Supermachiner, the haunting, mostly instrumental side project from Converge members Jacob Bannon and Kurt Ballou, will soon have its complete 30-track, two-disc collection, Rust, available through Deathwish Inc. Listen to a few tracks here.

Big Business has announced the release of its new album, Mind the Drift, for April on Hydra Head. Listen to a new track, "Gold and Final," on the group's MySpace page.

Japanese post-rockers Mono have a new album, Hymn to the Immortal Wind, being released on March 24 on Temporary Residence. The album boasts guest contributions from a 28-member orchestra.

Seven Signs, the Southern culture documentary by J.D. Wilkes of Th' Legendary Shack Shakers, is now available on DVD.

Following the release of Old Money via Stones Throw on January 26, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez takes his group to Europe in March. Click here for a list of dates.

A new alt-metal super-group called Shrinebuilder is recording a debut album for Neurot Recordings, due this summer. The group consists of Wino (The Hidden Hand), Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep), and Dale Crover (Melvins) and will be in the studio with Toshi Kasai (Big Business).

Orange Tulip Conspiracy, the exceptional multi-genre new group led by Estradasphere guitarist Jason Schimmel, will play a full US tour in May. If you're involved in setting up shows, you can help Schimmel fill in dates — head here for details.

Grandaddy singer/songwriter Jason Lytle has a solo debut album, Yours Truly, being release on Anti- on May 19.

Finger-tapping indie-rock specialist Kaki King is playing a "solo guitar and no other bullshit tour" in California from January 21-31. Head here for the dates.

Post-rock/jam keyboardist Marco Benevento plays a weekly residency in February at Yoshi's in Oakland in the middle of a handful of other West Coast dates. During the stint, Benevento will be joined by special guests that include Scott Amendola, Billy Martin, Reed Mathis, Jeff Parker, and Skerik.

California math-rock trio Tera Melos has a new EP of cover songs available to download for free. Band member Nick Reinhart also has new band with drumming wiz Zach Hill, called Bygones, that has a debut album set for release in March on Sargent House.

Starting today, the new Cattle Decapitation album, The Harvest Floor, is streaming in its entirety on buzzgrinder.com. The stream will run through January 19.

Thrash/punk four-piece Trash Talk has announced a handful of shows that span Japan, California, and Georgia (the state). The shows include performances with Fucked Up, Pig Destroyer, Converge, Torche, Mastodon, and Neurosis.

Hardcore tough guys Hatebreed have posted a cover of Sepultura's "Refuse/Resist" on their MySpace page. The cover is included in the soundtrack to Punisher: War Zone.

Stoner-metal outfit Witch has announced tour dates starting in late February with Tee Pee Records labelmates Earthless. Head to Tee Pee for the list.

Due to illness, Afrobeat star Femi Kuti has canceled his North American tour that was set to begin on Wednesday, January 7.

In anticipation of Bromst, his new full-length album due on March 24, Dan Deacon has posted "Get Older," one of the album's tracks, on imeem. Deacon also has a split 12" with electronic brethren Adventure coming out on January 27.

Converge and Supermachiner (side project with vocalist Jacob Bannon and guitarist Kurt Ballou) each have a new album in store for 2009.

Bannon's new experimental project, Irons, has a split 12" with Pulling Teeth also due in 2009. Bannon's label, Deathwish Inc., has a glut of releases planned for this year.

Chinese-American composer Wu Fei will perform on January 16, 17, and 18 in China to celebrate the recent release of her new album, Yuan, on Tzadik. Details can be found at her website.

Watch the brief trailer for Mastodon's new album, Crack the Skye, at the band's website.

Fifty free pairs of tickets are being given away to Kronos Quartet's performance of Terry Riley's Sun Rings in France on January 16. To request a pair of tickets (by Monday, January 12), e-mail announcements@kronosquartet.org, with the subject line "Paris Sun Rings – MySpace", including your name and e-mail address in the body of your message.

Bassist/guitarist Reed Mathis, a founding member of 15 years, has left Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey to pursue other endeavors. The group has a lineup with two new members that will perform for scheduled shows in January and February.

Founding drummer Pat Pengelly has quit Bedouin Soundclash, making the group, for now, a duo with Jay Malinowski and Eon Sinclair. The group's February tour dates will remain intact.

These Arms are Snakes has announced a month-long US tour, primarily hitting the Midwest and East Coast, that begins in late February.

Madlib has a new disc for his Beat Konducta series — Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6 — that will be released February 10 on Stones Throw.

Danish weirdo rockers Powersolo will release their new album, Bloodskinbones, on February 23.

Via an interview with band manager Peter Mensch, the BBC reports that the instrumental members of Led Zeppelin — Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham (son of John Bonham) — are looking to tour and record a new album without Robert Plant. The article says that it is unknown whether the group will continue under the famous name, but in a separate interview with Mensch on musicradar.com, the manager emphatically states that "Led Zeppelin are over."

Apple is finally doing away with DRM protection (short for digital rights management) on its iTunes music files.

Tonight, punk ensemble World/Inferno Friendship Society will perform a special one-off gig at New York's Webster Hall. The show, a multi-media operetta based on the life of Peter Lorre, is part of the Under The Radar Festival.