Alkaline Trio Forced to Cancel Shows
Strained vocal cords reportedly held band at gunpoint

The Alkaline Trio has had to back out of the 12-date tour they were scheduled to embark on in late January. A letter from their publicist reads: "While the band was in the studio recording the new album in December, Matt [Skiba, guitarist/vocalist] strained his vocal cords and had to take some time off. Even with the downtime around the holidays, the band thought it was best to concentrate on finishing the album and not putting Matt in a position to cause permanent damage by pushing himself."

While most of the shows are simply cancelled, the Trio was supposed to perform at a benefit for National Lymphedema Network and The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in the band's hometown of Chicago. The other bands on the benefit's bill-- Hot Water Music, The Ghost, The Exit, and Solea-- went ahead as scheduled, so it's likely there will be no refunds due to the Trio's absence. Plus, what kind of dick would you be if you gave money to a good cause and then asked for it back? Refunds for the other shows can be sought at the venues or at the cesspool of bureaucracy and bullshit charges known as Ticketyessamassa. Remaining affected dates:

01-27 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck
01-28 Boulder, CO - Fox Theater
01-29 Salt Lake City, UT - Bricks
01-31 Seattle, WA - Graceland
02-01 Portland, OR - B Complex
02-01 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
02-03 Pomona, CA - Glass House
02-04 West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
02-05 San Diego, CA - Cane's
02-06 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues

Stop your crying, emobabies; it'll only be a couple more months before the Trio are out on the road again. They should wrap up recording later this month on their forthcoming album, brutally entitled Good Mourning, which is the follow-up to their 2001 Vagrant release From Here to Infirmary.

Pitchfork Review: Alkaline Trio: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/alkaline-trio/from-here-to-infirmary.shtml
Pitchfork Review: Alkaline Trio: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/alkaline-trio/maybe-ill-catch-fire.shtml
Alkaline Trio: http://www.alkalinetrio.com/
Emogame: http://www.emogame.com/

Ian MacKaye, Mr. Lif to Protest Bush at Rally
Shirts Off Coalition does not include Sleater-Kinney, ¾'s of Donnas

On Tuesday, January 28th, musicians, politicians, social action leaders, writers, commentators, and Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping will converge on Washington, D.C. for the first-ever Sorry State of the Union Rally at the U.S. Capitol. Performers will include the perpetually vocal Mr. Lif, the perpetually screaming Milemarker, and the perpetually-playing-in-SoHo-boutiques Thievery Corporation. Meanwhile, the perpetually straightedge Ian MacKaye will join a cast of speakers that will include: Congressional Whip of the Black Caucus, California Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA); Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH); author of I, Senator, Global Exchange, and Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin; and, author of Prayer at Rumalya and co-founder of the National Gulf War Resource Center, Charles Sheehan-Miles. Lucky for you, punctuation exists.

The rally will begin at 6:00 p.m. on the west side of the Capitol's aptly-named Reflecting Pool at 3rd Street, NW (be sure to keep an eye out for the miraculous non-reflecting pool near the magical talking shrub and the tax dollar of invisibility). A march will follow, for which attendees are encouraged to bring flashlights, candles, and lightsabers. I shit you not. Who says the 'Fork doesn't have your political interests in mind? Here's the schedule (which is subject to change based on the whims of the gestapo):

6:00 p.m. - The Whips, Peace Action, Barbara Lee, Dennis Kusinich, 1905
7:00 p.m. - Charles Sheehan Miles, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, David Rovics, DC Anitwar Network
8:00 p.m. - 302 Acid, Jeff Bale of the Washington Teachers Union, Mr. Lif
9:00 p.m. - Thievery Corporation
10:00 p.m. - Shirts Off, Natalie Johnson Lee of the Green Party, Reverend Billy, Medea Benjamin, Milemarker, Steph Sherer of Safe Access Now
11:00 p.m. - Jungle Jessi, DJ Tom B
12:00 a.m. - Funk DC

The Shirts Off Coalition, a collection of national non-profit, non-governmental organizations, will be joined by several D.C.-area civil society groups to protest President Bush's State of the Union Address and raise public consciousness on the domestic economy, healthcare, and international affairs. Drawing on the January 18th demonstrations against U.S. military action in Iraq-- which saw either half-a-million people (according to organizer's estimates), or fifty thousand people (according to less impressionable top-secret Pitchfork sources) march from the National Mall to the Navy Memorial-- Shirts Off hopes to effect positive change on Capitol Hill.

