R.E.M. to Appear on The Simpsons
Shocking similarity between Stipe and Mr. Burns to confuse everyone

Well, Christ, this seems like it was pretty inevitable. Two iconic products of American popular culture-- both born in the 80s, both gaining enormous worshipful followings with their work of the early 90s, and both having traced a decided downward trajectory since Bill Berry and Montgomery Burns experienced major mid-90s medical emergencies-- are planning to unite. The trio that is now R.E.M. recorded their voice-overs for the show in July, and at last report, the resultant episode will be airing sometime around Thanksgiving.

There has been a disturbing trend lately of The Simpsons overdoing the whole celebrity appearance thing and R.E.M., well, overdoing the whole celebrity thing, so we hope this turns out more like the episode where Sonic Youth stole Peter Frampton's watermelon (which remains one of the more fascinating metaphors for punk rock anyone's ever devised), and less tike the Who playing on a big wall of trash, which was just fucking stupid.

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/r/rem/reveal.shtml
R.E.M.: http://www.remhq.com
The Simpsons: http://www.thesimpsons.com

Two New Albums for Tom Waits in New Year
Use Your Illusion reference wasted on Appleseed Cast

Although Epitaph is calling the albums "startlingly different in landscape, sound, emotion and composition," the musical accompaniment is reported to be largely acoustic. Alice is apparently the more straightforward album of the two, with Epitaph describing it as "haunting opiate songs played by piano, bass sax, Stroh violin, cello and vibes." Red Drum, on the other hand, is referred to as "Tin Pan Alley meets Weimar Republic," and seems a conceptual piece, with material inspired by Georg Buchner's unfinished 1837 play, "Woyzeck." Buchner's story portrayed the life of a destitute soldier who earned his keep by subjecting himself to the outlandish experiments of a strange doctor which eventually drive him mad. Fucking doctors, man. Jesus!

Song titles for the two records include: "We're All Mad Here," "There's Only Alice," "Table Top Joe," "Poor Edward," "Coney Island Baby," "All the World Is Green" and "God's Away On Business."

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/w/waits_tom/used-songs.shtml
Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/w/waits_tom/mule-variations.shtml
Anti/Epitaph: http://www.anti.com

Tree Records Closes Its Doors
Better scoop up those Owltian Mia and Haelah records while you can

No more tree-hugging. Tree Records is dead after five years, 40 records, and a big tiff with their former distributor, Southern Records. Though they've kept it hush-hush all year, they recently announced their official demise. The slow economy and the gigantic challenges of working with indie music made business understandably rough. Tree's fate sadly confirms that money doesn't grow on trees, especially indie-rock trees. The dough ran out after a year-long dispute with Southern over the rights to their albums and a massive amount of cash that Tree claims Southern still owes them. Their website states, "If Tree is life in full bloom, then Southern is cancer destroying everything in its path." Cancer! Holy shit, you guys, can you tone it down a little?

Tree's inspiring list of releases include the sweetly aching vocals of Julie Doiron, pop acoustic strumming of Jen Wood, and the conceptual rock of A-Set. They, along with K, Pinback, and Urban Legends, left the Tree house and secured new homes at other labels. Other Tree artists-- September, Owltian Mia, Ethel Meserve, Franklin, and Haeleh, in particular-- no longer exist. The Tree catalog lingers on and records will stay in print until they choose to fully cut the cord.

Tree Records: http://www.treerecords.com

Fuck Solo Projects in Action
That's what we say

Since 1994, Fuck has charmed us with good wholesome pop songs about monkeys, monkey dolls, mongooses, butterflies, and lettuce. (Only minimal songs were composed about dirty girls and fuck motels. Oh, and there is a cover of "Me So Horny" in there somewhere.) Regardless, it's a damn shame that Fuck played their last live shows earlier this year.

Fortunately, the magic isn't completely gone. Geoff Soule's solo EP is entitled A Wild Man Brandishing an Uprooted Tree can be purchased online at the Fuck World Headquarters. Ten songs, 25 minutes, one song about monkeys, $6 in the U.S., and $8 outside of the U.S. Including shipping! That's cheaper than that moldy lemon that he sold on eBay last year. Unfortunately, statistics about Timmy Prudhomme's upcoming solo project are scarce. But we can give you more information about Geoff Soule's record, namely the tracklist which is replete with Pearl Jam-style one-word titles. Tell Stone Gossard we said hi.

