Former Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle took to his piano to record a set of Christmas tunes, currently available on his website. The holiday album, titled Merry X-Mas 2009, is comprised of seven piano-based, improvised songs. Lytle explained to NME: “I set up some microphones and recorded about 35 minutes of improvisational piano music. It just so happens that playing my piano at home is one of my favorite things to do (in terms of music) so it was nice to be able to capture some of these moments of me playing aimlessly and relaxed.” If the track titles are anything to go by, this promises to be an alternative view of the holiday season, for sure: normally, I’m not “Out Cold on Indian Ambien” during Christmas, although a “Bird Feeder Soap Opera Plot” does seem to describe familial relations around this time of year. Read the full story

Former Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle just won’t get off our radar lately — yesterday it was his collaboration with Explosions in the Sky, today it’s even more collaborations, tour dates and a solo album.
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It has been 10 years since Explosions in the Sky formed at a local Austin, Texas pizza place and started playing together. Now, in celebration of their anniversary the band has decided to play four shows with some very special guests this summer.
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[Photo of poster from URB]

Danger Mouse and Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse announced almost three years ago that they would be working together on a new collaborative project, but as of yesterday, when a poster for the project was delivered to our offices, it looks like the duo of “Dangerhorse” are engaging a wide spectrum of talent to help out on the new record.
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