Bowie's High Line Festival Kicks Off Tonight
TV on the Radio acoustic set added to second night

Festival season is upon us, and there are so many of these things that it's easy for specific dates and lineups to get lost in the shuffle. Fortunately, Pitchfork is in possession of a giant supercomputer (read: calendar) that alerts us to the beginning of all of the summer's biggest and wildest music festivals.

Then, through a complicated process of documentation (read: writing), we are able to share our supercomputer's findings with you.

One of this year's most interesting festivals is the previously reported David Bowie-curated High Line Festival. It features performances by a bunch of Bowie's favorite acts, including the Arcade Fire, Air, TV on the Radio, the Polyphonic Spree, Daniel Johnston, Deerhoof, Laurie Anderson, the Secret Machines, and, why not, Ricky Gervais.

According to a press release, "the festival will take place in venues near the High Line, an elevated rail structure soon to open as a public open space which runs through the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea, and Clinton/Hells Kitchen. A portion of ticket sales will go to benefit Friends of the High Line, the...organization currently working...to transform the 1930s rail structure into a park, set to open in 2008."

The High Line Festival starts tonight (May 9) and goes through May 19. In addition to the performances listed below, the fest also features visual art exhibitions, a Latin American and Spanish film series, walking tours, and more. [MORE...]

Young Marble Giants' Youth Relived on Domino

What was once hinted at is now happening for reals. Come July 2 in the UK and August 7 Stateside, Domino Records-- having already proven itself a post-punk powerhouse with recent reissues/collections from Josef K, Orange Juice, and Fire Engines-- will tip its hat to the venerated Young Marble Giants, reissuing in lavish fashion the Welsh trio's sole LP, Colossal Youth.

Crashing shops this summer as a comprehensive two CD set, Colossal Youth & Collected Works includes the original 1980 LP, as well as the Testcard EP, the "Field Day" single, the Salad Days early recordings collection, and YMG's cut from the Is the War Over compilation.

As previously reported, Alison Statton and the brothers Moxham reconvene as Young Marble Giants-- for their first proper gig in 27 years-- at the 2007 Hay Festival in tiny Welsh/English border town Hay-on-Wye. New Domino signing Wild Beasts will open the May 27 show.

Also appearing the same day at the literature and arts festival is Santa Claus-esque Soft Machine psych-mechanic Robert Wyatt, who recently joined the Domino roster. He has an album, tentatively titled Comic Opera, slated for release later this year. [MORE...]

Stephen King Big Ups Ryan Adams' Tiger

One critic who won't be giving Ryan Adams' latest one-and-a-half stars: Stephen King, novel mass-producing machine, and probably your mom's favorite author (mine too).

Those trolling Amazon.com recently in anticipation of Easy Tiger's June 26 release may have stumbled across a little nugget of a Product Description whose scribe claims to be King. "I won't say Adams is the best North American singer-songwriter since Neil Young...but I won't say he isn't, either," this King puts forth. "What I know is there has never been a Ryan Adams record quite as strong and together as Easy Tiger."

Turns out that the man behind those words is indeed thee Stephen King, according to Adams' publicist. The two are apparently fans of one another's work, and we suspect, one another's ridiculous prolificacy. And the paragraph-or-so-long Amazon.com bit? It's in fact extracted from an even longer Adams bio/homage penned by King, the full text of which you may peruse after the jump. At least, until the interweb Langoliers gobble it up. [MORE...]

Exclusive: Okkervil River Adopt Stage Names

Front page photo by Jean-Marc Luneau

The mighty Okkervil River rages on this summer with the August 7 release of The Stage Names, the Austin outfit's fifth album of irascible folk-pop (if you count the self-released, not-quite-LP-long, not-quite-EP-short 2000 set Stars Too Small to Use).

Longtime River bed Jagjaguwar will serve up the nine track affair, and judging from a cursory glance over the tracklist (which we've kindly reprinted below), we'll leap to the conclusion that The Stage Names deals with any number of perennial rockstar topics: the high price of fame, the masks we wear when presenting ourselves before others, the meta-points one scores by naming a song "Title Track" (which joins a catalog that already includes "No Hidden Track", no less), and so forth.

Okkervil recorded the album in their Austin hometown with Brian Beattie, who also helmed the last two LPs. Spoon's Jim Eno had the pleasure of mixing Stage Names, while the album artwork you see up there once again comes courtesy of Okkervil's visual-renderer of choice, William Schaff (not to be confused with Okkervil's frontman, William Sheff)-- although we're taken aback slightly by the complete and utter lack of gnarly creatures with horns.

In anticipation of the Black Sheep Boy follow-up, Okkervil River-- recently hand-picked to open a gig for one Lou Reed-- have but three summer engagements lined up (including an HIV/AIDS benefit and Sheff's first in his native New Hampshire). Given they're aware of what a live treat they can be, we suspect they'll tack more dates onto that itinerary forthright. [MORE...]

