Ben Gibbard Covers "World's Worst Song" at Benefit

The night's all-acoustic sets got off to an awkward start with the third-rate Belle and Sebastian stylings of locals the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, whose near-complete lack of energy made the arrival of short story writer ZZ Packer more than welcome.

Following Packer was John Roderick. One of the most engaging performers of the night, Roderick's four-song set proved too short. The man kept his banter between songs sharp and endearing, which was even more impressive considering that he had just arrived at the venue moments before he appeared on stage.

After a short intermission came the real highlights of the night. Host Ira Glass delivered a piece fit for his "This American Life" radio show about a former truck driver who learned to read at the age of 45. Then came Eggers, who read excerpts from his forthcoming fictionalized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese "lost boy" who sat next to Eggers and answered sporadic questions from him as part of a live reading/interview format the pair had never attempted before. Glass later praised their natural, genuinely funny, and even heartwarming interplay, though he also admitted some of his rapture may have been alcohol-induced.

Ben Gibbard closed out the night, but not before comedian/musician Fred Armisen made a surprise appearance as the Death Cab for Cutie frontman himself. Armisen's intentional false starts included lines like, "This song is about how much I hate the Death Cab fans. They're so overweight and...shitty," and, "Chicago's a really great town for pussy for me." Gibbard then appeared to applause and quickly sucked out the feeling with a mix of Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie songs. While on piano, he accurately remarked that with his long hair and sideburns he was starting to resemble Stephen Stills, before playing covers of Teenage Fanclub's "Slow Fade" (a "newer song" by "my favorite band ever") and the Band's "It Makes No Difference", which his thin, breathy tenor made particularly painful.

At the end of the evening, Glass announced that the money the audience had donated during the show had just surpassed the $5,000 goal. The audience's reward? Gibbard and Roderick returned to the stage with Scotland Yard's Elia Einhorn to play "the worst song in the world and a Neil Diamond song" (à la the David Byrne/Sufjan collaboration in New York the night before). Gibbard informed us that both titles belonged to the same song, and then the trio launched into a cover of Neil Diamond's "Porcupine Pie". It was a fittingly absurd end to a benefit for a children's creative writing center.

Jose Gonzalez Tours With Zero 7 and Beyond

Argentine-Swede "Heartbeats" hijacker José González, who hit paydirt when his Knife cover landed in a Sony Bravia commercial, will melt hearts on North American shores as he kicks off his tour tomorrow with chilled out British duo Zero 7. The Gonz will open all dates, as well as perform with the headliner. Expect to hear any or all of the four songs González lends his vocals to on Zero 7's recent third LP, The Garden, including single "Futures". Also onboard to perform with Z7: frequent collaborator Sia, whose Colour the Small One finally arrived stateside early this year.

González, who is also-- by some accent mark-related computer glitch-- presently blowing up the Pitchfork "Most Read" charts, has a slew of post-Zero 7 solo dates, starting with a slot at the massive Austin City Limits festival, and including a gig at an "Enchanted Broccoli Forest". Yeaaah. He'll also appear alongside Z7 on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Monday, August 28, performing "Futures". [MORE...]

Stream: José González: Crosses
Stream: Zero 7: Futures [ft. José González]

TV on the Radio Explain Themselves Again

Yesterday, we featured a stream of TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe explaining what the hell is going on in that video with the little kid playing the President and graffiti-ing TVOTR's logo on city streets. Now, here he is explaing what the hell is going on in that video with the little kid playing the President and firing everybody.

Stream: TV on the Radio: Explain "Breakdown City"

MP3: Portishead Debut Previously Unheard Tracks

Now, having broken their studio silence earlier this year with a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Requiem for Anna" on an album tribute to the late lascivious Frenchman, Portishead seem fully prepared to re-embrace the limelight: Their newly created MySpace page offers two previously unheard instrumental tracks, providing fans with the first original Portishead compositions since the band's 1998 self-titled sophomore album.

Portishead's Geoff Barrow is quick to state that the material is not exactly "new," calling the tracks "doodles from about 3 years ago." Nonetheless, at this point their fans seem hungry for any material not yet heard from the band, and these new tracks-- one of which, "Key Bored 299 03", is being offered for free download-- should tide them over for at least a minute.

As for the status of the forthcoming as-yet-untitled third studio album, Barrow states, "We are in the studio with tunes done but it's unlikley that we will post any new stuff just yet. We are working everyday to finish it."

