Mountain Goats Tour Texas, West of Texas
The heart of rock 'n' roll is still bleatin'

[Posted Wednesday, September 24th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Beginning this week, The Mountain Goats will tour Texas and the Pacific and Mountain Time Zones for the first time in nearly two years. As John Darnielle, the cabra papa himself, previously told Pitchfork, he's been working contentedly on a new album at Bear Creek Studios in Washington with producer John Vanderslice. Although there's no new album info, essays on Darnielle's website, Last Plane To Jakarta, indicate he's been listening to a whole helluva lot of Ozzy and trying to not focus too much on the state of world affairs.

The smart money says that the follow-up to last year's Tallahassee, which will be his second album for 4AD, will still feature voice and guitar, but likely show off more in the way of a full-band sound. Contributions from Vanderslice and others in the Bay Area and Anacortes/Seattle/Olympia communities are likely. Feel free to ask Darnielle about the new album yourself at one of his upcoming shows. Fellow champions of indie-Americana, The Baptist Generals, whose outstanding No Silver/No Gold was released by Sub Pop earlier this year, will open. The dates:

09-24 Lubbock, TX - Space 1110
09-25 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room *
09-26 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington * (w/ The Medicine Show)
09-27 Austin, TX - Mercury at Jazz *
09-29 Phoenix, AZ - Modified *
09-30 San Diego, CA - Casbah *
10-01 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland * (w/ The Court and Spark)
10-02 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord *
10-03 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan * (w/ Bronwyn)
10-04 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern *
10-05 Anacrotes, WA - Department of Safety * (w/ The Microphones)
10-07 Olympia, WA - The Go Club *
10-09 Boise, ID - Neurolox *
10-10 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court *
10-11 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge *
10-12 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground (w/ Poison Control Center)

* with The Baptist Generals

Mountain Goats: http://www.themountaingoats.net
Last Plane to Jakarta: http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com
4AD: http://www.4ad.com

RZA To Release New Album On Sanctuary Records
On label samplers, should nestle snugly between Iron Maiden and Humble Pie

[Posted Wednesday, September 24th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

The Wu is coming through! The outcome is critical. According to New Musical Express, Wu-Tang Clan maestro the RZA will be releasing a new album on Britain's Sanctuary Records, a genre-busting indie with a roster boasting everything from Ween to Ashanti to A.R.E. Weapons to The Kinks, Spiritualized® to Kelly Osbourne. Entitled Birth of a Prince, it's the head Wu-banger's first solo album released as The RZA rather than his Bobby Digital persona, this writer inflates with a certain sense of wonder and hope.

The first Bobby D record was tight, a'ight, but the second was execrable, and much of RZA's production and lyrical work since has sounded phoned-in and self-parodying. When he became Bobby Digital, RZA mostly abandoned his fractured, darkly percolating beats (which were IDM before some pompous ass ejaculated the term) for canned, faux-grimy bounce tracks. He forsook his deeply coded and anagram-ridden slang (that "Protons Electrons Always Cause Explosions" and "Positive Energy Activates Constant Elevation" spelled out P.E.A.C.E. was one of my most explosive teenage epiphanies-- yes, I was sheltered) for party rhymes about how badass he was and how girls shouldn't have sex too much, unless it's with him. Perhaps this return to the RZA moniker means that party animal Bobby Digital has returned to the frat house from whence he came, and the master of mind-bending circular logic, dilettante of esoteric doctrine and conspiracy theorist has triumphantly risen again, all phoenix-like.

According to the Sanctuary Records website, Birth of a Prince streets on October 13th. It will feature cameos from Dirt McGirt (née Big Baby Jesus, née Ol' Dirty Bastard, née crazy jailbird) on the first single, "We Pop," as well as from Ghostface Killah (one of the most articulate and vivid narrative lyricists in hip-hop, but frustratingly unable to say anything beyond "'Na mean?" in interviews). The tracklist:

01 Bob 'n' I
02 The Grunge
03 We Pop
04 Grits
05 Fast Cars
06 Chi Kung
07 You'll Never Know
08 Drink, Smoke and Fuck
09 The Whistle
10 Drop Off
11 Wherever I Go
12 Koto Gotan
13 A Day To God Is 1,000 Years
14 Cherry Range
15 The Birth
16 See The Joy

The RZA has been thinking globally and speaking eloquently as of late. He recently told British magazine Bang that "the rest of the world really doesn't get much back from the U.S. I just thought we needed reminding that hip hop is a global culture. And that realizing it is surely the next step for rap: taking on voices that aren't just bling-blinging it, and have more to say than the rapidly dwindling things that American rappers have to say. How many times can you list your riches and your capacity for violence?"

