramped conditions? They give birth to an album and band of the same name, The Almighty Defenders. The guys went to Moon Studios and recorded these tracks, brimming with soul, earnest shouts, cries and hand-claps over post-modern gospel-rock anthems.

Ever since Wavves aka Nathan Williams had a little mental breakdown on the Pitchfork-curated stage at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona a few weeks ago, the music site has taken a not-so-subtle negative stance towards Williams whenever it sees an opportunity. It began with the actual news story of Wavves bad Primavera show, which Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber himself began with this little cat scratch directed at the Best New Music-earning band…

Over the past six months, the San Diego no-fi outfit Wavves has notoriously made a better bedroom project than live band.

… and finished with a suggestion that Williams and drummer Ryan Ulsh might kill each other before they even made it to Pitchfork’s own music festival on July 18th. The latter bit of blood lust has proven itself to be untrue with the passage of time, but the former seems an odd assertion considering Schreiber is presumably the one who booked (or approved the booking of) Wavves at both Primavera and the Pitchfork Festival. We’ve also seen Wavves several times in venues both large and small and he’s never failed to be pretty awesome, if not more accessible than he is on record.

So what are we to make of Pitchfork’s recent Wavves-bashing editorial direction, which culminated today in a post that quotes Black Lips’ Jared Swilley talking wildly about Williams in a Norwegian radio interview, crescendos (yeah, blog posts crescendo) with “it should be noted that this is not the first time a band has talked shit about Wavves” (yes, clearly should be noted) and mentions both bands will be at Pitchfork’s festival and ends with “Feel the drama!” (really?)?

We’d like to hear what you think in the comments section. Has Wavves one bad show earned the ire of music’s biggest critic? Is Pitchfork just trying to pump up its festival’s ticket sales? Or is Pitchfork just being a dick? Let’s hear it.

So remember when we spoke with the Black Lips after their show with GZA at this year’s SxSW? Well, we used this intro when we posted the MP3 and we’re re-using it now to show you the video for the version of “Drop I Hold” that GZA does not perform on. Get over it.

Black Lips & GZA – “The Drop I Hold”

So remember when we spoke with the Black Lips after their show with GZA at this year’s SxSW? Well it turns out the collaboration of the song “Drop I Hold” has been recorded and will be released as an iTunes EP.

The “Drop I Hold” EP will be available next Tuesday, May 5 and is giving anyone who missed the monumental collab a chance to hear the two together. Along with the GZA featured track, the release will have an instrumental version of “Drop I Hold” as well as a video. The EP will go for $1.99.

Or you can just download the song here like we did.

The soundtrack for the latest Carlos Cuaron film, Rudo y Cursi, is something your going to want to get your hands on come Cinco de Mayo, when it is released on iTunes. The film’s soundtrack, which will be released on Nacional Records, will feature (among others) Devendra Banhart and Black Lips covering regional Mexican songs.

Along with Devendra and the Lips, the soundtrack will feature music from Juana Molina, Nortec Collective, Dios Malos, and a cover of “I Want You to Want Me” sung by Gael Garcia Bernal — the star of Rudo y Cursi — in, you guessed it, Spanish. As well as the iTunes release on May 5, another digital release is set for May 19, and it will be available to purchase physically at retail locations on June 9.

Diego Luna will be joining Bernel on screen once more in the film. The two actors also starred in Y Tu Mama Tambien, and their roles in Rudo y Cursi will mark their first reunion since the 2001 film. You can view the trailer here.

