Exclusive: The Hold Steady Sign to Vagrant

Pitchfork has learned that our favorite Springsteen-quotin', moustache-rockin', Catholic-guiltin' bar band, the Hold Steady, has made the move from NYC spazz-core powerhouse French Kiss Records to California emo-core powerhouse Vagrant Records.

Is it only a matter of time before "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" hoodies show up in Hot Topic?

The deal puts the Hold Steady in the company of such mall-punk faves as Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, Senses Fail, and Alkaline Trio, as well as more straight-up alt-rock fare like Eels and recent signees the Comas. Former Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg has also put out a few records on Vagrant...ahh, it makes sense now, doesn't it?

In a press release, Hold Steady singer/songwriter Craig Finn said the following: "The Hold Steady is thrilled to be working with the talented people at Vagrant Records. We feel that Vagrant will allow us to bring our music to even more people, while also understanding the things that make the band special to the Hold Steady fans, and to the band members themselves."

The band plans to head into the studio in May, with a fall release date targeted for the follow-up to last year's triumphant Separation Sunday. According to the Hold Steady website, they have been playing a few new songs live: "Stuck Between Stations", "Same Kooks", "Hot Soft Light", and "Massive Nights".

As of right now, the only scheduled Hold Steady show will take place in their hometown of Brooklyn on April 7 at Warsaw. Next stop: the Warped Tour? Hey, it could happen.

The Hold Steady: http://www.theholdsteady.com/
French Kiss: http://www.frenchkissrecords.com/
Vagrant: http://www.vagrant.com/

Beastie Boys to Screen Fan-Made Concert Film

Indeed, we're all curious to see what you've come up with, and we'll get that chance on March 23, when Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! hits select theatres.

As previously reported, Awesome compiles concert footage from the Beasties' sold-out October 9, 2004 mega-concert at Madison Square Garden, a played-out enough premise were it not for the fact that this footage was fuckin' shot for the fans, by the fans. That's right, Mike D, Adrock, and MCA handed out 50 camcorders to their acolytes, nixed 90% of the resulting footage because it was all cleavage shots (probably), and then put the remainder in a blender named Nathanial Hornblower.

Hornblower (whose real name is MCA, whose real name is Adam Yauch) also directed a short starring comedian David Cross entitled A Day in the Life of Nathanial Hornblower. This piece will premiere alongside Awesome on March 23, when the fan-concert-concept-doc pre-screens in nearly 200 movie palaces across the nation.

People who like the Beastie Boys are palpably excited: "This is truly the last word on concert movies," remarked one fan. "When a band lets you be a part of the operation, it's kinda like a dream come true for a music lover like myself," exclaimed another. These are actual quotes from a press release that we are not making up.

Body-movers present at the pre-screenings-- as well as those who catch Awesome after its official March 31 release-- will be treated to the following sure shots:

01 MMM Intro
02 Triple Trouble
03 Sure Shot
04 Root Down
05 Hello Brookyn
06 Time to Get Ill
07 All Lifestyles
08 Pass the Mic
09 Shake Your Rump
10 MMM Interlude
11 Sabrosa
12 Ricky's Theme
13 Something's Got to Give
14 Open Letter to NYC
15 Right Right Now Now
16 Paul Revere
17 Body Movin'
18 Three MC's and One DJ
19 Brass Monkey
20 So What'cha Want
21 Ch-Check It Out
22 Intergalactic
23 Gratitude
24 Sabotage

Beastie Boys: http://www.beastieboys.com/
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!: http://www.awesomeishotthat.com

The Charlatans UK Prepare Ninth Album

Arriving in UK stores on April 17 and May 2 in the States, the disc marks their first release under a new deal with Sanctuary Records. It's also the first Charlatans LP to come out in America since 2001's Wonderland

Unlike the back-to-basics approach of their previous LP, 2004's Up at the Lake (which is still unreleased in the U.S.), Simpatico. showcases the Charlatans trying on different moods and styles. As a recent label press release kindly explained:

"No longer using his falsetto, Tim continues to find the sweet spot where Dylan-inspired diatribes meet unstoppably contagious melodies-- both obsess him. These days he happens to also be obsessed with reggae. First heard on Burgess' excellent and overlooked solo record from last year (on which he covered Bob Marley's "Who the Cap Fits"), Simpatico. boasts a number of great blue-eyed reggae tunes, all of them wonderfully upbeat and hummable."

Hey, why the fuck not? It worked for UB40.

