Bay Area-based art-hop trio WHY? just announced a follow-up to last year’s Alopecia. The new album, Eskimo Snow, will drop this fall via the label’s longtime home of anticon..

The band is currently working on the album art, while the 10 tracks slated to appear on the release are said to be finished. Interestingly, tracks on Eskimo Snow were recorded at the same time the band was making Alopecia, so expect some similar sounds to crop up on this latest offering.

The band will tour Europe in July, with one stopover in Israel:

07/01 Poznan, Poland – Stary Browar
07/02 Berlin, Germany – Festsaal Kreuzberg
07/03 Bremen, Germany – Breminale
07/04 Hamburg, Germany – Uebel Und Gefaehrlich
07/05 Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli
07/06 London, England – Garage
07/07 Brighton, England – Audio
07/08 Paris, France – Nouveau Casino
07/09 Liege, Belgium, Les Ardentes
07/10 Northeim, Germany – Waldbühne
07/11 Friedburg, Germany – ZMF Festival
01/12 Essen, Germany – Delta Park
07/15 Tel Aviv, Israel – Barry Club

Everything is Wrong might be the title of the new Vivian Girls‘ album, but the last year or so leads us to believe that most things, musically, anyway, are moving along swimmingly for this trio of ladies. This is, after all, a band that received its own question on Jeopardy, in addition to playing packed venues and receiving endless amounts of positive press over its self-titled album.

The girls will release the new album on September 8 via In the Red. They are taking six whole days to record the new record, which, according to the band, will clock in at around 35 minutes. “You’ll probably be able to plow through the whole Vivian Girls album on your morning commute,” bassist Kickball Katy told Pitchfork. Sound-wise, the girls mention longer songs this time around, many of which sound like this.

Everything Goes Wrong
01 Walking Alone at Night
02 I Have No Fun
03 Can’t Get Over You
04 Desert
05 Tension
06 Survival
07 The End
08 When I’m Gone
09 Out for the Sun
10 I’m Not Asleep
11 Double Vision
12 You’re My Guy
13 Before I Start to Cry

Photo by Terry Woefler.

As the story goes, Oakland, CA-based avant-rap outfit Subtle was driving through Iowa in 2005 when its Ford tour van hit a patch of black ice and flipped over. The incident led to the paralysis of band founder and keyboardist Dax Pierson, due to his seat breaking loose and slamming his head into the roof of the van. He suffered multiple fractures of the spine.

Pierson—who cannot use his arms or legs, but still contributed to last year’s ExitingARM by using Ableton Live—sued Ford, and, according to a San Francisco Chroniclereport, has been awarded $18.3 million in damages. $12.3 million of that is designated for medical expenses, while the other $6 million goes towards “pain and suffering.”

Although Ford, at the trial, denied that the van was defectively designed, Pierson’s lawyer, Thomas Brandi, claimed that “the main problem was the seat. If the attachment didn’t fail, Dax would have been just like the others, uninjured.” A jury deemed the negligence to be on the side of the car company, not the band or its managers.

Pierson continues to make music, with the aid of equipment and computers, but currently requires 24-hour care.

Dax Pierson (right), with Subtle member Adam “Doseone” Drucker. Photo by Mathew Scott.

Artists share their favorite shots from the Coachella Festival.

“I can’t think of any other festival in the world where I’d have been able to take this picture.”
– Jack Brown, White Lies

“This photo taken during our set in the Gobi tent. Kalaf and Conductor look like two very excited five-year-old kids on stage!”
– Lil’ Jon, beatmaker, Buraka Som Sistema

“One of the best things about playing at festivals is catching up with old friends you haven’t seen in a while. I was a little bummed because I couldn’t get close enough to lick Steve Aoki’s face like I do in my dreams, so I just ate his hair instead.”
– Kim Moyes, The Presets