Rudo y Cursi soundtrack track listing
01. Tato “El Cursi” Verduzco (Gael Garcia Bernal): Quiero Que Me Quieras
02. Los Odio feat Juan Son: I Want You to Want Me
03. Juana Molina: Rudo Y Cursi
04. Devendra Banhart: Lindo Cihuatlán
05. Mexican Institute of Sound feat Saúl Hernández: Árboles De La Barranca
06. Niña Dioz: Prefiero El Asfalto (Por Puro Gusto)
07. Jóvenes y Sexys: Amor Platónico
08. Los Látigos: Besos Y Caricias
09. Adanowsky: Historia Sin Fin
10. Dios Malos: Sueño De Amor
11. Quiero Club: Quiero Que Me Quieras
12. Kumbia Queers : El Dolor De Micaela
13. No Somos Machos Pero Somos Muchos: Amor del Cielo
14. Black Lips: Árboles De La Barranca
15. Quiero Club feat HC: Pegadito
16. Disco Ruido!: Mi Amor Contiki (Guaca Tiki Mix)
17. Nortec Collective Presents Bostich + Fussible: Árboles De La Barranca

I feel like I keep starting my interview intros with “one of my favorite albums of the year was…” and then segue into a discussion about the band at hand (I must admit, the first quarter of the year has produced a lot of great releases). So I’ll avoid that this time around, but it should be noted that I’ve listened to the new Black Lips record, 200 Million Thousand as much as any other record in 2009. That’s why it was a no-brainer to take some time out of our day for a quaint conversation by a dirty creek with the infamous foursome.

We caught up with the Lips the day after they performed an un-announced set with the GZA at SxSW, so not only were we all a bit subdued, it provided a nice starting point for a bevy of talking points. With topics ranging from the obvious (their new record, trip to India, etc.) to the not-so (odd delicacies and James Hetfield’s hair), it was a nice way to spend a warm spring afternoon in Texas — even if it wasn’t enough to keep Cole’s attention off of a menacing squirrel.

For The Record – A Video Interview With The Black Lips

Correspondent Meiyee Apple takes us through her guide of SxSW day parties with her search for free music and drinks on Friday, March 20. You can see the Thursday, March 19 installment here.

The Thursday night after my day party extravaganza was filled with Scandinavian bands at the Oya/Oh My Rockness showcase with the Casio Kids, Wavves, and some hardcore band who’s only lyrics for their song “Jeans and Heels” were “jeans” and “heels.” Instead of capping the evening with a late-night party session, I went and ate a “Sloppy Burger” at Magnolia and passed out.

There were high hopes on hitting a bevy of day parties.

The ones that that I hit:
Aussie BBQ with Youth Group
AAM Extravaganza
Reeperbahn Festival Party
Spin Magazine party with the Black Lips, Crystal Method DJing, and Echo and the Bunnymen (totally missed Passion Pit and am still kicking myself for it)

Of course with all that was going on, a lot of parties on my agenda were missed:
BMI Acoustic Brunch (woke up too late)
Onion A/V Club party (long was WAY too line)
Showcasing Scotland at The British Music Embassy (too busy getting hammered at the Spin Party)
The Music Stimulus Event (too busy getting hammered at Spin Party)
Next Big Nashville (too busy getting hammered at the Spin Party)
New Zealand Music Party (too busy getting hammered at the Spin Party)

Upon nightfall, I reported back to the sprawling and wonderful FADER Fort. I had not consumed anything solid all day, despite all the free food at the parties. Hence, the obvious inebriation at the end of my day.

I headed over to the Austin Music Hall for the Touch Tunes Ultimate Party with Datarock, Tricky and Devo. Datarock rocked my socks, Tricky made me fall asleep (due to the lingering booze), and Devo revealed new songs, wore new costumes, and sang the hits. Those old dudes are so timeless.

[Devo]

[Datarock]

[Echo And The Bunnymen]

As we told you, the new Black Lips album 200 Million Thousand is one of our favorites of 2009 (it might be our editor’s number one). And in our review, we point out two songs in particular, “Drugs” and “Starting Over”, as they seem to play poetically off of each other. Well, based on this Tripwire exclusive video interview with the Black Lips, we think we were right… sort of.

To quote exactly, we said: “Like a modern day troubadour of Johnny Cash’s, for every bit of lucid endeavor they describe on “Drugs”, there is an honest feeling of remorse and pain that strains through the otherwise upbeat and jangly number. Then maybe even justified or further explained in “Starting Over”, which sounds like a happy, San Fran 60s pop band giving us the pledge of new beginnings, but almost ironically, it’s more of a dismissal of the current. In order to start over, you need to discard the past, and maybe this signifies a new start for the Lips. Or maybe they’re just doing whatever the fuck they want.”

