Nachtmystium, Twilight Prep Black Metal Bangers
Throw your devil horns in the sky!

Twilight photo by Jennifer Garret

2006 may forever be known as the year metal crossed over-- or, at least, the year metal ransacked the casual indie listener's iPod. It was at Pitchfork, anyway: Mastodon's Blood Mountain entered the hallowed and previously metal-bereft halls of Pitchfork's Best New Music section, songs and records from Nachtmystium, Agalloch, and Gojira drew considerable praise from our writers, and, last June, the website inaugurated its first monthly metal column, Brandon Stosuy's "Show No Mercy".

For kids who like their coffee black and their metal blacker, good news: Battle Kommand black metal overlords Nachtmystium and Twilight (featuring Nachtmystium frontman Blake "Azentrius" Judd and members of Isis, Leviathan, Krieg, and Draugar) each have new releases in the pipes for 2007.

First up, Nachtmystium unleash a split CD/LP with Leviathan later this year via Southern Lord. "The new tracks continue in the same vein as [2006 LP] Instinct: Decay," Judd told Pitchfork, "yet much more aggressive and bizarre this time around. The band has also re-recorded the track 'Solitary Voyage' from the Demise album for this release with a very 'updated' sound, along with some cover tracks."

Nachtmystium bring the fury to bored teenage residents of rural and suburban strongholds (and a few very urban ones too) beginning in March. They'll be joined by Norwegian black metal outfit 1349. [MORE...]

Little Brother Part Ways With 9th Wonder
Duo also negotiating their release from Atlantic

For their third album, the still unfinished Getback, Durham hip hop group Little Brother are leaving a few people behind. First, according to HipHopGame.com, they have split with longtime producer 9th Wonder. MC Big Pooh told the site that they "decided, in the best interest of the group, for Little Brother and 9th Wonder to part ways. There are no hard feelings and no beef. This is just a decision that had to be made so all three of us could move forward and continue to provide the world with dope music."

Next, Pooh also explained to HipHopGame.com that Little Brother "are in the process of negotiating our release from [Atlantic] due to a difference in philosophies," going into a little bit more detail than he did about the 9th Wonder situation as to what exactly those differences are. "We didn't have an A&R for The Minstrel Show. We don't have any type of relationship with our current A&R. There are just a lot of internal issues that ended up working against us... [It's not] a situation where they decided to drop us due to lack of sales. If that was the case, they never would have opened up the budget for us to record Getback."

As for exactly when they will leave the label and who will put out Getback, Little Brother manager Big Dho said, "I think we may just put the album out on Asylum to close our deal, but it's definitely a wrap for us at Atlantic."

Little Brother will release a free mixtape titled And Justus for All for download on February 13. DJ Mick Boogie mixed the tape, and Pooh said the decision to offer it online was a result of the recent DJ Drama drama. "After the Drama situation, we felt it was in the best interest of all of us to just give this mixtape away, with the current climate of the mixtape scene."

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...]

The Blow Expand Poor Aim, Tour With Of Montreal

The Blow's Poor Aim: Love Songs EP landed in 2004 as the first project in States Rights Records' and Slender Means Society's collaborative Pregnancy Series. The work, initially limited to 1000 copies, was later released on vinyl via K Records. Now, K is gearing up to reissue Poor Aim on CD with seven bonus tracks. It is due in its expanded form on April 24.

Bonus songs include remixes from Blow buds Strategy, Lucky Dragons, and DJ Alan Fortarte (White Rainbow), as well as the pair's own Jona Bechtolt (aka YACHT) and Khaela Maricich.

The Blow have a short line of shows on the agenda, many of them alongside Of Montreal and YACHT, including one tonight (January 30) at San Diego's SOMA.

YACHT has a handful of his own gigs lined up as well, including two performances at SXSW in March. He plans to release a new album sometime this year. [MORE...]

