Pitchfork: Photos: Musicfest NW [Portland, OR; 09/06-09/09/07]

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Photos: Musicfest NW [Portland, OR; 09/06-09/09/07]

Photos by Nilina Mason-Campbell (unless otherwise indicated)
Above: Girl Talk

The Pacific Northwest is spoiled. Just over a week ago it was Bumbershoot blowing up all over Seattle; this past weekend it was Musicfest NW's turn to corral a similarly excellent crop of acts into various Portland venues. And that's to say nothing of Sasquatch! or PDX Pop Now! (Not only are they spoiled, they also have to get all exclamatory about it.) Ah well, Chicago ain't got it so bad, so who's complaining?

This year's MFNW brought the likes of Wolf Parade, Ghostface Killah, Cat Power, Clipse, Girl Talk, Dan Deacon, Spoon, Deerhunter, Grizzly Bear, Okkervil River, Rilo Kiley, Bobby Bare Jr. with members of the Decemberists, and more to the City of Roses. Catch all your faves in the fab photo exposé to follow.

WOLF PARADE

CLIPSE

GHOSTFACE KILLAH

Ghostface photos by Justin Kent

CAT POWER

SPOON

[MORE...]

Posted by Pitchfork Staff in festival, photos on Mon: 09-10-07: 03:30 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

The Narrator Kick Off Tour

Hey, you punks, get outta my city! Chicago's the Narrator-- more punk in spirit than execution these days, perhaps, but a raucous live act regardless of genre distinctions-- will blow out their Windy City home tonight before making their way around the country through the rest of the month.

The tour comes in support of the Narrator's 2007 Flameshovel LP, All That to the Wall. Will you assume the role of protagonist and join them? This far out, only an omniscient Narrator could say for sure. [MORE...]

MP3: The Narrator: SurfJew [from the All That to the Wall LP]

Posted by Paul Thompson in tour on Mon: 09-10-07: 03:30 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Sound Team Call It Quits

After a brief run in the majors and a handful of releases, Austin's Sound Team have gone and thrown the big game. The game of making music together.

As bassist Bill Baird revealed on his blog late last week (linked via Gorilla vs. Bear), the combo is calling it quits for reasons "numerous and boring."

"I will spare details," he wrote. "They are the typical band problems: stress of the road, diverging tastes, personal tensions, and monetary difficulties. Nothing too dramatic. Just time to move on, that's all."

Baird goes on to list precisely where he and each of his soon-to-be ex-bandmates will be moving on to. All will continue making music in one manner or another, with Baird himself recording as Sunset (aka Silent Sunset) and operating the Big Orange recording studio in Austin.

Wrote Baird in closing, "Having founded the band with Matt [Oliver], I feel emotional about all this. I invested years into the group, dreamt crazy dreams, laughed, toured, made great friends. I regret nothing. The band, in my mind, achieved great success and made fantastic music. I set out with this band to restore a sense of joy and exuberance to musical performance. At our best, we achieved that goal."

Following a gig at their hometown's La Zona Rosa, Sound Team's valedictory performance will take place at the Austin City Limits festival on September 15. [MORE...]

Video: Sound Team: Bedroom Walls [from the Bedroom Walls 12-inch]

Posted by Matthew Solarski in breakup on Mon: 09-10-07: 03:21 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Neil Young Announces Fall Tour, Chrome Tracklist

Neil Young's new album, Chrome Dreams II, comes out on Reprise on October 16. Two days later, Young will begin his fall tour, which includes stops at his own Bridge School benefit and a two-night stand at Toronto's Massey Hall, a place he is well aquainted with.

In a Prince-like move, people who purchase tickets to the fall shows will also receive a copy of Chrome Dreams II. And in case you're balking on placing that Ticketmaster order until you know exactly what's on the album, Billboard.com has just revealed the tracklist. It's got one song, "Ordinary People", that stretches out over 18 minutes, and another, "No Hidden Path", that's over 11 minutes. As if that wasn't likely to be trippy enough, Billboard also reports that "the album will also be available with a bonus DVD featuring 'super-saturated' high-resolution audio and a moving video image." DUUUUUUDE. [MORE...]

