Here's something interesting that turned up today. For those of you that can remember, back in January 2008, in an interview from Rolling Stone Magazine, Isaac mentioned that he was working on a project with Frank Black to recreate Lee Hazlewood's Trouble Is A Lonesome Town.

That was the last we heard of it.

The project now however, is ready for release. It looks like the project's main originator was Charles Normal, known for his work with Frank Black, Pete Yorn, Jetboy, and his brother, musician Larry Norman.

Charles Normal first heard the Hazlewood album in 2000 while living in Norway, where he picked it up in a secondhand show.

"It really made me start thinking about America, where I hadn't been to in quite some time," Normal said. "I'm a big fan of 'The Andy Griffith Show,' and that small-town Americana we grew up watching on TV and this was like the audio companion to that. It had kind of a sinister vibe, it was a little darker."

The project really got underway when he read in 2007 that Hazlewood had always intended the album to be seen as a set of demos, that would later be recorded by other artists. He recruited friends and collaborators from Portland, to begin work on the album including Isaac Brock, The Pixies' Frank Black, Pete Yorn, and members of Art Brut and the Dandy Warhols.

The project however would be shelved shortly after it Isaac gave that interview in 2008 though, after Charles Normal's brother Larry passed away.

"I just put the whole thing on the back burner," Normal says. "It was really heart-wrenching to try to sing harmonies with him; these were the last tracks that he'd ever recorded."

Eventually, after some long late night talks with Isaac, Charles decided to complete the album. Which will be released under the band name "Thriftstore Masterpiece" and will be available on July 9.

Thriftstore Masterpiece revisit Lee Hazlewood's 1963 lost classic Trouble Is A Lonesome Town and features Pete Yorn, Frank Black (Pixies), Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Courtney Taylor-Taylor (The Dandy Warhols), Eddie Argos (Art Brut), the late Larry Norman and more.

The album is available for order, currently in a pressing of 1000 copies on a brown and white starburst LP from Side One Dummy Records. The full track listing is as follows:

1. Long Black Train - featuring Frank Black
2. Ugly Brown - featuring Larry Norman
3. Son Of A Gun - featuring Frank Black
4. We All Make The Flowers Grow - featuring Kristin Blix
5. Run Boy Run - featuring Frank Black
6. Six Feet Of Chain - featuring Pete Yorn
7. The Railroad - featuring Isaac Brock
8. Look At That Woman - featuring Courtey Taylor-Taylor
9. Peculiar Guy - featuring Eddie Argos
10. Trouble Is A Lonesome Town - featuring Larry Norman

Right now, we are not sure exactly what tracks will feature Isaac apart from The Railroad, but we'll keep you posted as we find out. Listen to that track below.

Thanks to jplan74 and Schuno for sending this in.

Source: Thriftstore Masterpiece: Pete Yorn, members of the Pixies and Modest Mouse Cover Lee Hazlewood's Trouble Is a Lonesome Town - Speakeasy - WSJ

Pitchfork has posted an interview with Outkast's Big Boi, during which the question came up as to what had happened to the work he did with Modest Mouse back in 2011.

Pitchfork: What made you want to work with bands like Little Dragon and Phantogram?
BB: I had just finished working with Modest Mouse for their project, and after that I was like, "Man, I need to start doing this for my own shit." Just bringing people in. So we did. We would live day-in and day-out with people, go bowling, go out to eat, and then come back and record, watch a movie, record. It was like funk summer camp.

Pitchfork: What's happening with the stuff you did with Modest Mouse?
BB: It's for their record; it's coming. We actually took a trip back out there to go see them a couple months ago. I did maybe three records with them. Isaac [Brock] is cool, man, like cowboy cool. He showed me how to make a bong out of an apple and shit. For real.

Not much to go on, but it is interesting to hear that he has been in touch with them recently and that it does sound like the material will be put to use and not abandoned.

Also in the interest of keeping some conversation going (in these dry news times), Big Boi does have a new album coming out next month, of which it doesn't sound like the track-listing or collaborating artists has been confirmed. Seeing how he has been working with other bands, it will be interesting to keep an eye on it, and see if any member from Modest Mouse makes an appearance on it. Pure thinking out loud this last part.

Source: Update: Big Boi | Features | Pitchfork

It has only been performed once to our knowledge, used to close out one of the first known Modest Mouse show's back in 1995. Today, Wrong Decision, finally gets an official title: Dead End Job At The Dead Letter Office.

