Pitchfork: News - January 6, 2006

8 Recent Items

Exclusive: Tortoise Compile Rarities Box Set

2006 is only six days old, and already it's shaping up to be a big year for Chi-town post-whatever godfathers Tortoise. First, on January 24, Overcoat Recordings will release the long-awaited Tortoise/Will Oldham collaborative covers collection, The Brave and the Bold. But you knew all about that already.

The big news is that on April 11, Thrill Jockey will unleash the Tortoise rarities box set Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters. Centered around the 1995 tour-only, out of print album of the same name, Rhythms collects a plateful of singles, compilation tracks, remixes, and bonus cuts. The three-disc set will also contain a DVD, the contents of which have yet to be finalized. We�ve got the tracklist for the audio portion, but the sequence has yet to be finalized.

Box turtles:

Gamera (1995 Duophonic single)
The Source of Uncertainty (1996 Headz 2 compilation)
Blackbird (2001 Standards Japanese bonus track)
Sexual for Elizabeth (2001 Five Deez remix)
To Day Retrieval (1998 Autechre remix)
Whitewater (1995 Soul Static Sound single)
Didjeridoo (2001 Red Hot + Indigo compilation)
Autumn Sweater (1997 Yo La Tengo remix)
Wait (1996 Offbeat: A Red Hot Sound Trip compilation)
Jetty '99 remix (1999 Chicago 2018: It's Gonna Come compilation)
Restless Waters (1996 The Lounge Ax Defense & Relocation Compact Disc compilation)
Vaus (1996 Duophonic split single with Stereolab)
Blue Station (2001 Standards Japanese bonus track)
Madison Area (1998 Thrill Jockey tour single)
Why We Fight (1995 Soul Static Sound single)
Elmerson, Lincoln, and Palmieri (2004 It's All Around You Japanese bonus track)
A Grape Dope (1996 Millions Now Living Will Never Die Japanese Bonus Track)
Peering (2001 Gently Cupping the Chin of the Ape Thrill Jockey tour single)
Goriri (1996 Millions Now Living Will Never Die Japanese bonus Track)
As You Said (1995 A Means to An End Joy Division tribute compilation)
CTA (2002 Urban Renewal Program compilation)
Deltitnu (2004 It's All Around You Japanese bonus track)
Adverse Camber (1998 Autechre remix)
Cliff Dweller Society (1995 Duophonic single)
Waihopai (2001 Gently Cupping the Chin of the Ape tour single)
TNT Nobukazu Takemura remix (1998 TNT Japanese bonus track)
Alcohall (Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters)
Your New Rod (Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters)
Cobwebbed (Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters)
The Match Incident (Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters)
Tin Cans Puerto Rican Remix (Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters)
Not Quite East of the Ryan (Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters)
Initial Gesture Protraction (Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters)
Cornpone Brunch Mike Watt remix (previously unreleased)

Tortoise: http://www.trts.com/site.html

Posted by Kati Llewellyn and Amy Phillips in on Fri: 01-06-06: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Arctic Monkeys Announce North American Tour

Arctic Monkeys: the next Franz Ferdinand or the next Menswe@r? (Poor Menswe@r. Always the butt of these kinds of jokes.) The States will get the chance to make that call in just a couple months, as the unbelievably hyped Brit sensations have announced their first North American tour.

The two-week adventure is in support of the Arctics' forthcoming debut album, the stupidly-titled Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, which is due out in America on February 21 courtesy of the lovely folks at Domino Records. The LP's British release date was recently moved up a week from January 30 to January 23, to prevent the masses from rioting. As previously reported, Whatever will be preceded by the single for "When the Sun Goes Down", which will fly off shelves in the UK come January 16, and will probably go mostly unnoticed in the U.S. on January 24.

