John Pugh Talks !!! Departure, Free Blood
"We encourage people to give away our singles as Halloween treats to the trick-or-treaters."

If you've seen !!! recently and were wondering why there was only one tall crazy guy jumping around (that would be Nic Offer) instead of the usual two, well, that's because the onomatopoeic party-starters have been playing with a man down (and, as it happens, a lady up).

Percussionist and sometime vocalist John Pugh (depicted here singing lead on "Dear Can") has officially left the group, as reported last week, in order to kick his Free Blood project up to full throttle. That project will unveil its debut offering, the "Quick & Painful" single, next week in the UK via Adventures Close to Home. U.S. releases are expected to follow via Rong Music.

We caught up with Pugh to get his take on the split split split, and to learn what else the world can expect from Free Blood.

The duo of Pugh and friend Madeline Davy, Free Blood began as an attempt to merge two worlds of revelry. Explained Pugh, "In New York you [used to have] two kinds of parties: a Manhattan party and a Brooklyn party.

"A Manhattan party was usually at a really fancy club with bottle service, but the music was always pretty amazing. They'd just have top-notch DJs, and you would go there and kind of get an education in the history of New York dance music. But the thing is, there was a dress code and this feeling that if you showed up without having coated yourself in cologne you were kind of a black sheep, so you left feeling kind of bummed out.

"But then you go to a Brooklyn party and it was at the other end of the spectrum; you would have this anything-goes attitude, and everyone would be sweaty and hadn't bathed in weeks. It was really fun, except the sound system was always busted and the music was kind of on fire-- people would just be playing 'Another One Bites the Dust' over and over again and getting totally shit-faced.

"So, when we started throwing parties at our place, we wanted to be kind of a marriage of the two ideas. And when I first started writing songs for Free Blood, I was thinking of this marriage."

Uniting two worlds proved a heady task, and eventually Pugh was forced to choose between this undertaking and his work in !!!. As he told it, "I officially quit at the end of July. We had pretty much been on tour since February and I had reached my limit. And it wasn't any surprise to anyone I think; I think everyone understood my reasons for leaving.

"It was a long tour of duty for me, like eight years. And they're still going at it. I don't think it really broke their stride much, so I'm happy about that, that they kept going and doing their thing." [MORE...]

Arcade Fire Join Bruce Springsteen on Stage!
The Killers and the Hold Steady are SO jealous right now

Attendees of tonight's Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario were very, very lucky. Not only did they get to witness the Magic tour premieres of "Tougher Than the Rest" and "Backstreets" (DAMN!), but they were also treated to some very, very special guests: Canada's own Arcade Fire!

According to the set list archive on Bruce Springsteen's website, Win and Regine, and co. joined the Boss, the Big Man, and co. for Springsteen's "State Trooper" and "Born to Run" (!!!!), as well as their own Springsteen-indebted Neon Bible tune "Keep the Car Running". UPDATE: Although Springsteen's website says otherwise, various attendees have told us that the Arcade Fire folks left after "Keep the Car Running".

Holy cow. If anybody has video of this, please send it to forkcast@pitchforkmedia.com AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

UPDATE: Check out excellent video footage HERE!

Very special thanks to readers Danielle Leitch and Jack Silbert for the tip!

Arcade Fire are currently resting up for a European trek later this month, followed by the Big Day Out tour in Australia and New Zealand in the New Year. Springsteen and the E Street Band are on the road through December. Tomorrow they plan in Toronto...can we say encore?! [MORE...]

Saturday Looks Good to Me to Finally Issue Fill Up

It was a nippy late February afternoon here at P4K HQ when we first sounded the warning for Saturday Looks Good to Me's Fill Up the Room, and it'll likely be a cold one again October 23 when we trek down to the record shop to gaze longingly at the K Records-issued disc.

Though it's coming quite a few weeks after it was initally intended, it's still eleven songs in length, still running in the order we previously published, and still full of some halcyon harmonies and seraphic songcraft. UK residents, meanwhile, get theirs November 12.

