Pitchfork

The second and final installment of Pitchfork's The Year in News hearkens back to that hazy, distant latter half of 2006-- a time in which reporting about artists who'd been hoarding body parts, starting fights, breaking up fights, tangling with Stephen Colbert, and inspiring your children to take drugs was just another day in the newsroom. So have a good look at the triumphs and heartbreaks, the reunions and breakups, and the humanity, insanity, and inanity that colored the great tapestry of music in 2006.

And if you missed Part 1, catch up here.



JULY

SYD BARRETT DEAD AT 60

On July 7, the world lost a visionary, as founding Pink Floyd singer/guitarist/songwriter and notorious recluse Syd Barrett passed away in peace at his Cambridgeshire home. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer for less than a month before passing away. The Piper's at the gates of heaven now.

OUT HUD BREAK UP!

A highlight of 2005's Pitchfork-curated Intonation Festival-- and probably the only band with a cello I've ever danced to-- !!! offshoot Out Hud unexpectedly called it quits, with cellist Molly Schnick revealing, "There are clues about [the breakup] all over the last record." Cryptic!

HARRY POTTER TO WYRD SISTERS:
FUCK YOU, PAY ME

Mix Jarvis Cocker, Harry Potter, two members of Radiohead, and some pissed-off Canadians in a magical flaming cauldron of litigation-- and presto! One of 2006's most bizarre stories, and one of the year's best headlines.

 

VICTORIA BERGSMAN LEAVES THE CONCRETES

Following a series of setbacks for Swedish indie-poppers the Concretes-- including yet another incident of gear theft and a cancelled tour-- lead vocalist Victoria Bergsman took her uncanny ability to pout with pulchritude and left the band to pursue a solo project called Taken by Trees.

CHILDREN FIGHT HIP-HOP WITH POWER OF SUFJAN

Kids these days are growing up so fast! While you were all hung up on Raffi in elementary school, a Maryland-based group of today's youngsters calling themselves the Rapper's Delight Club-- with a little help from a savvy teacher-- wrote, rapped, and recorded a bunch of cute rhymes over a Sufjan Stevens sample. By this time next year they'll be listening to NPR and grumbling about their 401(k)s.



PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL WAS SO AWESOME

And the month closed out with a scorcher, as the inaugural Pitchfork Music Festival brought tens of thousands of music-lovers out to Chicago's Union Park for two literally and figuratively hot days of rock and mayhem.

Tropicália icons Os Mutantes provided the fest's grand finale with one of only a handful of reunion gigs, Ted Leo had an ugly collision with a blood-thirsty microphone, and Bonde do Role's Marina Ribatski dislocated a bone while crowdsurfing-- and, after a swift recovery, auctioned her X-rays on eBay.

All said, a ridiculously great time.

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AUGUST

DAMON ALBARN FORMS YET ANOTHER BAND

In one fell swoop, Damon Albarn found both another excuse to ditch the other guys in Blur and a band name that, defying the physics of nomenclature, is actually worse than Gorillaz. The Good, the Bad and the Queen brought together Albarn and former members of the Clash, the Verve, and Fela Kuti's band, making it a bona fide supergroup, and necessitating an ugly acronym we'd rather didn't exist. Later they streamed stuff from their Danger Mouse-produced debut LP, which is now due in January.



EX-LIFETIME BASSIST ARRESTED FOR HOARDING HUMAN BODY PARTS

Linda Kay, best known as an ex-bassist for recently reactivated hardcore punks Lifetime, but now an "exotic dancer," was arrested for hoarding human body parts in her basement: six skulls,  to be exact, and a human hand she kept in a jar of formeldehyde and called "Freddy." If convicted, could she face a lifetime sentence??

DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 SPLIT UP

Another Pitchfork pick for the 2005 Intonation Festival called it quits (does this qualify as a curse?): Canadian bass'n'drums duo Death From Above 1979. In an eloquent MySpace valediction, bassist Jesse F. Keeler called the split "a totally normal function of growing up." Plus, having to tack that shitty "1979" onto the end of their bandname was a real kick in the pants.

LOVE'S ARTHUR LEE DEAD OF LEUKEMIA AT 61

Another visionary headed toward the light: Love's Arthur Lee succumbed to leukemia on August 3 in a Memphis hospital, with his wife at his side. Wrote his manager, Mark Finn, in eulogy: "Most of all I'll miss Arthur playing Arthur's music."  Sad!



OXES SUE OLD NAVY OVER T-SHIRT DESIGN

Old Navy incurred the lawsuit wrath of Baltimore math rock trio Oxes after mass-producing and selling a t-shirt bearing an image of an Oxes concert flyer-- and kinda sorta forgetting to, er, ask the band about it first.



