Gear Theft Brings Dears Guitarist to Tears

Krief's no doubt upset about the whole ordeal, but one loss in particular had him bawling.

"The thing they took that I really want back most," wrote Krief in a post on his MySpace, "is my White Fender Stratocaster. I cried for hours about losing it. It has extreme sentimental value, and I don't know how I'll go on with out it. 16 people (friends and family) pitched in to buy me that guitar (of which I had been dreaming about my whole life) on my 18th birthday.

"I'm on a serious hunt for that guitar, I'm trying to gather some reward money, but I'm pretty broke right now...I can safely say that I'll give $1000 (my family has raised this ransom money) no questions asked to have it back." The guitar is pictured above, and in detail below.

"Keep in mind," added Krief, "that these people might change minor details on the guitar, but the serial number is listed below." Indeed, check out the complete gear list with serial numbers just after the jump. If you have any leads whatsoever, please contact the man via his MySpace.

Krief recently released his debut solo EP-- which bears the eerily prescient title Take It or Leave-- and has a few shows lined up, which are still on as of the moment. The Dears, meanwhile, play the TELUS Spin festival in Mont Tremblant, Quebec on April 7, and Mexico City's Polyforum Siqueiros on May 12. [MORE...]

MP3: Patrick Krief: Worries Are Over [from the Take It or Leave EP]

EMI Dumps iTunes DRM
Free to be you and me

The culprit in these instances is the reviled little bugger known as DRM, which stands for Digital Rights Management, which refers to a bit of coding melded into digital media files to curtail copyright violations or personal freedom, depending on whom you ask. Apple's iTunes uses what's known as FairPlay (ha) DRM when coding its files, and the music-buying public-- at least those of us who are aware of it-- pretty much universally hates it.

Well, no April Fools joke here-- DRM's stranglehold over at least one major label's digital tunes will soon come to an end. Sort of.

According to various reports, Apple CEO Steve "Mac Daddy" Jobs and EMI Group chief Eric "Jolly Old Saint" Nicoli announced this morning in London that EMI will begin offering DRM-free audio content via iTunes. Here's the rub, however: these files, higher in quality, will sport a fetching 30 cent price increase ($1.29 as opposed to iTunes' standard rate of $0.99).

What's more, EMI will continue offering DRM-infected fare at the regular rate. Still, baby steps. Baby steps.

Read the full announcement here. The press conference also featured a brief performance from Damon Albarn's Danger Mouse-produced regal supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen, signed to EMI subsidiary Parlophone.

"We think our customers are going to love this," said Jobs-- who has blamed DRM for stifling digital music sales-- at the press conference, "and we expect to offer more than half of the songs on iTunes in DRM-free versions by the end of this year."

We can probably expect that many, if not most, independent labels will gladly follow suit-- they're already selling their tunes DRM-free over at eMusic, Insound, Bleep, Rough Trade Digital, etc. Will they want to charge more for the privilege, like EMI? We'll see.

Photos: Battles [Chicago, IL; 03/30/07]

Strictly business, the men of Battles campaigned through Chicago's Empty Bottle Friday night, pushing their phalanx of equipment to the fore of the stage and blitzing through several hyper-complex cuts from the forthcoming Mirrored (out May 15 on Warp). And really, who needs between-song banter or ironic covers when your music is as tight, inventive, and technically accomplished as this? Many a jaw dropped at the Bottle, with many to follow as Battles wage war across the Eastern U.S. and Europe in the coming weeks.

Chicagoans left out in the cold this weekend needn't fret-- as announced last Friday, Battles return to the Windy City to rock Union Park as part of the Pitchfork Music Festival's second day (of three). The Warp crew join an eclectic July 14 lineup that includes Cat Power, Clipse, Iron and Wine, Girl Talk, Grizzly Bear, and Professor Murder, with many more to be announced. For details and tickets, click click click.








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RZA, GZA, Dead Prez Play We the People Fest

Bjork Reveals Volta Artwork, Tracklist
"It's sort of trying to put out some good vibes for the little princesses out there. There are actually other things than losing a glass slipper."

Björk's album covers have always been visual feasts, reflecting the spirit of the music inside while helping to maintain Björk's status as a brilliant artist. A new addition to the collection is always exciting, but the unveiling of the artwork for Volta (due out May 7 in the UK and May 8 in the U.S. on One Little Indian/Atlantic) is extra special, as Pitchfork was able to discuss the image with Björk herself.

(For part one of Brandon Stosuy's interview with Björk, click here. For part two, here. And part three, here!)

As you can see, the photo's bright colors contrast sharply with the muted tones of the covers of her last two albums, Medulla and Vespertine. This mirrors the sound of Volta, which was inspired by the universal urge to dance.

"All I wanted to do for this album was just to have fun and do something that was full-bodied and really up," Björk told Stosuy in the first part of their chat. The album cover is meant to evoke pagan femininity and, to some degree, feminism, which is a running theme throughout the music of Volta. "It's not necessarily about me as a woman, but just women," Björk told Stosuy. "Kind of that long leap of 10,000 years back, when they [were] in harmony with nature, and just little things like the fact that there are 13 full moons in a year and most women have certain things happening to them 13 times a year, but Christianity wanted to have 12 months, just to try to put that off."

