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Wilco Nix UK Gigs, Add 2008 Dates

Photo by Kathryn Yu

Looks like somebody in Wilco's camp forgot to save the date. According to the band's website, the good ship S.S. Wilco won't be docking in UK ports of call this fall, as "a scheduling conflict" has forced the cancellation of a pack of English gigs. Take heart though, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, and London: Wilco "hope to schedule new UK dates soon."

And while one corner of the world gets the shaft, another will be seeing clouds of white and skies of Sky Blue. Wilco has added a March 2008 tour of Australia and New Zealand (smart move-- it's still summer there for most of March) since our last report, popping off March 18 in Sydney.

Meanwhile, residents of Belgium, Spain, and Ireland needn't worry, as Wilco will still head their way next month.

Thanks to reader Daniel Walmsley for the tip-off. [MORE...]
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New Ballet Set to El-P's Music
Everybody's doing a ballet dance now

Photo by Jason Bergman

After the "future of music" cries have died down, what's a prog-hopper like El-P to do, other than make good records and run a successful label? How about becoming the future of dance by joining the ranks of artists used to soundtrack ballets? With the help of dance company Chicago Dance Crash (CDC), he will do just that.

CDC will close out its 2007 season with Destructible Daytrip, an original ballet set to El-P's music. According to a press release, the show is "a mixture of ballet and boogie," and CDC Artistic Director Kyle Vincent Terry has choreographed to El-P's music for two years in preparation for the project.

Terry has also kept a weekly updated blog of the show's progress, documenting everything from casting to closing night (when it happens).

Destructible Daytrip will run on Fridays and Saturdays from October 26 (that's tonight!) through November 3 at Chicago's Ruth Page Center for the Arts.

UPDATE: El-P would like to clarify that he was not directly involved in the creation of Destructible Daytrip. He gave us the following quote: "The whole thing sounds pretty intriguing, but I didn't know about it until Pitchfork put the article up. I'm flattered that the company is into my stuff. I wish I was there to see it."

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Thievery Corp's Garza Reveals Galaxy Details, Tour

Thievery Corporation co-CEO Rob Garza has taken his time releasing the self-titled debut from his Dust Galaxy solo project. Pitchfork initially reported the discovery of the Galaxy right around this time last year, and Garza has finally set a date for the album's release.

Still studded with names like producer Brendan Lynch (Primal Scream, Paul Weller), Jerry Busher (Fugazi's later touring lineup), James Canty (Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, the Make-Up), and Ashish Vyas (GoGoGo Airheart), Dust Galaxy will come out November 6 via ESL.

Busher and Vyas will also join Garza for a Dust Galaxy tour starting November 14 in Toronto. Each date of the tour will feature not only the full-band experience but also DJ sets by Garza and Ursula 1000.

Thievery Corporation have a pair of shows and a DJ set of their own, all in Vegas tonight (October 26) and tomorrow. [MORE...]
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Queens of the Stone Age to Play Salt Mine, Add Dates
Cover Brian Eno and Billy Idol?

Photo by Chris Owyoung

Now that their "Duluth Tour" is over, Queens of the Stone Age have to get their non-traditional touring kicks somehow. And since we already know they have 1.) a refined palate (see: their appearance on an upcoming holiday episode of chef Anthony Bourdain's Travel Channel show) and 2.) an affinity for all things rock (see: their music and the "Stone Age" in their name), the announcement that the band will play one mile underground in a former German salt mine next month seems just about perfect.

The mine is in Sondershausen, Germany (check out pictures here), and the show is on November 20. And the venue isn't the only special thing about the performance: Queens plan to unearth (I'm sorry) plenty of songs they have never before played live for the exclusive unplugged set.

Unfortunately, the show is only open to winners of various worldwide competitions (including some radio promotions), but the band has plenty of regular ol' dates as well, including a few more UK shows in February. Their next show is tomorrow night, October 27, in Las Vegas at the Vegoose festival.

According to NME.com, QOTSA will release the single for Era Vulgaris slow jam "Make It Wit Chu" on November 26. It will be available as a digital EP and as two limited 7"s. The download includes "alternative versions" of "Make It Wit Chu" as well as-- quoth NME-- "new tracks 'White Wedding' and 'Needles in a Camel's Eye'." The first 7" features "White Wedding" and an acoustic version of "Make It", while the second features "Needles" and the album version of the single.

And if those aren't Billy Idol and Brian Eno covers, we'll eat a cup of salt. [MORE...]

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Busdriver Hits the Road Tonight for Fall Tour
Children forced to walk to school

Busdriver-- whose birth name, Regan Farquhar, is so awesome it makes a stage name seem awfully unnecessary-- will get a chance to test just how weather resistant his RoadKillOvercoat is with a fall tour in support of the record.

