Sanctuary Records to Cease New Releases in U.S.

The American home to Morrissey, Idlewild, Tegan and Sara, Jonny Greenwood's reggae comp, and more, England's Sanctuary Records Group will soon cease its front-line operation in the United States and focus exclusively on catalog releases. This is according to a Billboard.biz report and confirmed by a spokesperson at the imprint. UK operations will presumably continue as before.

Ex-Cranberries frontlady Dolores O'Riordan's Are You Listening?, out May 15, will likely be the label's final new release in the U.S. Meanwhile, the status of Tegan and Sara's latest LP, The Con, is unknown at this time. That record was slated to come out July 24.

As of June 30, the label will shift focus entirely to its catalog-- which, according to a Sanctuary spokesperson, will include both existing titles (including the Wedding Present, the Pentangle, Joe Meek, and more) and future reissues. The Sanctuary Records Group umbrella includes the Attack, Castle, Trojan, Vapor, and Fantastic Plastic sub-labels, among others.

Man Man, Oakley Hall, Buckner on WUAG Comp
Also David Bazan, Hem, Talkdemonic, Swearing at Motorists

Greensboro, North Carolina college radio station WUAG has assembled another double-disc compilation of local and national artists to follow up last year's 18 Watts Is Better Than None. The new compilation is titled Taylor 25: A Nostalgic Retrospective, after the room in which the recordings take place and the approximate number of years the station has occupied that room (it will move to a new building this fall).

Like 18 Watts, Taylor 25 features the national acts on one disc and the local ones on another. Among those national acts are Man Man, Oakley Hall, Hem, Richard Buckner, Nicolay, Swearing at Motorists, Jolie Holland, and Tara Jane O'Neil.

Taylor 25 comes out today, April 10, and WUAG will follow its release with four nights of shows featuring Taylor 25 artists from April 11-14. Non-comp contributors Parts & Labor will play the first show with the Foreigners, Boa Narrow, and the Bronzed Chorus at Greene Street, and Emperor X will play the last show with the Never and Embarrassing Fruits at Chapel Hill's Local 506 club. [MORE...]

The Robot Ate Me Tour North America

Portland's the Robot Ate Me, aka Ryland Bouchard and whomever he brings along with him, are currently on a North American tour. They're in Canada now, and aside from an April 14 date in Chicago, they will re-enter the U.S. full-time starting with their April 18 date in Syracuse, NY. The tour ends in Sacramento on May 20. [MORE...]

Xiu Xiu, Matmos, Erase Errata Judge XBXRX Contest

Photo by Shannon Corr

Oakland experimental punkers XBXRX are holding a video contest in conjunction with the release of their new album, Wars, on Polyvinyl on April 10. Hey, that's today!

They're asking fans to create a video for the album's first track, "Center Where Sight", and they've recruited Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart, Matmos, and Erase Errata's Jenny Hoyston to judge the contest.

The first-prize winner of the contest will receive the guitar used on the Wars tour ("though they can't guarantee its condition"), a poster, and a sticker. The second-and-third-prize winners will each receive a copy of Wars and a spot on the guest list when XBXRX play their cities.

The contest runs until May 22, and XBXRX will announce the winners on June 10. Contestants can submit videos via email at xbxrxvideo@yahoo.com or post office at the following address (DVD-Rs are preferred):

XBXRX
"Center Where Sight" Video Contest
P.O. Box 3648
Oakland, CA 94609

The Wars tour begins April 13 in Sacramento. The full dates of the tour are listed below. [MORE...]

Cursive Extend U.S. Tour

Loopy writer Tim Kasher and his pointy-riffed penmen Cursive will barely lift their proverbial quill off the page in May, with an ever-expanding, nation-spanning tour including dates with murk-metal mavericks Mastodon. Mastodon's prehistoric anguish will meet up with Tim Kasher's more existential variety, as the Cursive doodlers work through the jagged nooks and horn-y crannies of last year's Happy Hollow.

Word on the street is that Kasher's other band the Good Life are working on a new album with producer Mike Mogis, with eyes on a fall release. [MORE...]