"We are going to be asking Bush: What is the state of the economy when joblessness has increased dramatically? What is the state of healthcare when the number of uninsured has risen by over 1 million people in a single year? What is the state of our priorities when the elderly have to choose between food or prescription drugs? What is the state of our democracy when the president declares war ignoring vocal opposition?" Believe it or not, this will actually be the first major rally against the President of the United States during a State of the Union Address. He is expected to respond by yelling out the window: "The state of confusion, jagoffs!" And then laughing hysterically for many years to come.

The Sorry State of the Union: http://www.thecriticalmoment.org/union
Mr. Lif: http://www.mrlif.com
Thievery Corporation: http://www.eslmusic.com
Fugazi: http://www.dischord.com/bands/fugazi.shtml

Justin Timberlake Jams with the Flaming Lips!
You know, he used to dream about this when he was a little boy

Brock Kappers & Ryan Schreiber report:
They were your sun, they were your earth. But you didn't think that it'd come crashing down! Um, what we're trying to say is: Oops! Oklahoma City psych-rockers The Flaming Lips have done it again! Taken the brown acid, that is, 'cause what the hell's going on? According to reports from all corners of the Interweb, frontman Wayne Coyne invited N*Sync mannequin Justin Timberlake to join the Lips during their Friday television appearance on England's quintessential music program, Top of the Pops.

Coyne reportedly met the former (and again current-- sorry, Durst, you been played) Britney Spears flame while recording a London radio session earlier in the week, and asked if Timberlake would be so weird as to join them for their performance and "play" bass on "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1", which just hit the UK as a single in all kinds of crazy formats. Though perhaps expecting a response along the lines of, "Wayne, I refuse, you must have me confused with some other guy," Timberlake graciously, surprisingly, accepted. Timberlake, however, may or may not have been actually playing an instrument, for god's sake, as artists on the show have, on occasion, been known to simply lip*sync and pretend while the album track works the magic for them.

As already reported by everyfuckingbody else (goddamn these weekend breaks), Timberlake twiddled the four-string while dressed in typical Lips gear-- which is to say, a dolphin suit-- only to de-mask himself and reveal his true identity to a presumably stunned and fainting audience. All this isn't, well, completely out of the blue, though, sort of, since the Lips have already shown a devotion to today's hottest hits with their cover of Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" on their promo-only live radio sessions CD, Yoshimi Wins.

Timberlake, of course, is just the latest in a string of head-scratching (Ted Danson, Badly Drawn Boy, Ash's Tim Wheeler, that Blue's Clues goon) and not so head-scratching (Beck, Beth Orton, and Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys) collaborators the Lips have recently hooked up with. Who's next? We don't know, but as they've already proven, these guys could have pretty much anything up their sleeves. A System of a Down "Is It Gettin' Heavy" remix? Nobody says no to Serj. A partnership with Ron Pearlman to form the world's first-ever Man Band? It's not out of the question! A Chili's babyback ribs duet with the Backstreet Boys? Uh, don't press your luck. Drums.

Pitchfork Review: Flaming Lips: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/f/flaming-lips/yoshimi-battles-the-pink-robots.shtml
Flaming Lips: http://www.flaminglips.com/

Aarktica, Pale Horse & Rider to Release New LPs
Jon Bon Jovi still fine-tuning Steel Horse and Rider project

Brooklyn, NY's melancholy dream-pop king Jon DeRosa has recorded another Aarktica album, Pure Tone Audiometry, due out on February 11th via Silber Records. It's the follow-up to last year's brilliant ...Or You Could Just Go Through Your Whole Life and Be Happy Anyway, the #18 release in Darla's Bliss-Out series.

