Dr. Dre, Hollywood Producer

Now Dr. Dre has one more activity to help him procrastinate the recording/releasing of Detox: making movies. The good doctor and New Line Cinema have agreed to a multiyear feature deal, with Dre producing "dark comedies" before moving onto "other areas, such as horror," according to Variety.com. No word yet on whether or not he will journey into anything a little less morbid.

Dre has created a film company called Crucial Films (huge out-of-court settlement ahead!) to accommodate his new position, and he will deal heavily with the music aspects of his films. Phillip Atwell, the director of many Aftermath music videos, will co-produce with Dre, and it was New Line's Toby Emmerich who approached him a year ago about the move to movies. "He said, 'I want to be your Jimmy Iovine.' There was nothing more he needed to say," Dre said to Variety. But doesn't Dre already have a Jimmy Iovine?

Klaxons recently told MTV News UK that they would love to record an r&b album with the producer, but with this deal in place, we assume they'll get about the same treatment he gave the Game.

Akron/Family Launch U.S., European Tour

Akron/Family are gearing up to take 2006's Meek Warrior (Young God) on the road, both in the U.S. and Europe.

Tonight, the Fam kicks off the journey's stateside leg with a students-only show at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. They'll hit many more colleges (and a few clubs, too) before wrapping up the North American portion of the jaunt in mid-March. In April, Akron/Family will make their way to Europe.

As previously reported, the four-piece contributed to Do Make Say Think's forthcoming album, You, You're a History in Rust, which is due via Constellation on February 12 in Europe and February 26 everywhere else.

In other guest artist news, Akron/Family recently informed their MySpace blog readers that Balitmore's Lexie Mountain Boys lent vocals to their new album and "the hoedown freak-out soul-clap meter shot up to 11!" [MORE...]

Apples in Stereo Expand, Kick Off Tour

With New Magnetic Wonder (Simian/Elephant 6/Yep Roc) now in stores, the Apples in Stereo are launching a lengthy North American tour, most of which will be spent with pals Casper & the Cookies. They'll play two gigs in Lexington, Kentucky tonight: an instore slot early this evening at CD Central and, following that, a show at the Dame.

Apples have built up their trek since we last reported, and it now runs beyond SXSW, wrapping up in early April. They'll make an appearance at ATP Versus the Fans event in May as well.

In addition, the band is scheduled to perform on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on February 14. Valentine's Day canoodling with Conan after last year's late night Colbert affair, Robert Schneider? We're very disappointed in you! [MORE...]

Electrelane Ready Fourth LP, Tour With the Blow

Echoing Mr. Yorke's famous plea against alarms and surprises, the UK-spawned, Berlin-based ladies of Electrelane ask for No Shouts, No Calls on their fourth long-player.

The 11-track set follows up last fall's Singles, B-Sides & Live collection and 2005's Axes and arrives May 8 in the U.S. via Too Pure. According to the band's website, UK residents will see it on record store shelves in late April, while lucky Japan gets the disc first, in early April.

The quartet-- which includes Pitchfork contributer Mia Lily Clarke on guitar-- has a big show lined up at London's Scala on May 9, and will cross the pond for a series of U.S. dates with the Blow later that month. If you'd like to make a request during one of these gigs, however, would you kindly use sign language or make a poster or something? Thanks, dudes. [MORE...]

Lusine Recruits Tejada, Dear, Apparat for Remix Album
Also: Spectral kicks off Death series, North American "residencies"

Seattle techno producer Jeff McIlwain, aka Lusine, will release an album of remixes on March 20 via Ghostly International. The CD/digital version of the collection is titled Podgelism and features remixes of Lusine by John Tejada, Matthew Dear, Apparat, Lawrence, Robag Wruhme, and Lusine himself, among others. Ghostly will also release an abbreviated 12" version titled Podgelism: Select Remixes, which features four of the most dancefloor-oriented remixes. It is also scheduled for a March 20 release. Doug Seay's video for "Still Frame" will come with the CD.

Speaking of Ghostly's danceable side, counterpart label Spectral Sound will release the first 12" in the Death Is Nothing to Fear series on February 20. Death Is Nothing to Fear 1 features Audion (aka Matthew Dear) on the A-side and Bodycode and newcomer Pär Grindvik on the B.

Dear is currently on a North American tour under his Audion alias. His remaining DJ dates continue through March, and Spectral is calling them the first installment of a bi-monthly North American "residency", which sort of sounds like a regular old tour to us. April and May's "residency" will feature Bodycode. [MORE...]

