Animal Collective Fete Guy Fawkes With "Fireworks" 10"

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

There's a plot afoot, and while this one doesn't exactly involve gunpowder, it does involve that photogenic band Animal Collective smuggling even more records into your collection.

On November 5-- known to our UK brethren as Guy Fawkes Night-- the Domino-signed crazies will enact the next phase in the Strawberry Jam revolution with another UK single, as confirmed by our spies*. In most appropriate fashion, the track will be "Fireworks", and it will come on a (flammable?) 10" slab of vinyl with the tune on the A-side, and a lovely etching on the flip. Or exercise your freedom and opt for the digital download. Can't beat that, eh?

Conveniently enough, Animal Collective will find themselves in the UK when the new single drops; for now though they have dates aplenty across the U.S. and some televisions to blow up.

* i.e., their publicist [MORE...]

Sweden's Club 8 Can't Stop Dreaming on New LP

Photo by Kjell B Persson

Long before Swedish pop became a buzz-phrase and folks like Peter Bjorn and John, the Concretes, Shout Out Louds, and I'm From Barcelona were mounting international conquests, Stockholm's Labrador imprint was quietly rolling out consistently excellent releases (as this year's Labrador 100 goes to show) and label chief Johan Angergård was recording exquisite pop with Club 8.

Indeed, Angergård handles production and every single instrument on The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming, Club 8's sixth longplayer, due September 26 in Sweden and November 13 in the U.S. via Labrador. Meanwhile the other half of Club 8, Karolina Komstedt, drapes her lovely vocals over the 12 tracks on this latest collection of indie pop bliss.

UK residents can look forward to The Boy Who via Fortuna Pop! on December 3, while Germany, Austria, and Switzerland get it from Labrador on October 12. Rabid indie pop fans across the Pacific can expect the LP via Avex (in Japan), Magnum (Taiwan), Zoo (Hong Kong), Chili (Korea), Universal (Philippines), Smallroom (Thailand), and Aksara (Indonesia).

Angergård keeps fairly busy-- in addition to running Labrador, he's also in Acid House Kings and fronts the Legends-- but Club 8 have a few, ahem, club dates lined up in Sweden around the album's release. [MORE...]

Rhino Releases Control Soundtrack, Joy Division Reissues

We won't lie: the avalanche of recent and forthcoming Joy Division-related releases leaves us as overwhelmed and confused as anyone. How exactly did Ian Curtis become the next Biggie/Tupac/Ray?

What we do know is that there are currently two films devoted to the band, an eponymous documentary and Control, a Curtis biopic. Both films will be released this fall, and Control has a soundtrack that will see commercial release via Rhino Records on October 30.

The soundtrack features Joy Division songs alongside tunes by Iggy Pop, David Bowie, the Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, and the Buzzcocks, as well as a previously unreleased cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay" by the Killers, and previously unreleased music by New Order from the film's score.

Rhino also has a ton of non-Control Joy Division music coming out, starting with the release of a vinyl box set last week. Included in the set are reissues of the band's two full-lengths, 1979's Unknown Pleasures and 1980's Closer, and the 1981 rarities compilation Still.

Individual editions of these vinyl reissues will follow today, September 18, followed by double-disc CD versions on October 30. The first disc of each CD features the remastered original record, and the second disc features an assortment of previously unreleased live rarities.

Hmm, does all that sound familiar? It's probably because we reported about the UK versions of the reissues a few weeks ago. The tracklists for all that stuff can be found in the last story-- they're the same on the U.S. versions.

Finally, to complete the transformation of Ian Curtis into a posthumous rap superstar, Rhino will also release ringtone versions of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Transmission" on October 30. [MORE...]

Photos: Wolf Parade / Holy Fuck [Los Angeles, CA; 09/13/07]

Photos by Carlie Armstrong

No follow-up to Apologies to the Queen Mary quite yet, but Wolf Parade have been out there shaking off the rust at a short series of late-summer shows. The band that spawned a dozen side projects popped up at Musicfest NW a weekend ago and marched through Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre late last week with fellow Canadians Holy Fuck.