We bet they look good on the dancefloor:

01-23 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theatre *
01-24 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theatre *
01-25 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Ulster Hall *
01-27 Glasgow, Scotland - Academy *
01-28 Edinburgh, Scotland - Corn Exchange *
01-29 Newcastle, England - Academy *
01-31 Nottingham, England - Rock City *
02-01 Leeds, England - Leeds University
02-02 Liverpool, England - Liverpool University *
02-04 Manchester, England - Academy *
02-05 Manchester, England - Academy *
02-07 Sheffield, England - Octagon *
02-08 Birmingham, England - Academy *
02-09 Norwich, England - UEA *
02-11 Cardiff, Wales - Great Hall *
02-12 Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange *
02-13 Bristol, England - Academy *
02-15 Portsmouth, England - Guildhall *
02-16 Brighton, England - Dome *
02-17 London, England - Brixton Academy *
03-13 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
03-15 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
03-17 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa (Domino SXSW Showcase) #
03-18 Chicago, IL - The Metro
03-21 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre
03-22 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
03-23 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
03-25 New York, NY - Webster Hall
03-26 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
03-27 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
03-29 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Caf� <p> * ShockWaves NME Awards Tour with Max�mo Park, We Are Scientists, Mystery Jets
# with Test Icicles, The Beautiful New Born Children, Archie Bronson Outfit

Arctic Monkeys: http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/

Domino: http://www.dominorecordco.us/

Posted by Amy Phillips in on Fri: 01-06-06: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Futureheads at Work on Second Album

The city may be there for them to use, but the men behind Pitchfork's fifth favorite single of 2005, the Futureheads, spent five weeks in the North Yorkshire countryside late last year laying down tracks for their upcoming second album.

According to a recent post on their website, the band recorded fourteen songs with Blur/Doves/Depeche Mode producer Ben Hillier "on a farm near Scarborough", "taking advantage of the different spaces to achieve different sounds with their instruments...guitars in the greenhouse, and drums in the barn!" Didn't My Morning Jacket try something like that once?

The tracks are being mixed this month, with tentative titles including "Worry", "Thursday", "Yes/No", "Cope", "Fallout", and "Return of the Berserker". We hope that last one is a Clerks homage. Or at least a Kate Bush cover in disguise.

The Futureheads: http://www.thefutureheads.com/

679: http://www.679recordings.com/

Star Time International: http://www.startimeintl.com//

Posted by Tyler Grisham in on Fri: 01-06-06: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Stereolab Return With American Dates, More Singles

Le yper prolific Stereolab will return to western shores once again in March, bedazzling North American audiences with a month-long tour. Sure, they've been around for ages, and pretty much everything they've released in the past decade or so kinda sounds the same, but c'mon, it's Stereolab. They've gotta play something you'll want to hear from the gobs of full-length albums, oodles of singles and EPs, and dozens of collaborations and compilation tracks they've released during their lifespan.

Pack yr romantic minds:

03-01 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar
03-02 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
03-04 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
03-05 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
03-06 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
03-07 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
03-09 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
03-10 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
03-11 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
03-12 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
03-14 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre
03-15 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe
03-16 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street
03-17 New York City, NY - Town Hall
03-18 New York City, NY - Town Hall
03-20 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
03-21 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
03-22 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
03-24 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
03-25 Dallas, TX - TBA
03-28 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
03-29 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
04-10 Berlin, Germany - Volksbuhne
04-12 Paris, France - La Cigalle
04-14 London, England - Koko

And since Stereolab can't physically go more than a few months without releasing another immaculate record or three, the groop plans to put out three simultaneous new singles on March 7 via Too Pure (March 6 in the UK): "Whisper Pitch", "Excursions Into 'Oh, A-Oh'", and "Eye of the Volcano". Each will be available as a download, as well as on limited-edition exotic and kinky black 7" vinyl. Ooh:

"Whisper Pitch":

A Whisper Pitch
B Widow Wierdo

"Excursions Into 'Oh, A-Oh'":

A Excursions Into "Oh, A-Oh"
B "Get a Shot of the Refrigerator"

"Eye of the Volcano":

A Eye of the Volcano
B Vodiak

Yes, we know we spelled "weirdo" wrong. But so did the band.

