Photos: Final Fantasy [Minneapolis, MN; 10/13/07]

Photos by Stacy Schwartz

Final Fantasy, aka Arcade Fire/Beirut/Fucked Up/everybodyandtheirmom collaborator Owen Pallett, has been on tour for about a month already, and we caught up with the talented violinist and producer this weekend at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis.

Pallett tried out some tunes from his upcoming album Heartland, a song cycle that takes place in a fantasy land called Spectrum. Accompanying him were a series of overhead projections, inlcuding one marquee bearing the all-too-meta "8 Schools of Magic," a reference to the game from which Pallett derives his stage name.

Opening the show was Canadian folkster Basia Bulat, who continues on the road with Pallet through the end of the week. Next week, Final Fantasy launches a co-headlining trek with Cadence Weapon (aka former Pitchfork writer Rollie Pemberton). And he's got a new single, featuring Beirut's Zach Condon, out on Tomlab on November 20.

More photos and tour dates below.




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Bright Eyes, Wolf Parade, BOH Do Charity Ornaments
Plus: Of Montreal, Built to Spill, Menomena, the Thermals, Xiu Xiu, Deerhunter, Califone

With Halloween just around the corner, what better time than now to start thinking about Christmas?

The good folks at Oregon's Glass Casters Union have been thinking about Christmas too, and really any other holiday that might inspire one to festoon flora in colorful trinkets. They've also been thinking about the indie rock (we can relate), and they've devised a rather ingenious intersection for the two: indie rock holiday ornaments! For charity!!

GCU have already secured designs from Band of Horses, Of Montreal, Menomena, Califone, YACHT, and Thrones, which they've carved and stamped onto cute lil' limited edition glass ornaments. Indeed, the first five designs are up for auction over at eBay right now. Each comes in a run of 100-200, with a second pressing of each in a different color expected to follow. YACHT, Menomena, and Thrones are also selling their ornaments on tour.

Plenty more designs are in queue, from the likes of Bright Eyes, Built to Spill, Wolf Parade, Deerhunter, Xiu Xiu, the Thermals, Sunn O))), Tiny Masters of Today, and Decemberists artiste extraordinaire Carson Ellis. Because nothing says holiday cheer like Sunn O))) and Xiu Xiu.

All profits, as the GCU MySpace describes, "go back to our local community in the form of assistance for homeless and low-income people through emergency services, housing, jobs, training, and other charitable endeavors." 'Tis the season to be indie.

Photos: The Roots [San Diego, CA; 10/12/07]

Photos by Natalie Kardos

The Roots are wrapping up a busy year that's seen them Rock the Bells, gig with the Dave Matthews Band, and tour with Big Daddy Kane and MC Lyte on VH1's Hip Hop Honors Tour-- all in support of last year's Game Theory. The Philly crew touched down at the RIMAC Arena at the University of California at San Diego on Friday night.

Still no word on whether ?uestlove and his companions are working on another album any time soon, but with their schedule finally clear of dates (save one music "summit" in Monterey, California this week), maybe they can make some headway.

More photos and that one lone date below.






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Annuals Sign to Sony, Drop Digital EP

Photo by Brian Vetter

Make way for six little indie rockers that could: Raleigh, North Carolina's promising Annuals have entered the majors, signing a joint deal with their current farm team home Ace Fu and big leaguer Canvasback, a label under the Sony/Columbia umbrella.

If the name Canvasback sounds familiar, it's also the home of Annuals' previously reported tourmates Manchester Orchestra (who are in fact an Atlanta Emo Rock Band). The pair's travels in tandem kick off September 26 in Manchester Orchestra's ATL hometown.

Annuals plan to share their sophomore full-length-- the follow-up to last year's Be He Me-- via Ace Fu/Canvasback in fall 2008. To tide us over, they'll soon unleash the digital only Frelen Mas EP, which collects Be He Me B-sides, including Annuals' take on "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". This set is tentatively due in early November.

Finally, Annuals and Manchester Orchestra have tackled each other's songs for a special split 7" to be sold exclusively on the upcoming tour. Annuals do MO's "Where Have You Been", while Manchester Orchestra try their hand at Annuals' indie hit "Brother". Hear both right now over in Forkcast. [MORE...]

Kid Sister Shoots Video With Kanye West

Kid Sister found a Chicago MC as stylish and internet-friendly as she is to join her on her new single and video "Pro Nails": none other than Kanye West. Six degrees of A-Trak, anyone?

Director Ruben Fleischer (M.I.A., Dizzee Rascal, Wiley) shot the video to promote the single, which is out today on Fool's Gold. The single comes in 12" vinyl and digital formats and features two extra tracks: a remix with a Kanye verse and the DJ Gant-Man-produced "Switch Board".

As for the video, you know Kanye blogged that ish posthaste. His and Kid Sister's photographic evidence of the shoot is below.

Kid Sis' debut album will come out next year, and until then, she's busying herself with the previously reported Fool's Gold tour. The tour's next stop is in NYC for CMJ tomorrow, October 17.

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OK Computer Radio Play to Debut on BBC This Friday

Narrator: Time had come for the next world war. The earth, a jackknifed juggernaut. A neon sign buzzed through the rare stillness of the night. A man wakes, recognizing not where he is or where he comes from. He is born again.

Clearly, going a bit overboard with all things Radiohead is par for the course this month. And, if you're already tired of talking about just how much you ratedpaid for In Rainbows, lent out all your other discs to that younger sibling of yours, and worn holes in your crunk/reggae/lullaby tributes to the band, you'll want to keep an ear to your radio this Friday. That's when-- according to Ateaseweb.com-- a new twelve-part radio play based on Radiohead's watershed 1997 LP OK Computer debuts on BBC Radio 4.

