Superchunk – The Clambakes Vol. 4

Merge will release Superchunk’s The Clambakes Vol. 4 – Sur La Bouche – Live in Montreal 1993 on January 13. This was recorded at the Backstreet by Howard Bilerman while the band toured for the excellent album On the Mouth. The album will be available for digital download the Merge online store, and free for all SCORE! subscribers.

I, for one, miss Superchunk, but maybe that’s just my ’90s nostalgia kicking in. Like Crooked Fingers to Archers of Loaf, Mac McCaughan’s Portastatic is good, but just doesn’t provide the kick in the nuts rock of his old band. Let’s revisit some memories:

The Pharcyde – Bobby Evans Mix

Delicious Vinyl has released a new Pharcyde mix by one Mr. Bobby Evans, of Brother Reade fame, featuring 40 tracks from the entire Pharcyde catalogue. That’s a good thing, since the occasional recent output from the once great group has been nothing short of garbage. Says Mr. Evans himself:

“With this mix, I had complete access to the Pharcyde’s full catalog. I was playing with the idea of doing this mix strictly chronologically but in the end I didn’t want to pin it down like that. Instead I trawled through ever nook and cranny and came up with a playlist of which songs I wanted to use and how I wanted them to flow. Then I started figuring out ways of working in the more esoteric bits and pieces I found, so that instead of just a continuous mix of Pharcyde records there are interviews and live versions phasing in and out. It gives the mix as a whole more peaks.”

Ya mama got a glass eye with a fish in it.

Peter, Bjorn & John – Bizarre New Video

See for yourself.

Paul Wall – Fast Life

Paul Wall has announced the release of his new album, Fast Life, for sometime in the first few months of 2009. The debut single, “Bizzy Body,” can be heard right here. There’s gonna be mad, mad crew supplying both beats and rhymes on the new album, including, but not limited to: Akon, Yung Joc, Gorilla Zoe, Too Short, Z-Ro, Lil’ Keke, Expensive Taste, Amadeus, Mouse on Tha Track, Beans & Cornbread. I’m stupid hungry now.

Ooh, nothing’s as good as this:

RZA – Afro Samurai: Resurrection

The past year and a half has been fruitful for Wu-Tang mastermind, the RZA, and the saga continues. Afro Samurai: Resurrection, a second soundtrack album for Spike TV’s animated series, will hit stores on January 27th (Wu Music Group). Guests include Sly Stone, Kool G Rap, Rah Digga, and the late ODB’s son, Boy Jones.

In other RZA-related news, the Abbot himself will star in a new Judd Apatow film, Funny People, this summer. Will the RZA be as funny as co-stars Adam Sandler, Leslie Mann, and Seth Rogen? I can’t wait to find out. Bung, bung.

Afro Samurai: Resurrection tracklist:

1) Combat (Afro Season II Open Theme) – RZA; P. Dot
2) You Already Know – Kool G Rap; Inspectah Deck; Suga Bang
3) Blood Thicker Than Mud “Family Affair” – Reverand William Burke; Sly Stone; Stone Mecca
4) Whar – Kool G Rap; Ghostface Killah; Tash Mahogany; RZA
5) Girl Samurai Lullaby – Rah Digga; Stone Mecca
6) Fight for You – Thea Van Seijen
7) Bitch Gonna Get Ya’ – Rah Digga
8) Bloody Days Bloody Nights – Prodgical Sunn; Thea Van Siejen
9) Kill Kill Kill – Rugged Monk
10) Nappy Afro – Boy Jones
11) Bloody Samurai – Black Knights; Dexter Wiggles; Thea Van Seijen
12) Dead Birds – Killah Priest; Prodgical Sunn; Shavo
13) Arch Nemesis – Ace; Moe Rock
14) Brother’s Keeper – Reverand William Burke; The RZA; Infinite
15) Yellow Jackets – Ace; Moe Rock
16) Take the Sword pt. III – 60 Second Assassin; Leggezin; Crisi; Christ Bearer; Rugged Monk; Tré Irie; Kinetic; Reverand William Burks; Bobby Digital
17) Number One Samurai (Afro Season II Outro) – The RZA ; 9th Prince

Karin From The Knife is Fever Ray

I get way too much shit for it from certain parties, but I love The Knife. Silent Shout was a moody, dark, atmospheric electro-pop record of great import and quality. Several years later, one can only hope and wonder what the next Knife record will be like. (Perhaps their recent opera work will provide some clues).

In the meantime, Karin Dreijer Andersson will release a record on Mute as Fever Ray this March. The only song you can hear thus far is an instrumental version of its first single, “If I Had a Heart,” on her MySpace page. But the track will available for download starting December 16th.

Some words from Ms. Andersson herself: “I had so many songs to record that I just had to make an album. I thought I was going to have a longer break but I guess it will never happen. I can’t stop working. My aim was to finish the album and now that it’s done I’m a bit restless (good that The Knife has an opera to write then.) During the last years I discovered that I like to sing too, so I hope that my newly found live band will make it to the stages next year. We are rehearsing and building something beautiful and brilliant.”