Pure Tone Audiometry, whose title refers to a behavioral test measure to determine hearing sensitivity that DeRosa underwent after he lost the hearing in one ear, balances moments of upbeat indie-rock against Aarktica's trademark ambient drones. It was co-produced by Charles Newman of Flare and features numerous guest musicians: Andrew Prinz (cello) and Lorraine Lelis (vocals) of Mahogany, Hadley Kahn (drums) of New York City's space-rock ensemble Escapade, Ernie Adzentovich (upright bass) of Plexus, and Newman on harmonium.

Aarktica will hold a record release show on February 9th at the Mercury Lounge in NYC with Healamonster & Tarsier and The Mobius Band, and plans to play other shows throughout the year. Tracklist:

01 Out to Sea
02 The Mimicry All Women Use
03 Snowstorm Ruins Birthday
04 Ocean
05 Big Year
06 Water Wakes Dead Cells
07 Williamsburg Counterpoint

Before there was Aarktica, though, DeRosa had a project called the Dead Leaves Rising, whose first album, 1997's Shadow Complex, achieved something of a cult status in the goth scene and landed DeRosa a number of opening gigs for Projekt bands. Five years and another album later, DeRosa shelved the project and opened the books on a new effort: the country-folk Pale Horse and Rider, whose debut full-length These Are the New Good Times will be released on Darla on February 11th.

Pale Horse and Rider's sound is based on DeRosa's finger-picked acoustic guitar work and storytelling lyrics. The album was recorded this summer by Low's Alan Sparhawk at the Sacred Heart Church in Duluth, Minnesota, and features guest spots by Sparhawk, Nathan Amundson (of Rivulets, whose song "Past Life" DeRosa covers here, and whose forthcoming album DeRosa returns the favor on), Marc Gartman, and Charles Newman. Tracklist:

01 Jersey Coast Line
02 I Told Jesus Christ How Much I Love Her
03 Will We Be Blessed Someday
04 Sunday Matinee
05 Stars
06 Past Life
07 Aura Lee
08 Coney Island
09 Metropolitan Love Song
10 I Came Here Every Night
11 The Prettiest Girl I've Seen Tonight (So Far)

Pale Horse and Rider's version of "There is an Ocean" appeared on Darla's recent Donovan tribute, alongside bands like My Morning Jacket and Lenola. Some of DeRosa's music (both Dead Leaves Rising and Pale Horse and Rider) is scheduled to be featured on the MTV cartoon Clone High, and he's planning a number of Pale Horse and Rider shows for this winter and spring, both here and in Europe. Confirmed dates so far:

01-30 Asbury Park, NJ - The Saint
03-05 New York, NY - Knitting Factory (with Mahogany)
03-12 Austin, TX - SXSW Darla Records showcase

Pitchfork Review: Aarktica: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/aarktica/or-you-could-just-go-through.shtml
Aarktica: http://www.aarktica.net/
Pale Horse and Rider: http://www.palehorseandrider.com/

Noise Pop Festival Announces 2003 Lineup
Roy's Crop festival cancelled after sudden ravaging by The Locust

Indie festival barnstormers Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and Tortoise will join a lineup of other all-stars and future stars as headliners at this year's San Francisco installment of the Noise Pop Festival. The 11th annual festival of independent music in the American style will run from February 25th to March 2nd, and feature more than twenty rock shows, seven film screenings, and an improved series of pop music symposia, thanks to a new partnership with the Experience Music Project in Seattle.

Noise Pop was founded in 1993 by San Francisco scenester Kevin Arnold as a celebration of the unusual, avant, and exciting in popular music-- and frankly, it's just nice to hear Kev's keeping himself busy since that harsh breakup with Winnie Cooper all those years ago. The event's alumni include some of the best artists of the past decade like The Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo, and Modest Mouse; all-time favorites like X, Big Star, and Bob Mould; and new arrivals like The White Stripes and Jimmy Eat World. Wait, did we just say Jimmy Eat World? Maybe we should've quit at The White Stripes. Anyway, in recent years, Noise Pop has even been instrumental in bringing together new acts like Loose Fur, whose members, Jim O'Rourke and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, first played together at the 2000 event in Chicago.

