Todd Barry Releases New Album From Heaven

New York City comedian Todd Barry will unleash his latest deadpan opus on the world via Comedy Central Records on March 4. Titled From Heaven, the CD is Barry's third, following previous full-lengths Medium Energy and Falling Off the Bone.

From Heaven was recorded in a Cambridge, Massachusetts comedy club above a Chinese restaurant, and just from looking at the tracklist, we expect a pretty heavy onslaught of pop culture, shopping, and restaurant references. That is, unless he's pulling a David Cross and misleading us with the titles.

Barry also has a fair amount of live performances scheduled, continuing February 29 in Arlington, Virginia and including a stop at SXSW next month. [MORE...]

No Depression to End Print Publication

Mailboxes and newsstands the world over, bid a fond farewell to No Depression, the long-running alt-country magazine named after the Carter Family tune. It was announced today via a press release and the magazine's website that after the publication of the May-June issue-- the magazine's 75th-- No Depression will cease to exist as a print magazine.

In a note printed in the March-April issue and online, publishers Grant Alden, Peter Blackstock, and Kyla Fairchild promised to expand their online coverage in the months to come, though that will "in no way replace the print edition." They cited decreased advertising revenue (largely due to record labels' shrinking advertising budgets) as well as rising printing and mailing costs as reasons for the decision to shut down the magazine.

Launched in September 1995 with a relatively fresh-faced Son Volt on its cover, No Depression began as a quarterly magazine and turned bi-monthly a year after its inception. Spotlighting the finest in off-the-beaten-path roots music, the magazine helped further the careers of Wilco, Whiskeytown and Ryan Adams, the Drive-By Truckers, Gillian Welch, and many others.

A number of anthologies of the magazine's best bits have been published, and in 2005, No Depression celebrated its tenth anniversary with a series of concerts featuring such notables as Sufjan Stevens, Solomon Burke, and Jon Langford and Sally Timms of the Mekons.

But wherever there's a busted-up mandolin sitting in a corner of a bar somewhere, the spirit of No Depression lives on.

The full text of the publishers' note is printed below. [MORE...]

Boris Reveal Smile Tracklist, Artwork, New Dates

Turn that grin rightside up, detail-mongers: Boris' Smile has itself a tracklist. The eight-song LP, due March 7 in Japan on Diwphalanx and April 21 in the UK and Europe and April 29 in the U.S. on Southern Lord, runs the gamut from such cutesy cuteness as "Flower Sun Rain" (a cover of a song originally by PYG, and featuring pal Michio Kurihara on guitar) to the more domestically menacing "My Neighbor Satan" (also featuring Kurihara). Now there's a guy I wouldn't "BUZZ-IN" if he locked his keys in his apartment.

Southern Lord overlord/ Sunn 0))) doomsayer Stephen O'Malley also contributes, lending guitar to an untitled track.

While the album cover (pictured above) for the Southern Lord version of Smile is pretty sweet, check out the Japanese artwork:

Now that's something to smile about.

As previously mentioned, Smile will be preceded by a limited-edition single for "Statement", due February 26 on Southern Lord.

Boris have added a few more live dates to their itinerary recently, and all the factual information you can stand is hidden right behind this. No, really! [MORE...]

Pixies' Santiago Scores Football Ad for Nike

Well, from the sound of it, we won't be seeing a new Pixies album anytime soon (if at all), so that leaves the various Pixies free to roam.

Kim Deal's got her new Breeders album and tour to attend to, Frank Black's tackling Lee Hazlewood with Isaac Brock for his umpteen-hundredth post-Pixies disc, and David Lovering always has his magic (plus a newish outfit called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn). So where does that leave axe-slinger Joey Santiago?

Plying his trade for the suits at Nike, it would seem. According to a press release from EliasArts, the NYC-based "music, sound and audio identity company" that employs Santiago, the Pixies guitarist has scored a documentary titled Nike Presents: Blood, Sweat and Tears: Football in the Rough (the "football" in question here being what Americans might call "soccer").

