66 Recent ItemsGoldfrapp Ride a White Horse on New EP
Goldfrapp are mining their 2005 album Supernature for yet another release, the Ride a White Horse EP, due this coming Tuesday, February 6 on CD and the Tuesday after that, February 13, digitally, both via Mute.
The Horse EP includes five versions of its title track, including remixes by Serge Santiágo, Ewan Pearson, and two from Francois K--solo and with Eric Kupper. It also features a cover of the Ordinary Boys' "Boys Will Be Boys".
In addition, the enhanced disc boasts the "Ride a White Horse" video, as well as London concert footage of the song.
For a sneak peek, check out this e-card. It comes complete with audio, video, and a carousel of bluish-white horses that look like they just left an ice sculpture exhibit. [MORE...]
Coldplay Prep Singles Box Set, Tour
Coldplay have announced the release of a singles box set, the wittily titled The Singles 1999-2006. Have they really only been around seven years?
The collection, due internationally on March 26, features all 14 of the band's singles, including six that have never before been released on 7" vinyl: The Blue Room EP, "Don't Panic" (previously unreleased in the UK), "In My Place", "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" (previously unreleased in the UK), "What If" (previously unreleased in the UK), and "The Hardest Part".
Each single will be pressed on heavyweight 7" vinyl and sleeved in its original artwork. There will not be a CD release.
In other news, Coldplay have a handful of South American and Mexican tour dates on the agenda. They'll kick things off on February 14 in Santiago, Chile.
As previously reported, Brian Eno is producing the next Coldplay album, according to an interview he did with BBC Radio 4's Kristy Lang last week.
Finally, Coldplay have been nominated for two Grammys, in the categories of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for "Talk" and "Talk (Thin White Duke mix)", respectively. [MORE...]
Xiu Xiu and Sunset Rubdown to Tour Together
What could be better than a Xiu Xiu tour or a Sunset Rubdown tour? How about a Xiu Xiu/Sunset Rubdown tour?! So much emoting it hurts!!
From April 12-24, the bands will trek across North America together for ten shows, all with Young People person Katie Eastburn opening. Before the big dates, however, Xiu Xiu will get some practice in with a trek with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Shearwater starting in late March.
Sunset Rubdown, on the other hand, will keep on keeping on after Xiu Xiu drop off the joint trek, wrapping the rounds up with Eastburn at their side.
As previously reported, Xiu Xiu's second collaboration with Larsen under the XXL name, Spicchiologi?, is tentatively slated for a May 29 arrival via Important Records. Xiu Xiu will also contribute a "sound sculpture" and live performance to the David Horvitz-curated "Is That All There Is to Fire?" art show, running from February 24-March 31 at Los Angeles' High Energy Constructs gallery. [MORE...]
Decemberists Get Embroidery Treatment
Totally rip off the Colbert Crochet Challenge
We all know the Decemberists are fond of spinning yarns, and now-- semantic acrobatics!-- you can spin some yarn into some sweet Decemberists embroidered goods. Or knit yarn or weave it or whatever you do with yarn to make embroidery. Wait, do you even use yarn in embroidery? Wikipedia, help!!
But I digress. Sublime Stitching's Jenny Hart had the rather sublime idea to transform Carson Ellis' Decemberists artwork into a nifty DIY embroidery kit. The unique package makes a perfect gift for a Meloy-infatuated loved one and includes iron-on patterns of Ellis' designs (I spy bicycles, airplanes, and mermaids), floss, an embroidery hoop, a "fancy needle," and even some golden crane-shaped scissors for you to, like, marry.
Use these wondrous elements to create an embroidered item announcing your Decemberists superfandom! Then buy that iTunes EP! And the DVD on Kill Rock Stars!
Then see those merrymaking thespian prog-rockers on their spring tour! Yes! [MORE...]
Rogue Wave's Spurgeon Receives Kidney
Rogue Wave drummer Pat Spurgeon underwent much-needed kidney transplant surgery on January 12, and according to an update on the band's website, "he is now in the process of resting and recuperating with friends and loved ones and is on the road to a full recovery."
The full text of the announcement is as follows:
"We are very pleased to announce that Pat Spurgeon has finally received a kidney! On Friday January 12th, Pat underwent kidney transplant surgery, and it was a great success. He is now in the process of resting and recuperating with friends and loved ones and is on the road to a full recovery.
Throughout the course of Pat's struggle with kidney failure, there have been so many of you that have been so gracious in showing your love and support for him. To those of you that sent him MySpace messages, emails, and donations, your kind words did not go unread; your concern and hopefulness did not go unnoticed.
Pat was very lucky to receive a kidney, but there are still so many people out there searching.
Remember, you can save someone's life, just by filling out your donor card. Go to www.shareyourlife.org to find out how you can make a difference in someone's life.
Here's to a wonderful 2007.
Thank you for your love and continued support,
Rogue Wave
(Zach, Pat, Gram, Evan)"
Girl Talk Seeks Dancers for Vegas Gig
Just leave the stripping to Gillis
As Girl Talk's Gregg Gillis prepares to take on Jackie Chan this Valentine's Day (February 14) in Las Vegas as part of the previously reported festival Fusion (which also features Kanye West, Gnarls Barkley, Lupe Fiasco, Spank Rock, and several of China's finest pop acts), he's looking for a little help from six very special, choreographically inclined individuals.Gillis posted a MySpace bulletin yesterday morning (mad thanks to reader Eric McKinney for the tip) asking for backup dancers for his Fusion gig. Do you have what it takes to help Gillis get the party started? Can you shake it like a Polaroid picture? Can you back that thang up? Can you let that shoulder lean? Can you get jiggy wit it??? (If you said 'yes' to that last one, you're automatically disqualified.)
Quoth Gregg, "Here are the duties: dance on stage, hype the crowd, throw confetti, wear a costume and/or extreme clothing (that you provide yourself), get buck wild." Sound like something you'd be doing at a Girl Talk gig anyway?
Then pay attention: First make sure you can get to Vegas, then make sure you're not, like, twelve years old. Next, fire an e-mail to Gillis at girltalkgirltalk@gmail.com with the subject line "Las Vegas Performance". Include the answers to the following questions from Gregg:
1. Full Name:And remember: this is what you're up against.
2. City that you live in:
3. Age:
4. How will you get to Las Vegas:
5. What will your be costume and/or clothing:
6. Performance experience:
7. Best dance move:
8. Have you been to a Girl Talk show before and if so, where:
9. Phone number:
10. Why I should pick you (no longer than 5 sentences):
Gillis' six lucky picks get free tickets to Fusion and backstage passes. And hey, even if this doesn't pan out, you still have ample opportunities to reinvent the Macarena onstage or off at one of Girl Talk's other upcoming performances, including stints at Langerado and Coachella. [MORE...]
RJD2 Extends North American Tour
RJD2 hit a slight roadblock when his unfortunate middle finger was cut in an in-studio tangle with some scissors (full story on MySpace), but he's not letting one little mishap hold him back-- the show must go on. Shows, that is. Many, many shows.
The sound sculptor has tacked a whole bunch of dates onto his previously reported North American tour. On the trek, he'll perform both as a DJ and, for the first time ever, with a four-piece band.
The tour is in support of RJD2's XL debut, The Third Hand, which, as you well know by now, lands March 6.
Customers who pre-order a copy from select indie record stores will receive a digital bonus EP featuring three previously unavailable tracks.
Those purchasing the record via iTunes can expect a different extra-- a song RJD2 describes as "epic!!!!! nine minutes!!!! four movements!!!!" [MORE...]
Joanna Newsom Tours Australia, New Zealand, Japan
Well I'll be-- some guy named Bill Callahan opens a few shows
Joanna Newsom needs to trade in that infamous animal hat (to yr left) for something a little lighter, because she's headed to Australia and New Zealand, where-- to the dismay of our Northern Hemisphere-residing readers-- it's currently summertime.
Labelmate/boy-toy Smog-- err, excuse us-- Bill Callahan will be alongside Newsom for a handful of shows.
Callahan has a few of his own dates on the agenda as well. As previously reported, he's got an album and a single in the works on Drag City, Woke on a Whaleheart due April 24 and "Diamond Dancer" due March 20.
Following her Down Under run, Newsom will head to Japan in mid-February. She'll also appear at the Dirty Three-curated All Tomorrow's Parties in late April. [MORE...]
Apostle of Hustle Sing National Anthem of Nowhere
Andrew Whiteman isn't just a guitarist in Broken Social Scene. He's also got a good thing going with Apostle of Hustle, too. That band's sophomore LP, National Anthem of Nowhere, is due in Canada on February 6, the U.S. on March 6, and Europe on March 26, on Arts&Crafts. It was produced by Martin Kinack and Whiteman at various stops across Canada, including, in true indie form, Whiteman's bedroom.
The album's first track, "My Sword Hand's Anger", is available for free download from the Arts&Crafts website by clicking on the link at the bottom of this story. Don't like what you hear? Think you can do better?
The band is offering listeners
the chance to cover, remix, or reinterpret "My Sword Hand's Anger" as a contest. Submissions
will be judged by an Arts&Crafts panel, and one winner will receive
studio equipment, a pair of tickets to an Apostle of Hustle show, and a signed 12" copy of National Anthem.
Apostle of Hustle will spend the next few weeks presenting OUIJA, a weekly residency at Toronto's Rivoli and Kingston's Grand clubs. Whiteman and bandmates Julian Brown and Dean Stone will, according to their MySpace blog, "[do] two sets of both intimate minor-key mood music and flourishing interstellar guitar jams." In addition, they've created what they call "the Jukebox Effect", encouraging fans to e-mail their Myspace page with requests for songs the band should cover. "A new song sacrificed each week!" they promise. [MORE...]
Can You Make an Album in 28 Days?
Well, can you? That's what the 2007 RPM Challenge is asking, and a whole heap of musical acts from around the world have said "Yes!" in their respective languages.Now in its second year, the Record Production Month Challenge dares bands and solo artists to use February's 28 days to record an entire album of original material. Last year's event prompted the creation of full-length records from an impressive 165 bands-- totaling over 1600 original songs-- all of which you may stream here.
This year the Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Challenge opens its gates to an international pool of participants-- meaning anyone anywhere with even the crudest of recording equipment can partake. Read the complete challenge doctrine here, then get ye registered here.
So, like, who wins? Everybody who completes the challenge, man. Like the concurrent FAWM (February Album Writing Month) event and November's National Novel Writing Month (both of which influenced the founding of RPM), the aim is motivation, and thus the prize is the fruits of your very own artistic labor.
Check out Pitchfork scribe Chris Dahlen's column on last year's RPM Challenge, in which he interviews RPM's founders and challenge participants while exploring the inspiring psychology surrounding the event. Then break out the notebook, the Casio, and the 4-track and get cracking-- you might not wind up with Loveless, but who knows, you could be the next Beat Happening.
Yorke Pimps Liars, Spank Rock, Malkmus on iTunes
Also: Madvillain, Quasimoto, the Dears, Modeselektor, Boxcutter, Bat for Lashes
While talismans, divining rods, and voodoo have all failed to provide us with any information on the next Radiohead record, this little internet charm might offer a clue as to what it will sound like-- or it might only confound us further.
Thom Yorke has treated iTunes listeners to his very own "Celebrity Playlist", joining the esteemed ranks of Brian Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mandy Moore, and offering up "some stuff that really floats my boats at the moment."
See? Thom Yorke really is more of a man than the rest of us. While one usually only has one boat to float, he has several.
We take our hats off to Thom's ten selections from start to finish, even if we also raise our eyebrows at a few of them. Spank Rock one of Thom's "fav records from last year"? Awesome, but who knew?
Along with raunchy Baltimore club-rap, Mr. Yorke also shares his love for Liars ("more terror from the subconscious"), one-time tour-mate Stephen Malkmus ("genius non-generic nutville not rock music"), and avant-hip-hop phenoms Madvillain and Quasimoto, as well as some Wire-friendly fare (Boxcutter, Modeselektor, and Yorke remixer Surgeon). Nice to see the wonderful Bat for Lashes ("i love the harpsichord and the sexual ghost voices and bowed saws") and the oft-maligned Dears ("it sounds all soppy, oh but then all hell breaks loose") getting some Yorke praise, too.
Purchase downloads of any or all of Thom's picks here, or simply scope the man's complete playlist and commentary after the jump. [MORE...]
