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

Cornelius Announces 2008 Tour

Photos by Ryan Muir

Sensuous studio releases, multimedia live extravaganzas of light and sound...what more could we possibly want from Cornelius?

For those who answered that question aloud to their computer screens and said, "Why, I'd like performances of the Cornelius Group's 'Sensuous Synchronized Show' in five of the most populous United States cities," guess what? You got your wish!

Cornelius and band will head to these shores in 2008 for the five-date tour, which kicks off January 17 in L.A.  Update: Opening that show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall will be Plaid.

In other Cornelius news, the release of an EP composed entirely of other people covering Cornelius tracks is in the works. [MORE...]

Devendra, Matmos, Vetiver Share Bad Trips for Book

Hey man; it's not all groovy melting rainbows and sparkly magical muffincakes that taste like yellow. Sometimes it's demons and spiders and hellfire and free fall and other shit that is totally fucked up and leaves you shattered and shaken. Yes, we're talking about a bad trip down the lysergic acid diethylamide highway, soon to be the subject of a forthcoming book from authors Cliff Hengst and Scott Hewicker.

Good Times: Bad Trips hits shelves later this month courtesy of Gallery 16 Books. The 138-page, hardback tome collects firsthand accounts from some fifty folks who took the bad acid-- musicians, artists, writers, and the like-- rendered in words and (you guessed it, trippy) visuals.

Musical contributors of note include Devendra Banhart, Matmos' Drew Daniel (also a Pitchfork contributor) and Martin Schmidt, and Vetiver's Andy Cabic. WAIT A MINUTE, DEVENDRA DOES DRUGS!??!

In conjunction with the book's release, Gallery 16's actual San Francisco gallery space opened an exhibition today (October 15) featuring work from Bad Trips. It runs through November 3. And while we're on the subject, let us take a moment to remind our readership to please trip responsibly.

Photos: Beirut [Hollywood, CA; 10/12/07]

Photos by Akmal Naim

Beirut just can't seem to get enough live gigs. After wrapping up their fall U.S. tour in Los Angeles last week, appearing on KEXP in Chicago, and performing a series of DVD-worthy live videos for Blogotheque, Zach Condon and crew made one more stop at L.A.'s Amoeba Music for a not-so-secret in-store show.

Performing a number of tunes from the excellent Flying Club Cup, Beirut wowed the crowd here Stateside for the last time before heading off to Europe in a couple of weeks for a trek with the Twilight Sad. European dates and more photos below.








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The Killers Prep Rarities Comp, Do Xmas Single, Tour

Making big fat rock records, lacing tracks with/getting props from Lou Reed ("genuinely great," he calls them), trying to hang with the Beatles, and dropping a "rarities" collection only two albums into their not exactly storied career; those Killers got spunk. And those of us with a soft spot for Salt Lake-sized choruses and nifty little moustaches could do a lot worse than the Killers, who've got a couple upcoming projects not lacking in spunk. Wow, that came out wrong.

This fall, those Killers drop the aforementioned Lou Reed-blessed rarities comp and a Christmas single besides. First, the rarities comp: it's called Sawdust, and besides Lou and them's "Tranquilize", it features "All the Pretty Faces" (a B-side from the "When You Were Young" single), a cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay" from the Control soundtrack, Spider-Man 3's "Move Away", the band's take on Mel Tillis' "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", and 12 more jams. Sawdust drops November 13 from Island.

And that Christmas single? It's called "Don't Shoot Me Santa" (was there some danger of that, Brandon?), it'll go to benefit the (RED) African AIDS relief campaign, and it's out December 1. The track, of course, is a follow up of sorts to last year's "A Great Big Sled". Hey, didn't the Beatles do a Christmas single every year, too? Maybe these kids can hang.

And they're touring! Ah, Killers, you slay me. [MORE...]

Hot Chip's Taylor Talks LP, Alicia Keys, Rilo Remixes
"A lot of the songs have been inspired by Black Dice... There are also two mentions of Willie Nelson on this record to look out for."

For the second time in six months, we spoke to Hot Chip co-frontman Alexis Taylor about a new record from his band. Last time, it was their DJ Kicks mix. This time, it's an honest-to-goodness full-length follow-up to last year's The Warning, titled Made in the Dark and due on Astralwerks tentatively on February 4 in the UK and February 5 in the U.S.

The record's release will make three LPs for the band, and Taylor was kind enough to expound upon the musical changes it marks for Hot Chip. In the process, he also revealed the band's (fake) collaborations with Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel, (real) remixes for Alicia Keys and Rilo Kiley, and just how deeply ingrained their eclecticism is. Oh, and he wants more people to buy Gang Gang Dance records.

Pitchfork: Why did you chose to call the album Made in the Dark instead of some of the other titles you were throwing around, like Shot Down in Flames and IV?

Alexis Taylor: There's always someone in our band-- always a different person-- to veto any of the names [that could] be taken not too seriously. IV was definitely my favorite. It could've worked. There's a great Fucking Champs album called IV, there's Black Sabbath's Vol. 4. This is our third record, so calling it IV was good. Shot Down in Flames-- Felix [Martin] was worried it sounded too much like a name the Beta Band might have come up with, so we went with the other name. "Made in the Dark" is the name of one of my favorite songs on the new record. I like its open-endedness, and it's nice to sometimes name an album after one of the sadder, more thoughtful songs rather than it just being like Coming on Strong, The Warning, and then Shot Down in Flames: big, slightly jokey, macho phrases.

Pitchfork: Is not being taken seriously a fear you guys have?

AT: I kind of like giving people the wrong impression all the time, so I'm happy if the album's called IV and people are annoyed that it's just a stupid joke. That doesn't bother me at all, but I don't think calling the album Made in the Dark was an attempt to be any more serious; it was just a phrase that is from one of the songs and everyone agreed on it. There's not really a fear...I think if people would see us, meet us, see us play live, hear our records, if they give us any time they would see that we're very serious about comedy and very serious about serious things as well.

Pitchfork: The press release describes the new album as "faster and rockier." Is that true, and was it an intentional move?

AT: Yeah, some of it is rockier, and there are moments that you could detect a bit of a heavy metal influence.

Pitchfork: Are there less electronic elements?

AT: No, no. Unfortunately, we never do things by adding one thing and taking something else away. We just throw everything into the mix, so it's just as much electronic stuff and just as much live stuff. There isn't really one thing gone to make room for something else.

Pitchfork: Does that mean it's going to sound bigger and more maximalist, maybe, than previous records?

AT: Yeah, some of it is. And other tracks are much more minimalist, so if the press release says it's faster and rockier it doesn't account for that fact that there are more ballads on this record than any other record.

Pitchfork: So it's more of everything: more slow, more fast...

AT: More of everything, yeah, more of everything is probably the easiest way to describe it. That way it could be read as more of the good things, more of the bad things, more of the okay things, just more. Excessive and...no no no, it's not really [laughs]. Quite a lot of strength in certain tracks, and quite a lot of overloading in other ones.

Pitchfork: Other than the heavy metal influences that you mentioned earlier, are there any new directions or left turns that people might not be expecting?

AT: There's one that is kind of wrestling with the idea of making an R. Kelly kind of slick r&b number, but it maybe ends up sounding more like Randy Newman's "Short People". Maybe that's the strange turn. [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.)