M.I.A. Reveals New Album Name, Release Date

Rolling Stone reports that M.I.A.'s hotly anticipated second album will be called Kala and will be in stores June 26 via Interscope. Yes, "Bird Flu" will be on it, as will collaborations with Diplo and Timbaland.

None of this information has been confirmed yet, but the release date at least seems remotely accurate, as it falls between M.I.A.'s two confirmed live performances, taking place at the Sasquatch Festival in George, Washington on May 26 and at the Virgin Festival in Toronto on September 8-9. So she's probably going to put out an album sometime this summer, right?

Roky Erickson Reborn With Documentary, Tour

Photo by Vanessa Forbes

Things are finally looking up for psych rock icon and 13th Floor Elevators operator Roky Erickson. Having re-entered the public sphere just a short while back, Roky's survived drug abuse and asylums to bring his still-strong rock'n'roll stylings to a venue or festival near you once again in 2007.

Erickson has eight dates lined up in the coming months, including his very first New York City live appearances ever, and stops at Coachella, Roskilde, and Bumbershoot, among other happenin' happenings.

Whether you're new to Roky's world, or he's always been there before for you, take in the man's heartbreaking story on the big screen. Beginning June 8, the Roky doc You're Gonna Miss Me hits theaters in NYC; it was directed by Keven McAlester, who's fortunate enough to share a name (phonetically, at least) with the main character in Home Alone. Look for the DVD to follow July 10 via Palm Pictures. [MORE...]

Tokyo Police Club Tour Some More

Ontario's own extended playas Tokyo Police Club might have the internet goin' nutz, but even the busiest blog-reader might not've yet had the pleasure of catching the jagged squeals of Police Club's siren songs in the flesh.

Lucky them, the Club kids-- whose previously-reported computer-only Smith EP could very well be gathering digital dust on your hard drive right now-- will dispatch the squad car for a summer-spanning donut run kicking off tonight in New York, with a scheduled shake down on "The Late Show With David Letterman" April 19. [MORE...]

Indies Launching Compilation Attack on Mainstream?

What was your introduction to indie rock? Think back. Was it seeing the Replacements on "Saturday Night Live"? An R.E.M. video? A band t-shirt Kurt Cobain wore? Garden State? Hearing "Float On" on the radio?

We've all had those turning points in our lives (you probably wouldn't be reading Pitchfork right now if you hadn't!), but what about the next generation? What about those kids out there right now who don't know who Sonic Youth are (gasp!) or don't care about the Arcade Fire (shock!)? Who or what is going to be the gatekeeper for them?

According to Entertainment Weekly and Billboard, a group of independent (and "independent") labels are teaming up to put out a series of compilations aimed at seducing the newbie listener over to our way of life.

EW.com says that the comps will feature the likes of Bloc Party, the Shins, Bright Eyes, Air, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, M. Ward, Ted Leo, Cat Power, Silversun Pickups (UPDATE: Silversun Pickups have said that they are NOT involved in these compilations), the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Sonic Youth, and that labels such as Vice, Matador, and Sub Pop will take turns putting out each volume.

However, both Matador and Sub Pop would not confirm their involvement in the series. Vice's label manager Adam Shore was quoted in Entertainment Weekly's article, but told Pitchfork that "those comments went out prematurely and all the information in there is not 100% confirmed."

Said information included Shore saying, "We're partnering with MTV2, and the focus is going to be Wal-Marts, big box stores, red states, and TV advertising-- to really go beyond... We don't really expect indie rock stores to support this record. It's for the casual fan."

MTV acknowledged that they have discussed the possibility of becoming involved in the series, but that nothing had been confirmed yet.

Billboard.com reports that the entire project is being "spearheaded" by the Alternative Distribution Alliance (or ADA, if you're cool), the Warner Music Group-owned company that distributes Vice, Sub Pop, Matador, and countless others. ADA had not responded to questions at the time of this story's publication.

So. Are these compilations actually coming out? Probably. Will they be on Vice, Matador, and Sub Pop? Maybe. Will MTV be involved? Not so sure.

But the most uncertain thing of all? Whether anybody will actually buy the things.

