Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett Present
MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST
ALBUM TO BE RELEASED THIS FALL ON XL RECORDINGS
Monkey: Journey To The West The Opera July 23 London Premiere At The Royal Opera House

JOURNEY TO THE WEST, an album conceived and created by Damon Albarn (music) and Jamie Hewlett (visuals) under the guise of MONKEY, will be released in North America this fall by XL Recordings.

Created by the GORILLAZ team of Albarn and Hewlett, JOURNEY TO THE WEST is performed by an assortment of European and Chinese musicians and singers and was produced by Albarn. The album’s packaging does likewise, moving beyond the stunning design of the opera MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST and exploring to the fullest its characters, storylines, themes and inspirations.

MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST, the opera upon which the album is based, makes its London Premiere July 23 at the Royal Opera House. A singular and unique fusion of traditional mandarin opera/folklore and modern audiovisual interpretation, MONKEY…is the result of director Chen Shi-Zheng having enlisted GORILLAZ masterminds Albarn and Hewlett to provide unique, modern musical and visual interpretations of the themes and characters of this most beloved work of Chinese folklore. The live production utilizes nearly 40 Chinese circus acrobats, martial artists and singers from China and an orchestra of Western and traditional Chinese instruments.

MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST is performed in Mandarin with subtitles, its storyline chronicling the Monkey King’s journey to enlightenment as it takes him undersea, to decadent banquets in heaven, through encounters with Spider Maidens and Skeleton Demons, and eventually to paradise. The album, which was recorded in London and Beijing over the last year, follows this narrative, opening with “Monkey’s World,” proceeding to a “Heavenly Peach Banquet,” enduring a “Battle In Heaven,” encountering “The White Skeleton Demon” and so on, all the way through to the finale’ of “Disappearing Volcano.”

The album runs 50 minutes and consists of 22 instrumental and vocal tracks. The full track listing is:
1. Monkey’s World
2. Monkey Travels
3. Into the Eastern Sea
4. The Living Sea
5. The Dragon King
6. Iron Rod
7. Out of the Eastern Sea
8. Heavenly Peach Banquet
9. Battle in Heaven
10. O Mi To Fu
11. Whisper
12. Tripitaka’s Curse
13. Confessions of a Pig
14. Sandy the River Demon
15. March of the Volunteers
16. The White Skeleton Demon
17. Monk’s Song
18. I Love Buddha
19. March of the Iron Army
20. Pigsy in Space
21. Monkey Bee
22. Disappearing Volcano

Standard digital and physical formats have been licensed to XL Recordings for world-wide release. A box set edition containing vinyl and artwork has been created by Vinyl Factory Ltd, and will be available from www.monkeyjourneytothewest.com

The video for “Orphans,” the opening track on BECK’s new Modern Guilt, will premiere in a matter of hours, going live 8 a.m. PST today at Beck.com and Modernguilt.com.

In keeping with the spirit of spontaneity and economy that has fueled the writing, recording and release of Modern Guilt, the “Orphans” video will go up on Beck.com and Modernguilt.com. the minute the final edit is done. The video will then be released worldwide this Wednesday July 23 at 8 a.m. PST.

Modern Guilt was released July 8 and debuted #4 on the U.S. album chart while garnering possibly the best initial reviews of Beck’s career.

Beck’s U.S. tour begins August 21 in Reno NV and includes stops at the Outside Lands, Bumbershoot, Street Scene and Austin City Limits festivals, as well as Beck’s biggest hometown headline appearance ever, September 20 at the Hollywood Bowl.

85,000 FIRST WEEK SALES
U.S. TOUR DATES ON SALE THIS WEEKEND
VINYL TO BE RELEASED JULY 22

Beck’s Modern Guilt has entered the U.S. album chart at #4 with first week sales of nearly 85,000.

Produced by Beck and Danger Mouse, Modern Guilt is Beck’s eighth studio album and has been generating some of the best critical notices of Beck’s career to date. TIME called the record “a joySgiddy retro-futurism,” USA Today lauded it as “retro-contemporary fusion for the ages,” ROLLING STONE’s 4-star lead review hailed it as “among Beck’s strongest work… dazzling,” and ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’s lead review calls it “a simmering cauldron of postmillennial tension.”

