FN News Roundup: March 12, 2011

Hi! Have some news.

• (Hopefully not former) Sonic Youth axeman and generally great guy Lee Ranaldo's new album, Between the Times and the Tides, is out next Tuesday (3/20), but you can stream all of its goodness right now over at Rolling Stone. (RS) 
• Legendary Minutemen bassist and also generally great guy Mike Watt is publishing a new memoir this May entitled On And Off Bass. He'll also be celebrating the release of this inevitably awesome book with two parties in NY and LA, the local version of which will take place on May 5 at Le Poisson Rouge and feature him & Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis and Murph performing as Hellride East (Slicing Up Eyeballs)
• Go see Garbage on tour! No, that pun will never get old, but you really ought to see Shirley Manson and the gang when they roll through the East Coast and Canada. The tour will include a stop at Webster Hall on May 22, with ticket info coming soon. (Garbage)
• Remember The Hives? They're back, in Pog form! Or more accurately, with a new album called Les Hives dropping on June 5 - check out its leadoff single "Go Right Ahead." (Stereogum) 
• Those Battles remixes we've been talking about are coming out as a full-on Dross Glop LP on April 17 via Warp. You'll also want to check out Battles drummer John Stanier and Black Moth Super Rainbow throw down a DJ set this Friday at The American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center - grab a ticket! (BrooklynVegan)

Watch: Lee Ranaldo -- "Off The Wall" (Official Video

It's a pretty ballsy move to have a song named "Off The Wall" in our post-Michael Jackson world, but if anyone can pull it off it's Sonic Youth axeman Lee Ranaldo. It sounds pretty great, and now Matador notes that it's got an official companion video that you can check out below.

The video mixes live footage of Ranaldo's recent Glasslands Gallery show with other random shots for a classic SY feel. And since he's keen on using live shots, maybe he'll work footage from his next show with M. Ward at Webster Hall on May 11 (tickets) into a video for another song off of the upcoming LP Between The Tides And The Times. We shall see. Be sure to check him out when he swings through your city too - 2012 Spring Tour dates below.

Listen: Lee Ranaldo -- "Off The Wall"

Sonic Youth axeman and all-around excellent guy Lee Ranaldo has a new solo LP, Between The Times And The Tides, coming out on March 20, and earlier today Matador unveiled its first single. And it's called "Off The Wall."

First of all: yeah we know. Secondly, it's awesome and is completely dissimilar from Michael Jackson's classic song. Give it a listen over here and check out a live performance of the song from Ranaldo's performance at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn last month. Pick up the album when it drops too, as it's sounding great so far.

YAY: Lee Ranaldo Is "Optimistic" About The Future Of Sonic Youth

You are our hero, Lee Ranaldo. More Williamsburg Waterfront shots here.

We've made no secret of the fact that we've been extremely worried about the future of Sonic Youth following the announcement of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore's separation. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, however, guitarist Lee Ranaldo spoke about his upcoming solo album and dropped some extremely calming hints about what to expect from Sonic Youth - namely, likely no more shows in the near future but archival and other projects on tap.

The money quotes are below, and have done quite a bit to set us at ease for a little. We'll keep you posted as more concrete plans surface, because we love Sonic Youth and that's kinda what we do as a music blog.