Danielson Movie Heads to DVD

Nothing quite says "Jesus Saves" like a man dressed as a tree singing in a high, squeaky voice. And nothing says "best Easter gift ever" like a DVD copy of the Danielson movie, Danielson: A Family Movie {or, Make a Joyful Noise HERE}!

The award-winning documentary hits your plasma television screen at last April 10 (a mere two days after Easter), thanks to the family-friendly folks at Image Entertainment (also responsible for such Christian favorites as Yanni Live!, Die You Zombie Bastards!, and Extreme Chickfights: Raw & Uncut).

Directed, produced, shot, and edited by JL Aronson, A Family Movie captures the Daniel Smith-led prog-folk troupe in action and features cameo appearances from Steve Albini, Daniel Johnston, Alan Sparhawk (Low, Retribution Gospel Choir), author Rick Moody, and WNYC radio host David Garland. You know, in case you forgot.

The film toured the country last year and wraps up its current theatrical run with a pair of midnight showings at Boston's Coolidge Corner Theatre on February 2 and 3.

As previously reported, Danielson cover Dave Fischoff's "Propaganda for a Comic" on Secretly Canadian's SC100 anniversary compilation, out April 10 as well.

Steve Reich, Sonny Rollins Win Polar Music Prize

Composer Steve Reich and saxophonist/composer Sonny Rollins joined the ranks of Paul McCartney, Quincy Jones, and Led Zeppelin on January 25, when they were announced as the recipients of the 2007 Polar Music Prize. Not to be confused with the Polaris Music Prize, the Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by the late ABBA "publisher, lyricist, and manager" Stig "Stikkan" Anderson. According to its website, the Polar Music Prize is given to "individuals, groups, or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music."

The announcement was made in Stockholm at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, which sponsors the Prize. The city will host both musicians during a weekend of "exhibitions, workshops, seminars, film screenings and live performances" called Polar Music Prize Week, and Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf will give them the award at a nationally televised gala at the Stockholm Concert Hall on May 21. Reich and Rollins will both receive one million Swedish Crowns (approximately 140,000 U.S. dollars) as part of the award. The Consul General of Sweden will also host a reception and "press event" in New York City on February 1.

The Polar Music Prize Award Committee's citations explaining the choices of Reich and Rollins are below. [MORE...]

New Avalanches Album in the Works, Finally
New record "so fuckin party you will die"

Oh Avalanches, since you left us, so much has happened. Girl Talk, for example. And M.I.A. And Diplo and Gwen Stefani and Fergie and...oh we have so much to tell you!

Not that you've completely vanished since your explosive debut album Since I Left You detonated over six years ago. There's been the occasional remix (Belle and Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, Wolfmother) and DJ set, and various members have popped up here and there, but we haven't heard anything about a new album...until now.

Yesterday, January 29, a post on the Avalanches' official message board credited to "theavalanchesdotcom" offered a progress report, saying that a new album is in the works. The record will be "so fuckin party you will die, much more hip hop than you might expect" and "much of last year was spent cutting up the spoken word/instructional records we need to tell the albums musical story, and we have some 40 odd songs we're narrowing down and finishing."

No release date has been set yet, but "one day when you least expect it you'll wake up and the sample fairy will have left it under your pillow." Awesome! That's even easier than downloading!

To satiate fans, the group has posted a few new tracks on their website, including a Wham!/Digitalism mashup and a remix of a Carl Craig remix of their own "A Different Feeling" (yes, it's a remix of a remix).

Full text of the message board post below: [MORE...]

The Good, the Bad and the Queen Hit North America

The Good, the Bad and the Queen have been romping around the UK on their previously reported tour, and now they've announced that the romp will make its way to North America with five dates in March. They're also playing Coachella in April, and there's a nice big gap in between, with the promise of more dates to be announced. [MORE...]

José González Schedules U.S. Shows

José González is at home in Sweden right now, cranking out his second solo album (due this year on Mute North America), but this spring, he'll head to our shores for a few shows.

