Elvis Costello Releasing Three-Volume, 35xCD Singles Collection
"My god, it's full of b-sides" --Arthur C. Clarke

[Posted Thursday, November 6th, 2003 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Josh Bauchner and Will Bryant report:
Yeah, you read that right: this week Demon Records released a three-volume, 35 CD, 97-track retrospective of Elvis Costello's UK singles drawing from the wealth of seven- and twelve-inchers produced in his first ten years of commercial activity, 1977-1987. Each singles box will contain twelve CD's (actually, the third box has just eleven), each with facsimile packaging (cardsleeves with the original artwork) as that of the original single, with the tracks originally included on the seven-inch and/or twelve-inch. Singles Costello released under various noms des plume including The Imposter, The Coward Brothers, The Costello Show, and The MacManus Gang are included in the second and third boxes.

The first box contains all of Costello's early singles from My Aim Is True on through Get Happy!!, including three 1977 live tracks that backed "Watching The Detectives" and a live version of the Damned's "Neat Neat Neat." The box also includes a live "Miracle Man" that originally appeared on the synth-heavy U.S. single version of "Alison," though the offending mix itself is excluded. Most of Costello's early b-sides were album tracks and/or later disseminated on your pick of singles compilations, including 1980's U.S.-oriented collection Taking Liberties and its UK counterpart, Ten Bloody Marys and Ten How's Your Fathers. Both compilations have gone out of print; most (but not all) of the b-sides are included on Rhino's exhaustive series of double-disc Costello reissues.

The second box is somewhat more substantial, with the most attractive lures being the full set of b-sides from 1982's "I'm Your Toy (Hot Burrito #1)" single. In addition to the live-with-orchestra version of the Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Brothers classic, the single on the box restores Almost Blue outtakes that have never appeared on CD, including versions of The Browns' "Wondering," Janis Martin's "Blues Keep Calling," and Loretta Lynn's "Honky Tonk Girl." The next-to-last disc in the set is also notable, as it contains "Party Party," a lightweight 1982 single written in support of a forgettable '80s British ripoff of Animal House. Costello has all but disavowed the song, which subsequently has received much more attention from bootleggers and diehard fans than it rightfully deserves.

The third box is notable mainly for its wealth of no-doubt-hilarious '80s dance mixes from Costello's most artistically challenged period, between Punch The Clock and Blood and Chocolate. Some of the juicier extracts include a live radio broadcast of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" from 1986, the Coward Brothers' cover of Leon Payne's "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me" (the brothers in question actually consisting of Costello and T-Bone Burnett), and an acoustic version of "I Hope You're Happy Now" passed over twice by reissues of Blood and Chocolate (Costello must really have it in for that one). Here's the complete tracklists (don't forget to breathe):

Singles, Vol. 1:
Disc one: "Less Than Zero" [single mix] /"Radio Sweetheart" [single mix]
Disc two: "Alison" /"Welcome To The Working Week"
Disc three: "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" /"Mystery Dance"
Disc four: "Watching The Detectives" /"Blame It On Cain" [live] /"Mystery Dance" [live] /"Miracle Man" [live]
Disc five: "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea" /"You Belong To Me"
Disc six: "Stranger In The House" /"Neat Neat Neat" [live]
Disc seven: "Pump It Up" /"Big Tears"
Disc eight: "Radio Radio" /"Tiny Steps"
Disc nine: "Talking In The Dark" /"Wednesday Week"
Disc ten: "Oliver's Army" /"My Funny Valentine"
Disc eleven: "Accidents Will Happen" /"Talking In The Dark" /"Wednesday Week"
Disc twelve: "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" /"Girls Talk"

