Sub Pop Signs Grand Archives and Sera Cahoone

Grand Archives photo by Renee McMahon
Sera Cahoone photo by Chris Zasche

They may only have had Carissa's Wierd in their clutches for a 7" before the cherished Pacific Northwest act parted ways, but Sub Pop's sure making a stake on the Carissa legacy. Already home to Band of Horses-- fronted by ex-Wierdo Ben Bridwell-- Sub Pop has rolled out the welcome mat for two more Carissa's alums: ex-CW drummer Sera Cahoone and ex-CW frontman Mat Brooke's new outfit Grand Archives, recently profiled over in Forkcast. Incestuously enough, both of these vets also appear on Band of Horses' Everything All the Time.

Cahoone played drums on Everything and self-released her self-titled debut-- on which she sings and plays guitar-- back in February 2006. She'll treat show-goers at Seattle's Neumos to some back porch country-folk tunes on June 10, appearing alongside Okkervil River at the Noise for the Needy benefit. No news yet on her first Sub Pop release, but we'll certainly keep y'all posted.

Carissa's co-lead vocalist and co-lead songwriter Mat Brooke, a founding member of Band of Horses (and the short-lived Nov. 16), played on Everything and Horses' first tour (with Iron and Wine) before going off to do his own thing last year. His own thing, as it turned out, was Grand Archives (originally known as just Archives). Featuring four harmonizing male vocalists, the band already has a sweet set of demos and will begin recording its debut for Sub Pop soon. Until then, catch a glimpse of Grand Archives through 200 yards of baseball caps as they open the first leg of the Modest Mouse tour. [MORE...]

Conor Oberst Costco Guitar Explained!

That was fast. Almost as soon as a Conor Oberst signed guitar showed up for sale on bulk retailer Costco's website, it disappeared. So what happened? Sorry, conspiracy theorists, it wasn't some evil corporate plot or some sort of sell-out move. It was merely an accident.

First Act, the guitar company, issued the following statement:

"The guitar listed on the Costco website is a single guitar that was signed by Conor Oberst after an acoustic performance in New York on September 16th, 2005. Due to an internal mistake at First Act the guitar was put up for sale on the Costco website.

"First Act takes full responsibility for this error and had it removed from the site yesterday (April 11, 2007). In no way was Costco misrepresenting the item; it's actually an authentically signed guitar. First Act regrets the error, as the guitar was not intended to be sold to the public."

So that's that. Apologies to those who tried to buy a jar of 500 signed Conor Oberst guitars.

Ryan Adams Won't Play Stonehenge After All
But he will play moe.down, so that's something

Eighth wonder of the world Ryan Adams' draw amongst the megalith-loving set is just too great. NME.com reports that organizers of the Salisbury International Art Festival have put the kibosh on Adams' June 5 set at Stonehenge for fear of drawing too many onlookers without tickets.

This would be a much cooler news item had the structural integrity of the 4,000+ year old monument been suspect; instead, Ryan and the fest planners are merely trying to squelch freeloaders. Lame.

UPDATE! APPARENTLY, NME GOT THIS ALL WRONG. ACCORDING TO RYAN'S PUBLICIST, "THE PROMOTERS CITED STRUCTURAL ISSUES FROM AMPLIFIED MUSIC, EXCESSIVE CROWDING AND TRAFFIC HAZARDS. RYAN "DEFINITELY WANTED TO PLAY STONEHENGE" AND "WAS VERY UPSET AT THE PROMOTERS' DECISION AND PROTESTED IT AS MUCH AS HE COULD".

And it appears that it was Stonehenge or nothing, as "a suitable alternative site cannot be found, and Adams is no longer taking part in the festival," according to NME.com.

It's not the same, but Mid-Atlantic region fans will get a crack at Adams in a few May dates, as will, um, moe. fans at September's moe.down in Turin, New York. And his new album Easy Tiger's still due out June 5, and Adams and his band the Cardinals are still all over the Tiny MotoristMinnie Driver album. [MORE...]

The Books Kick Off Spring Tour

Photo by Nino P.

Books can transport readers to the most exotic places, and the Books can do the same. Or more accurately, the sample-heavy duo can travel to far-off places in search of new listeners, and that's just what they'll do on their previously announced tour, which kicks off tonight in Ottawa. Adventurers who desire a souvenir from their journey can go home with the Books' DVD Playall, available only at their shows and from their website.

On June 2, the Books will participate in NYC avant-garde troupe Bang on a Can's Marathon festival, which will take over the World Financial Center for 26 hours.

This tour affords fans the opportunity to visit the Books in exotic destinations such as Riga, Latvia Zagreb, Croatia and Malibu, California.

But you don't have to take my word for it... [MORE...]

Boredoms Tour Europe, Do One-Off in Canada

You've been holding it in for too long, but now, it's time to let your soul discharge: Boredoms are coming! (Well, if you live in Japan, Europe, or Calgary, that is.)