Joining Busdriver on most dates of the tour will be Daedelus and Antimc, but he also has dates with Beans, the Octopus Project, and Girl Talk. Then again, who doesn't have a show with Girl Talk coming up in the next couple months?

Busdriver's tour kicks off tonight (October 26) in Salt Lake City. [MORE...]
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Beanie Sigel to Offer The Solution in December

Beans is back! Beanie Sigel, Philly rapper and longtime Jay-Z BFF, is set to release The Solution December 11 on State Property/Roc-A-Fella.

The 17-track follow-up to 2005's fantastic The B.Coming features guest spots from Scarface, Styles P, Raheem DeVaughn, and-- on first single "All the Above", which hit Forkcast in late August-- the incomparable R. Kelly. True to Beanie's heartfelt, eclectic style, "I'm In" samples Luther Vandross' "Make Me a Believer", "Children" is, according to a press release, "soulful Marvin Gaye rendition focusing on the problems in the community among children and their missing fathers," and "The Day" "taps into Beanie's rock side." Production comes from the likes of the Runners, Eric Hudson, Harry & Alex, and Dre & Vidal.

As Sigel tells it in the press release, "I consider myself relevant in the rap game at all times. After you party and do all that, now the real world kicks in. The pain, the stress, agony. The lessons you learn. Your come ups, your downfalls. The real world-- which I deal with in my music-- is always relevant. All the shit [one] might go through in the course of a day is on my album. I'm talking about religion, spiritual[ity], getting a peace of mind. All that counts and all that's in my music." Ringtone rap this Solution ain't.

And the good news keeps rolling in: Beanie pops up on "Ignorant Shit" from Jay-Z's American Gangster album, has a song on that tribute to Reasonable Doubt, and, according to Billboard.com, Sigel was recently cleared of theft charges in a bizarre case involving a rental car. Seems Beanie rented a 2007 Nissan Altima back in July but failed to return the car or contact the company. In September, the rental company reported the car as being stolen. However, on October 5, at the very same time detectives arrived at Beanie's Landsale, Pennsylvania home to question him about the missing whip, the car was returned. Though he tallied up five grand in late fees, the charges were dropped.

One hopes Beanie has similar luck landing the role of the Notorious B.I.G. in a forthcoming biopic on the slain rapper. According to various reports, Sigel recently auditioned for a role in the film, which he claims he'd treat with the same intensity Jamie Foxx brought to Ray. No word on when Beanie can expect a callback, but dude can rap, and he held his own in State Property, so I say give it to him.

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Photos: Bright Eyes / Simon Joyner [Omaha, NE; 10/24/07]

Photos by Paparazzi by Appointment

One Percent Productions, an Omaha-based booking company, celebrated its 10-year anniversary last night at the Waiting Room Lounge (which the company books) with Nebraska's favorite son, Conor Oberst.

Simon Joyner opened for Bright Eyes at this one-off show, and Oberst was joined on stage by Gillian Welch and frequent collaborator and present Bright Eyes member Mike Mogis for a couple of tunes, including a cover of Joyner's "Joy Division". During the encore, Oberst and Mogis also gave their rendition of Tom Petty's "Walls (Circus)". More photos and Bright Eyes tour dates below.

BRIGHT EYES








SIMON JOYNER



[MORE...]

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Photos: Mum / Our Brother the Native / Tom Brosseau [Los Angeles, CA; 10/24/07]

Photos by Akmal Naim

Icelandic rockers Múm kicked off their fall tour a day late, following a canceled Solana Beach gig meant to go down Tuesday night. Instead, their journey began last night at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theatre.

Playing mostly selections from their new LP, Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy, the troupe rocked for nearly an hour and a half, with labelmates Our Brother the Native and Tom Brosseau opening the show. More photos and tour dates below.

And while we're on the topic of Múm, let it be known that the band has another single due in the UK December 17 on FatCat. This one takes Go Go number "Marmalade Fires", backs it with "Rhubarbidoo" (the video for which recently ran in Forkcast), and delivers both via 7" and digital download.

MÚM








OUR BROTHER THE NATIVE




TOM BROSSEAU

[MORE...]
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Os Mutantes Working on New Tunes With Tom Ze

Photo by Sanchez and Kitahara

Os Mutantes
didn't reunite after a 30+ year absence just to play some shows and hang their axes back on the wall. Sure, there's the Os Mutantes Live at the Barbican Theatre, London 2006 live album that comes to the U.S. via Luaka Bop on November 13. Still, nothing compares to the promise of new studio material, and the Mutants are as happy to provide the new tunes as we are excited to hear them.