Singles, Vol. 2:
Disc one: "High Fidelity"/ "Getting Mighty Crowded"/ "Clowntime Is Over No.2"
Disc two: "New Amsterdam"/ "Dr Luther's Assistant"/ "Ghost Train"/ "Just A Memory"
Disc three: "Clubland"/ "Clean Money"/ "Hoover Factory"
Disc four: "From A Whisper To A Scream"/ "Luxembourg"
Disc five: "Good Year For The Roses"/ "Your Angel Steps Out Of Heaven"
Disc six: "Sweet Dreams"/ "Psycho" [live]
Disc seven: "I'm Your Toy (Hot Burrito #1)" [live]/ "Cry Cry Cry"/ "Wondering"/ "My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You"/ "Blues Keep Calling"/ "Honky Tonk Girl"
Disc eight: "You Little Fool"/ "Big Sister"/ "The Stamping Ground"
Disc nine: "Man Out Of Time"/ "Town Cryer" [alternate version]/ "Imperial Bedroom"
Disc ten: "From Head To Toe"/ "The World Of Broken Hearts"
Disc eleven: "Party Party"/ "Imperial Bedroom"
Disc twelve: "Pills And Soap"/ "Pills And Soap" [extended version]

Singles, Vol. 3:
Disc one: "Everyday I Write The Book" /"Heathen Town" /"Night Time" /"Everyday I Write The Book" [extended mix]/ "Everyday I Write The Book" [special version]/ "Everyday I Write The Book" [instrumental]
Disc two: "Let Them All Talk" /"The Flirting Kind" /"Let Them All Talk" [extended remix]
Disc three: "Peace In Our Time" /"Withered And Died"
Disc four: "I Wanna Be Loved" /"Turning The Town Red" /"I Wanna Be Loved" [extended Smoochy 'N'Runny version] /"I Wanna Be Loved" [version discotheque]
Disc five: "The Only Flame In Town" /"The Comedians" /"Baby It's You" [with Nick Lowe]" /"The Only Flame In Town [version discotheque]" /"Pump It Up" [1984 dance mix]
Disc six: "The People's Limousine" /"They'll Never Take Her Love From Me"
Disc seven: "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" /"Baby's Got A Brand New Hairdo" /"Get Yourself Another Fool" /"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" [live]
Disc eight: "Tokyo Storm Warning (Part 1)" /"Tokyo Storm Warning (Part 2)" /"Black Sails In The Sunset"
Disc nine: "I Want You" /"I Hope You're Happy Now" [acoustic version]
Disc ten: "Blue Chair" [single version] /"American Without Tears No.2" [Twilight version] /"Shoes Without Heels"
Disc eleven: "A Town Called Big Nothing (Really Big Nothing)" /"Return To Big Nothing" /"A Town Called Big Nothing (The Long March)"

Surely Costello is the hardest working man in rock and sappy jazz ballads, as evidenced by his almost never-ending tour of the U.S., Japan, and Europe. He is currently supporting his newest work, North, of course, the jazzy and orchestral buzzkill of a record that currently resides at the number one position on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums Chart, as touted by Costello's official website-- tip-top job, mate, congrats from all of us Pitchforkers!

According to John Everingham, the all-knowing webmaster of www.elviscostello.info, a larger tour is being planned for 2004 in support of North, and Costello will be hitting up one of the few continents he missed last time around: the land that time forgot, also known as Australia. Also planned for 2004 is an orchestral release, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Stealing from the Bard now are ya, Elvis? Dirty bastard (old).

Elvis Costello Info: http://www.elviscostello.info
Elvis Costello: http://www.elviscostello.com

Secret Machines Announce East Coast Tour
OMG and the WTF's still shopping that demo

[Posted Thursday, November 6th, 2003 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

The Year 2002 brought us a lot of great things, but all I can remember is the heartbreak! Oh, and it was pretty solid in terms of music. Last year saw the release of the Secret Machines' first outing, September 000, a beautifully sparse and inventive pop EP. While marvelous, the EP showed above all "a promise of even better things to come," as my friend Joshua Sharp likes to say. As Sharp himself reported, the band has completed their debut full-length, set for a February release on Sire Records. While we wait, the group has planned a handful of live gigs. So check them out, asshole! God, and you owe me two months' rent. And that Yaz poster didn't pay for itself. Dates:

11-07 Hartford, CT - Webster Theatre
11-08 Albany, NY - Valentine's
11-19 Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar
11-26 Brooklyn, NY - North Six
11-28 New York, NY - Sin-E
12-04 Philladelphia, PA - Khyber Pass
12-05 Harrisburg, PA - Gullifty's Underground
12-06 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Small's Fun House

The Secret Machines: http://www.thesecretmachines.com
Sire: http://www.sirerecords.com
Ace Fu: http://www.acefu.com

Cass McCombs Adds Tour Dates, Signs To 4AD Europe
"No, I was never in the Pogues. Why do you ask?"