Also on March 6/7, Too Pure will put out the compilation Fab Four Suture, which will collect all three new 7"s alongside the trio of singles Stereolab released last fall. It will be available via download, CD, and limited edition double 10".

Fab Four Suture:

01 Kyberneticka Babicka Pt.1
02 Interlock
03 Eye of the Volcano
04 Plastic Mile
05 "Get a Shot of the Refrigerator"
06 Visionary Road Maps
07 Vodiak
08 Whisper Pitch
09 Excursions Into "Oh, A-Oh"
10 I Was a Sunny Rainphase
11 Widow Wierdo
12 Kyberneticka Babicka Pt.2

The next "proper" Stereolab album is slated for release in 2007.

Stereolab: http://www.stereolab.co.uk/

Too Pure: http://www.toopure.com/

Posted by David Nadelle in on Fri: 01-06-06: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Of Montreal Plan Massive Tour, Remix Record

Arguably the hardest working Elephant 6 band out there (if not ever), Of Montreal apparently just can't get enough of the nomadic life. They've announced the whopping three-month "Nonsloth Music for Orto and Others Tour", kicking off in Hawaii next week, and covering forty-ish cities and towns from sea to shining sea (with a brief sojourn to Canada). The trek lasts so long, it will feature no less than four different opening lineups, ranging from the irreverent hip-hop of Grand Buffet and DJ Jester the Filipino Fist, to fellow Elephant Sixers the Late B.P. Helium and James Husband, to Midwest indie poppers the M's and Saturday Looks Good to Me.

No sloths allowed:

01-14 Honolulu, HI - Anna Bananas
01-15 Honolulu, HI - Thirtynine Hotel
01-20 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon *
01-21 Houston, TX - Numbers *
01-24 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress *
01-26 San Diego, CA - Epicentre *
01-27 Los Angeles, CA - Ex Plex (below the Echo) *
01-28 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
01-31 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
02-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
02-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
02-04 Los Angeles, CA - TBA
02-05 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse *
02-07 Dallas, TX - Granada *
02-08 Oklahoma City, OK - TBA
02-09 Austin, TX - Emo's *
02-11 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
02-15 Gainesville, FL - TBA #
02-16 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder #
02-17 Orlando, FL - The Social #
02-18 Miami, FL - PAC #
02-19 Jacksonville, FL - Jackrabbit's #
02-22 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Music Hall
02-23 Nashville, TN - The End
02-24 St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle
02-25 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note (True False Film Festival)
02-26 Newport, KY - Southgate House
02-28 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle %
03-01 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite %
03-02 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom %
03-03 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom %
03-04 Portland, ME - Space Gallery %
03-05 Cambridge, MA - Middle East %
03-06 Hanover, NH - Fuel Rocket Club %
03-07 Montreal, Quebec - Le Tulipe
03-08 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
03-09 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
03-10 Chicago, IL - The Metro
03-11 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club ^
03-12 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground ^
03-13 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck ^

* with Grand Buffet, MGMT, DJ Jester the Filipino Fist
# with the Late B.P. Helium, James Husband
% with the M's
^ with Saturday Looks Good to Me

As if all that weren't enough, Of Montreal also have several recording projects on the horizon. According to OM main man Kevin Barnes, writing to Pitchfork via email, the band has been working on demos for their next LP, so far titled Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, and will be playing several new songs during the jaunt.

A limited edition EP will be for sale at the show. It will include the minty fresh tunes "Psychotic Feeling" and "More Noir Blues and Tinnitus" as well as "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" from the 2005 Of Montreal album The Sunlandic Twins and "Disconnect The Dots" from 2004's Satanic Panic in the Attic.

Fans swarming the merch table will also have the chance to pick up the band's latest 7", released by Suicide Squeeze Records, which features the new track "Voltaic Crusher/Undrum To Muted Da" with "Mute Noir Blues" on the b-side. Another Of Montreal 7", scheduled to be released on the New Orleans-turned-Pennsylvania-based Park the Van Records last fall, but postponed due to Hurricane Katrina-induced label turmoil, is forthcoming.

