Xiu Xiu, BARR, Grouper Get Artsy-Fartsy
As do Lucky Dragons, Woelv, This Song Is a Mess but So Am I

According to Xiu Xiu historian and archivist David Horvitz, the band contributes a "sound sculpture" to the Horvitz-curated art show "Is That All There Is to Fire?", running from February 24-March 31 at Los Angeles' High Energy Constructs space. The show, like many art shows before it, celebrates boredom-- only deliberately.

Ironically, this boredom-influenced showcase should be anything but. In addition to their sound sculpture, Xiu Xiu will perform live, as will Creepshow partner in crime Grouper, sing-talker BARR, Freddy Ruppert (aka noise terrorist This Song Is a Mess but So Am I), and trippy Californians Lucky Dragons. Geneviève Castrée, aka Woelv, aka Phil Elverum's French Canadian wifey, will contribute a vocal recording.

Art comes courtesy of folks like BARR's Brendan Fowler (who contributes a "text piece"), Uta Barth, Krysten Cunningham, Ken Ehrlich, Zack Houston, Brandon Lattu, Lindsay Ljungkull, John Sisley, Mia Nolting, Miya Osaki, Mylinh Trieu, and Horvitz himself. Barth, Ehrlich, and Horvitz share writings on boredom as well, as do Linda Theung and Lia Trinka-Browner.

MP3: Xiu Xiu: Boy Soprano [from the The Air Force LP]

Video: Deerhunter: "Strange Lights"

Get psyched (and psychedelic) for the January 29 Kranky release of the new Deerhunter album Cryptograms with the video for the lovely "Strange Lights". Directed by James Sumner, the clip features a swirl of colorful (and, yes, sometimes strange) lights projected onto frontman Bradford Cox. It induces the warm, fuzzy kind of headache one gets after a rollercoaster ride.

For something completely different, check out Sumner's take on the abrasive Cryptograms track "Lake Somerset". Recommended for anyone who likes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So recommended for everybody.

Deerhunter have a busy few months ahead, with plans to hit SXSW and open for the Ponys in April. But first, they have a few shows scheduled later this month and then in early March, when they'll open for Sparklehorse and Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter. [MORE...]

Calexico, Rogue Wave, Pink Mt'tops on Charity Comp
Also: The Faint, Bettie Serveert, Creeper Lagoon, Boyskout

At the Crossroads: A Benefit for Homeless Youth collects unreleased, hard-to-find, and classic jams from a number of indie favorites, including Calexico (who contribute their version of "All the Pretty Horses", only available prior on a tour EP), Rogue Wave (with a new tune called "Basketball"), Pink Mountaintops (who serve up the unreleased "The Solo Sex") and the Faint (who share Wet From Birth's "I Disappear").

Other contributors include indie old-timers Creeper Lagoon and Bettie Serveert, as well as solid Three Ring acts like Boyskout, the Ebb and Flow, Scrabbel, and the Scattered PAGES (who deliver an innocuously faithful rendition of the Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want", which you may download below).

The compilation hits stores January 9 and every single one of the 12 dollars you spend on it goes directly to At the Crossroads, a San Francisco-based "Street Youth Support Program" that "reaches out to homeless youth and young adults at their point of need, and works with them to build healthy and fulfilling lives." [MORE...]

MP3: The Scattered PAGES: Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want [from the At the Crossroads compilation]

Amon Tobin Meets Kronos Quartet in Foley Room

Stream: Amon Tobin: Various Tracks

Grizzly Bear Yellow House Film Sync Discovered!

Seems Yellow House syncs cinematically after all, according to the unnamed blogger behind 12 Computers (so named in honor of an apparent OK Computer/12 Monkeys sync). 12C has discovered that the Grizzlies' sophomore LP aligns in all-too-convenient fashion with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's 1995 dark fantasy flick La Cité des Enfants Perdus (aka The City of Lost Children).

The eerie, visually-dazzling French film stars Ron Perlman as a sub-literate circus strongman who befriends a young street urchin and embarks on a quest to save his "little brother" from a diabolical inventor, his midget wife, and their hapless cloned henchmen. Jeunet went on to direct Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, aka Amélie, which is probably your favorite film ever, as it should be.

The evidence for a Lost Children/Yellow House sync is fairly compelling: track titles like "Little Brother" seem to directly reference characters in the film, songs begin and end in tandem with scenes, and ambiguous lyrics apply rather aptly in the filmic context to City's protagonists, antagonists, and dramatic situations. Check out the detailed run-down from 12 Computers, who goes so far as to wager that the sync is deliberate.

