The New Music

Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong has raised a question mark about his band’s future. Speaking to the BBC, he said the band “definitely need to have a break and gain a bit of perspective on life outside of the band.” And that he “wouldn’t mind trying something else for a while.”

Lovable L.A. lo-fi punks Mika Miko have announced that they will break up after playing Austin’s Fun Fun Fun fest in the first week of November. Apparently there is “no bad blood at all” so if you’re in the area, you’ll likely still catch them hanging out together at The Smell, where they’re expected to play a final farewell show.

Portishead’s Geoff Barrow has revealed that the trio have begun working on a follow-up to last year’s brilliant Third that could end up as a “a multi-layered synthesizer record.” He also expects the band to begin playing shows in December.

If you’re in either L.A., Oakland, Seattle, Eugene, Denver, Chicago, NYC, Boston or DC in November you’ll be able to check out the Pixies perform Doolittle in its entirety. And depending on where you’ll be when they roll into town, you’ll also be able to see Jay Reatard, Bad Lieutenant (Bernard Sumner of New Order’s new band), No Age, Rain Machine or Mew open for them.

Chad VanGaalen is hoping to “have a feature-length sci-fi animated film finished in the next five years.” The two-time Polaris nominee says he’s also busy making both “a psychedelic folk record and a psychedelic rock record.”