The gushing love affair between hip-hoppers and indie-rock bands (in particular, Brooklyn-based indie-rock bands) in recent months has been well-documented. Jay-Z swooned over Grizzly Bear in Williamsburg. ?uestlove received a special private performance from Dirty Projectors. But these blooming relationships had a certain subtlety to them. Fawning from afar escalated to real life bro’ing out. Well, last week D.C. rapper Wale threw his name into the hat as well when the tracklist to his long-awaited proper debut Attention Deficit hit the net. The news that he was working with producer Dave Sitek on the album is not new news. However, the news that he did a song with the TV On The Radio dude called “TV In The Radio” is. Your move Snoop? (Via: Nah Right)

Day 2: Almost getting smashed in the face and then eating the best Indian food ever

Words & Photography by Jenn Hernandez

The good weather continued for giddy Outside Lands second day concert-goers eager to soak in as much sun as possible while also getting their fest on. As we listened to a smooth Raphael Saadiq croon from the main stage – who started out dressed in a three-piece suit to later strip down to a rolled-up collared shirt – it was worth admiring the diversity in the crowd as well as the lineup we were about to drink in. We had metal time with Mastadon, the most magical five minutes with Bat For Lashes, and rumpshaking with TV On The Radio courtesy of Tunde Adebimpe’s hips, all in the course of one day.

The big news of the night, however, happened at 7:40 p.m. at the Twin Peaks stage. As I got situated in the photo pit, The Mars Volta were into their second song and more or less blowing out my ear drums. My camera was in love with singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, following him everywhere he went: handstands, spazzing and tossing the mic stand effortlessly into the air. At one point, he dived belly first onto the floor, popped back up, grinded against his mic stand, and then shuffled off to the side of the stage to drink tea out of a white mug.

Bixler-Zavala then grabbed the sign adjacent to the band that spelled out “THE MARS VOLTA” in giant capital letters, hocked it on his back, and then proceeded to kick the shit out of it, breaking it in the middle before nearly throwing everything into the crowd and grabbing another photographer’s camera in the process. All photographers were promptly bounced out of the photo pit breathless, and I was just glad to not have been caught in the crossfire. Best ten minutes of the whole weekend.

Other boring highlights included:
- find out trampolines really are as good as you remember from childhood
- the awkward hug I received at the Hug Station
- the Os Mutantes broken string incident
- TVOTR absolutely dominating “Wolf Like Me”
- Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox not knowing who else was on the festival bill with his band: “Who is Conor Oberst? Is he a singer?” (after being clued in by an audience member: “Oh, you mean Bright Eyes?”)
- eating something called a cookie pie
- nearly getting demolished in the photo pit during The Mars Volta set, but getting bomb Indian food to make up for my near-death experience

Sadly, news of DJ AM’s untimely death the day before had gripped everyone, and lots of people in lines, drinking near each other, or standing near one another in the crowds discussed the tragedy.

Raphael Saadiq

Portugal. The Man

Mastodon

Os Mutantes

TV On The Radio

Deerhunter

The Mars Volta

TV On The Radio is a band of many positive descriptions, but direct is rarely one of them. This is what makes the second track from Malone’s Rain Machine project all the more interesting, “Smiling Black Faces” is a chilling tale of genocide and horror and police brutality that seems to leave much less room for interpretation than most of the layered ditties Malone has been touring on for some years now.

Malone also just announced a Rain Machine tour, which will begin in Brooklyn’s Bell House on September 21, one day before his album is scheduled to come out for the masses. Dates are as follows.

09.21.09 Brooklyn, NY @ Bell House
09.25.09  Echo Park, CA @The Echo
09.26.09  Los Angeles, CA @ The Getty Center
09.28.09  San Francisco, CA @The Independent
09.30.09  Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
10.01.09  Seattle, WA @ Neumos
10.02.09  Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore
10.09.09  Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree
10.10.09  New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
10.12.09  Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club
10.13.09  Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
10.15.09  Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
10.16.09  Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
10.17.09  Chicago, IL @ Double Door
10.18.09  Detroit, MI @ Small’s
10.19.09  Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
10.20.09  Montreal, QB @ Il Motore
10.22.09  Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstair
10.23.09  Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s

(Via: Urb & Steoeogum)

Like we were saying last month, Kyp Malone, bearded guru of the TV on the Radio gang, is about to release a solo album under the name Rain Machine on September 22 via Anti-. Not content to leave TVOTR fans in the dark as to his activities, Malone has released a dark, slightly strange image that will be used for his album’s cover, and whet fans’ appetites with a track-listing for his latest musical endeavor. Check the album artwork out for yourself (and draw your own conclusions) above.

Tracklisting for Rain Machine:

01 Intro
02 Give Blood
03 New Last Name
04 Smiling Black Faces
05 Driftwood Heart
06 Hold You Holy
07 Desperate Bitch
08 Love Won’t Save You
09 Free Ride
10 Leave the Lights On
11 Winter Song

A couple of years ago we saw TV On The Radio play a show in Berlin. Celebration were set to open but because the axles fell off their van (how does that happen?) on the way into town, singer/guitarist Kyp Malone took it upon himself to play a quick solo set in their stead. It was pretty good! Anti- Records announced this morning that the wooliest member of 2008’s most beloved art-rockers is set to release a new full-length as Rain Machine, a pseudonym Malone settled on after he realized he didn’t “like how ‘Kyp Malone’ looked on mock ups of t-shirts and fliers.” Sonic details are scant at the moment but press release descriptors like “passionate,” “emotionally raw,” and “experimental” are being carefully applied. Malone’s take is best:

“Buying and listening to this album will be more than just pleasurable, more than just horizon expanding. This record will bring the listener to a higher level of consciousness, that peace and happiness are attainable through bathing in its sounds…LOL!!! Really though, I had a great time making this record and I hope listeners enjoy it.”