Pitchfork: Final Fantasy Hits the Road

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Final Fantasy Hits the Road
Tours with Bloc Party and Cadence Weapon, working on song cycle, big-band tribute

Violin-looping one-man band and apparent Men in Tights enthusiast Owen Pallett will deliver on the promise of Final Fantasy's fall tour starting tonight, September 11, in Milwaukee.

Like an accomplished role-playing gamer, Pallett has further explored the underground caverns and secret passageways of his tour's itinerary and unearthed a few hidden gems in the form of even more dates than previously reported.

Mainly, this means the discovery of a few extra Canadian dates at the end and a quartet of shows with Bloc Party (whom Pallett has ably covered live) at the beginning. Isn't exploring fun?

Most of the trek is a co-headlining jaunt with fellow Canadian (and, yes, former Pitchfork writer) Cadence Weapon. Word on the street is that Owen and Rollie are collaborating, and Pallett is also "working on a series of conjoined releases that contain narratives that are set in the fictional kingdom of Spectrum, in which he is the main deity. In addition, Owen is recording a big band tribute to songwriter Alex Lukashevsky of the band Deep Dark United."

OK, that quote wasn't word on the street. It's from a press release. [MORE...]

Video: Final Fantasy: Cliquot (Beirut cover) (Live in Paris)

Posted by Dave Maher in tour on Tue: 09-11-07: 04:30 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

LCD Soundsystem's Deluxe 45:33 CD/LP Details Emerge

Front page photo by Kirstie Shanley

Sure, LCD Soundsystem's iTunes-only (and then digital-only), Nike-commissioned 45:33 running mix was a treat to ears and feet alike. But what about those of us still rocking the Discman when we do our wind sprints (who also don't have CD burners or friends with CD burners or, um, friends)? Well, our moment has finally arrived!

On November 13, as previously mentioned, DFA will drop 45:33-- the mix Murphy himself told us some ignorant listeners deemed "retarded people music"-- on compact disc and double vinyl (you know, for those of you who run with portable turntables). As consolation for the long wait (45:33 originally went digital back in October 2006), they've tacked on a trio of excellent bonus tracks, all UK B-sides, including the sensational "Freak Out/Starry Eyes". Catch the tracklist below. Having someone intone "shame on you" over and over again never sounded so good.

LCD Soundsystem also have the previously reported A Bunch of Stuff EP out September 18, while James Murphy and Pat Mahoney's Fabric mix lands October 2 in the UK and November 20 Stateside. Plus LCD'll get plenty of exercise opening for the Arcade Fire in the weeks to come. Don't forget to slip a few extra bucks into your running socks for that Arcade Fire/LCD split 7"! [MORE...]

Stream: LCD Soundsystem: Freak Out/Starry Eyes [B-side; from the 45:33 LP]

Posted by Matthew Solarski in album on Tue: 09-11-07: 03:45 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Sebadoh Do Bubble and Scrape for Don't Look Back

Photo by Christopher Wilson

They must've shown Lou Barlow one hell of a time at his last high school reunion, as these days, the guy's all about reliving the past. Following the unprecedented success of Dinosaur Jr.'s don't-call-it-a-comeback record and tours, and this spring's detente betwixt Lou and the rest of the original Sebadoh lineup, Lou, Eric Gaffney, and Jason Loewenstein are set to perform Sebadoh's 1993 Sub Pop no-fi classic Bubble and Scrape in its entirety. It goes down May 7 in London as part of All Tomorrow's Parties' Don't Look Back series.

Yep, from "Soul and Fire" all the way through the "Flood", the original trio will unpack one of their many mini-masterworks in full in the UK, marking the first time the classic Sebadoh bunch has performed in England for a decade and a half. This is also the first Don't Look Back event of 2008; I guess looking forward is permitted.

For more from Lou, you can catch him (and Band of Horses!) on a pair of Dinosaur Jr. dates left on their once-sizable tour. Loewenstein hits the road with the Fiery Furnaces this fall.

MP3: Sebadoh: Live at Seattle's Offramp, 1993

Posted by Paul Thompson in tour on Tue: 09-11-07: 03:06 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Shout Out Louds Give You an Ill Bonus Disc

Like the older brother who pretends to be tough but secretly packs an extra sandwich in his lunch just in case you forget yours, Shout Out Louds are undermining the title of their new album, Our Ill Wills, with an extra sandwich of their own.