SUNN O))), BORIS JOIN FORCES

You dared to ask what happens when the blackest of black metal meets Pink, and Sunn O))) and Boris dared to answer with the collaborative Southern Lord LP Altar. Now you're the one collecting skulls in your basement.



SHOCKING EXPOSÉ REVEALS UGLY TRUTH ABOUT TAPES N' TAPES

Thanks to the humor and imagination of comedian and Pitchfork pre-party laugh-elicter Aziz Ansari, the world finally found out why we love Tapes 'n Tapes so damn much.  It's not a derivit!

INTERPOL SIGN TO CAPITOL RECORDS

After a long and fruitful relationship with Matador Records, Interpol left the indie circuit to try its luck with the major leagues: Capitol Records. In the band's defense, Cosloy always was a bit stingy with the manicures.

MARS VOLTA GET PISSED (ONTO)

Just 30 minutes (or about the length of one song) into their set at Seattle's Endfest, The Mars Volta were attacked by dastardly concertgoers... with actual piss!

Cedric Bixler-Zavala left the stage stating, "I will pay $100-1,000 to somebody to find the person that's throwing urine up here... Find that person and kick his ass for me. Bring me his head. And we'll be friends!" Mars Volta hecklers, urincorrigible!



WHITE STRIPES APPEAR ON "THE SIMPSONS"

When our kids are all 24, this will basically be like that time Mama Cass was on Scooby-Doo. (And Sonic Youth, their Jonathan Winters!) But for at least one brief, fun-filled half hour, it seemed like news to us.



OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE TENDERIZES OF MONTREAL

Hundreds of scrawny Williamsburg vegans considered giving up their dreary meat-free lifestyles for almost 30 seconds, as a "beefed"-up version of Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)" appeared in a commercial for Outback Steakhouse-- with an all-new set of lyrics.

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SEPTEMBER

BIG BLACK REGROUP FOR TOUCH & GO'S 25TH

Venerable Chicago label Touch & Go-- who've put out more worthwhile records over the years than we can count (although we tried)-- celebrated the big 2-5 with a massive, three-day birthday bash at the city's Hideout Block Party.

Onboard for the momentous occasion: current label stalwarts like Pinback, Black Heart Procession, and CocoRosie, and tons of choice reunions, including Negative Approach, Girls Against Boys, Man or Astroman?, a still-ferocious Scratch Acid, and, for a four-song tease, Big Black.



BANKSY BURNS PARIS

Teaming with subversive UK graffiti assassin Banksy, Danger Mouse helped make a good 500 UK moms shriek in horror-- and further tarnished the innocence of 500 teenage girls and middle-aged perverts-- planting doctored copies of Paris Hilton's CD with the sleazy socialite's top falling off, a dog's head photoshopped onto her body, and reworked song titles like "Why Am I Famous?" and "What Am I For?" in shops across the UK. Hilton retaliated by filming herself having dispassionate sex and subjecting the entire internet to the results.



ARAB STRAP DISBAND

Mopey Scots Arab Strap hung up the kilts (sorry, couldn't resist) for good, after 10 solid years of filling out all our breakup mixtapes. They bowed out with a final tour and the best-of collection Ten Years of Tears!, released in late October.



OUTPUT RECORDINGS UNPLUGS

After 10 glorious years of releasing top-notch dance and electronic music from the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Four Tet, Mu, the Rapture, and more, Trevor Jackon's Output Recordings closed up shop for good.

"I never wanted to have all my passion and enthusiasm knocked out of me," wrote Jackson in a sad and revealing statement. "But somehow it's happened."



MIKE PATTON WAS NOT GOD!

Thanks to a good dressing-down on "All My Children", we learned that contrary to what our peers have led us to believe, Mike Patton is not God. And, furthermore, that listening to the Peeping Tom album is actually less soul-crushing than watching soap stars try to act.



JAY-Z MAKES FIRST QUESTIONABLE BUSINESS DECISION EVER

After months of speculation, the Greatest Rapper Alive officially ended his retirement, subsequently driving home the widely held belief that few things are quite so boring as listening to middle-aged billionaire moguls complain about hardship.



MISSION OF BURMA GET BUTT NAKED

Mission of Burma guitarist Roger Miller may have written thousands of words for his Pitchfork exclusive tour diary, but it's the thousand words evoked by this tantalizing image that still haunt us to this day.



SUGARCUBES REUNITE FOR LABEL BENEFIT

Icelandic pop auteurs the Sugarcubes, featuring the one and only Björk, announced plans to reunite for one November record label benefit/20th bjirthday gig in Reykjavik.