This year's festival will showcase, among others, Cat Power, Trans Am, The Locust, Mountain Goats, (smog), The Blood Brothers, John Vanderslice, Calexico, Erase Errata, Folk Implosion (sans John Davis), and the newly reunited Camper Van Beethoven. Dude, does this mean Cracker broke up? And if so, who's singing for Jets to Brazil now?

Last year, festival directors released Ten Years of Noise Pop, a two-disc compilation featuring live highlights from years past and previously unreleased cuts from festival participants like Spoon, Neko Case, and Guided by Voices. Tickets for this year's festival are available now, and if you are so inclined, you can even pick up an all-week badge for $145 that entitles you, the holder, admission to all the shows, films, and Education Series events, and tickets to the private opening night party with that sexxxy dirtbag Har Mar Superstar. (Ryan, expect my expense report shortly.) Here's the event lineup, so far:

02-25 Bimbo's 365 Club - Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
02-26 Bimbo's 365 Club - Cat Power, Women & Children, Entrance
02-26 Bottom of the Hill - Dead Moon, The Pattern
02-26 Fillmore - The Donnas, OK Go
02-26 Great American Music Hall - Trans Am, Minus the Bear
02-27 Bimbo's 365 Club - Camper Van Beethoven
02-27 Bottom of the Hill - Folk Implosion, Alaska
02-27 Café Du Nord - M Ward, Starflyer 59
02-27 Great American Music Hall - Dirt Bombs, Von Bondies, Sermon
02-28 Bottom of the Hill - Hot Rod Circuit, Tsunami Bomb
02-28 Café Du Nord - The Go
03-01 Bimbo's 365 Club - Calexico, Nicolia Dunger
03-01 Bottom of the Hill - Tsunami Bomb, Hot Rod Circuit
03-01 Café Du Nord - (smog)
03-01 Great American Music Hall - The Locust, Erase Errata, Milemarker, Blood Bros
03-02 Bimbo's 365 Club - Tortoise
03-02 Bottom of the Hill - Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice

Noise Pop Festival: http://www.noisepop.com

Autechre to Release Full-Length in April
Now 50% more pronounceable!

British technodemics Autechre are set to release their seventh album, entitled Draft 7.30, on April 7th via Warp Records. From reports, we think the hype is supposed to run like this: Draft 7.30 is the proper follow-up to 2001's lesson in abstraction Confield, with last August's more accessible Gantz Graf EP (which we found remarkable for its "actual recognizable beats!") serving as a bridge to what rumor has as Autechre's most accessible album yet. Oh yeah, and we also hear it's gonna sound like The Bends. The album's tracklist may actually serve to reinforce the rumors of accessibility, as it features an actual phrase amongst the usual computer-science-type nonsense. Tracklist:

01 XYLIN ROOM
02 IV VV IV VV VIII
03 6IE.CR
04 TAPR
05 SURRIPERE
06 THEME OF SUDDEN ROUNDABOUT
07 VL AL 5
08 P.:NTIL
09 V-PROC
10 RENIFORM PULS

As previously reported, Autechre will curate the 2003 UK edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival, which runs from April 4th to April 6th. They've recently announced that Public Enemy is gonna be there, along with a horde of other guests including Aphex Twin, Jim O'Rourke, and the reunited vegetarian version of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band. But where's the beef, you ask (since you're nothing if not meticulous about referencing these lovely catchphrases)? I'm afraid there is no more beef. You'll never get any more beef. There might be battle rapping. There might be an apocalyptic nonsense-off between Autechre and Flavor Flav. But there isn't any more beef. The beef's in the desert and he's never coming out.