Video: Neil Young: Old Man / Ohio [from the Live at Massey Hall LP]

Posted by Dave Maher and Amy Phillips in tour, album on Mon: 09-10-07: 03:00 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Roisin Murphy Shares LP Details, Single, Tour Dates

Róisín shine, people! It's time for a sleek, sophisticated, Euro-style dance party, and your master of ceremonies, ex-Moloko chanteuse Róisín Murphy, has insisted on your attendance. She's even put together a nice little new album-- and another single-- to help ease those feet onto the dancefloor. What's more, she'll bring the soirée right to your doorstep, provided that doorstep lies across the Atlantic from North America.

As previously mentioned, Róisín's second and latest LP will follow-up 2005's exquisite Ruby Blue and feature a variety of producers. The LP now has a title (Overpowered-- also the name of its previously mentioned first single), a release date (October 15 in the UK/Europe via EMI), and a tracklist (see below).

Producers powering up Overpowered include Richard X, Groove Armada's Andy Cato, Jimmy Douglass, Seiji (Bugz in the Attic), Ill Factor, and Parrot & Dean.

Before Overpowered arrives, however, Murphy will hit us with her second single from the disc. "Let Me Know" lands October 8 in a bunch of different formats (with a 12" version due October 15) and features that awesome cover art you see up there (Halloween, here we come). Paul Oakenfold, Joey Negro, and Mr. Cato provide mixes.

Róisín will close out the year with dates across Europe, from Krakow to Dublin. That is, if she can figure out where she put her arms. [MORE...]

Stream: Roisin Murphy: Let Me Know (Andy Cato Mix) [from the forthcoming Let Me Know single]

Video: Roisin Murphy: Overpowered [from the forthcoming Overpowered LP]

Posted by Matthew Solarski in album, single, tour on Mon: 09-10-07: 02:15 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Interpol and Liars Kick Off Joint Tour

Interpol's sleek shade of post-punk will meet Liars' more unhinged variety tonight, September 10, as the two kick off their previously reported tour together in Albany, New York.

Both bands will hock their new albums on the tour, which accounts for all of Liars' currently scheduled dates, except for a set at ATP's Release the Bats show on November 2 in London.

Interpol, however, have a quite a few more dates this fall, including a run of European shows with Blonde Redhead.

As previously reported, Cat Power will open the Madison Square Garden date of the Interpol/Liars tour on September 14. [MORE...]

Stream: Liars: Various Tracks [from the Liars LP]

Stream: Interpol: The Heinrich Maneuver (Phones Remix)

Posted by Dave Maher in tour on Mon: 09-10-07: 02:00 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

New Iron and Wine LP Gets Bonus Disc

Good boy! Like a faithful companion to the dipping temperatures of the early fall, Iron and Wine's The Shepherd's Dog fetches you the auditory equivalent of cozy slippers and an oaky pipe. But, should you choose to beckon the Dog to your side, you may be greeted with a genial slobber-- and a bonus disc besides!

Indeed, while supplies last at Sub Pop's online shop and select independent stores, The Shepherd's Dog-- out September 25 in the States and the day before in the U.K. from Transgressive-- will come waggin' with a two-track bonus CD. Those tracks? The previously unreleased "Serpent Charmer" and "Arms of a Thief". Orders through the Sub Pop store also come with a sticker and pin buried in the Dog's fur.

Those looking to track down a handsome, shaggy stray can do so on Sam's forthcoming world tour, kicking off September 23 in Chicago. [MORE...]

Stream: Iron and Wine: Boy With a Coin (single edit) [from the Shepherd's Dog LP]

Posted by Paul Thompson in album on Mon: 09-10-07: 01:20 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Photos: Hideout Block Party [Chicago, IL; 09/07/07-09/08/07]

Photos by Joseph Mohan

It was a beautiful weekend in Chicago, and to celebrate the autumny weather, a whole bunch of folks turned out for the Hideout's annual Block Party. No Albini-on-Albini headliners this year, but it was still quite a romper, featuring British popsters Art Brut, the ever-so-fitting Bloc Party (who joked that they'd named themselves after the event), dance master Dan Deacon (just a few hours before his green skull went missing) and the Windy City's favorite son, Andrew Bird. The Frames, O'Death, the 1900s, Cass McCombs, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, and the Changes all also got their party on.

There was also a glee club (Blue Ribbon Glee Club), a marching band (Mucca Pazza), square dancers (Golden Horse Ranch Square Dance Band), and something called a Guitarkestra (helmed by Steven Krakow, aka Plastic Crimewave). Photos of all that weird shit, and even more, below.

ART BRUT

BLOC PARTY

DAN DEACON

ANDREW BIRD

[MORE...]