Conflict with conventional organized religion is another undercurrent of Volta. "It's about being exhausted with the self-importance of religion, and thinking, 'okay, wait a minute, maybe we are one tribe, and we're actually part of nature,'. [MORE...]

Photos: Bloc Party [New York, NY; 03/30/07]

Bloc Party let the good times roll across Europe later this month, before returning to the U.S. in late May.








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Photos: LCD Soundsystem [New York, NY; 03/30/07]

With this past weekend's preview gigs in the can, LCD's North American (and beyond) parade proper kicks off for real at Coachella on April 28.








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Ashlee Simpson Working With Robert Smith?!?!
I've been looking so long at these pieces of me that I almost believe that they're real

Plasticine-faced pop auteur and slept-on sibling Ashlee Simpson deserves a little credit; most prefab sprouts would've given up the ghost-vocals after an ill-timed late-night hoedown like hers. But Ash (or, more likely, Papa Joe) don't take no mess, and she's soldiered on, issuing the tough-as-nails I Am Me, taking a role in a London stage-production of Chicago, and, now, as EW.com reports, announcing a truly-bizarre but potentially cred-boosting list of contributors for her upcoming third album.

John Legend, Timbaland, the unfamous guy from the Neptunes, the dude from Keane that didn't go to rehab, perpetual should've been Kenna: the only eyebrow Ashlee's amassed agenda of collaborators raises is the absence of total whore Scott Storch (maybe Timmy shooed him off).

But when you add Robert Smith-- yes, that Robert Smith, the one from the Cure/that poster in your bedroom from when you were 15-- into the fray, you've tipped the scales of incredulousness. Is this an April Fool's joke, Entertainment Weekly?!

Maybe it's not so surprising after all; you may recall that Blink-182's self-titled 2003 effort featured a guest vocal from Mr. Smith (supposedly a longtime fan), or that the gents from South Park managed to coerce the seemingly-humorless Smith into slaying Mecha-Streisand in an early episode. But Ashlee Simpson-- more talented than she's often portrayed for sure, but still the co-author of "you make me wanna la-la"-- pairing with scene hero Robert Smith is perplexing at best, disheartening at worst. What results from the link-up remains to be seen, but something tells us we're still better off placing our wagers on Mike Watt and Kelly Clarkson.

In more pedestrian Smith news, the Cure will headline Japan's Fuji Rock Festival, going down July 27-29. And a note on their website hints at a few tentatively-scheduled spots: Hong Kong July 30, Singapore August 1, and a stop in Australia without a date attached.

Stream: Ashlee Simpson: Various Tracks
Video: The Cure: Just Like Heaven [from the Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me LP]

Dizzee Rascal Reveals New Album Details

Dizzee Rascal has set a June 4 UK release date for Maths & English, which will come out on XL and Dizzee's own Dirtee Stank label. June 4 also happens to be the release date of fellow grime MC/Dizzee nemesis Wiley's new one, Playtime Is Over.

According to Dazeddigital.com, the previously reported Joss Stone track was scrapped (whew!), but Maths & English still features Lily Allen on "Might As Well Quit". Other collaborators include UGK ("Where Da G's"), the Arctic Monkeys ("Temptation"), and Newham Generals ("Lemon"). Maths features production from Dizzee's manager and long-time collaborator Cage, Future Trax, and Shy FX, who produced "Da Feelin", "Industry", and "World's Gone Crazy".

In addition to "Pussy'ole", Dazeddigital.com also has the names of a few of Maths' raunchier numbers: "Suck My Dick", "stripper anthem" "Flex", and "Bubbles", which covers tried-and-true hip hop themes "money, gash, and champagne."

Maths' first single, "Sirens", will debut on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show tonight, with a release planned for May 21. Director Wiz is responsible for the song's video.

Dizzee will play several European festivals this summer, but his first show is a club date in Porto, Portugal on April 14. [MORE...]

Stream: Dizzee Rascal: Various Tracks

Photos: Sufjan Stevens [Grand Rapids, MI; 03/30/07]

T.V. Eye: April 2-8, 2007

Pitchfork's T.V. Picks for This Week:

Monday, April 2:

CBS: "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson": The Noisettes

Tuesday, April 3:

CBS: "Late Show With David Letterman": Nas

Wednesday, April 4:

NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Thursday, April 5:

ABC: "Good Morning America": Regina Spektor
NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Kaiser Chiefs
CBS: "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson": Ice Cube, Omarion

Friday, April 6:

NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Albert Hammond Jr.
NBC: "Last Call With Carson Daly": Bloc Party

Sunday, April 8:

MTV: "Subterranean": Ted Leo 

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah to Europe

MP3: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Love Song No. 7 [from the Some Loud Thunder]

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.)