In this piece, the Lips clarify that how they indeed wrote a pop song that was meant to override the reality of what it means to start over. Damn, we nailed it! But don’t take our word for it, watch them explain it. And if you want to know the meaning behind the aforementioned “Drugs”, click here. You can also hear what they have to say about the lead single, “Short Fuse” and “Drop I Hold”.

Black Lips Discuss The Song “Starting Over”

Man, I hate to say it, but I think I love this record. You’re undoubtedly asking yourself one of two questions right now: Why do I hate to say it? Or why do I love it? The answer to both is the same: Because the Black Lips come pre-hyped and exposed for all the world to see and hear, yet they have defied the odds and put out a record unlike anything they have done to date. Still, 200 Million Thousand is a record that is undeniably all the Black Lips.

As the number of imitators grow, and In The Red starts to become relevant on a level beyond the Goner record shop, the Black Lips still stay ahead of the pack just enough to wave a collective finger at those trying to catch up. It’s as if they’re saying to the music world, “yeah, you’re doing what we did on our last record, here’s what you’ll be doing on your next one.”

Anyone who’s seen the Black Lips live will know they are as much a spectacle as they are a band, and they’re a garage punk outfit who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. Which makes it that much more interesting — and unexpected — that they would come armed with a mid-tempo, near-distortion-less, almost psychedelic collection of songs. This is less Reigning Sound or LiveFastDie, and more 13th Floor Elevators, maybe even a little Kinks or Monks for good measure. The result is a dizzying display of inconsistencies that keep you guessing from track to track, but makes you wanting to hear where the next turn will take you.

In fact, the most traditional and boring song on the track is probably the lead single, “Short Fuse”. It’s not bad by any means, it’s just the expected, more traditional garage leaning number — and one of the few on 200 Million Thousand. Conversely, the lazy drawl of “Old Man” has me entrenched in the slow burn of the South that they have always lived in, but haven’t displayed on record until now. Same could be said about “Elijah” or the “The Drop I Hold” — which sees Cole Alexander essentially talking over a haze-filled backdrop — it could easily be dismissed as a lackadaisical approach to songwriting, but there are few bands who could pull this off so earnestly and carefree that the result can only be reviewed with the utmost respect. I know that there is a cynicism in everything they do, and I can almost see them winking to each other as they read a review like this, but it is within that “we don’t give a fuck” attitude that the greatest musicians live.

Like a modern day troubadour of Johnny Cash’s, for every bit of lucid endeavor they describe on “Drugs”, there is an honest feeling of remorse and pain that strains through the otherwise upbeat and jangly number. Then maybe even justified or further explained in “Starting Over”, which sounds like a happy, San Fran 60s pop band giving us the pledge of new beginnings, but almost ironically, it’s more of a dismissal of the current. In order to start over, you need to discard the past, and maybe this signifies a new start for the Lips. Or maybe they’re just doing whatever the fuck they want.

Some will dismiss this album as an uncohesive mess of Southern fried scum rock, and for that, I applaud the Black Lips. 200 Million Thousand might not be the album you grab to hear your favorite hits, but from the title down to the application, it will live in infamy as the pinnacle of a band and their craft and how little regard they have for what you and I think.

Just when you thought your beloved record collection, full of precious pretentiousness and obscure band names, was safe, think again. It looks like the nice guys at Apple have stolen your thunder, and have now made an Indie Store on iTunes; making life just a little bit easier for the independent record label, and giving you an even bigger headache when you find out your lame next door neighbor has heard the new Black Lips record before you.

The iTunes store created the new “Indie Spotlight,” to feature artists like Fever Ray, Wavves, Cut Copy and Bon Iver among many others. Like Prefix, we’re wondering why? Well, the answer most likely lies in the sales of the spotlighted artists. While they are “indie,” it probably goes without saying that blog wonderkids Animal Collective and Wavves have already been racking up sales for the online music machine.