MP3: Portishead: Key Bored 299 03

Infinite Mixtape #35: Califone: "The Orchids"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

#0035 > Califone: "The Orchids"
[from Roots & Crowns; Thrill Jockey]
Info: [Califone] | [MySpace] | [Thrill Jockey]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:

#0034: Beach House: "Apple Orchard"
#0033: The Thermals: "A Pillar of Salt"
#0032: Grizzly Bear: "Lullabye"
#0031: Swan Lake: "All Fires"
#0030: Killer Mike: "That's Life"
#0029: Ratatat: "Lex"
#0028: Sally Shapiro: "I'll Be by Your Side"

Junior Boys Kick Off Tour

So this is a tour. Junior Boys, whose So This Is Goodbye we kind of like (and which comes out September 12 on Domino Records), begin their previously reported tour tonight in Montreal with Cat Power/Lou Barlow collaborator Ensemble (aka Olivier Alary). The latter's self-titled debut comes out September 19 on FatCat.

After finishing the tour's North American leg at Chicago's Empty Bottle on October 8, the Boys will head over to the UK for some shows with Hot Chip. Electro-pop-o-riffic! [MORE...]

MP3: Junior Boys: In the Morning

Daft Punk, Duran Duran Head Bang! Festival

Festival season is in full effect right now, but one recently announced event just picked up the golden ticket more commonly known as Daft Punk. The Parisian duo will join newly added acts Duran Duran, Common, Tiësto, Thievery Corporation, the previously announced Modest Mouse, Gnarls Barkley, and more for the annual Bang! Music Festival in Miami, Florida.

We hope they bring the pyramid, but even more than that, we hope this blossoms into a full tour.

The day-long party is scheduled to go down on Saturday, November 11 at the city's Bicentennial Park. A full lineup is still in the works. [MORE...]

Xiu Xiu Talk Myriad Projects, Share Exclusive Video
Run marathon, write novel, cure cancer, start investment firm...

So last week we scooped you on the latest news from camp Xiu, including new albums, new videos, new tour dates, and about 62 side projects and collaborations. For a fun and enumerated list, consult said scoop here.

All caught up? Good, 'cause your Xiu-lovin' pals at Pitchfork have just talked to Jamie Stewart, who was kind enough to share a little more information about the forthcoming Xiu Xiu remixes/covers disc, new band member Ches Smith, the lasting effects of horror movies, and more.

But first! Check out the video for "Bishop, CA", one of four vids from Xiu Xiu's forthcoming The Air Force (due September 12 via 5RC). Directed by XX tour manager David Horvitz, the clip features, according to Jamie, "Super 8 [film footage] that [Horvitz] shot when he was in Israel recently, and Super 8 footage of his family that he found in a box in the closet." The results are appropriately eerie; view it by clicking on our exclusive download here. [MORE...]

Video: Xiu Xiu: Bishop, CA

Serena Maneesh Prep New Single, Podcast

Just before embarking on an extensive tour of both Europe and North America, Serena Maneesh have revealed that on October 2, they will release a new single, "Sapphire Eyes", through Playlouderecordings on CD, 7", and digital download formats. In celebration, the Oslo crew will throw a launch party at London's Madame Jojo's White Heat event this Saturday.

The group's trek has been rearranged quite a bit since we last reported, as touring partners Film School backed out to make time to record and sort out a member change. Serena Maneesh will instead make their way across the States alongside Evangelicals and Woven Hand.

Finally, the band has uploaded the latest installment in its podcast with a mini-documentary. The work features exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of SM recording their debut record, pictures from their tour with the Dandy Warhols, and more. %FULL ARTICLE%

Single tracklisting:

CD:

01 Sapphire Eyes (single version)
02 Sapphire Eyes (Tony Doogan remix)
03 Candlelighted (Kosmische remix)
04 Sapphire Eyes (Lynch Mod alt. edit)

7":

01 Sapphire Eyes (single version)
02 Candlighted (Kosmische remix)

Dates:

08-26 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-27 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-29 London, England - Madame Jojo's (White Heat) *
09-01 Oslo, Norway - Café Mono
09-02 Hamar, Norway - Hamar Music Festival
09-08 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #^
09-10 Boston, MA - Middle East ^
09-12 Montreal, Quebec - La Salla Rosa ^
09-13 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace ^
09-14 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick ^
09-15 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium ^
09-16 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue ^
09-19 Portland, OR - Neumos ^%
09-20 Portland, OR - Berbati's ^%&
09-21 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill ^%@
09-23 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour ^%@
09-24 Phoenix, AZ - Hollywood Alley ^%
09-26 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
09-27 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck ^%
09-28 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves ^%
09-29 Austin, TX - Emo's %|
09-30 Houston, TX - Proletariat ^%
10-01 New Orleans, LA - Republic ^%
10-02 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn ^%
10-03 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle ^%
10-04 Falls Church, VA - State Theater ^%
10-05 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church %+
10-06 New York, NY - Warsaw

* with the Early Years, Thought Forms
# with Asobi Seksu
^ with Evangelicals
% with Woven Hand
& with the Sun the Sea!
@ with Midnight Movies
| with Magnolia Electric Co.
+ with Bardo Pond

Video: Serena Maneesh: Drain Cosmetics

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.)