"We're just having fun together and enjoying each other's company," Sugarcube Einar Örn later told Pitchfork.

Photographer Leó Stefánsson was onhand for the celebration and scored us some dazzling pictures.



BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY GOT WEIRDER

Bonnie "Prince" Billy found a friend and promising castle party-planner in, of all people, Andrew WK-- who backed up Billy on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" (photo courtesy of Drag City)-- and a court jester in comedian Neil Hamburger, with whom he paired for a series of cracked-out commercials promoting Bonnie's 2006 LP, The Letting Go.

Perhaps inspired by his sordid dealings with Hamburger, Bonnie P. later decided to take up stand-up comedy. The gig, at Chicago's Weeds club, doesn't go down until December 19-- but we're laughing already.



"MUSIC EXPERT" ZAK SALLY GOES PUBLIC WITH LOVE OF TOOL

Ex-Low bassist and graphic artist/book publisher Zak Sally discussed the merits of his favorite rock band, Tool, on ABC News. You know, the one your parents and 22 million other Americans watch every night.

He later chatted with Pitchfork, claiming he was as shocked as the rest of us. "The whole thing was a surprise to me. It was absurd in a good way."



RYAN ADAMS RAPS!

Ryan! Adams! Come! On! Our boy wonder discovered the internet this year, and nothing will ever be the same again. Although we have to admit, he does bust mad flavor.

JENNY LEWIS GETS DISSED BY TOO $HORT

Jenny Lewis might be the stuff of dreams for pretty much every indie boy in this land (indie girls, too), but as she revealed in an interview with Pitchfork, she's still not good enough for Too $hort.

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OCTOBER

JANET WEISS JOINS THE JICKS

Without a Sleater-Kinney to go home to, supreme drummer Janet Weiss ran off with Stephen Malkmus' Jicks, officially joining the band. As she told The Portland Mercury, "What self-respecting musician wouldn't jump at the chance to play with one of the staggering guitarists of our generation?!"



KILL ROCK STARS FOUNDER LEAVES FOR A&R

In a totally unexpected move, Slim Moon-- a name synonymous with indie goodness-- left Kill Rock Stars, the label he founded and ran for 15 years, for the greener pastures of Nonesuch.

"I haven't been unhappy or anything," he told Pitchfork. "I just really want to push myself to a whole new frontier."

Moon put KRS in the able hands of his wife and partner, Portia Sabin, while crazy little sibling imprint 5RC subsequently announced plans to fold, leaving our little DIY hearts sighing forlornly.



WEEZER SUES BEER GIANT

Weezer sought some cash for their retirement fund (we hope), suing the Miller Beer Company over a 2004 magazine ad that lumped them in the company of Velvet Revolver, Bon Jovi, Puddle of Mudd, Trapt, and Incubus-- which, now that they mention it, pretty much sounds like the recipe for "Beverly Hills".



WIND-UP FINALLY REISSUES THE WRENS

The tumultuous saga of the first two Wrens records finally came to a satisfying, if surprising conclusion, as Wind-Up Records-- who'd kept 1994's Silver and 1996's Secaucus locked up in an iron tower guarded by rogue wizards and sand creatures-- finally reissued both records on November 14.

When the band heard the news, "our eyes shot out of our heads," according to singer/guitarist Charles Bissell. "We were like 'WHAT?!'"



CBGB LAID TO REST

All 11th-hour efforts to save CBGB proved futile, as the legendary New York dive closed in October-- and, adding insult to injury, moved to Las Vegas.

A bunch of quality acts that helped establish the club's legacy were on-hand to play shows during the funeral week, including Patti Smith, Bad Brains, and members of Blondie.



TOWER RECORDS DEAD AT 46

A legend of a different sort closed up shop: Tower Records, who helped us build our music collections for 46 years, announced plans to liquidate its stock and close all locations following another declaration of bankruptcy.

Russ Solomon founded Tower in 1960 in Sacramento, and the chain eventually grew to include 89 stores, all of which boldly carried pretty much any record you'd ever want to buy-- assuming money was no object.



SEBADOH ANNOUNCE PLANS TO REGROUP

On a brighter note, hot on the heels of a reissue of classic III, seminal lo-fi rockers Sebadoh announced plans to reunite for a spring 2007 tour featuring the original line-up of Lou Barlow, Eric Gaffney, and Jason Loewenstein.

While we were getting mad psyched for that, Gaffney put out a solo album called Uncharted Waters and Barlow toured it up with the also-reunited Dinosaur Jr., who have a new disc in the works. Current "college rock" acts are shivering in their breeches.