After a one-off performance at a music festival in Singapore in March, he'll hit the States in late April/early May for two completely random gigs in Marfa, Texas and Urbana, Illinois. Sandwiched between the two shows is a stop at Coachella, where González will join the Arcade Fire, the Decemberists, the Good, the Bad and the Queen, the New Pornographers, the Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, Girl Talk, Peter Bjorn and John, and many, many more in carrying Day Two of the event. Additional dates are in the works.

While you're waiting on his live show, though, keep your eyes on the tube. This week, American Latino, a nationally syndicated, English-language TV program, profiles González. For local listings, head here.

González is also up for a Grammis Award (aka a Swedish Grammy) in the category of "Regeringens Exportpris". Yep. The ceremony airs tonight on TV4 in Sweden.

He's also kinda sorta nominated for an American Grammy as well; Zero 7's The Garden is competing for Best Electronic/Dance Album, and José is featured on four of its songs. [MORE...]

Vashti, ex-Arab Strap, ex-Delgados on Idlewild Lit Comp
Plus Sons and Daughters, Trashcan Sinatras, Aereogramme, James Yorkston, King Creosote

Break out the librarian glasses and the Scottish stereotype of your choosing, kids: it's time to get literary in the highlands. See, indie rockers and their fans have always been a bookish sort, so the marriage of writers and rockers on the forthcoming Ballads of the Book compilation seems only natural.

Idlewild's cartoonishly-named frontman Roddy Woomble conceived of the idea following his band's collaboration with Scottish scribe Edwin Morgan on their 2002 set The Remote Part.

"Why not have a bunch of (mostly) Scottish musicians interpret the writings of Scottish authors and poets in one raging orgy of liberal arts awesomeness?" he thought.

And so he set up a chatroom (read: pure conjecture) and invited all his music pals and his literature buddies to pair off. After a bunch of OMGs and LOLs, pair off they did. Before he knew it, Roddy had Vashti Bunyan, ex-Arab Strap gents Aidan Moffat (with the Best Ofs) and Malcolm Middleton, ex-Delgados Alun Woodward (as Lord Cut-Glass) and Emma Pollock, Aereogramme, Sons and Daughters, Trashcan Sinatras, Mike Heron (The Incredible String Band), Alasdair Roberts, James Yorkston, King Creosote, and Karine Polwart commingling with the likes of Morgan, Ian Rankin, and Alasdair Gray.

Hence, the 18-track Ballads of the Book arrives March 5 via Chemikal Underground Records, with support from the Scottish Arts Council. To celebrate, Roddy's recruited a number of Ballads contributors for a concert gala, going down tonight (i.e., pretty much right now) at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall. Performers include Idlewild, Yorkston, Heron, Polwart, Roberts, and more. [MORE...]

Jay-Z, M.I.A., Timberlake to Shock With Timbaland
Also: Nelly Furtado, Snoop Dogg, Fall Out Boy, the Hives, Elton John, She Wants Revenge (?!)

Timbaland will follow his monster 2006 collaboration with Justin Timberlake on FutureSex/LoveSounds with an album under his own name, his first since Under Construction II with Magoo in 2003, according to Billboard.com. Timbaland has a whole new batch of collaborators for the album, which is titled Shock Value and due out March 27 on Mosley Music Group/Blackground/Interscope.

Those involved include Timberlake, Jay-Z, Nelly Furtado, M.I.A., Elton John, Snoop Dogg, Fall Out Boy, the Hives, She Wants Revenge, and Mosley Music Group signee Keri Hilson. Its first single-- "Give It to Me" (featuring Timberlake and Nelly Furtado)-- will premiere this week.

Timbaland protégé Nate Hills (aka Danja Handz) told Billboard that Shock Value is "sequenced like a movie," with Timbaland using his ridonkulous guest list to "venture into the alternative world and the real pop world. He has so many different sounds, from hip hop to pop to rock on this album. And he pulls every single one of them off perfectly."

