As promised, here’s our last photo roundup of the shows we hit and folks we pestered on the streets of Austin during this year’s South By Southwest music festival. All in all we had a great time, saw some old friends, and constantly ran into Tim Harrington at the shows we chose to hit (again). If you were there, we’d love to hear what floored ya; we’ve talked up a couple of our picks already (Meat Puppets, New Violators, Lo-Fi-FNK, The Besnard Lakes, Deerhunter, and Menomena come to mind), but top honors go to Saturday’s Drag City treat of Bill Callahan at Central Presbyterian Church (with very special guest Joanna Newsom on piano). Bill gave us everything from Knock Knock‘s “Cold Blooded Old Times” to “Sycamore” from the phenomenal, forthcoming Woke On A Whaleheart, momentarily making the hardwood Church pews the most comfortable seats in Texas.

Other acts on the day included The Good, The Bad & The Queen at the FADER fort (nice to be that close to Damon, sorta sleepy overall though); Menomena and the black parade of The Polyphonic Spree at the blogger-curated Hot Freaks party (awesome job, guys!); and superb sets from Kings Of Leon, Spoon, and the photo-friendly Iggy & The Stooges at the Esquire showcase at Stubb’s. Once again, Jon Bahr delivered us some smashing shots, this time of Norah Jones compatriot Jesse Harris (with singer-songwriter Jessie Baylin), Donovan, and the lovely ladies of The Pipettes. And we spiced up the spread with some man-on-the-street shots to keep it infotaining. Enjoy! Until next year, Austin…

THE PIPETTES

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It’s not a band, and it’s not called The Good, The Bad & The Queen — but whatever it is, it’s got a new video for the song “Kingdom Of Doom.” (We are allowed to call it a song, right Damo?) Set in a west London kitchen, the clip uses some Paul Simonon cellphone vid to show that the guys are really great cooks. They may have thought of shooting it at Damon’s place, but his crazy neighbor would’ve just sung along.

If you’ve heard Damon Albarn do a radio interview, you know his M.O.: be as contrary as possible, demean every question, throw the interviewer off her game. And ya know what? He’s fookin’ great at it. This time Damon and Paul Simonon chat with Minnesota Public Radio’s Steve Seel, who tries his best to chat about The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Only, it’s not called The Good, The Bad & The Queen. In fact, it’s not even a band! A sample exchange:

Steve Seel: Joining us via satellite from London, two members of the much ballyhooed new band The Good, The Bad & The Queen — none other than Damon Albarn and Paul Simonon. Gentlemen, welcome to The Current.

Damon Albarn: Welcome, welcome. But before we go any further, we’re not called The Good The Bad And The queen. That’s the name fo the album. We haven’t got a name.

Steve Seel: So the band has no name. Really?

Damon and Paul: No.

Steve Seel: [laughs] I thought you were pulling one over on me. Okay … the no-name band that is the musical project known as …

Damon Albarn: But it’s not a band, it’s more like an orchestra.

Steve Seel:: Well I suppose it is now, isn’t it? Is that Damon saying that?

Damon Albarn: That is.

Steve Seel: Okay Damon, explain to me …

Damon Albarn:Well, a band is like four or five or three people. But I mean, we’re already, we’re not at full strength, but we’re already playing with like another five strings, and somebody plays the organ, and the moogs and the celeste, and the electric piano, and I play the acoustic piano… so ya know we’re up to 11 already, so that’s more like an orchestra, really. And it can only get bigger. Ya know, really. To call it a band is not quite… I mean we are, but that’s the way people perceive things …

See, you gotta break free of your perceptions. Damon later corrects the DJ by letting him know that Gorillaz is not a “project,” they “are a band, they are very much of a band!” It isn’t long before Steve concedes, “See now you’ve thrown me all off, you’ve done your job of throwing me off.” Not as contentious as it sounds, but poor Steve! MPR can’t pay enough for that. Listen to it here. (Thanks, Sarah!)