Having recently wrapped up a brief string of dates with new labelmates the Blow, Saturday Looks Good to Me will step out on their own beginning this weekend. According to a MySpace blog entry, both Chicago shows-- the first 21+, the second all ages-- that kick off this tour will be recorded for release later this year as a double LP live set. Not only that, but the band's asking diehards for input as to which songs fans would like to hear at the gigs (psst, do "Alcohol", guys!). Bigmouths and control freaks who haven't already done so can head over to the band's MySpace and insist away. [MORE...]

The White Stripes Sell Cameras

Flip over to the White Stripes' MySpace blog or the news section of their website, and you'll be greeted with a cryptic note containing a question mark, a quote from pioneering experimental photographer Man Ray ("The tricks of today are the truths of tomorrow") and a roman numeral. That numeral, X XV MMVII, seemed to be tipping us off to some kind of goings-on on October 15, 2007. But what?

Cameras! Find the accompanying question mark on the site, and it reveals that, at 12 PM EST on the 15th (Monday), the White Stripes will begin taking orders for the his'n'hers cameras depicted above. There's the "Meg" Diana camera, which comes with a custom filter and a ringflash accessory (which produces a unique appearance of a 3D shadow on the images), or the "Jack" Holga camera, with custom filters and a fisheye lens accessory. What's more, the first 333 folks to order both cameras get a "mystery gift". Please say it's a lenscap!

Both cameras appear to be of the lomographic variety, a type of instrument which tends to produce images with particularly vivid colors, strange exposures, and a lot of weird unintended effects. They're really neat!

The Stripes have yet to reschedule that big tour of theirs.

Billy Corgan Blogs: "Words Iz Cheap"
"I believe God talks to me at each and every moment of my life, the only problem being that I don't listen."

Photo by Shervin Lainez

It takes a certain kind of egomaniac to blog (we can relate) and another kind to be a rock star. Very rarely do the two intersect. But wait, what is this? Why, it's Billy Corgan to the rescue, combining both egomanias in one bald man!

We imagine Corgan's most recent post to the Smashing Pumpkins blog-- titled "Words Iz Cheap"-- came about as the result of the following experiment: "What would happen if we combined the instantaneousness of internet publishing with the lifestyle of a public figure?"

The result: OPINIONS! Lots and lots (and lots) of (really vague) opinions. We're not really sure what Corgan's inspiration was in writing the post, but you can either read the whole thing here (highly recommended for fans of platitudes!) or check out our highlight reel below:

• "I love my country...I love it so much, I'll say it twice...I LOVE this country!!"

• "Everywhere that I look here I am reminded of other battles and beliefs that now seem forgotten, yet their symbols still blow their horns in silent reverie because that's all they know how to do...like children waiting for a dad to come home who won't ever come home because he has run off to Trinidad with his secretary...(Uncle Sam has moved down to his timeshare!)"

• "(In fact, I respect all fans' opinions, even when I may disagree strongly with them, which I often do.)"

• "The question I ask is when does the past begin to dictate our future?"

• "I believe God talks to me at each and every moment of my life, the only problem being that I don't listen."

• "Thanks to digital media, many of us can and will be remembered in perpetuity by an unseen future."

• "I am happy to be a warrior of light and universal logic if I am fighting for the good in us."

• "We may not always be what you want, but we do have what you need!"

Hopefully the singer keeps things a little less wordy in his stage banter at the Pumpkins shows left this year. Their next date is tomorrow, October 13, in Boston. [MORE...]

Photos: Reefer Duberland (members of Interpol + members of Liars + Bradford Cox) [Chicago, IL; 10/11/07]

Photos by Sanchez and Kitahara

It was a poorly kept secret: all of Liars, half of Interpol, and an assortment of others (including Deerhunter's Bradford Cox) crowded the stage at Chicago's tiny Empty Bottle club last night following the Interpol/Liars proper show at the Aragon Ballroom. Billed as "Reefer Duberland", the stoner-y, echoey connotations of their adoptive one-off name somehow proved a lot closer to what we lucky few got than a typical outing from two brooding, dingy rock bands.

