Kanye West Doing Coffee Table Book, "VH1 Storytellers"

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Real talk: Kanye West's 2008 Glow in the Dark tour was the sort of pop spectacle we don't get to see nearly often enough anymore. It was a conceptually rigorous, utterly batshit concert-as-narrative that found Kanye ignoring the crowd and instead talking to a fake spaceship computer with Esthero's voice. The special effects were nuts, the stage design looked incredibly expensive, and the rearranged songs found room for kettle drums on every track. No other rap star in history would conceive of an arena tour in which he was the only guy visible onstage for a full two hours, and Kanye absolutely pulled it off.

This thing was closer to Disney World's Star Tours ride than it was to, say, Jay-Z's Hard Knock Life tour. Actually, it was probably closer to some old-school art-rock eyeball-destroyer like Bowie's Glass Spiders tour than it was to either of those. Also Rihanna's opening set ruled. I loved it. And now Kanye's turning it into a book.

The way E! Online describes it, the forthcoming Glow in the Dark tome will be a sort of deluxe coffee table thing with photos and conceptual sketches and set lists. The book will also include a CD of the symphonic interlude-music from the show and an interview with Spike Jonze (co-director of the "Flashing Lights" video). Rizzoli New York is set to publish the book in October.

In other Kanye news, on February 13 he'll tape an episode of "VH1 Storytellers" in Los Angeles. When Kanye's mentor Jay-Z taped an episode of the same show about a year and a half ago, all the anecdotes were misremembered scenes from gangster movies, and it was sort of lame. But Kanye's got basically none of Jay's filter, and he loves to talk, so this thing will probably rule. A contest on his website will give away about 80 tickets to fan club members.

MP3: Kanye West: Love Lockdown (Flying Lotus Remix)
Video: Kanye West: Various songs [live at the Inauguration Youth Ball]