Animal Collective's Weitz Seeks Parkinson's Donations

Believe it or not, the men of Animal Collective aren't always mucking about in masks or drumming and strumming their way to catharsis. Sometimes they are serious, quite serious, and that is the case with today's bit of Animal Collective news.

Simply put, Brian "Geologist" Weitz of Animal Collective has a grandfather who is suffering from the late stages of Parkinson's disease. The central nervous disorder, believed to afflict over one million people in the U.S. alone, results from a lack of dopamine in nerve cells and often leaves the afflicted unable to go about day-to-day activity.

Wrote Geologist in a personal message relayed via his publicist, "my grandfather...has been in the hospital hanging on for 2 months now. He had emergency surgery for something unrelated to the Parkinson's, however because of it, he has not been able to fully wake up or recover."

To help the cause of his grandfather and all those with Parkinson's, Weitz has decided to join his mother on the Parkinson Council's 2007 Walk for Parkinson's in Philadelphia. Geologist and Mom will tread ten miles to raise funds for Parkinson's research, but they need your help! Donate directly to Weitz's fundraising efforts via his personal Walk page. Act soon, however, as the walking shoes hit the pavement April 21.

Animal Collective's paws, meanwhile, hit the tour trail with Sir Richard Bishop this May. [MORE...]

Jeezy, USDA Talk Album, Slang, Street Team
"We gave away so much, and people never recognize the good things. They always try to bring the bad things up."

As our own Tom Breihan put it in his review of Young Jeezy's second and most recent album, The Inspiration, "There's wisdom in his ignorance and ignorance in his wisdom." That is, even though the Atlanta MC rehashes the same old drug talk and motivational speak in his lyrics and in interviews, he does it with a charisma that makes possible the occasional revelation.

When I talked to Young Jeezy and the other two members of his USDA crew-- Blood Raw and Slick Pulla-- about their new mixtape, Young Jeezy Presents USDA: Cold Summer, they were unsurprisingly repetitive and promotional. Nonetheless, there were moments of comedy and poignancy as we talked about Cold Summer (which comes out May 22 via Def Jam and their own Corporate Thugz Entertainment), their communities, the slang that permeates their lyrics, and the rumored street team comprised entirely of white girls to promote the single "White Girl".

Pitchfork: How is the Street Dream tour going?

Blood Raw: Aw, man, it's beautiful. It's real good exposure. It's real good politicking going on, and we're getting a lot of love from the fans.

Pitchfork: When you say "politicking," are you guys making connections backstage? Are you working on collaborations, like with Lil Wayne and Rich Boy?

BR: Well, we're also doing promo, as far as USDA. We're going to the radio stations, doing some marketing by passing out t-shirts, CDs, after-parties, and different things like that.

Pitchfork: There is an obvious pun going on with the name USDA. Why specifically did you choose that acronym?

BR: It's really just a coincidence. When we came up with "United Streets and D-Boys of America," we just spun it up to USDA. That's the acronym for that. That represents our movement. It's really not trying to make a spin-off.

Pitchfork: It's really just a coincidence that it also stands for the United States Department of Agriculture? There wasn't a little bit of name recognition going on there?

BR: No, no, not at all. It's just a coincidence. It just so happens that those letters stand for that. [MORE...]

Jason Isbell Leaves Drive-By Truckers

Drive-By Truckers guitarist Jason Isbell has parted ways with the veteran country-fried rockers under what bandmate Patterson Hood describes as "extremely amicable" circumstances in a statement on the band's website.

Since hopping on the Truckers' convoy mid-tour 2001, Isbell served as one of DBT's trio of axe-slingers, enjoying a place at the center of the Drive-By Truckers' well-regarded Decoration Day, The Dirty South and A Blessing and a Curse records and riding shotgun on their ceaseless roadshow. Isbell's wife Shonna Tucker, who joined the band on bass in late 2003, has expressed no plans to leave.

Isbell has a handful of solo dates in the works, and will issue his solo debut Sirens of the Ditch July 10 on New West Records. The Isbell-less Truckers will travel on through the late spring and summer. [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.)