Band of Horses Saddle Up for Studio, Enhance Lineup
Joined by ex-members of Archers of Loaf and Modest Mouse
Finished reading Ashford Tucker's excellent Band of Horses interview over in the Features section right now? Good. Now on to the latest from Ben Bridwell and co.
Not ones to horse around (ack!), the band will re-enter the studio this March to record the rather-very-much-anticipated follow-up to last year's rather-very-much-adored debut Sub Pop LP Everything All the Time.
According to a post on the Band's website, they'll shack up in Asheville, North Carolina's Echo Mountain Recording to lay to tape a "brand spanking new BOH album of songs." No word quite yet on what those songs will sound like, but Horses do happily report that San Diego-based photographer Christopher Wilson (whose work adorned Everything) will provide artwork for this release as well.
As previously reported, Band of Horses stampede through the South this March, carting along spirited country-rockers Cary Ann Hearst and the Gun Street Girls. They also join fellow animal acts Modest Mouse, Grizzly Bear, Sparklehorse, Echo & the Bunnymen, and many more at the ATP vs. the Fans festival, going down UK-ways in mid-May.
If you catch one of these gigs, be sure to offer a warm welcome to the latest BOH recruits: Pacific Northwest stalwart Robin Peringer (who has done time with Modest Mouse, Elliott Smith, 764-HERO, and Bridwell's pre-Horses pals Carissa's Wierd) on guitar and Matt Gentling (ex-Archers of Loaf) on bass. [MORE...]
Deerhoof Give Friends Art Opportunity
Kick off North American tour on Wednesday
As the release of Deerhoof's Friend Opportunity draws nigh (like, tomorrow, January 23 nigh), Kill Rock Stars and the prog-spastic trio have invited web-savvy fans to flex their creative muscles and serve up some Deerhoof-inspired artistic renderings.Anyone who thought the 12 different David Shrigley-designed Friend Opportunity covers weren't enough can scoot on over to the special Deerhoof art website to read the rules and regulations, which pretty much don't exist. Deerhoof want "paintings, video, writings, anything" and encourage you to check out new tune "+81" (mp3 linked below) and incorporate it into your creations.
Once you're done, upload your shizzle to one of those "Year of You"-type websites-- YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, deviantART, imeem, etc.-- and fire the link Deerhoof's way (via this website). The 'hoof will post the fruits of your muse for all to see, and everybody's happy, because everybody's being all artsy-fartsy and interrelating in cosmic Internet harmony and whatnot.
As previously reported, Deerhoof bound across the continent beginning Wednesday night, January 24, in Los Angeles. Say 'hi' to Satomi and the gang, and be sure to thank her for the cute keyboard art she's kindly shared with you. [MORE...]
Lily Allen Announces American Tour
MTV fancies the lass
Remember when we mentioned that Lily Allen was gearing up for the first-ever MTV Discover and Download tour? Well, now we have the dates.
The seven-show club trek runs from February 5-18, with stops in L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston. Lily has dates scheduled across Australia and Europe as well, and will be heading back to the States for SXSW in March.
Before the tour, however, Lily will be the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" on February 3. She will perform her hit singles "Smile" and "LDN". That show's host is Drew Barrymore. Cute overload!
As previously reported, Capitol Records will release Allen's debut, Alright, Still, in the U.S. on January 30.
Finally, Allen recently shot the video for her next single, "Alfie", in Tokyo. "Alfie was played by a puppet and the whole thing looks like an episode of a mixture Tom and Jerry and Roger Rabbit," she wrote in her Myspace blog. "You'll understand when you see it." [MORE...]
? of ? & the Mysterians Loses House, Valuables to Fire
Four Yorkies, cockatoo, "96 Tears" gold record perish in Michigan blaze
We suspect he cried a few more than 96 tears: the man known only as ?, of influential 1960s garage rock troupe ? & the Mysterians, lost his home and most of his possessions in a fire last week, according to several reports.The blaze overcame the Clio, Michigan house-- where ? dwells along with manager Luverne Thompson and Mysterians background vocalist Joy-- overnight, claiming most of ?'s possessions, four of his seven Yorkshire Terriers, and a cockatoo. Also lost was a considerable amount of the band's history, in the form of memorabilia-- including the gold record ? and his band received for their 1966 hit "96 Tears".
Still active to this day, ? & the Mysterians are perhaps best known for that song, "96 Tears" (which carved a nice niche at #120 on Pitchfork's 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s), as well as "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" (not, in fact, a Smash Mouth original).
? (whose birth name is believed to be Rudy Martinez) did not have insurance, prompting an outpouring of support from fans near and far, according to a writeup in The Flint Journal. "The phone's been ringing off the hook," ? said to the paper.
Plans for a benefit concert are already underway, and as ? told the Journal, he has high hopes: "Maybe we can get Bob [Seger] to take a break from his [tour] and have Mark [Farner] come in, Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, Eminem, whoever's available."
According to The Flint Journal, ? & the Mysterians are already scheduled to play Detroit's Winter Blast festival on February 9.
If you'd like to help, please get in touch with the band via its MySpace page.
Postal Service Cheat on USPS-- With UPS!
Now, honestly, we're not ones to gossip over here at Pitchforkmedia.com, but OH. MY. GAWD. You won't believe who we saw together during the Bears game this past Sunday!! (Aside: GO BEARS). Being superfans of the Postal Service, our ears perk up whenever snippets from Ben "Hollywood" Gibbard and Jimmy "Dumb Luck" Tamborello's heartfelt electro-pop project slip into movie trailers and such (Zach Braff = hottie 2 teh maxxx!!), so of course we were at full attention when those warm, opening chords from "Such Great Heights" came wafting through our cathode ray tubes Sunday afternoon.
Ben and Jimmy get around, sure, but here's the kicker: the tune served as the backdrop in a commercial for-- you won't believe this-- UPS!!! As in, the United Parcel Service? As in, like, the chief rival of the real postal service, the USPS??
As any discerning gossip-hound knows, the Postal Service and the USPS have been going steady ever since they kissed and made up after all that cease-and-desist hoopla. They even talked about cross-marketing campaigns, which can only mean it was true love.
So what on earth are Ben and Jimmy doing with this UPS tramp? I mean, UPS gets around all over the world, if you know what we're saying. And UPS is the first to admit that it's fast. Catch our drift? We tried reaching those players in the Postal Service for comment, but no such luck.
If you still don't believe us, just click here (and select TV Spots) for all the cold, hard, brown-hued evidence you need. The Postal Service even soundtrack the UPS website!
So okay, maybe we're jumping to conclusions here. Maybe the Postal Service and the USPS are taking a break, or maybe they're in an open business relationship? Rest assured, once we get the skinny in all its scandalous glory, we'll totally pass you a note during study hall.
Dr. Dog Tour With Bobby Bare Jr.
Dr. Dog and Bobby Bare Jr. will gather their prefixes and suffixes together for a tour this March. They will be joined by comic-sketchin' New Yorker Jeffrey Lewis for the trek, which kicks off March 13 in Tucson.
Both acts also have their own hefty treks scheduled for the coming months. Dr. Dog is prepping for a full-blown jaunt with What Made Milwaukee Famous next month, as well as a few scattered dates in April, while Bobby Bare Jr. is currently in the midst of a tour.
Dr. Dog will drop their new album We All Belong on February 27 (not February 13, as previously reported) via Park the Van Records. The band even created a puzzle website in anticipation of the record. If you want to save some time, head directly to the prize. [MORE...]
Vashti, Vetiver, Juana Molina, Adem Launch Tour
Alt-folk bonanza! As previously reported, tonight in the olde world town of Brighton, England, Vashti Bunyan, Vetiver, Juana Molina, and Adem kick off the "0° of Separation" tour. As implied by its title, the trek features godmother Bunyan and her spiritual children performing in collaboration with each other.
Following the eight-day
jaunt's finish, Bunyan and Vetiver will embark on a fleeting trip across the U.S. Afterward, Vetiver will join Bright Eyes for a handful of West Coast gigs.
In other news, a shiny new vinyl incarnation of Bunyan's Lookaftering hits American shelves on February 5 courtesy of DiCristina Stair Builders. The UK vinyl comes out January 15 on FatCat. [MORE...]
Bill Callahan Dumps Smog Name, Drops LP
Indie boys and girls of the world: dress sexy, because today marks a funeral of sorts. Bill Callahan, who shed his trusty parentheses a few albums back, has officially put the rest of his Smog moniker out to pasture.Maybe he's just trying to be more environmentally conscious following a year of record-high temperatures, or maybe his elfin girlfriend put him up to it, but from this point forward Bill Callahan will be simply and unambiguously known as Bill Callahan.
To celebrate this return to his roots, Bill-- who foreshadowed his de-Smoging by playing recent shows under the name his mother gave him-- will deliver another album for Drag City, his first as Bill Callahan and 739th overall.
Woke on a Whaleheart continues Bill's nautical infatuation and sets sail April 17 (UPDATE: RELEASE DATE PUSHED BACK TO APRIL 24), featuring guest contributions from arranger Neil Michael Hagerty (of the Howling Hex, Royal Trux, and Pussy Galore fame), backing gospel vocalist Deani Pugh-Flemmings, guitarist Pete Denton, and violinist Elizabeth Warren.
Get accustomed to the new Bill before Whaleheart awakens by scooping up single "Diamond Dancer", due via Drag City on March 20. The tune comes backed with an exclusive, non-album B-side from the Whaleheart sessions called "Taken", which also happens to be the essence of what Joanna Newsom told you when you tried to ask her out last weekend. [MORE...]
Patti Smith to Release Covers Album
Patti Smith helped launch her career with a cover of Van Morrison's "Gloria", and now, at the age of 60, she's coming full circle. Billboard.com reports that Smith will release a covers album this spring, and it will includes material originally recorded by Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Nirvana, Neil Young, and, Smith says, "some people you'd be very surprised at."
Oh god, we hope she isn't covering "Crazy" too.
In addition, the LP features
guest appearances from Television's Tom Verlaine, the Red Hot Chili Peppers'
Flea, the Black Crowes' Richard Robinson, playwright/actor Sam Shepard, and
Smith's children Jackson and Jesse. It's a family affair.
As reported Monday (January 8), following a March 12 ceremony at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Smith will be admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She plans to perform at the event. Other 2007 inductees include R.E.M., the Ronettes, Van Halen, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
And that's not all the punk godmother is up to right now. Smith currently has a photography exhibit, "A Pythagorean Traveler", on display (through January 13) at New York City's Robert Miller Gallery. She'll make an appearance at another gallery, the Boston Institute of Contemporary Arts, on February 21 for a spoken word/poetry show.
In other news, Billboard.com reports that Smith and her band are currently learning songs associated with the "Summer of Love" era of the late 1960s for an upcoming tour.
Finally,
further deluxe reissues are on their way from Smith's Arista back catalog,
following the 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition of Horses in 2005.
[photo by Angelo Cricchi]
Whitman, Forrest, Belong, Pioulard Record Ringtones
In the future-- when new music is released predominantly in ringtone format-- what songs will we refer to as the classics? "My Humps"? "Hollaback Girl"? Any Lil Jon-produced track ever?
Well, no matter who ends up as the ringtone equivalent of the Beatles, I think we might have a contender for the "genre"'s version of punk rock: a simple and unassuming little site called toneshared.
Run by the folks behind the Polish Unsound Festival, toneshared is "an expanding collection of mobile ringtones available for free, made by artists especially for the site," according one of the Unsound curators. Like the festival, the site's current library features tones from mainly electronic and avant-garde artists, including Keith Fullerton Whitman, Jason Forrest, Vert, Benoit Pioulard, Turk Dietrich of Belong, Felix Kubin, Richard Chartier, Loscil, KK NULL, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, and Atom Heart. New tones are added regularly, and there are plans to create a section "devoted to anyone who wants to upload tones."
Let the ringtone revolution begin... er, continue.
Cold War Kids Tour With Tokyo Police Club
Not two weeks into 2007, the
Cold War Kids have already made ambitious plans for the year. It all kicks
off this Wednesday, January 10 with a short string of mid-week gigs that find them trekking
back and forth between New York and Los Angeles repeatedly. Then it's off to Europe for a previously reported
tour in support of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, followed by a return to their
North American homeworld in late February, where they'll cross the continent alongside
Ontario-based up-and-comers Tokyo Police Club.
Fans desperate for a more immediate Kids fix can cruise over to the band's
website, home to six recently posted live covers. The Benefit at the District EP is culled from a September benefit concert at
Orange, California's District Lounge, staged in collaboration with the Costa Mesa Breast Cancer Walk. Among the
songs covered, you'll find Tom Waits' "I Don't Wanna Grow Up", Elvis
Costello's "Indoor Fireworks", Fiona Apple's "Fast as You
Can", and more.