[Posted Thursday, November 6th, 2003 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

According to the official Monitor Records website, indie rock piano-man Cass McCombs, who so far as we know is not related to the Mama responsible for unleashing "California Dreamin'" and an apocryphal ham sandwich on the world, has added a grip of tour dates to his existing fall schedule. Having just wrapped up a handful of U.S. dates with the Shins, Papa M, and the Anomoanon, McCombs now boldly ventures overseas, where his stagemates will include the New Pornographers, The Fire Theft, and the Fiery Furnaces.

McCombs has plenty to celebrate across the pond-- most notably, his signing to 4AD outside the U.S., where the Not The Way EP will see release next week and his Monitor full-length A will be unleashed sometime in January.

McCombs' bio on the Monitor Records website boldly plunges into new micro-genres where more sober heads would fear to tread: his style is described as "post-nostalgia" and "new-old-school." We have no idea what that means either, but it sounds pretty fierce, if by fierce you mean perplexing. McCombs's deliberately paced, piano- and reverb-drenched singer/songwriter fare distinguishes itself from the pack by dint of a formal cohesiveness often absent from the genre, and by his curiously opaque lyrics, which will manifest to the listener as sweetly sincere or mutedly ironic depending on said listener's sensibility-- think (Smog). Le new tour dates:

11-10 London, England - Metro (w/ Fiery Furnaces)
11-11 London, England - Cargo (w/ The New Pornographers)
11-13 Colchester, England - Arts Centre
11-14 Manchester, England - Star & Garter
11-16 Nottingham, England - The Social
11-17 Glasgow, Scotland - Barfly (w/ The Fire Theft)
11-18 London, England - Water Rats
11-19 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique (w/ Twinemen)
11-21 Paris, France - Le Nouveau Casino

Monitor's Brian DeRan tells us to be on the lookout for more U.S. dates from McCombs in the spring, possibly joining The Shins and/or Modest Mouse on their 2004 tours of duty.

Monitor: http://www.monitorrecords.com

Toshack Highway Tour, Split CD with Sianspheric
Toshack still the least-appreciated Sweathog

[Posted Thursday, November 6th, 2003 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

It's a fact: the true shoegazers never die, they just take extended hiatuses from their bands to issue genre-hopping albums under meaningless alter-egos while frequently covering songs from their former band's extensive back catalog. OK, as sayings go, it's not very catchy, but that's the deal with Adam Franklin, formerly of legendary Creation band Swervedriver. Since the non-breakup of Swervedriver nearly four years ago, Franklin has been periodically releasing music under the moniker Toshack Highway, touring the country (first with a band, then as a solo acoustic act) and trying to figure out what to do with a legacy as rich as Swervedriver's. And he moved to America (take that, Britpop snobs!).

According to the inexplicably up-to-date official Swervedriver site, Franklin is gearing up for a brief tour in support of his most recent release, Magnetic Morning / Aspirin Age, a split two CD set with Swervedriver devotees Sianspheric. The tour is being billed, in somewhat unwieldy fashion, as Adam Franklin of Swervedriver /Toshack Highway (at least you know what you're getting, but the marquee guy is gonna get a workout), and they'll be accompanied on all dates by The Roy Owens Jr., a super group of sorts that features members (but not the famous ones) of Crooked Fingers, Magnapop, and the X-Impossibles. However, the Swervedriver site is also quick to allay any fears of acoustic noodling this time around, as it reports that this will be an "electric tour, with a full band, and plenty of Swervedriver classics" (dude, just get the damn band back together already!). The announced dates are as follows, and there may be more to come:

11-07 Atlanta, GA - The Echo Lounge
11-08 Athens, GA - Tasty World
11-09 Charlotte, NC - Fat City Deli
11-10 Raleigh, NC - King's Barcade
11-11 Philadelphia, PA - Khyber Pass
11-12 Washington, D.C. - The Velvet Lounge
11-13 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
11-14 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
11-15 Boston, MA - The Plan at Great Scott's
11-16 New Haven, CT - BAR

And speaking of the Swervedriver site, it's worth taking a gander at, even four years past their demise. In addition to keeping up with Franklin's latest hijinks, the site hosts a wealth of great quality free live MP3 downloads spanning the band's career, as well as purchasable copies of many of their long out-of-print albums, singles and EP's (including the never-released version of Ejector Seat Reservation with the extra track "It's All Happening Now," previously only available if you happened to be one of the fifteen members of their fan club back when it was released-- I was not, but a friend of mine was).

