New Slang: Radiohead readies new record

by Thomas D. Mooney, entertainment editor

The psychedelic Indie-pop band MGMT will be releasing their sophomore album some time next spring and have finally titled the album “Congratulations.”

The band has played a few new tracks during the course of their summer tour, but details on the album are still very unknown. Currently, the band is recording in Malibu, with Spacemen 3’s Peter “Sonic Boom” Kember producing the album.

While they haven’t had any new material released since “Oracular Spectacular,” other than a few live Youtube clips, the duo has been busy providing guest work on The Flaming Lips’ newest album, “Embryonic,” rapper Kid Cudi’s “Man on the Moon: The End of Day,” and even on the Nick Jr. children’s series “Yo Gabba Gabba!”

The Oklahoma-bred alt-rockers, The Flaming Lips have decided to follow up their latest album, “Embryonic,” with a full-album cover of Pink Floyd’s classic psych masterpiece, “Dark Side of the Moon.”

The Lips will be collaborating with the band Stardeath and White Dwarfs and will have guest spots from ex-Black Flag singer Henry Rollins and electronic musician Peaches. The album is going to be most likely an ITunes -only release. The announcement was made during a Q&A session with fans at a recent show at L.A.’s Nike/Ricardo Montalban Theater. “Embryonic” is the band’s 12th studio album and was released just earlier this month.

Indie-pop band Beach House has announced that their third album “Teen Dream” will be released on Jan. 26. “Teen Dream” will be the band’s first release on the Indie giant label Sub Pop Records. The 10-track album was produced and engineered by Chris Coady, who has worked with bands such as TV on the Radio, Grizzly Bear, and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The Somalia born MC K’Naan and mixtape DJ/producer J. Period recently released three free EPs titled “The Messengers.” The three EPs are tributes to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan, three artists who have had a large impact on K’Naan. The EPs are all remixes of Kuti’s, Marley’s, and Dylan’s works.The EPs are available for free on J.Period’s website www.jperiod.com.

Hip-hop rapper Nas and reggae artist Damian Marley will soon be releasing the collaboration album “Distant Relatives.” The project originally was planned as an EP based solely on Africa but evolved into being a full-fledged album. The album’s content will primarily be their social commentary on both Africa and the United States. Some rumored feature guests range from Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, Young Jeezy, Snoop Dogg, and Stephen Marley, Damian’s brother.

All proceeds will be going to a project in Africa, possibly building a school in the Congo.

“A lot of charity albums come off corny, [but] we want this to be something you’d play in your car,” said Marley in a Rolling Stone interview recently.

He went on to say that the album was recorded with a live band, and that the album title derives from Nas and Marley’s relationship, ancestry, and the shared ancestry of the human race.