Fans wanting a preview of the disc before blowing their weed money can get a taste of the new record when the debut single (and leadoff track) "Blackened Blue Eyes" hits UK stores as a two-part CD single on April 3.

Simpatico. tracklist:

01 Blackened Blue Eyes
02 N.Y.C (No Need to Stop)
03 For Your Entertainment
04 Dead Man's Eye
05 Muddy Ground
06 City of the Dead
07 Road to Paradise
08 When the Lights Go Out in London
09 The Architect
10 Glory Glory
11 Sunset & Vine

The Charlatans also recently announced a number of live dates, including a healthy stack of late-summer festival stops. They'll play a couple of SXSW shows this week, then take a month off before triumphantly crisscrossing their homeland.

Tellin' stories:

03-18 Austin, TX - Velvet Spade (NY2LON day party) *@
03-18 Austin, TX - Exodus (XFM Manchester SXSW showcase) #
04-24 Wolverhampton, England - Civic Hall $
04-25 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands $
04-26 Edinburgh, Scotland - Corn Exchange $
04-27 Newcastle, England - Carling Academy $
04-29 Sheffield, England - Octagon $
04-30 Liverpool, England - Liverpool University $
05-01 Nottingham, England - Rock City $
05-02 Leeds, England - Leeds University $
05-04 Folkestone, England - Leas Cliff Hall $
05-05 London, England - Carling Brixton Academy $
05-07 Bristol, England - Carling Bristol Academy $
05-08 Exeter, England - Exeter University $
05-09 Southampton, England - Guildhall $
05-11 Norwich, England - University of East Anglia $
05-12 Manchester, England - Carling Apollo Manchester $
05-13 Manchester, England - Carling Apollo Manchester $
07-08 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park *$%
07-09 Kildare, Ireland - Oxegen Festival *%
08-12 Tokyo, Japan - Summer Sonic Festival *$&
08-19 Staffordshire, England - Weston Park (V Festival) +

* with the Kooks
@ with Editors, Two Gallants, the Rakes, the Morning After Girls, Voxtrot, Tapes 'n Tapes, Boy Kill Boy, the Heights
# with Polytechnic, LoneLady, Liam Frost, the Longcut, Nine Black Alps
$ with the Feeling
% with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Paul Weller, Goldfrapp, Pharrell Williams, Sigur Ros, Manu Chao, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Placebo, Damian Marley, Ben Harper
& with My Chemical Romance, Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Metallica, Linkin Park, Flaming lips, Arctic Monkeys, more
+ with Morrissey, Faithless, Paul Weller, Hard-Fi, Sugababes, Razorlight, Groove Armada

The Charlatans: http://www.thecharlatans.net/

Blackalicious Tour North America

The education begins at the eMusic SXSW showcase tomorrow night, where they'll share the stage with homies Spoon and Echo and the Bunnymen. From there, the workshop in how hip-hop should be done will be conducted all across the U.S. (except Chicago!??!!) as well as at a few choice stops Canada (because they obviously majored in indie rock, but neglected their coursework in beats and flow).

Joining Blackalicious on most dates will be fellow left-coasters Lifesavas, Fatlip, and Pigeon John.

Craft work:

03-14 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room *
03-16 Austin, TX - Town Lake Stage at Auditorium Shores (eMusic SXSW showcase) #
03-16 Austin, TX - Blue Genie Art Industries * (no Fatlip)
03-17 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues *
03-18 Nashville, TN - City Hall *
03-21 Bloomington, IN - Bluebird Nightclub *
03-22 Lansing, MI - Temple Club *
03-25 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls Theater *
03-27 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall *
03-28 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House *
03-29 Ottawa, Ontario - Capital Music Hall *
03-31 Buffalo, NY - Icon *
04-01 New York, NY - B.B. King's Blues Club *
04-02 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground Ballroom *
04-04 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club *
04-06 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place *
04-09 Philadelphia, PA - TLA *
04-11 Washington DC - 9:30 Club *
04-12 Winston Salem, NC - Ziggy's *
04-13 Columbia, SC - Russell House Ballroom *
04-14 Atlanta, GA - Roxy *
04-15 Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theatre *
04-16 Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre *
04-20 Seattle, WA - Showbox *
04-21 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom *
04-22 Whistler, British Columbia - Blackcomb Mountain
04-23 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater *
04-24 Berkeley, CA - Pauley Ballroom *
04-29 Medford, MA - President's Lawn @ Tufts University
05-01 Santa Barbara, CA - The Hub at UC Santa Barbara

* with Lifesavas, Pigeon John, Fatlip
# with Mr. Lif, Spoon, Echo and the Bunnymen (wow!)