Toshack Highway: http://www.toshackhighway.com
Swervedriver: http://www.swervedriver.com
Sianspheric: http://www.sianspheric.com
Sonic Unyon: http://www.sonicunyon.com

Dntel Collaborating With Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, Fog Members For Next Album; Jimmy Tamborello Remixes Madonna, Flaming Lips; Postal Service Ordered By Government To Change Name
Gibbard, Tamborello feeling a little disgruntled...uh-oh...

[Updated Wednesday, November 5th, 2003 13:30:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Maybe you have all been wondering what is going on with Dntel, the atmospherically electronic alter-ego of one Jimmy Tamborello. Well, in case you just evolved from the ocean's muck, Tamborello has been fairly busy with a little project called The Postal Service, a partnership with a little rockstar called Ben Gibbard. Now, we all love the electro-pop of Give Up, but dammit, when is Tamborello gonna get back to doing what he does best? Pitchfork recently had the opportunity of finding out a little bit about the future of Dntel as well as Tamborello's other projects.

Tamborello is currently hard at work on his follow up to 2001's Life is Full of Possibilities, which he plans to release through the Plug Research label by year's end. He originally planned to do the album, tentatively titled Just Like Heaven, by himself so "it didn't seem like I was U.N.K.L.E. or something, like having a guest was the whole thing behind Dntel." Nevertheless, temptation has gotten the better of him, and while he didn't want to jinx any collaborations by speaking on unconfirmed guests, expect vocal contributions from Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst ("Breakfast In Bed"), Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis ("A Warm Bed Is Something"), and Fog's Andrew Broder. Tamborello himself will also be contributing vocals to a track or two.

In Postal Service goings-on, Jimmy T. has completed a few remixes under various aliases for songs by Azure Ray, The Flaming Lips ("Do You Realize??"), and Madonna ("Nothing Fails"). Yes, the Britney-kissing, Gap-jean hawking Madonna, not some ironically named indie-rockers. He doesn't know if the Azure Ray or Madonna remixes will be used yet, but let's all keep our fingers crossed. As previously reported, Tamborello's remix of "Do You Realize??" is set to appear on the Flaming Lips' Ego-Tripping At The Gates Of Hell EP later this month.

Gibbard wasn't involved in these remixes, Tamborello notes: "Ben's not around to work on little things like this. It's more just in the spirit of [The Postal Service]. But actually, the U.S. Postal Service sent us a cease-and-desist letter. We're talking to them right now, it's not figured out yet. So all these remixes I've had to do under different names." Ridiculous! I'm sure if it were up to Ashcroft bands like the Dead Kennedys, Bush, Anthrax, the Presidents Of The United States Of America, and classic '80s indie outlet I.R.S. would have to pack it up, too. It just goes to illustrate the misplaced priorities of this administration. I mean, if the federal government sends any band a cease-and-desist letter this year, it should be Staind!

In any case, Gibbard and Tamborello plan to do another album in 2004 (band name TBD, though probably not "Death Cab For Congress") as well as doing some more touring in January. We'll have more for you about this when we know it.

Plug Research: http://www.plugresearch.com
Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com

New Danielson Famile, Bro. Danielson Albums, Documentary Due in 2004
They are weak but he is strong

[Posted Wednesday, November 5th, 2003 06:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

According to Secretly Canadian's Jonathan Cargill, Danielson Famile principal Daniel Smith is set to release an album entitled Brother Is To Son under his Bro. Danielson moniker in March of 2004. A new full-length by the Danielson Famile, as well as a twelve-inch release on Burnt Toast Vinyl, are expected to follow. Meanwhile, Brooklyn-based film studio Creative Arson has been hard at work on a Danielson Famile documentary, and we recently had a chance to talk to director/studio founder JL Aronson, who was more than willing to comment at length about the movie and the band.