Spiritualized's Pierce Returns to Earth for UK Tour
New Spiritualized album due in 2007

Things are looking up for Jason Pierce, Spiritualized principal and Spacemen 3 pilot. Having battled back from a bout with "advanced periorbital cellulitis with bilateral pneumonia" in summer 2005, Pierce returned to the road last fall with his special "Acoustic Mainlines" tour. Dude must like that road almost as much as he loves the cosmos, because he's at it again.

This April, the Spiritualized "Acoustic Mainlines" tour lands in five UK cities (including one Dirty Three-curated All Tomorrow's Parties engagement). Joining Jason for these gigs-- at which he'll play material from both the Spiritualized and Spacemen 3 catalogues, as well as covers-- are a string quartet, gospel singers, and Spiritualized guitarist Doggen on Rhodes electric piano.

Meanwhile, J. Spaceman continues work on the long-awaited new Spiritualized album, presently set for release later this year. It's the one he called "the work of the devil...with a little guidance from me" in a press release.

Pierce also joins Massive Attack as a special guest at tonight's Brixton Academy gig in London, a benefit show to raise money for the HOPING Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping children in Palestinian refugee camps. Actually, Pierce is probably up there massively tripping out onstage as you read this. [MORE...]

Exclusive: LCD Soundsystem Announce Tour

Prepare, North American scum: LCD Soundsystem is coming our way. James Murphy and his disco machine have announced a post-Coachella trek across the continent (with a couple of hometown NYC warm-up shows beforehand). Peppered in between full-band gigs will be DJ sets by Murphy and bandmate Pat Mahoney in various cities. (All of the venues for those DJ sets are yet to be announced, however.)

"North American Scum", the first video from LCD Soundsystem's new album Sound of Silver is on display over in Forkcast right now.

And Murphy's quest to send the album to number one on the Billboard 200? Well, the number one album this week (Norah Jones' Not Too Late) sold 400,000 copies according to Billboard.com. Better get to work winning over soccer moms, James. [MORE...]

Panda Bear Reveals Earth-Shattering Three-Date Tour
UPDATE: Tour Is Actually a Gargantuan FIVE DATES LONG

With Person Pitch already poised for a year-end list takeover (we know, it's not even March yet, but we can't contain ourselves), Panda Bear has announced a whopping three-date tour that doesn't kick off for another whopping four months. But whatever dudes! We're still five whopping shades of excited right now.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Aaron Savage, we have learned that Panda Bear has two English dates scheduled as well: one in London on March 8 and one in Manchester on March 9.

Noah Lennox, as the zookeepers know him, leaves the panda den on June 21 in search of bamboo and merriment. Hopefully he'll sate his appetites in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New York City, because that's it for his present travel itinerary. Afterwards he returns to the den to get back to work on the next Animal Collective record or play croquet or do whatever he does while listening to Beach Boys records in his free time.

As previously reported, Person Pitch razzle-dazzles 'em on March 20 via Paw Tracks. FatCat also treats U.S. and Canadian record-buyers to a 12" of "Bros" on February 21.

Meanwhile, Noah's partner in Animal Collective crime, Avey Tare, hits us with his previously mentioned collaboration with ex-Múm gal Kria Brekkan on April 24. It's called Pullhair Rubeye and Paw Tracks claims all responsibility for this one as well. [MORE...]

Feist Tracklist Revealed

At last, we can finally gaze longingly, thrillingly at Leslie Feist's shapely, beautiful, luscious...tracklist. Yup, all thirteen songs on the previously reported The Reminder, due April 23 worldwide, and May 1 in Canada and the U.S.A., have been revealed. And boy are they SEXY. In a girl-next-door, best friend kind of way.

OK, not really.

The album was produced by Feist, Gonzales, and Renaud Letang.

Thanks to reader Scott Pollack for the tip. [MORE...]

Sufjan Reviews My Brightest Diamond Gig
UPDATE: Also reviews Curtains show that same night

Looks like two can play this review game: newly bearded Sufjan Stevens ditched the wings and donned his critic's cap, today posting a live review on Asthmatic Kitty's website of a January 17 show at New York's Tonic. The performer? None other than bandmate/labelmate/BFF My Brightest Diamond.

(UPDATE: It seems that Mr. Stevens had a very busy evening on January 17. He also reviewed the Curtains show at Cake Shop that same night for the Asthmatic Kitty website. Sorry we missed that the first time!)