In addition, the Cold War Kids are finalizing a new video for Robbers and Cowards' "Hang Me Up to Dry", directed by the Malloy Brothers.
Tokyo Police Club, on the
other hand, are taking the more-oft traversed sell-our-tunes-for-$$ route. Their
A Lesson in Crime EP is now available on vinyl via Paper Bag Records,
and will arrive in the UK and Europe on February 12 with bonus
track "Cut Cut Paste" in tow, courtesy of Memphis Industries.
On February 5, a week ahead of Crime's release, the latter label will drop the "Cheer It On" single, which features the b-side
"Citizens of Tomorrow (Space Ballad version)" (which rules). Bijan Shams recently shot a video for "Cheer It On".
A Lesson in Crime will also make its mark in Australia and New Zealand, where it's dew (wait for it) March 10 on Dew Process.
Tokyo Police Club is currently readying new material in guitarist Josh Hook's basement, "a process which," according to their MySpace blog, "involves general noisiness punctuated by frequent breaks for sparring, wildlife trivia, pizza, and YouTube."
They'll break early next month for their first-ever European tour. [MORE...]
Grizzly Bear Yellow House Film Sync Discovered!
We've all heard how if you cue up Pink Floyd's Dark Side of
the Moon at the proper moment at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz (third MGM
lion roar or something like that), and take copious amounts of drugs, you'll be
amazed to find the two sync up rather tellingly. But what about the modern
classics, records like Pitchfork's eighth favorite album of 2006, Grizzly
Bear's Yellow House?
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...]
The Curtains (Ex-Deerhoof) Launch U.S. Tour
Forget encores-- starting tonight, witty kids across the nation could demand (what!) curtain calls, as art-punk trio the Curtains embark on a U.S. trek in support of their recent Asthmatic Kitty full-length Calamity. Chris Cohen (reminder:
ex-Deerhoof), Nedelle Torrisi, and Annie Lewandowski will cross the States from now until late January, wrapping things up just 10 days short of Calamity's
forthcoming vinyl release on the 29th. [MORE...]
Morrissey, Shins, Air, Les Savy Fav Say "Cheese"
Photo by Ryan McGinleyDo the math: given that a picture's worth a thousand words, and given that two forthcoming photo exhibits celebrating the magic of musicians and live music feature over a thousand photographs altogether, it follows that you, my friend, have the opportunity to take in over 1,000,000 words in the next few weeks-- and you don't have a read a thing.
The first exhibit opens tomorrow, January 4, at New York's Team Gallery and runs through February 10. "Irregular Regulars" showcases the work of 29-year-old Ryan McGinley, who's spent the past two years indulging in all things Morrissey. McGinley's photographs seek to capture just how rapturous and passionate worshippers in the church of Moz can be, and appropriately his candid snapshots of fans and crowds have a fuzzy, dreamy quality, as though Moz himself were emanating holy light, and not just the rig above the stage. Cool stuff. Scope some examples here.
Then hop a train and catch "Past Perfect" at Philadelphia's Space 1026, which opens the following day, January 5, and runs through the 27. This exhibition collects a shit-ton of Polaroids from UK-based pair Pat Graham and Melanie Standage, including candid and pre-fame portraits of pretty much every band on your iTunes playlist: Elliott Smith, Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), Les Savy Fav, the Shins, Ian MacKaye (Fugazi/The Evens), Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Tortoise, the Sea and Cake, June of 44, At the Drive-In, Air, Sarah Cracknell (Saint Etienne), Brett Anderson (Suede), and more.
"Past Perfect" is actually but one-third of the Pat & Melanie "Retrospect" exhibit, which also includes an "allegorical photo installation" called "The Wildebeest" and another photo installation inspired by-- and sharing its name with-- the Cure's "A Forest". Details here.
Oh, and make that 1,000,284.
While We Were Out
Stuff that happened during the break
For the past two weeks, the Pitchfork news team has been on our annual Mexican vacation, swimming in the ocean, sipping margaritas, and building beach bonfires out of stacks of bad promo CDs. (Sorry, Bull Cock.)
However, just because we're busy rubbing suntan lotion on one another's backs doesn't mean the music world stops generating news, though we would prefer if it did.
So here's a brief wrap-up of some of the more notable happenings that took place since December 15, 2006 and today. Happenings that weren't as notable as James Brown's death or Stephen Colbert enlisting Henry fucking Kissinger to beat Chris Funk at guitar-soloing, that is.
Happy new year!
ARCADE FIRE ONSLAUGHT BEGINS
The week before the break, a mysterious advertisement appeared on our website, bearing only the phone number 1-866-NEONBIBLE and a link to www.neonbible.com. Assuming it was some cheesy viral marketing campaign for a Christian youth movement or a car (Dodge Neon, maybe?) or something, we ignored it.
Whoops!
Turns out it was an ad for the new Arcade Fire album, titled, yes, Neon Bible. Calling the phone number got you a static-y, almost unlistenable version of the song "Intervention". Thankfully, on December 28, the real "Intervention" in all of its orchestral, over-the-top glory became available as an iTunes download benefiting the nonprofit health care group Partners in Health.
The Neon Bible track "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" also became available as an iTunes download benefiting Partners in Health, albeit accidentally. According to a post from Win Butler on the band's website, someone from Merge Records mistakenly put the track on iTunes on December 26. Thanks, dude.
The band also added five shows at Judson Memorial Church in New York City to their previously reported residencies in London and Montreal. Tickets go on sale January 5, but they probably somehow sold out already.
BRIGHT EYES RETURNS
According to Google, Cassadaga is some sort of spiritual cult thing involving communicating with the dead. How emo! Cassadaga is also the name of the forthcoming Bright Eyes album, due out on April 10 on Saddle Creek. It will be preceded by the Four Winds EP on March 6, which includes the title track and five non-album B-sides: "Reinvent the Wheel", "Smoke Without Fire", "Stray Dog Freedom", "Cartoon Blues", and "Tourist Trap".
Conor Oberst is joined by producer Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott on Cassadaga. As previously reported, the album also includes cameos from M.Ward, Gillian Welch, and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney and the Jicks.
A Bright Eyes tour is in the works for February.
TAPES 'N TAPES ROBBED IN AUSTRALIA
What a shitty way to start the holidays: Right before Tapes 'n Tapes were set to fly home to Minneapolis from an Australian tour, the band's van was robbed. For some reason, the thief or thieves didn't take a lot of equipment, but they did take "one of our passports...two Mac laptops...one digital camera, all of Josh's clothes, one Blackberry, two cell phones, and all sorts of various inconvenient personal effects (glasses, keys, wallets, shoes, etc.)," according to a post on the band's website.
Why would you want someone else's glasses?
PAUL WESTERBERG STABS HIMSELF IN THE HAND WITH A SCREWDRIVER
Um, yeah. This made the front page of CNN.com.
VELVET UNDERGROUND ACETATE GOES FOR $25,200.00
That insanely rare Velvet Underground record was sold on eBay for a second time, and was presumably bought by a reputable person. We hope.
PETER BJORN AND JOHN INVADE AMERICA
Pitchfork's 24th favorite album of 2006, Swedish indie pop trio Peter Bjorn and John's Writer's Block, will be released in America on February 6. It's coming out on the brand new label Almost Gold, which is a partnership between Scott Rodger, manager of Arcade Fire and Bjork, and Isaac Green of StarTime International.
The U.S. version of the album includes the "single version" of "Let's Call It Off", as well as a bonus disc featuring the original take on that song as well as "Ancient Curse", "All Those Expectations (Weak Remix)", "Self-Pity", "Sitar Folks", and the "Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation" version of Pitchfork's fifth favorite song of 2006, "Young Folks".
PB&J also scheduled two New York City shows, one at the Mercury Lounge on January 29 and one at the Bowery Ballroom on January 30.
TED LEO REVEALS TERRIBLE ALBUM COVER
MALKMUS, DEERHOOF, EL-P TO PLAY PLUG AWARDS; DAVID CROSS HOSTS
The 2007 PLUG Awards got even cooler with the announcement of the awards ceremony's entertainment lineup. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Deerhoof, El-P, Tokyo Police Club, and, ugh, Silversun Pickups, will all perform at the big event, taking place February 10 at NYC's Irving Plaza.
Malkmus will receive the PLUG Impact Award (basically the indie version of the Lifetime Achievement Grammy), while the other performers are up for PLUGs in various categories. Comedian David Cross will host the show and make fun of everybody.
LADY SOVEREIGN RESCHEDULES SHOWS
As promised, Lady Sovereign rescheduled her Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles shows that were either cut short or canceled due to illness last month. The new dates are:
01-04 Las Vegas, NV - Empire Ballroom
01-08 San Francisco - Club Mezzanine
01-09 San Diego - House of Blues
01-10 Los Angeles - El Rey Theatre
Colbert Cheats to Victory Over Decemberists!
Peter Frampton, Rick Nielsen, Robert Schneider, Eliot Spitzer, Henry Kissinger join in fun!
Leave it to the conservative right to connive its way into the winner's circle once again! While the Decemberists' Chris Funk did indeed shred valiantly on tonight's episode of "The Colbert Report" (even if he did look a little more like a Von Trapp than a rawk titan), he was no match for the cunning of Colbert himself-- nor the man's uncanny catalog of celebrity connections.
As you may recall, possibly-sarcastic talk show pundit Stephen Colbert accepted the Decemberists' challenge to a guitar duel, which was itself a response to a green screen challenge from Colbert-- who was miffed by purported similarities between the band's "O Valencia!" video contest and Colbert's own lightsaber green screen shenanigans.
Tonight it all came to a head, with "America's last hero" Colbert devoting an entire half-hour episode of his show to the challenge, which he deemed the "Rock'n'Awe Countdown to Guitarmageddon". Dude pulled out all the stops, deploying enough ridiculous rock'n'roll puns to make Lordi blush and inviting a host of unlikely music celebrities and political types to help him conspire to victory over Funk and the Decemberists.
After an inexplicable indie pop homage to Colbert performed by the Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider, the pundit unveiled his celebrity judges-- Rolling Stone scribe Anthony DeCurtis, Grammy-winning producer/engineer Jim Anderson, and New York governor-elect and payola buster-upper Eliot Spitzer-- and moderator: none other than Henry Kissinger.
Funk then laid down some competent riffage, and Colbert took the stage in response with a five-neck guitar stolen from Cheap Trick, then faked a finger injury (all in front of a green screen, naturally) and called in Peter Frampton to complete the challenge on his behalf!
Once the riff-dust had settled, not surprisingly, Colbert claimed a dubious victory, stemming mostly from his chokehold over the studio audience and his being in cahoots with Kissinger. His prize: The Crane Wife!
In the end, however, the real victor was you, television-watching American (or internet-watching foreigner), who never in a million years would've thought you'd see Peter Frampton, Chris Funk, Robert Schneider, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, and Stephen Colbert (with talk box!) perform an "all-star guitar jam" onstage together.
You can click here to watch the whole thing for yourself, but fair warning: It's Comedy Central and they make you watch some shitty commercial first.
Okay, back to roasting chestnuts for us. Enjoy your holidays, people!
Deerhoof, Lightning Bolt Guy Do Cassette Club Songs
Digital music certainly has its
benefits, but sometimes, we just feel that nostalgic pang for some old fashioned
cassettes. And where there's nostalgia pangs, there's the Deathbomb Arc Tape Club, which
will enter its third year in 2007.
Subscribers to the program will receive one tape per month (latecomers get a bunch at once, then one per month), each featuring lengthy exclusive tracks from two artists.
Acts for next year include Deerhoof, Fat Worm of Error, Black Pus (featuring Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale), Can't, and tons more.
In addition to the 12 cassettes available through the regular subscription program, members can earn a big bonus for a slightly higher price-- six extra tapes curated by Jessica Rylan of Can't. Her list of musicians, currently incomplete, includes Captains of English, Julia Holter, Timeheater, and more at this point in time. For a full roster, click here.