The vinyl edition of Modern Guilt, in stores July 22, includes download codes for high-fidelity (320 kbps) MP3s produced from a playback of the vinyl master. In other words, the first MP3 starts with a needle drop, and the ten MP3s will sound like a vinyl playback. Leave it to Beck to invent the first mobile turntable.

Beck’s recently announced new U.S. dates will go on sale the weekend of July 18/19, except for Kansas City which will go on sale Monday July 21st. See Beck.com for more information on ticket sales.

For further information on the tour dates, Modern Guilt, and the vinyl release of the album, please contact Steve Martin or Laura Eldeiry at Nasty Little Man.

08/21/08 – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort and Casino
08/22/08 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Festival
08/24/08 – Bend, OR – Les Schwab Amphiteater
08/30/08 – Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot Festival
09/19/08 – San Diego, CA – Street Scene Festival
09/20/08 – Hollywood, CA – Hollywood Bowl
09/22/08 – Phoenix, AZ – Dodge Theater
09/23/08 – Albuquerque, NM – Kiva Auditorium
09/25/08 – El Paso, TX – Abraham Chavez Theatre
09/27/08 – Austin, TX – Zilker Park, Austin City Limits Festival
09/29/08 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theatre
09/30/08 – Minneapolis, MN – Wilkins Auditorium
10/02/08 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
10/03/08 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom

TOKYO POLICE CLUB will play live on MTV’s F’N MTV Friday, July 25, performing “Graves” from its acclaimed debut album Elephant Shell. TOKYO POLICE CLUB’s live performance on F’N MTV marks a logical progression from previous performers and obvious TPC peers Lil Wayne, Maroon 5 and Snoop Dogg, and will school the show’s audience as to why the Newmarket Ontario quartet is “poised to be the biggest Canadian export since Molson” (ROLLING STONE).

Prior to the F’N MTV live performance, TOKYO POLICE CLUB returns to its native Canada this weekend for the Summersonic and Rogers Picnic festivals, while the remainder of July and August finds the band making its way through Australia, Japan and London.

TOKYO POLICE CLUB will continue its relentless touring regimen with another string of U.S. dates beginning September 8 in Baltimore and featuring headline dates at the likes of Los Angeles’ Henry Fonda Theater, as well appearances at the Street Scene, Treasure Island and Voodoo Festivals.
More dates will be announced as they are confirmed.
For further information, please contact Steve Martin or Amy Grote at nasty little man tel 212 343 0740 email amy@nastylittleman.com

TOKYO POLICE CLUB U.S. DATES FALL 2008

Sept 08 – BALTIMORE, MD – OTTOBAR
Sept 10 – ATHENS, GA – 40 WATT
Sept 12 – AUSTIN, TX – EMOS
Sept 14 – DENVER, CO – MONOLITH FESTIVAL
Sept 16 – PHOENIX, AZ – BRICKHOUSE
Sept 18 – LOS ANGELES, CA – HENRY FONDA THEATER
Sept 19 – POMONA, CA – GLASSHOUSE
Sept 20 – SAN DIEGO, CA – STREET SCENE
Sept 21 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA – TREASURE ISLAND
Sept 26 – OMAHA, NE – SLOWDOWN
Sept 29 – LAWRENCE, KS – JACKPOT
Oct 25 – NEW ORLEANS, LA – VOODOO FESTIVAL

NEW ALBUM MODERN GUILT IN STORES NOW
VINYL EDITION TO BE RELEASED JULY 22

Beck has announced a series of US tour dates to follow his previously announced summer festival appearances. The announcement comes on the heels of the release of Beck’s new album Modern Guilt, which Beck co-produced with Danger Mouse. Modern Guilt has already been declared a more-than-worthy addition to Beck’s discography – USA Today called the album “retro-contemporary fusion for the ages,” while Time calls the music “a joy… giddy retro-futurism.”

As always, Beck’s creativity extends into the presentation of his music. The vinyl edition of Modern Guilt, which will be in stores July 22, includes download codes for high-fidelity (320 kbps) MP3s produced from a playback of the vinyl master. In other words, the first MP3 starts with a needle drop, and the ten MP3s will sound like a vinyl playback. Leave it to Beck to invent the first mobile turntable.