Before you raise the conflict-of-interest flags, however, note that while Asthmatic bills the piece as a "Live Review", it's really more of a heartfelt appreciation-- a platform upon which Sufjan extolls the musical virtues of Shara Worden, ponders the metaphysics of show-going and having so many friends, and geeks out like the classically trained musician he is (OMG Interlochen!). We already know Sufjan has some lit game, and here he flosses it with eloquence.

Sufjan also discussed openers Soovin Kim (violin) and Jeremy Denk (piano), who rocked some Charles Ives compositions-- "This, thankfully, dampens the party vibe in the room," said Sufjan-- and avant-pianist Gabriel Kahane, whose pieces included "a meandering lieder based on Craigslist entries." Stevens approached the young man afterwards: "By the bar, I tell him it would make a stunning Broadway show. Better than Cats. I regret saying it. Gabriel looks mortified. Have I dampened the party vibe even further?"

Hahaha, that Sufjan, always so self-deprecating! Hah. Hah. Anyway.

Of Worden, Sufjan wrote, "Shara is one of a kind. With the elegance and responsibility of a great performer, she reconciles the academia of Ives with the jousting of Broadway without even trying. Her songs draw you in, settle in your gut, stick with you for days, but without the ordinary flourishes of pop music, or the formal pageantry of classical music."

Read Sufjan's entire five-paragraph essay here.

Oh, and our Suf-radars tell us that Mr. Stevens is fast approaching from several directions: he covers "Free Man in Paris" on that Joni Mitchell tribute, out April 24, joins pals Rosie Thomas and Denison Witmer for some tunes on Rosie's These Friends of Mine, out now digitally and next month physically, and performs-- along with My Brightest Diamond-- at the previously reported Music Now festival (Cincinnati; April 5-7). Sufjan also plays Grand Rapids' Calvin College on March 30 and appears in the Danielson movie, coming to DVD April 10. Whew.

Finally, My Brightest Diamond, as you know, hits the road next month with the Decemberists. Prior to that she bounds across Europe with elegance and responsibility and stuff like that. [MORE...]

Bonde do Role Announce Album Details, Tour
Album title: Bonde do Role With Lasers

Lasers! LASERS!!!

Bonde do Role are mastering their debut album, Bonde do Role With Lasers, for a June 5 release on Domino. Because everything is made better by the addition of lasers.

Contrary to a previous report, the "Solta o Frango" single will come out digitally and as a 7" on March 19 in the UK. In the U.S., CD and 12" versions of the single will follow on March 20. The single will come with the original, instrumental, and a cappella versions of the song, and the U.S. version will have a bonus track titled "Rap do CB".

You can watch a behind-the-scenes "making of" clip about the "Solta o Frango" clip here. And check out a Pitchfork exclusive remix of "Gasolina" here.

Bonde also have a tour coming up. It starts with four dates in London, three of which are on the same night. When it's time to party, Bonde party hard. [MORE...]

Shins Kick Off Tour, Stay in Top 10

The Shins have a Top 10 album for the second week in a row. After debuting at number 2 on the Billboard 200 last week, their new album Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop) is number 8 this week, with 53,000 copies sold, according to Billboard.com.

Congrats, guys! You sold more than the latest Madonna CD/DVD.

The pop stars will take their show on the road, as their tour with Viva Voce kicks off tonight in Minneapolis.

As previously reported, the Shins are also scheduled to play KCRW's sixth annual A Sounds Eclectic Evening fundraiser in L.A. this April. Additional performers include Lily Allen, the Cold War Kids, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Bitter: Sweet, and the Pinker Tones.

Dates:

02-08 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
02-09 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom *
02-10 Chicago, IL - Congress Theater *
02-11 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant *
02-12 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall *
02-13 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall *
02-15 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium *
02-16 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue *
02-17 Boise, ID - Egyptian Theatre *
02-18 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre *
02-19 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom *
02-20 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater *
02-21 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
02-25 London, England - The Astoria
02-26 London, England - Bush Hall
04-14 Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheatre (KCRW: A Sounds Eclectic Evening 6)

* with Viva Voce

Ghostface Guests on "30 Rock" (Again), Plays Poker

Don't call it a comeback: Ghostface Killah will appear on the NBC show "30 Rock" for a second time when he joins Tina Fey and co. in an episode tentatively scheduled for early March. UPDATE: THE EPISODE WILL AIR MARCH 1 AT 9:30 PM EST.

His first appearance was in November on an episode titled "Jack-tor", where he played himself and rapped on a song called "Muffin Top". BONUS: DOWNLOAD A SNIPPET OF "MUFFIN TOP" FEATURING GHOSTFACE BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW!