To address this very real and timely rap impasse, RZA recently released The World According to RZA, a collection of international rappers from Sweden, France, Norway, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere, flowing in their own languages on RZA tracks. Aside from working on his solo album and the new Wu-Tang group effort, he's also been working on the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's new chopsocky-with-swords epic Kill Bill, which, if it shapes up similarly to his score for Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog, should be a fine thing indeed. Ooh... ah... ooh... ah...

Sanctuary: http://www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com

Carissa's Wierd Split Amicably
Free to re-record same songs as coke-fueled hardcore outfit Carissa's Wired

[Posted Wednesday, September 24th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

According to reliable sources close to the band, spelling-deficient Seattle indie darlings Carissa's Wierd have come to a friendly split. There are two farewell shows (with an early one for the kiddies) at Seattle's Crocodile Cafe on November 2nd, with details on the Sad Robot Records website.

Carissa's Wierd began in 1996 as an acoustic collaboration between Tucson, AZ natives Mat Brooke and Jenn Ghetto, who both ferociously vowed to (mis)spell their band's name any damn way they pleased. After moving to Seattle, they released their first album, Ugly But Honest, on friend Ben Bridwell's Brown Records in late 1999. After adding Bridwell on drums as well as a rotation of violinists, they released 2001's You Should Be at Home Here. Both records received widespread critical acclaim throughout the Pacific Northwest for being really beautiful and quiet and still somehow tough. You Should Be at Home Here even began to outsell Weezer's 2001 "Green Album" in some Seattle independent retail stores.

Carissa's Wierd added keyboards, violin, and bass for 2002's Songs About Leaving, released on Sad Robot Records (also home to Terror Sheets and Sin Ropas). Again, critics throughout the Northwest named this new record to year-end top 10 lists, with Seattle weekly The Stranger naming it number one. The band spent 2003 heavily touring the United States prior to the split.

Ghetto will continue with her solo project S and her metal two-piece Crictor, while Brooke and Bridwell are rumored to be heading south to Los Angeles to collaborate with some former members of Treepeople.

Sad Robot: http://www.sadrobotrecords.com

Six Parts Seven Split EP with Black Keys; Draft Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine, Pedro The Lion, Black Heart Procession For Remix LP
Flaming Lips feel so left out

[Posted Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 05:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

For men so devoted to the slow, careful development of sound, Ohio's Six Parts Seven sure like to keep busy. First up is a split EP with fellow Ohioites The Black Keys, which, although Six Parts Seven's role only consists of only one track, promises to offer "a blissful taste of what's to come on their fourth full-length," according to the Suicide Squeeze website. The Black Keys' offerings are slightly more substantial, with three tracks culled from a live recording on WMBR-- one song from each of their full-lengths, and one from an early Alive Records seven-incher. The CD EP came out just last week on Suicide Squeeze. Tracklist:

01 Six Parts Seven: "A Blueprint of Something Never Finished"
02 The Black Keys: "Thickfreakness" [live on WMBR]
03 The Black Keys: "The Moan" [live on WMBR]
04 The Black Keys: "Yearniní" [live on WMBR]

Second on the docket is the November release of Six Parts Seven's (sorta) remix project, also on Suicide Squeeze. Titled Lost Notes From Forgotten Songs, the album consists of tracks from their back catalog, in addition to the new track above, bequeathed to indie luminaries like Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse and David Bazan of Pedro the Lion for vocal additions, massive reworkings, and/or basically whatever the chosen artist wanted to do to them. You can download a taste of the album from the Suicide Squeeze website in the form of the Iron & Wine-overdubbed version of "Sleeping Diagonally." Overly-clever titling concept aside (see below), it bodes well for the project as a whole. In any case, Lost Notes From Forgotten Songs is scheduled for release on November 11th (though Suicide Squeeze has it available for pre-order as we speak). Tracklist:

