Man Man, Blitzen, Fleet Foxes Play Gas Food Lodging
With Why?, Cadence Weapon, Born Ruffians, Elf Power, Panther, Cryptacize

Dark Meat Sign to Vice, Reissue Indians, Tour Like Mad
Performing The Stooges' Funhouse in its entirety at SXSW

A lot of those ragtag, loose-knit bands from Athens, Georgia get slapped with the "collective" label, but dang it if Dark Meat-- the 17-piece bluesy psych orchestra with the sorta rude song titles-- don't deserve it more than most.

The big ol' band laid a tasty slab of rock on us in 2006 in the form of their album Universal Indians, released on Athens label Orange Twin. Now, they've signed to Vice Records, who will reissue Universal Indians with a trio of bonus tracks. The new Indians sports "One More Trip" and "Three Eyes Open", both recorded live in California's Joshua Tree National Park, plus "Universal Indians", the band's tribute to free jazz sax legend Albert Ayler. The newly expanded edition of the disc will arrive on CD April 8 and LP April 22.

And while they're doing their thing on a grand scale, Dark Meat will embark on a positively gargantuan tour of the U.S. It will include many stops at SXSW, most notably a March 12 set at the Orange Twin showcase at Spiro's, at which they will perform the Stooges' Fun House album in its entirety.

I'm also told that Dark Meat travel in a bright green 35-foot bus! Somehow, even that doesn't seem like it'll cover it. [MORE...]

MP3: Dark Meat: Freedom Ritual [from the Universal Indians LP]

Reinvigorated Wilderness Touring, Recording

Photo by Brian Gossman

Quiet as it's been kept, a couple years have passed since Baltimore's pithy art-rock troupe Wilderness, fresh from the release of their Vessel States LP, announced they'd be taking a hiatus. But, just like that, Wilderness are back, with a few shows, a new art-inspired work, and soon enough, another album. Welcome back, Wilderness! It's like you never left.

First up is a gig March 10-- hey, today!-- at New York's Seventh Regiment Armory. Their hour-long set of all-new material will be a collaboration with visual artist Charles Long, as part of the Whitney Biennial. Long will oversee video projections during Wilderness' performance.

Wilderness will use this new work as the jump-off for an album they'll record in April. But not before hitting the road for a smattering of shows. [MORE...]

MP3: Wilderness: Emergency [from the Vessel States LP]

Elf Power Tour America This Spring

MP3: Elf Power: Spiral Stairs [from the forthcoming In a Cave LP]

Shining Touring America for the First Time
Like Clipse, they ride around Shining

For the first time EVAH, Norwegian jazz/metal mix-and-matchers Shining are in the States and doing their thing live and in person! Right this instant (well, starting in several hours)!

Sure, they're only playing a handful of times, but there's plenty of chances for you to get your Shining on, as the band will follow gigs in New York and Chicago with a trip on down to Austin for a few appearances at that South by Southwest thinger we keep typing so much about. They'll close things out in L.A. Sunday night. This tour is being presented by the folks at Norway's Oya Festival, as well as OhMyRockness.com.

After their brief time on our shores, it's back to Europe, where Shining have about a gig a month for the next three months, but not a whole lot else in terms of plans. (You could always come back here if you're bored, guys.) This is all in support of their latest album, Grindstone, which came out a year ago on Rune Grammofon.

In other Shining news, a few from their fold emerged on Hanne Hukkelberg's Rykestrasse 68, which was recently issued in North America on Nettwerk. [MORE...]

Video: Shining: Winterreise [from the Grindstone LP]

T.V. Eye: March 10-16, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, March 10:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Jaymay

Tuesday, March 11:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Drive-by Truckers

Wednesday, March 12:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: British Sea Power

Friday, March 14:

FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: British Sea Power
OVATION: From the Basement: Sonic Youth, José González, Laura Marling

Pitchfork Music Festival 2008!
Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back ! Animal Collective! Spiritualized! Vampire Weekend! M. Ward! Boris!

Gather 'round, lovers of live music, summertime, the great outdoors, the Windy City, and certain festive occasions where all these things come together. The time has come to announce that annual rite of indie passage, the Pitchfork Music Festival!

The 2008 edition of our yearly sonic bonanza returns to Chicago's Union Park on Friday, July 18, Saturday, July 19, and Sunday, July 20. We'll spare you our usual bombast and bad puns and take you straight to the initial lineup:

Friday, July 18:
Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties present Don't Look Back

Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
+ more, to be announced

Saturday, July 19:

Animal Collective
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
No Age
Atlas Sound
Fleet Foxes
+ many more!

Sunday, July 20:

Spiritualized
M. Ward
Boris
Extra Golden
El Guincho
+ many more!

Of course, that's just the beginning, so look for further lineup announcements in these pages in the near future.

And you read that correctly: Pitchfork is once again partnering with All Tomorrow's Parties to bring the Don't Look Back series-- in which artists play their classic albums in full-- to the Pitchfork Music Festival. The opening night of the fest will feature Public Enemy parading through hip-hop hallmark It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

Tickets for the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival go on sale this Wednesday, March 12 at 12 p.m. CDT, and as always, they're quite inexpensive. Three-day passes will run you $65, two-day passes for Saturday and Sunday can be yours for $50, and individual day passes cost $30. So you can use all that extra money you're saving to buy something nice for Mom. I mean, why not?