That'll do for the former's shows (for now), but the latter-- now Young Turks, all of 'em-- have a whole mess of gigs yet to cuss through. Catch the usual dates/photos one-two below.

WOLF PARADE






HOLY FUCK



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Constantines Sign to Arts & Crafts

The folks at Canadian label Arts & Crafts seem intent on living up to the latter part of their name. In just the last few months, the label's roster has grown to include Los Campesinos!, the Stills, and now, Constantines, who have signed to A&C for a worldwide record and management deal. And that's in addition to collaboration-and-side-project-friendly label stalwarts like Broken Social Scene, Stars, and Feist.

As for the newest members of the A&C family, Constantines are hard at work on their next album, the follow-up to 2005's equal parts tough-and-tender Tournament of Hearts. Arts & Crafts will release the album in March.

The Toronto quintet has a single tour date scheduled for September 22 in London, Ontario's Victoria Park as part of the previously reported LOLA Festival.

Photos: Girl Talk / Dan Deacon / Simian Mobile Disco / White Williams [Boston, MA; 09/14/07]

Photos by Jason Bergman

The trippy green skull-- fresh from its exploits through the backwoods of Indiana-- returned triumphantly into the hands of Dan Deacon just in time for the dance party of the season. At Boston's Avalon on Friday night, mashup king Girl Talk, dance-rockers Simian Mobile Disco, and hot newcomer White Williams, joined Deacon as he filled out the hall.

Girl Talk's Gregg Gillis, meanwhile, was up to his trademark stage-packing, crowd-surfing antics (see if you can spot him in the throng of fans!), while SMD apparently recreated the set of Battles' new video on stage. White Williams opened the show with his Bolan-flavored electronic pop.

More photos of the concert and a pre-show hot dog-eating contest, as well as tour dates, below.

BACKSTAGE FUN

GIRL TALK




DAN DEACON






SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO



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Les Savy Fav Extend Fall Tour

Les Busy Savy Fav are firing on all cylinders recently in anticipation of the release of sorta-comeback album Let's Stay Friends.

There's the record itself, which comes out via French Kiss tomorrow, September 18 in the U.S. and Wichita Recordings in the UK on October 1.

Then there are the shows, several of which are completely new since our last report. Thus, at least a few non-New York City-dwelling North Americans will get to partake of their wild live show, though New Yorkers still have the band to themselves for three dates, including their gig opening for the Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem (never heard of 'em).

Finally, there's that video contest for "The Equestrian", which ends tomorrow (September 18 for the forgetful types). In addition to the "key of bunny" entry that made it into Forkcast, there have been fan-made videos with actual horses, with LSF masks, with Britney Spears' VMA performance, and played on the incredibly technical instrument known as "inflatable woman."

And here we thought there could be nothing more frightening and ridiculous than Tim Harrington's stage presence. [MORE...]

Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem Tour Kicks Off Tonight
I shall miss thee, crudely Photoshopped collage we've used for every story about this tour

Sound the trumpets, spark the fireworks, and bow before the deities assembled in front of you: the second comingArcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem joint tour is finally upon us. Yes, some mild sarcasm/hyperbole is involved in this announcement. But, still, you know, wowzers!

Just in case you've missed our gajillion news items directly related to the tour (or at least as many references we've made to it otherwise), James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem and the Butler clan's Arcade Fire will join up for an all-too-brief ten-date run, keeping the tour bus running between tonight's appearance at Red Rocks in Colorado and October 6 at New York's Randall's Island. And they'll be peddling their split 7" all the while.

Both bands have other dates besides, but that's not really what matters right now. What matters is this: ARCADE FIRE LCD OMG OMG!!!

So, will they meet up onstage as James Murphy neither confirmed or denied in our interview with him last week? Will the all-too-convenient end of LCD's UK dates and the beginning of Arcade Fire's lead to yet another announcement? Can Murphy's "Black Mirror" remix possibly be as good as it seems in theory? Has anything this monumental ever before happened in the history of music? No. No, absolutely not. [MORE...]

