Friday rundown

I. Black Kids announce their most extensive tour yet, including a date in San Francisco at the Mezzanine to coincide with their show at Coachella. Both are listed on the 27th of April. Hell of a commute for one day.

II. The National are due to release a live EP. It was recorded at CMJ. The tracklist is as follows, including some of the best of songs of last year from one of the best albums this century:

1. Mistaken for Strangers
2. Brainy
3. Slow Show
4. Fake Empire

Expect it to tickle the ear drums. A good substitute if you miss their upcoming date in Berkeley with, oh, Modest Mouse and R.E.M.

III. Tapes 'n Tapes are forwarding their first cut from The Loon follow-up Walk It Off. It's entitled "Hang Them All" and it's streaming from their official site at tapesntapes.com. If this track is any indication of the broader sound of them album, they've lost some of their art-garage sound from the first album in favour of somewhat slicker and busier production. It's somewhat reminiscent of "Dashboard" from last year's Modest Mouse album in sound and production. Walk It Off is one of this blog's early favourites for Album of the Year, so stay tuned. The rest of the album is due April 8th, joining fellow April releases from R.E.M., The Black Keys, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Gnarls Barkley, Colin Meloy, Peter Moren, The Kooks, and Flight of the Conchords. Brace yourselves.

-RJR