Photos: The Magnetic Fields [New York, NY; 02/21/08]

Photos by Kathryn Yu

You'd think all the fuzzed-out pop-rockin' found on latest release Distortion might have coaxed Stephin Merritt off his cozy stool from the get-go, but there he was last night as the Magnetic Fields kicked off the first show of four at New York City's Town Hall. A reverentially quiet crowd took in a two-part set that interspersed a bunch of Distortion numbers with a cavalcade of classics from the Fields and other Merritt projects. Naturally, the set also featured plenty of dry-humored Merritt banter.

The Magnetic Fields return to Town Hall tonight and twice more this weekend, follow that up with a trio of two-night stands, and cap things off with a six gig blowout in Chicago come mid-March.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS







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Crystal Castles, HEALTH Kick Off Tour Tonight

HEALTH photo by Kathryn Yu / Crystal Castles photo by Daniel Cantó

Something unusual is about to happen to Hamilton, Ontario, and it may be heading your way. Noises will be made. Science will be dropped. And yes, oh yes, there will be dancing. Los Angeles' HEALTH and Toronto's Crystal Castles will meet this evening for the proper start of their fairly massive joint tour of North America, which sees the two acts traveling in tandem for the better part of five weeks.

Along the way, Crystal Castles' self-titled debut will make its way to stores March 18 on Last Gang. Once they say their goodbyes in Toronto, the Castles will rest up for the UK/European tour they're plotting for April (dates TBA), while HEALTH, fresh off their Suicide Squeeze single for "Perfect Skin", will rock their previously-reported dates, and a few new ones since the last time we brought it up. [MORE...]

Malkmus, Shins' Mercer Play Portland School Benefit

All the experts will tell you: start 'em young. Prolonged exposure to superlative indie rockers beginning at an early age will lead to a heightened awareness of one's own unique talents, improved taste in music, and increased chances of churning out quality indie rock later in life.

And who are the folks at Portland's Buckman Elementary School to question the experts? For their 2008 "Buckman Bash" benefit concert, they've rounded up two of the brightest indie stars to emerge from the Rose City in modern history: Stephen Malkmus and Shins frontman James Mercer.

M & M will perform at their hometown's Jupiter Hotel on April 11 for the benefit bash, with proceeds going toward Buckman and its Arts Focus programs (which focus on, you guessed it, the arts). Performance artist Andrew Dickson will emcee the event, while a third, as yet unannounced music act will open.

The Buckman Bash is but one part of the 18th annual Buckman Art Show & Sell festival, which runs from April 11-12 at the school. And if this Buckman name keeps ringing bells, this isn't the first time they've treated their young people to the beneficial effects of indie rockers. A swag auction this past spring featured contributions from the Decemberists, Isaac Brock, Mercer and his Shins, and Mr. Malkmus' Jicks bandmate Janet Weiss.

After a busy 2007, Mercer and his Shins have kept otherwise quiet of late (er, mostly), while Stephen Malkmus and his Jicks are just getting started. Real Emotional Trash arrives March 4 on Matador, while the band's tour kicks off March 19 in Minneapolis following a couple recently added in-stores. [MORE...]

Third Annual Pitchfork-Windish Austin Bash Revealed
Yeasayer, No Age, Atlas Sound, Bon Iver, Times New Viking, Jay Reatard, White Williams, High Places, A Place to Bury Strangers, Fuck Buttons, Lykke Li, Human Giant set to play

This March, music-minded men and women of the world will flock to Austin, Texas by the thousands-- pens, notepads, earplugs, cameras, cellphones, and contracts in hand-- with their sights set upon but one monumental event: the annual Pitchfork-Windish party at Emo's and Emo's Jr. I mean, why else would they be there?

All biases aside, Pitchfork and the Windish Agency sure have cooked up a good one this year (not that last year's was slackin'). A whole parade of kick-ass acts will grace the Emo's and Emo's Jr. stages across the afternoon of Friday, March 14.

And here they are:

No Age (5 p.m.)
A Place to Bury Strangers (4:30 p.m.)
Yeasayer (4 p.m.)
Times New Viking (3:30 p.m.)
Bon Iver (3 p.m.)
Atlas Sound (2:30 p.m.)
Jay Reatard (2 p.m.)
Fuck Buttons (1:30 p.m.)
White Williams (1 p.m.)
Lykke Li (12:30 p.m.)
High Places (12 p.m.)

Partygoers can also look forward to MTV sketch comedy group Human Giant, whose previously reported Season One DVD comes out March 4.

This celebration of live music, comedy, and general merriment is being held in conjunction with our friends at TicketWeb and 2K Sports, as well as our Pitchfork Music Festival partners Goose Island, Boost Mobile, and Sparks.

See you in Austin!

Silver Apples, Spectrum Do Dallas' Melodica Fest

Melodica 2008 bills itself as "a different kind of music festival," and that much is true: most music festivals named after one particular instrument actually feature a lot of bands who employ said instrument in their music. But we'll leave the semantics to the cynics and focus instead on the festival lineup, blowing through several venues in Dallas' Expo Park neighborhood today (February 22) and tomorrow.

Highlights include Silver Apples (who, I'm told, still bring it live), Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember in his Spectrum guise, Mike Simonetti (of Troubleman and Italians Do It Better), Yellow Fever, Finally Punk, and dot-matrix doodlers Treewave. Plus the whole thing is entirely DIY, without an iota of corporate sponsorship. So hats off to this Melodica, crazy keyboard-horn or no crazy keyboard-horn.