Photos: Xiu Xiu / Thao With the Get Down Stay Down [Portland, OR; 03/07/08]

Photos: Sally Shapiro and Johan Agebjorn [New York, NY; 03/07/08]

British Sea Power Help Save the Polar Bears

"Following the release of their Do You Like Rock Music? album," the press release begins innocently enough, "British Sea Power now turn their gaze to the plight of the polar bear and a race to the North Pole."

Uh, right, naturally! Yes, British Sea Power are no longer quite so concerned about your preferred genre; they just wanna know if you can do you part to help save the polar bears. So they have designed a special t-shirt and sew-on badge, with proceeds going to exactly that cause. More specifically, the proceeds will go to Gareth Ellis, who will join a team of two other researchers/crazy people in the Polar Challenge in April and May. And what's the Polar Challenge? Why, it's a 350-mile race across the Magnetic North Pole.

Let me be the first to say: "BRRRRRRRRRR".

While trudging across the North Pole, Ellis and crew will be doing research into the plight of the polar bear for the Polar Bears International organization. It seems some mysterious unnamed force (...ahem) is melting the ice upon which the polar bears once cutely frolicked and, as is my understanding, once drank Coca-Cola products. Ellis and company are looking to collect data in the rarely-trodded-upon high Arctic, necessitating this long and arduous duty.

Ellis' fondness of the Ursus Maritimus is apparently rivaled only by his love for British Sea Power. And BSP were more than happy to lend a hand to Ellis, provided there was no risk of frostbite to said hand. In addition to turning over proceeds from the shirt and badge to Ellis' team, they'll also provide them with their very own brand of Kendal mint cake and a brand of hair pomade that can be eaten, if one finds him or herself under duress. Extreme duress.

BSP's dedication to bears runs deep: They travel around with a ten-foot bear named Ursine Ultra from time to time, and you'll recognize that bear silhouette up there from the cover of their 2005 LP Open Season. As singer/guitarist Yan inquires in a press release, "Who wouldn't want the big old bears to stick around?" Well put. He's also supporting the cause by hand-drawing 30 "polar themed" illustrations, which will be given to the first 30 people who order shirts.

When they're not out ensuring the success of the Zoobooks series for many years to come, British Sea Power are on the road. They'll do "Letterman" on Wednesday, hit South by Southwest throughout the long weekend, and keep on keepin' on with their huge North American tour from there. A new single for Do You Like Rock Music? track "No Lucifer" is out today (March 10) on Rough Trade in the UK either via download or on a limited edition of 1,000 10"s. [MORE...]

Video: British Sea Power: No Lucifer [from the Do You Like Rock Music? LP]

Drummer Lorin Coleman Leaves the Thermals
Band working on new album

Lorin Coleman (pictured above in red), drummer of Portland punk-pop pummelers the Thermals for the last two years, has left the band in a "totally amicable" split. In a kindly MySpace blog post titled "Thank You Lorin!", Thermals frontguy Hutch Harris gives many a prop to the departing Coleman, calling him a "fantastic drummer and a good friend." It seems that as a Thermal, Coleman had been neglecting his duties in the band Andy Combs and the Moth, to which he'll now return on a more consistent basis.

In the same post, Hutch explains that he and Kathy Foster are "just about" finished with their follow up to 2006's top-notch The Body, The Blood, The Machine, and "almost done" working up demos for the disc. The pair expect to split drum duties on the record, with the possibility of making that the regular recording setup from now 'til the future.

You might gather from this that finding a replacement for Coleman isn't a high priority, and you'd be right. Hutch says they're not exactly looking for a new drummer just yet, though "if you live in Portland and are just fucking amazing on the drums, feel free to drop us a line."

MP3: The Thermals: Everything Thermals / I Might Need You to Kill / Misfit / Returning to the Fold [from the Daytrotter session]

Free Kitten Return!
Supergroup features Kim Gordon, Yoshimi, Julie Cafritz

It's been quite a while since we've thought about Free Kitten, the only-badasses-need-apply supergroup featuring Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Pussy Galore's Julie Cafritz, Yoshimi P-We of Boredoms, and, at one point, Pavement bassist Mark Ibold. It's been more than a decade since their last record, Sentimental Education, and since then, all parties involved have made some pretty kickass music outside of the realm of feline gratis.

But we'll do a whole lot more thinking about Free Kitten between now and May 20, when Ecstatic Peace issues Inherit, the group's third proper LP. Though they're minus an Ibold this time out (he must be busy with that Pavement reunion PSYCH), the disc sports a little guest axe-work from Mr. J Mascis. Fair trade?

By the by, that photo up there ain't just two ladies dressed up like guitar-slingin' wizards. It's two ladies (Gordon and Cafritz) dressed up like guitar-slingin' wizards at the video shoot for the exceptionally titled "Free Kitten on the Mountain", which you'll want to keep an eye peeled for.

And, if you're in New York City between now and April 9, you'll want to stop into the K.S. Art gallery, where an exhibition of Kim Gordon's abstract watercolors is gracing the walls. The show will also include a sound work created by Gordon in collaboration with that Thurston guy she hangs out with from time to time. [MORE...]

MP3: Free Kitten: Teenie Weenie Boppie [from the Sentimental Education LP]

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.)