01 Ghost
02 Punk
03 Kant
04 Ur
05 Stay
06 Moody
07 Sj
08 Monkey
09 Anthem
10 Vegas

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/f/fuck/cupids-cactus.shtml
Fuck: http://www.fuck.addr.com

OTC's Bill Doss Prepares for New Album, Tour
Nation's babies wet themselves with elation

Doss is expected to continue in the vein of last year's EP, The Future History of a Sunshine Fix with "psychedelic pop, heavy on angelic harmonies," which conjured up comparisons to Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, and the Beach Boys (but of course). Doss plans to tour regularly with the band, the first trip beginning in late-November with labelmates Call and Response.

Age of the Sun features several Kindercore alumni in addition to the enigmatic Mr. Doss. Contributors include Neil Cleary of the Essex Green, Ryan Lewis of the Four Corners (both pounding the drums), and Derek Almstead from Of Montreal doing some bass-work. They could have considered performing under the name the Kinder Core, but the confusion would have been too much. Also, it would just be dumb.

Tour dates:
11-24 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves
11-25 Austin, TX - Mercury Arts
11-27 Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture
11-28 San Diego, CA - Casbah
11-29 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
11-30 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
12-01 Chico, CA - Senator Theatre
12-03 Portland, OR - Blackbird
12-04 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
12-07 Denver, CO - 15th Street Tavern
12-08 Norman, OK - The Community Cup (w/o Call and Response)
12-09 Fayetteville, AR - Clunk Music Hall (w/o Call and Response)

Tracklist:
01 Age of the Sun
02 Ultraviolet Orchestra
03 That Ole Sun
04 Everything Is Waking
05 Digging to China
06 A Better Way to Be
07 An Illuminated Array
08 See Yourself
09 Inside the Nebula
10 Hide in the Light
11 Sail Beyond the Sunset
12 A 93 Million Mile Moment
13 Mr. Summer Day
14 72 Years
15 Cycles of Time
16 Le Roi Soleilor

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/s/sunshine-fix/future-history-of-a-sunshine-fix.shtml
Emperor Norton: http://www.emperornorton.com
Kindercore: http://www.kindercore.com

Damien Jurado Goes on Tour
He was brilliant in The Omen

Sub Pop artist Damien Jurado is embarking on a tour this month with Sub Pop songstress Rose Thomas, who recently collaborated with Jurado on a cover of Springsteen's "Wages of Sin" that appeared on a recent Sub Pop tribute to The Bruce. Jurado's most recent album, the folk-inflected Ghost of David was released last year to critical acclaim.

In a Dylan-esque turn, however, Jurado has assembled a rock-n-roll band complete with electric guitar and drums for this tour, in support of his new single-sided 7" EP on Burnt Toast Vinyl simply entitled Four Songs. The record, which is shipping to stores as we speak, features a short story by TNI Books head honcho Adam Voith. Not etched into the vinyl, mind you-- printed there. To read. It's not like he's stupid, people.

11-08 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry (w/Unwed Sailor)
11-09 Madison, WI - Catacombs (w/Unwed Sailor)
11-10 Bloomington, IN - Space 101 (w/Unwed Sailor)
11-11 Pittsburgh, PA - Millvale Industrial Theater (w/Serene)
11-12 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge (w/South)
11-13 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs
11-14 Harrisonburg, VA - James Madison University Court Square Theater
11-15 Bryn Mawr, PA - Bryn Mawr Campus Center
11-16 Grand Rapids, MI - Calvin College
11-17 Chicago, IL - Schuba's (w/My Morning Jacket)

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/j/jurado_damien/ghost-of-david.shtml
Burnt Toast Vinyl: http://www.burnttoastvinyl.com
Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com

Escovedo Tours Warm Climates in Winter
Wuss

Gentleman-cowpunk and self-proclaimed "diva" of Bloodshot Records Alejandro Escovedo has announced a number of tour dates over the next month and a half as he continues to promote his newest album, A Man Under the Influence. Escovedo is well-known for playing the sorts of bitter ballads that Nashville would still make if the damn town had any balls, or that Jay Farrar would still be writing if he hadn't been replaced by pod people five years ago. If Escovedo's live recordings are any indication, he can also do covers of Stooges songs with fiddle sections that work a whole lot better than you'd think. Plus, he's one of the few people walking the earth with a name written in perfect trochaic tetrameter, so William Blake would have loved him.

