Bang! Pop! Free Energy!

TNOP's UK pop and jazz correspondent Miles Gallagher reports that his pick-to-click band of 2010, Free Energy, after making a quick hit in the Far East, will spend the rest of the summer bouncing back and forth between North America and the UK.

In the interim, the group found time to cut a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm Going Down." The tune will be part of a split 7" single sold exclusively at concert venues.

The Philadelphia power pop quartet is toiling on the road in support of the James Murphy (DFA/LCD Soundsystem) produced Stuck On Nothing. This time round they are sharing the bill (and the 7" split single) with critic's darlings Titus Andronicus.

TNOP caught Free Energy at the Daytrotter show back in April (click for our review here) and gave them a hardy thumbs up. Here's the tour schedule:

08-07 Osaka, Japan @ Summer Sonic Music Festival
08-08 Tokyo, Japan @ Summer Sonic Music Festival
08-14 Bangor, ME @ Kahbang Festival / Bangor Waterfront
08-19 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwells +
08-21 Boston, MA @ Royale +
08-22 Montreal, Quebec @ Il Motore +
08-23 Ottawa, Ontario @ Mavericks +
08-25 Ithaca, NY @ Castaways +
08-28 Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival - SOLD OUT
08-29 Reading, UK @ Reading Festival - SOLD OUT
09-05 San Diego, CA @ Belly Up Tavern +
09-07 Los Angeles, CA @ Viper Room
09-08 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent +
09-10 Vancouver, British Columbia @ Biltmore Cabaret +
09-11 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge / Music Fest Northwest +
09-12 Seattle, WA @ The Tractor Tavern +
09-13 Boise, ID @ Neurolux +
09-14 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court +
09-15 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater +
09-16 Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room +
09-17 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club +
09-18 Chicago, IL @ Metro +
09-19 Newport, KY @ Southgate House +
09-20 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl +
09-21 Durham, NC - Duke Coffeehouse +
09-22 Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theatre +
09-23 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church +
09-24 Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel +
09-25 New York, NY @ Webster Hall +

+ = w/ Titus Andronicus

News Roundup

Time for TNOP to check the teletype and let you know what's new in the world of music . . .

Controversial music impresario Malcolm McLaren passed away this past week at age 64, a victim of cancer. McLaren unleashed The Sex Pistols on the world and also managed The New York Dolls at one time. His son Joe Corre and film director Julien Temple look back for guardian.co.uk.

The entire Lollapalooza lineup has been announced and Jim DeRogatis ranks the main acts for your consideration and discussion. Lolla 2010 takes place in Chicago's Grant Park on August 6, 7 & 8.

Congrats to the Drifting Cowboy. Hank Williams has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. You read that right.

Coco returns! Conan O'Brien ends his time in the wilderness when he starts a new talk show on cable network TBS in November. It will originate from Los Angeles and get a half-hour jump start on Letterman and the other guy. We look forward to the musical guests as well.

MGMT's Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden talk with The Times of London on the eve of the release of their new CD.

Thom Yorke's new band, Atoms For Peace, is on the road for a limited tour. Here are a couple of reviews from the New York and Chicago shows.

Jakob Dylan's new long-player, Women and Country, is garnering plenty of positive buzz. Produced by T-Bone Burnett, the album features Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. Edna Gunderson of USA Today reports.

It's always a treat to hear Josh Ritter live. He delivers a fine Daytrotter session posted for the first time today.

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings are back with a great new LP. In anticipation of their appearance at the Apollo Theater at the end of the month, The Village Voice gives us an update on the group's timeless sound.

This Saturday, 17 April, is World Record Store Day, so support your local shop. Some of the special 7" singles to be released in 1,000 independent stores in 18 countries include the first release in seven years from Blur, as well as music from Bat For Lashes, Hot Chip, Lilly Allen and The Beatles.

Yeah, boooooooy-eeeeeeee! On the 20th anniversary of its release, David Stubbs of The Quietus remembers Public Enemy's seminal Fear of A Black Planet.

Good news for John Prine fans (count us strongly among them): a new live album arrives in May. Plus, an all-star cast is being compiled for a tribute album. Crawdaddy! reports that My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst, Justin Vernon, The Avett Brothers and Josh Ritter will be among the contributors.

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on the latest Beck "Record Club" project: INXS' Kick. make sure you check out the next two songs in the collection recorded by Mr. Hansen, St. Vincent and Os Mutantes: "Devil Inside" and the turned on its head "New Sensation" (with Annie Clark and Liars' Chris Stevens sharing lead vocals). [Both links via Twenty-Four Bit]

Don't forget to take the time to check out Wilco's "Country Disappeared" from Montreal, taped especially for La Blogotheque.

Well, we here at The Night Owl Presents have to admit that the more we listen to Titus Andronicus' second album, The Monitor, the more we're digging it. Never thought that a hybrid of Springsteen and punk would be a sentence we'd write. Take a sample listen from the band's 25 minute session recently at Minneapolis' The Current.

More good news. Sunderland U.K.'s finest band, The Futureheads, release their fourth effort, The Chaos, on 1 June. Brooklyn Vegan has all the info: tour dates, a new song download and album track listing.

Whew. That's it from TNOP World HQ. But we still have time for a dance . . .