STOOGES RETURN TO THE STUDIO

And speaking of dinosaurs, the Stooges announced plans to record a new album-- with bassist Mike Watt replacing the late David Alexander. "Seems this band is good and practiced," wrote Watt in a diary entry on his website. Sounds like this Iggy Pop guy might make something of himself.



NIKE COMMISSIONS MARATHON LCD SOUNDSYSTEM TRACK

Proving inspired music-making and mega-corporations can-- given the proper conditions-- coexist fruitfully, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy took some $$$ from Nike and put together the fantastic 45:33 running mix, its title doubling as its duration.

Murphy later chatted with Pitchfork, marveling over the sound of words on Sound of Silver (LCD's new album, due out in March) and the fact that exercise-types who knew nothing of LCD Soundsystem actually bought 45:33 for running, and some of them even called it "retarded." This just in: regular exercise kills brain cells.



INDIE ROCK'S WEEK OF BLOODSHED

Some cursed planets and moons must have lined up or something, because the middle of October was all about rock show violence.

First, Juan Maclean laid the Juan MacSmackdown on some rowdy reveler who messed with his gear at an October 13 gig in Atlanta. Juan and the kid whose ass he kicked later kissed and made up on the DFA message board. Awww!

The very same night, a bull-headed cop attempted to break up a Two Gallants show in Houston, got scared, and wound up brawling with the band-- destroying some antique equipment, sending several performers to jail for the night, and Tasering some poor 14-year-old kid with a camera in the process.

"It's a sobering feeling to have the law be completely lawless," Gallant Adam Stephens later told Pitchfork, "and feel like there's absolutely nothing I could do."

Even Jeff Tweedy [pictured] got in on the action, decking some goofy fan in Springfield, Missouri who crashed the stage and attempted to kiss the Wilco frontman during a show. Tweedy later explained the outburst, revealing that the stage-crasher actually hopped on someone's wheelchair(!) to get up there and joking, "I'm quick like a knife; cat-like reflexes."



SCARLETT JOHANSSON THREATENS TOM WAITS COVERS ALBUM

With "Summertime" now under her belt, filmstar heartthrob Scarlett Johansson decided to take it to the next level, announcing plans to record an album of Tom Waits covers.

"I don't know if I'm excited to hear it," Waits later told Pitchfork's Amanda Petrusich when asked about the ScarJo covers disc, "but I'm curious."



LADY SOV TOPS "TRL" COUNTDOWN

Pigs flew through a frozen over Hell as Lady Sovereign joined the esteemed ranks of Britney, Christina, and Jessica, topping the "TRL" countdown with her video for "Love Me or Hate Me". Perhaps there's hope for the nation's touch-tone youngsters after all...

Sov later lent a rendition of Sex Pistols classic "Pretty Vacant" to the pretty abysmal "O.C." covers comp.



XIU XIU ARE TERRIFYING

The wily weirdos of Xiu Xiu shared some borderline NSFW Polaroids-- taken with fan-provided film-- with the Pitchfork readership. And once our eyes finally started working again...they shared more.



JUSTIN HAWKINS QUITS THE DARKNESS

This just in: Using and abusing coke still tears bands apart. Take it from Justin Hawkins, who shocked the world when he announced his intent to quit the Darkness and disclosed the ridiculous extent of his coke addiction. While that-- ahem-- blows, rest assured as the Darkness will forge ahead with bassist Richie Edwards taking over vocals. Dude, it worked for Brian Johnson.



PFM MADE YOU WANT TO SMOKE CRACK

And speaking of substances, the War on Drugs took a surprising turn as it was discovered that marijuana and this so-called "indie rock" stuff are in fact connected, perhaps even causally-- and it's CORRUPTING OUR CHILDREN.

With indie rock records now forbidden in the majority of American households, the kids have no choice but to gorge on Cheetos and listen to trap -rap and Dad's old Pink Floyd LPs.

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NOVEMBER

DIRTY THREE INCITE SHANGHAI RIOT

They're not exactly the first band we'd expect to inspire their fans to tear da club up, but Australian chamber rock trio Dirty Three did just that in Shanghai, inciting a near riot when Yun Feng Theatre officials attempted to curtail the band's performance to make way for a bunch of acrobats.

"Probably one of the most exciting moments I have ever had onstage," enthused DT's Warren Ellis to Pitchfork.



RAINER MARIA BREAK UP
Catastrophe kept them together, but not for long, alas. Just a few months after the release of fifth LP Catastrophe Keeps Us Together, beloved lit-rock trio Rainer Maria parted ways, leaving a legacy of 11 years of emotive rocking.