The track will be appearing on a compilation that we reported on earlier entitled Live From Nowhere Near You : Volume 2, being released on July 19 through Greyday Records.

As for a little history on the track, Kevin Moyer was able to share the following:

Isaac and I share a distant friendship. He is very smart, crazy, fun, hilarious, and can tell a story like no other. I think the fact that our group of friends don't overlap too much means we can often have confiding conversations with no outside concern. I can also tell that we both understand the darkness. When we first talked about the effort and him contributing, he wanted to do a cover song and for the life of me I cannot remember what it was, just that I wanted to record him doing it under a bridge or in a park near his house at night. But he got busy with doing the album "No One Is First and You're Next", so we started looking at old tracks already in the can to include instead.

Around that time I came upon some old tapes of Isaac as a 14 year old young kid playing music with friends in a shed using an old answering machine to record, and spent a considerable amount of time trying to clean those up, but Isaac did not want to use those as he felt it was "strip mining his past" and I had to agree. And just FYI on those tapes - Uncle Bunny Faces and Tube Fruit - he was just a teenager, only fourteen on some them, and he dumpster dived every tape that these were recorded onto from the MUZAK dumpsters in Seattle. Isaac tells me that these were never intended as demos, the term "demo" implies that you made the recordings to get people to become interested for a REAL record - and these were the REAL records. Isaac only gave them to close friends at the time and I can tell that he has a hard time hearing that these were for ever put up for sale by anyone. Again, with the strip mining his past.

Anyways, we decided to figure something else out and our schedules were having trouble aligning. Finally, one stormy night I was supposed to meet Isaac and his girlfriend at his house, but he wasn't there so I sat and waited on the porch for a few watching the trees bend in the storm. When the rain seemed to settle a bit I got in my car and left, only to get a text message from him on my way home saying to come back. I vividly remember the rain smearing down the windshield and the blurring green and reds of the traffic lights in the night as I turned the car around and almost got T boned by a semi truck running a red light doing about 60MPH. Finally though, I was back at Isaacs in the warmth of his house, sitting around a table drinking wine and listening to music.

The track that we finally chose is called "Dead End Job At The Dead Letter Office" and was recorded back in 1993 at Pat Maley's Yoyo Studios in Olympia, WA. This track is almost as old as the band and there is no recollection as to what this was recorded for particularly, other than just for the sake of recording music. The song features Isaac Brock on vocals and guitar, Dann Gallucci on guitar, and Jeremiah Green on drums. At the time, Isaac was sleeping in the hallway of a house with about 13 other people living in it; as was Dan, who was living in someone's closet.

By the way, Isaac was one of the first people to offer to release the "Live From Nowhere Near You" album. He had been doing A&R for sub pop and later started his own label called Glacial Pace. As far as I was concerned, with that kind gesture from him, he always had first dibs on releasing the project. But, remember, this effort took eight years to finish and he was busy with his own stuff and it kinda got to the point where I didn't want Isaac to think that the only reason I was talking with him was because I wanted something from him, so I kind of let that go. But it was always his, and the appreciation will always be there because it came at a point where I really needed someone to believe in the project and me... so it's not a stretch to say that he still had a very big part in the music on this release finally making it out of my studio and into the public ear.

Kevin was unfortunatly not able to disclose any more about which tracks were considered for the compilation, but for the most part it seems that the majority of what was, already exists in the fan community now (albeit sadly with made-up fan titles). As was with Every Mom I Know Seems To Think Its 'bout Them But It Ain't and the Babble On compilation that came to light earlier this year, this adds a few more details to the band's early history that is sadly so poorly documented.

Hear a new higher quality version of Dead End Job At The Dead Letter Office over at Antiquiet. Live From Nowhere Near You is available now for pre-order from Greyday Records (Canadians should have no problems now with shipping costs, as the postal strike is over).

Source: Exclusive: Unreleased Song From Isaac Brock Of Modest Mouse @ Antiquiet

Pitchfork is reporting that Isaac will be scoring the upcoming film Queens of Country, written and directed by Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke. Both of whom were responsible for 2009's The Heart is a Drum machine, which Isaac starred in. The film stars Ron Livingston, Lizzy Caplan, and Tool's Maynard James Keenan.