When performing as a collective, the Famile (generally composed of Smith and his six siblings, ranging in age from their early teens to their 20's) dress up as an assorted cast of doctors and nurses, perhaps as an allusion to the predominant theme of healing featured in their Christian beliefs. In addition to the buoyant and bizarre parade of sound which has become the band's comprehensive calling card, the group also delivers a notoriously wacky live performance. When playing solo as Bro. Danielson, Smith favors the homemade guise of a friendly tree, which bears assorted fruit of an assuredly delicious nature.

Aronson commented on the evolution of the outlandish and whimsical group, which began as Smith's senior thesis at Rutgers: "Though many aspects are collaborative, the artistic expression of Danielson goes back to Daniel. The first official Bro. Danielson release is monumental in that, after five albums, it draws a clear line between the different incarnations that have come before, and the solitary expression that is Daniel on his own. I guess it is rather complex at first: Dan sees the three incarnations of Danielson as representing the three stations (my words, not his) of his artifice: the relationship between the individual and the holy; the relationship between the family unit as a holy structure (the famile) and the relationship between friends which may or may not include family (Danielsonship)."

Obviously he's put a lot of thought into this. "It was an odd feeling. I didn't intend to be anyone's biggest fan, I just thought they'd be a good subject for a movie," Aronson told Pitchfork. "The dichotomy between spiritual firmament and secular enthusiasm seemed rife with contradictions and, hence, potential drama. But somewhere along this road I saw that Danielson was worth lots more than all the hype could add up to."

"The Danielson Famile Movie, when it is accomplished (after I find a way to get all my equipment and footage back from the pawnshop), will be unlike any band movie ever seen before because it will be as much about a family as about an artist," Aronson promises. "And despite the above comments, it's not a love letter, either. It is a collage of actions and reactions, intimacy and priorities, passages and reminders, rock and roll."

According to Aronson, to whom we are grateful for providing such an extensive account, the film should be released around the same time as the next Danielson Famile record in mid-2004. Finally, should you live in Chicago or Los Angeles, you'll be able to get a quick fix of the Famile at one of two dates scheduled this month:

11-06 Chicago, IL - Intuit Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
11-08 Long Beach, CA - The Queen Mary (All Tomorrow's Parties)

Danielson Famile: http://www.danielsonfamile.com
Danielson Famile Movie: http://www.creativearson.com/danielson
Secretly Canadian: http://www.secretlycanadian.com

Audio Lunchbox, Napster Offer Alternatives To iTunes; Interpol Opens For Ludacris
"Virtual Mom" feature of Audio Lunchbox substitutes clean versions of all yer nasty sex jams

[Posted Wednesday, November 5th, 2003 06:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Cory D. Byrom and John L. Ferrer report:
As the latest attempt at legitimizing music downloads, Audio Lunchbox promises to try their hardest to woo you with their roster of indie labels willing to give up the goods. Co-founder Morgan Harris offers the some insight into the humble goals the indie-centric service has set for itself: "Audio Lunchbox is the premier online destination for downloading the hottest independent music and getting the latest scoop on upcoming and established artists. Our goal is to offer the most complete, genre diverse library of independently distributed digital files at one destination."

Harris hopes to lure music fans with more than 120,000 tracks from over 35 indie labels, including Epitaph, Anti-, Razor and Tie, Barsuk, Vagrant, Artemis, Slowdance, Better Looking, and KOCH, as well as the majority of the content offered on CDBaby.com. And the site expects to add tracks from 100 more labels in the next 90 days, Harris reports.

Striving to be much more than just another music download service, Audio Lunchbox will also act as a lifestyle site showcasing what's new in indie music and featuring the latest info on all your favorite new and established artists. A website that showcases new music and offers up-to-date info on independent artists? That sounds stupid. Who would read that?

One of the more interesting aspects of the service, and the aspect most likely to keep any major labels from knocking on their door, is the lack of any Digital Rights Management (that's DRM to you and me) imbedded in any of the music offered. That means you can download it and then burn it, trade it, rip it, scatter it, smother it, and cover it as many times as you like. At a around a buck a file (or ten for an album), Audio Lunchbox hopes to capture some of iTunes' business while giving its users the same flexibility that file-sharing enthusiasts have enjoyed since the demise of Napster.

