photo by Genevieve Pierson
- The week starts with welcome news of Decemberists keyboardist Jenny Conlee, whose breast cancer has gone into remission. Conlee was diagnosed back in May, causing her to miss several performances on the band’s tour in the subsequent months. Thankfully, it appears she’s back for good. Meloy announced the news via his Twitter, exclaiming “For those of you wondering, saw Jenny this week; our girl’s officially in remission! #teamjenny #beyondchemodrome”. You go, girl!
- Reuters reports that 77-year-old Leonard Cohen has announced a new album entitled Old Ideas, scheduled for release sometime next year. This will be his first studio album since 2004′s Dear Heather, and will feature ten brand-new songs. Upon being asked about a possible tour, Cohen said “God willing. I never quite know whether there’s going to be a tour or not.”
- Titus Andronicus guitarist Amy Klein has announced her departure from the band, citing a desire to focus on her own projects. The split has been reported as “very amiable,” with no hard feelings either way. In fact, her Andronicus bandmates have posted a video tribute to Klein over on their blog, calling her departure a “graduation.” Additionally, head over to Klein’s Tumblr to read her statement regarding the move.
- Everybody’s favorite South African weirdcore hip-hop trio Die Antwoord have announced a new album entitled Tensions for release in January. Head over here to check out SPIN’s preview of five album cuts, with titles like “I Think You’re Freaky,” “The Money and the Power,” and “Fatty Boom Boom,” the last of which frontman Ninja describes as containing “hardcore black African voodoo beats.”
- The Major League Baseball World Series has been underway for a while, but for yesterday’s Game 4, Ben Gibbard hubby and “she” part of She & Him Zooey Deschanel took to the field to sing “The Star Spangled Banner.” Say what you will about her “hipster chic,” the woman’s got pipes. Watch it here.
- Speaking of baseball, here’s a new video from Wild Flag for their track “Electric Band,” in which the girls take to the outfield to perform the track while watching themselves play a team of bears. It’s wonderfully bizarre, if only worth it to see drummer Janet Weiss throw a pitch with a water balloon and Carrie Brownstein explode at the umpire. Wild Flag will be performing at Neumo’s on November 11th.