That comes in the form of a three-track bonus disc companion to the album-- which, by the way, is out on Merge today, September 11. The first two tracks are live acoustic renditions of Our Ill Wills' "Tonight I Have to Leave It" and "Impossible". The last track is Our Ill Wills: The Short Film, a seven-minute documentary shot by bassist Ted Malmos and starring the whole band.

There is, however, one catch: The bonus disc only comes with copies purchased at indie record stores and through Merge's website and mailorder. And really, supporting independent businesses isn't too bad a catch at all.

Shout Out Louds will shower their generosity on the world in the form of live shows, continuing tomorrow, September 12, in Gävle, Sweden. [MORE...]

Video: Shout Out Louds: Tonight I Have to Leave It [from the Our Ill Wills LP]

Posted by Dave Maher in album on Tue: 09-11-07: 02:19 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

White Stripes Nix Austin Gigs, Send "Love" Stateside

Photo by Thom Johnston

The biggest decision you'll have to make all season-- Do I see the White Stripes or Arcade Fire at the Austin City Limits festival this Saturday?-- has just been made for you.

Citing "medical reasons," the Stripes have cancelled their September 15 appearance at the ACL fest (according to an Austin360.com report), along with another gig the following night at Stubb's Bar-B-Q in Austin (according to Stubb's' website). We like to call this medical ailment, for which there is no known cure, Playing Against the Arcade Fire Syndrome (although the Stripes can hold their own better than most).

No word yet on other show cancellations, although one assumes that these "medical reasons" aren't going to subside for this Thursday's Albuquerque gig only to return this weekend.

Thanks to Dan at Austin, TX Showlist for the heads-up.

On the bright side of things, Jack and Meg have added a date in Hawaii, further making good on their promise to play ever damned state in the U.S. and every damned province and territory in Canada.

They're also set to unleash their latest single, Icky Thump's "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)"-- the one with the "Frat Rock" version on the flip-- in the U.S. on September 18 via Warner Bros. (XL's UK edition came out this week). Stripes supporters can scoop up "You Don't Know" in CD and digital formats, and/or 7" if they can hold their horses until September 25. [MORE...]

Video: The White Stripes: You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told) [from the Icky Thump LP]

Posted by Matthew Solarski in tour, cancellation, single on Tue: 09-11-07: 01:45 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Bonde do Role Launch Fall Tour

Tonight in D.C., some wild lady in crazy clothes, and her two hooligan friends, are gonna look you square in the eye and yell right in your face. They'll crack wise, tell a few dirty jokes (maybe a couple at your expense?) in a language you probably don't understand, and generally do what it takes to make you sweat a little bit. And you know what? There's probably nothing you'll enjoy more.

Bonde do Role, the blaring baile punks, with unleash their Lasers on an not-so-unsuspecting North American continent on the first leg of their massive fall tour. Kicking off in the nation's capital tonight, the band will spend a month in the U.S. and Canada before making their way to Europe and the U.K. through early December.

In the rest of the Bonde news role-call, they've got a dinky song on the miniscule Sneakmove comp, and Marina pops up on that new Go! Team album. [MORE...]

MP3: Bonde do Role: Montagem do Cabra [from Minicomp2]

Posted by Paul Thompson in tour on Tue: 09-11-07: 01:32 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Mew Drop iTunes EP

It's been far too long since we last heard from those dainty Danes in Mew, so we were just bowled over with feelings of childlike glee when they turned up on iTunes today with a brand new EP for us. Well, we had to pay for it, but still.

The Live Session EP, exclusive to iTunes, collects, yes, live session recordings of a few Mew favorites. We get And the Glass Handed Kites standouts "Special" and "An Envoy to the Open Fields", along with Frengers jams "Snow Brigade" and "Eight Flew Over, One Was Destroyed". Rare cut "Saliva, Mica & Panda" rounds out the release. Straightforward these guys ain't.

Mew have retreated from the toil of touring to begin work on the Glass Handed Kites follow-up. They also recently reissued a bonus disc-bolstered version of an out-of-print early LP, Half the World Is Watching Me, in Europe via Evil Office. [MORE...]

Video: Mew: Special [from the And the Glass Handed Kites LP]

Posted by Matthew Solarski in EP on Tue: 09-11-07: 12:40 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Miles Davis Colleague Joe Zawinul Dies

Keyboardist, songwriter, and jazz fusion pioneer Joe Zawinul passed away today, September 11, in his native Vienna, according to a Reuters report. The report cites local news agency APA as saying that Zawinul succumbed to a rare form of skin cancer at age 75.

