Former XLR8R cover star and highly touted DFA disco whiz Andy Butler has shed much of the nine-person band that brought to life his songs written as Hercules & Love Affair, and is set to tour in anticipation of the recently finished follow-up to H&LA’s self-titled debut. Along with permanent Love Affair vocalist Kim Ann Foxman, Butler enlisted the help of three other musicians from Berlin and Chicago to perform as his band around Europe and the US. You can get more info here, and check out tour dates below.

9 July – Lounge On The Farm (Kent, UK)
10 July – MTV Murcia Night (Murcia, SPAIN)
11 July – The Garden Festival (CROATIA)
14 July – Lido (Berlin, GERMANY)
15 July – Neid (Hamburg, GERMANY)
16 July – TBA (Munich, GERMANY)
17 July – Melt (Berlin, GERMANY
18 July – Lovebox (London, UK)
26 July – Mod Club (Toronro, CANADA)
27 July – Le Belmont (Montreal, CANADA)
29 July – Great Scott (Boston, US)
31 July – Afisha Picnic (Moscow, RU)
3 August – Rock N Roll Hotel (Washington, US)
4 August – Central Park w/Hot Chip (New York, US)
10 August – Venue (Vancouver, CANADA)
11 August – Neumos (Seattle, US)
12 August – Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, US)
14 August – Echoplex (Los Angeles, US)

Leave it to the wonderfully off-center Pictureplane (a.k.a. Travis Egedy) to lovingly shoot these crazy young’uns outside a Brokencyde show. Check out all the amazing pics at Hipsterrunoff.

It was announced today that Nite Jewel (the working pseudonym of LA-based singer/keyboardist/producer Ramona Gonzales) will release a new six-track EP, Am I Real?, on Gloriette on August 16. The title track can be purchased here now, and the digital version of the EP will be available July 20.

As well, the Nite Jewel line-up (if last night’s SF performance with Dam-Funk was any indication) appears to have been changed up a bit, with the inclusion of Gonzales’ husband, former Ariel Pink bandmate Cole M. Greif-Neill, taking the place of keyboardist Emily Jane. The new trio will play the following dates this summer.

Nite Jewel Tourdates

07/29 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex *
08/09 New York, NY Mercury Lounge #
08/10 Wilkes-Barre, PA Cafe Metropolis $
08/11 Allston, MA Great Scott %
08/12 New Haven, CT Cafe Nine &
08/13 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
08/14 Brooklyn, NY Glasslands $

* = w/ Memoryhouse, Baths, Kisses
# = w/ Violens, Prince Rama
$ = w/ The Samps
% = w/ Glasser
& = w/ CAVE

Over the past week, we’ve been going back and forth with Definitive Jux label head and NY indie-rap icon El-P on Twitter about jokingly doing us a remix of Justin Bieber if we could find him an acappella. Well, guess what? We came through with the vocals, and El-P came through with a dope-ass opus—a remix of tween heartthrob The Bieb‘s “Baby.” Mixing in a heavy dose of the Paul McCartney and Wings’ classic “Live and Let Die,” amongst other things, the results are pretty far from Bieber’s wholesome original. Hear El-P’s take right here.

Aeroplane might now officially be a solo affair, but its debut full-length, We Can’t Fly, was produced by both Stephen Fasano and Vito De Luca, as was the title-track single we’re sharing with you now. These two versions of “We Can’t Fly” precede Aeroplane’s record by almost two months exactly, and provide a brief window into the Belgian producers’ finely crafted aesthetic. It’s a bit island-y, it’s a bit disco-y, and it’s a bit short, but it’s merely a taste of Fasano’s and De Luca’s long-awaited vision.

The XLR8R Music Player requires Adobe Flash Player version 9 or later. Click here to install.