To continue self-releasing his own work, Schiltz has asked fans to pledge funds to support the mastering, promotion, and touring behind Tides and Tales. With a pledge, you get the opportunity to learn about, and potentially receive, exclusive mp3s, posters, a house show by the band, vinyls, shirts, and even one of his vintage Gibson guitars. You also get the first download of the album as soon as it releases.

PledgeMusic also pulls its entrepreneurs into its mission of philanthropy by giving a portion of all pledges to charity. Hurricane Bells chose Education Through Music, which supports music instruction in underprivileged schools. So not only will Hurricane Bells benefit– you’ll benefit and so will hundreds of kids!

So far Schiltz has only received 29 pledges that bring him to 14 percent of his goal. There are 55 days left until the fundraiser ends, so be sure to check out the campaign on PledgeMusic before time runs out.

Between the debut’s release and the production of his sophomore album, Schiltz has put out two live albums, Hurricane Bells Live At House Of Blues Boston and Hurricane Bells Live At House Of Blues San Diego, from his recent tour. Before that, he dropped two EPs, last September’s Down Comes the Rain and 2009′s Tonight Is The Ghost, so if you’re feeling impatient for material you can always immerse yourself in four of his most recent releases.

Tunstall has devised her own label to describe the sound of Tiger Suit: nature techno. The singer-songwriter’s choice of the word “techno” is perplexing since this term has generally been replaced by “electro” as the go-to blanket term to describe all things electronic. Perhaps it is a deliberate choice because recent trends are taking us to the point where hearing that an artist has “gone electro” will be inevitably greeted by groans and eye-rolling.

Semantics aside, Tunstall’s “nature techno” marries rock and folk stylings with synths and drum machines; in her words: “think Eddie Cochrane meets Leftfield.” Opener “Uummannaq Song” exemplifies this new style with electronic beats and tribal chants, resulting in one of the album’s catchiest songs.  Like “Uummannaq Song” before it, “Glamour Puss” is as unabashedly pop as anything from Drastic Fantastic, but with an electronic groove.

The newfound “techno” side of KT Tunstall actually works best when adding more than the pop music beats and grooves du jour. Electronics add layers to songs such the fuzzy guitar-feedback of “Difficulty” and the pop-rock earworm of lead single “Fade Like a Shadow”. The power ballad moment of Tiger Suit comes in the form of “Lost”, and its title reflects a recurring flaw throughout the album. Often the strengths of Tunstall’s smoky voice are lost in a sea of synths or under too glossy of a pop luster. Tunstall’s vocals are most compelling when singing on blues stompers such as “Madame Trudeaux” and “Push That Knot Away”. Album standout “Golden Frames” is a bluesy collaboration with Seasick Steve that is both haunting and seductive. Nature techno or not, Tiger Suit offers some intriguing moments not found often enough in the so-called adult top 40.

– A 12-inch colored vinyl version of Cee-Lo’s “Fuck You”, which aso includes the instrumental version.

– MGMT’s “Congratulations” on a gatefold 7-inch with a remix by Erol Alkan and a 20-page storybook.

– A 7-inch single from Bruce Springsteen with “Because the Night” and “Save My Love” from The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town.

– The Walking Far From Home EP from Iron & Wine featuring a title track, “Summer in Savannah”, and “Biting Your Tail” on 12-inch vinyl and CD.

– A translucent 7-inch vinyl featuring archival versions of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changing” and “Like a Rolling Stone”.

– The Gaslight Anthem covering The Rolling Stones’ “Tumblin’ Dice” plus a previously unreleased track on colored vinyl 7-inch.

– A 12-inch of “Heathen Child” by Grinderman, as well as a version with Robert Fripp.

– Tracks from Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings’ I Learned the Hard Way spread across 11 7-inch singles with 10 bonus songs and 8 instrumental versions.

– Four previously unreleased songs from Dr. Dog on a double 7-inch single.

– A 10-inch Drive By Truckers single with a holiday motif.

– Roky Erickson’s DVD, Night of the Vampire, featuring his live performance in L.A. with The Black Angels as support.

– Three live tracks recorded during U2’s European tour in 12-inch format called Wide Awake in Europe.