Go! Team Reveal Fun-Filled Second Album
Special guests: Rappers Delight Club, aka those kids that rapped to Sufjan and Jens!

Thump-pop Tilt-a-Whirl riders the Go! Team have announced the preliminary details of their much-salivated-over second album. It's due September 10 in the UK on Memphis Industries. (The band does not have a U.S. label at the moment.)

The follow-up to Thunder Lightning Strike is still sans title, but not sans a presaging pair of singles: "Grip It Like a Vice" is out July 2, and "Doing It Right" follows September 3. Other tracks include "The Keys to the City" and "Titanic Vandalism."

Judging by the guest list, this album is going to be one hell of a party. Bonde do Role's Marina Ribatski and Solex contribute vocals, as do the Double Dutch Divas, a troupe of veteran jump-ropers who toured with Run-DMC in 1985.

But that's not all! The new Go! Team disc also features vocals from the Rapper's Delight Club! Yes, that Rapper's Delight Club-- the group of elementary- and middle-school kids who are known for rapping over Sufjan Stevens and Jens Lekman songs. How perfect is that?

In other Go! Team news, guitarist Kaori Tsuchida and this Mike Watt character have teamed up for a new group called Funanori, and singer/rapper Ninja guests on the Simian Mobile Disco track "It's the Beat".

The Team themselves will break their huddle formation and line up for a few summertime scrimmages in the coming months. [MORE...]

Fujiya & Miyagi Announce Summer Dates
Photos: Fujiya & Miyagi [Chicago, IL; 05/08/07]

Fujiya & Miyagi are fans of the tracksuit, and judging by the "Ankle Injuries" video (and the song's title, come to think of it), they're sports fans as well. So in preparation for the grueling test of athletic prowess known as the Pitchfork Music Festival (which they will play July 14), the trio have added a ton of tour dates surrounding the summer bash.

First, they'll finish up their previously reported dates with Peter Bjorn and John. Then they 1) head back to the UK (and France) from whence they came, 2) return to the U.S. for a few club dates, 3) play the Pitchfork Festival, and 4) fly back again to the UK (and France) for a final round of festivals.

The band also have one October date scheduled in Chicago, and though the Empty Bottle is a nice club and all, we imagine they won't visit our shores again just to play there. Our fingers are crossed for even more North American dates.

Speaking of the Empty Bottle, here are some photos from F&M's performance there last night.




[MORE...]

Emily Haines Chats Solo EP, New Metric Tunes
"Cherry popsicles melting, that's the inside of my brain."

Photo by Candace Meyer

From living it out to CSS at Coachella-- with Paris Hilton and Peaches-- to cutting the ribbon on a brand new studio in Toronto, Emily Haines has had one hell of a hot spring already. And it's only going to get hotter. Already on the Haines agenda for 2007: a solo EP of Knives Don't Have Your Back leftovers (check out the stream of "Rowboat" below), a book of Haines' dad's poetry, a release of Metric's "lost" debut album (another stream lies ahead), and a brand new Metric disc, which Emily is writing/pre-recording right now.

In an attempt to wrap our brains around all this Haines hysteria, Pitchfork phoned the lady for a brief chat recently. Among the usual album/tour matters, we also learned why Haines wants to try looking on the bright side, how she keeps it real with Portuguese gangsters in Toronto, and just what's inside that brain of hers.

First up, the new Metric album. The band is presently tooling with about 14 preliminary recordings right now, half laid to tape at Bear Creek Studios in Seattle, and half at the newly inaugurated Giant Studios in Toronto, co-owned by Metric's Jimmy Shaw and ex-Death From Above 1979 kit-crusher Sebastian Grainger.

"It's a total dream come true," Emily gushed about Giant, "because Jimmy's been collecting vintage gear forever. We had the place in Williamsburg that was our first kind of studio, and then we did the same in London, but now it's just really cool to finally have it be a world class studio."

Location is everything: "My apartment is half a block away, and I get there by going through a hole in the fence, through an alley with the Portuguese gangsters-- like, I actually have bumped into people going through the hole at four o'clock in the morning."

Luckily, these gangsters don't mess with Haines. "There's some mutual respect happening," she joked. "I wear a baseball cap, you know. I respect." [MORE...]

Exclusive: Aesop Rock Reveals New Album Details

Following his entry in the Nike+ Original Run series and the positive reception of his boss' new album, Aesop Rock is poised to sail the good ship Def Jux to even better times in 2007 with the release of his fourth solo album, None Shall Pass.