The blogger has also discovered a somewhat more dubious sync between Thom Yorke's The Eraser and Stanley Kubrick's dark comedy classic Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Looks like my Friday night plans have been made!

As previously reported, Grizzly Bear bring their Yellow House love to lost children in cities across the U.S. and Canada beginning next month. Oh! And apparently if you play Yellow House backwards it will subliminally coerce you into killing Paul and worshipping Satan. [MORE...]

MP3: Grizzly Bear: Lullabye [Infinite Mixtape #32; from the Yellow House LP]

Chin Up Chin Up, Bobby Conn Play Robbins Benefit

Last month, DeSoto Records revealed that Callum Robbins, the ten-month-old son of J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Channels) and Janet Morgan (Channels) had been diagnosed with Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Fans were urged to donate to help offset the family's medical bills.

Well, you really came through this time. Over the holidays, J. Robbins posted on his website, thanking donors and the fine folks at DeSoto for their assistance. As a result of the support the Robbins family has received so far, Callum is soon to be the proud owner of "his first adaptive high chair/play chair...one that supports his back and trunk and will help him make the most of his limited arm mobility."

But the outreach doesn't stop there. A Robbins benefit show has been scheduled for January 27 at Chicago's Empty Bottle, with all proceeds going to J and his family.

Artists lined up to play the event include Chin Up Chin Up, Bobby Conn, the Life and Times, Red Eyed Legends, and more to be announced, including a "surprise special guest". Purchase tickets here.

Also, we'd like to note that DeSoto bought back the rights from Atlantic to re-release Jawbox's final two albums, For Your Own Special Sweetheart and Jawbox. They are now available on iTunes.

MP3: Channels: Chivaree [from the Open EP]

Walkmen Announce Australian, U.S. Tours

The Walkmen are going to have to pick up the pace to at least a jog (and later, a swim) if they want to make it to Australia by next month...and then back to the States just a few days later.

The New Yorkers have announced that they will tour Down Under in late February and early March, playing a few club shows before and after a three-day stint at the St. Jeromes Laneway Festival. Then, they'll spend most of March crossing the U.S. with recent Merge signees the Broken West (formerly the Brokedown) and L.A. act Ferraby Lionheart. [MORE...]

Stream: The Walkmen: All My Life [from the Pussy Cats LP]

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks Launch Tour

Now departing for Sunrise, Florida, with layovers up and down the West Coast and in New York City, is the indie rock mothership known as Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, now joined by co-pilot Janet Weiss.

Honestly, it's been so long since they toured this extensively that it might be hard for us to remember what Malkmus looks like...if weren't for those heart-shaped magazine tear-outs plastered on our walls.

As previously reported, the crew kick things off this evening with a performance in San Francisco. Starting tomorrow, Malkmus & the Jicks will meet up with Entrance (aka Guy Blakeslee) and his touring band, who will open the rest of the trek.

Malkmus & the Jicks also have appearances scheduled at both the PLUG Awards and Langerado Music Festival. [MORE...]

MP3: Stephen Malkmus: Various Tracks

Trail of Dead Announce UK Tour

Save one cancellation and an onstage intra-band brawl, ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead came out of their winter mega-trek with the Blood Brothers relatively unscathed.

Now, they're preparing to test their luck again, only this time in the UK. Conrad Keely & co. will make their way across the pond in mid-February, and they promise additional European dates in the near future.

In the meantime, we advise you to scope out Trail of Dead's renaissance faire-evoking website. [MORE...]

Stream: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Worlds Apart [from the Worlds Apart LP]

Ponys, Flosstradamus, Bound Stems Rock Schubas Fest
Also: French Kicks, Dirty on Purpose, Dr. Dog, Benjy Ferree, Headlights, All Smiles

That doesn't, however, make the impetus behind Schubas' latest annual Tomorrow Never Knows festival any less valid. Easily one of Chicago's finest intimate live venues-- and now refreshingly smoke-free-- Schubas put the fest together again this year to celebrate choice acts from afar alongside the brightest local talent for five nights of rock-away-your- winter-woes goodness.

Leading the charge for the 2007 fest, which kicks off January 10, are local heroes the Ponys (who just signed to Matador and have a new LP on the way March 20), DJ phenoms Flosstradamus (who whipped up an afternoon dance party at the Pitchfork Music Festival) and Bound Stems (whose "Western Biographic" made Pitchfork's Infinite Mixtape). Other highlights include New York stalwarts French Kicks, Domino-signed DC dude Benjy Ferree, Philly blues rockers Dr. Dog, New York dream-poppers Dirty on Purpose, Polyvinyl pop-dreamers Headlights, ex-Granddaddy guy Jim Fairchild's All Smiles, and Indiana-spawned orchestral mopers Margot & the Nuclear So and So's.