01 Sleeping Diagonally (re-made by Sam Beam of Iron & Wine)
02 On Marriage (re-defined by Jenn Ghetto & Mat Brooke of Carissa's Weird)
03 From California to Houston, on Lightspeed (re-volutionized by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse)
04 Song of Impossible Things (re-alized by Will Johnson of Centro-matic)
05 Seems Like Most Everything Used to be Something Else (re-assembled by Pall Jenkins of The Black Heart Procession)
06 Attitudes of Collapse (re-shaped by John Atkins of The Magic Magicians)
07 Now Like Photographs (re-invented by Brian Straw)
08 Cold Things Never Catch Fire (re-vitalized by Katie Eastburn of Young People)
09 A Blueprint of Something Never Finished (re-deemed by David Bazan of Pedro the Lion)

And what do you do once you've released a split EP and a remix album, but you're not quite ready to head into the studio and record your next album? Why, you tour, of course. No, it may not be an original idea, but they're married to it anyway-- those Six Parts Seven t-shirts won't wear themselves, people! They hit most of the U.S. in October and November, and here are the perts:

10-02 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar (w/ Centro-matic, Glossary)
10-03 Madison, WI - Toronto Club Corral Room (w/ Centro-matic)
10-04 Chicago, IL - Subterranean (w/ Centro-Matic)
10-05 Hamtramck, MI - Small's (w/ Leaving Rouge)
10-07 Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe Live
10-08 Philadelphia, PA - Fire / The Philadelphia Bar and Grille
10-10 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
10-11 Brooklyn, NY - Luxx (w/ The Neal Pollack Invasion)
10-13 Greensboro, NC - Gate City Noise *
10-14 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge *
10-15 Atlanta, GA - Echo Lounge
10-16 Tampa, FL - TBA *
10-17 Orlando, FL - Will's Pub *
10-18 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds
10-19 Baton Rouge, LA - Rotolos (w/ Always the Runner) *
10-20 Houston, TX - Fat Cats *
10-21 Austin, TX - The Carousel Lounge *
10-22 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves *
10-23 Oklahoma City, OK - The Conservatory *
10-24 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge (w/ Papa M) *
10-25 Colorado Springs, CO - 32 Bleu *
10-26 Albuquerque, NM - Atomic Cantina *
10-27 Phoenix, AZ - Modified *
10-28 Los Angeles, CA - Silverlake Lounge *
10-29 Goleta, CA - The Hard to Find Showspace *
10-30 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
11-01 Portland, OR - TBA (w/ Other Men My Age) *
11-02 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe

* with Summer Hymns

Six Parts Seven: http://www.6parts7.com
Suicide Squeeze: http://www.suicidesqueeze.net

Apples' Hilarie Sidney Teams with Oranger, Von Hemmling, Palermo Members For New Band
Kathy Griffin in fierce power struggle with Debbie Gibson for control of Secret Square

[Posted Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 05:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

As any Elephant 6 aficionado knows, Apples In Stereo songwriter/vocalist/drummer Hilarie Sidney has suffered somewhat from the John Entwistle syndrome-- no, really, think her "Winter Must Be Cold" to Entwistle's "Boris the Spider." With her contributions usually limited to one or two tracks an album with the Apples, Sidney had been looking for an outlet for her songs, and found it when she met Per Ole Bratset, guitarist for Norwegian band Palermo.

After meeting at an Apples show in Oslo, they began communicating via e-mail and writing songs by sending four-track recordings back and forth. Bratset has since moved to the U.S., and they've spent the last four months recording and playing some initial shows as The High Water Marks. In a phone interview, Sidney elaborated on the new band and her motivations: "I'm just really excited to be doing something new," Sidney told Pitchfork. "Per and I collaborate on pretty much all of the songs, and the whole process just goes really fast. With the Apples, everything seems to take a really long time-- that's just how it works with us-- but I've really been inspired to write more, now that I have an outlet for it. We're recording stuff all the time."

The High Water Marks consist of Sidney on guitar and vocals, Bratset on guitar and vocals, Jim Lindsay (Oranger, Preston School of Industry) on drums, and Mike Snowden (Von Hemmling) on bass. They've already completed their first album, which is currently untitled, with plans to mix and master it with the Apples' Robert Schneider at Pet Sounds (his Lexington, KY home studio) this fall or winter. According to Sidney, The High Water Marks are currently in negotiations for their debut to be released on LA's Eenie Meenie Records, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, it'll be out around March 2004. They're also planning to record several more songs in October for an upcoming EP, and Sidney says they hope to make it out to CMJ next month for some live shows as well. Songs recorded for inclusion on the record include:

Good I Feel Bad
About the Ocean
Slow Hand (No, Not That One)
Five Thousand
Second Time
Feel Everything
High Water Marks
6th of July
National Time
Things to Do
The Leaves
Queen of Verlaine
Suicide

The High Water Marks is not Sidney's first side project-- in 1995, she teamed with friend Lisa Janssen to form Secret Square, whose self-titled debut single and EP were both released on Elephant 6 within a year of being recorded. However, the project proved to be short-lived and Sidney's songwriting continued to grace Apples albums and EP's with memorable tracks like "Silver Chain," "Questions and Answers," "20 Cases Suggestive Of..." and "I Want."