Following a rushed, drained-looking, but determined load-in, the band assembled on the stage. Liars took the prominent positions front and center with Paul Banks crouched in a corner stage left. He appeared calm, if apprehensive. The music began around 12:30 a.m., emerging from the chaos so abruptly the audience hardly even noticed. Things settled into a dubby, rubbery reggae bop, with Liars frontman Angus Andrew coaxing echo from contraptions on the floor. Had it not been for him-- and Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino's troubled groove-- there'd be a comment here about sounding like a jam band.

Five minutes in, it seemed to dawn on people-- message board trollers and in-the-know scenemakers alike-- that this, and not a parade through "Slow Hands" and "Stella"-- might actually be the set they came to see. Most audience members looked restless, and the crowd became noticeably thinner with each passing thump. And nothing perplexes an already prickly crowd like Bradford Cox-- in town to open a Yo La Tengo show as Atlas Sound-- who left his perch at the side of the stage to take the microphone and, through Andrew's manipulations, essentially MC the entirety of the rest of the night.



The backdrop changed around 12:45, becoming a bit more insistent, and Banks attempted a soft, snaky riff that didn't go too far. As the beat became further disco-fied, Bradford and Angus yelped at each other. That dropped off into echo, with Fogarino and Liars' Aaron Hemphill locking in while everyone else filled empty space. That was the dominant impression of the night, really: those two were truly conversing, while the rest of the band seemed to be largely minding their own (or Bradford's) business. Banks, seeming a bit lost, at one point wailed on the whammy bar for a while. He looked stern while doing it.

By one a.m., the club was half-empty. The band soldiered on into a steady 4/4, with Bradford repeating short phrases and Angus rendering them incomprehensible through his bank of toys. The lanky Aussie briefly reared his head for a moment, one of the few times even a tall dude like me could see him. The music swelled, became choppy, bleating: with the merry-go-round vocals and the bursts of sound, the effect was similar to Animal Collective's live thing, of which Bradford, at least, is a fan.

Banks eventually found some confidence and took momentary control, and his jabby, metallic, minor key riff was the most Interpol-like thing of the night. Matched with the faraway chant Angus seemingly pulled from nowhere, it was the first point the two bands' styles genuinely fit together, and doubtless the highlight of the set. Things kept swinging as sound turned ever Liars-y, with the drums thudding, and Angus and Bradford shooting pennywhistle noises at each other.



Around 1:20, things quieted, and Fogarino cut through the din with an almost New Jack Swing (or "House Clouds") drumbeat. The bass throbbed, and Banks managed an atmospheric spy flick guitar riff that proved his finest improvisation of the night. The whole thing swelled, then petered out around 1:30. What was left of the crowd seemed unsure whether they'd seen everything, but when the bouncer started ushering folks outside, they got the message: whatever that was, that was it.



This was, of course, close to what I wanted when I heard about the show: muscular squalls and gurgling new wave, some marriage of Interpol's pop tendencies and Liars' freaky ones. But instead of a mutual elevation of both sounds, they gave a compromise: Liars' quiet, terse side tempered by Interpol's steady, pretty dirge. Liars are a great opening band for Interpol, but the two acts really don't share a lot: Liars-- and Bradford Cox-- are students of noise and improv, but Interpol are structuralists, and Banks at least seemed uncomfortable with anything beyond the melody.

I'm sure a lot of folks in attendance looking for "Obstacle 1" thought it was pure formless cacophony, but it would've been so much better had that been true. Instead, it was safe, and quiet, and often a bit dull. All involved kept reaching for something that, for whatever reason, never came.


[MORE...]