Posted by Pitchfork Staff in festival, photos on Mon: 09-10-07: 12:20 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Photos: The Flaming Lips / Black Moth Super Rainbow [Chicago, IL; 09/07/07]

Photos by Kirstie Shanley

The newest psych-rockers on the block, Black Moth Super Rainbow, this weekend joined some of the older psych-rockers on the block, The Flaming Lips, to give Chicago's Aragon Ballroom a double dose of their sonic euphoria. As usual, some singing Santas spiced up the Lips' set before frontman Wayne Coyne donned his cosmic hamster ball. And yes, the UFO was there.

BMSR, meanwhile, augmented their performance with some flashy videos and light tricks-- not exactly a giant UFO descending on stage, but hey, they've got another decade or two to work on that.

More photos and both bands' fall itineraries below.

THE FLAMING LIPS

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW

[MORE...]

Posted by Pitchfork Staff in tour, photos on Mon: 09-10-07: 11:20 AM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

The Stills Sign to Arts & Crafts

Montreal quintet the Stills have made the switch from Vice to Arts & Crafts for the worldwide release of their currently untitled third album. The follow-up to 2006's Without Feathers is due in the spring of next year.

Arts & Crafts is on a roll right now, enjoying success with the likes of Broken Social Scene, Feist, Stars, and Los Campesinos!, to name just a few.

The Stills have a scattering of North American dates this fall in celebration of the signing. [MORE...]

Video: The Stills: Helicopters (Live) [from the Without Feathers LP]

Posted by Dave Maher in signing, tour on Mon: 09-10-07: 10:45 AM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Photos: Rilo Kiley [Seattle, WA; 09/08/07]

Photos by Michael Alan Goldberg

Los Angeles' own Rilo Kiley took Under the Blacklight under the hot fluorescent stage lights at Seattle's Showbox this past Saturday. Fresh off touring duties abroad, the quartet has just begun its North American foray, the remaining dates of which you'll eventually get to below...once you stop gawking at Jenny ;-)

[MORE...]

Posted by Pitchfork Staff in tour, photos on Mon: 09-10-07: 10:22 AM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Dan Deacon's Green Skull Stolen!
By the power of Green Skull, he is pissed

Photo from tenglish's Flickr

If you've gone to a Dan Deacon show-- and were able to push your way close enough to actually see Dan Deacon-- you've probably noticed the green light-up skull that towers over his table of electronics. It's just one of the little touches that makes a Deacon performance so much fun.

But on Saturday in Chicago, that skull went missing. Deacon had a busy day; he played at the Hideout Block Party in the afternoon, and then at the downtown loft known as Av-aerie that night. The skull worked hard at Av-aerie, casting its neon glow over a crowd so amped up, they caused the power to go out a minute into the first song.

On Sunday afternoon, Deacon posted a bulletin on Myspace titled "MY GREEN SKULL WAS STOLEN LAST NIGHT IN CHICAGO". It read:

"sadly last night the trippy green skully, my old friend and touring partner for over two years, was stolen last night after my set at the av-erie gallery in chicago.

this skull is a major part of my set, a vital instrument in my performance. i leave for a month long tour of sold out shows on wednesday and i dont know what i will do without it.

this is the skull:
http://flickr.com/photos/somethingsara/1308823081/

it was taken off of the strobe light, so its a hollow plastic skull made up of tiny little green beads melted into the shape of a trippy green skull.

if anyone has any information about this that leads to the skulls safe return i will send you a package of wondrous treats and guest list you for a year to all shows i play in whatever city you want.

if you stole the skull or know who stole the skull and are afraid to contact me because you/they are a thief coward you can contact sam hunt at sam@windishagency.com and he will facilitate its safe return. again, my next tour begins in 3 days.

love dan"

If you have the skull and would like to mail it in or drop it off anonymously, no questions asked, please do so at:

The UPS Store
1658 N. Milwaukee #211
Chicago, IL 60647

Why the hell would someone steal this thing? Were they on a bad acid trip and thought it was trying to kill them? Was it part of some sort of Hipster Olympics scavenger hunt?

As Dan mentioned, his tour with Girl Talk and White Williams starts on Wednesday. All upcoming Dan Deacon shows are listed below. [MORE...]

Stream: Dan Deacon: Totally Boner Eat Shit [from the Crystal Cat 7

Posted by Amy Phillips in theft on Mon: 09-10-07: 08:00 AM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

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Wed: 10-10-07: 12:30 PM CDT
Nirvana's Unplugged Gets DVD Release