According to the description on the BBC Radio 4 website, the play is "a celebration of Radiohead's seminal 1997 album OK Computer which draws on themes from each of its 12 tracks." The plot: "a man wakes up in a hospital in Berlin. He has no memory of who he is, or where he comes from. Once the details of his life are recovered, he is repatriated to Britain and into his former life. But he is haunted by the suspicion that this is not his real life at all."

The play was written by Joel Horwood, Chris Perkins, Al Smith, and Chris Thorpe, and it debuts October 19 at 21:00 BST.

In other Radiohead news, In Rainbows is (maybe) very very popular, and some members of the White House press staff proved themselves just slightly hipper than one might think, while others did not.

Daft Punk Sample Material Collected on New CD

Photo by Kirstie Shanley

What is it about Daft Punk that makes what they do so gosh darned special? Is it the spectacle? The surgical synth-diddling? The blindling glint coming off those robot suits? Or could it be the stellar spate of well-aged, cowbell-heavy disco funk songs on which a lot of their tracks are based?

All of the above, indeed, and galaxies more. But Discovered, a collection of said funky stuff that oughta raise the ear of anyone who's done their share of Homework over the years, puts the focus solely on the music. Discovered collects a dozen tracks from the likes of Chaka Khan, Sister Sledge, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Eddie Johns, and others, mixing a lotta bump and a little smooth R&B-- the stuff that forms the groundwork for some of Daft Punk's finest tracks. You've never truly heard "Digital Love" until you've heard just how much "Digital Love" sounds like a cooled-up version of George Duke's "I Love You More". The disc drops November 6 on Rapster.

That pants-sullying Daft Punk live thing picks up again later this month in Las Vegas, with stops in Mexico, Japan, and Australia before the year's over. If you can't make it-- and lord knows you should give it a go if at all feasible-- the play-at-home version drops November 20.

Also: Daft Punk is playing in my designer handbag (just click "Défilé Femmes Printemps-Été 2008"). [MORE...]

CMJ Music Marathon Starts in NYC Today

Hear that? The call of the wild, indie-paved streets of New York City is beckoning, as today marks the first day of the 2007 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival. From now through Saturday, October 20, participants, patrons, and performers alike will eat, drink, sleep, and breathe the college rock (if such a term can be used anymore), lapping up old favorites while clamoring to be the first to geek out over the next next big thing (the next big thing being so SXSW). It is a beautiful time to be a lover of music.

With all that's going down over the next five days and nights, it's also an easy time for a lover of music to completely wig out. With that in mind, Pitchfork has put together these few paragraphs here to help give you some footing during the CMJ maelstrom. The festival's website, of course, will gladly fill in the gaps for you. [MORE...]

Photos: Queens of the Stone Age [New York, NY; 10/13/07]

Photos by Chris Owyoung

Bringing their fall "Vultures of Culture" tour to the Big Apple, Queens of the Stone Age delivered for a pumped Saturday night crowd at Madison Square Garden. After openers Biffy Clyro and the Black Angels, Josh Homme and crew brought a solid mixture of past hits and tracks off of their new album, Era Vulgaris. More photos and tour dates below.








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Weezer's Cuomo Compiles Demos for Release

Only one man dare venture into the vaults of Rivers Cuomo, and that man is, naturally, the Weezer frontman himself. Indeed, as Cuomo announced via what is apparently his personal MySpace ("The Real Slim Cuomo"?!) today, he reached deep and has compiled a collection of demos spanning 1992-2007 for CD release. Geffen Records has confirmed that it will release the compilation, titled Alone - The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, on December 11.

According to the MySpace post, Cuomo originally intended to release said collection in conjunction with a book-- which he insists, contrary to a Rolling Stone report, is not his "memoirs." That book, wrote Cuomo, will now be released separately "at a much later date-- a year? Two years? Three years? I don't know."

"It's going to be very cool, though," added Cuomo, whose tome-in-progress already clocks in at nearly 400 pages.

Thanks to reader Cameron Murray for the tip!

Cuomo also alludes to some "Weezer developments" (they're still together, don't you know), which he describes as "extremely great." Wait, this guy went to Harvard?

A post on the Weezer website drops a few more hints, declaring that the quartet has been recording a new album set for release next year "in a large room that normally doesn't serve as a place where bands record their albums." We hope it's the World's Largest Pineapple.

Liars Cover Nirvana on Live DVD / Single

Not five days after we reported their forthcoming "House Clouds" single, Liars have revealed yet another single release, though this one is not from their latest Mute album Liars.

The new new single features exclusive tracks "Leopard on My Right" and "Dear" on a 7" picture disc, and it comes with a DVD of live footage called Live at Everywhere. The DVD has four tracks, the last of which is a cover of Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings", just in case you were wondering if Angus Andrew's grunge credentials were bona fide.

HEARTFAST Records will release the package, which features artwork by Flaspar's Jessie Jackson, on November 20. Liars have a bunch of tour dates before and after that. The next one is with Interpol tonight, October 15, in Salt Lake City. [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: October 15-21

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, October 15:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: 50 Cent

Tuesday, October 16:
NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: PJ Harvey
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Sondre Lerche

Wednesday, October 17:

ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Chromeo

Thursday, October 18:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Band of Horses
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Talib Kweli
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: They Might Be Giants
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Spoon
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Teddybears

Friday, October 19:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Brother Ali

Saturday, October 20:

FOX: Fearless TV: Phoenix Foundation
PBS: Austin City Limits: Femi Kuti

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.)