While the LA musical underground seems to has lost considerable momentum during the past several months — recall the drug-induced break-up of the Mae Shi, the lack of blogosphere staples spraying hipster jizz all over Los Angeles’ hotbed of newer bands and the oversaturation of the scene within the scene itself — this band in particular still managed to maintain a buzzworthy decorum, despite releasing a new album with awesome cover art and less-than-awesome songs several months ago; their penchant for raucously delicious performances proved them a live force to be reckoned with.

Alas, it seems that after their last scheduled date at Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest, this band will be no more. (My only guess is that one particular member’s egotism may have something to do with it — but that’s just me speaking from personal, bitter experience. It’ll probably end up being a “We’re going in different directions and becoming adults and blah blah blah,” but that’s not juicy, is it?)

The band delivered a stellar set at this year’s FYF Fest, but apparently, it wasn’t enough to save the withering group.

Forgetting the hair horns and pre-emo bangs, some fail to remember that the band did write some catchy tunes and did make some awesome videos where the camera was clearly visible. Yet for all these (minor) achievements, A Flock of Seagulls still makes their way into the SketchyTown ’80s Music Video Hall of Fame with “Space Age Love Song”—a video with a title straight from Bowie’s trashbin and an undeniable lack of a production budget that defies all conventions of even the most archetypal videos of the era. (Nevermind that the guitar riff for the song actually kick major ass.)

Watch it here while I spell it out for you:

• 0:00 - Ah! A stylized shot of a cloudy sunrise—this must be really serious business. That superfluous zoom really reinforces that I should pay attention to the oncoming sensitivity.

• 0:06 - Oh man. Jump cuts with more cloud pictures? This song must be really good.

• 0:12 - Band montage! Weird rocky ’80s dance moves complete with arm-swinging snapping!

• 0:26 - Wait a minute—are you sure this video is from 1982? I saw this kid at American Apparel the other day.

• 0:34 - FOG MACHINE!

• 0:42 - Because the video would have been nothing without an uncomfortably long shot of Score wiggling side to side like a child in need of a bathroom break.

• 1:01 - I cannot tell if the bass player is totally amped on this song or not.

• 1:19 - Phil Collins, is that you?

• 1:30 - There has not been such exquisite band coordination since the “Land Down Under” video. Bravo.

• 2:09 - Highly effective editing to highlight the call and response, here.

• 2:37 - Yeah, I know this guy. He lives in an apartment on Hillhurst with his androgynous artist roommate Raye and three cats. And are those my sunglasses?

• 2:51 - Sadly, this is Score’s only dance move.

• 2:52 - “Yeah! Feel my grooves!”

• 3:00 - Where did this lead synth come from? I know it has nothing to do with the video—but my ears!

• 3:21 - A plaintive look skyward—ah, because this was a sensitive video.

Intended to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking album that produced standard Pixies tracks such as “Here Comes Your Man” and “I Bleed,” the tour was to initially begin in Los Angeles before quickly jaunting off to other cities standard on the reunion tour circuit.

Yet many Los Angeles Pixies fans felt jilted upon discovering that, while the band had booked multiple dates in multiple cities—two nights in Oakland?!—Los Angeles was left with one, and at a subpar venue, to say the least.

Well, wipe your tears, Pixie devotees—sources at the local rumor mill claim that the band will play three shows back-to-back of the scheduled Doolittle material at the Hollywood Palladium.

Yes, you read that correctly—three full nights of the same album. (Naysayers, I shall direct you to this and this and this, and then you can question the accuracy of this claim.)

No word yet on when tickets will go onsale and how many gold bracelets you’ll need to pawn for one. (If the tickets for other Pixies shows currently onsale are any consolation, expect to pay upward of $80 per ticket—including Live Nation’s superfluous fees.)

THE PIXIES US DOOLITTLE TOUR

11-04 Los Angeles, CA - The Palladium (additional dates to fall after this?)
11-08 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
11-09 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
11-12 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
11-13 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
11-14 Eugene, OR - Hult Center
11-16 Denver, CO - The Fillmore
11-20 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
11-21 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
11-23 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
11-24 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
11-25 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
11-27 Boston, MA - Wang Center
11-30 Washington, D.C. - Constitution Hall

But enough gossip—Another Ghost prides itself on being a quasi-danceable hybridization of art rock, post-punk, and new wave. (Not a bad crop of genres to aspire to.)

For a limited time, the band is offering their debut EP, Demons Away, as a free download off their website. You can also pick up a physical copy of the record at any of their live shows.

The band is currently prepping to record their second EP (as of now, untitled), and will soon play a slew of local music hotspots during the summer months. To stay in the loop, you can “friend” the band on Facebook or MySpace, join their group of supporters, follow them on Twitter, and whatever else you crazy Web 2.0 kids are doing these days.