Pitchfork Review: Autechre: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/autechre/gantz-graf.shtml
Pitchfork Review: Autechre: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/autechre/confield.shtml
Warp Records: http://www.warprecords.com

Mountain Goats to Tour UK and Mainland Europe
Visiting the Old World's hilariously named venues

The man, the myth, the legend of the Panasonic boombox and nasal wail, John "The Mountain Goats" Darnielle has confirmed a string of live European dates this winter. The tour, which John has affectionately dubbed the "Albert Ayler Meets Bruce Lee on the Set of Aida Tour '03" kicks off on January 29th with the Counter Culture extravaganza, an event that boasts Scot songsmith James Yorkston, Brit indie rockers Bis, electrock darlings Pink Grease ,and special guest DJs John Kennedy and Sean Rowley. After the festivities and lo-fi reverie, Darnielle will be peddling his quasi-folk stylings throughout the UK and mainland Europe, before returning to the States for a confirmed date in Los Angeles with Tortoise at the end of February, as well as the Noise Pop appearance listed above. Tour dates:

01-29 London, England - the Mean Fiddler
02-01 Manchester, England - Briton's Protection
02-02 Edinburgh, Scotland - College of Art
02-04 Nottingham, England - Social
02-05 Brighton, England not yet confirmed
02-06 London, England - Spitz
02-07 Paris, France - Guignette Pirate
02-08 Kontich, Belgium - Lintfabriek
02-09 Rotterdam, Holland - Rotown
02-10 Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso (upstairs)
02-11 unconfirmed Holland or Belgium
02-12 Hamburg, Germany - Schiller Oper
02-13 Berlin, Germany - Magnet Club
02-14 Munich, Germany not yet confirmed
02-15 Rovereto, Italy not yet confirmed
02-16 Milan, Italy TBA
02-17 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
02-18 Gotheburg, Sweden
02-19 Lund, Sweden
02-20 Linkoping, Sweden
02-21 Uppsala, Sweden

02-28 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater (w/ Tortoise)

In other Goats news, Darnielle and company have recently unveiled a spiffy new website in support of their new album, Tallahassee. According to 4ad.com, "This fantastic site has been put together by the band themselves and features a room-by-room tour of the house in Tallahassee." That's right, there's now only one house in Tallahassee. The rest were consumed by goblins and shat out as Walmarts.

Pitchfork Review: Mountain Goats: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mountain-goats/tallahassee.shtml
Pitchfork Review: Mountain Goats: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mountain-goats/all-hail-west-texas.shtml
Mountain Goats: http://www.themountaingoats.net
4AD: http://www.4ad.com

Yay! Hooray! Apples in Stereo Comin' Your Way!
These ARE all-ages shows, right, guys?

One of the original triumverate that eventually led to the now-defunct Elephant 6 collective, The Apples in Stereo, are striking out on a headlining tour this winter. After basking in their European popularity for the last couple weeks, The Apples are back to see if Americans still love them if they aren't opening for the Radiohead-endorsed hype juggernaut Clinic. Supporting their latest McOpus, The Velocity of Sound, The Apples are going with a fruity theme for this jaunt, toting psychedelic noise-poppers Oranger along for the ride, perhaps in an effort to lure in even more three-year-olds with hypnotizing primary and secondary colors. Tour dates:

01-28 Nashville, TN - The End
01-29 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone
01-30 New Orleans, LA - Howlin' Wolf
01-31 Tallahasee, FL - Club Downunder
02-01 Orlando, FL - The Social
02-03 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
02-04 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle
02-05 Washington, DC - Black Cat
02-06 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's
02-07 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
02-08 Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts
02-09 Boston, MA - The Middle East
02-11 Buffalo, NY - The Continental
02-12 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
02-13 Cincinnati, OH - Southgate House
02-14 Chicago, IL - Abbey
02-15 Indianapolis, IN - Birdy's

The band's profile has been leering into the mainstream lately with appearances on the Heroes & Villains: Music Inspired by the Powerpuff Girls CD, a guest host stint on MTV2's 120 Minutes, and a scheduled appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly for January 27th, during which they'll perform their song "Please". If, however, all this crossover publicity is irking your indie sensibilities, consider the following anecdote (parental discretion is advised):

According to The Apples' publicist, singer Robert Schneider had to cancel a show in Belgium this fall after being deported by the Belgian authorities. Schneider, who had the misfortune of not being a natural-born American citizen (he was born in South Africa), had an issue with his visa application. He was then sent to London, where he spent 12 hours in a holding cell. Luckily, he was able to get his papers worked out just before the Belgian consulate closed for the weekend. A tip for Bob: next time marry a Belgian showgoer! Hilarie'd get a kick out of it.