Living in a fantasy era long gone and obsessed with old time country stars, the prettiest girl in a small Arizona town finds a lost iPod filled with songs that speak to her sensitive heart. Jolene Gillis is convinced the owner is her soul mate and she is thrust into a sexy, heartwarming and hilarious adventure of mistaken identities, ATVs, line dancing competitions, kidnappers, time machines and doppelgangers.

We will continue to report on this as more information is known, but seeing as how filming just began, that could be a few months. It will be interesting to see if this turns into another Ugly Casanova project, similar to the work that was done for 2010's 180° South.

Filming began on May 3, and the movie is slated for a 2011 release. Isaac's score is to be released in 2012.

Source: Pitchfork: Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock Composing Score for Lizzy Caplan Comedy Film Queens of Country

We have been told that an old 1996 era Modest Mouse track will be featured on an upcoming three disc compilation entitled "Live From Nowhere Near You Vol II" coming out July 19.

The compilation has been compiled by Kevin Moyer and consists of collaborating street musicians, friends and professional musicians. The majority of the music recorded in his attic and basement studios, donated spaces, live on the street, and in alleyways or under bridges. With the purpose of the album being to tell the story of life on the streets and the roads leading to and from there.

All profits from this release will be donated to Outside In, a non-profit organization in Portland, OR focused on providing aid and counseling to homeless youth.

Kevin has managed to assemble an impressive array of artists to support this cause, alongside Modest Mouse, the likes of Pearl Jam, James Mercer, Elliot Smith, The Strokes, Corin Tucker, Bright Eyes, and many more.

To keep the media interested, they will be releasing the track list bit by bit over the next few weeks. Right now, all we know about the Modest Mouse track is that it is circa 1996 and that while it is not unknown, it is unreleased. It is speculated that the track could be something off Uncle Bunny Faces', as there was talk back in 2009/2010 of a track being wanted for a compilation album. Keep an eye on their Facebook page, where they will be releasing more details in the coming days, and of course we will keep you updated with any information as we receive it.

Right now, the album is available for pre-order through Greyday Records' website for $15. Canadians (and maybe others) please note, there seems to be a problem with the shipping options, as only express options are available. We're informed they will be looked into, so maybe hold off until then.

Source: Live From Nowhere Near You Vol II 3xCD + MP3 PRE-ORDER Live From Nowhere Near You Vol II [GDP-050]

Something I missed while being away...

Mister Heavenly, the side project of Joe Plummer and members of Man Man and The Unicorns, will be releasing their debut album, Out Of Love, on August 16 through Sub Pop.

The tracklist is as follows:

1. Bronx Sniper
2. I Am a Hologram
3. Charlyne
4. Mister Heavenly
5. Harm You
6. Reggae Pie
7. Pineapple Girl
8. Diddy Eyes
9. Hold My Hand
10. Doom Wop
11. Your Girl
12. Wise Men

You can grab the tracks "Mister Havenly" and "Pineapple Girl" from this post we did on them back in January. Sub Pop says keep your ears open for more tour dates. Joe is also expected to be performing with The Shins this summer.

UPDATE (2011/06/13): Mister Heavenly have announced a 14 date West Coast tour starting in August. Check the dates, as well as the artwork for Out Of Love, over at Consequence Of Sound.

Source: Sub Pop Records: Mister Heavenly : Out of Love

Seattle design and production company, Süperfad, team up with director Nando Costa (The Whale Song video) and World Gang to release the short film Tactile Waveforms.

Süperfad's latest short film, directed by Nando Costa, explores the connections between science, mathematics and music. Drawings representing a musical score are released into stylized landscapes that illustrate conditions through which sounds travel. These drawn representations react in different ways when traveling through the desolate landscapes, transforming into impossible musical instruments and altering elements in the environment along the way. The film's structure is defined by World Gang's music composition, which features classic instruments altered electronically to create the track. Working in a push and pull relationship, the film's video and audio abstractions unite in an experience that is both otherworldly and rooted in tradition.

And a reminder that World Gang's live album, Live At The ENDOFTHEWORLD 3/11, is out this Friday after having been delayed a month.

Source: Süperfad :: work :: Tactile Waveforms

Liza Richardson at KCRW played the upcoming Modest Mouse cover of the late Buddy Holly's, That'll Be The Day, on her radio show this past weekend. Hear the cover below.

The compilation album, Rave On Buddy Holly, is due out on June 28 and will feature other artists such as Paul McCartney, Lou Reed and The Black Keys. It can be pre-ordered from Amazon.