A download of the interview is available here for a limited time.

The Southern California promoter slipped out some scheduling plans for the upcoming festival, set to take place the second week of April. Among the revelations, Tollett noted that Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen will perform at the Outdoor Theatre at sunset, thereby debunking rumors that Cohen would lead the Main Stage train for headliners Morrissey and Paul McCartney.

Also among the leaked set times, Tollett mentioned that M.I.A. will take to the Main Stage on Saturday before headliners The Killers—a rather shocking move, considering the Sri Lankan singer’s childish outburst during her 2008 Sahara Tent performance. (For the record, Tollett acknowledged the irony in the interview, calling M.I.A.’s meltdown “a scene.”)

More items of note from the interview: Tollett does not recommend leaving children alone in particular areas of the festival—one can only assume he’s referring to the Sahara Tent—and claims that attendees’ pleas for Davie Bowie and Radiohead have no effect on his choice of headliners.

Tollett DJ’d throughout the show, spinning songs by some of his favorite artists, including Grace Jones and LCD Soundsystem—but alas, no mentions of any artist additions.

What does this mean for this year’s Coachella fans? I’m not exactly sure about you all, but I’m going to be absolutely manic having to run from Cohen to Morrissey without getting lost/squished/separated from my friends.

Beck’s mini show claims all proceeds will benefit Educating Children International—a seemingly notable cause from first glance. But, upon close examination of the concert’s promotional material, things seem a bit…well, sketchy.

Why? Well, it seems there is no “Educating Children International.” Any search engine crawl of the supposed organization only brings up pages referencing the Beck show, and the website given in the promo flyer’s logo brings up a mysteriously blank web page.

Considering Beck’s open affiliation with the ultra-creepy “Church” of Scientology, one can only wonder what this so-called “charity” is truly benefitting. Mr. Beck, are you trying to pull the wool over our eyes?

And yes, I fully expect to be thrown inside a windowless van by a group of loyal Dianetics readers for printing this.

But seriously—the famed Canadian singer-songwriter already stunned music fans everywhere when he appeared on this year’s Coachella lineup and played a show at the Beacon in New York City last night. Now, it seems that Mr. Cohen is determined to give his fans across the states a heart attack by announcing an extensive slew of spring tour dates earlier today.

Why such a fuss? Well, considering, until last night, Cohen had purposefully avoiding playing live shows in the States in fifteen years, I’d call this “sort of a big fuckin’ deal.”

(Let’s also have a small hipster chortle at Cohen’s scheduled Maryland venue.)

LEONARD COHEN SPRING 2009 US TOUR
4/2 Michael and Susan Dell Hall at Long Center Austin, TX
4/3 NOKIA Theatre at Grand Prairie Grand Prairie, TX
4/5 Dodge Theatre Phoenix, AZ
4/7 Copley Symphony Hall San Diego, CA
4/10 NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE Los Angeles, CA
4/13 Paramount Theatre of the Arts Oakland, CA
4/17 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Indio, CA
4/19 General Motors Place Vancouver, BC
4/21 Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre Victoria, BC
4/23 WaMu Theater at Qwest Field Events Center Seattle, WA
4/25 Rexall Place Edmonton, AB
4/26 EPCOR Centre’s Jack Singer Hall Calgary, AB
4/28 Credit Union Centre Saskatoon, SK
4/30 MTS Centre Winnipeg, MB
5/03 Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis, MN
5/05 The Chicago Theatre Chicago, IL
5/09 Fox Theatre Detroit, MI
5/11 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD
5/12 Academy of Music Philadelphia, PA
5/14 Palace Theater Waterbury, CT
5/16 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
5/19 Copps Coliseum Hamilton, ON
5/21 Pavillon de la Jeunesse Quebec City, QC
5/22 K-Rock Centre Kingston, ON
5/24 John Labatt Centre London, ON
5/25 National Arts Centre - Southam Hall Ottawa, ON
5/29 Wang Theatre Boston, MA
6/02 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO

Not surprisingly, the tour features only four stops on the continent; The Knife’s sole world tour made only three US stops back in 2006.

Andreas Nilsson, who arranged the near-legendary visuals for the Knife’s tour—those interested can see the magic documented on the band’s Silent Shout tour DVD as a part of the album’s deluxe editions—is slated to do lights and projections for Fever Ray’s short US jaunt. More recently, he also directed the video for Fever Ray’s first single, “If I Had A Heart.”

Tickets will go on sale in the coming weeks.

FEVER RAY NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
May 25 - Phoenix Theatre - Toronto
May 27 - Webster Hall - NYC
May 30 - Mezzanine - San Francisco, CA
Jun 01 - Henry Fonda Music Box - Los Angeles, CA

Among the performers are Paul McCartney, Leonard Cohen, and My Bloody Valentine.

I’m about to go to bed, but OH MY GOD.