Buck 65 Announces Fall Tour Dates

Having already explained his Situation to Pitchfork in a recent interview, Buck 65 will get even more expository on his just-announced U.S. tour in support of the album.

Situation comes out via Sage Francis' Strange Famous Records on October 30, which just so happens to be the same date as the kickoff of Buck's tour. Fittingly, his first two shows-- in Providence and Boston-- will serve as album release parties, and Francis will join him on both dates.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Buck has a handful of (mostly festival. mostly overseas) shows before then. The next one is in Oxford, England on September 22. [MORE...]

Photos: Jens Lekman [Norway; 09/14-09/15/07]

Bergen photos by Eirik Lande
Oslo photos by Sigurd Fandango

As night fell over Norway this weekend, Jens Lekman came out to play. First, joining a slew of local artists, Jens headlined Bergen's Phonofestivalen, before heading east to Oslo's John Dee club. Pitchfork photographers Eirik Lande and Sigurd Fandango were stationed on separate sides of the country, ready to grab Jens as he oh so silently came marching through.

According to Lekman's Scandinavian label Service, his fantastic new album Night Falls Over Kortedala hit number one on the Swedish album chart in its debut week. Congratulations! Night Falls hits our shores October 9 courtesy of Secretly Canadian. (Pre-orderers get a special treat.)

Dates for Lekman's colossal fall tour and more photos below.

OSLO, NORWAY




BERGEN, NORWAY



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Ghostface, Trail of Dead Play Adult Swim College Tours
Not together, sadly

In a move roughly as unsurprising as RZA soundtracking a samurai cartoon, Ghostface Killah-- whose persona primarily centers around Marvel Comics characters-- is heading out on a tour sponsored by a TV channel that only plays cartoons. Adult Swim is sending Ghostface on a trek to several college campuses this October, and all of the shows are free.

Ghostface will be joined on the trek by long-lost Dungeon Family member Witchdoctor, whose album Diary of an American Witchdoctor drops October 23 on Adult Swim's Williams Street label. Love them tie-ins!

We'd imagine an ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead cartoon to resemble that 300 movie, or any number of bloody animes. Or, I guess, "Metalocalypse", the Adult Swim program with which the terrifying Texans are now intertwined. Like Ghostface, Trail of Dead will go forth on an Adult Swim-sponsored college trek of their own, supported by Dethklok, the fourth-wall-eradicating metal band from "Metalocalypse". Dethklok will issue Metalocalypse: Dethklok The Dethalbum, their "debut" album, on Williams Street on September 25. Their joint tour will kick off October 29, though dates for that leg have yet to be announced.

To clarify: There will be no Ghostface/Trail of Dead dates, much as you might want that. Ghostface also has a whole bunch of non-Adult Swim, non-college, non-free shows scheduled throughout the fall.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of collaborations, in the press release for this thing, there's mention of the time that Ghost and Adult Swim fave MF Doom came together for a "not-yet-released album". Which reminds us: Anybody know when that album's gonna come out? Because, you know, it sounds like it might be pretty good. Though perhaps not as good as this. [MORE...]

Sea and Cake's Sam Prekop Issues CD/Photo Book
Mommy, what's a book?

Seafarer/cake-maker Sam Prekop will get his Ansel Adams on with the publication of his first book of photography (which Sam initially discussed with us way back in January). Made up of Prekop's black and white pictures of Chicago cityscapes and experiments with geometrical patterns (sound famliar?), the book, very simply titled Photographs, comes packaged with a CD of original Prekop instrumental music inspired by the book's contents.

PRESSPOP will publish Photographs on November 27, but there will be a pre-release at the New York Art Book Fair, which takes place September 28-30. On September 29, Prekop will visit the fair to sign early copies of the book.

As you likely know, the Sea and Cake just kicked off a tour, and they have added a string of European dates since our last report. [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.)