Finally, a remix album of tracks from Sunlandic and Satanic Panic is in the works, with !!!, Supersystem, Broken Spindles, Grizzly Bear, IQU, Mixel Pixel, Trash UK, DJ Dave Pianka (aka Making Time/Fixed dude Dave P), and I Am the World Trade Center all on board for knob-twiddlin'. Party!

* Pitchfork Review: Of Montreal: The Sunlandic Twins

Of Montreal: http://www.ofmontreal.net/

Polyvinyl: http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/

Posted by Zach Vowell and Amy Phillips in on Fri: 01-06-06: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Devo + Kid Vocalists = Devo 2.0

In the corniest move this side of Kidz Bop, legendary new wave subversives Devo have re-recorded several of their classic tunes with a most unlikely band of vocalists: five youngsters. This is according to Billboard.com, but we assume they aren't joking.

Collected on a disc branded Devo 2.0, this fresh batch of kid-friendly fare will see release March 17 via Disney Sound, the jolly folks who brought us They Might Be Giants' Here Come the ABCs. And as with anything involving children and pop music, Devo 2.0 will either be beautiful, heinous, or effing kitsch-tastic.

Devo-tees take note: Devo 2.0 also features two brand new tracks from the Energy Dome-donning act, "Cyclops" and "The Winner". In addition, this foray into the 21st century boasts a companion DVD, full of animated and live-action videos for each track directed by Devo bassist Jerry Casale.

And as part of their ongoing war with Il Divo for the hearts of earth's citizens, Devo have a handful of tour dates lined up, or really one tour date thrice repeated. Whip it good:

01-13 Agoura Hills, CA - Canyon Club
01-14 Agoura Hills, CA - Canyon Club
01-15 Agoura Hills, CA - Canyon Club

Finally, if kids really aren't your thing, why not sample Jihad Jerry & The Evildoers, the goofy side project of Devo's Jerry Casale? Like every hepcat, fraternity brother, historical figure, and pet these days, they have a MySpace page.

* Jihad Jerry & The Evildoers www.myspace.com/jihadjerryandtheevildoers
* Kooky Photos of Devo 2.0

Devo: http://www.clubdevo.com/

Posted by Matthew Solarski in on Fri: 01-06-06: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

An Albatross Ready Blessphemy, Tour U.S., Europe

It's official: the forthcoming album from Philly spazz addicts An Albatross will be the trippiest record in the history of the world. Due out in the spring on Ace Fu Records (GSL will handle the vinyl), it bears the moniker Blessphemy (of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear-Warp Kumite). Beat that, Acid Mothers Temple! Bow down, Devendra! And could a generation of jam bands ever come up with anything approximating the following song titles? No fucking way:

01 In the Court of the Bear King
02 Lysergically Yours, My Psychedelic Bride
03 Dimensional Gymnastics
04 Trust the Sun, the Symphonic Sunrise
05 Divine Birthrite (Maiden Voyage of the Grape Ape)
The Trilogy:
06 I.) Behold the Light
07 II.) Profane Illumination
08 III.) The Illumination of the Nation
09 Tussin and Turnin' All Night
10 Hairobics
11 The Ballad of the Electric Coyote
12 I Will Swim Into the Lazer Eye
13 Feastgiver
14 Cosmic Gypsy
15 Sacred Geometry
16 Death Rides a Brown Horse
17 Stormbringer
18 The Eyes of the Jaguar

The album may or may not be longer than 11 minutes.