Japan's longest-running Sun Ra tribute band (or face-melting, cerebrum-punishing noise-rock geniuses, depending on how you choose to look at it) will pull up their super roots for a few European festivals and a lone Canadian date in the coming months; that is, after wrapping up previously announced slots with daydream believers Sonic Youth.

In other Boredoms news, Yoshimi's stayed plenty busy on her own of late, with her Mats Gustafsson collaboration and too-short OOIOO tour and chat with Pitchfork and all. Oh, and the Boredoms scrambled up another volume in their Super Roots series, and Eye is remixing Lindstrøm.

With all that activity, you'd think they'd change their name to Excitems! Am I right, people? Nah, they probably won't be doing that. [MORE...]

David Bowie Reissue, Best Of Due

David Bowie will reissue Young Americans, the 1974 album on which he first ventured into full-on blue-eyed soul territory, via Virgin/EMI on June 5. The reissue comes as a CD/DVD set with three bonus tracks. The DVD features newly mixed audio from producer Tony Visconti as well as video clips from a 1974 "Dick Cavett Show" performance and interview.

Also on June 5, Virgin/EMI will release a new Bowie best-of chronicling his 1980s output. The Best of David Bowie 1980-1987: Sight & Sound also comes as a CD/DVD, but this DVD consists entirely of Bowie's videos from this era, two of which have not seen release before now. [MORE...]

Minus the Bear's Snider Reveals New Album Details
"After the record comes out we hope to hit the road with some kind of planet o' ice themed musical stage extravaganza."

Photo by Ryan Russell

Brace yourselves, for come August 21, all we have known will cease to be. Come August 21, Planet Earth collides with...Planet of Ice!!! (If we first survive Year Zero next Tuesday, that is.)

Don't worry though, this is a good thing. Particularly if you're a fan of Seattle's advanced math mavens Minus the Bear.

Minus follow up the 2005 release of Menos El Oso (that's Spanish for "Neon Bible") and this year's remix album with Planet of Ice, out on that twice aforementioned date via Suicide Squeeze. As Bear den-leader Jake Snider told Pitchfork recently, Planet is "not quite as dry as the last record. It's a little more ambient; it has more of a really spacious sound."

Before you raise the red flags, however, know this: there's also "a lot more rock riffin' going on," as Jake added half in jest.

Planet of Ice was produced by the band in tandem with Chris Common and longtime producer/former bandmate Matt Bayles, both of whom lent their talents behind the boards to Menos.

The LP features ten songs, a couple of which should be familiar to frequenters of Minus' live shows. "There are songs from 2:40 to 10 minutes long," said Snider. "There's a variety of material."

Among Snider's favorites is "Dr. L'Ling", coined after a nickname for MtB's tour manager, Che Arthur, which features "this super heavy and slow, beat-heavy groove thing," according to Snider. "It's not as frantic as a lot of the music we've come up with in the past."

Also gone for the most part are the extra-long, math rock-derived, t-shirt slogan titles that adorn many of the earlier Minus releases. "We've definitely tried to tone [those] down...[and] get some emphasis away from that stuff," said Snider.

Other song highlights include "Ice Monster", which "turned out really well on the record" and nearly ten-minute closer "Lotus". Snider's stoked to play the new tunes live, and he'll get quite a few chances to do so as his band hits the road later this month with Chin Up Chin Up and the Honorary Title.

To celebrate, the band has some new gear to show off. "We did get some white amps and a clear drum set recently," Snider reported. "[They're] pretty icy...After the record comes out we hope to hit the road with some kind of planet o' ice themed musical stage extravaganza." [MORE...]

Lily Allen Adds Even More Tour Dates
In other news: water wet, turtles have shells, sun rises in east

These MySpace celebrities just don't know when to quit, huh? Think back to a simpler time before "bulletins" and "top 8," when a band would rent a drop-top, drive over the Brooklyn Bridge to a pre-arranged press conference, and definitively announce their tour schedule for the forthcoming months. A little overcooked, maybe, but it made a point.

Now? Now, it never ends.

Lily Allen, who just last week announced a whole bunch of new tour dates, has announced a whole bunch of other new tour dates, while on the road scratching off a whole bunch of old tour dates. To be fair, we love her, but Lil knows she's got us in her clutches, and I suspect she likes it that way.

In other Lily news, she's on the new Common album, the new Dizzee album, the new Mark Ronson album, and the road, for at least the next few months. She's also on "The Today Show" tomorrow, "The View" May 29, and "Letterman" June 18. And if you haven't had enough Lily, her hit "Smile" is on the latest edition of Now That's What I Call Music!

Look for her to start booking gigs between bites of lunch in the coming months. [MORE...]

Pavement, Death Cab, Wilco, Shins in Photo Book
CD features exclusive Califone, M. Ward, Mt. Eerie, Jason Lytle, Slumber Party jams

Is there anything more indie than the Polaroid? Okay sure, probably a lot of things [insert digression on multi-faceted definition of "indie" here], but that little square-shaped instant memorypiece with the white border has, one must admit, endeared itself to indie culture to a significant extent.