What's that? Demise? Napster? The only thing more pathetic than a reunion of a forgotten, welcome-worn screaming-guitar rock band is the comeback of the most infamous, snowball-starting, much-beloved-but-long-ago-replaced software created since Lotus 1-2-3. Much like, say, a Motley Crue tour, the return of Napster is pointless, too expensive, and not especially interesting to anyone but nostalgia fetishists.

Roxio is supposedly hoping that the marquee value of the name Napster will attract people to use this pay service instead of iTunes, MusicNet, MusicWave, Tune Time, Music City, or EZ-MP3 (I made most of those up instead of doing research, but I bet you didn't even notice). Of course, as always, there are barriers: just as the original Napster never came out with an official Mac version (co-opting the shareware clone Macster instead), the new software shuns not only Mac users of every stripe but Windows 95 and NT users as well.

Nonetheless, the resurrected Napster boasts 500,000 songs from a combination of indies and majors, adding content from Billboard, Yahoo!, and Launch as well as 40 commercial-free, interactive radio stations on the service's premium level. Like iTunes, Napster hopes to lure users with the promise of exclusive tracks: the first batch of Napster exclusives includes live sessions from Guided By Voices, MxPx, Brian McKnight and Cold. The service debuted last month with an equally exclusive (and eclectic) showcase at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. Interpol, Dashboard Confessional, and Ludacris were among the performers at the bash, surely one of the stranger live dockets of 2003.

Audio Lunchbox: http://www.audiolunchbox.com
Napster: http://www.napster.com

Devo Re-Release Rare Clips On DVD, Sell Swiffers
Mothersbaugh's "Rugrats" score criminally shunned by Oscar

[Updated Wednesday, November 6th, 2003 01:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Devo's The Truth About De-Evolution is certainly one of the rarest, most sought-after collectable items in the world of rock paraphernalia, due to its wide recognition as being possibly the first music video ever made. So it's legitimately surprising and wonderful that it will finally be coming out on DVD. The Complete Truth About De-Evolution is due November 18th through Rhino. Along with the famous film, the disc will feature extra videos and commentary by Mark Mothersbaugh, Gerald V. Casale, and director Chuck Slater.

Devo-philes can also check out the brand new book We Are Devo: Are We Not Men, featuring interviews, photographs, and the extensive history of the band and their resulting cult phenomenon. This is an excellent early Christmas gift for people who like Devo and who still read books, few as they may be.

With all these retrospective books and DVD's, you might forget the band hasn't actually broken up. Recently they re-recorded their song "Whip It" as an advertisement for Swiffer mops (you can see that at the attached link, or you can easily guess how it goes), and they even played some shows in support of Tony Hawk's skateboarding tour (hmmm). Most recently they've been spotted in the liners of A Perfect Circle's new Thirteenth Step as doing backup vocals on "Pet." Okay, so that last one is a stretch... seems Maynard James Keenan's a fan, and his young son is named Devo. Yes, after the band.

.: Swiffer Ad: mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/swiffer-swiffermom.asf

Devo: http://www.clubdevo.com
Rhino: http://www.rhino.com

The Vexers on Big Honking Tour Through December
I wanna Vex you up

[Posted Wednesday, November 5th, 2003 06:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

On their website, nouveau post-punks The Vexers have posted dates for their positively epic fall tour through the U.S. and England. They'll be playing with a variety of bands, from The Sick Lipstick (quite appropriate) to Small Brown Bike (less so, but feasible) to an opening spot on a bill with mother-loving Sense Field. Wait, what? That's like if Yeah Yeah Yeahs opened for Pedro the Lion-- an engraved invitation to intra-audience violence and communication breakdown. This could be the basis for a new Quadrophenia-- instead of rockers vs. mods, it'll be leather jackets vs. cardigans. And that, my friends, is the sound of the zeitgeist being captured.