The spotlight store also has a list of indie podcasts and playlists for users to download and sync right onto their iPods. This is definitely a step in the right direction for the retailer who has helped launch the careers of many unknown artists through their innovative iPod commercials, yet have left most of the front page spotlights to the likes of very large and established artists. We say kudos to iTunes for making the move, and maybe we could direct you to a great indie podcast to consider (hint, hint).

In honor of last night’s BRIT awards, we’ve gone all U.K., all the time with this week’s New Music Thursday picks. Up now is a sloppy little garage-pop trio from London we’ve been following called Let’s Wrestle who might just be headed to a town (or an Austin music festival) near you soon.

Let’s Wrestle has this casual sound that sort of mimics that dressed-down style where you’re trying to say to the world, hey. I didn’t really try or anything, but I look good in a kind of disheveled way, don’t I? Singer Wesley Patrick Gonzalez has this slow, relaxed, almost apathetic vocal style that pairs well with the scratchy, imperfect, U.K. version of the currently popular U.S. garage rock sound, a la Vivian Girls, Blank Dogs, Wavves, etc.

They released a three-song EP Song for Abba Tribute Record in 2007 and a six-song disc called In Loving Memory Of… in 2008 and now they’re heading to the states soon to play with — appropriately anough — the Black Lips and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart before heading down to SXSW. Check out “I’m OK, You’re OK” here.

Let’s Wrestle – “I’m OK, You’re OK”

Let’s Wrestle on tour
03.10.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg) w/ Black Lips, Gentleman Jesse & His Men
03.11.09 – Hoboken, NJ (Maxwell’s)
03.12.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Monster Island Basement) w/ Cause Co-Motion
03.13.09 – Brooklyn, NY (The Bellhouse) w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
03.14.09 – Baltimore, MD (The Talking Head Club at Sonar) w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
03.15.09 – Chapel Hill, NC (Local 506) w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
03.16.09 – Atlanta, GA (The Earl) w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

SXSW is just a few short weeks away, and the performance schedule has finally been officially released via the event’s website. Yes, it is only the “official” line-up, and there are sure to be tons of “unofficial” parties announced in the next few weeks, but it’s nice to get a few confirmations to add to our schedule.

While the Film festival starts earlier in the week, the musical acts will start on Wednesday, March 18 and run through Sunday the 22. With artists like Phosphorescent, The Bronx, A-Trak, and The Decemberists, Black Lips, Grizzly Bear and blog-boy Wavves confirmed to perform along an ever-increasing line-up of huge acts like Devo or the oft-rumored Metallica, it’s sure to be the gaudy, drunken experience we’ve all come to expect.

Batten down the hatches Austin, the world is coming to tear shit up. You can see the full line-up here.

Osama Bin Laden is nowhere to be found, but we know where his niece is. The up and coming musician and model will be performing in London and is planning on collaborating in the studio with the always-controversial and ever-so-rowdy Black Lips.

Wafah Dufour, who changed her last name from Bin Laden when her parents divorced, is a fan of the Black Lips, and spoke to the band’s manager about working together. We’re pretty positive Uncle Osama wouldn’t be too pleased about his niece’s decision to work with Black Lips, especially with their track record of naked stage diving, man-on-man making out on stage, and overall ridiculous behavior, but according to the Lips, the band is more than happy to be working with Dufour.

“We’re really honored,” Cole Alexander, guitarist of Black Lips, told NME. “She came to a show in New York and then came to see us in London. She’s a fan and has aspirations to be a musician.”

Dufour is not new to the spotlight, or creating controversy herself. in 2006 she posed naked for GQ, so hanging out with the guys from Black Lips will probably suit her well. She will also be playing a show in London at the Dead or Alive club night at the Bullet Bar on February 26th, but if you don’t get to experience the mystery behind the sultry singer live, you can at least take a look at her MySpace and hear what one of Osama’s 300 nieces/nephews sound like singing.