According to a representative from AKQA, the company that created the ad-umentary, "Santiago's sonic guitar riffs and his moody harmonies were perfect for the pace we needed in the film. Joey's score definitely makes us reflect harder on the subjects discussed in the documentary." Work hard, play hard...reflect hard?

A Nike rep adds, "This film is about guts and determination and Joey's work definitely helps surface both of these qualities."

The first chapter of the multi-part Football in the Rough doc is expected to appear on NikeFootball.com later this month, under the "Asia Pacific" region heading.

Hardly a newbie to commercial score work, Santiago previously worked on 2000 film Crime + Punishment in Suburbia and television shows "Undeclared" and "Weeds".

Ratatat, Herbert Remix Bjork on "Wanderlust" Single
Plus a 3-D video, complete with glasses!

Photo by Ashley Williamson

Björk will keep the Volta singles train a-choo-chooing with "Wanderlust". The 12" and CD release of "Wanderlust" in the UK on April 14 via One Little Indian will make it the album's fourth single.

The single's four tracks come from a predictably impressive cast of remixers, including Ratatat, Matthew Herbert, and Mark Stent. Also included is a DVD featuring the 3-D video for "Wanderlust", as well as a pair of 3-D glasses. Hmm... sounds familiar...

Of course, Björk still has quite a few tour dates ahead of her this year, continuing tonight, February 19, with the first of two shows in Tokyo. [MORE...]

Xiu Xiu Extend Tour Through May

Once the haikus are scribbled, the vocal submissions tallied, and their North American tour complete, Jamie Stewart and the rest of the wild spirits possessing Xiu Xiu are headed to Europe on a three-and-a-half week tour.

The band kicks things off on May Day in Austria and winds up in Spain on the 24th, leaving puzzled looks and copies of Women As Lovers aplenty in their wake. Bon voyage, Xiu Xiu! [MORE...]

Andre 3000 Designs Clothing Line

Anyone who has ever seen a televised Andre 3000/Outkast appearance (like this one, for instance) knows the Atlanta MC has a flair for sartorial flamboyance. Now, fans of that flair will get a chance to snag a little piece of it for themselves. 70 pieces, to be exact, since that is the number of items in his new clothing line, according to a New York magazine piece (via Idolator).

According to New York, the line is called Benjamin Bixby (Andre's full name is Andre Benjamin), and he hopes to have it at Barneys this fall. Benjamin Bixby is modeled after Andre's own self-proclaimed "rebel gentleman" style, and he sketched the entire line himself. At the moment, Andre is also funding it on his own, though he is looking for a partner. (Hey Big Boi? Got any spare cash lying around?)

More than a fancy name, the clothing line's titular character is envisioned by Andre as someone "kind of like your uncle, or your granddad, and he has a closet full of experiences and clothes, and he's been around the world." The cosmopolitan aspect of the line makes sense considering that, according to New York, Andre visited "Italian factories and Parisian textile fairs" in the process of giving himself a fashion education.

In better-trod territory for the MC, the Will Ferrell basketball comedy Semi-Pro, in which he plays a character named Clarence "Coffee" Black, hits theaters February 29. He's also in the forthcoming political drama Battle in Seattle, about the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle.

And according to New York, Andre is also working on a solo album for a fall release. Yes, please.

Jeff Mangum Raids Record Collection for Yeti Comp
Compilation also features Deerhoof, Iron and Wine, Atlas Sound

What's that unmistakable shape lurking in the shadows of a snow-swept indie newstand near you? Why, it must be a Yeti! Yeti #5, in fact.

And as they've done in the past, the offbeat lit/art/music publication has packed its pages with a bonus compilation brimming over with rare and exclusive jams. Yeti #5's attendant disc boasts the likes of Deerhoof, Iron and Wine, Atlas Sound (covering Sparks, "sort of"), Akron/Family, Dean & Britta (covering Dean's own Galaxie 500 über-classic "Tugboat"), Mount Eerie, and D+ (Phil Elverum, Karl Blau, and Beat Happening's Bret Lunsford).