See below for Beck’s U.S. summer/fall tour itinerary, newly announced dates are bold. Tickets for these new dates will go on sale the weekend of July 18/19, except for Kansas City which will go on sale Monday July 21st. See Beck.com for more information on ticket sales.

For further information on the tour dates, Modern Guilt, and the vinyl release of the album, please contact Steve Martin or Laura Eldeiry at Nasty Little Man.

08/21/08 – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort and Casino
08/22/08 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Festival
08/24/08 – Bend, OR – Les Schwab Amphiteater
08/30/08 – Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot Festival
09/19/08 – San Diego, CA – Street Scene Festival
09/20/08 – Hollywood, CA – Hollywood Bowl
09/22/08 – Phoenix, AZ – Dodge Theater
09/23/08 – Albuquerque, NM – Kiva Auditorium
09/25/08 – El Paso, TX – Abraham Chavez Theatre
09/27/08 – Austin, TX – Zilker Park, Austin City Limits Festival
09/29/08 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theatre
09/30/08 – Minneapolis, MN – Wilkins Auditorium
10/02/08 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
10/03/08 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom

In keeping with Dave Grohl’s doctor’s orders, Foo Fighters have rescheduled their two sold out shows at Morrison CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Originally scheduled for July 14 & 15, the concerts have been rescheduled for September 8 & 9. Tickets for the July 14th show will be honored for the September 8th date, and tickets for the July 15th show will be honored for September 9th. Show times will remain the same. Refunds for each show will be available at the original point of purchase until the new respective dates.

Grohl said, “As much as it kills us to postpone shows, I’m in no shape to deliver the kind of balls-out performances that you guys deserve. We’re already looking forward to September when we can make it up to everyone ten times over. It’s gonna be great.”

Foo Fighters’ U.S. tour will resume July 17th in Oklahoma City.
For more information on the rescheduled Red Rocks shows and Foo Fighters’ other upcoming tour dates, please contact Steve Martin or Eliot Wadsworth at Nasty Little Man.

“House Of Cards” Clip Created Exclusively Using Geometric Informatics and Velodyne Lidar Technology
World Premiere Early Next Week at Google
Data Made Available To Enable Fans To Create Their Own Short Clips

In keeping with their decision not to make conventional promotional music videos for any of the tracks on In Rainbows, Radiohead used absolutely no cameras in the making of its new  “House Of Cards” clip, which can be viewed at Google.com

Instead, “House Of Cards”, directed by James Frost of Zoo Films, was created utilizing two technologies: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne Lidar.  The Geometric Informatics scanning system employs structured light to capture detailed 3D images at close proximity, and was used to render the performances of Radiohead’s  Thom Yorke, the female lead and several partygoers.  The Velodyne Lidar system uses multiple lasers to capture large environments in 3D, in this case 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute, capturing all of the exterior scenes and wide party shots. Geometric processed their own data while 510 Systems processed the Velodyne Lidar data. The data was then manipulated by Union Editorial and the Syndicate to create the final result.

Google will premiere the video early next week at http://code.google.com/radiohead Additionally,  the band will be making available the data used to create the video for fans to manipulate into their own unique short clips. A short documentary detailing the unique process used to create the video will also be available via this link, as will 3D renderings of selected scenes.

Of Radiohead’s decision to eschew cameras for the “video,” Thom Yorke commented, “I always like the idea of using technology in a way that it wasn’t meant to be used, the struggle to get your head round what you can do with it. I liked the idea of making a video of human beings and real life and time without using any cameras, just lasers, so there are just mathematical points–and how strangely emotional it ended up being.”

WHAT IS MODERN GUILT?

To Beck?
“Out of all the appropriate situations to find oneself, the least being the hurtling of loose bricks, the parties involved first disclosed their coordinates and proffered cards which happened to be in their pockets. From an embassy of restraint and a superimposed background they assembled at the time of next convenience and weighed their options. Drag a filing cabinet across a subdivision or sit out the current situation till a more reliable picture of the situation materialized. Neither seemed all that enticing, so the course was set, the workstation laminated and some biofeedback sorted out for use in further research. After the frequency which would shatter a display case was discovered they launched themselves at a barricade of empty cardboard boxes. All these games were inconsequential at first but then later provided some back story for the urge to be a human battering ram. While so many people with disposable incomes sauntered by on the boulevard near the workstation a new kind of light was grafted onto the premises. “How many songs can we fit in an inflatable raft?” “I didn’t know there was going to be a flood?” “There isn’t, but that rainbow is stalking me somehow…” And so, 120 nights of no sleep and seeing the dawn try not make an impression, there was some hollow hewn thing there that seemed a little basic. “Do you have anywhere to put this?” “Just leave it where it is.” I shook hands with Danger Mouse and said I’d see him again, maybe at the farmhouse or some scenic location where we could breathe a little.”

