Cave Singers Drop Matador Debut, Tour

Pretty Girls Make Graves offshoot the Cave Singers have assembled an album of Invitation Songs for their debut on Matador.

The august indie label will release the Songs on September 25, and the band will immediately follow suit with a record release show that night in its hometown of Seattle.

Then the Singers will hit the road with the similarly topographically-minded Black Mountain for a tour that ends October 27 back in Seattle. We swear, though, they leave the city for that month in between. [MORE...]

Maritime Tour With Jimmy Eat World

Hey kids, it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Watch how this makes the scoop on your seafaring friends in Maritime that much more exciting.

Like a phoenix from the ashes of second wave emo, yarrr, they rose: Maritime, former Promise Ring matey Davey von Bohlen's new thing. Shiver me timbers: their new album Heresy and the Hotel Choir docks October 15.

And, yarrr, what's a good post-emo band to do with a new record and a whole lotta time to themselves? Why, link up with the scallywags in Jimmy Eat World for a tour. Following a pair of Maritime headline shows, these two set sail October 7. [MORE...]

Shellac Shack Up for December Residency

As the days grow shorter and winter prepares to smother Chicago in its merciless chill, who better to cuddle up with on a frosty Sunday afternoon than your dear friends Shellac?

Indeed, Chicago-area-dwellers will have several opportunities to get up close and personal with one of their own this December, as Shellac have announced a residency of sorts at one of the city's coziest corners, the venerable Hideout (the very one co-owned by Tim Tuten, who's emceed past Pitchfork Music Festivals).

Steven Frank Albini (electric guitar), Todd Stanford Trainer (drum set), and Robert Spurr Weston IV (electric bass)-- as the Hideout's website makes clear-- will set up shop at the homely bar beginning December 13 and play six shows there over four days. This means, yes, for two glorious weekend days, you can get your Shellac on at noon.

Shellac don't have any other activity planned at the moment, but they do have that rather excellent Italian Greyhound LP, out now on Touch and Go. [MORE...]

School of Language (ex-Field Music) Sign to Thrill Jockey, Memphis Industries

Amidst David Brewis' talk of "Field Music The Company" and "Field Music The Band", Field Music The Music got kind of lost. Where are the sly little jams like the ones found on Tones of Town (and especially the band's debut)? Well, the closest approximation can be found on Brewis' debut album as School of Language, which will clear the semantic barricade for release next year.

Ships is the album's working title (hmm, sounds familiar), and Field Music home Memphis Industries will handle its release in the UK and Ireland while Thrill Jockey takes care of North America and the rest of Europe.

Brewis will play show and tell this fall on a handful of scattered dates. The first one is in Newcastle, England on September 21. [MORE...]

Pitchfork Seeks Intern in New York City

Pitchfork Media seeks an administrative intern to work in our New York City office. The ideal candidate will be available 10 - 15 hours a week and have prior administrative experience.

Tasks include, but are not limited to, coordinating schedules, communicating with our Chicago office, and assisting all departments with daily operations as needed. College credit is available.

Please email jobs@pitchforkmedia.com with your resume by Friday, September 21.

The Fiery Furnaces Extend Fall Tour, Again

Photo by Amy Giunta

A sign language ballet, a new album of "arias"...but Friedbergers, what about your old new album, Widow City? Is it still coming out October 9 on Thrill Jockey? Can we still see you performing songs from it and your next 37 albums on tour?

Do not fret, Fiery Furnaces fans. The answer is "yes." In fact, Matthew and Eleanor will include a sizable portion of Europe in the fun, as they have just announced the dates of a tour there in November. (Fans in the UK have to wait until October 15 for the album, though.)

Before then, their North American dates remain intact. And in a nice bit of synergy with Widow City's release date, the first show of that tour is on October 9 in Newport, Kentucky. [MORE...]

Low's Sparhawk, Atmosphere's Slug Share Wisdom
Plus Tapes 'n Tapes bassist Erik Appelwick

Alan Sparhawk photo by Reverend Hans Johnson

Making music: actually not as easy as you think. But here to help guide you through the process by sharing some insight into their own are three near-legends of Minnesota music-making: Alan Sparhawk of Low, Sean "MC Slug" Daley of Atmosphere, and the guy who plays bass in Tapes 'n Tapes.

These three will partake in the latest series of talk/interview/performance spectacles known as Making Music and presented by the Twin Cities' the Whole venue. Erik Appelwick of Tapes 'n Tapes is this round's first guest, appearing September 27 (and to be fair, the bass is but one of Appelwick's specialties; he also produces, and records with Vicious Vicious). Sparhawk's up next on October 10, while Slug closes out the fall series on November 29.

All events are free and open to folks of all ages, but securing advance tickets is advised, as these things fill up. Each one goes down at the Whole, located inside the Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Past guests include Andrew Bird, Tapes' Josh Grier, P.O.S., Martin Dosh, and Haley Bonar.

In you're a mite confused about what you're in for, the series' website sheds some light: "Making Music...features long-format discussions with talented musicians about their art...[and] includes interviews, live demonstrations, videos, exclusive and unreleased tracks, prizes, and Q&A from the audience." Prizes! I'm so there.