As reported in yesterday's Newswire, Schneider also has a new side project, Ulysses, and plans to issue seven-inch singles from both his own band and The High Water Marks on his new label Optical Records Mfg. in the coming year. The Apples In Stereo, though currently on hiatus and with members split between Denver, CO and Lexington, are also set to reconvene in early 2004 for a possible tour and to record tracks for their fifth full-length (already tentatively titled The Novelty of the Manor, according to unofficial fansite Elephant6.com).

The Apples In Stereo: http://www.applesinstereo.com
Elephant 6: http://www.elephant6.com

Constantines Extend Fall Tour with Weakerthans, Quasi, Don Caballero
Great White skip the fireworks, go straight for the PCP

[Posted Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 05:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

The Constantines are extending their fall tour right on into November, according to the lads' legal guardians/trust fund custodians at Sub Pop. Specifically, The Constantines will be adding additional North American dates to their ongoing tour (hey, they're from Ontario; you can't blame them for wanting to tour Canada, too). Hopefully this time their drummer will stay away from those damned dirty fences. Don Caballero and Quasi, among others, will be joining them for some of the dates, which should make for some sick double-bills.

Constantines vocalist/guitarist Bryan Webb has been keeping a tour journal online on the group's Sub Pop homepage, with potentially lurid tour details along the lines of "We left Toronto yesterday and drove to The Sault. We couldn't get a show in the Sault, because the last time we were there, Will took some PCP and set off some fireworks in the police station. These things happen."

Or this jewel: "Seattle was a good time. Some Sub Pop executives took us out to dinner before the show and we ate things we had never heard of before. Dallas had the cherry glazed tri-tip with garlic mashed potatoes. The show was all right, but the softness of the Graceland stage made it sound like we were playing with mittens on. We woke up the next day and played an in-store, meeting very nice people and feeling very strange sweating all over the place while people were shopping." Ain't no thang, Bryan-- most people break out in a cold sweat when they see the price stickers in record stores nowadays. Well, the people that aren't cackling with laughter anyway.

Sounds like good times. Hijinks abound. The dates:

09-25 Oklahoma City, OK - Green Door *
09-26 St. Louis, MS - Creepy Crawl *
09-27 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge *
09-28 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge * Mad Planet *
10-01 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock *
10-10 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe (w/ Quasi)
10-11 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe
10-14 Peterborough, Ontario - Trasheteria
10-15 Kingston, Ontario - Scherzo
10-16 Montreal, Quebec - La Salla Rosa
10-17 Brockville, Ontario - Baptist Church
10-18 Ottawa, Ontario - Kosmic
10-23 Boston, MA - Middle East +
10-24 Philadelphia, PA - Khyber +
10-25 New York, NY - Piano's
10-25 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (CMJ showcase)
10-26 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar +
10-29 Atlanta, GA - Echo +
11-02 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop (w/ Quasi)
11-08 Hamilton, Ontario - Underground
11-13 Guelph, Ontario - Trasheteria (w/ Sour Keys)
11-14 London, Ontario - TBA
11-15 Waterloo, Ontario - Starlight Social Club

* with The Weakerthans
+ with Don Caballero

The Constantines: http://www.constantines.ca
Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com

"Previously Unreleased" R.E.M. Tracks Previously Released
Band appalled to be pushing their greatest hits at the same time as Bush

[Updated Friday, September 26th, 2003 01:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

The tracklist for the bonus disc to R.E.M.'s forthcoming In Time best-of collection has been revealed by Swedish retailer CDON.com and mirrored on R.E.M. fansite Murmurs.com. Contrary to early reports that the disc would contain almost completely new music, the 15-track platter is actually a rather disappointing hodgepodge of Warner-era b-sides and live cuts, not to mention what has to be the worst R.E.M. song of all time (worse even than "Tongue"): "It's A Free World, Baby." Other curiousities include William S. Burroughs' surreal vocal on the Automatic For The People cut "Star Me Kitten" (which sounds, oddly, like a heavily sedated Walter Cronkite headlining a Rollins poetry slam circa 1994) and the hard-rocking but lyrically embarassing "Revolution."