The Vexers are on tour to support the Gangland Ballads and the Death of Sex Set EP, which came out in the U.S. in September via Ace Fu Records, as the follow-up to their self-titled Ace Fu debut LP. Gangland was released in the UK on October 20th, via Cargo UK. From what I understand, rock 'n' roll musicians often set up commercial displays of their wares when they perform in concert. These are colloquially known as "merch tables," and I'm sure that, at any of the following live dates, you can trade in all your salmon-kissed new twenties, crisp pounds, or bricks of gold for the new EP, the first album, and assorted fashion styles. The dates, if you please:

11-06 London, England - The Monarch (w/ Elefant, Sense Field)
11-09 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms (w/ Melt Banana)
11-10 Leeds, England - The Vine
11-11 London, England - Buffalo Bar
11-12 London, England - Metro Bar
11-13 London, England - On the Rocks
11-14 Leicester, England - Sumo
11-15 Cardiff, Wales - Barfly
11-21 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
11-22 Columbia, MO - Music Cafe
11-23 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
11-24 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court (w/ Sick Lipstick, Tyrades)
11-25 Portland, OR - Dante's (w/ Fireballs of Freedom, the Riffs)
11-27 Seattle, WA - Graceland
11-29 Los Angeles, CA - Roxy
11-30 Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction
12-03 El Paso, TX - Club 101
12-05 Austin, TX - Emo's (w/ The Oranges Band, Small Brown Bike)
12-06 San Antonio, TX - Sin 13
12-07 Houston, TX - Mary Jane's (w/ Catch 22, Boys Night Out)
12-10 Myrtle Beach, SC - The Lime Light (w/ Something About Vampires, Sluts)

The Vexers formed in 2001 when its principals left their sun-dappled, idyllic L.A. home for Philadelphia, where that city's gritty atmosphere settled into the crevices of their wiry (pun intended), sparse post-punk. Often drawing comparisons to original post-punk acts such as Wire, The Fall, X-Ray Spex and Gang of Four, as well as modern descendents like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Elastica and The Liars, The Vexers have polarized audiences throughout their short career. The crux seems to be the issue of authenticity. Good music has to be shaped by heart, not expectations, and if The Vexers want to sing songs called "Mutual Masturbation" over single-string guitar lines, it's better for them to do exactly that than to try to concoct some mystic, populist rant just because that's how Mark E. Smith did it.

Vexers: http://www.thevexers.com
Ace Fu: http://www.acefu.com

Beta Band Get Mixed By Nigel Godrich; New Album In February
Alpha Band still mom's favorite

[Posted Tuesday, November 4th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

After receiving near-universal acclaim for their debut and sophomore releases, The Beta Band and Hot Shots II, The Beta Band holds the world in suspense (and if not the world, at least the hearts of introverted electronica geeks everywhere) about their third full-length release. And just like the follow up to any great thing (the can opener to the can, the cart to the horse, and the Internet to porn), it must expand upon the previous subject while introducing and utilizing new aspects of its advanced form. All right, enough of that 11th grade term paper bullshit, here's the perts: Nigel Godrich, the prodigious whiz behind the latest albums from Beck and Radiohead, is mixing the upcoming record, which is almost complete.

The album doesn't even have a name or even a label at this point, though the group hopes to release it in February 2004. Beta Band frontman Steve Mason explains on the group's website: "Me and Rich (Greentree) went down at the weekend to see what he's doing to our LP and its all good! Looks like 12 tracks will go on the record out of the 17 we recorded. Mixing will be done in two weeks and the LP will be out in February. It has taken a long fucking time I know, we feel it too! But we ain't been lazy!" And you thought Billy Corgan liked to be in control.

Further on the Beta Band horizon: the band announced that they are compiling a DVD to accompany the 2004 release, possibly utilizing some of the music that doesn't make it onto the full-length. Solo projects are blooming as well, with Mason's King Biscuit more than half way done with their next album and others on the way from Greentree and drummer/percussionist Robin Jones.

Beta Band: http://www.betaband.com

Dreamworks Records In Acquisition Talks With Universal
Fred Durst to Rye Coalition: "Can't you guys just play like Korn?"