Velvet Underground Acetate Back on eBay
...FOR REVENGE
Oh boy, here we go again. As previously reported, Sunset Rubdown merch guy Warren Hill scored the supreme rock'n'roll artifact, an acetate test-pressing of an early version of the first Velvet Underground record, for $0.75. He put it on eBay, somebody named "mechadaddy" won it last Friday, and as mentioned in our year-end news wrap-up, "mechadaddy" turned out to be just some schmo whose buddy hacked into his eBay account. A deadbeat, as they call them on the wild frontiers of eBaynia.But Warren's not daunted by one chump bidder, no no! He re-listed the acetate for auction today, but here's the catch: only pre-approved eBay users can bid, which means you have to e-mail Hill first. Info here.
And hot golly, it's only $0.99 right now! The best part: Dude's already making a profit.
The Coup Accepting Donations After Crash
After canceling their remaining tour dates following a previously reported tour bus accident, the Coup is hard up.
Boots Riley posted a message on the group's MySpace page explaining their side of the incident and announcing the creation of a PayPal account where fans can donate money to the Coup in order to help alleviate the financial strain of losing their cash, equipment, and quite a few peripheral belongings.
Though Riley mentions in his message that Mr. Lif is in the process of setting up a similar arrangement, Mr. Lif has not yet released any information about such a possibility. The button to donate that Riley mentions in his message can be accessed by visiting the Coup's MySpace. Or simply send PayPal donations to thecoupbuscrash@gmail.com.
Riley's message can be read in full below. [MORE...]
Orange Twin Label to Start Conservation Community
Man, hippies are awesome
Some labels are content with modest periphery pursuits-- hosting a club night, printing some t-shirts, rallying a street team-- while a few have substantially grander designs. Upping the ante set by Omaha's Saddle Creek-- who, as reported in August, have a serious civic project in the works-- Athens, Georgia's Elephant 6-affiliated Orange Twin imprint has just received the go-ahead from the city and surrounding county's mayor to embark on an ambitious community endeavor.
In the works for some time now, the Orange Twin Conservation Community will consist of "a 155 acre pedestrian-based intentional community of homes and common spaces clustered in two villages amid farmland and forest" just a few miles outside Athens, according to Orange Twin's Laura Carter (who also plays in Elf Power and several other E6 acts, including Neutral Milk Hotel when that band actually exists). [MORE...]
Cloud Room Singer Loses Gear in Apartment Fire
Reminds the rest of us to think twice before leaving portable appliances plugged in while away
Around 7 p.m. on November 14-- five hours before his birthday the next day-- mysteriously named Cloud Room lead singer J's Williamsburg apartment burned down. According to Jen Carlson, a friend of the band, "Apparently, a power surge in the building's electrical somehow turned on the [plugged in but turned off] space heater." In an email to Carlson, J explained the situation:
"I don't really care about most of my stuff, but we'd been recording our next album just on our own in my apartment, and almost all of our amps, instruments, cables/mics/stands, Austrian jaw harp, ukelin, etc. blah blah blah, and my new MacBook melted. But as I was coming home from work after getting the call about the fire, I said my agnostic prayers that my little cat Wicked Annabella/Mipu/Midget-Puma survived and that our hard drive with all the new music survived.
"The cat jumped about 20 feet into the neighbor's yard and was okay. The hard drive and computer are going to the doctor's today...fingers crossed. Syd Butler, the bassist for Les Savy Fav [and head of Frenchkiss Records], is our and the Hold Steady's landlord and is a very cool man. I think he's gonna give me a lot of Fav tees to wear." [MORE...]
Chris Martin, Streets, Kaiser Chiefs DJ on BBC
So do Snow Patrol, Editors, the Zutons, the Young Knives, and more
Radio 1's Zane Lowe is taking a short break from the world of broadcasting, and has recruited a celeb-packed cast to guest-DJ his BBC show from January 2-18. The show is on the air from 7-9pm.
Highlights include Kaiser Chiefs' Rick Wilson and Nick Hodgson on January 2, Editors on January 3, the Young Knives on January 4, Mike Skinner on January 8, Snow Patrol on January 10, the Zutons on January 17, and, wrapping up the series, Chris Martin on January 18. Time to start thinking up radio names, dudes. DJ Beach Chair comin' atcha.
For a full schedule, go here.
The Rapture Announce Record Label, Winter Tour
Mastodon totally wish they'd thought of label name first
Like many before them, the
Rapture have formed their own record label, the tuff-named (perhaps after Akira
Kurosawa's Macbeth-based film) Throne of Blood Records. Its initial purpose is to house the slew of vinyl singles and
remixes culled from their latest album, Pieces of the People
We Love, as well as the vinyl version of Pieces.
The label's creative direction will be managed by the Rapture, and DJ James Friedman will supervise its day-to-day affairs.
Throne of Blood has joined forces with Syntax Distribution in the U.S., and Amato Distribution and Schnauzer Records in Europe. Its first release, the single for "Get Myself Into It", landed on November 13; it features remixes by Prince Language, Serge Santiago, and SebastiAn.
According to a press release, the Rapture plan to recruit "some of the most influential producers in dance music" for the forthcoming remixes.
In other news, the band made its way to the market two times yesterday-- once on their second UK single, "W.A.Y.U.H. (People Don't Dance No More)" (aka "Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh" on the album), which boasts new B-sides and remixes from Simian Mobile Disco and Claude Von Stroke, and again on Parisian duo Black Strobe's previously reported remix album, A Remix Selection (Playlouderecordings) with their song "Sister Saviour".
Of the former song, the Rapture's Mattie Safer commented on his group's official website, "I always wanted to have some fucking parentheses in a song title. It's so Janet Jackson."
The four-piece just wrapped up a lengthy North American trek alongside the Presets, and has already announced a modestly-sized tour of the UK. Following this jaunt, which is set to begin in February, the Rapture will make two appearances at Australia's V Festival.
Finally, the guys are up for Video of the Year on MTV2's "Subterranean" for "Get Myself Into It". Vote for them here. [MORE...]
Owner of Velvet Underground Vinyl Talks eBay Auction
Highest bid up to $124,740.50!!!
Warren Hill is a lucky guy. A very, very lucky guy. Up until last week, the only reason the Montreal resident's name would have appeared on Pitchfork News would have been if something terrible and/or terribly hilarious had happened on a Sunset Rubdown tour, as Hill is that band's roadie and merch guy. (He also runs a record store, Backroom Records & Pastries, where Sunset's Camilla Wynne Ingr sells baked goods.)
But Hill might not need to spend his nights behind the merch table much longer. He's the guy who, as previously reported, is selling the ultra-ultra-ultra-rare Velvet Underground acetate on eBay, now up to the astounding bidding price of $124,740.50. The auction ends on Friday, December 8 around 8:30 p.m. PST.
As reported on Friday, Hill found the original 1966 test-pressing of an early version of The Velvet Underground & Nico at a New York City sidewalk sale in 2002. He paid 75 cents for it.
In an article for the record collector magazine Goldmine, excerpts of which are reprinted on the auction's page, Hill's friend Eric Isaacson of the Portland, Oregon-based Mississippi Records described the vinyl's journey from the sidewalk to the online marketplace. It's a fascinating read that reveals the story behind the recording (it was the band's first session, and contains the album as Andy Warhol intended it to be released).
In an interview with Pitchfork today, Hill said that his ideal buyer would be "somebody that was really passionate about the music, or somebody that was interested in it as a historical document and wanted to do something interesting with it in that way." (In the "question and answer" section on the auction's page, it says "We are confident that the item will go to a responsible party who will care for it as the historic artifact that it is while in their hands.") Hill would be happy if the music on the acetate reached a larger audience through some sort of release.
He added that he had been in touch with lawyers for the Velvet Underground two years ago, but "they had nothing to say. They were not interested." [MORE...]
Mr. Lif, The Coup Survive Bus Accident
UPDATE: Remaining tour dates CANCELED
On December 2, the tour bus carrying Mr. Lif, the Coup, DJ Big Wiz, and other members of their touring entourage crashed and caught on fire. Everyone survived, but the tour is not scheduled to continue. Definitive Jux label head El-P released a statement explaining the accident and the current state of those involved, which we have printed below in its entirety.
"Approximately 40 miles outside of San Diego the tour bus that Mr. Lif, the Coup, DJ Big Wiz, Metro, and other friends of theirs were on flipped over and burst into flames. Miraculously, everyone managed to escape with their lives. There were injuries suffered in varying degrees ranging from minor to serious, but everyone is essentially OK and getting treated in various hospitals.
The bus and everything in the bus was destroyed in the fire. The most serious injuries were sustained by DJ Big Wiz, Zahra (friend and merch assistant to Mr. Lif), and SILK-E (The Coup). They are all being looked after now and beginning the process of recovery. Everyone else (Mr. Lif, Metro, the Coup) is battered but relatively unscathed. For obvious reasons, the tour will most likely not continue. Right now the dust has yet to completely settle, but once it does we will provide fans and friends who are concerned with info on how to reach out to the injured parties and express well wishes.
We are all incredibly grateful that our amazing friends and fellow musicians survived this serious event.
Sincerely,
El-P and Definitive Jux"
In the case that the tour does continue in some capacity, here are Mr. Lif's remaining dates. Check with your local venue for show status.
UPDATE: THE TOUR HAS BEEN COMPLETELY CANCELED [MORE...]
Insanely Rare Velvet Underground LP on eBay for $19K
Eh, college? Who needs it?
Got a little extra cash from mowing lawns this summer? Or from, say, a massive inheritance, a game show victory, or the child labor racket? If not, you may as well stop reading now, because the following is directed solely at the fiscally well-endowed.The interweb, as it's known to do, has been positively buzzing today with reports of an online auction for an insanely, absurdly, preposterously, unfathomably, overwrought-modifier-of-your- choosing-ly rare slab of test-pressed acetate from the one and only Velvet Revolver.
Oh wait, scratch that-- the one and only Velvet Underground. Seems that while in NYC's Chelsea hood in September 2002, a serendipitous young man from Montreal stumbled across an original 1966 test-pressing of an early version of The Velvet Underground & Nico, featuring alternative takes and mixes of nine of the uber-classic's ramshackle jams.
"ARGUABLY THE RAREST & MOST IMPORTANT ROCK 'N' ROLL AND POP-ART ARTIFACT IN THE WORLD", as the auctioneer subtly puts it, the record has been listed on eBay for the world to bid upon. It's believed to be the only one of its kind in existence, part of the storied Lost Scepter Studio Recordings, and an unparalleled snapshot of the VU during its infancy.
Best of all, our little Chelsea crate-digger bought this thing for 75 cents. It's a captivating tale of dumb luck and triumph in the face of-- er, mostly dumb luck, and you may read about it in the auction listing here.
As of press time, the record's going for a cool $19,000, and the auction ends December 8 around dinnertime (central)-- so if you don't want some chump bidder named "emoscreamo" to get his/her grubby hands on the most precious piece of plastic since Barbra Streisand's fifth nose, best pony up.
Dismemberment Plan Members Form New Band
Travis Morrison recording
If any band's drummer could be a rocket scientist, it's the (now-extinct) Dismemberment Plan's Joe Easley. So we were thrilled and only a little surprised to find out that Easley is in his final year of study in the University of Maryland's Aerospace Engineering program. We were even more thrilled to find this out from the MySpace blog of Easley's new band with D-Plan bassist Eric Axelson (who now teaches 11th grade English) and D.C. songwriter/guitarist Clark Sabine: Statehood.
The band used to be called Disconnect and was just the vehicle for Sabine's songs until Easley and Axelson hopped aboard and they became Statehood. Now, they have four demos available for download from their MySpace page (and one more at their website, from when the project was just Sabine solo).
They began recording with Dismemberment Plan guitarist Jason Caddell recently, though things are slow-going considering the band members' other commitments. "Hopefully around the holidays we'll find more time. Not sure where this recording is going yet, but we'll put some tracks up when they're done," they write.
Statehood have, however, found time in their schedules to play a show at Washington, D.C.'s Black Cat with the Hold Steady this Saturday, November 25.
Caddell has been busy recording his old bandmates, as he recently produced some tracks at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago for Travis Morrison's upcoming album. Morrison writes on his website, "We aren't done, but we're really far along and we should have everything ready for a spring release."
Morrison is also getting into the holiday spirit. He writes, "I want to organize something that sends people out on Saturday morning to sing to bedridden old folks. Spirituals and all. It kills them that they can't go to church. It's a long-term project, but for starters, I just want to get a bunch of DC rock and rollers to form a carol group for this winter. That'll get the ball rolling socially and all. I need an unfuckwitable inner core of good singers and sight readers: then an outer bunch of people who either have great ears or can read fluently; then the outer ring can accommodate any old freak who likes 'O Tannenbaum'. Dudes with very low or very high voices get extra points but there's room for anyone. If you're interested, drop me a line."