Modest Mouse - That'll Be The Day

Buddy Holly - That'll Be The Day

Source: Modest Mouse Cover Buddy Holly - Stereogum

It has recently come to light through a series of Tweets that Modest Mouse is working with Outkast member Big Boi, and producer Chris Carmouche on their new album.

Big Boi has been tweeting:

Me and @mouche1 in the studio workin with Modest Mouse on their new album Turnt up ! Shout out to Issac and the crew! (Apr 25)

Been camped out in the Lab with Modest Mouse all week, workin on the new mouse LP, coolest cats ever. Long Live The Funk (Apr 27)

While there is no official word on if Big Boi is producing, or perhaps providing vocals for the album, it is the first official confirmation that Modest Mouse is indeed working on a new album.

In other news, February's earlier rumour, of Modest Mouse working on a Buddy Holly cover, seems to have turned out to be true.

Modest Mouse will be covering "That'll Be the Day" on an upcoming tribute album entitled Rave On Buddy Holly, out June 28.

Source: Pitchfork: Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, Julian Casablancas, Black Keys on Buddy Holly Tribute

With Promise 1 (formally known as Promise The Mixtape) from World Gang coming out this coming out next week, imputor? Records has now announced a live album for the Jeremiah Green side project with Darrin Weiner due out May 3.

Recorded in March this year at the End Of The Word in Port Townsend, WA, the digital release will consist of four new tracks from the duo, and will be aptly titled World Gang - Live At The ENDOFTHEWORLD 3/11.

Source: imputor? Releases ::. World Gang : Live at the ENDOFTHEWORLD 3/11 (imp076)

A short update from Jim Fairchild regarding the status of the All Smiles Staylow And Mighty vinyl.

I am writing to apologize for the amount of time that it has taken to fill the orders for Staylow and Mighty vinyl.

I was waiting for my vinyl manufacturer who delayed the shipping date A LOT for this album. I am told I'll have everything by the end of next week and it will go straight out the door after that. I was hoping to ship everyone everything at the same time. Since I feel so bad about treating you guys, the people who are most supportive of us, with such unpunctual behavior, I promise to make it up to you by personally shipping you all a copy of something unique and special in the not too distant future. It will involve Aaron Burtch, for you Grandaddy fans. And some of it is being recorded early next week. The rest is finished. Okay, look for the shipment soon. Thank you for your patience! I really appreciate it. All the best,

Jim

Source: All Smiles In The Studio by All Smiles » All Smiles Vinyl — Kickstarter

Back in November, Jim Fairchild started a project through Kickstarter to raise money to complete work on a new All Smiles album and EP. The project's goal was met in December and since then he's been hard at work getting the final touches on everything.

This morning Jim posted an update to say that the new album is called "Staylow and Mighty", and will be released to the public on March 1st, with supporters receiving it before then digitally. He is also hoping that the records will begin shipping in the first week of March.

In the meantime, he has uploaded a new song from the album entitled "Virgil Shaw". Read about it and download a copy from his Kickstarter page.

Source: All Smiles In The Studio by All Smiles » First Song to our Friends and Supporters — Kickstarter

Source: http://store.glacialpace.com/collections/new

Source: http://store.glacialpace.com/collections/new/products/the-fruit-that-ate-itself

Source: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/180-south-soundtrack/id377968698

Source: http://www.insound.com/search/showrelease.jsp?from=35073&p=ins74385

1. Ugly Casanova: "Mountains of Storms"
2. Ugly Casanova: "Here's to Now"
3. Mason Jennings: "Machines"
4. James Mercer: "Doug's Theme"
5. Ugly Casanova: "Wave Goodbye"
6. Ugly Casanova: "Lonesome Blues"
7. James Mercer: "Journey Through the Past"
8. Ugly Casanova: "Hotcha Girls"
9. Jack Johnson: "Spring Wind"
10. Ugly Casanova: "Maybe We're Lost"
11. Ugly Casanova: "Corcovado"
12. Love as Laughter: "Coconut Flakes"
13. Ugly Casanova: "The Geezer"
14. Ugly Casanova: "Lay Me Down"

Source: http://pitchfork.com/news/38564-isaac-brock-james-mercer-contribute-music-to-documentary-soundtrack/

Source: http://www.recordstoreday.com

And the follow-up to 2007's We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank should be finished in the next six months, with the band road-testing some of the material on its current tour. "It'll take some effort," Brock says. "But that will make it more fun."