Proving once and for all that the tastemakers in charge of dispensing R.E.M.'s back catalog have no taste, actually fun covers of Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, Syd Barrett, and Richard Thompson are eschewed here in favor of craptastic tracks that the band gets publishing royalties for. Guess we'll have to wait for the Rhino box set in 2013 to hear some of the really good stuff. Tracklist:

01 Pop Song 89 [acoustic version]
02 Turn You Inside-Out [live, from Tourfilm]
03 Fretless [from Until The End of the World soundtrack]
04 Chance (Dub)
05 It's A Free World Baby [from the Friends soundtrack]
06 Drive [live, from Alternative NRG compilation]
07 Star Me Kitten [William S. Burroughs vocal]
08 Revolution [from the Batman and Robin soundtrack]
09 Leave [alternate version from A Life Less Ordinary soundtrack]
10 Why Not Smile [alternate version]
11 The Lifting [demo]
12 Beat A Drum [demo]
13 2JN
14 The One I Love [live at the Museum of Radio and Television]
15 Country Feedback [live in Wiesbaden, Germany 2003]

As previously reported, the bonus disc will be included in the massive first pressing of In Time, which is due October 28th on Warner Bros.

R.E.M.: http://www.remhq.com
Murmurs: http://www.murmurs.com

Teenage Fanclub Retrospective Gets U.S. Release
If only to remind Chris Ott of all the lonesome used-bin copies of "Bandwagonesque"

[Posted Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 05:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Teenage Fanclub, purveyors of epic Scottish power pop (bet you never thought you'd see all of those words in the same sentence in that particular order) are releasing a career-spanning retrospective, Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds: A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub on Jetset Records, due out on October 7th. The album will include an overview of the band's six-album oeuvre, along with three new tracks, "The World'll Be OK," "Empty Space," and "Did I Say." Tracklist:

01 The Concept
02 Ain't That Enough
03 The World'll Be OK
04 Everything Flows
05 Star Sign
06 Mellow Doubt
07 I Need Direction
08 About You
09 What You Do To Me
10 Empty Space
11 Sparky's Dream
12 I Don't Want Control Of You
13 Hang On
14 Did I Say
15 Don't Look Back
16 Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From
17 Neil Jung
18 Radio
19 Dumb Dumb Dumb
20 Planets
21 My Uptight Life

You will note that we are calling this a retrospective and not a greatest -hits album because, well, Teenage Fanclub haven't really had any hits, as such. In fact, some might say that they're one of the most criminally overlooked bands of our times. Beginning in 1990 with A Catholic Education, the Fanclub proceeded to pick up Big Star's mantle and run with it all the way to lamentable obscurity (although there was a brief flirtation with fame in the UK with Bandwagonesque and its subsequent releases), bouncing from label to label, major and minor, including Matador, Sony, Geffen, Thirsty Ear and Alternative Tentacles, to name but a handful.

Among other things, Teenage Fanclub were notable for the presence of three equally gifted and timesharing singer/songwriters in Norman Blake, Gerard Love and Raymond McGinley. And while there were always more hooks and harmonies than you could shake a stick at, and an accompanying boatload of critical acclaim (Spin magazine called Bandwagonesque "the greatest album made by white people in ten years"), commercial breakthrough just never quite happened. It so never happened, in fact, that as recently as 2002 the band hooked up with Jad Fair and made a really weird album called Words of Wisdom and Hope that we're still scratching our heads about. And it looks like Jetset will also be just a temporary port-of-call, as label representatives tell us that they have no plans for Teenage Fanclub releases beyond this compilation. But there's a special place in rock 'n' roll heaven for the Fanclub, of that you can be sure.

Teenage Fanclub: http://www.teenagefanclub.co.uk
Jetset: http://www.jetsetrecords.com

Town and Country Tour Eastern U.S.
Post-rock you like a really slow-moving, metaphorical hurricane

[Posted Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 05:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

According to the official Thrill Jockey website, Chicago post-rockers/ classical revisionists/ cerebrally droning experimenters Town and Country are striking out on tour to enlighten the masses' stagnant asses with their minimal and affectless chamber music. Listening to Town and Country is kind of like reading Derrida; they use music to make high-brow statements about music, the same way Derrida uses language to make high-brow statements about language-- although in both cases the result is often more "interesting" than aesthetically pleasing, more obfuscating than edifying. It's music that's meant to make a statement about music, rather than to rouse an emotional response, which is fine-- theoretically.