Pitchfork Review: Apples in Stereo: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/apples-in-stereo/velocity-of-sound.shtml
Apples in Stereo: http://www.applesinstereo.com/

Interpol Plan 15 More U.S. Dates for Massive World Tour, Score Spot on HBO's Six Feet Under
Reportedly close to cutting deals with Iron Chef, Biography, Cosby Show reruns

Interpol's touring schedule for 2003 looks to be their most rigorous yet. They've already committed to three months on the road, in an attempt to meet their goal of being 2003's "hardest working, farthest traveling rock band," which naturally includes yet another coast-to-coast sweep of the United States in February and early March. But first, they've agreed to headline the New Musical Express Brats Awards Tour 2003, for which they'll share the stage with such criminally inferior bands as The Datsuns and The Thrills, as well as the very respectable Polyphonic Spree. Then they'll break for a couple of weeks after the U.S. jaunt before taking off across the Atlantic once again to zig-zag through the European mainland. Dates:

01-26 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands +
01-27 Newcastle, England - Northumbria University +
01-28 Birmingham, England - Birmingham Academy +
01-30 Sheffield, England - Sheffield University +
01-31 Liverpool, England - Liverpool University +
02-01 Manchester, England - Manchester Academy +
02-03 Leeds, England - Metropolitan University +
02-04 Nottingham, England - Nottingham Rock City +
02-05 Norwich, England - Norwich UEA +
02-07 Portsmouth, England - Pyramid +
02-08 Cardiff, England - Cardiff University +
02-09 London, England - Astoria +

02-13 Seattle, WA - Showbox
02-14 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
02-15 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
02-18 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
02-19 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
02-20 San Diego, CA - Cane's Ballroom
02-21 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
02-23 Dallas, TX - Trees
02-24 Austin, TX - Emo's
02-26 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
02-27 Orlando, FL - The Club at Firestone
02-28 Tampa, FL - State Theater
03-01 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
03-04 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero *
03-06 Boston, MA - Avalon *

03-20 Nantes, France - Olympic
03-21 Paris, France - Elysée Montmartre
03- 22 London, England - Astoria
03-24 Tourcouing, France - Le Grand Mix
03-25 Krefeld, Germany - Kulturfabrik
03-26 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
03-27 Oslo, Norway - So What
03- 28 Stockholm, Sweden - Club Accelerator at Debaser
03-29 Umea, Sweden - Open Festival
03-31 Berlin, Germany - Knaack
04- 01 Hannover, Germany - Faust
04-03 Heidelberg, Germany - Schwimmbad
04-04 Dortmund, Germany - Visions Party
04-05 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22
04-06 Würzburg, Germany - AKW
04-08 Brussels, Belgium - Domino Festival
04-09 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
04-10 Den Bosch, Netherlands - W2
04-11 Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
04-12 Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
04-14 Milan, Italy - Transilvania
04-15 Florence, Italy - Flog
04-16 Bologna, Italy - Estragon
04-17 Treviso, Italy - New Age
04-19 Zürich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik Clubraum
04-20 Geneva, Switzerland - L'Usine
04-21 Marseille, France - Espace Julien
04-23 Barcelona, Spain - Apolo
04-24 Bilbao, Spain - Azkena
04-25 Angoulême, France - La Nef
04-26 Bourges, France - Le Printemps de Bourges Festival $

+ New Musical Express Brats Awards Tour 2003
* with The Raveonettes (dear Christ, why?)
$ with White Stripes and Dionysus

And if you're wondering what, exactly, Interpol have in common with Peggy Lee, Blue Oyster Cult, Bob Mould, and Beethoven, it's this: their music will be prominently featured in an episode of Six Feet Under, yet another critically acclaimed HBO drama about a family. (This one runs a mortuary.) This influential vehicle for commercial success will incorporate not one, but two of the songs off Turn On the Bright Lights: "Obstacle 2" and "Roland". Fortunately for all of us, our new favorite New York City darlings have apparently not been returning phone calls from Dawson's Creek, though their frequent use on Fox's NFL Pregame Shows have probably sold an album or ten to confused guys looking for that Coors commercial song. New Musical Express reports that the Interpol songs will serve as background music for, appropriately enough, "hip record shop scenes" in episodes from the upcoming third season, which is set to begin on March 9th.