Chicago acts on the rise like Office, Mucca Pazza, Skybox, and a pair of M's side projects (Brooklyn Bridegrooms and Sano) round out the action-packed bills while the Second City's top crop DJs (including Flosstradamus) work the decks at after-parties. Those with insatiable rock appetites can even check out several all-ages afternoon events featuring performers from Paul Green's Chicago branch of the School of Rock Music, an actual school of, you guessed it, rock music.

Get yr tickets here and check yr umbrellas at the door. [MORE...]

MP3: Bound Stems: Western Biographic [Infinite Mixtape #44; from the Appreciation Night LP]

Crunk Hits Gets Vol. 3, Joined by Hyphy Hitz
Get low and go dumb simultaneously!

Jonny Greenwood Curates Trojan Records Reggae Comp

Radiohead still have nothing to discuss regarding their upcoming record, but you guys need yr fix, so we've got some Jonny Greenwood news.

On March 6, the guitarist/multi-instrumentalist will release a reggae compilation via Trojan Records. Titled Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller, it is the latest disc in the label's lengthy series of artist-curated comps.

Jahnny worked alongside Trojan on the project, utilizing selections from their mammoth catalog. He chose 17 tracks, including material from Lee "Scratch" Perry, Desmond Dekker, the Heptones, and more. [MORE...]

Stream: The Heptones: Cool Rasta [from the Cool Rasta LP]

MP3: Justice: "Phantom Part I"

MP3: Justice: Phantom Part I [MySpace]

Love Is All, Long Blondes on Label Comp
Plus caUSE co-MOTION!, Comet Gain

The wee little label that could, NYC-based upstart imprint What's Your Rupture? got the jump on all those older, more experienced indie labels, introducing U.S. audiences to top-shelf acts from abroad and Pitchfork favorites like Love Is All and the Long Blondes through a series of vinyl EPs. Ever charitable, they also nodded to homebred lo-fi spazz-rockers caUSE co-MOTION! and spirited UK vets Comet Gain. Now all four acts and their respective EPs come bundled together on one convenient little piece of CD plastic.

Imagine the Shapes collects the first four What's Your Rupture? vinyl EPs onto CD-- 14 tracks in all-- and arrives February 6. If, like WYR?, you're one to think ahead, flex your foresight and preorder it now right here.

Believe it or not, this will mark the first time the Long Blondes-- whose Someone to Drive You Home snuck into our Top 50 Albums of 2006, despite the fact that we, er, haven't actually reviewed it yet-- appear on CD in the States.

If the news of this comp has you so excited you just can't contain yourself, bottle that energy and unleash it on the dancefloor at Imagine the Shapes' record release show, going down February 4 at Los Angeles' the Echo, as part of the Part Time Punks club night. caUSE co-MOTION! will perform, the kids will convulse, and the DJ will spin the Imagine comp in between sets if he/she knows what's good for him/her. caUSE co-MOTION tour the nation beginning next week; keep your browsers tuned to Pitchforkmedia.com for details. [MORE...]

Stream: Imagine the Shapes: Various Tracks

Enslaved Tour North America

Stream: Enslaved: Various Tracks

Justin K. Broadrick Talks New Jesu Album, Tour
Plus exclusive MP3

For someone who's known as one of the godfathers of experimental extreme metal, Justin K. Broadrick is a pretty happy guy. Or at least he sure seemed that way when he spoke to Pitchfork recently about his current band, Jesu, which also includes bassist Diarmuid Dalton and drummer Ted Parsons. The former Napalm Death/Head of David/Godflesh/Techno Animal member was chatty as a schoolgirl when discussing Jesu's upcoming album and North American tour with Isis, not to mention his slew of other projects.

The second Jesu album, Conqueror, comes out on Hydra Head on February 20 in the United States, February 19 in the UK and Europe, February 2 in Japan, and February 27 in the rest of the world. (Whew.) The Japanese version will be amended with a bonus disc containing the songs "Sun Down" and "Sun Rise", originally released on a limited edition vinyl EP on Aurora Borealis. The vinyl version of Conqueror comes out February 27 on Conspiracy Records.

The appropriately epic title track can be heard by downloading the exclusive mp3 below. [MORE...]

MP3: Jesu: Conqueror [from the forthcoming Conqueror LP]

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.)