Pitchfork

When he's not rearing Chinese children, freak-folkie Devendra Banhart moonlights as a curator of the curious and the kindred-- just listen to the Banhart-assembled The Golden Apples of the Sun compilation or scope any of the dozens of interviews in which DB lovingly name-drops his music-land favorites. His trend-setting prowess has not gone unnoticed by the famed All Tomorrow's Parties festival, who have just enlisted Devendra to curate the third of six days of unbelievably intense indie rocking.

Banhart joins the elite ranks of previously-announced 2006 curators the Shins, Sleater-Kinney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mudhoney, and Ween. Each act will orchestrate one day of "The United Sounds of ATP", selecting bands and DJs, performing themselves, and programming a television channel to broadcast in the on-site chalets. For jokes pertaining to that topic, please consult our last ATP story.

Next year's fest goes down over two weekends in May at Camber Sands Holiday Centre, in lively East Sussex, England. What with all those American bands crash-landing on British shores, this is sorta like a reverse War of 1812. With guitars instead of muskets. And libation in lieu of bloodshed.

Apart from the hosts, the only confirmed acts so far are psych-banshees Comets On Fire and Scotland's trashy Country Teasers, scheduled to perform sometime over the festival's first weekend. With all curators now in place, behold the TBA-addled line-up for All Tomorrow's Parties 2006:

05-12 Mudhoney
05-13 Yeah Yeah Yeahs
05-14 Devendra Banhart
05-19 Ween
05-20 Sleater-Kinney
05-21 The Shins

When neither nannying nor curating, Mr. Banhart is also known to release albums, and even more frequently, singles. Such will be the case November 21, when the second single from Cripple Crow, "Heard Somebody Say", blows up clubs in the UK. Not long thereafter, Devendra will unleash another discothèque smash under the assumed moniker Queens of Sheeba, as part of a split 7" with Deerhoof-approved Lavender Diamond. Tracklist: A: Lavender Diamond: "Impossible Occurances"
B: Queens Of Sheeba: "Its a Christmas Time Celebration"

Backing Dev up on his song, the festive and grammatically incorrect "Its a Christmas Time Celebration", is the freaky all-star team of Andy Cabic (Vetiver), Jona Bechtolt (Y.A.C.H.T.), Kyle Field (Little Wings), and Adam Forkner (Yume Bitsu). In March, the DiCristina Staircase label (home of Vashti Bunyan) will release the second album from Cabic's Vetiver. Entitled To Find Me Gone, the album features Devendra's guitar work on several songs, including "Down at El Rio", which he also co-wrote and sings on.

As for Lavender Diamond, their song on the split was produced by Michael Andrews, the man behind the soundtracks to Donnie Darko and Me and You and Everyone We Know. The ethereal Los Angeles-based quartet embark on a brief Cali-spanning tour next month in support of their much-adored self-released EP, The Cavalry of Light. After two warm-up dates, Lavender's Becky Stark will abandon her bandmates (Jeff Rosenberg of Pink and Brown, Tarentel, and Young People, Ron Rege, Jr. of the Swirlies and Steve Gregoropoulos of Waco) to do her own thang for a spell. Observe:

12-03 Claremont, CA - TBA *
12-04 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell *

Becky Stark solo hop, skip, and jump:

12-05 Ventura, CA - Buffalo Records *
12-06 Santa Cruz, CA - The Attic *
12-07 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Shop *

* with Calvin Johnson, Tender Forever

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