When he isn’t composing French film soundtracks, covering Burt Bacharach with Jim O’Rourke, or performing noise music with children, Thurston Moore has been known to dust off the ol’ acoustic 12-string for a few decidedly non-art-rock love songs. Dig For Fire and Other Music hosted a so-called Lawn Party at Austin’s SXSW this year in which Moore performed “a song [he] wrote for a girlfriend” called “Friend,” “You Lost Your Lover,” and other songs from a forthcoming solo album tentatively set for release this fall.

Fortunately for those unable to attend this year’s festivities, Babelgum is streaming beautifully recorded, professionally shot footage from the event, which includes a brief chat with Moore, as well as his performance of the aforementioned new tunes. Each of the two videos below include a separate segment in which Califone and Anni Rossi perform, as well.

Check out Thurston’s solo songs below and head over here for a host of videos from the event, including performances by the XX, Dum Dum Girls, Memory Tapes, Holly Miranda, Toro Y Moi, Sharon Van Etten, and many more:

As we mentioned he would last fall, Thurston Moore has now launched his own publishing company, Ecstatic Peace Library, and it looks like the Sonic Youth guitarist has hit the ground running. Now available on their official site are releases from Kim Gordon, Moore himself, James Hamilton, director Dave Markey, poet Charles Plymell (with forward by Mike Watt), and, Mirror/Dash Ono member, Yoko Ono.

Though all of these releases are notable in a number of ways, Ono’s limited-edition book, Fly Me, is perhaps the most unusual. From the description:

Fly Me is a handbound book that unfolds to become a kite, featuring seven pages of individual messages or instructions composed by Ono. These messages are designed to be read by all, in the sky on a windy day. You simply unfold the page you wish to fly and attach the paper to the bamboo frame included to construct a massive (30 × 36 inch) diamond-shaped kite.

(Artists are taking to the skies lately, no?) Ono’s airborne advice ranges from “Imagine Peace,” of course, to “FLY” (duh), and “kiss.” Check out more limited Ecstatic Peace Library releases here.

As we mentioned just before the holidays last year, Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo revealed to BBC 6Music that the band’s agenda this year includes a live DVD, a “soundtrack for a French teen film,” and prep work for their 17th album. The quote sparked rampant speculation, of course, as to what film Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, and Mark Ibold were recording new music for (a Michel Gondry flick?), until today…

At the tail end of last week, the 2010 Cannes International Film Festival lineup was announced, and though the words “Sonic Youth” were nowhere to be found therein, a cursory bit of sleuthing brings us this: Sonic Youth have written and recorded the soundtrack to Simon Werner a Disparu, director Fabrice Gobert’s new film about a teen murder mystery outside of Paris.

The singer of our favorite Burt Bacharach tribute band gave a “Dissertation on White Noise” for kids between ages 8 and 12 at Partners & Spade’s so-called Avant Garde Preschool last weekend, and though we’re not sure what Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore covered in the lecture, we do have a glimpse of his noise jam session with a few pupils.

Watch as Thurston and Bill Nace (Northampton Wools) guide children on the art of twiddling effects pedal knobs while hitting a distorted electric guitar with a stick and messing with the whammy bar below:

Back in February, we were the first U.S. site to bring you news of Jim O’Rourke’s new Burt Bacharach tribute album, All Kinds of People ~Love Burt Bacharach~, which features performances by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, O’Rourke himself, Wilco/Loose Fur’s Glenn Kotche on the drums, and many more. 

Though the record dropped exclusively in Japan last week (check out 45-second snippets here or purchase the album via iTunes Japan), streaming below is Thurston Moore’s cover of the song made famous by Lou Johnson, Sandie Shaw and Dionne Warwick: “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me.”

Listen to Moore, O’Rourke, and Kotche cover Bacharach below:

If you took my advice and followed Thurston Moore’s new blog Flowers & Cream last weekend, then you’ve already heard this news, as Moore ended a 6-day blogging hiatus this morning with a couple exciting updates worth noting…

The first one (via TDS), dubbed “mirror/dash ono,” actually makes a lot of sense given this week’s activities: “kim [Gordon] and i will be recording a trio LP w/ yoko [Ono] this year,” Moore said, “with blindfolds.” It can be hard to tell if he’s being sarcastic, of course, but I’ll bite.

And 6 minutes later, here’s Moore: “new solo lp/book this fall,” reads a post titled “in silver rain with a paper key.”

Wow. I’ll add these to our list of Sonic Youth-related upcoming projects, alongside that live DVD, 17th LP, and film soundtrack.

After days spent digging through a dozen sites, mostly written in Japanese, I’m thrilled to report that Jim O’Rourke has produced All Kinds of People ~Love Burt Bacharach~, a tribute album featuring 11 pieces of the legendary songwriter’s most famous work as covered by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, O’Rourke himself, former Bacharach collaborator Donna Taylor, and 7 other artists.

O’Rourke—who previously released a faithful cover of Bacharach’s “Something Big” on Eureka—not only produced and sang on the album, but he also played guitar, banjo, keyboards, bass, harpsichord, and other instruments. Who’s the drummer? Oh, that would be Wilco’s Glenn Kotche on the skins.

The album is due out on April 7th via Japanese label AWDR, a week before being performed live in Tokyo and Osaka on 4/15 and 4/18, respectively, by O’Rourke, Kotche (just ahead of two Wilco gigs in Japan), other artists from the album, and “special guests.” Ready for the track/set list?

All Kinds of People ~Love Burt Bacharach~

1. Close To You (Haruomi Hosono)
2. Always Something There To Remind Me (Thurston Moore)
3. Anonymous Phone Call (Jim O’Rourke)
4. After The Fox (Akira Sakata, Masaya Nakahara)
5. You’ll Never Get To Heaven (Aoyama Youiti)
6. Do You Know The Way To San Jose (Kahimi Karie)
7. Don’t Make Me Over (Kosaka Tadashi, Jim O’Rourke)
8. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head (Koike Mitsuko)
9. I Say A Little Prayer (Yoshimi)
10. Trains And Boats And Planes (Jim O’Rourke)
11. Walk On By (Donna Taylor)