Unfortunately, the statement often seems to be that the Town and Country are really, really boring, and should only be listened to by MFA candidates who hate fun and melody... and probably puppies. Frankly, I don't even know how rock comes into the equation here, even the dubious category christened post-rock. Maybe it's rock for people who use air-quotes whenever they say anything that isn't completely abstract and value-neutral, and who can only watch Hollywood films when they tell themselves and anyone within earshot that it's purely for the cultural anthropology aspect.

Town and Country have recently released their fifth record, 5, on Thrill Jockey, and it's yet another platter of meandering acoustic music extemporized around pre-arranged structures, like a jazz combo who are more interested in ephemera and reiteration than in melody and rhythm. The players met in a series of improv sessions with other Chicago cognoscenti such as Jim O'Rourke and Ken Vandermark. Perhaps one day, they'll collaborate with Keith Fullerton Whitman and Stars Of The Lid, coalescing into a somnolent supergroup that will put the world to sleep once and for all. Get your snooze on at any of the following dates:

09-23 Philadelphia, PA - Tritone
09-24 Harrisonburg, VA - Artful Dodger
09-25 Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum (w/ Kopernik)
09-26 Asheville, NC - Vincent's Ear (w/ Ether Bunnies)
09-27 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
09-28 Lexington, KY - Mecca
09-29 Newport, KY - Southgate House Parlor
10-23 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle (record release party)

Thrill Jockey: http://www.thrilljockey.com

Apples In Stereo / Elephant 6 Founder Robert Schneider Starts New Band, Label
New outfit Ulysses plot meandering 10-year tour of Mediterranean

[Posted Monday, September 22nd, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Since the unofficial dissolution of the musical leviathan that is (or was) Elephant 6, one thing has become abundantly clear-- it doesn't necessarily mean all that much. All of the principals that founded the damn thing in the first place continue to make very similar music. The worship of Brian Wilson and '60s pastiche pop continues unabated, and bands influenced by, and related to E6, continue to form and develop around the same ethos championed by the original Elephant 6-ers. Such is the case with the latest entrants in the canon-- separate side projects from the Apples' Robert Schneider and Hilarie Sidney. Pitchfork spoke with both Schneider and Sidney about their new bands, the future of the Apples In Stereo, and the (California?) demise of Elephant 6.

With The Apples on temporary hiatus, Schneider is putting his efforts into a new project, Ulysses, as well as launching a label, Optical Records Mfg., with good friend Amanda Burford. Schneider, who relocated to Lexington, KY last year, was impressed by local band Big Fresh and tapped two of its members for his latest project. "Big Fresh is really amazing, and these two kids just seemed like they'd be perfect for Ulysses. John [Ferguson, Ulysses' drummer] is a great singer, and he writes incredible harmonies. I'm kinda singing in a lower register, and John comes up with all these great parts." Ulysses' other member is Ben Fulton, who provides the synthesizers and bass.

Schneider says the focus and sound of the band is significantly different from the Apples. "Without going into it too much, I had just been going through a lot in my life, and a lot of these songs come from that. It kind of forced me to dig deeper, emotionally, and it's really taken my lyrics to a new level." During the conversation, Schneider name-checks influences like The Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine (!), The Cars, and Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain-- not your typical Apples source material. "I got tired of writing songs with chords, and I was playing around with lots of open tunings, or just a couple of fingers on the guitar at a time, where the other strings ring out and create cool harmonics. The sound is a lot more sad, spacey, droney, and clean [than the Apples]-- it's new wave, basically. I'm trying to do everything differently with this band."

Although Schneider writes the majority of songs for Ulysses, some are collaborative, and Ferguson has also contributed a couple of original songs. The band is concentrating on practicing right now, although they will be playing a few shows in New York to coincide with this October's CMJ festival. Schneider says they intend to track much of the album live-to-tape, possibly with Jason Falkner (Jellyfish, TV Eyes) at his home studio. Schneider hopes to have Ulysses' debut out by spring 2004, though at present he's not sure what label might be releasing it. Some tracks being considered for the album (in no particular order) include:

Evening Star
Silver Flight
Vacant
The Falcon
Frustrated
Burning You
Mission in Moonbeams
Glacier
Her Silver Veil
Seven Seizures
Television
Change

First up, though, will be a seven-inch single on Optical, with the cuts "Push You Away" and "Castles In Spain." Optical, in fact, will concentrate on seven-inchers for the moment: Schneider prefers the DIY aspect, for one thing, and the relative speed and ease of release. "I'm just really excited about starting up, finding cool acts to sign, and getting their music out there," Schneider told Pitchfork. He's also got single releases from Von Hemmling, Palermo, The High Water Marks (Sidney's project, more on that tomorrow), Hair Police, and Oranger in the works.