Hot Chip's New Album Made in the Dark
They remixed three songs in the time it took you to read this sentence

We already knew Hot Chip's music is made for the dark of the dance floor (and for headphones, and weddings, and cross-country bus rides, etc.), but the title of the British quintet's third full-length gives us a little more insight into its origins.

Made in the Dark will come out via DFA/Astralwerks early next year, tentatively February 4 in the UK and February 5 in the U.S. The follow-up to last year's The Warning has 13 tracks, including previously reported titles "Wrestlers", "Out at the Pictures", and "Shake a Fist". Other song titles include the title track, "Bendable Poseable", "We're Looking for a Lot of Love", "Ready for the Floor", "In the Privacy of Our Love", and "One Pure Thought".

For more info about Made in the Dark, stay tuned to Pitchfork News for our interview with head crooner Alexis Taylor.

Hot Chip have a handful of live shows left this year, including some Joe Goddard DJ dates, and they don't plan to fully tour again until the record comes out. Time to buy a ticket to Brazil! [MORE...]

Photos: Girl Talk and Dan Deacon Meet Tay Zonday
Plus: White Williams Tour Diary Grand Finale

Above photo by Sam Hunt

It's been a wild, crazy ride for Girl Talk, Dan Deacon, and White Williams, whose meticulously documented adventures together wrapped up in Iowa City this past weekend. Williams, as you may know, has been sending photo dispatches from the front lines; today marks the final installment of his tour diary, spanning the climax and denouement of the GT/DD/WW trek, plus a little epilogue of Williams exploits beyond.

Bonus: Girl Talk, internet phenom Tay Zonday, and Dan Deacon, at the trio's October 5 show at Minneapolis' First Avenue. 'Nuff said.

All three of these party starters (but not Zonday, alas) have plenty more shows through the end of this year and into the next.

And in case you missed 'em, scope the previous White Williams tour diaries: 1, 2, 3, and 4.

DAY 18: San Francisco, CA, September 29, 2007

On the way to San Francisco, Dennis and Joe discovered this magic bum horse whisperer type who was controlling each pigeon that you can find in this photo. He was manipulating the proximity of each pigeon as well as the style of their flying.


The staff at the Fillmore was the least jockish on tour.


The ghosts of the Fillmore.
[MORE...]

Ted Leo to Taco Bell: WTF?!
"I have no desire to be attached to the Pepsi corporation"

Yesterday, we ran a story about how Ted Leo-- along with Girl Talk, Enon, Blitzen Trapper, and several other musicians-- had won a Taco Bell contest entitling them to $500 in free Taco Bell food. The information in the story came from a press release from Taco Bell themselves.

One problem: Ted Leo never even entered the contest, as far as he knows!

This morning, Leo emailed us and posted the following on his website, under the heading "For the Record (Re: Taco Bell)":

Here are two letters I sent to Pitchfork today:

Hey Peeps - for the record, I know nothing about this Taco Bell thing - I'll try to get to the bottom of why my name is being used here, but I'd appreciate a clarification from someone at Pitchfork as to where they heard/saw this...
(I'm referring to this story: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/46311-girl-talk-ted-leo-enon-blitzen-win-taco-bell-contest)
Thanks!
-Ted Leo

Friday 10/12/07 10:11 AM

Yo - upon further research, I have found that the web site (http://www.tacobell.com/feedthebeat/) says that "hundreds of bands submitted applications" - I knew nothing about this until this morning, and obviously, did not submit an application. Maybe it's a hoax, maybe someone else did it and didn't tell me, but I have no desire to be attached to the Pepsi corporation, which also runs KFC, etc., and anything you guys can do to help me get that point across would be greatly appreciated.
xo - Ted

Friday 10/12/07 10:24 AM

And also for the record, Taco Bell will be hearing from me (not a big threat to them, I know, but still...)