Blackalicious: http://www.blackalicious.com/
Quannum Projects: http://www.quannum.com/
Anti-: http://www.anti.com/

Magneta Lane Play Shows, Start Beef

"They blow balls," declared Magneta Lane frontwoman Lexi Valentine, going on to accuse the L.A. band of only getting a record deal because their fathers work in the music industry. "Who do they think they are, Magneta Lane? We were here first. There's only room for one."

Now that's the kind of drama the indie world needs. We hope this beef is properly nurtured until it rivals 50 and the Game, or at least harkens back to the glory days of Axl Rose vs. Vince Neil.

Both Magneta Lane and the Like will play SXSW, so watch out for catfights on 6th Street.

Magneta Lane will actually be quite hard to miss in Austin this week, as they're performing no less than six times in four days. If you don't see them, you better be trapped under a longhorn or snared by an armadillo.

The girls are hitting the streets to support Dancing with Daggers, their MSTRKRT-produced debut album on Paper Bag Records. It's already out in Canada but doesn't drop here in the States until April 4.

Come for the music, stay for the shit-talking:

03-15 Austin, TX - Emo's Annex (IODA SXSW day party) *#
03-15 Austin, TX - Brush Square Park (Canadian Blast BBQ)
03-16 Austin, TX - Emo's Jr. (Tag Team/Under the Radar SXSW day party) %*
03-17 Austin, TX - Brush Square Park (Feldman's day party)
03-18 Austin, TX - Red's Scoot Inn (Eastside Scootenanny) &*
03-18 Austin, TX - Buffalo Billiards (SXSW) $
03-22 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - Hunter's AleHouse @
03-22 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - The Guild
03-23 Halifax, Nova Scotia - The Attic @
03-23 Halifax, Nova Scotia - The Pavilion @
03-24 Fredericton, New Brunswick - Bugaboo Creek Pub @
04-02 Waterloo, Ontario - Starlight @
04-03 Windsor, Ontario - Chubby Pickle @
04-04 Barrie, Ontario - The Foundation @
04-06 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern
04-07 Kingston, Ontario - Grad Club @
04-08 Ottawa, Ottawa - Zaphods @
04-12 Hamilton, Ontario - The Underground @
04-14 Sudbury, Ontario - The Townehouse
04-15 Sault St. Marie, Ontario - Downbeat
04-20 Vancouver, British Columbia - Lamplighter ^
04-21 Victoria, British Columbia - Lucky ^
04-22 Tofino, British Columbia - Tofino Legion ^
04-23 Whistler, British Columbia - Boot ^
04-25 Kelowna, British Columbia - TBA ^
04-26 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlite ^
04-27 Calgary, Alberta - Broken City ^
04-28 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Louis Pub ^
04-29 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Collective Cabaret ^
05-01 Thunder Bay, Ontario - Kilroy's

* with Dengue Fever
# with the Herms, the Mutts, Oranger, the Slip, Heavyweight Dub Champion with Dr. Israel and AWOL One
% with Serena Maneesh, the Most Serene Republic, Dengue Fever, Field Music, the Beautiful Newborn Children
& with the Capitol Years, Til We're Blue or Destroy, Shearwater, Man Man, the Burning Brides, Modern Skirts, Casting Couch, Phosphorescent, Dengue Fever
$ with South Filthy, Crimson Sweet, the Deathray Davies, the Twenty Twos, Drug Free Disco Family
@ with Tokyo Police Club
^ with Small Sins

Paper Bag Records: http://www.paperbagrecords.com/com

The Essex Green Return to the Sea

The next dose o' soft pop goodness from the trio of Jeff Baron, Sasha Bell, and Chris Ziter will come next Tuesday, March 21, when Merge will release the third Essex Green album, Cannibal Sea. If you pre-order it from the Merge website, they'll throw in a free Essex Green poster and luggage tag!

Cannibal hear:

01 This Isn't Farm Life
02 Don't Know Why (You Stay)
03 Penny & Jack
04 Snakes in the Grass
05 Rue de Lis
06 Cardinal Points
07 Rabbit
08 Uniform
09 Pride, The
10 Sin City
11 Elsinore
12 Slope Song

After a cold winter's rest the band will jump on the touring treadmill this week, with a record-release show tonight in Brooklyn followed by a trio of SXSW appearances. Then they'll head to Europe to revel with the Shout Out Louds, before returning to America for a few dates in late April and early May. A full North American tour is in the works.