Atmosphere Announce North American Tour Dates

Photo: Dan Monick

When life gives you lemons...er, you oughta ask Atmosphere about that. And when Atmosphere gives us details of their forthcoming North American tour, well, we post that shit pronto. In late April, following his appearance alongside Chuck D and Brother Ali in Minneapolis, Slug and beatmaking bud Ant will take it to the road for just shy of a month.

All this, of course, coincides with Rhymesayers Entertainment's April 22 release of Atmosphere's new one, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold.

The wait making you feel like you're watching Paint dry? Check out Slug and Ant (and, for a brief, hilarious second, Brother Ali) chatting it up on Paint It Gold, the group's YouTube channel. Pretty modern for a couple of Hotmail users, don't you think?

[Editor's note: Definitely check out Slug's Valentine's Day love and sex advice column from The Onion if you haven't already. This guy is right on! "Go directly to the independent record store (vinyl stock is a must), and start flirting with that employee shaped like Grimace from the McDonald's commercials."] [MORE...]

All Points West Festival Lineup Announced
Animal Collective, Cat Power, New Pornos, Girl Talk, CSS, Roots, and, duh, Radiohead

Congratulations, All Points West festival! You've got an ace up your sleeves, so to speak, what with your pair of Radioheads and, now, a duo of stories in Pitchfork news within the same 24 hour period! Where can you go from here? Why, into big announcement mode? We'll join you.

The All Points West Festival-- August 8-10 in Jersey City's Liberty State Park, put on by the folks who bring you your Coachella year in and year out-- has announced its initial lineup, and boy howdy, it (almost) makes a person wanna spend a long weekend in New Jersey!

Apart from Radiohead and Sunday headliner Jack Johnson, we've got Animal Collective, Cat Power, the New Pornographers, Girl Talk, the Roots, Underworld, the Go! Team, Metric, CSS, Andrew Bird, Black Kids, Chromeo, Amadou & Mariam, Rogue Wave, Mates of State, Juana Molina, the Black Angels, Jason Isbell, Neil Halstead, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Youssou N'Dour, Kings of Leon, the Felice Brothers, Sia, Duffy, Little Brother, Nicole Atkins, Michael Franti & Spearhead, K'Naan, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Alberta Cross, the Virgins, Forro in the Dark and Your Vegas all making the trip.

Great lineup and all, but it's no Dickson St. Music Festival.

Note that the All Points West fest is doing its part for the environment, with their initial "green" plans including a carpool parking lot and a bunch of public transportation to and from the site. (Hey Coachella, you listening?) Also, a portion of the proceeds will go to "The Friends of Liberty State Park", an organization seeking to preserve the park as a "free, green and non-commercial urban waterfront oasis". Fuck you, condo developers.

Tegan and Sara Back on the Road

Because one is never enough for these gals, Tegan and Sara are set to embark on two tours in the coming months, both in further support of 2007's The Con.

They'll grace U.S. shores beginning April 16 in Bellingham, Washington, but first they must conquer that great land mass across the ocean known as Europe. Germany, in particular, should be an easy victory, as The Con arrives there just days before the sisters do, on February 28. The campaign kicks off tomorrow night (February 22) in Brighton, England. [MORE...]

Charlie Daniels, .38 Special, Little Feat... Sonic Youth?!
Sorry Coachella, THIS is the festival lineup of the year

No, we are not making this up.

To quote reader Jason Springman, who tipped us off (via the Fayetteville Flyer): ".38 Special and Sonic Youth, finally together and not just in my dreams!"

Disfear Head to North America This Spring

Awww, another fucking Swedish band? Gee, Pitchfork, let me guess: despite their "ironically tuff" name, Disfear sing gauzy little ditties about first crushes and sweet kisses and their friggin' hairdressers, occasionally employing a ukelele or a glockenspiel for an extra dash of twee.

Oh wait, they're a D-beat band with a dude who used to be in At the Gates on vocals? Somebody from Converge produced their recent Pitchfork Recommended album Live the Storm? And they're touring?! Sign me up! Right after I cozy up with my tea and this Sambassadeur LP, that is...

Yep, Disfear are taking that other strain of Swedish rock to North America in April. There's a lone date way back at the end of May, too, meaning either Disfear are coming back around then, or don't plan to leave. They may not nab the politeness award from some of their more delicate countryfolks, but they'll more than make up for their lack of hospitality with a fuckton of awesomeness. [MORE...]

Photos: Blood on the Wall [New York, NY; 02/20/08]

Photos by Jason Bergman

From awesome to Awesomer to awesomeness Liferz, Brooklyn's Blood on the Wall know how to tear shit up. Luckily they didn't do too much damage when they rolled through record shop Other Music in New York City last night, although singer/guitarist Brad Shanks did manage to fry an amp before the performance was over. Whoops!

At least their tour travels are just about wrapped up (for now), with only a gig in Boston tonight and a homecoming showcase on Friday remaining.

BLOOD ON THE WALL





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The Breeders Announce First Mountain Single

Photo by Chris Glass

Mountain Battles and a heap of tour dates await the Breeders this spring, and the band has just sweetened the pot of post-hiatus goodies with the announcement of the album's first single.

"We're Gonna Rise" will come out in the UK March 17 via 4AD. It will be available as a 7" and a download, with the non-album B-side "German Demonstration". You might remember "We're Gonna Rise" from when it was available on the band's MySpace for about five seconds.

Then, of course, it's onto the album release on April 8 (the day before in the UK) and the aforementioned big ol' tour. [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.)