Damon Albarn's Resume Is Better Than Yours
You'd think being in Blur would be enough to prove your musical worth to the world for a long time, but Damon Albarn keeps dipping his hands in whatever he can find.
As previously reported, Albarn's The Good, the Bad and the Queen will release their self-titled debut LP in January, and Gorillaz just released a whole ani-metric ton of Demon Days-related material. But those are just the beginning.
Billboard.com reports that Albarn produced Algerian group
El Gusto's forthcoming album, due out in the spring on his Honest Jon's label.
He also wrote the score to "Monkey: Journey to the West", a
circus opera piece based on a Chinese legend and scheduled to premiere June 28 at the
Manchester International Festival of Arts.
Then there is the requisite multimedia collaboration: a feature-length Gorillaz
movie, on which Albarn is collaborating with director Terry Gilliam (Monty Python, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, etc.)
Wooden Wand Predicts Lifespan of Your Indie Band
Children, jobs, significant others, vegetarians, and members who are overly enthusiastic engineers: these are all things that will keep an indie band from reaching its maximum life expectancy, according to Wooden Wand-- aka James Toth, aka "JJT"-- in his recently penned "Indie Band Life-O-Meter", a Seventeen-style quiz for indie bands to determine how long they will last.
Yes, boredom is a powerful thing, as Toth can attest after being compelled to write this "on the long stretch of highway between the flatlands of the Midwest and the dramatic landscape of the Rocky Mountains," according to a press release. That's right, there is a press release for this questionably accurate quiz, not that accuracy is really the point. Those of you who don't score well, just remember: this is coming from Wooden Wand.
As previously reported, Wooden Wand is currently on a tour of the U.S. behind his recent Kill Rock Stars release, Second Attention. The tour will wrap up in November before he and his band play Thurston Moore's Nightmare Before Christmas edition of All Tomorrow's Parties.
Click for the chuckle-worthy full text of the quiz. [MORE...]
Ryan Adams Message Board Fiasco
Ryan Adams has been known to do some pretty crazy things, like kick hecklers out of shows, leave silly messages on Pitchfork's answering machine, and record bad rap songs. But even though we like to make fun of ol' Ry sometimes (ok, a lot of times), we aren't going to pick on him for something he didn't do.
Last week, the interweb was buzzing with rumors that Adams had demanded the shutdown of the message board on popular fan site RyanAdams.org, a privately-owned site over which Adams had no legal power. Allegedly, Adams and his management sought editorial control over the board's contents.
However, Pitchfork contacted David Smith, proprietor of RyanAdams.org, who set the record straight. "Ryan's management contacted me Tuesday, asking that the board be temporarily shut down," he disclosed. "Initially there were reports of censorship or an inability to deal with criticism and negative show reviews. But I've since had the opportunity to discuss the issue directly with Ryan...and apparently sensitive information of a personal nature had been exposed on the board which was a threat to the band. I won't go into details, but he was (understandably so) quite upset about this.
"I would like to stress that taking the board down was a voluntary action on my part. RyanAdams.org is a privately owned domain name, so I don't see a legal recourse. But out of respect for Ryan, I made the decision to comply with his request.
"I don't see the point of running a 'fan site' for an artist who disapproves of it, so the decision was an attempt at maintaining good relations with Ryan and his management." [MORE...]
Devendra Blogs!
Babelfish to include "Banhart" in language options
Devendra Banhart is guest blogging for JANE magazine right now, and he'll be doing it for the entire month of October, which is either a cruel trick or a delightfully stinky, hippie little treat, depending on your tolerance for "stream of consciousness" blather.
His first entry was yesterday, but we've printed it here in its unadulterated entirety.
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by freak-folk: [MORE...]
Beck's Information Does Not Compute on UK Charts
On the bright side: make your own t-shirts!
Here at Pitchfork News, we try to give as much coverage to the underdogs and little guys as we give to the stalwarts of the indie world. So it is my pleasure to introduce you to a relative unknown named Beck. Who knows but that, with time, he might even become an artist to whom we devote eight stories in a single month?
Okay, you got me. This time, however, our Beck news is slightly upsetting. Though his most recent album, The Information, was released on Tuesday in the U.S. and on Monday in the UK, it seems that the UK's Official Chart Company (OCC) will deny him access to the charts there.
The decision was made in reaction to the DVD and stickers that come with the album, which, according to a press release "have been construed by the OCC as an 'unfair advantage'" over the other albums released last week.
Come again?! They're not even trying to recategorize the package as "video" instead of "audio"? They're just calling it an "unfair advantage"? Didn't they get the memo about how the music industry is scrambling to add incentives to get people to buy albums instead of downloading them for free?
Wow, congratulations OCC, you're the next big winners on my just-invented TV show, "Exercises in Missing the Point".
Beck told Billboard.com, "It's an unconventional package, but it shouldn't be penalized for that. Any art on a CD is an incentive to buy and listen. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. The response from the fans has been so strong, and that is the most important thing."
In continuing with the interactive art theme, Beck also announced yesterday that the merch available at his upcoming shows will be a DIY affair. Says a press release, "Fans will purchase a blank t-shirt with a set of iron-on decals, arrange the graphics on the shirt as they see fit, and have the shirt pressed up on the spot. There are four different sets of decals available as well as four different t-shirt colors, so the variations are endless."
Actually, they're not endless. There is definitely a set number of variations. We're just too lazy to do the math to figure out exactly what that is.
Also, for those of you who plan on seeing Beck on his current tour of the U.S., let it be known that there was a typo in our last Beck tour story. His show in Nashville will be on October 13, not October 12.
Janet Weiss Talks Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
It looks like Janet Weiss' previously reported gig with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks is definitely a permanent thing. She is now an official member of the band, who will tour the West Coast in January, though specific dates have yet to be announced. In an interview with the Portland Mercury's blog, Weiss said she is excited about "the fall/winter seasons [which] will most likely be dedicated to working on new material, and gearing up to record an album."Weiss further explained the circumstances of her arrival in the band by saying, "I've been intrigued with the possibility of playing with the Jicks ever since John Moen left to be a Decemberist full-time. My schedule hadn't really allowed it though, until recently, when I became much more available. [Jicks bassist] Joanna Bolme joined Quasi on our last round of tours, so I knew for a fact that our rhythm section could stir up some magic. And what self-respecting musician wouldn't jump at the chance to play with one of the staggering guitarists of our generation?! I'm excited to be in a situation where folks like to improvise, to push the envelope."
She also hinted at the sound of some of Malkmus' new material. "Steve's got a bunch of ballsy new songs. I'm enjoying getting inside a new and very different brain, trying to find the drum parts that suit his creativity. I appreciate how far out and wild he gets with his playing, and look forward to forging into some new territory."
Janet Weiss Joins the Jicks!
Sleater-Kinney ask fans for DVD submissions
With Sleater-Kinney having returned into the indie band ether, Janet Weiss' arms just aren't getting the drum-time they crave. Sure, Quasi keeps her busy, but Weiss is no one-band gal. Now comes news that the cymbal-crasher and tom-thumper is lending her skillz to another much-loved act: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.While Weiss has jammed with the Jicks before, joining them for an encore at a 2003 London gig, The Portland Mercury is reporting that she is now apparently an official member of the band. Most recently, Weiss drummed with Malkmus and Co. at the Jupiter Hotel in Portland this past Friday (September 29).
According to a representative at the Jicks' label, Matador Records, "the Jicks aren't very active" presently, so it's unclear whether Weiss' kit position is permanent. However, with erstwhile Jicks drummer John Moen now a full-time Decemberist, the position is certainly open. Due to the superb alliterative value of "Janet Weiss Joins, Jams With Jicks", we hope she sticks around.
Meanwhile, Sleater-Kinney fans take note! Your fav band is calling for submissions for an S-K "retrospective DVD", so if you're sitting on contraband footage of the trio in action, cough it up already, wipe off the phlegm (ew), and send it to the address on Sleater-Kinney's website.
Free Decemberists, TVOTR Shows for Activists
Free Shows + Promoting Political Involvement = Rad (X 2)
TV on the Radio, the Decemberists, the Long Winters, Rogue Wave, Xiu Xiu, the Dresden Dolls, Minus the Bear, and the Drive-By Truckers are just a few of bands that want you to get politically active. In exchange for your activism, they'll let you into their shows for free. Yep.
In partnership with Music for America, a progressive nonprofit organization that encourages young people to engage in politics, these bands are giving away free concert tickets to volunteers who sign up to attend their shows and promote political involvement.
This is how the official MFA website explains the deal: "You go to the show, you register some voters, you talk to folks about what we're doing (building a whole new community to fix politics), they get excited and the whole thing keeps growing."
Sounds pretty simple.
If you wanna volunteer at a show near you, the MFA site has a spiffy map that lets you look up event locations. Better hurry though, 'cause a lot of shows are already wait-listed. Political participation is the new audience participation! Can I get a woo! woo!?
Video: Xiu Xiu: "Hello From Eau Claire"
Also: poster extravaganza!
True to overachieving form, Xiu Xiu have released not one but two videos for "Hello From Eau Claire", a track from their new album The Air Force (which comes out today on 5RC).The first, directed by Corey Smith, who also directed the video for "Pox" from La Forêt, features a chubby girl dancing in a leotard in what looks like a junior high school talent show. It's straight out of Little Miss Sunshine, except without the girl's family cheering and joining her onstage. Depressing, I know.
The second video is certainly less depressing, but it doesn't make much more sense. The home video-quality footage was shot by the band members themselves with a disposable movie camera. Pretty boring stuff, actually, but it is perfect material for the Xiu Xiu stalkers among you. We know you're out there!
In related news, Xiu Xiu have a bunch of new Air Force-promoting posters available on their website. The "About The Air Force" series consists of 24 posters split into three parts: those about the album, those inspired by the songs, and those about Xiu Xiu themselves. 19 of the posters, created by Joe Stewart (brother of Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart), are on display now. The remaining six will be revealed throughout the week.
Anthology Brings Crate-Digging into the Digital Age
When your parents were your age, they didn't have those new-fangled mp3s. They had to walk to record stores with their own two feet, carrying piggybanks full of quarters earned from diligently mowing lawns all summer...in 80 degree heat! (And, on some days...90 degree heat!!) That's how they got hold of their music.
Well kids, your parents are living in the past. Sure, piggybanks and record shops still abound (and we duly encourage patronage of the latter), but with the iPod, the music-streaming cell phone, and artists unloading exclusive digital releases by the gigaload, there are some pretty spiffy options these days for obtaining music. And now, enter Anthology Recordings, who seek to expand those options by becoming "the first all digital reissue label" (according to a press release), offering rare and out-of-print recordings, all as mp3s.
The label launches October 5 through the Anthology website and will feature full albums, single tracks, and original album artwork available for download. Individual songs will go for 98 cents an mp3, and though Anthology will be the main resource, select titles will also be available via iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, and other digital retailers.
The label emerged when founder Keith Abrahamsson (who also works for New York's Kemado Records) noticed that amid increasing demand for digital music, obscure titles were in short supply at popular retail outlets. Thus, Anthology will function both as a regular reissue label and an outlet for less-mainstream music. The first set of releases will be available upon the service's launch, including Swedish psych band Pärson Sound, New York City post-punk group China Shop, On-U Sound dub artists African Head Charge, Minneapolis punk outfit Suicide Commandos, Jersey hard rockers Sainte Anthony's Fyre, Walter Schreifels' post-hardcore project Moondog, and German psych/kraut rockers My Solid Ground.
According to the label, Anthology "is not intended to be the antidote to crate digging, but a resource for music fanatics who would otherwise not hear these rare titles." Plus, the music is supposed to be more affordable for both the label and the consumer. You know, so you don't have to mow as many lawns as your parents did.
Brian Wilson, Tom Waits Judge Your Music
So do Robert Smith, Frank Black, Isaac Brock, Sean Paul
If ambushing your favorite bands with UPS'd cassettes and CD-Rs tossed on stage hasn't gotten your band noticed yet, the 2006 International Songwriting Competition should be right up your alley. Brian Wilson, Tom Waits, Robert Smith, Isaac Brock, and more are all judging the contest. Hell, the ISC is parked in your alley giving away free ice cream.