[Posted Tuesday, November 4th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

No matter how much money the record industry claims to be losing in its ongoing war against consumer apathy and the popularity of file-sharing music, they can always cough up a little change to buy each other out. Billboard magazine reported last week that Universal Music Group, the largest label group in the biz, has reached an agreement to acquire Dreamworks Records for around $100 million from its parent company, Dreamworks SKG. Interestingly, if the transfer comes to pass, it will be the third David Geffen-started label to be absorbed by Universal, following the mid-'90s megamerger that resulted in much of the rosters of Geffen, DGC and A&M being dumped while lucrative acts like Nirvana, Beck, Weezer, Hole, Sting and Sheryl Crow remained. Insiders fear that many Dreamworks artists will meet the same fate if the label is folded into the current Interscope/Geffen/A&M umbrella.

Dreamworks was originally modeled around a small, artist-oriented roster that included Elliott Smith, Rufus Wainwright, Jonathan Fire*Eater, Morphine and Creeper Lagoon. Label principals Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker, who had guided Warner Bros. Records through some of its most profitable and artistically fruitful periods, saw Dreamworks as an opportunity to stick by idiosyncratic artists and grow their careers gradually, in stark contrast to the sign 'em-and-screw 'em ethos that reigned at Universal. But Dreamworks didn't score any hits until landing more mainstream artists like Nelly "I'm Like A Bird" Furtado and pickup-truck patriot Toby Keith, as well as radio-friendly acts of lowest-common-denominator quality (I'm talkin' Alien Ant Farm and Papa Roach bad). The label has also had mild success with soundtracks to Dreamworks films including Shrek, American Beauty, and Almost Famous.

The current Dreamworks roster includes an all-over-the-place array of talent and lack thereof, ranging from the luminous crunch of Sparta and Rye Coalition to emo heroes Jimmy Eat World and Saves The Day to the complicated pop of Elliott Smith and Eels to avant hip-hoppers Q-Tip and Floetry.

Dreamworks: http://www.dreamworksrecords.com

Mary Lou Lord To Release Second Studio Album In February
Second coming of Lord probably inevitable given recent pre-apocalyptic events

[Posted Tuesday, November 4th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

By any measure, Mary Lou Lord has had a bit of an odd career so far. Starting out playing subways in Boston, she attracted the attention of Kill Rock Stars and recorded a couple of EP's, put out one album on Sony's ill-fated WORK label, and then proceeded to mostly disappear for a bit. Then she had a child, which apparently provided her with the proper motivation to head back into the subways, of course-- hey, she's gotta provide. Her most recent release, 2001's Live City Sounds, collected a number of those subterranean performances, and was relatively well received and not nearly as crappy-sounding as you might suppose for a single-mic, in-the-subway affair.

Numerous reports have placed Lord in London over much of the last year, recording with long-time collaborator Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond. Now she's back in the states, the album is finished, and she's even planning to play a proper tour or two. Take that, commuters of Boston: you're just going to have to listen to the crazy old guy with the accordion and the drum machine from now on.

According to David Gwiazdowski of Rubric Records, the new album is titled Baby Blue, after the included Badfinger cover (also recently covered by Portastatic-- getting quite a workout for one '70s power-pop song), and consists largely of Nick Saloman tunes penned specifically for Lord. She'll be backed by a full band on the album, which is scheduled to be released on February 24th, 2004. Here's the tracklist (all songs by Nick Saloman except where noted):

01 The Wind Blew All Around Me [The Bevis Frond]
02 Long Way From Tupelo [Mary Lou Lord]
03 43
04 Baby Blue [Badfinger]
05 Cold Kilburn Rain
06 Farming It Out
07 The Inhibition Twist [The Bevis Frond]
08 Because He's Leaving
09 Someone Always Talks
10 Turn Me Round [Saloman/Lord]
11 Stars Burn Out [The Bevis Frond]
12 Ron
13 Fearless [Pink Floyd]
14 Old Tin Tray

Lord has played the occasional show recently, and according to fansite Not Necessarily The Best Homepage, a more comprehensive U.S. and European tour is planned for spring 2004. We will, of course, bring you the dates when they're available.

Lord also recently commented on the death of close friend Elliott Smith, who played some guitar on Got No Shadow and wrote one of Lord's signature tunes, "I Figured You Out." "He sort of shut everyone out for the last three or four years," Lord told the Associated Press. "He just became really reclusive... maybe he was in a downward spiral and he didn't want to take everyone else with him."

Mary Lou Lord: http://www.maryloulord.yi.org
Rubric: http://www.rubricrecords.com

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