The Berklee College of Music alum originally rose to prominence in the late 1950s and 60s by playing with the likes of Dinah Washington and Cannonball Adderley (for whom he composed Pitchfork's #191 song of the 1960s, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy"). Later, he joined Miles Davis' band, penning the title track from Davis' seminal In a Silent Way and playing on Bitches Brew.

Zawinul started his most longstanding project, Weather Report, with saxophonist Wayne Shorter in 1970. Through various incarnations, the band came to include drummer Peter Erskine and bass legend Jaco Pastorius, among others.

Weather Report combined elements of more traditional jazz with rock, funk, and world music influences to help define jazz fusion and become one of its most popular acts. The band is best known for the song "Birdland" from 1977's Heavy Weather.

Video: Weather Report: Birdland (Live) [from the Heavy Weather LP]

Posted by Dave Maher in obituary on Tue: 09-11-07: 12:07 PM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Photos: Devendra Banhart [Santa Cruz, CA; 09/06/07]

Photos by Alissa Anderson

Devendra and pals have been rolling down the West Coast, in support of the forthcoming Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. Mr. Banhart brought his freak folk supergroup, known as the Spiritual Bonerz (the "z" is silent, obvs), to Santa Cruz's Rio Theatre late last week. The Bonerz(s?)-- comprised of Smokey collaborators Noah Georgeson, Joanna-brother Pete Newsom, Priestbird's Greg Rogove, Vetiver's Andy Cabic, and Luckey Remington-- plucked out some tunes from the forthcoming LP, which features even more collaborations by everyone from Black Crowe Chris Robinson and Matteah Baim to actor Gael García Bernal. More photos (including a wide angle shot of all the Bonerz) and Banhart's remaining tour dates below.

Bummer Dev wasn't adorned in that press photo getup!

[MORE...]

Posted by Pitchfork Staff in tour, photos on Tue: 09-11-07: 11:35 AM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

The Mountain Goats Add Another Round of Dates

Following their previously announced string of dates with the neighborly North Carolinian sorts in Bowerbirds (who nest on Pitchfork contributor Grayson Currin's label), John Darnielle and his Mountain Goats will hit the road again in late October for a couple weeks down the midsection of the U.S.

The dates come as the band prepares their follow-up to last year's particularly wrenching (even for him!) Get Lonely. According to the Goats' website, we can expect that new disc in the coming spring. [MORE...]

MP3: The Mountain Goats: Pinklon / Ethiopians / Red River Valley / Babylon Burning [Daytrotter Session]

Posted by Paul Thompson in tour on Tue: 09-11-07: 10:30 AM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Qui Kick Off Expanded Fall Tour

L.A. upstarts Qui have a thing for weird names. First, there's the band's own name. Then, there's David Yow, the weirdly surnamed former Jesus Lizard/Scratch Acid firestarter they've roped into the corral for the release of their sophomore album, Love's Miracle.

Next, there's Ipecac, the label releasing Love's Miracle this very day (yesterday in the UK).

Finally, there's Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff, Wales, where Qui will end their massive tour this December. The tour, which was pumped up significantly since our last report, begins tonight, September 11, in the band's hometown. [MORE...]

Stream: Qui: Today Gestation / Freeze [from the Love's Miracle LP]

Posted by Dave Maher in tour on Tue: 09-11-07: 09:50 AM CDT | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

The Robot Ate Me: "It's Over"

Under his The Robot Ate Me moniker, Portland-based songsmith Ryland Bouchard (and assorted collaborators) managed to release four full-length albums in some four years, including three for Kill Rock Stars sister label 5RC. Yet according to a recent MySpace bulletin from TRAM, Ryland has decided to retire the name and move on to greener musical pastures.

"This project has reached its logical end," Bouchard explained in the September 7 missive. "I need to explore new ideas and begin collaborations that will continue my interest in music."

He also hints at a pair of upcoming releases "unrelated to The Robot Ate Me" and due next year, so it would seem the exploration of new ideas has already begun.

Bouchard's complete farewell address follows after the jump. Thanks to reader Jared Watson for the tip. [MORE...]

MP3: The Robot Ate Me: Djien [from the Good World LP]

Posted by Matthew Solarski in breakup on Tue: 09-11-07: 07:30 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