They said they would clean up their act for India, but Black Lips guitarist Cole Alexander must have never received that memo, as he stunned audience members during a performance in Chennai, India last Friday with a naked stage-diving spectacle, causing the band to flee India in a hurry.

After ripping his clothes off onstage, and flailing into the crowd at the Sir Mutha Venkata Subbarao Concert Hall, Alexander proceeded to shock audience members some more as he made out with his fellow band members. Obviously unaccustomed to a Black Lips performance, the show was then stopped by promoters and the resulting backlash has forced the Lips to cancel the remainder of their tour dates in India.

This came after the band already had bottles hurled at them while performing in Pune as part of a Campus Rock Idols show which they headlined (although some thought they were contestants).

The band sent an e-mail to their record label, Vice Records, saying the promoters were pressing charges and the police were planning on arresting them, so the band fled the scene and hopped on a flight to Berlin.

When we got to the hotel our tour guide informed us that the that the Campus Rock Idols sponsors were pressing charges and that the police would make their arrest. At that point our tour driver informed us we would have to drive six hours to get to the next town and cross state lines where we would be out of the Tamil authorities jurisdiction, because apparently the jail in Chennai is no joke. Word on the street said that it was teeming with tuberculosis, violence and live maggots so instead of risking going there we fled the scene. The drive ended up taking 10 hours because of a horrific accident on the road. We were also informed that all of the shows on our tour had been canceled effectively fucking all funds for the trip. This was a cultural clashing shit storm.

The e-mail did go onto state that they were somewhat apologetic for the mishaps they caused saying, We would like to thank the four Hindi speaking tour guides, and Rana Ghose for helping us get through these enormous trials and tribulations, and for future reference we really enjoyed the people of India ad we hope western rock bands will be able to tour there in the future.

The Black Lips have shows booked in Germany, starting next week, and will return to the U.S. to promote their new LP 200 Million Thousand, that is set for release on February 24. For now, Vice Records is awaiting further information concerning the band’s location and any further trouble they may have encountered with the Indian police authorities.

200 Million Thousand track listing
01. Take My Heart
02. Drugs
03. Starting Over
04. Let It Grow
05. Trapped in a Basement
06. Short Fuse
07. I’ll Be With You
08. Big Black Baby Jesus of Today
09. Again & Again
10. Old Man
11. The Drop I Hold
12. Body Combat
13. Elijah
14. I Saw God

Black Lips tour dates
02.15.09 – London, England (Islinton Academy; NME Awards)
02.16.09 – Bristol, England (Fleece N Firkin)
02.17.09 – Glasgow, Scotland (ABC 2)
02.18.09 – Manchester, England (Institute)
02.19.09 – Brighton, England (Audio)
02.26.09 – Birmingham, AL (Bottletree)
02.27.09 – Atlanta, GA (Variety Playhouse)
03.04.09 – Carrboro, NC (Cat’s Cradle)
03.05.09 – Washington, DC (Black Cat)
03.06.09 – Philadelphia, PA (Johnny Brenda’s)
03.07.09 – Cambridge, MA (Middle East)
03.09.09 – New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom)
03.10.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
03.12.09 – Cleveland, OH (Beachland Ballroom)
03.13.09 – Detroit, MI (Magic Stick)
03.14.09 – Chicago, IL (Logan Square Auditorium)
03.15.09 – Milwaukee, WI (Turner Hall Ballroom)
03.16.09 – St. Paul, MN (Turf Club)
03.17.09 – Omaha, NE (Waiting Room)
03.18.09 – Lawrence, KS (Bottleneck)
03.20-21.09 – Austin, TX (SXSW)
03.23.09 – New Orleans, LA (One Eyed Jacks)
03.24.09 – Tallahassee, FL (Club Downunder)
03.26.09 – Tampa, FL (Orpheum)
03.27.09 – Miami, FL (Churchill’s)
03.28.09 – Gainesville, FL (Common Grounds)
03.29.09 – Jacksonville, FL (Jack Rabbits)
03.30.09 – Orlando, FL (The Social)

Black Lips
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