What's more, the 25-track CD also includes four songs hand-selected by Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum and literally culled from the man's personal collection of rare 78s-- Mangum actually sent his old records to the Yeti crew for digitizing.

And that's to say nothing of the magazine itself, which spreads features on Akron/Family, Will Oldham, and the Sublime Frequencies label, just to name three, over its 228 provocative pages.

All that and more can be yours in Yeti #5, available for preorder now and due to hit shops March 7. (Full disclosure: Yeti is owned by Pitchfork contributor Mike McGonigal.) [MORE...]

New LCD Soundsystem Song Written for Action Flick
Soundtrack also features Rihanna, Broadcast, some song about young people by Peter Paul & Mary or something like that

Hey James Murphy! You've made Pitchfork's favorite song of the year and second favorite album of the year! What are you going to do next? Go to Disney World?

Close. He's going to Hollywood.

Yup, the newest piece of post-Sound of Silver music we're going to hear from LCD Soundsystem will be the song "Big Ideas", which will appear on the soundtrack to the new movie 21. The soundtrack will be released by Columbia Records on March 18.

According to a press release, "Big Ideas" is "a brand new track composed and recorded for 21." (Hello, 2009 Oscars!) Apparently it's an action flick about M.I.T. students who run a big scam on Vegas casinos or something. It stars Kate Bosworth, Jim Sturgess (the guy from the Beatles movie musical nobody over the age of 16 saw), Laurence Fishburne, and poor, poor Kevin Spacey.

It's in theaters March 20, though it will premiere at the SXSW film fest on March 7. There will also be a soundtrack celebration party on March 13, during the music portion of SXSW.

Other artists on the 21 soundtrack include Broadcast, Rihanna, UNKLE, Mark Ronson and Kasabian, producer David Sardy (Walkmen, Marilyn Manson) with Duke Spirit singer Liela Moss, and Amon Tobin. There's also a Soulwax remix of the Rolling Stones and Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks", a song that has yet to appear on any soundtracks to any kind of moving pictures. [MORE...]

Jarvis Cocker, Gossip's Beth Ditto Cut Charity Single

"Temptation": Heaven 17 crucial cut, Jarvis Cocker and Beth Ditto (The Gossip) cover tune of choice during the 2007 NME Awards ceremony, and now, digital charity single available for your repeat listening pleasure.

Rough Trade put "Temptation" up for purchase exclusively on iTunes today, and all profits from sales of the single-- recorded live during the aforementioned NME performance (relive it, obnoxious editing and all, at the link below)-- go to UK-based housing charity Shelter.

Temptation: that tickley feeling that makes me want to drive to Mexico to catch Jarvis live next month, then fly to France to see Ditto and the Gossip work their magic onstage. In the latter case, at least, I suppose I could settle for the U.S. dates brewing in April. Which is all to say: dates ahoy! [MORE...]

Headlights Deliver Some Album, Tour With Evangelicals

Photo by Justine Bursoni

Champaign, Illinois outfit Headlights will release their sophomore album, the follow-up to 2006's Kill Them With Kindness, via hometown label Polyvinyl tomorrow (February 19).

Some Racing, Some Stopping is the record's title, and it betrays the tour-heavy nature of the band's schedule in the coming weeks. Recently expanded to a quintet-- thanks to the addition of Decibully's Nick Sanborn and Shipwreck's John Owen-- Headlights have already headed out on their previously reported North American jaunt with Evangelicals. Catch them all in Athens, Georgia tonight. [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: February 18-24, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, February 18:

CBS: Late Night With David Letterman: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Tuesday, February 19:

NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: The Hives
CBS: Late Night With David Letterman: Ray Davies
FUSE: Foo Fighters Live at Madison Square Garden
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Andre Benjamin (not performing)

Wednesday, February 20:

CBS: Late Night With David Letterman: Foo Fighters
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: The Whigs

Thursday, February 21:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Black Mountain
NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: John Fogerty

Friday, February 22:

FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: Pinback
OVATION: From the Basement: The White Stripes, The Shins, Neil Hannon

Saturday, February 23:

FOX: Fearless TV: Super Furry Animals

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.)