In the meantime, let's all tune in, turn on, drop out, and make our ways to the following cities to await the arrival of the peace-beast:

01-07 Montclair, NJ - Bloomfield Ave. Caf� <br> 01-08 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
01-09 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
01-10 Richmond, VA - Nanci Raygun
01-11 Charlotte, NC - Tremont Music Hall
01-12 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
01-13 Orlando, FL - Will's Pub
01-14 Tampa, FL - Infinity Room at Masquerade
01-15 Jacksonville, FL - The Pit
01-16 Nashville, TN - The End
01-17 St. Louis, MO - Creepy Crawl
01-18 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
01-19 Detroit, MI - The Shelter
01-20 Buffalo, NY - Kitchen Distribution
01-21 Shamokin, PA - The Capitol Venue
01-22 New Britain, CT - Trinity on Main
01-23 Altoona, PA - Classic Attitudes
02-01 Amsterdam, Holland - The Winston Club
02-02 Berlin, Germany - Kastanie
02-03 Bischofswerd, Germany - East Club
02-04 Esslingen, Germany - Komma
02-05 Prague, Czech Republic - Club 007
02-06 Vienna, Austria - Chelsea
02-07 W�rzburg, Germany - Caf� Cairo
02-08 Trier, Germany - Ex-Haus
02-09 Gent, Belgium - Gallery Hoet-Bekaert
02-10 Nottingham, England - Liars Club @ Social
02-11 Coventry, England - Jailhouse
02-12 Bristol, England - The Louisiana
02-13 Exeter, England - The Cavern
02-14 Lille, France - Malterie
02-15 Paris, France - Point Ephemere
02-16 Strasbourg, France - Zanzibar
02-17 Toulouse, France - Vents Du Sud
02-18 Barcelona, Spain - Bee Good
02-19 Bordeaux, France - Heretic
02-20 Montpellier, France - La Baloard
02-21 Geneva, Switzerland - LeKab
02-22 Lyon, France - Grnd Zero
02-23 Bologna, Italy - Ex Mercato
02-24 Mailand, Italy - Leoncavallo
02-25 Dornbirn, Austria - Caf� Schlachthaus
02-26 Darmstadt, Germany - Oetinger Villa
02-27 M�lheim, Germany - AZ
02-28 Hamburg, Germany - Hafenklang
03-01 Rotterdam, Netherlands - The Worm
03-02 Brussels, Belgium - Recyclart

An Albatross: http://www.analbatross.com/

Ace Fu: http://www.acefu.com/

GSL: http://www.goldstandardlabs.com/

Posted by David Nadelle in on Fri: 01-06-06: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness Ready Debut LP

What's in a name? Seven flipping words, if you're Austin's I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. That's a word for every song the band has released thus far in their young but promising career. Until now! Watch the word-to-song ratio shift dramatically in favor of the latter come March 7, when Secretly Canadian drops the Darkness, er, the Chosen Darkness debut Fear Is on Our Side.

Fear Is on Our Side features twelve moody tracks and was produced by Paul Barker, who also twiddled knobs for Ministry and Lard, for those keeping score. Ooh, dark. Fear follows up ILYBICD's Britt Daniel-recorded self-titled debut EP and a 12" single on Artikal Records.

So sorry Padme, that's just the way it goes. Your consolation:

01 The Ghost
02 According to Plan
03 Lights
04 The Owl
05 Today
06 We Choose Faces
07 Last Ride Together
08 At Last Is All
09 Long Walk
10 -
11 Fear Is on Our Side
12 If It Was Me

Here's hoping "-" proves the showstopper, thereby befuddling hipper-than-thou college radio DJs who just figured out how to verbalize M83's "*". And yes, the band has a tour in the works, but as of right now, only two dates have been confirmed for actual venues.

Succumb to the Dark Side:

02-02 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa *
03-22 Dallas, TX - TBA
03-23 Lawrence, KS - TBA
03-24 Minneapolis, MN - TBA
03-25 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03-28 Philadelphia, PA - TBA
03-29 Cambridge, MA - TBA
03-30 New York, NY - TBA
03-31 Brooklyn, NY - TBA
04-01 Richmond, VA - TBA
04-02 Chapel Hill, NC - TBA

* with Spoon

* I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness: <a

Posted by Matthew Solarski in on Fri: 01-06-06: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

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