Both Low and Atmosphere have plenty of dates in queue, with the latter act having extended its tour significantly since our last report. Sparhawk's Retribution Gospel Choir side project also gigs out a bit in late October. And Tapes 'n Tapes, as you may have read in these pages, play a benefit in Minneapolis on September 23. [MORE...]

Photos: Simian Mobile Disco [Chicago, IL; 09/18/07]

Photos by Sanchez and Kitahara; text by Tyler Grisham

James Ford looked like a mad scientist on stage last night at Chicago's Empty Bottle. With his floppy plume of curls and an almost maniacal gleam in his eye, he hunched over a stitched-together system of Frankenstein'd synths and mucked about tweaking this and plugging that. Performing with James Shaw as Simian Mobile Disco, the duo rocked a Flavorpill-sponsored party, playing their hybrid mix of ravey dance tunes and electropop jams from their Recommended debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release.

Equally as impressive as the stacks of keyboards and amps was the circle of excruciatingly bright light columns set up in a circle around the stage, flashing in colorful sequences and recalling Daft Punk's laser pyramid at a much more blinding proximity. But the overall effect of seeing Ford's Elsa Lanchester 'do illuminated in pulsing green lights, while the guy bounced around playing both producer and hype man, was anything but frightening.

Tour dates and more stage shots-- plus the Jameses enjoying a slice of Chicago deep dish pizza-- below.








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Hot Chip, DFA, Soulwax Remix Gorillaz on D-Sides

From kooky Blur side project to full-blown multimedia force-- inspiring a "circus opera" and sharing an artist with a line of vibrators, no less-- it has been a strange journey for Damon Albarn's Gorillaz.

That journey will receive further documentation with the release of D-Sides, the band's second collection of B-sides, remixes, previously unreleased tracks, and general rarities (the first being 2002's G-Sides). Remixers featured on D-Sides include Hot Chip, DFA, Soulwax, Jamie T, and Metronomy. The collection will come in double-disc standard and deluxe editions, and will hit UK retailers via Parlophone on November 5 (the U.S. release follows the next day via Virgin).

Fans of comic-inspired high culture, don't forget that the aforementioned "circus opera," Monkey: Journey to the West, is playing at Paris' Théâtre de Chatelet from September 26-October 13. [MORE...]

El-P Hits the Road

Jaime Meline-- El-P to you and me-- is headed to the EU later this week for a brief run of live appearances. Along for the ride is Maestro Producto's "normal crew of bastards" (his words, not ours) DJ Mr. Dibbs, The Mighty Quin, and Wilder Zoby.

In a recent MySpace blog entry, El mentioned being particularly excited for his show at London's Scala, noting that "quite honestly london is the single fuckin most amped crowd on the planet right now." You got something to say, Bilbao?

In other El-P news, his MySpace blog also makes reference to a Def Jux (pre-CMJ?) showcase October 15 where he'll appear alongside Hangar 18, Yak Ballz, and others. Not sure where exactly the show's going down, but now you know at least that much. UPDATE: The Def Jux CMJ showcase is happening October 19 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Also worth pondering: why are you listening to Yak Ballz right now?

UPDATE: El-P read this story, and now he wants everybody to hear this Yak Ballz song "Yak TV". It's available for download below. [MORE...]

Sondre Lerche, Regina Spektor on Dan in Real Life OST
Lerche kicks off U.S. tour

Dan in Real Life is some sort of Steve Carell/Juliette Binoche filmic dramedy, in theaters October 26. It was directed by a guy named Peter Hedges, whose one previously directorial credit is the Katie Holmes dyejob flick Pieces of April, and who, it turns out, loves him a little Sondre Lerche. Okay, fine, he loves Sondre a lot: not only is Lerche all over the Dan in Real Life soundtrack (out October 2 on Capitol), he even shows up in the film itself.

Lerche-- whose youthful charms grace fifteen of Dan in Real Life's 16 cuts-- lent Hedges quite a few new and exclusive cuts for the soundtrack, met up with Regina Spektor for "Hell No", and even took on Pete Townshend and Elvis Costello. As Hedges said of Lerche's music in a press release, "there's a depth to it and you feel that this is a man who believes in love." Pete and Sondre, sittin' in a tree...

Sondre's touring too! His run of California dates kicks off tonight and includes several shows with Air. [MORE...]

Enon Reissue Debut, Expand Fall Tour
Believo! dat

Photo by John Ray Fuller

When Enon's John Schmersal talked to Pitchfork recently about his band's forthcoming Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds, he said, "The ellipsis is the most important part of the title. That's where the shit goes down."

Speaking of shit going down, Enon have plenty of it right now. On October 9, the same day that Touch and Go releases Grass Geysers..., the label will reissue Believo!, Enon's debut, originally put out by SeeThru Broadcasting in 2000.

Aside from Schmersal, Believo! featured an entirely different Enon lineup. The reissue leaves the original tracklist untouched, though it does come with the videos for "Cruel", "Come Into", and "Matters Gray".

Enon have also added even more dates to their fall tour since our last report, both in North America and in Europe. The tour begins October 5 in Newport, Kentucky. [MORE...]

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