The competition welcomes original songs from musicians (amateur through professional) everywhere, judging them in one of 18 categories: Rock, Pop/Top 40, AAA (Adult Album Alternative), Americana, Jazz, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Latin, R&B/Hip-Hop, Country, World Music, Gospel/Christian, Instrumental, Dance/Electronica, Blues, Children's Music, Lyrics Only, Teen, and Performance. Entrants can submit as many tracks as they care to in one or more genres. We'd like to submit a Go! Team track to every category and see what they do with it.
The best part, of course, is the prizes. ISC will give away over $150,000 in cash and prizes, including a grand prize package of $25,000 cash and over $20,000 in merch. Plus, you know, free press, publicity, and exposure.
Not to mention that the legendary artists listed above, plus Frank Black, Sean Paul, New Order's Peter Hook, Run DMC's Darryl McDaniels, Jerry Lee frickin' Lewis, and a slew of others (full list after the jump), including an avalanche of music industry execs, will listen to your work. Sheesh, talk about the chance of a lifetime.
The contest is accepting submissions right now. Make us proud, little musicians!
Girl Talk's Night Ripper Dissected
A magician doesn't reveal his tricks, and neither does a DJ. But that hasn't stopped an enterprising fan from listing as many of the samples on Girl Talk's Night Ripper as he/she could find in a Wikipedia entry on the popular mash-up album.
The entry comes with the disclaimer that it is “an incomplete list”, but there are at least four and up to 17 samples listed for each song, making it pretty close to definitive. In true wiki spirit, the entry also calls for additions and corrections, and the end of the album seems to be missing the most info at this point. So if you know the sample that opens “Double Pump”, get your edit on.
Gregg Gillis, we know your number! Or at least your record collection.
Holopaw's Beachwolf Recovering From Beating
Last Sunday, August 13, Holopaw's Ryan "Beachwolf" Gensemer was badly and randomly beaten on a Chicago street corner. According to an email from the band, Gensemer's jaw is broken in three places, and he has a concussion and some kidney damage.
Clearly, the experience would be seriously traumatic for anyone, but because Gensemer is a poor musician without healthcare, his situation is extra-specially traumatic. If you want to send money or well-wishes, please contact helpbeachwolf@gmail.com.
"We are not in the business of begging," said the email, "but this circumstance calls for any effort we can think of."
Boy Least Likely To Deliver Best Personality Test Ever
If you could be a tiger, a little devil, a monster, a grudge, a big nose, or the boy least likely to, which would you pick? Actually, it's a trick question-- you don't get to choose; the Boy Least Likely To chooses for you.
Yep, our fun friends over at TheBoyLeastLikelyTo.co.uk have added another great game to their collection, the Best Personality Test Ever. And it is.
With questions like "What would you do if you found a spider in the bath?" and "If your town was invaded by monsters what would you do?" the Boy Least Likely To can tell who's most likely to be a vicious animal and who's most likely to listen to twee pop.
Jay-Z Tours World for Water Crisis Awareness
H2 to the Izzo
It's time to pass the stunna shades, Bono. There's a new world peacemaker in, um, Earth: Jay Hova himself. Never to be outdone, Jay-Z announced his upcoming world tour in style yesterday AT A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT THE U.N.!
Jay was sitting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and MTV President Christina Norman when he announced that his tour would take him across the globe to raise awareness of the world's water crisis, visiting and meeting with people during the day and performing live at night. MTV will document the tour on a special to be aired November 24: "Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life".
Jay-Z had this to say about the motivation behind this tour: "I wanted to get out and play places I haven't seen...I'm very excited to go and not only be a rock star in these countries, but to help...I'm not a politician. I'm just a regular person with a heart."
That's how it starts, but before you know it, he'll be working double time as President of Def Jam and the United States. The GOP will become the HOV, and the great moment of the 2008 election will be when the crowd at the convention throws their diamonds to the sky.
Like those predictions, Jay's specific tour itinerary is unconfirmed at the moment, but MTV.com says it will start in Poland on September 9. And of course, it has to be finished in time for the airing of the MTV documentary on November 24. As soon as those dates are announced, you can be sure that we here at Jay's campaign headquart--err, Pitchfork will let you know.
Sandy West of the Runaways Fighting Cancer
Sandy West, founding member and drummer of the legendary proto-punk band the Runaways, has inspired a countless number of women, bands, and percussionists over the years. Now, she needs your help.
A recent update on the Runaways' official website notified fans that West has not only been battling lung cancer for the past year, but was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. She is currently undergoing both chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which, as many of you know, is no cake walk.
West is in need of support; optimism, prayer, money-- whatever your thing is-- would be of great service to her. A special e-mail address (lettersforsandy@yahoo.com) has been set up for get well letters, and though she won't be able to respond, the Runaways' post assures readers that West will receive them.
In addition, a Paypal account has been set up for West, whose medical bills are piling up. Money orders are appreciated as well, and can be sent to:
Sandy West
c/o Rocket City Records/Times
Square Productions
520 Washington Blvd #
199
Marina Del
Rey, CA 90292-5421
Donators are advised to obtain insurance for all funds sent via mail to assure their arrival.
A benefit concert will take place this Friday, August 11, at Arlene's Grocery in New York City, featuring the Runaways cover band the Stay-At-Homes. Whoa--best tribute band name ever!
We wish the best to Sandy and her friends and family.
The Runaways - "Cherry Bomb" (live in 1977)
Saddle Creek: Not Just a Label, But a Civic Project!
Coming soon: Roc-A-Fella Estates, Sub Pop Reservoir, SST Memorial Park
In what might be the best relationship Omaha, Nebraska has ever seen, (sorry, Conor and the girl that broke his heart), Saddle Creek Records and the nonprofit Film Streams have joined forces to revitalize the city's downtown.
The Saddle Creek Records Development will hold the label's new administrative offices, a music venue called Slowdown, a restaurant, retail space, live/work loft space, and Film Streams' two-screen movie theater.
Film Streams, an organization dedicated to the presentation and discussion of film, has announced a $1.2 million capital campaign to cover the start-up costs of the theater, which will show first-run movies, documentaries, foreign flicks, and indie films unavailable to area audiences, and of course, the classics. It will feature two theaters inside (208 capacity in one, 111 in the other) and will be the first in downtown Omaha in nearly 15 years. It is scheduled to open in June 2007, but until then, Film Streams will continue on with its already-rolling series of support-gaining screenings and special events at temporary venues across town.
Sub Pop Embraces Renewable Energy
Al Gore stocks up on Thermals records
Step aside gardeners and money-makers-- Sub Pop has the grasp on green now. Fossil fuels are a thing of the past for the Seattle label, which recently signed on with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation's Green-e Renewable Energy Certification Program. Last week, Sub Pop announced that it has purchased enough Green Tags to match the company's energy use 100%, making them the first Green-e certified label in the U.S. Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart! Go planet!
The renewable energy shenanigans kicked of earlier this year when Sub Pop's Kelley Stoltz released Below the Branches, the first-ever green powered album. Now, the entire label has jumped on board to promote climate recovery and help out Mother Nature.
"I was, quite frankly, shocked by how easy it is to support renewable energy. Green Tags are a simple way for anyone to choose wind energy, which, in turn, lowers dependence on burning fossil fuels for energy," said Jonathan Poneman, president of Sub Pop Records in a press release. "Green Tags fulfill an important commitment to both the planet and the Pacific Northwest, where Sub Pop is rooted."
Then he went back to playing hockey.
Bonde do Role Singer Doing OK After Accident
Buy her X-ray on eBay!
Those of you who were at the Pitchfork Music Festival this past weekend likely heard the scary story of Marina Ribatski's injury Sunday during Bonde do Role's set. For those of you who haven't read a music blog in the past two days, here's what happened: Ribatski was crowdsurfing and, when she went to make the jump from the crowd back onto the stage, she fell and slammed her arm against a monitor. She was rushed to the hospital immediately while members of CSS finished Bonde's set for her.
Chris Nelson of Mad Decent Records told Pitchfork yesterday that Ribatski is fine and already back on tour with the band.
"The bone was dislocated, popped right out of the socket, and it took them four tries to reset it," Nelson said. "But she's good now. She's got some drugs and a sling, and the shows go on...It's funny to see her on stage and not be able to dance. She's usually so dynamic...She'll get more X-rays when we get back to Seattle and then some physical therapy when she's back in Brazil in a few weeks. All told, it could have been much worse. She smacked her arm on a monitor, and it could have been her head."
We wish Ribatski all the best and a speedy recovery. Fortunately, the band will soon be taking a three-day break from their tour with CSS and Diplo, so she'll have some time to rest.
However, if you are unable to attend one of the remaining shows (which are listed below), there is still a way you can help: eBay. That's right, Ribatski's X-ray is currently up for auction in order to alleviate her medical expenses.
Weird, maybe, but it couldn't be for a better cause.
For more road antics from the Mad Decent tour, check out Nelson's blog on the Boston Phoenix website. (The photo at the top of this story is from there.) [MORE...]
It's no secret that Thom Yorke isn't much of a Tony Blair fan. Last year, he publicly turned down a meeting with the British Prime Minister to discuss climate change (on behalf of the Friends of the Earth campaign), because, Yorke said, Blair has "no environmental credentials."
Yesterday, in light of the heightened, multi-front war in the Middle East, Yorke called for the immediate resignation of the Prime Minister. On Radiohead's official blog, Dead Air Space, Yorke wrote:
"I've had enough of this. Our government sitting on the fence with the U.S. while World War 3 appears to be breaking out in Lebanon and Northern Israel. We must throw Tony Blair out of office NOW. He does not represent the views of the British people. He does not represent the views of his foreign office and officials. He does not even represent the view of those in his cabinet. He cares far too much about his relationship with Bush, and Murdoch. The man is not fit to be our Prime Minister. It's a nice sunny day. Come on, let's do it. You know it makes sense. A vote of no confidence. Or something. Anything."
For reasons unknown, the blog entry was quickly removed from Dead Air Space, though it's not hard to come up with conspiracy theories. (Radiohead being somewhat of a musical superpower and all.) Yorke's publicist had no further information.
Sub Pop Soundtracks Hockey Video Game
Ben Gibbard, Carrie Brownstein, Mark Arm, Ben Bridwell Form Killer Flying V
While it might seem strange for 12 of the bands on Sub Pop's roster to be contributing to 2K Sports' NHL 2K7 video game, I think I can explain the phenomenon in six words: Hot Hot Heat and the Constantines. Those crazy Canucks and their hockey!
But let's back up a second. Here's the deal: In addition to the more northerly Sub Pop artists, Band of Horses, Mudhoney, Sleater-Kinney and the Postal Service are all contributing previously released tracks to the NHL 2K7 soundtrack. In the case of the Thermals' "I Hold the Sound", which is on their forthcoming The Blood, The Body, The Machine LP, the track will end up being released before the video game hits stores in September.
A Sub Pop representative explained the label's involvement in the project as follows: "2K Sports...approached us earlier this year about wanting to use some of the artists we work with in the soundtrack for their game...They had some specific criteria and we tried to direct them to music that seemed to fit their needs, but ultimately they selected the tracks they wanted and then we asked the bands if they were into participating."
Guess the Thermals like video games more than they like Hummers.
So while it may seem weird to be listening to "Brand New Colony" while playing someone in "rivalry mode," just remember that those aren't freckles in your opponent's eyes. They're flecks of blood.
Remember, this isn't the first time a powerhouse indie label has hooked up with 2K Sports: earlier this year, Matador licensed several tracks to the company's Major League Baseball 2K6 game.
The NHL 2K7 soundtrack has 18 songs, with six of them being provided by non-Sub Pop artists. There is no word of a separate release for the soundtrack, but the list of songs contributed by Sub Pop is after the jump, in alphabetical order by band name.
The non-Sub Pop bands featured on the soundtrack are Recliner, Dozer, Green Carnation, Grinder, Jupiter Hills, and Throttlerod.
Tracks:
Arlo - "Runaround"
Band of Horses - "Wicked Gil"
The Constantines - "Working Full-Time"
Hot Hot Heat - "Talk to me, Dance With Me"
Kinski - "Hot Stenographer"
Love as Laughter - "Temptation Island"
Mudhoney - "Empty Shells"
Nebula - "Giant"
The Postal Service - "Brand New Colony"
Seaweed - "Losing Skin"
Sleater-Kinney - "Rollercoaster"
The Thermals - "I Hold the Sound"
"'Sub Pop is the leader in bringing the underground sound to the mainstream without compromising their integrity,'" said Tim Rosa, director of brand and lifestyle marketing for 2K Sports. "'Because we share this mindset when developing our games, NHL 2K7 is the perfect vehicle for Sub Pop to stay true to its vision.'"