11-16 Austin, TX - Cactus Cafe
11-24 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room
11-29 Birmingham, AL - B & A Warehouse
11-30 Chattanooga, TN - The Attic
12-01 Atlanta, GA - Star Bar
12-02 Carrboro, NC - Go Rehearsal Space
12-03 Arlington, VA - The Iota
12-05 Pittsburgh, PA - The Rosebud
12-07 Lexington, KY - Lynaghs
12-08 Louisville, KY - Jim Porters

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/e/escovedo_alejandro/bourbonitis-blues.shtml
Alejandro Escovedo: http://www.alejandroescovedo.com
Bloodshot Records: http://www.bloodshotrecords.com

Singer Tim Booth quits James
He's got this great screenplay...

Long-suffering singer and sub-Michael Stipe egghead Tim Booth has decided to leave James, the floundering Brit-pop band he founded nearly 20 years ago. In a statement released on the band's official website, he reveals, "I am leaving the band on a high. We have made a CD that I believe to be our best since Laid; yes I have heard that reviews state otherwise but by not reading them I keep myself in a blissful bubble of ignorance." Later he states, "I want to stop while we are on top," which begs the question: are you fucking kidding?

Booth has plans to teach creativity workshops, write new music, and finish the screenplay he's been working on recently. After a seven-date British tour, which will mark the band's last performances with Booth as frontman, the remaining members of James plan to carry on as a band, though an announcement on their future plans is still forthcoming.

James are best known for their 1994 Brian Eno-produced album Laid, whose title track scored a hit on alternative radio. The band's last two studio albums, including the new release Pleased to Meet You, have failed to find distribution in the U.S. Hurry, there's still time to catch a cheap flight to Blighty and say goodbye.

12-02 Brighton - Brighton Centre
12-03 Leeds - Leeds University
12-04 Newcastle - Newcastle Arena
12-06 Birmingham - Birmingham NEC
12-07 Manchester - Manchester Evening News Arena
12-09 Glasgow - Glasgow SECC
12-10 London - Wembley Arena

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/j/james/whiplash.shtml
James: http://www.jamestheband.com

Björk to Release Three Concert DVDs
And not a single tit on any of them!

Björk: Live at Shepherd's Bush, a concert previously released on VHS that has now been digitally remastered, documents one of the last shows of the 1997 Post tour, a concert in which, according to the reviewer on Björk.com, "the energy and radiance she emitted was unlike anything I have seen on any other Björk concert." Björk: Live in Cambridge was recorded on December 2nd, 1998 during the Homogenic tour and features the Icelandic string octet and the electronic stylings of LFO's Mark Bell. Björk: Unplugged/Live and Loud includes two shows recorded for MTV, the former a ten-song set consisting entirely of songs from Debut in the acoustic format, and the latter a six-song session recorded in 1998.

Now the bad news: although these DVDs will be region free, they will not be available in NTSC format, only in the European PAL format. Some newer American DVD players can convert from PAL to NTSC, but others, which in this modern age should serve only as blunt weapons, sadly do not.

.: Björk: http://www.bjork.com

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/b/bjork/vespertine.shtml

Former Whiskeytown Members Release Albums
Perhaps now they'll date some movie stars, too

During the mid-to-late 90s, Whiskeytown made a name for themselves by combining the alt-country sensibilities of Uncle Tupelo with the stumbling public drunkenness of the second encore at a Guided by Voices show. Since the band broke up, Ryan Adams has been pushing into higher realms of fame as that guy on VH1 with the artfully mussed hair singing in front of the Twin Towers. But his former bandmates have also been hard at work on new projects.

Caitlin Cary, who, in addition to a mean fiddle, played Emmylou to Adams' Gram, will be releasing her full-length solo debut, While You Weren't Looking, on the Yep Roc label on February 26th. Cary's EP, Waltzie, was one of the stronger alt-country efforts of last year, and she's responsible for writing or co-writing some of Whiskeytown's best material ("Matrimony" and "Faithless Street," in particular), so her upcoming disc holds out a lot more promise than, say, Steve West's new band. She's also put together a pretty strong set of collaborators for the album, including former Whiskeytown multi-instrumentalist Mike Daly, ex-Jayhawks keyboardist Jen Gunderman, and producers, dB's, and former REM-consorts Mitch Easter and Chris Stamey. Oh, and Ryan Adams sings a little, too. 'Cause he's like that.