"For us, this transition can be nothing short of heartbreaking," wrote drummer William Kuehn. "But for reasons both musical and personal, the three of us have chosen this time to move on."



TRAIL OF DEAD'S CONRAD KEELY SPILLS HIS HEART OUT

If you see ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's Conrad Keely anytime soon, give the poor guy a hug. Touring, making records, and, good golly, life in general ain't all it's cracked up to be for the defeated-sounding Keely, as he revealed in a candid interview with Pitchfork.

"There's nothing glamorous anymore to what we do," said the Trail of Dead frontman.

Keely later got in an altercation with his guitarist, Kevin Allen, at a gig in Florida. And the band's 2006 set So Divided fell a few notches shy of the 10.0 mark. Can't a guy catch a break?



KIDS INTERPRET DEERHOOF WITH DANCE

 
Finally! Something unequivocally heartwarming: Kids interpretive dancing to Deerhoof! Photos! Videos! Joy!

As Deerhoof dude John Dieterich later described to Pitchfork, "Here's 10 kids dressed all in white, jumping up and down and screaming, like, 'Hello Deerhoof!' It was just like, what? What is happening to us?"

The band's Friend Opportunity lands January 23 and should be a hit among moms everywhere.



MIKE WATT GUESTS ON KELLY CLARKSON ALBUM

Since whoever-it-was has been gone, seems Kelly Clarkson found a new, significantly cooler man: former Minuteman, current Stooge, and Pitchfork BFF Mike Watt.

Watt recorded some bass parts for Clarkson's forthcoming album, telling Pitchfork, "I knew nothing of Kelly Clarkson before this but can tell you, in my opinion, that she can sing her ass off. Man, she's got pipes and goes for it."

Kelly on Mike: "I think the old punk guy idea's a good one."



CLIPSE'S HELL HATH NO FURY FINALLY COMES OUT

With flaming hip-hop disappointments dropping left and right at the end of the year, we were thrilled (trilled, even) to see Clipse's loooooong-awaited Hell Hath No Fury a) actually come out this year, and b) meet if not exceed the sky-high expectations everyone had for it.

LADY SOV BREAKS DOWN IN L.A.

After a whirlwind year that had her atop the "TRL" countdown and selling out shows across the country, Lady Sovereign broke down during a November 15 performance in Los Angeles, later telling Pitchfork "I honestly thought I was going to die."

Now back on her feet and more alive than ever, Sov's set to rock MTV's New Year's bash and get to work on some new tunes, since most of the ones that just came out have been floating around for about 14 years now.



LES SAVY FAV INTERVIEWS LES SAVY FAV

In an exclusive video self-interview they put together for Pitchfork, Les Savy Fav asked themselves the hard-hitting questions about their forthcoming album (due in April), and babies.

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DECEMBER

VELVET UNDERGROUND ACETATE AUCTION ENDS AT $155K

Montreal resident Warren Hill must have accrued a shit ton of karma over the last few years, as the man-- who, as it turns out, is also Sunset Rubdown's merch guy-- scored a one-of-a-kind Velvet Underground acetate at a street sale for $0.75...

...and sold it on eBay for, wait for it...

$155,401.00

...to a fake bidder, apparently.



THE GO! TEAM PAY THEIR PUBLISHING DUES

The Go! Team found themselves in a slightly sticky situation-- after licensing their song "Huddle Formation" to a Honda Civic commercial despite previously expressing distaste for such a practice-- but handled it gracefully, explaining their reasons on the Go! Team message board. Best of all: We can expect plenty of samples on the new disc. Hot!



FLAMING LIPS ALLEY, OKLAHOMA CITY

The Flaming Lips left their mark in more comprehensive road atlases everywhere, as the mayor and council of Oklahoma City honored the band-- whose Wayne Coyne still resides in OK City-- with an alley in Bricktown.

"It's like some little secret special thing," a thrilled Coyne told the AP.



THE DECEMBERISTS VS. STEPHEN COLBERT VS. THE PEOPLE

The Decemberists inadvertently slighted fake news anchor/funny guy Stephen Colbert, who encouraged viewers of "The Colbert Report" to hijack the green screen music video contest put together by the band-- who in turn put a music video and guitar solo counterchallenge before Colbert-- who in turn issued a counter-counterchallenge and accepted the Decemberists' invitation to shred.

Repping for the Portland outfit, Chris Funk will appear on "The Colbert Report" on December 20 to take on Colbert himself, who we hear is a new wave force to be reckoned with.  \m/