Debut Album From TV On The Radio Due In March
Video killed the radio star

[Updated Friday, January 16th, 2004 03:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

TV On The Radio's debut LP, Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, is scheduled to come out March 9th on Touch & Go. That date could theoretically move up, however, as the album has already been leaked to the Internet. The album contains nine tracks-- eight new songs and a slightly-shortened version of "Staring at the Sun" (from the band's Young Liars EP, which placed at #28 on our year-end list despite having only 25 minutes of music on it). Tracklist:

01 The Wrong Way
02 Staring at the Sun
03 Dreams
04 King Eternal
05 Ambulance
06 Poppy
07 Don't Love You
08 Bomb Yourself
09 Wear You Out

In the wake of the band's LP being leaked, we talked to TV On The Radio multi-instrumentalist and producer David Andrew Sitek about their first full record.

Pitchfork: At first we weren't sure if what leaked was the finished version of the album because the production was so different from that of Young Liars.

Sitek: The dry production was an active choice of ours (seeing as how we already covered the "soupy" territory on the EP). The soup still exists with some songs on the record, but for the most part, when we added Kyp's voice to the equation... we wanted the listener to be able to hear the combination of Kyp & Tunde, and hear the lyrics... it is a more vulnerable sound that we thought would be another way to hear us... you could break the songs apart easier and see them as they are written. This way we have the freedom to use fidelity as another influence/medium and it sets the stage for another turn for us later. From a production standpoint, I am equally as fascinated by the space around the music as I am the content.

Pitchfork: How did "Staring at the Sun" end up on the album?

Sitek: We decided to put "Staring at the Sun" on the LP because we think the song is kind of a midway point from where we were and where we were going, and we really want it to be heard and since we are sending out as many promos for this album as we sold of the EP, we thought it could get us (and Katrina [Ford]'s) bad ass voice to more people.

Pitchfork: The guest performances and the production of Young Liars (you call it "soupy," we called it "hyper-real") were two of its most praised facets. What's it like making a record without either of those elements? Are you more invested in the success or failure of the record now that it's just you guys?

Sitek: As far as standing by the success or failure of the record, I think it is pretty safe to say that none of us really expected to reach as many people as we have with the EP, and if we were to "fail" by most standards it would probably put us right where we would have expected the EP to put us in the first place. We "stand" by our position of making music we are interested in, no matter what the critical fallout might be. And we will inevitably have more friends/fidelities/mixups on future recordings... we were really concentrating on Kyp and Tunde and me on this record, and how to fit such different sounds together without "muddying" it up... I think we succeeded in bring the sound "as it was" to the LP.

TV on the Radio: http://www.tvontheradio.com
Touch and Go: http://www.tgrec.com

Avalanches Remix Belle & Sebastian For New Single
Reindeer Section completely wiped out by massive wall of snow and ice

[Updated Friday, January 16th, 2004 03:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Eric Marth, Micah Harding and Ray Sukuki report:
Belle & Sebastian never forgot North Carolina coaching legend Jimmy Valvano or his greatest lesson: "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." The band didn't stop after the dreadful Storytelling soundtrack, or their last few sub-par EPs. But then they regained much lost credibility with their most recent LP, Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Up next for the group is another single from Waitress, the kooky "I'm A Cuckoo."

The single will be released in CD, DVD, and seven-inch formats by Rough Trade Records on February 16th. All formats will feature the spacey country-rocker "(I Believe In) Travelin' Light," which was excised from Dear Catastrophe Waitress at the last minute. The CD and DVD add another non-album track along with a remix of "I'm A Cuckoo" by all-star DJ's The Avalanches. The band thought the remix took "so little of the original we didn't think the title 'remix' did it justice," so the remix bears the subtitle "by the Avalanches." Tracklist:

01 I'm A Cuckoo
02 Stop, Look and Listen
03 I'm A Cuckoo [by the Avalanches]
04 (I Believe In) Travellin' Light

The DVD will also include the Blair Young-directed video for the song, which features Stuart Murdoch as "a budding athlete torn between the demands of his coach, band politics, and the women in his life." The DVD will also feature a photo gallery and outtakes from the making of the video.