Speaking of Mike Daly, he too has already cut several tracks for a solo project which he's currently shopping to labels. The new songs already include Cary on backing vocals, and he's also attempting to reel in James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Bryson of Counting Crows, and various and sundry Pernice Brothers to play on the album.

And then, of course, there's that Ryan Adams guy. Mr. Prolific, who has already released three albums since last fall (two solo, one Whiskeytown), has two more finished products in the can and ready for release next year: one with his new punk band the Pinkhearts, and the other a solo album entitled 48 Hours, which apparently denotes the time in which the album was recorded rather than being the sly nod to the Nolte/Murphy films we'd initially hoped. Hey, where is Nick Nolte, anyway?

Pitchfork Review: http:///record-reviews/w/whiskeytown/pneumonia.shtml
Yep Roc: http://www.yeproc.com

Richard Hell to Issue Double Album
In hopes you'll forget his contribution to No Talking, Just Heads

Artist, author, poet, punk rock pioneer, and originator of the spiky haircut Richard Hell will release a two-disc set full of old, unheard, and live songs by his seminal (and brilliant) punk band Richard Hell & the Voidoids. It has yet to be given a title, but it's definitely due out on Matador in early 2002.

Before he formed the Voidoids in 1976, Hell was a founding member of the Neon Boys, Television, and the Heartbreakers. Then, he said "fuck that noise" (but in period youth-vernacular-- he wasn't that far ahead of his time), and released, with the Voidoids, the near-perfect Blank Generation. If you're a fan of Wire, Gang of Four, and the Modern Lovers' first album and you don't own this album, we at Pitchfork strongly encourage your starting to.

Last month, Hell also published Hot and Cold, a compilation of non-fiction essays, poetry, drawings, and lyrics, which is available on the web through any number of outlets (Amazon and Barnes & Noble among them). But hardcore Hell fiends might be better off ordering a signed copy from Hell's own website.

Disc One:
01 Love Comes in Spurts
02 Chinese Rocks
03 Can't Keep My Eyes on You
04 Hurt Me
05 I'm Your Man
06 Betrayal Takes Two
07 Crack of Dawn
08 Ignore That Door
09 I Live My Life
10 Going Going Gone
11 Funhunt
12 I Can Only Give You Everything
13 I Been Sleepin' On It
14 Cruel Way to Go Drown
15 The Hunter Was Drowned
16 Hey Sweetheart

Disc Two:
01 Intro
02 Love Comes in Spurts
03 Liars Beware
04 You Gotta Lose
05 Lose Yourself
06 New Pleasure
07 Walking On the Water
08 The Plan
09 Blank Generation
10 I Wanna Be Your Dog
11 Vacancy
12 Ventilator Blues
13 Kid with the Replaceable Head
14 Don't Die
15 You Gotta Lose (with Elvis Costello)
16 Shattered

Richard Hell: http://www.richardhell.com
Matador: http://www.matadorrecords.com

Stratford 4 Finish Debut Album for Jetset
"We know BRMC! Are we cool yet?"

If you were in a musty, atmospheric rathskeller and overheard "Stratford 4, blah, blah, blah, debut, blah, blah, blah, BRMC, Yo La Tengo, Sigur Rós, Velvet Underground, and My Bloody Valentine, blah, blah, blah...," would you lean in over your gueuze for a closer listen? Well, you might be a tad less credulous learning that such comparisons come from a press release, but by eavesdropping, you'd end up with a fairly sound notion of where the San Francisco quartet Stratford 4 are coming from on their upcoming debut.

The BRMC connection is actually fairly concrete-- frontman Chris Streng was in an earlier incarnation of the band, and was introduced to the remainder of Stratford 4's future lineup by current BRMC members in 1999. The fully evolved Stratford 4 sound layers multiple strata of guitar encasing "Yo La Tengo-esque" melodies brushed with the "dark strokes of the Velvet Underground." Hmmm... noise-pop? Intrigued (and patient) listeners can look for the band's audaciously titled debut, The Revolt Against Tired Noises on Jetset early next February.

Stratford 4: http://www.stratford4.com/
Jetset Records: http://www.jetsetrecords.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.)