• #3 Rock Albums
• #2 Digital Albums
• #2 Alternative Albums
• #14 Canadian Albums

Source: http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/billboard-200

Source: http://modestmouse.skyroo.com/se/view/music/index.html

Source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002D6EX6G?ie=UTF8&tag=interstate8-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=211189&creativeASIN=B002D6EX6G&link_code=as3&creative=373489

Source: http://www.insound.com/search/showrelease.jsp?from=35073&p=INS61152

Source: http://www.insound.com/search/showrelease.jsp?from=35073&p=INS61043

1. Satellite Skin
2. Guilty Cocker Spaniels
3. Autumn Beds
4. Whale Song
5. Perpetual Motion Machine
6. History Sticks To Your Feet
7. King Rat
8. I've Got It All (Most)

Source: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=318826018&s=143455

Source: http://www.thetripwire.com/listen/2009/06/18/modest-mouse-whale-song/

Source: http://www.imusic.dk/item/0886975331277/modest-mouse-2009-perpetual-motion-machine-7-

Source: http://www.modestmouse.com/photoblog/2009/06/09/%E2%80%98autumn-beds%E2%80%99-7%E2%80%9D-single-on-june-23rd/

Source: http://www.tower.com/perpetual-motion-machine-modest-mouse-vinyl/wapi/113557565

Source: http://www.insound.com/search/showrelease.jsp?from=35073&p=INS58822

Source: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=316115832&s=143441

Source: http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gnftxzr0ld0e

• Skyroo $6.99 + $4.49 shipping (US shipping only)
• SOLD OUT Insound $7.99 + $4.99 US / $6.99 Canada & Mexico / $9.49+ International shipping
• Homer's $9.99 + $3.45 US / $7.00 International shipping

Source: http://pitchfork.com/news/35293-new-modest-mouse-single-out-soon/

Source: http://www.modestmouse.com/photoblog/2009/05/11/%E2%80%98satellite-skin%E2%80%99-7%E2%80%9D-single-on-may-26th/

Source: http://www.insound.com/search/results4.jsp?from=35073&query=Satellite+Skin++PRE-ORDER

Source: http://www.recordstoreday.com

Source: http://www.vvinyl.com/record_store_day/

The rumoured track listing so far consists of:

• The Whale Song
• Satellite Skin
• Autumn Beds
• I've Got It All (Most)
• King Rat
• 3 other tracks (One of which may be "Tie The Lake Down" and another that has a rumoured title of "History")

Source: http://www.imputor.com/news.php#182

"Dashboard" will be released as a CD/7" single in the United Kingdom on May 28th. The b-side for both releases will be "King Rat." The single will so far only be available in North America as an import, due for release on May 31st. [Link]

"We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank" is also slated for a June 6th release in Japan, including a bonus DVD. No information yet on what that DVD might contain, but the CD part of the package contains the standard 14 tracks.

Source: http://vh1blog.vh1.com/2007/04/exclusive_modes.html

Bad news, there seems to be a problem with the packaging of the deluxe version of "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank" according to Sony, pushing the release date of the deluxe version back by 2-3 weeks. Insound are however reporting the new shipping date for the deluxe version as March 30th.

UPDATE: We've been receiving messages that the deluxe version has been available at some Best Buys. Thanks to Rob for this news.

Source: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPreorder?id=213723021&s=143455

And so the news you've all been waiting for, the date that has been bounced around and speculated on for the past month has now finally been confirmed. The new album will be out March 20th, with a preorder starting on January 30th from iTunes.

The final track list has been confirmed as follows:

1. March Into The Sea
2. Dashboard
3. Fire It Up
4. Florida*
5. Parting Of The Sensory
6. Missed The Boat*
7. We've Got Everything*
8. Fly Trapped In A Jar
9. Education
10. Little Motel
11. Steam Engenius
12. Spitting Venom
13. People As Places As People
14. Invisible

* Featuring James Mercer of The Shins on backing vocals.

Some tracks also appear to have changed titles since they first appeared on set lists or were mentioned in previous articles. The Spin article also mentions a few West Coast gigs are apparently going to be planned for March. Thanks to Jake for all this fantastic info. [Billboard] [Pitchfork] [Spin]

Source: http://www.silentuproar.com/news/individual.php?newsid=9993&back=yes

Source: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003527250