And speaking of DVD's, the band's compilation disc, Fans Only, will finally be released stateside January 20th by Matador and Jeepster. As previously reported, the DVD contains live performances, television broadcasts, promo videos, interviews with band-members that discuss backstory on the band, and nearly two hours of documentary footage. Along with the rare and unreleased footage, the DVD also contains 75 songs (including many unreleased gems and covers of artists as diverse as the Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, and Serge Gainsbourg), 16 that are performed in their entirety. Tracklist:

01 Dog On Wheels
02 I Could Be Dreaming
03 A Century Of Fakers
04 Like Dylan In The Movies
05 Lazy Line Painter Jane
06 Dirty Dream #2
07 Is It Wicked Not To Care?
08 The Boy With The Arab Strap
09 Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son [Serge Gainsbourg]
10 This Is Just A Modern Rock Song
11 Legal Man
12 The Wrong Girl
13 Wandering Alone
14 Jonathan David
15 I'm Waking Up To Us
16 The State I Am In

Belle and Sebastian: http://www.belleandsebastian.com
Matador: http://www.matadorrecords.com
Rough Trade: http://www.roughtrade.com

Magnolia Electric Co.'s Molina Finally Shows Us His Pyramid
Reportedly got the idea for album while listening to Amway salesman

[Updated Friday, January 16th, 2004 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

I've heard the stories. I've visited the kitschy websites and thumbed through the high-school library books, even seen the pictures on that TBS show hosted by Dean Cain. Hell, my uncle spent ten years in Scotland and he even believes the shit, swears he's talked to at least six pub-drunks who've recounted similar stories. After a long night of tossing back pints, they say it's customary to stop and drain in Loch Ness. Pull it out and, fhuckhin' 'ell, surfacing off in the water it's the gigantic monster herself-- in all of her rollercoaster-birthing, piss-covered, tourist-photographed glory. But, come on, I know better. Nessie's horseshit. So is Sasquatch, so is Ray Suzuki, and so is Dean Cain's career. These things just plain don't exist.

But though it seems like we could've actually built our own pyramid since first announcing its existence nearly two years ago, we at the 'Fork finally have unequivocal proof that Jason Molina's long-awaited, much-delayed Pyramid Electric Co. does exist. That's right, next Tuesday, January 20th, the record surfaces from the lake of drunk Scotsman piss and Pitchfork news stories promising its imminent release!

Recorded way back when in 2001 with engineer Mike Mogis, who worked on the windy Songs: Ohia epic Ghost Tropic, Pyramid Electric Co. is Molina's first full-length under his birth name and contains seven solo guitar or piano tracks. A bit of a departure from the sparseness on 2002's Didn't It Rain and last year's Youngian rocker Magnolia Electric Co., sources say that record is draped in "otherworldly sonic ambience," and borrows quite a bit from African musical tradition. Yes, African musical tradition. But you don't have to wait very long to find out how the hell Molina can pull off folk Africanis, because the vinyl-only release (well, vinyl-with-CD-version-crammed-into-the-sleeve-only release) is right around the corner. Tracklist:

01 Pyramid Electric Co.
02 Red Comet Dust
03 Division St. Girl
04 Honey, Watch Your Ass
05 Song of the Road
06 Spectral Alphabet
07 Long Desert Train

In concordance with the conventional wisdom that you build a pyramid one block at a time, Molina is limiting his summer tour with Magnolia Electric Co. to these five dates (billed as Jason Molina and the Magnolia Electric Co.):

01-17 Richmond, IN - Runyan Center / Earlham College
01-18 Newport, KY - Southgate House
01-23 Akron, OH - Lime Spider
01-24 Alfred, NY - Alfred Knight Club / Alfred University
01-31 Charlottesville, VA - UVA (Fest Full of Rock Festival w/ )

Magnolia Electric Co.: http://www.songsohia.com
Secretly Canadian: http://www.secretlycanadian.com

Sage Francis on "Fuck Clear Channel" Tour Next Month
Clear Channel stocking up on lubricants and prophylactics, schedules bikini wax

[Updated Friday, January 16th, 2004 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

According to a post on his official website, Non Prophets' MC Sage Francis plans on "changing the rules to how shows get thrown." His upcoming "Fuck Clear Channel" Tour will take a cue from Mike Park's Plea for Peace Tour and circumvent Clear Channel venues entirely.

The tour will include Sage Francis performing with a live band, and Non-Prophets performing with a CD player. This is what Francis posts, along with a stern admonishment to "not ask me about shit I haven't posted yet." Yes sir! You don't pull on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, and you don't defy the wishes of a man willing to take on Clear Channel. But I can tell you that they're going just all over the place. Even Iowa!

