Pitchfork

Who loves the Beatles? Everybody! But especially Deerhoof, who have contributed a version of "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" to a BBC Radio 1 tribute to The White Album. Airing today, as part of the BBC's commemoration of the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death, the radio show also features White Album covers by Bardo Pond, George, Part Chimp, Sutekh, Songs of Green Pheasant, Bedouin Soundclash, Daniel Givens, Toy, Warren Suicide, Fuck, Clue to Kalo, Lords, and many, many more. All 31 songs can be heard via the Radio 1 website for the next week.

Two months after The Runners Four opened a new chapter in Deerhoof's winding history, and smokin' hot off the initial tour in support of that LP, the San Francisco noise-pop quartet has announced a brief East Coast run in the new year. These dates will be only the beginning of an international 2006 tour covering Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe, and the UK. Sounds like a fair trade: we get Animal Collective back, we give them Deerhoof. 'Til then:

01-24 Cambridge, MA - Middle East *
01-25 Providence, RI - AS 220 *
01-26 Saratoga Springs, NY - Falstaff's at Skidmore College *
01-27 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar *
01-28 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
01-29 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
01-30 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *

* with Starter Set featuring Leg & Pants Dans Theeatre, Martha Coburn, Le Ton Mite, L'ocelle Mare

Ok, what's with that bunch of gibberish after the asterisk? Since Deerhoof have never been known to do things conventionally, the tour will feature opening performances by members of the arts collective known as the Starter Set, who have a DVD coming out on Kill Rock Stars on January 24. Helmed by Katie Eastburn, who you might recognize as the frontwoman for recent Too Pure signees Young People, the Starter Set is devoted to creating "new dance and music for the camera", and counts dancers, video artists, and musicians among its ranks, including members of Vaz, Liars, and Mount Sims.

Eastburn's Leg & Pants Dans Theeatre (yes that is spelled correctly) will share the stage with Deerhoof, as will screenings of films by Martha Colburn, the woman responsible for Deerhoof's latest video, "Wrong Time Capsule". Le Ton Mite and L'ocelle Mare (ex-Cheval De Frise guitarist Thomas Bonvalet) will balance it all out with some straightforwardly presented music. We think.

Later this month, Deerhoof will release the vinyl version of The Runners Four in a nifty gatefold double LP package on their own label, Children of Hoof. It will feature "similar but different" artwork. We're guessing new artifacts from the Runners Four' exploits in espionage.

Finally, Deerhoof might even have some hardware to put up on the mantel alongside those knit animals soon, as the annual PLUG Independent Music Awards have nominated The Runners Four for Indie Rock Album of the Year. So if you want to show your love for da Hoof (or your hate for Sufjan Stevens), get to voting at the PLUG website.