"'While Sub Pop and hockey are rarely mentioned in the same breath, the vibe of our music really suits the action of NHL 2K7,'" said Steve Manning, Publicity/Marketing Director, Sub Pop Records. "'Because 2K Sports values authenticity in its games with the same passion we treasure authenticity in our artists, we knew this partnership would resonate with fans of both the sport and our music.'"
Sleater-Kinney: Too Hot for D.C.!
Man, not having electrical power is such a drag: no TV, no microwave, no live Sleater-Kinney...
Much to the dismay of fans, the band's sold-out August 1 show at Washington D.C.'s 9:30 Club was cancelled due to an electrical emergency. A transformer located outside the club overheated, and the fire marshal abruptly ordered the venue to shut down power. Apparently, excessive energy use in the D.C. area (read: thousands of insanely hot people cranking their air conditioners) caused this overheating.
According to Pitchfork reader Rob Runett, "Ten minutes before S-K was set to perform one of their last shows, a club employee appeared onstage to announce that the gig was cancelled. He mentioned through the rising din of sighs, grunts, and boos that a reschedule date would be announced soon."
Earlier on in the show, opening act the Rogers Sisters experienced difficulty with the "mind-warping temperatures and humidity": the drummer lost the use of her snare drum with only a few songs left in the band's set.
Luckily, S-K has set a make-up date for their performance. The show will go on tomorrow, August 3, at 9 pm (Eastern Time), with the entire concert being webcast live on NPR.org.
In the event of another emergency, perhaps the band will consider a candlelit, unplugged performance. Can't you just imagine a gentle acoustic rendering of "The Fox"?
Ellen Allien Unveils New Fashion Line
Tour With Apparat
Producer/DJ/label owner Ellen Allien wears many hats. She also wears many dresses. The artist recently launched the Ellen Allien Fashion Line, in cooperation with designer Markus Stich, now available online and in select Berlin stores.
The summer 2006 line contains ruffly country skirts and dresses with just a hint of the space age, while a press release informs us that the fall/winter collection "will have straighter cuts and lines and be very feminine-- all in black or white" and will be featured in more select stores worldwide.
Also, "Ironing is forbidden." Ya.
Allien's last fashion venture was a clothing and shoe line called Thrills, just like her 2005 solo album. Today: self-titled fashion lines; tomorrow: the world.
Ellen Allien has a lengthy tour scheduled for the rest of the summer and fall, both solo and with her Orchestra of Bubbles partner Apparat. [MORE...]
Rock Camp for Girls Takes Over America
Ever heard of Coco Chanel and the Zeppelinettes? How about Hellish Relish, the Pink Kitties, or Smokestorm? Maybe not, but familiarize yourself-- these bands, fresh out of Brooklyn's Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, could be the next big thing. The camp, part of the nationwide Rock Camp for Girls network, is training the next generation [ages 6 to 18] of female rockers; its most successful graduate so far has been Jemina Pearl of Be Your Own Pet.
Rock Camp for Girls is a non-profit day camp that offers girls across the country the chance to learn an instrument, write songs, perform live music, make band buttons, t-shirts, and album art, and more. The camp isn't strictly limited to rock music either-- attendees can study hip hop, salsa, pop, and more, or invent their own genre altogether, no boys allowed.
(Editor's note: Where oh where was this camp when I was spending my summers making bracelets in the Arts & Crafts cabin?) [MORE...]
CBGB Sets New Closing Date, Move to Vegas
Hilly Kristal is making an amendment to his Bowery club's 16+ entry rule: 32-. After 32 years of providing a live arena for some of the country's best (and worst) musicians, CBGB has cemented the date on which it will close its doors for good.
Although October 31 was originally revealed to be the club's closing date, September 30 will mark the end for New York City's famous punk rock venue-- or sort of, anyway. After efforts failed to locate an affordable venue space in CBGB's hometown of New York City, Kristal has made the questionable decision to take it to Vegas.
"[The Vegas CBGB] won't be the same size or the same shape, but I am going to have all the things that matter there," Kristal said in a recent interview with MTV.com. "I am taking the bars with me, I am taking the stage - I'm taking the urinal that Joey [Ramone] pissed in with me. I'm going to take a lot of things - anything that makes this place CBGB." [MORE...]
Amid rampant Interpol-ation on the Internet (record label gossip, album speculation), the band recently updated their website with news of dogs and Jersey City:
"Things are good. Gettin' some rest... gettin' some sun. We did break up- four times- but that's all behind us now. Carlos got a dog. His name is Gaius. Italian greyhound- looks like Carlos. Also, I think I'm moving to Jersey City; because that's where the action is really at. Whoever the people on MySpace are, they're not us."
The update continues with news that for the past six months, the band has been working diligently on their third studio album, the follow-up to 2004's Antics, although they have yet to start recording. The new full-length will appear sometime next year, and although Interpol remains relatively tight-lipped about the tracks, they do have "one gem in the works entitled ‘The Heinrich Maneuver', and another that was called ‘Pawn Shop' that's called something else now."
The band assures that, in the midst of recording, they have fans in their hearts and "little pulsating musical minds." Yeah, we've been hearing about Carlos D's "little pulsating musical mind" in relation to Interpol fans for years.
A musical with a mosh pit? A "trashed-up Grease-on-speed"? If that doesn't make you curious about Gabba Gabby Hey!-- the Ramones musical that makes its UK debut on July 31-- well shit, I don't know what will.
Claiming to be the world's first punk rock musical (ok, I guess, but when you think about it, Les Mis is pretty punk rock), Gabba Gabba Hey! incorporates 18 classic Ramones tracks-- including "Beat on the Brat", "Blitzkreig Bop", "I Wanna Be Sedated", "53rd & 3rd", and "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker"-- into a kind of postmodern, downtown NYC girl-meets-boy storyline. Lucky for the Gabba Gabba Hey! crew, remaining Ramone Tommy lent his approval to the project by contributing music direction for the show and agreeing to make special nightly appearances, while Nick Sheppard (who was in the late-period Clash) leads the house band. [MORE...]
You know what this is? It's a boycott, bitches! According to the Associated Press, Jay-Z has decided to boycott popular champagne brand/universal status symbol Cristal because of comments made by Frédéric Rouzaud, managing director of the Louis Roederer winery that produces the beverage.
Rouzaud's controversial comments appeared in an article titled "Bubbles and Bling" in the Summer 2006 issue of Intelligent Life, an annual lifestyle publication from the publishers of The Economist. When asked by writer Gideon Rachman "if an association between Cristal and the bling lifestyle could actually hurt the brand," Rouzaud responded, "That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."
The article prompted Jay-Z to respond with the following statement: [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.)
Fri: 02-02-07: 06:00 PM CST
SXSW: Good Bad & Queen, Mountain Goats, Mastodon
Fri: 02-02-07: 04:47 PM CST
Love Is All Release Single, Tour
Fri: 02-02-07: 04:00 PM CST
All Seven Sly and the Family Stone LPs Reissued
Fri: 02-02-07: 02:00 PM CST
Exclusive: Ed Banger Delivers Second Comp, Tour
Fri: 02-02-07: 01:00 PM CST
Sufjan, My Brightest Diamond to Play Music Now Fest
Today's Other Headlines
- Rah Bras Call It Quits
- The Juan Maclean Kicks Off DJ Dates
- Ratatat, 120 Days Tour Together
- Jesse Sykes Confesses Like, Love, Lust, Kicks Off Tour
- Midlake Embark on Bi-Continental Tour
Browse
Fri: 02-02-07
- SXSW: Good Bad & Queen, Mountain Goats, Mastodon
- Rah Bras Call It Quits
- Love Is All Release Single, Tour
- The Juan Maclean Kicks Off DJ Dates
- All Seven Sly and the Family Stone LPs Reissued
- Ratatat, 120 Days Tour Together
- Jesse Sykes Confesses Like, Love, Lust, Kicks Off Tour
- Exclusive: Ed Banger Delivers Second Comp, Tour
- Midlake Embark on Bi-Continental Tour
- Goldfrapp Ride a White Horse on New EP
- Sufjan, My Brightest Diamond to Play Music Now Fest
- Pitchfork Seeks Business Intern in Chicago
- Arcade Fire Involved in London Scuffle?
- Exclusive: Battles Reveal New Album Details
- Elvis Perkins Supports XL Debut on Tour
- Mountain Goats, Annuals Head WKNC Benefit
- Exclusive: Voxtrot's Ramesh Srivastava Talks Debut LP
Thu: 02-01-07
- Broken Social Scene Score Tracey Fragments
- Trentemoller "Moan"s, Seances With Lynch, Pynchon
- Herbert Releases Film Work as Score
- R.E.M., Lips, Ward Cover Radiohead, More on Comp
- Jonathan Richman Tours, Scores Indie Film
- Exclusive: Frog Eyes Shed Tears, Tour to Feel Better
- Grizzly Bear Kick Off North American Tour
- Exclusive: Dean & Britta Announce Tour, Share MP3
- Bjork, Chili Peppers Set to Rock Roskilde
- Exclusive: Magik Markers Record With Ranaldo, Tour
- Sea and Cake Ready Everybody
Wed: 01-31-07
- Jamie Klaxon Talks Success, Violence, Family, Future
- M. Ward Tours With Norah Jones
- Coldplay Prep Singles Box Set, Tour
- Air Plan European Tour
- Ladytron Tour With Nine Inch Nails
- You Say Party! We Say Die! Sign to Paper Bag
- Mr. Lif Kicks Off Tour
- Exclusive: Jarvis Announces North American Dates
- The Cribs Enlist Kapranos, Ranaldo for Warner Debut
- The Shins' Wincing Debuts at #2!
- Photos: Peter Bjorn and John [New York, NY; 01/30/07]
- The Killers Announce North American Tour
Tue: 01-30-07
- Isis Frontman Joins Black Metal Supergroup Twilight
- Little Brother Part Ways With 9th Wonder
- Xiu Xiu and Sunset Rubdown to Tour Together
- The Blow Expand Poor Aim, Tour With Of Montreal
- Danielson Movie Heads to DVD
- Steve Reich, Sonny Rollins Win Polar Music Prize
- New Avalanches Album in the Works, Finally
- The Good, the Bad and the Queen Hit North America
- José González Schedules U.S. Shows
- Jay-Z, M.I.A., Timberlake to Shock With Timbaland
- Vashti, ex-Arab Strap, ex-Delgados on Idlewild Lit Comp
- Nick Drake Preps Music From Beyond, Haunts SXSW
- Shellac to Play Robbins Benefit
Mon: 01-29-07
- Police to Reunite for Arresting Grammys Performance
- Anticon Signs SJ Esau, Thee More Shallows
- Photos: Annuals [Atlanta, GA; 01/26/07]
- Clipse Announce Winter Tour
- Decemberists Get Embroidery Treatment
- Maria Taylor Enlists Siblings, Oberst for New Solo LP
- Rogue Wave's Spurgeon Receives Kidney
- Ponys, Roky, Brightblack, Annuals to Play Noise Pop
- Earl Greyhound OK After Tour Van Accident
- Flaming Lips, Metric, Lil Jon Team Up With Playboy
- Klaxons Send Myths Stateside via Rinse/DGC
- Exclusive: Xiu Xiu, Larsen Team for New XXL Album
- Arcade Fire Launch Most Anticipated Tour of All Time
- Exclusive: Cornelius' Sensuous Comes to the States
- T.V. Eye: January 29-February 3, 2007
- Ted Leo Expands Living With Chumbawumba Cover
- Pitchfork Music Festival SXSW Party Revealed!