– Metallica’s 2008 live concert recorded in Nashville’s Grimey’s record store’s basement on CD and double 10-inch.

– The Ting Tings’ “Hands” with a remix by Passion Pit on 7-inch.

– A single from Soundgarden on 7-inch featuring the previously unreleased “The Telephantasm” and a live version of “Gun”.

– Anthrax’s Live At The Sonisphere 10-inch picture disc.

– KT Tunstall’s Have Yourself a Very KT Christmas.

– The long out of print self-titled debut from Queens of the Stone Age on double-gatefold, colored, 180-gram vinyl plus download (hardcopy to come December 7th).

– A 7-inch plus mp3 from Cage the Elephant featuring “Shake Me Down” and “Aberdeen” from their forthcoming album.

The tour will kick off in Portland on October 31st and will take in almost every corner of the US plus a few dates in Canada. Spokane, Boise, Reno, San Francisco, Denver, Detroit and Toronto are all getting a visit from the Platinum-selling Scot with the tour culminating in a show at Terminal 5 in New York City on December 1st. Support on all tour dates comes from New York’s Hurricane Bells. Tickets to select dates are available on Ticketmaster.

Tiger Suit was produced by Jim Abbiss, who has also worked with Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, and Editors among many others. Longtime collaborators Martin Terefe and Jimmy Hogarth were also on board as well as co-writing several songs with A-list songwriter/producers Linda Perry and Greg Kurstin. Tunstall has described the new album as “Nature Techno”, alluding to the folk roots and electronic textures of the new record.

Tiger Suit Tracklist:
01. Unmmannaq Song
02. Glamour Puss
03. Push That Knot Away
04. Difficulty
05. Fade Like A Shadow
06. Lost
07. Golden Frames
08. Come On Get In
09. Still A Weirdo
10. Madame Trudeaux
11. The Entertainer

KT Tunstall 2010 Tour Dates:
10/31 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
11/01 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
11/02 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox SODO
11/04 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
11/05 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
11/07 – Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory
11/08 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
11/11 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Music Box
11/12 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
11/16 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
11/18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Epic
11/19 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
11/21 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
11/22 – Detroit, MI @ The Crofoot
11/23 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Theatre
11/25 – Montreal, QU @ Club Soda
11/26 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
11/27 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
11/29 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
12/01 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5

While 2001 featured Eddie Vedder, The Smiths’ Johnny Marr alongside Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway from Radiohead, the ’09 model trades the grunge rumblings of Vedder for the alt-country goodness of Wilco, and songstress KT Tunstall, Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and Augie March’s Glenn Richards tag along for the ride, too.

Like other supernova ensembles, each of the album’s big names takes a turn behind the mic. Whether it’s Selway being backed by Wilco (“The Ties That Binds Us”), a song written by Tweedy and Marr (“Too Blue”) or O’Brien and Finn teaming on “Bodhisattva Blues”, this musical cornucopia can feed any truly starved fan — and literally, too, as all the proceeds go to the charity Oxfam. Genius or generous? You be the judge.

Can’t wait ’til the next month over? Enjoy a sneak peek with the behind-the-scenes video below, and hit up 7 Worlds Collide’s MySpace for more samples and videos.

The Sun Came Out Tracklist:
Disc 1
01. Too Blue
02. You Never Know
03. Little By Little
04. Learn To Crawl
05. Black Silk Ribbon
06. Girl, Make Your Own Mind Up
07. Run In The Dust
08. Red Wine Bottle
09. The Ties That Bind Us
10. Reptile
11. Bodhisattva Blues
12. What Could Have Been

Disc 2
01. All Comedians Suffer
02. Duxton Blues
03. Hazel Black
04. Riding The Wave
05. The Witching Hour
06. Over And Done
07. Change Of Heart
08. Don’t Forget Me
09. Long Time Gone
10. The Cobbler
11. 3 Worlds Collide
12. The Water

At first glance of the schedule, I wondered how they were going to pull this year off by putting heavy hitters such as Foo Fighter and Kanye West on the south stage. In previous years, this was the obvious secondary stage, being that it was small and on a parking lot surface, but this year surprised me as they built it up and moved it onto the grass, creating a second main stage. This was an excellent move on the organizers part, and one that will help the festivals longevity. If that wasn’t enough, there were free rides provided by bike powered rickshaws, free water, and fun, free “swag” for recycling your waste that included jeans and even an iPod for those filling up the free bags they handed out.