Of course, that's not the only project on the burner, as Schneider's Marbles moniker continues to provide an outlet for his assorted solo recordings. To somewhat confuse the matter, the next Marbles release will be called Orchestre Fantastique, which had previously been the name under which he had recorded some soundtrack music, and was expected to be the band name for his collaboration with Andy Partridge of XTC. However, according to Schneider, that project is on indefinite hold. "Andy is an amazing songwriter, and we worked really well together, and I had a great time with it. It just seemed like it was taking a really long time, which may have been frustrating to him. We wrote like thirty or thirty-five songs together, incredible songs, and we may come back and finish it, but right now it's just sitting there."

Schneider also elaborated on the status of Elephant 6. "As far as an actual functioning entity, yeah, it's pretty much over. There's just no one putting effort into it, and the logo isn't on any of the newer releases, so officially that's it, but you know, obviously the ethos is still there, the DIY, the home recording, the focus on just making great records. And I think a lot of the bands feel more free to focus on their own stuff that way, and not spread themselves so thin. I was doing so much producing, and playing on other bands' stuff, and I just wondered what would happen if I could focus all that energy and all those ideas on my [own] stuff, and make it that much better." He also confirmed that a final E6 compilation is in the works, but didn't have any further details on a possible release date or the contents.

However, Pet Sounds (Schneider's home studio) is up and functioning in Kentucky, and The Apples are still together and planning for the future, although the remaining members still live in Denver. They're planning to head into the studio in early 2004, possibly following a U.S. tour at the beginning of next year. No decision yet on who they'll record their next album with, or where.

In tomorrow's Newswire we'll be back with complete details on Sidney's new project with members of Palermo, Oranger, and Von Hemmling: The High Water Marks. According to Sidney, their debut album is complete and should be released next spring on Los Angeles-based indie Eenie Meenie. Stay tuned!

The Apples In Stereo: http://www.applesinstereo.com
Elephant 6: http://www.elephant6.com

Belle and Sebastian Announce Fall U.S. Tour
Traveling under the pseudonym "Rupert Murdoch"

[Posted Monday, September 22nd, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

If you're tired of just sitting around the house, knitting, and putting together 10,000-piece Edward Hopper art puzzles, Belle and Sebastian just happen to be packing up their clarinets for a fall tour of the New World. After reading Friday's Pitchfork news story on the release of their new Rough Trade LP, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, the odds-and-ends Jeepster Records Fans Only DVD, the Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before... compilation, and Isobel Campbell's solo debut Amorino, the band's management realized that the precocious Glaswegians had the makings of a killer merch table and that a North American tour was probably in order.

Accordingly, les mademoiselles Belle and monsieures Sebastian have announced on their official website a string of fifteen U.S. and Canadian shows for October and November, with more details to be announced shortly. Noting that the band is taking October 31st off, we formally invite Belle and Sebastian to join the Pitchfork staff for trick-or-treating in the Chicago suburbs. Rumor has it that both B&S editor-in-chief Stuart Murdoch and Pitchfork frontman Ryan Schreiber plan to sport fake mustaches, New York Mets helmets, and high-heeled shoes on the big night. Catfight! Now, without further ado:

10-26 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
10-27 Durham, NC - Carolina Theatre
10-28 Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club
10-30 Chicago, IL - Congress Theatre
11-02 Austin, TX - The Backyard
11-04 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
11-05 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
11-06 Columbus, OH - Mershon Auditorium
11-07 Detroit, MI - State Theatre
11-08 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall
11-10 New York, NY - Town Hall
11-11 New York, NY - Town Hall
11-12 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre
11-13 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
11-14 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theatre

Belle and Sebastian: http://www.dearcatastrophewaitress.com
Rough Trade: http://www.roughtrade.com
Jeepster: http://www.jeepster.co.uk

Broken Social Scene, Black Dice, "Galaxie 500" To Play Pop Montreal
Voulez-vous rock avec moi, ce soir?