Talking with Billboard.com, Mutantes guitarist Sergio Dias revealed, "We already have about seven or nine new tunes," in preparation for what will hopefully be a new full-length from the band.

Adding to the excitement, Dias mentioned that "[fellow Brazilian and Luaka Bop labelmate] Tom Zé is my writing partner now, and so far it has been really wonderful."

The Billboard.com report also makes a passing mention of a São Paulo birthday celebration on January 25, where the band tentatively plans to unveil some of the new tunes. Also tentatively planned for January is the U.S. release of the DVD corresponding to the Live at the Barbican LP.
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Photos: Stars / New Buffalo [Philadelphia, PA; 10/24/07]

Photos by Michael Alan Goldberg

Having already left a certain Pitchfork senior news editor star-struck, Canada's Stars continued shooting across the continent. Last night they fell on Philadelphia's Trocadero for a Star-studded gala in celebration of In Our Bedroom After the War, with labelmate New Buffalo opening. Stellar? You bet.

If you're seeing Stars, double check your dates and scope more photos below.

STARS






NEW BUFFALO

[MORE...]

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Saul Williams Gives Away New Reznor-Produced LP
Yeah, it's kind of like that other thing

Activist, poet, and musician Saul Williams has laid out the unique circumstances surrounding the release of his latest LP, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!.

The Trent Reznor-produced album will be issued digitally through Williams' website under the aegis of the Fader Label, with an In Rainbows-esque payment mechanism: listeners can opt to fork over a $5 "contribution" via Williams' website and get NiggyTardust! in their choice of DRM-free 192kbps or 320kbps mp3s, or the giant, uncompressed FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) format. If you're a bit light at the moment, Saul's got you, though you cheapskates will have to settle for 192kbps mp3s.

Preregistration for the album is open now, and what's more, you'll only have to wait until Halloween (October 31, duh) to get it. As Reznor tells it on the Nine Inch Nails website, "There are obvious similarities in how Radiohead just released their new record and the way we've chosen to. After thinking about this way too much, I feel we've improved upon their idea in a few profound ways that benefit the consumer." Particularly the nerdy customer up in arms about a couple of kilobits per second.

Enough business; let's talk music. NiggyTardust! features guest turns by Reznor, CX Kidtronik, Thavius Beck, and others, and was mixed by Alan Moulder. As Williams tells it in the press release, though, it's really a joint effort between himself and Reznor. "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! is the lovechild of Trent and me," Williams said, and Reznor agreed, adding that this is the "most involved [he's] been with any project outside NIN since [Marilyn Manson's 1996 LP] Antichrist Superstar."

Williams believes the album's overarching theme gives him more room to expand on the album's content onstage. "The NiggyTardust! concept sets me free to do more on stage with costume, etc. than one might expect from a regular Saul Williams show. It allows me to put my theater training to use. I've also thought long and hard about all the discussion surrounding racial epithets etc. and chose this title as a means of furthering the dialogue while also showing how creativity will outlive and outshine hatred of any kind." Plus, you can, like, dance to it!

Williams has a number of live appearances on the way. Those dates-- and the NiggyTardust! tracklist-- after the jump. [MORE...]
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Sly and the Family Stone Schedule U.S. Shows

Look alive, fella: there's a riot goin' on. Funk-soul legends Sly and the Family Stone have scheduled a pair of shows-- early and late-- December 7 at New York City's B.B. King Blues Club & Grill.

These are the first proper gigs Stone has played in the States in quite some time, and-- apart from an appearance at the 2006 Grammy Awards, a brief, troubled European tour this summer, and a couple cameos here and there-- among the only chances fans of the Fam have had to see the band in the decades since their artistic apex.

The shows will feature much of the Family Stone's early 1970s lineup, including Sly, Rose and Freddie Stone, Cynthia Robinson, and Pat Rizzo. No word on whether the gigs are part of a larger tour, but if the performances from this past summer's North Sea Jazz Festival we Forkcasted a little while back are any indication, when he's in the right frame of mind, Sly's still got plenty to sing about.
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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.)

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File-icon Wed: 12-26-07: 05:00 PM CST
Radiohead Celebrate New Year With Webcast

File-icon Wed: 12-26-07: 04:00 PM CST
Jay-Z Leaves Def Jam Presidency

File-icon Wed: 12-26-07: 02:46 PM CST
R.I.P. Oscar Peterson, 1925-2007

File-icon Fri: 12-21-07: 07:00 AM CST
The Pitchfork Guide to New Year's Eve

File-icon Tue: 12-18-07: 04:30 PM CST
Indie Bands Sue Camel, Rolling Stone Over Ad

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