For his cameo in this new episode, titled "The Source Awards", he will again play himself. He will also rap again, this time in a music video directed by a hip hop producer named Ridikolus--played by LL Cool J. Apparently, Alec Baldwin's character is putting out a line of wines, and this music video is an attempt to give the wines street cred. Wayne Brady also guests in the episode.

In other Ghostface news, today he is supposed to launch GFKpoker.com, a site for hip hop fans to play hold 'em alongside himself, Theodore Unit's Shawn Wiggs, Hot 97's Angie Martinez, and Mike Caruso, Ghostface's manager and executive producer. The site hasn't gone live yet, but as soon as it does, all Pitchfork News updates should be expected to come to a grinding halt.

SXSW Reveals Preliminary Lineup
Mogwai, Spoon, Walkmen, Diplo, Andrew Bird, Peaches, Junior Boys, Vashti Bunyan aboard

Guess that makes all those other announcements pre-preliminary, eh? But holy smokes people, here we go: South by Southwest, that Austin orgy of film, music, panels, and general mayhem, has announced the "preliminary lineup" for the music portion of its 2007 SXSW bash. And by preliminary lineup, they mean enough bands to make your eyes bleed and your brain turn to stew.

As you well know, the music showcases go down March 14-18 at pretty much every venue, bar, high school gymnasium, parking lot, patio, racquetball court, bingo hall, and crawlspace in Texas' capitol city.

Apart from the mess of previously mentioned folks, some more acts we're especially excited about: Aesop Rock, Annuals, Architecture in Helsinki, Apostle of Hustle, Arbouretum, Asobi Seksu, Au Revoir Simone, Andrew Bird, Bonde do Role, Vashti Bunyan, Busdriver, Cage, Diplo, El-P, the Faint, Flosstradamus, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, Hella, Daniel Johnston, Junior Boys, Amy Millan, Mogwai, Okkervil River, Peaches, Sage Francis, Spoon, and the Walkmen.

Not too many eyebrow-raisers yet, but we do have the reunited Meat Puppets and legendary country singer Charlie Louvin to look forward to.

Also of note (pull up a chair, whydoncha?): Keren Ann, An Albatross, the Ark, Bat for Lashes, the Besnard Lakes, Jello Biafra, the Bird and the Bee, Bishop Allen, the Black Angels, Black Lips, BOAT, Boom Bip, the Broken West, Ane Brun, Buck 65, Burning Star Core, Cadence Weapon, Calla, Call Me Lightning, Catfish Haven, Castanets, Charalambides, Chin Up Chin Up, Clem Snide, Cloud Cult, Cracker, Jill Cunniff (of Luscious Jackson), Cyann & Ben, Daedelus, Dan Deacon, Rob Crow, Daughters, Daylight's for the Birds, the Dears, Devin the Dude, the Diableros, Dirty on Purpose, Dirty Projectors, Dosh, Earl Greyhound, Earlimart, Erase Errata, Evangelicals, Field Music, the Frames, the Fratellis, the Gossip, Albert Hammond Jr., Micah P. Hinson, Robyn Hitchcock--

*deep breath*

--okay, continuing: Holy Fuck, the Horrors, I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness, Jana Hunter, Frida Hyvönen, Indian Jewelry, Imperial Teen, Georgie James (ex-Q and Not U), Jel, Junior Senior, Kaki King, Kid Sister, the Ladybug Transistor, the Little Ones, Loney, Dear, the Long Winters, Macromantics, Magik Markers, Malajube, the Manhattan Love Suicides, Marit Larsen, Willy Mason, Masta Killa, Matt & Kim, Midlake, Mika Miko, the Mooney Suzuki, the M's, MSTRKRFT, My Brightest Diamond, Marissa Nadler, Nina Nastasia & Jim White, New Violators, Nomo, Oh No! Oh My!, Oxford Collapse, the Pack, Page France, Panthers, Peter and the Wolf, Ariel Pink, Plan B (UK), +/-, Ponytail, Pony Up, the Postmarks, Rafter, Razorlight, Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Pete Rock, Rock Plaza Central, the Rosebuds, the Rumble Strips, Satellite Party, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Shapes and Sizes, Shearwater, Six Parts Seven, Sloan, Snowden, Sole, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Richard Swift, Talkdemonic, These Arms Are Snakes, 31Knots, Thunderbirds Are Now!, Tilly and the Wall, Times New Viking, Mary Timony, Tokyo Police Club, Tullycraft, Tunng, the Twilight Sad, Under Byen, Chad VanGaalen, the View, WinterKids, Working for a Nuclear Free City, and the Young Knives.