Cannibal see:

03-15 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw *
03-17 Austin, TX - Pok-E-Joe's (Merge/Sub Pop SXSW day party) @$
03-18 Austin, TX - Levi's/Fader Trading Post
03-18 Austin, TX - Antone's (Merge SXSW showcase) @#
04-05 Bremen, Germany - Lagerhaus +
04-06 Hannover, Germany - Musikzentrum +
04-07 Erlangen, Germany - E-Werk +
04-08 Heidelberg, Germany - Karlstorbahnhof +
04-09 Cologne, Germany - Kulturbunker Mulheim +%
04-10 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22 +
04-12 London, England - 93 Ft East +
04-28 Chicago, IL - Subterranean &
04-29 St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
05-03 Portland, OR - Towne Lounge ^
05-04 Redding, CA - The Dip ^

* with Isobel Campbell
@ with Camera Obscura, Robert Pollard
$ with the Brunettes, Kelly Stoltz, Eugene Mirman, Band of Horses, Britt Daniel, Patton Oswalt
# with White Whale, Annie Hayden, Superchunk
+ with Shout Out Louds
% with the Art of Fighting
& with Tapes 'n Tapes, Brighton MA
^ with Irving

The Essex Green: http://www.essexgreen.com/
Merge: http://www.mergerecords.com/

Lovers Share Sleep With Heat

Berk trades on the patching of hearts broken, armed with a guitar, twilight-haze production, and the most devastating vocal quaver this side of Conor Oberst. But! Oberst detractors are beseeched to read on, for Lovers forego all pretension in favor of weaving heartfelt tales of romance and woe. Tales which, in this irony-marred age, are most duly welcome.

Sleep With Heat features ten original compositions and feels, according to Berk, "more mature" than the previous Lovers albums: 2002's melancholy Star Lit Sunken Ship and 2004's slightly-less-melancholy The Gutter and the Garden. As with those discs, Sleep will drop via Athens' Orange Twin imprint. Keep a hankie handy:

01 Perpetual Motion, Perpetual Sound
02 Frozen Floods
03 Saint Jude
04 From A Highway
05 Dead Deer
06 The Lucky Ones Who Love You
07 My Heart Never Sleeps
08 The Sirens Sing
09 An Army Of Lovers Cannot Fail
10 Take Good Care

The curious and the fond may experience two of Sleep With Heat's numbers in their glorious entireties at Lovers' cozy MySpace corner. Learn all the words and then join Lovers as they swoop down to SXSW and then promenade across the U.S. this month.

Lovers is for lovers:

03-17 Austin, TX - Monkey Wrench Books
03-18 Austin, TX - The Hideout (Orange Twin SXSW showcase) *
03-21 Oklahoma City, OK - The Conservatory #
03-22 Columbia, MO - Mojo's
03-23 Ames, IA - The Practice Space %
03-24 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews $
03-25 Minneapolis, MN - TBA
03-27 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
03-28 Chicago, IL - Corduroy's Espresso Spot
03-29 Bloomington, IN - Baby Seal Club
03-30 Akron, OH - Square Records
03-31 Pittsburgh, PA - Modern Formations
04-01 Charlottesville, VA - The Tea Bazaar
04-02 Chapel Hill, NC - Nightlight
04-03 Columbia, SC - The Art Garage ^
04-07 Philadelphia, PA - TBA
04-08 New York, NY - Pianos &
08-03 Olympia, WA - Capitol Theater (Homo a Go Go)

* with Elf Power, Great Lakes, Jeff, Instruments, Gerbils, Geoff Reacher
# with Low Skies, Skies Fallen, Claire de Lune
% with Arise, Devilfish (aka Running Sore), Imaginary Enemies
$ with Organ Donor, Tom Brousseau, Some by Sea
^ with Work Clothes, Falling Off a Building, Josh McCormack & with the Feverfew

What's more, Berk tells us she is presently at work on a "secret, home-spun foil" to the "occasionally slicker production" of Sleep With Heat: look out, kids, it's a "sexy dance band project"! Also in the works are a book of poems and a screenplay. We hope those are sexy too.

And finally, Lovers just contributed the track "Honea" to the forthcoming Kill Rock Stars compilation The Sound the Hare Heard. My heart never sleeps, indeed!

* Orange Twin: http://www.orangetwin.com/

Lovers: http://www.loverstheband.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.)