Members of Interpol, for whom it can be argued that their simple, elegant, yet stoic music and, of course, fashion sensibilities are befitting the general atmosphere of the Six Feet Under show, reportedly watched the prime-time drama "compulsively" while recording their debut album. And while it has garnered favorable reviews for its stellar cast of upcoming young actors, offbeat humor, and a knack for gritty, realistic drama, some also favor the show for its impeccable taste in music. Other artists to have their work featured on the series include The Flaming Lips, Air, Grant Lee Phillips, Boards of Canada, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Laura Nyro. In fact, there is a Six Feet Under soundtrack available that, while omitting the Interpol tracks, does offer up a generous helping of cuts from the likes of The Beta Band, PJ Harvey, Stereo MCs, Lamb, and the Dandy Warhols. Alright, so their hipness is off a few time zones, but what the fuck ever.

Pitchfork Review: Interpol: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/i/interpol/turn-on-the-bright-lights.shtml
Interpol: http://www.interpolny.com

Spiritualized to Drop Rarities Compilations
8th step of recovery: Purge yourself of addiction-era leftovers

When you look back on the 1990s, do you regret not spending more time with your bong and Bible? If so, your favorite Martian, Jason Pierce, is here to help. Spiritualized will release The Complete Works, Part 1 on their Spaceman imprint through Arista Records in late March. According to the official Spiritualized website, the double CD will contain favorite tracks from singles, EPs, and compilations. The collection traces the band's drug-addled output from its early days as Pierce's project with Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember, Spacemen 3, to 1995's Pure Phase. The Complete Works, Part 2 will follow later this year, though no details have been released yet. Let's see... um, maybe non-album tracks from the period between 1997's Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space and 2001's Let It Come Down? Bet you a dimer I'm right, dudes. Tracklist:

Disc One:
01 Anyway That You Want Me
02 Step Into The Breeze (Part 1)
03 Feel So Sad (7" single version)
04 Feel So Sad (Rhapsodies)
05 Feel So Sad (Glides and Chimes)
06 Run (single version)
07 Luminescence (Stay With Me)
08 I Want You (Feel So Sad 7" B-side version)
09 Effervescent (Chimes)
10 Why Don't You Smile Now
11 Sway

Disc Two:
01 100 Bars (Acapella)
02 I Want You (Run B-side version)
03 You Know It's True (instrumental)
04 Medication (taken from Medication EP)
05 Smiles (Medication promotional single version)
06 Angel Sigh (taken from Medication EP)
07 Feel So Sad (taken from Medication EP)
08 Good Dope/ Good Fun (taken from Greenpeace 7" single)
09 Lay Back In The Sun (Electric Mainline EP version)
10 Good Times (Electric Mainline EP version)
11 Electric Mainline (Part 1)
12 Electric Mainline (Part 2)
13 100 Bars (Flash Back)

In other news, the band have delayed work on their next album while drummer Kevin Bales recovers from treatment for leukemia in a Nottingham hospital. Spiritualized originally planned to begin recording the follow-up to Let It Come Down in September 2002 after the completion of a short Australian tour and a string of summer festival dates. They have postponed their return to the blacklights of the studio while Bales takes drugs to overcome cancer to make music to take drugs by.

