With an impressive pedigree from both his band and his lineage, it’s unsurprising that Tyondai Braxton would score for a large ensemble consisting of everything from kazoos, piccolo, harp, clarinet, double bass, trumpet, xylophone and glock, just to name a few. Braxton’s debut solo album, Central Market, will be out September 15, 2009 via Warp, which will feature this wildly ambitious piece, “Platinum Rows”, which was recorded live with the Wordless Music Orchestra of New York. Pre-orders for the limited vinyl release can be found here. [via Stereogum]

When Nirvana played the Reading Festival at the end of August in 1992, the band hadn’t rehearsed in months, according to Charles R. Cross’ infamous Cobain biography, Heavier Than Heaven. In fact, both drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Kist Novaselic had no idea if Kurt Cobain would even show. So, when a wheelchair appeared on the side stage carrying a bedraggled-looking Cobain decked out in an inexplicable blond wig and a long white lab coat, the crowd – and his bandmates – had no idea what to expect. As soon as Cobain stood up and strapped on his guitar, the crowd erupted, and the band tore through what is now a  legendary, heavily-bootlegged set. To milk the dead cash-cow that is Nirvana even further, the powers that be at Universal will release a sanctioned and remastered version of this performance on DVD and CD on November 3, 2009. The double LP will hit stores two weeks later.

Tracklist of Nirvana Live At Reading DVD:

01 Breed
02 Drain You
03 Aneurysm
04 School
05 Sliver
06 In Bloom
07 Come as You Are
08 Lithium
09 About a Girl
10 tourette’s
11 Polly
12 Lounge Act
13 Smells Like Teen Spirit
14 On a Plain
15 Negative Creep
16 Been a Son
17 All Apologies
18 Blew
19 Dumb
20 Stay Away
21 Spank Thru
22 Love Buzz
23 The Money Will Roll Right In (Fang cover)
24 D-7 (Wipers cover)
25 Territorial Pissings

[via Pitchfork]

Daniel Ash from Love & Rockets/Bauhaus discusses the new Love & Rockets tribute album New Tales to Tell with DJ/artist Shepard Fairey at an Urban Outfitters in LA. Ash proclaims his surprising ignorance of all things internet but admits that it’s probably not the wisest move to abstain from the driving force behind the spread of modern music. He just can’t get excited by anything on a computer because “you can’t smell the coffee.” Or something. Unfortunately, there are no Love & Rockets revelations, nor does Fairey delve into Bauhaus’ oddly anti-climactic exit from the public eye last year. Ash does reveal his aspirations to pursue TV and film soundtrack work, though, for what that’s worth. [via Buddyhead]

To help Nine Inch Nails “wave goodbye” to its New York City audience at Terminal 5 two nights ago, Peter Murphy dropped slowly from the netherworld upside down on a chain. Like a bat, get it? Anyone who saw Bauhaus at Coachella knows this trick well. And thanks to that fancy series of tubes we have video proof of Master Murphy’s shenanigans with his buddy Trent Reznor. Murphy performed four songs with the band, including some of his solo work, Bauhaus’ defining “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, and Pere Ubu’s “Final Solution.” That was a lucky batch of 500 people. [via Brooklyn Vegan]

Amy Winehouse came out of her semi-permanent vacation in Saint Lucia to perform with the reunited Specials at the V Festival this past weekend. She sang on “You’re Wondering Now” and “Ghost Town” alongside Terry Hall, looking rather sober and surprisingly focused. It was her first public performance in almost a year. Back on track? The crowd seemed more than receptive to the struggling chanteuse, whose new record is rumored to be heavily influenced by reggae, much to the chagrin of Island records. [via Daily Swarm]

Land of Talk is one of those bands that sneaks up on me and kicks my ass every time. They slip under the radar, and I forget about them completely. Then, a few months later I am reminded how much I like them, and the cycles starts all over again. Luckily for me, the band has a new EP via Saddle Creek, some tour dates, and this new video for “The Man Who Breaks Things (Dark Shuffle)” off both the new Fun and Laughter EP and their full-length Some Are Lakes. I’m not sure what’s going on with Elizabeth Powell’s hairdo in this video (she normally looks much, much cuter), but the song is ace. The band has been sidelined for most of the year because of Powell’s vocal problems, but they’ve lined up a west coast tour for fall:

10/27 – San Diego, CA, Casbah
10/29 – Los Angeles, CA, Spaceland
10/30 – Visalia , CA, Cellar Door
11/02 – San Francisco, CA, Cafe DuNord
11/04 – Portland, OR, Doug Fir
11/05 – Seattle, WA, High Dive
11/06 – Bellingham, WA, The Nightlight
11/07 – Vancouver, BC, Biltmore Cabaret

[via Brooklyn Vegan]

I’m not sure how I missed this news, but legendary Pogues singer Shane MacGowan got himself a new grill. It just seems wrong somehow. Half the man’s appeal was his teetering on the brink of drinking himself to death, slurring his lyrics, and making the rest of humanity feel a lot better about themselves. Nothing served as a better reminder of the man’s fuck-all attitude than his jacked up grill. Now that his mouth won’t frighten away certain portions of the opposite sex and small children, it almost feels like a betrayal. It’s as though someone edited out the cracks and pops in all my Pogues albums and didn’t have the nerve to tell me.

I will miss this face: