Soundwave: White Stripes, Beirut, Boom Bip, Arctic Monkeys, Wilco

The White Stripes emerge, blinking from the studio this month. Entitled ‘Icky Thump’, the fiendishly anticipated sixth studio album from the Detroit two-piece was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville TN over, they claim, a three week period. It includes the songs “Catch Hell Blues”, “Little Cream Soda”, “Icky Thump”, “Rag and Bone”, “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do What Your Told)” and “I’m Slowly Turning Into You” and will be released through Warner Bros ‘as soon as corporately possible’.



Meanwhile, Beirut already have an EP available online just weeks after the release of last release, “Lon Gisland”. Consisting of the two tracks “Fountains and Tramways” and “Napoleon on the Bellerophon” this one boasts subtle French pop influences and is apparently something of a departure from the usual Balkan gypsy stylings. It is available now for download from eMusic.com and will soon be available in Europe via Roughtradedigital.com.

Boom Bip (aka Bryan Hollon) is another one-man release schedule on the independent music circuit.Fresh from finishing recordings for the Neon Neon project with SFA’s Gruff Rhys, he’s somehow found the time to release a new EP of solo material. (We had a crafty listen to some of the Neon Neon stuff recently and can happily report that it’s ace with exciting contributions from Spank Rock, Yo Majesty and Fat Lip.)

"Sacchrilege" has a much harder, dancefloor orientated sound than his previous efforts, closer in spirit to the minimal techno of Berlin than the lush electronica he’s known for. One of the tracks (“1 of 11”) can be previewed at www.myspace.com/boombip. The release will coincide with a European tour covering the UK, France, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Italy and Russia.

The Arctic Monkeys new LP ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ will feature a track with grime’s leading man, Dizzee Rascal. “Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend” will feature as a b-side to the forthcoming single “Brianstorm” released by Domino on April 17.

And finally, Chicago alt. rock stalwarts Wilco have announced a world tour in support of the new album “Sky Blue Sky’ (released by Nonesuch on May 15th). Kicking off in April in Australia, they will then travel on to the UK and Europe playing a series of dates in May before wrapping it all up in June with an appearance at the Bonnaroo festival in the US. http://wilcoworld.net/tours/index.php