[Posted Monday, September 22nd, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Nirvana was a relatively unknown British psychedelic-pop band, first appearing in the late 1960's with the science-fiction concept album The Story of Simon Simopath. For the most part, they remained slept-on until 1996 when DJ Shadow included a sample of the non-album cut "Love Suite" in the amazing "Stem/Long Stem" off Endtroducing... That, and the fact that they share their name with one of rock 'n' roll's most popular and important bands. No one could blame Kurt Cobain for the coincidence, and he graciously resolved all potential legal disputes by allowing the re-formed UK Nirvana to include a cover of "Lithium" on their comeback album, Chemistry, royalty-free. Moreover, the original Nirvana happily welcomed renewed interest in their catalog over the past decade as a collateral benefit of the Seattle Nirvana's tremendous fame.

However, it's hard to believe the situation would have been so amicably settled were a fledgling band of today to try and capitalize on the now-ubiquitous moniker. Yes, you may name your child Mr. Mister and may even release an album entitled Chinese Democracy just to piss off Axl (as The Offspring plan to do). However, your band should sincerely reconsider calling itself Mothers of Invention, Pet Shop Boys, The Wailers, or Tina Turner if you ever expect to be taken seriously. Trik Turner, maybe. Otherwise, leave the greats alone.

This is the advice we at Pitchfork have for the Quebecois band Galaxie 500, who will be playing on the second day of the Pop Montreal Festival later this week. Upon receiving the four-day music fest and conference press release, an initial tremor of excitement shot through the whole Newswire staff (strangely enough, the inclusion of a band named Launnie Andersohn didn't have any effect at all). Like most blue-blooded American boys who used his record collection and the doob to score chicks in college, I could barely contain myself at the prospect of a Galaxie 500 reunion, if only to prevent future sonic crimes at the hands of Damon & Naomi. A brief e-mail relay with the coordinators of the event dashed my hopes, though, with the explanation that the Montreal band calling themselves Galaxie 500 had never even heard of the original band when they chose their name. Fucking Loonies.

"Galaxie 500" aside, the Pop Montreal Festival (which runs from September 25th to 28th) boasts a pretty impressive lineup. Broken Social Scene, Shalibi Effect, Buck 65, Stars, Queens of the Stone Age, Tiga, Black Dice, Wolf Eyes, Sloan and Distillers will all perform while Arts and Crafts Records, 2WARS vs. The Grill and Stomp Records will host loft parties. Conference topics include "Artists in a Time of War," "Fame and Responsibility" and "Art as Commerce vs. Art and Commerce." Festival passes which grant access to concerts and events at over twenty locations are available. Here's the complete lineup:

Thursday, September 25th:
Buck 65
Frederic Gary Comeau
Sloan
Ambulance
Superfriendz
Stars
Metric
Washington Social Club
Edward Kas-Pel
Montag
High Dials
Eve Cournoyer
Graph Nobel
Bell Orchestre
Peter Elkas
Steve Shiffman
Les Ogres des Barback
Rude Mechanicals

Friday, September 26th:
Broken Social Scene
Besnard Lakes
The Sharp Things
Sans Pression
Eternia
Warsawpaet
Shades of Culture
Shalabi Effect
Soft Canyon
The Unicorns
The Sailors
The Bamboo Kids
Lisa Gamble
"Galaxie 500"
Les Breastfeeders
L'Attack
Controller. Controller
Pony Da Look
The Spins
Starvin Hungry
Poxy
Perf erf erf

Saturday, September 27th:
Hawksley Workman
The Arcade Fire
Phaser
Bionic<
Le Nombre
Tanglers
Hawaii
Fembots
Mathew Barber
Lady Lustre
No Use For a Name
None More Black
Irish Car Bombs
The Dears
Junior Pantherz
The Sadies
Cuff The Duke
Tiga
Chrome
Evening
Hrd Vsion
Cha Cha Chernobly
Echoe Kitty
Le Karloff Orchestra
Spitfires
Mayflowers
Les Mods
greatlakeswimmers

Sunday, September 28th:
Morning Star
Julie Doiron
Swearing at Motorists
Black Dice
Wolf Eyes
Et Sans
Raised Fist
21st Impact
Queens of the Stone Age
Distillers
Millionaires
The Faunts
Maginot
Milk
Launnie Andersohn
Montrealshowcase

Pop Montreal: http://www.popmontreal.com

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