- Afghan Whigs Retrospective Revealed
- Pretty Girls Make Graves Split
Fri: 01-26-07
- Chatham Gets Sonic Youth, Godspeed for "Guitar Trio"
- Okkervil River's Will Sheff Tours With Josh Ritter
- Modest Mouse Unveil Dead Tracklist, Release Date
- The Good, the Bad and the Queen Kick Off Tour
- Tapes 'n Tapes Schedule North American Tour
- Animal Collective's Avey Tare Records With ex-Múm Gal
- Brian Eno Producing New Coldplay Album
- Kaiser Chief Wilson Chats Album, Na's, No's, Hit'n'Run
- Mastodon Kick Off Winter Tour
- Pattern Is Movement Tour With David Bazan
- Smashing Pumpkins Announce First Reunion Shows
- Secretly Canadian Artists Cover Each Other for Comp
- Shins, Lily Allen, Cold War Kids Play KCRW Fundraiser
- Danny! = Next Def Jux Artist
- Girl Talk Seeks Dancers for Vegas Gig
- Q-Tip Readies Renaissance, Kamaal LPs
- Badly Drawn Boy Tours Europe, North America
- RJD2 Extends North American Tour
Thu: 01-25-07
- Beck's Information Deluxe Edition Revealed
- Photos: Deerhoof/Hella/Busdriver [Los Angeles, CA; 01/24/06]
- Capitol and Virgin Totally Hook Up
- Photos: Of Montreal [San Antonio, TX; 01/21/07]
- Joanna Newsom Tours Australia, New Zealand, Japan
- Lemonheads Tour America, Down Under
- Tom Waits Settles Another Goddamn Lawsuit
- Yo La Tengo Hit the Road
- Datarock Transmit Grooves on North American Tour
- The Rapture Launch Winter Tour
- Times New Viking Sign to Matador, Prep Second LP
- Scott Walker Documentary Drifts Into Theatres
- Shining Put Their Noses to the Grindstone on New LP
- Neko Case Launches Bi-Continental Tour
- Pollard Preps Self-Released EP, LPs for Merge, Ipecac
Wed: 01-24-07
- Perry Farrell's Satellite Party Gets Ultra Payloaded
- The Decemberists Offer iTunes Live From SoHo EP
- Apostle of Hustle Sing National Anthem of Nowhere
- Phil Elverum Re-Adopts Microphones Name for New 7"
- Stuart Murdoch, Will Oldham, Jarvis Head Kiddie Comp
- Can You Make an Album in 28 Days?
- Faust Founder/Producer Uwe Nettelbeck Passes On
- Dinosaur Jr. Reveal Reunion Album Details
- Jennifer O'Connor Tours, Joins Sykes, Dump for 7" Club
- !!!'s Offer Talks Myth Takes, Out Hud, Politics, Welfare
- The Kooks Return to North America
- The Knife's Silent Shout to Become Three-Disc Set
Tue: 01-23-07
- Producer Disco D Commits Suicide
- Yorke Pimps Liars, Spank Rock, Malkmus on iTunes
- Walkmen, Kaiser Chiefs to Tour Together
- Lady Sovereign to Open for Gwen Stefani
- Junior Boys Extend Tour Stateside, Canadaways
- Toto, Spin Doctors, Marky Mark Sign on for Coachella
- Menomena Announce North American Tour
- Band of Horses Saddle Up for Studio, Enhance Lineup
- The Books Announce Spring Tour
- Jarvis Gets U.S. Release Date, Tours Europe
- Hella Kick Off Tour, Get Ready for Outer Space
- LCD Soundsystem to Fans: Send Silver to #1!
Mon: 01-22-07
- Photos: Mission of Burma [New York, NY; 01/19/07]
- Jesus and Mary Chain to Play Coachella!
- Touch and Go Revisit Festival With Video Awesomeness
- Kristin Hersh Talks New Album
- Silver Jews, Avey Tare, Enon, Black Dice on RBR Comp
- Kanye West Applies for Graduation With Chris Martin
- Maximo Park Reveal Our Earthly Pleasures
- Enon Cancel Dates With Of Montreal
- Corsano + Hair Police + Mouthus + Giffoni = Death Unit
- Funkstorung Release Farewell Remix Album
- Deerhoof Give Friends Art Opportunity
- T.V. Eye: January 22-29, 2007
- Jarvis, Lily, New Pornos, Ghostface Added to Coachella
- Ted Leo/Pharmacists to Tour U.S./Canada
Sun: 01-21-07
Fri: 01-19-07
- Pitchfork Music Festival 2007: July 14-15, Chicago
- Kanye West, RZA, DJ Premier on Beat Kings DVD
- Apples in Stereo Tour in Support of New Album
- Summer Hymns, Winter Tour
- Islands' Nick Thorburn Talks All Kinds of Crazy Stuff
- Rock Plaza Central Sign to Yep Roc
- Dosh Drops EP, Dashes Off on Tour
- Fujiya & Miyagi Schedule U.S. Shows
- Lily Allen Announces American Tour
- Ghost Prepare for Stormy Nights
- Iron & Wine and Calexico Tour Japan
- Exclusive: The Pipettes to Charm North America
- Arcade Fire Announce UK Single
- Radiohead Working on Album Again
- Bjork Taps Antony, Timbaland, Lightning Bolt for LP
- Of Montreal Launch Tour, Release Digital Single
Thu: 01-18-07
- The Constantines Tour Canada
- Exclusive: Bonde do Role Sign to Domino
- Lee Hazlewood Taps Granddaughter for Final Album
- Cage Launches Winter Tour
- Mark Eitzel Embarks on East Coast Tour
- Cat Power, Seu Jorge Become Works of Public Art
- Photos: Andrew Bird [New York, NY; 01/17/06]
- Bright Eyes Sign to Polydor Outside North America
- David Kilgour Cleans Up With The Far Now
- Tweedy Reveals Wilco LP Title, Release Date
- Exclusive: Decemberists Announce Spring U.S. Tour
- Parts & Labor, Jana Hunter Cover Oneida's "Sheets"
- Songs of Green Pheasant Sends Aerial Days Stateside
- Pre-Thermals Material Collected on Urban Legends LP
- Turbulence Promises Album Will Do Good
- Echo & the Bunnymen Expand Songs to Learn and Sing
- Built to Spill Show Europe What They're Made Of
Wed: 01-17-07
- Plan B Plans American Invasion
- Castanets Strike Out on Tour With Shapes and Sizes
- Exclusive: Mystery Jets Sign to Dim Mak
- Low Add European Dates to Tour
- Exclusive: Richard Buckner Tours With Six Parts Seven
- Band of Horses Trot Out on Tiny Tour
- Paul Weller Celebrates 30 Years With DVD/Box, Tour
- DJs Drama & Cannon Arrested for "Illegal" CDs
- Deerhoof Launch World Tour
- Camera Obscura Kick Off Tour, Share Single, Video
- Exclusive: Gustav Ejstes Talks New Dungen Album
Tue: 01-16-07
- Morrissey Seeks California Love on Tour
- Subtle Make Plans With TV on the Radio, Launch Tour
- Drag City Brings Boris' Rainbow to U.S.
- ? of ? & the Mysterians Loses House, Valuables to Fire
- Bonnie "Prince" Billy Preps New Single
- Ninja Tune/Big Dada Prep Diplo, Wiley, Bug Releases
- Junior Boys Remixed by Hot Chip, Prep EPs, Tour
- Slint Rock Spiderland at Primavera Sound Festival
- Postal Service Cheat on USPS-- With UPS!
- Stones Throw Releases Retrospective Comp
- Sonic Youth Tour Japan with Vooredoms (Boredoms)
Mon: 01-15-07
- Frightened Rabbit Hit the States
- Exclusive: Page France Reveal LP, MP3, Headlights Tour
- Sigur Rós: "New Album in the Works"
- Annuals Prep EP, Tour With Dears, Aqueduct
- Leonard Cohen Given Reissue Treatment
- Sonic Youth, Murdoch, Watt, Suzuki on Future Pilot LP
- The Hold Steady Tour With the Thermals
- T.V. Eye: January 15-19, 2007
- Dr. Dog Tour With Bobby Bare Jr.
- V2 Closes Shop on New Releases, White Stripes Are Free
- Ben Gibbard Goes Hollywood
- Kevin Shields: MBV Will "100%" Make Another Album
Sun: 01-14-07
Fri: 01-12-07
- Marnie Stern Melts Your Face With KRS LP, Tour, MP3
- Video: Jelly Donut vs. Lady Sovereign
- Exclusive MP3: Grizzly Bear: "Knife (Girl Talk Remix)"
- The Stranglers Choke Out New Album Stateside
- Sneakers Release Retrospective Compilation
- Exclusive: MP3: Busdriver: "Less Yes's, More No's"
- Dntel Sub Pop Debut Revealed
- Vashti, Vetiver, Juana Molina, Adem Launch Tour
- Hold Steady Invade Britain
- The Ponys Tour Before Turning the Lights Out
- Arab Strap Drop Tears Stateside, Prep Solo Discs
- Exclusive: Mando Diao Share U.S. Release Details, MP3
- Video Premiere: Rob Crow: "I Hate You, Rob Crow"
- MP3: The Pack: "Candy"
- Yo La Tengo, Walkmen, PB&J; Head Laneway Fest
- El Perro Del Mar Tours America Del Norte
- Viva Voce to Support Shins on Tour
Thu: 01-11-07
- Gruff Rhys Coming to America Thanks to Conor Oberst
- Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid Speak in Tongues, Tour
- Bill Callahan Dumps Smog Name, Drops LP
- Benjy Ferree Launches U.S. Tour
- Misra + Absolutely Kosher = <3
- Decemberists Auction Instruments, Clothes for Charity
- Kanye West Gets HBO Show
- Video: Justin Timberlake/Rock Plaza Central: "SexyBack"
- Ex-Test Icicle Balls With Saddle Creek Peeps
- Video Premiere: Beach House: "Master of None"
- Lily Allen Announces U.S. LP Bonus Features
Wed: 01-10-07
- Sov Fights Donut, Parties With Playboy, Helps Islands
- Kanye, Gnarls, Girl Talk Take on Jackie Chan, China
- Field Music Record Futureheads, Share Video
- Mastodon Bring Video Game to Blood Mountain
- Talkdemonic to Tour West Coast
- Video: Bloc Party: "I Still Remember"
- Sam Prekop Talks New Sea and Cake Disc
- Exclusive: Blonde Redhead Reveal 23, Announce Tour
- Rough Trade Inks North American Licensing Deal
- Thurston, Carl Newman Write About Favorite Shows
- The Rapture Announce American Tour
- Patti Smith to Release Covers Album
Tue: 01-09-07
- Exclusive: I'm From Barcelona Introduce U.S. Tracklist
- Mark Ronson Recruits Lily Allen, ODB for Album
- caUSE co-MOTION! Incite Brouhaha on Tour
- Strokes' Hammond Jr. to Release Debut in U.S.
- Kaiser Chiefs Reveal Album Details, Tour
- Video: My Brightest Diamond: "Something of an End (David Keith Remix)"
- Animal Collective Sign to Domino, Tour
- Video: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: "Naked Sun"
- Bright Eyes Emotes Across North America
- Whitman, Forrest, Belong, Pioulard Record Ringtones
- Video: Clinic: "If You Could Read Your Mind"
- Burrito Brother Kleinow Dead at 72
- Mos Def Album Magically Disappears
- Exclusive: MP3: !!!: "Heart of Hearts"
Mon: 01-08-07
- PB&J;, Patrick Wolf, 120 Days Head Dutch Fest
- John Reis' Sultans Hang up the Crown
- Cold War Kids Tour With Tokyo Police Club
- Simian, Long Winters on Music for Robots Comp
- Emily Haines Serenades NPR Listeners
- M. Ward, Jim James, Ladyhawk Featured on FADER 7”
- The Broken West (Formerly the Brokedown) Plan Tour
- Bloc Party Announce North American Tour
- Do Make Say Think Make Album, Do Tour
- MP3: Beirut: "Elephant Gun"
- Pharoahe Monch Shares New Song, Controversial Video
- A-Trak Releases One of Everything
- R.E.M., Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash Make Rock Hall
- Ted Leo to Play NYC Benefit for Robbins Family
- T.V. Eye: January 8-15, 2007
Sun: 01-07-07
Sat: 01-06-07
Fri: 01-05-07
- Xiu Xiu, BARR, Grouper Get Artsy-Fartsy
- Video: Deerhunter: "Strange Lights"
- Calexico, Rogue Wave, Pink Mt'tops on Charity Comp
- Amon Tobin Meets Kronos Quartet in Foley Room
- Grizzly Bear Yellow House Film Sync Discovered!
- Chin Up Chin Up, Bobby Conn Play Robbins Benefit
- Walkmen Announce Australian, U.S. Tours
- Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks Launch Tour
- Trail of Dead Announce UK Tour
- Ponys, Flosstradamus, Bound Stems Rock Schubas Fest
- Crunk Hits Gets Vol. 3, Joined by Hyphy Hitz
- Jonny Greenwood Curates Trojan Records Reggae Comp
- MP3: Justice: "Phantom Part I"
- Love Is All, Long Blondes on Label Comp
- Enslaved Tour North America
- Justin K. Broadrick Talks New Jesu Album, Tour
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