To Others?
“Beck greets the apocalypse, Danger Mouse throws a go-go party”
– Rolling Stone
“Beck’s most harrowing collection of songs”
– Pitchfork
“retro-contemporary fusion for the ages”
– USA Today

To You?
in stores now: Amazon, iTunes, Insound, Best Buy
vinyl: Insound, Amazon
UK & Europe: iTunes, HMV

MODERN GUILT WEBSITE AND PRESALE SITES ARE LIVE
VIDEO TRAILER FOR MODERN GUILT UP AT AMAZON.COM/MUSIC

With the July 8 release of Modern Guilt rapidly approaching, Beck has made two additional tracks from the album available online. In addition to the previously released “Chemtrails”, the new songs “Orphans” and “Gamma Ray” are now streaming at iLike and MySpace. “Orphans” and “Gamma Ray” are among the songs featured in a special video trailer for Modern Guilt available exclusively at Amazon.com/Music.

In addition, presales for Modern Guilt are now running at Amazon.com, iTunes, Insound.com, and Best Buy. Itunes presales include an instant download of “Chemtrails,” a video for “Gamma Ray,” and access to preferred seating concert tickets via Ticketmaster.

Finally, Beck has created a website for the new album at ModernGuilt.com. This site includes information on the new album, tour dates, and the latest Beck news. Be sure to check out the Tags section for new buddy icons and desktop images as well as links to tell your MySpace and Facebook friends about Modern Guilt. Beck will be adding clips of each track so check back daily!

For more information on the album, please contact Steve Martin or Eliot Wadsworth at Nasty Little Man.

Nine Inch Nails’ The Slip, currently available only as a free download at NIN.com, will be issued July 22 as a limited edition physical CD/DVD through the band’s own Null Corporation label.

The CD version of The Slip will be limited to 250,000 copies worldwide, each in an individually numbered six-panel digipak that includes a bonus DVD of performances filmed during rehearsals for NIN’s upcoming Lights In The Sky tour, as well as a 24-page booklet and exclusive sticker pack.

The gatefold vinyl contains one 180-gram vinyl LP and a 24-page booklet, and is neither limited nor numbered.

The Slip is 10 new songs written and performed by Trent Reznor with Josh Freese, Robin Finck and Alessandro Cortini. Justin Meldal-Johnsen will round out this NIN lineup for the upcoming tour, dates of which are as follows:

07/25/08 – Pemberton, BC – Pemberton Festival
07/26/08 – Seattle, WA – Key Arena at Seattle Center
07/28/08 – Edmonton, ALB – Rexall Place
07/29/08 – Calgary, ALB – Pengrowth Saddledome
07/31/08 – Winnipeg, MAN – MTS Centre
08/02/08 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
08/05/08 – Toronto, ONT – Air Canada Centre
08/07/08 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
08/08/08 – Worcester, MA – DCU Center
08/12/08 – Knoxville, TN – Knoxville Civic Coliseum
08/13/08 – Duluth, GA – Gwinnett Arena
08/15/08 – Oklahoma City, OK – Ford Center
08/16/08 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
08/18/08 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
08/20/08 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
08/22/08 – Cleveland, OH – Quicken Loans Arena
08/23/08 – Auburn Hills, MI – Palace of Auburn Hills
08/25/08 – Toledo, OH – Seagate Convention Center
08/27/08 – East Rutherford, NJ – Izod Center
08/29/08 – Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Center
08/31/08 – Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena
09/02/08 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheater
09/03/08 – Salt Lake City, UT – The E Center of West Valley
09/05/08 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
09/06/08 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum

For more information, please contact Steve Martin or Amy Grote, email amy@nastylittleman.com, tel 212 343 0740