Wow. We are really, really sorry about that, Ted! Thankfully, after we sent Ted's label, Touch and Go, the Taco Bell press release, it all got worked out. Ted updated his site with this message:

UPDATE 11:11 AM - We have contacted Taco Bell (that's a sentence I never thought I'd have to type - ed.), and have found out that someone submitted an application from a G-mail address that is not ours (Heck of a job, G-mail!), so we have, in fact, been pranked, which, since Taco Bell is now removing our name from everything associated with this dumb-ass "Muy Caliente! Side Stage at the Altell Garden Party Pavillion" bullshit, I have to appreciate on some levels... but anyway, it was fake, we weren't involved with Taco Bell, and now it's over. Thank you for your participation!
Yo quiero the internet.

(For the record, Ted Leo's Touch and Go labelmates Enon did, in fact, enter the contest knowingly.)

Another reason why Ted probably isn't so happy with Taco Bell using his name is that he's vegan, and a PETA spokesman.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are on the road now. Go spend money on their shows and merch, and not on crappy fast food. [MORE...]

Radiohead's Rumored Rainbows Downloads: 1.2 Million

Download your copy of In Rainbows on Wednesday? You weren't alone (duh). According to a Gigwise.com report that cites an unnamed "source close to the band"-- and completely unconfirmed at this point-- the digital version of In Rainbows that Radiohead made available October 10 logged an impressive 1.2 million downloads in its very first day on the digital market.

Were precious metal distinctions awarded on the basis of global sales, our headline might read: Radiohead Go Platinum (Maybe)!!

Of course, the fact that Radiohead gave fans the option to name their price (and £0.00 was indeed an option) no doubt bolstered the "sales" some-- and, again, Radiohead's camp have neither confirmed nor denied these figures-- but yeah, there you go, something to discuss on your lunch break.

As if you needed reminding, the In Rainbows deluxe discbox is due in December (we'll never get sick of the alliterative punch of that one), and folks can still expect a regular CD early next year. Ah, and Jonny Greenwood's got a soundtrack and a U.S. orchestral premiere, plus he's had enough of yer 160 kbps bitching.

Miami's BANG! Festival Postponed

Dang! No BANG! This year's BANG! Music Festival-- previously planned for November 10-11 at Miami's Bayfront Park Amphitheatre-- is off. So no dice for two days of uncomfortable sunburns, Rick Ross sightings, and such fest-makers as Spoon, Kanye West, the Roots, the Smashing Pumpkins, Explosions in the Sky, and Chromeo in the Magic City this time 'round.

The festival's website claims the show has been "postponed"-- and therefore, scholars of rhetoric, not "cancelled"-- so perhaps there's hope for regrouping in the BANG! camp soon. In the meantime, tickets can be refunded at the point of purchase.

Thanks to reader Martin Keane for the tip.

Black Mountain Discuss the Future
"This was like 14 days straight, eating and sleeping in the studio, not bathing for a week at a time..."

Before switching on the recorder, I watched as the five members of Black Mountain rolled on and off the stage of Chicago's Empty Bottle, put through the wringer by the Bottle's charmingly particular soundman. Vocalist Amber Webber and I discussed the soy content of Morningstar Farms vegetarian products. There was talk of the weather. More than a few beers were emptied.

Point is, Black Mountain-- Webber, frontman Stephen McBean, bassist Matt Camirand, drummer Joshua Wells, and keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt-- got all the pleasantries out of the way before we went on record. So you'll have to excuse the businesslike nature of the following proceedings... well, it's as businesslike as a scuzzy, good timin' band like Black Mountain gets after a round or two of Coronas. But we had business to discuss: In the Future, the band's second LP and first in nearly three years, drops January 22 from Jagjaguwar.

In the interest of getting down to business, one question was, naturally, at the forefront.

Pitchfork: So is it better than the last one?

Matt Camirand: Much better than the last one.

Josh Wells: It has more songs.

Camirand: Three more.

Pitchfork: Ha, that's something.

Camirand: I don't think I've ever been so excited about anything that we've ever recorded. I don't generally listen to the records we make after the mix is done, but I can still listen to this one and get excited about it. So that's a good sign. [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.)