Oh, right, and also: the Bravery, Birdmonster, Chromeo, Cold War Kids, Sound Team, the Presets, and, wait for it...Taylor Hicks.

Check out the complete preliminary lineup here, bearing in mind this is all void where prohibited and subject to change and whatnot. And stay tuned: a night-by-night schedule with set times and venues should crop up in the near future.

Add to all this, of course, the film festival taking place during the days leading up to the music showcases. SXSW has announced the complete schedule, which includes screenings of over 100 motion pictures. Music-related potential highlights include the previously mentioned Scott Walker documentary 30 Century Man and Jandek flick, a Silver Jews doc (details forthcoming!), and films about James Blunt's former life as a soldier, the last days of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, a rap producer overcoming a crack addiction (featuring Method Man and Akon), "America's first all-female mariachi band," and "the raunchiest country music singer in America." Details here.

Antony Collaborates With All Sentient Life, Plans New Album

Despite the lack of any concrete news regarding a follow-up to 2005's I Am a Bird Now, Antony has been a very busy man over the past year or so, and his schedule doesn't look to let up at all in the future. In fact, he's doing so much that it's almost impossible to keep up. Fortunately, a Secretly Canadian website update offers a peek into Antony's diary:

Today

Bask in the glow of successful collaborations with Lou Reed (those "Berlin" concerts -- New York City ones soon to be made into a Julian Schnabel-produced film), Joan as Police Woman (as backing vocalist on last year's Real Life), and Current 93's Michael Cashmore (on mini-album The Snow Abides, along with Cashmore's bandmate David Tibet).

Rewatch both movies from last year that featured my songs with the Johnsons: Alessandro Angelini's L'Aria Salata and Paolo Sorrentino's L'Amico di Famiglia.

Continue editing the film version of "Turning" with Charles Atlas. Wonder how we will cut over sixty hours of touring and interview footage.

February 24-25

Wish conductor Gavin Bryars and the singers and musicians of Opera North the best in their performances of my and composer Nico Muhly's score for one of Shakespeare's sonnets. Send a thank-you note to the Royal Shakespeare Company, and try to make it to the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for one of the concerts if I can.

March 9

Play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra. Not sure if Muhly's directing or not, but collaborating with him for this show sure was swell.

Spring

New albums! Buy Björk's new one, which features my duet with her, and continue recording my third album with the Johnsons. Try to expand upon my current theme: "ghosts and nature."

Tour Europe?

Summer

Visit Belsay Manor to see how the sound installation I worked on with William Basinski turned out.

Buy new bathing suit.

Will Sheff "Talks" Lost Voice, New Okkervil Album
"I've spent stretches of several days where I only talk with a pad of paper and a pen."

As reported earlier this week, one too many emotive yelps sent poor Will Sheff's voice a-packing. Vocal chord strain forced the Okkervil River frontman to to cancel his solo tour with Josh Ritter and suspend work on the band's new album.

Figuring Sheff might be trolling the interweb a little more frequently right now, Pitchfork caught up with the man for a brief e-mail interview, in which he revealed what happened to that expressive voice of his, what fans can expect from the new LP, and just how definitive the Black Sheep Boy Definitive Edition (out March 6 on Jagjaguwar) is.

But first, that lost voice: Following several months of intense touring last fall, Okkervil River set to work preparing for the new album. "We rehearsed every day, four hours a day for about a month," wrote Will. "An unintended and painfully ironic consequence of all that work was that, by the time I stood in front of a microphone to record the vocals for the record, I could barely get a sound out of my mouth."

Sheff visited an ear, nose, and throat doctor-- "he had all these signed head-shots of local opera singers hanging on the wall"-- for the first time in his life. As the specialist told Will, while things could have been worse, "my vocal chords were inflamed and fatigued and I'd developed a couple other problems that just had to do with using my voice too much. He put me on two different medications and prescribed a month of vocal rest."

"Since then," Will told Pitchfork, "we've stopped all work on the record and I've just been sitting around Austin waiting, trying to use my voice as little as possible."

It hasn't been easy. "I've spent stretches of several days where I only talk with a pad of paper and a pen. Whenever I'd go to the grocery store or something, I'd run into friends; they'd walk up to say hello and I'd have to stick a pad of paper in their face with the words 'Sorry - I lost my voice!' on it, and they'd say, 'oh!' and try to ask me a few questions about it. I'd try to scrawl a few responses down before we'd both kind of back away from each other wearing embarrassed looks." [MORE...]

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)