Before I continue with the music, I must digress first and call out the organizers on a major mistake. For the entire summer I have been recovering from a major accident that put me in a wheel chair until recently. Every concert and festival I have attended has been extremely accommodating, making the experience that much better, until this past weekend. I assumed that the festival would provide handicapped parking, but as I searched for it, none of the attendants had any idea what I was talking about. Even more frustrating, I had to pay $30 for a regular space as all the handicapped parking I did see had been reserved for those using the race track, not for those going to the festival.

Now with that off my chest… on to the show!

Saturday started off with the indie-approved sensation Cat Power and the pop rock of KT Tunstall. Tunstall sounded great as she belted out her pop friendly hits to a filled out crowd. There were sing-alongs and dancing to be seen as everyone woke up at the crack of noon. Cat Power experienced some sound issues as her voice was hard to hear in the beginning, but luckily things did clear up, providing a great performance.

Gogol Bordello knocked the energy up a notch as they delivered another classic set filled with wine spitting and bucket playing, with all their gypsy-punk fury. Swell Season was a nice surprise to see on the line-up, and the Oscar winners delivered one of the best sets of the weekend. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova harmonized and worked through sleepy, gentle piano ballads, but once it was just Hansard with his worn out guitar, his furious strumming and passionate vocals took over the set. Given the quiet nature of the music, you could hear Lupe Fiasco‘s beats on the south stage, at which point Hansard dedicated a Van Morrison cover to the rapper. The highlight of the weekend came at the end of the set, when Hansard’s mic was cut off. He took it upon himself to jump into the crowd, guitar in tow, and lead everyone in a sing along of Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin Nowhere”.

After Lupe Fiasco finished up, Bloc Party came on next for the last performance on its summer tour. The first mosh pits of the day broke out as they pummeled through their quasi-emo-dance rock, which sounded great and especially heavy. The most unique performers of the weekend were easily the Spanish guitar virtuoso’s Rodrigo y Gabriella. Their technique was as technically impressive as it was flawless. Their hands moved so quickly while strumming, it almost looked as if they weren’t hitting the strings at all. But indeed, they were, as they mixed lightning fast picking and strumming with guitar tapping percussion that had even the hardest of rock fans throwing up the devil horns. “Tamacun” closed out the set and left everyone amazed at what they had just seen.

Citizen Cope mellowed out the festival with a performance that sounded much better in this kind of setting than it had the previous time he was in the area at the 9:30 club. Songwriter Clarence Greenwood rolled through much of his well known material, adding bits of built up intensity, then bringing it back down to the hip swaying, head bobbing melodies he does best. Keeping the north stage chilled out, Wilco came on to welcome the sunset and delivered a powerful set of tunes. As a long time Wilco fan told me afterwards, it was the best he had seen them in the area, as they were especially “on” that evening. After a breathtaking extended solo on “Impossible Germany”, it’s not hard to consider them the quintessential live band.

Closing out Saturday on the south stage was the rock of the mighty Foo Fighters, while opposite on the north stage, some enjoyed acoustic surfer ballads of Jack Johnson. For those looking to rock, Foo Fighters tore through their impeccably impressive set, opening with their recent success “The Pretender”. As always, the charismatic Dave Grohl knocked the audience out of their sweaty shoes with a set that covered all the hits. The surprise came when they broke into their cover of The Who’s “Young Man Blues”, solidifying that everyone within earshot could do nothing but rock out. Half way through, and after the extended metal-esque “Stacked Actors”, Grohl and company brought out the acoustic numbers with their expanded band, glazing through “Marigold” and the powerful “My Hero”. That didn’t last long, however, as the rock was brought back with the classic Foo hit, “Everlong”, and continued to finish the night with “All My Life” and “Times Like These”.

We had been rocked hard, and there was still a day to go…