Grand Buffet and Mac Lethal are, apparently, also interested in copulating with "oligarchic media conglomerates"-- they, too, will be participating in the tour. Francis has promised that all shows will end half an hour before closing time, so that no one is rushed out of the club. Security will not be allowed to yell at or bully the fans (I sort of declared a moratorium on going to hip-hop shows after the fiftieth time I waited three hours for one dude to show up and threaten to rob me over a murky PA system, so I wasn't aware that this was such a problem in the hip-hop community). Instead of threatening and bullying, security will be encouraged to tickle fans, coo at them, and dandle them on their knees.

Most of the dates are confirmed, but a few are subject to change, so check with your local club as the salient date draws near. Get you dandle on and support media diversification at any of the following:

02-04 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
02-05 Burlington, VT - Metronome
02-06 Boston, MA - The Matrix
02-07 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
02-08 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
02-09 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
02-11 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle
02-12 Charlotte, NC - The Room
02-13 Atlanta, GA - Echo Lounge
02-14 Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbits
02-15 Miami, FL - I/O
02-16 Orlando, FL - Back Booth
02-17 Gainesville, FL - TBA
02-18 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
02-20 Austin, TX - Emo's
02-21 Denton, TX - Live Room
02-22 Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory
02-23 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
02-24 Phoenix, AZ - TBA
02-25 Tucson, AZ - The Rock
02-26 San Diego, CA - Canes
02-27 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
02-28 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
02-29 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
03-01 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
03-02 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
03-04 Salt Lake City, UT - Albee Square
03-05 Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater
03-06 Ft. Collins, CO - Aggie Theater
03-08 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck or Granada
03-09 Iowa City, IA - Gabe's
03-10 Minneapolis, MN - First Ave.
03-11 Madison, WI - Annex
03-12 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
03-13 Chicago, IL - Metro or The Abbey
03-14 Champaign, IL - High Dive
03-16 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
03-17 Pittsburgh, PA - Rosebud
03-19 Providence, RI - Strand Theater

Sage Francis: http://www.sagefrancis.net
Anticon: http://www.anticon.com

The Album Leaf Sign To Sub Pop; Next Album In June
Black Heart Procession slows to worm-like crawl; split single with Shins due in 2017

[Updated Friday, January 16th, 2004 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Making good on his apparent New Year's resolution to be even busier in 2004, James LaValle of The Album Leaf is getting his groove on over several fronts. First off, the good word, straight from their manager, is that after several months of shopping the new record around, The Album Leaf have signed with Sub Pop for worldwide distribution (and City Slang in Europe). With the deal inked, LaValle is heading back to Iceland later this month to finish mixing the record in Sigur Rós' studio (and how the frequent flier miles pile up).

The as-yet-untitled album has a tentative June 8th release date, and should be followed by the requisite touring-- we'll keep you apprised. You'll be in good company: Holiday Matinee reports that members of The Postal Service, The Jealous Sound, and Moving Units were all in the crowd at a recent appearance at Los Angeles' Spaceland. But it was hotel heiress/ closet Album Leaf fan Nicky Hilton (whose "hormones were ready to bounce as she headed to the back room and was spotted making out with her boyfriend-actor") that got our attention.

Of course, what Album Leaf update would be complete without a mention of their glacially paced seven-inch series on Better Looking Records? Well, the long-awaited next installment (with Marc Bianchi of Her Space Holiday) is actually ready now for subscribers to the series. In case a tracklist is all you were waiting for before you sprung for the whole collaboration series, here you go:

01 Reso
02 Callinblue

We're assured that the next entry (with Pall Jenkins of The Black Heart Procession) is in the can and ready to be mixed when LaValle gets back from, well, mixing his album. Following that, LaValle will return the favor, as he's been asked to join The Blackheart Procession as their full-time bassist. He'll be joining up with them in March to begin writing songs for a new album, then they'll hit the road for an East Coast tour. I said he was busy, right?

Finally, it should be said that though recent rumors of Tristeza's demise have been greatly exaggerated, LaValle is no longer a member of the band, having departed to focus on The Album Leaf in early 2003 (only so many hours in the day, people). Mitch Wilson replaced LaValle on guitar, and they released an EP of odds and ends in 2003, Espuma, that featured their first post-LaValle composition. The new lineup are now hard at work on a full-length that should be out later this year.

Album Leaf: http://www.albumleaf.com
Better Looking: http://www.betterlookingrecords.com
Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com
Project Hilton: http://hilton.grubbykid.com

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.)