The nifty black box below will let you listen to the second single from Albarn/Tong/Allen/Simonen supergroup The Good, The Band And The Queen’s forthcoming album release. When “Herculean” leaked, listeners freaked at the Gorillaz likeness, both for Albarn’s “Feel Good” effects and Danger Mouse’s unmistakeable electronic-production thumbprint.

Last month’s Electric Proms performance, during which the band played their album in its entirety, shook some of those past-project comparisons (though we thought the concert vid was sorta snoozy). “Kingdom Of Doom” gives a good idea of the sonic terrain in which the rest of the project lies. Plus, we get to hear Damon sing, and that always equals awesome.

Damon Albarn brought his mega-supergroup to Camden’s Roundhouse last night for the band’s formal debut (after a round of club tune-ups), and BBC was on hand for full documentation. The setlist, as Damon notes, is the The Good, The Bad And The Queen’s self-titled debut sequentially and in its entirety. Watch the whole show here (and here’s the audio if that’s better for ya).

From what we saw and heard, it’s encouragingly more diverse than suggested by (the admittedly killer) “Herculean”‘s Gorillaz-apeing. The BBC loved the gig, saying, “The band finish on a high with ‘TGTBQ’ and the audience leave in the knowledge that they’ve witnessed something quite magical.” Here’s the set/tracklist:

History Song

80s Life

Northern Whale

Kingdom Of Doom

Herculean

Behind The Sun

Intermission Jam

Bunting

Nature’s Springs

Soldiers Tale

Three Changes

Green Fields

Mr Whippy

The Good, The Bad and The Queen

Aside from an off-beat Simonon bass note during the building ride-out of “Herculean,” it’s a polished performance, but do you think they’re up to the hype? We love Damon, but the set seemed a little sleeeeeeeepy.

With a line-up comprising Damon Albarn, Simon Tong, ex-Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Fela Kuti-drummer Tony Allen, and a record produced by the ubiquitous Danger Mouse, the world’s expecting a lot from this “story.” Judging by this first single, the world is gonna get alot, too.

Damon is still partial to his “Feel Good” vocal effect, and the track definitely is informed by his Demon days with Danger, but everything from Allen’s deep pocket to the haunting and hypnotic backdrop make this song a sure shot. Sounds to us like someone is making himself into one of this generation’s most undeniable and enduring talents.

The Good, The Bad And The Queen – “Herculean” (MP3)

TGTB&TQ have a trio of warm-up gigs in the UK, leading up to their 10/26 performance of their entire record as part of the BBC Electric Proms season. That is one gig for which we’d surely fly, with or without carry-on liquids.

The Good, The Bad And The Queen is out 1/07.

Let’s only write about British bands today. TGTB&TQ, the supergroup of Damon Albarn, Tony Allen, Simon Tong, and Paul Simonon has its first single “Herculean” out 10/30. (It will available for sale for only that one day, but otherwise free on P2Ps forever.) Paul drew the cover! It looks like this:

Teaser video #2, focusing on Tony Allen, is up at thegoodthebadandthequeen.com. He implies the album won’t be “boring.” Damon can be seen giggling at the piano.

The band is giving away 20 pairs of tickets to each of its warm-up shows next month. To enter for tix to East Prawle – Pignose (10/20), go here. (But you gotta answer their trivia question!)

In an e-mail to Blur and Gorillaz newsletter subscribers, the jaw-dropping supergroup of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen, and Simon Tong have announced their first gig: 10/26 at the Roundhouse in London, as part of the BBC Electric Proms season.

Damon explains: “The Good The Bad and The Queen, it’s … it’s a story, it’s not a band. I’m very very proud of this record and I think it’s worth while putting it out. It’s a very English record, it’s the first time I’ve really written about home, since sort of Parklife. I’ve always wanted to play the Roundhouse. You know, I love the idea that you have to be something that hasn’t been heard before.

The band story’s album, produced by Danger Mouse, is expected next year. Watch a teaser (and it really does tease) here.