I do so regret not being able to make the St. Vincent-Midlake-Tacks, the Boy Disaster show Saturday night at the Granada Theater; family duties and all. Nonetheless, our boy Chris Cantalini at Gorilla vs. Bear does have some pics to go along with his rave, natch. But, more important, he also notes therein that St. Vincent herself, the greatness of Annie Clark, has signed to a major label, Beggars Banquet, according to this Chicago-based blog. Although I guess maybe it doesn't exactly say she's signed to the home of, among others, Thom Yorke and M.I.A.: Clark "expects a full-length out on Beggar's Banquet this spring," says the item. "Expects." See?
But since neither of Clark's Web sites, including this one, contain any news about the alleged signing, well, we called Beggars Group in NYC to confirm the deal. "It's not confirmed yet," says someone at Beggars. "We're talking to her." And there ya go. Damned blogs, so unreliable.
Oh, and in other music-related news, as a bonus let me direct your attention to these tremendous demos from Wilco's debut A.M. And, yes, there is a local connection: At the time these were recorded, the band included multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston -- the brother of Michelle Shocked and son of mandolinist Dollar Bill Johnston. --Robert Wilonsky