Indie Polaroids of indie artists, therefore, equals double the indie for your dollar-- and that's just what you'll get with Ashod Simonian's forthcoming tome Real Fun: Polaroids From the Independent Music Landscape. Simonian plays in Panty Lions and has lent his talents to Earlimart and Preston School of Industry, and this time spent amid the indie "landscape" has afforded him ample opportunities to catch indie America with its pants down, so to speak.

Real Fun hits bookshelves June 1 via PictureBox Inc. and includes candid Polaroid shots of such relatively well-liked bands as Pavement, the Shins, Spoon, Broken Social Scene, Sleater-Kinney, Jenny Lewis, Wilco, and Death Cab for Cheetos. Members of some of these bands and others also contribute anecdotes to supplement the sumptuous buffet of visuals.

Now you're probably thinking, "Whatever am I going to listen to whilst perusing the glossy pages of this exquisite volume?" Well Simonian's got you covered. All copies of Real Fun come bundled with an 18-track CD boiling over with all-exclusive cuts from everybody from Califone, Mt. Eerie, and Grandaddy's Jason Lytle, to Norfolk & Western with M. Ward, Slumber Party, Dios (Malos), Stereo Total, and Fuck. Preston and Panty also crop up.

Catch Simonian signing copies of his baby-- along with Preston School-boy/Pavement co-founder Spiral Stairs (aka Scott Kannberg) DJing-- at the official Real Fun book launch event, which goes down at Portland's OFFICE store on April 26. Party-goers will also have the opportunity to seek authentic merriment by purchasing prints of some of Real Fun's photos. [MORE...]

Final Fantasy Casts Spells on Europe, Canada
Bring a slicker-- I hear dude poos clouds

Sweet sweet Final Fantasy baby Owen Pallett will take an epic quest about the overworld this summer, bringing his Polaris- winning sounds to his native Canada as well as Europe.

No word on the progress of his forthcoming Heartland LP (which will apparently feature Beirut), but his swimming take on Stars' "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" and a cameo on Montag's Going Places should be enough to tide us over for now.

UPDATE: He's also got a track called "Flare Gun" on the CD compilation that comes with the latest issue of the excellent Esopus magazine, out May 1. The issue's theme is "spam", and yes, all of the songs on the compilation were inspired by spam email. Frida Hyvonen and the Submarines are among the comp's other contributors [MORE...]

Modest Mouse Keep Ship Afloat With Video Contest

A certain fake pundit/television host/hothead who will remain unnamed might take umbrage once again, but the green screen fiends are at it anew! Given that nowadays even the wee-est two-bit tot has access to advanced video editing software that rivals NASA, it's no surprise, young Jedi, that we have another green screen video contest in our midst.

This one comes courtesy of "Dashboard"-melting indie rock loud-mouths Modest Mouse, whose latest breakout LP, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, once enjoyed a pretty perch-- albeit fleeting-- atop the Billboard 200.

Modest Mouse and mtvU, no doubt concerned that the so-called "professionals" might muck it up, have turned to you, the fans, to create a video for Ship-shape track "We've Got Everything". At present, it exists merely as a series of shots of band members against that notorious green background. Do you have what it takes to mulch it into something memorable? Or scrap it entirely and do your own thing? And can you trump this?

You will indeed have everything if your entry is selected by Modest Mouse -- and by everything, we mean a video on mtvU/mtvU.com and a nifty new digital camcorder. Not too shabby. Exercise your Final Cut Pro skillz with haste, however, as the contest ends May 9. Hop over here for details and green screen downloads.

As previously reported, Modest Mouse embark on a massive tour next week, carting along Man Man and Love as Laughter for a stretch and Sub Pop's latest signing Grand Archives for another. In other words, arrive early. [MORE...]

Sonic Youth Reveal Deluxe Daydream Nation Details
Add tour dates in Russia, Italy

Daydream Nation turns 20 next year, but Sonic Youth, as previously reported, couldn't help but start the celebration early.

As you know, Thurston, Kim, Lee, and Steve will share their magnum opus with several festival crowds in the coming months-- including the Pitchfork Music Festival's (in conjunction with ATP/Don't Look Back), of which you will most certainly be a part, yes? The Youth also take on China, Japan, Russia, Europe, and more in 2007.

Before all that wonderful racket rolls across park and pavilion grounds, however, Sonic Youth will give us the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves (or introduce ourselves, as the case may be) with their landmark sixth LP. The deluxe edition of Daydream Nation rides into record stores on a wave of distortion June 12, boasting bonus demos, rare covers, and live versions of every single track on the album, along with new liner notes and photos which have never before graced the eyes of man nor woman.

Disc one collects the original album in total, with an extra home demo of "Eric's Trip" tossed on for kicks. Disc two houses all the live versions-- recorded during the original Daydream Nation tour-- along with four rare SY covers. Marvel at the band's tries at the Beatles' "Within You Without You", Neil Young's "Computer Age", Captain Beefheart's "Electricity", and Mudhoney's "Touch Me, I'm Sick".

Vinyl heads rejoice, for Sonic Youth will drop the deluxe Daydream on four LPs via their own Goofin' Records. [MORE...]

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