I associate certain types of food with certain artists and musicians, generally for completely irrational or wildly obvious reasons. For example: Ice-T, long island iced teas; Lady Gaga, air; The Liars, Twizzlers; Nine Inch Nails, duck confit. The mind works in mysterious ways.

As does the world of rock ‘n’ roll, where bands splinter and form with the unpredictable–but always dramatic–velocity, beauty and destruction of a supernova.

Punches is no exception; the project was formed “on a late and snowy night in December when DJ twins Finger On The Pulse shared a cab with Alan Astor and The Kid Robb, where we talked about what would make the perfect soundtrack for the upcoming summer,” Punches said in an email to UI. The result was a mixtape hosted by Barbara Vega.

So what does Punches eat? Steak and eggs (in my mind, anyway). Lots of it. But reality, as is often the case, is stranger and more delicious than my fictional delusions: Punches claims to “sometimes run on a 24-hour champagne diet.”

Louche. Outre. Recherche. (Insert your own Frenchified, luxurious/naughty French adjective here).

Yes. But will the Brooklynites redefine champagne music for the new millennium?

TBD.

Check out new albums due in May from Broken Social Scene, The Black Keys, Leela James, LCD Soundsystem, Flying Lotus and The Hold Steady.

Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
Yep, they have a lot of members, as Brendan Canning explains, and they also have a lot of guests on the new album, including Feist, Emily Haines, members of Do Make Say Think, The Sea and Cake’s Sam Prekop and Tortoise (John McEntire produced the whole thing). Their first since 2005′s eponymous album, Broken Social Scene release Forgiveness Rock Record on May 4 via Arts & Crafts.
Stream album via NPR Music

LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
It is happening, and lots of it. The new album is out May 17 in the U.K. and stateside May 18 via DFA. Mr. Murphy kicks off a summer tour today, bouncing back between Europe and the U.S. with stops at major festivals like Sonar, Bonnaroo, Pitchfork and Sasquatch.
Stream album via LCD Soundsystem

Hold Steady – Heaven is Whenever
The Hold Steady has a new album, Heaven is Whenever, out May 4 via Vagrant. The Brooklyn-via-Minneapolis band hits the road on a long summer tour, starting in sunny California, weaving through Europe and landing back in the States in July.
Stream album via NPR Music

HEAR NEW MATERIAL FROM THE BLACK KEYS AND MORE

If you grew up digging through the stacks, discovering new music and yourself while attempting to look cool at your local record store, there’s something of a national holiday for you. April 17 is Record Store Day, and plenty of artists will release singles, albums, DVDs and more to celebrate.

And we’re not talking chump change bands, either. The Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem, Hold Steady, Mastodon, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Japandroids, Deerhoof, Fanfarlo, Fucked Up, Wilco, TV on the Radio, Black Keys, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Julian Casablancas and more will all drop gems. You get the point. Record Store Day is cool.

Mike Patton and Billy Corgan once worked at them, Andrew W.K. learned some seduction tips at one and Fat Mike of NOFX claims he’d be a real estate agent if it weren’t for the almighty record store.

(CHECK RELEASES AND PARTICIPATING STORES)

Wine pairings? Yawn. Sake pairings? Eh. Beer pairings? Grunt.

Music pairings? Now you’ve got my attention. Executive Chef Chris Curren of Chicago’s Blue 13 will once again feature “Rock ‘n Roll Dinners” this summer. From May 5 until August 4 on the first Wednesday of each month, Blue 13 will pair five courses of food with one of its favorite bands, each dish  inspired by a song. The menu will cost $50 per person, and the resto offers wine pairings if you insist for another $15.

Curren serves contemporary, seasonal American cuisine in an atmosphere that seems more luxe bordello than restaurant (the staff is tattooed, the art is aggressively modern and the vibe is louche and decadent without looking like the perfect set for a Vogue shoot).

He also likes to keep the pulse racing with tongue-in-cheek-named dishes like Steak and Eggs on Acid.

(MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM, KIDS)

Two Uncensored Interview productions have been selected as Official Honorees in the 14th annual Webby Awards. We beat out nearly 8,000 entries received from 50 states and over 60 countries to stand alongside the distinguished company of ESPN, Travel Channel, Disney-ABC, Sundance, National Geographic and more.

First up, we scored big with our original profile piece Amanda Palmer Sounds Off. The singer and performer lovingly known as AFP gave us the rundown on all things Dresden Dolls, fiancee Neil Gaiman, the “Oasis” controversy and working with Ben Folds. Check us out in the Reality category.

Our original series Subculture Shock also took home an Honoree award in the Experimental/Weird category. We admit it, when you’re a martian named Zipdart learning pick-up techniques from Andrew W.K., things are bound to get a little strange.

We’ve got more exciting productions on some cool platforms coming your way this year. Stay tuned…we’ll be making headlines again!

Admit it, you were tempted. At some point in your life you considered bidding for dinner with your favorite musician (all to benefit charity of course!) So maybe the prospect of breaking bread with Sebastian Bach or the members of Poison would no longer set your pulse a-pumpin’, but the idea is still genius.

Which is why the much-beloved Dinner With the Band series on IFC is so fucking delectable.

Starring Tailor chef-owner Sam Mason, it features bands like Yacht, Final Fantasy, Les Savy Fav and Andrew W.K., who troop into Mason’s Brooklyn loft and learn to put a foodie spin on their favorite road fare.

(MORE ON DINNER WITH THE BAND)

Graham Elliott Bowles grew up all over the world (he was a “navy brat”–his words, not mine), merrily sampling from Planet Earth’s pu pu platter of culinary offerings.

This whet his appetite for a cooking career that explores the highs, lows, oddities, rejects, winners and eccentric byways of international cuisine, managing to interpret, coalesce and fuse them in truly innovative ways on the plate for our lucky palates.

He’s also hep to our sonic (and other dandified aesthetic) needs. At his eponymous resto in Chicago, the youngest four-star chef in America explained on his site that he created the town’s first “bistronomic” restaurant, pairing top-notch cuisine with “humor and accessibility. By doing away with the old world of dress codes, white table cloths, elaborate floral displays, and tuxedoed servers and replacing it with hip music, dynamic gastronomy and a lively and relaxed atmosphere, we hope to redefine what it means to be fine dining.”

And oh sirree, did he succeed.

Bowles is so focused on the music, he actually insisted on recording his own original music (in the ’90s he played guitar and sang in the band Aura of Onassis) to rotate into the mix. Picked by Bowles and the staff–everyone gets three picks–it tends to favor ’80s punk-infused retro.

His obsession with fusing the experience of tasting and listening has bled so far into his paradigm, he has even gone so far to compare his menu to a Radiohead concept album: “The octopus terrine is like the first track of Kid A, a weird track some might not get,” he told TimeOut. “But it sets the mood. Now, the beef stroganoff: That’s the hit.”

You don’t get that kind of TLC at Per Se. What other haute chef out there is as focused on all aspects of the dining experience? It’s like he’s attempting to be the entire city of Chicago’s personal chef–a tasty (and revolutionary) concept indeed.