Timbaland is currently on tour with Justin Timberlake, and-- according to Billboard.com-- "debuting snippets from Shock Value during his mini-set each night." [MORE...]

Pitchfork Seeks Business Intern in Chicago

According to the Chicago Police Department, last month alone several incidents of kidnapping, prostitution, and arson took place within walking distance of Pitchfork World Headquarters.

If you haven't stopped reading by now, you're ballsy, one of the many desired qualities we look for in our internship candidates.

Business intern responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following: Assisting our sales team with client contact and research, working on things that we think are important, helping with accounts receivable and payable, managing promotional materials, executing promotions, and providing overall help to streamline our business operations. All candidates must be excellent at almost everything. We need to make sure you'll be able to handle an office as unbelievably intense as ours. Candidates must reside in the Chicagoland area.

We prefer candidates who are able to obtain college credit for the internship, but this is not mandatory. If you're interested, please email us a cover letter and résumé. Also include your hours of availability and a potential start date. Deadline is Monday, February 5 at 5 p.m. CST.

Nick Drake Preps Music From Beyond, Haunts SXSW
O_o

For a guy who died over 32 years ago, Nick Drake has been awfully prolific these days. Not content simply to loan his music to TV adverts and serve up 2004's Made to Love Magic from beyond the pale, Drake's ready to haunt emotional young people well into 2007.

First up, the deceased has a new LP on the way, tentatively due in late spring or early summer on Island UK. Titled Family Tree, the disc collects some extremely rare Drake material, none of which has been mastered or released officially. While a few of the tunes have crept onto bootlegs, much will grace fans' ears for the very first time. At least, that's what they tell us-- the tracklist is not yet confirmed.

Next, SXSW festival attendees will have several opportunities to indulge in their love for all things Drake. The favorably-received 2000 documentary A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake-- featuring Drake's actress sister Gabrielle Drake, his producer Joe Boyd, his arranger Robert Kirby, and Paul Weller-- will screen at the Convention Center Theater at 11 a.m. on March 17.

Once sufficiently depressed, drag your feet on over to ACC Room 15 at noon, where Gabrielle, Joe, and special guest Robyn Hitchcock will discuss Nick's legacy at a panel titled "Nick Drake Remembered".

Then get a glimpse of the man himself at the "A Place to Be" photo exhibit, going down at the Habana Annex on March 17 from noon to 6 p.m. This marks the first curated exhibit of Drake's official photographs, most of which were taken by the late British photographer Keith Morris. Several living musical acts will pay tribute to Drake throughout the day.

Finally: If you imbibe enough, you just might catch Drake's ghost playing a few tunes in between sets from Girl Talk and the Pipettes at Pitchfork's SXSW day party.

P.S. As previously reported, classical pianist/radio host Christopher O'Riley reinterprets Drake favorites as part of "Time Has Told Me: A Nick Drake Tribute", going down at UCLA's Royce Hall theater on February 16. Expect O'Riley's Drake takes to appear on Second Grace: The Music of Nick Drake, out this April via World Village/Harmonia Mundi.  

Shellac to Play Robbins Benefit

Since the public announcement of Callum Robbins' Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy last month, support in the form of benefit concerts and raffles has poured in, with benefits in Chicago and New York City taking place last weekend.

The mighty Steve Albini is joining the charge along with the rest of Shellac, who will play a second Chicago benefit for the young Robbins at Subterranean on April 27. Shellac in a tiny club? That's worth skipping Coachella for, right?

As previously reported, the band was recently added to the lineup of the ATP Versus You (the Fans) festival, which makes two Shellac shows inside of a month (their festival appearance is on May 19). Those of you who smell the approach of a new Shellac record are onto something, as one is promised later this year. Other than that, we know about as much as you do.

Finally, for those who either don't live in New York City or Chicago or simply aren't able to make it to a benefit, you can still go here to donate money to the Robbins family on Cal's behalf. [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.)