Pitchfork Review: Spiritualized: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/spiritualized/let-it-come-down.shtml
Pitchfork Review: Spiritualized: http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/spiritualized/ladies-and-gentlemen.shtml
Spiritualized: http://www.spiritualized.com

The Black Keys to Release Sophomore Album in April
Ebony and ivory live together in White Stripes rivalry

The Akron, Ohio-based blues-rock duo The Black Keys have jumped ship from the super-indie Alive/Bomp to sign with Epitaph subsidiary Fat Possum, and are gearing up to release their sophomore album, Thick Freakness, on April 8th. The group, which features guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, are wasting no time at all getting new product on the shelves-- the band's debut set, The Big Come Up, just came out last May.

"Wait, hold up," sez you. "What acclaim?" Well, Maxim spinoff Rolling Stone called the album "choogling," for one, and old fuddy-duddy The Village Voice was so dizzied by it that they managed to proclaim the band both more compelling and less interesting than The White Stripes. (Though it's pretty evident to us that these guys would still be absofuckinlutely nowhere if they didn't sound basically exactly like if the Stripes dug Hendrix instead of the Zep.) Even Playboy, that esteemed house of music criticism, has got their eye on these boys! Read it for the articles!

The Keys will probably get rich and very, very cranky due to their resemblance to the Stripes, but they may have already won all the respect they could want: their new label is also home to various grizzled, revered, and actual bluesmen such as James "T-Model" Ford, under whom Auerbach once apprenticed himself. He once played the Delta juke joints, so the legend goes, and now The Keys are opening for Sleater-Kinney in between headlining their own shows. Whether that's entirely good news, we can't say, but it's nice enough news for those of us who know damn well we're too timid to go juking. Tour dates:

01-24 Indianapolis, IN - The Patio
01-25 Louisville, KY - The Rudyard Kipling
02-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom*
02-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall*
02-04 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall*
02-05 Sacramento, CA - Colonial Theatre*
02-07 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre*
02-08 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre*
02-13 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Nightclub*
02-14 Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel*
02-15 New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom*
02-16 Los Angeles, CA - LA Shakedown - Hollywood Athletic Club
02-17 Toronto, ONT - The Opera House*
02-19 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick*
02-21 Cincinnati, OH - Southgate House*
02-22 Champaign, IL - The High Dive*
02-23 Chicago, IL - Metro*
02-27 Carrboro, NC - Room 4#
02-28 Atlanta, GA - Echo Lounge#
03-01 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light#

* - With Sleater-Kinney
# - With The Soledad Brothers

Black Keys: http://www.theblackkeys.com
Fat Possum: http://www.fatpossum.com

The Feud Kick Off Midwest Tour to Support New LP
Worst alias for a band member? Survey Says!

NY-based math-rockers The Feud are gearing up to tour the Midwest in support of their latest release, Language Is Technology, which was released on their own label, Insidious Plot Audio, in November of 2002. Jason Ward, who has also done engineering for Paul Newman and Rhythm of Black Lines, recorded The Feud LP at John McEntire's Soma Studios. Borrowing elements of surf, jazz, and electronica, The Feud are one of the few bands that are challenging the conventions of math-rock. Once armed with two drummers and a total of six members, the band has now cut down to just four players.

The Feud is notorious for switching instruments constantly, but member "The Bone" (note: not his given name) said things may differ this time around: "Losing members so close to hitting the road has forced us to confine things a bit more and this time out we won't be switching things up as much. It's still very exciting and fresh for us, as we are learning other people's parts and figuring out ways to mesh things together." After this tour, the band plans on returning to the studio to begin recording material for what will eventually be an EP and pursuing other bands for their label. Tour dates:

01-24 Pittsburgh, PA - William Pitt Union Assembly
01-25 Toledo, OH - Frankie's
01-26 Akron, OH - The Lime Spider
01-27 Columbus, OH - Bernie's
01-28 Peru, IN - VFW Hall
01-29 Oshkosh, WI - New Moon Coffeehouse
01-30 Wisconsin Rapids, WI - From the Ground Up
01-31 St. Paul. MN- Big V's
02-01 Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle (w/ Crush Kill Destroy and Lying in States)
02-02 St. Louis, MO - Hi-Pointe
02-03 Bloomington, IN - Space 101

The Feud: http://www.insidiousplot.com

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