As previously reported, the album features contributions from the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle, El-P, Cage, Rob Sonic, DJ Big Wiz, and Breeze Brewin. Most of None's production came from frequent Aesop collaborator Blockhead, but there are also beats from El-P, Rob Sonic, and Aesop himself.

Definitive Jux will release None Shall Pass on August 28. Aesop Rock's only scheduled tour dates at the moment are at the previously reported Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle, which will take place July 27 and 28, and at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee on June 14-17. [MORE...]

Mystery Jets Tour, Work With Erol Alkan

Roll up for the Mystery Jets! The British father-and-son outfit (and recent Dim Mak signees) issue their album Zootime in the colonies today, May 8.

The family Harrison will have no shortage of quality intergenerational bonding on a U.S. tour they'll embark on in late May and June, before heading back to their Eel Pie Island, England home to ponder just how they got to live in a place with such a fantastic name.

In the meantime, the Mystery Jets have been recording with hot shit producer Erol Alkan, and, apparently, playing ping pong.

Click on the links below to hear "Crosswords", an Alkan-produced cut from Zootime, as well as a remix of the single "Diamonds in the Dark" by L.A. Riots. [MORE...]

Smashing Pumpkins Robbed, Thieves Jailed
Photos involving Billy Corgan, Paris Hilton, a topless woman, and the Grim Reaper leaked

July 7, the release date for the new Smashing Pumpkins album Zeitgeist, is only two months away. However, after waiting seven years since the last Smashing Pumpkins release, some zealous fans just couldn't wait sixty-something more days, and took matters into their own hands.

Last week, the band's Chicago rehearsal studio was robbed; the thieves are now in jail.

The band's management released the following statement:

"Management for the Smashing Pumpkins confirms that the band's rehearsal studio in Chicago was burglarized last week.

"The two people who are now in jail illegally gained access to the band's private space and stole various items belonging to them over the course of several hours while the band had left for the evening.

"The band's management says the group feels their rights have been violated by this crime and will always pursue their rights and the law to protect their property and the safety of themselves, their families and their fans."

So, what did the burglars steal? Money? Guitars? The album's master tapes? Nope. It appears-- though it is not officially confirmed-- that the fans stole photographs somehow associated with Zeitgeist, possibly album art or video stills. The photos were then leaked to the Pumpkins fan site Netphoria. The images include:

-- Paris Hilton posing in front of a backdrop of a bomb exploding
-- The Grim Reaper standing at a podium emblazoned with the Seal of the President of the United States, in front of a black and white Smashing Pumpkins flag
-- A person in a business suit wearing a devil mask and being crucified
-- Five blonde children saluting
-- Close-up of Billy Corgan in a hoodie
-- Billy Corgan in a hoodie, standing next to a woman with no shirt on

The Smashing Pumpkins' management's statement on the photographs was simply, "the photos are stolen goods and anyone who posts them will have to take them down."

Netphoria took down the photos and posted a statement, saying, "What this person did amounts to theft and band takes this very seriously as does Netphoria. I know everyone here is hungry for more information on the new album but this is not the way to go about it. Nobody here should condone or be supportive of the actions this individual took...The band requested the stolen pictures be removed and I believe they are well within their right to do so..."

Thanks to reader Byron Barnes for alerting us to the situation and for directing us to Netphoria.

The Smashing Pumpkins' summer tour of mostly gargantuan festivals begins May 22 in Paris. [MORE...]

Lindstrom, Serena-Maneesh, 120 Days Get Sunkissed

A Norwegian DJ night eight years running, a Smalltown Supersound-issued compilation CD and, when spelled incorrectly, a delicious orange-hued beverage; one can squeeze quite a bit of creative juice from the Sunkissed name.

While Sunkissed goes strong throughout Oslo, Sunkissed-- a collection of sixteen tracks from Norway's finest blarers and bleepers (including Lindstrøm, Serena-Maneesh, and 120 Days), many remixed by fellow members of their prodigious populace-- is out today. The deliciousness of Sunkist the soda? Forever incontestable. [MORE...]

Lekman, Clientele Help Make Ladybug Transistor's Day

Following the untimely death of Ladybug Transistor drummer San Fadyl, the band are moving forward by touring and releasing their newest album, Can't Wait Another Day.

Can't Wait features contributions from members of Architecture in Helsinki, the Clientele, and the Aislers Set, as well as from Jens Lekman, Kevin Barker (Currituck Co., Vetiver), Heather McIntosh (Circulatory System, the Instruments), Roy Nathanson (Lounge Lizards, Jazz Passengers), and others.

Contrary to our previous report, Merge will release the record on June 5, not June 7.

The Ladybug Transistor have plans to tour throughout the year, and their previously reported May dates continue tonight (May 8) in Washington, DC with the Clientele. They also have dates with the Rosebuds and the Papercuts. [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.)