Video: S-K's Carrie Brownstein Interviews Hussein

As of Saturday, Sleater-Kinney is over, but Carrie Brownstein already has her next career lined up. Introducing herself as Cindy Overton in this YouTube clip from the mysterious "Boink!" cable access show (seriously, if you have any info on this, let us know), Brownstein begins her beat with a bang by interviewing former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

In the clip, Brownstein and Hussein (who may or may not be Fred Armisen with a fake beard) sit down at the latter's Manhattan studio to talk guitars, selling out, and the purity of those good old days when the dictator would give speeches to just 50 people and world domination was only a pipe dream. Hussein also explains, in his amiable British (who knew?) accent, his revolutionary weight-loss program. "It's called being a vegan," he says. You learn something new every day.

Cursive Schedule Fall Tour

Whew, art is hard. We haven't bothered to schedule our weekend plans yet (we're making that "call me" motion with our hands over here), but Cursive are booked straight through late November.

The Saddle Creek collective recently announced a mammoth stretch of shows in support of their upcoming record, Happy Hollow, slated for release August 22. The songs "Bad Sects" and the single "Dorothy at Forty" can be downloaded below, and the video for "Dorothy" can be seen here. [MORE...]

MP3: Cursive: Dorothy at Forty
MP3: Cursive: Bad Sects

Mountain Goats Announce Fall Tour
Also new video

Dig John Darnielle's hott emo haircut at the Pitchfork Music Festival? Now you can revel in its glory once again with the brand new video for "Woke Up New", from the Mountain Goats' forthcoming album, Get Lonely, due out August 22 (August 21 in the UK) on 4AD.

The clip was directed by Rian Johnson, the man behind the cult high school noir flick Brick, but there's no mystery to be solved here (unless you count "what the fuck is up with the toy zebra?").

The Mountain Goats will hit the road in September for a tour in support in the album; it will be preceded by a few in-store appearances on the West Coast. Watch as his bangs grow longer and longer with each show. [MORE...]

Video: The Mountain Goats: Woke Up New

Glenn Kotche, Nels Cline Talk Tour, Wilco

By now, one expects seasoned musicians like Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche to have it all mapped out. The dudes are winners, right? After all, Cline's discography stretches back to 1979 and drops some pretty heavy names along the decades, from Willie Nelson and Rickie Lee Jones to Thurston Moore and Mike Watt. Kotche has played with Maureen Tucker, Jim O'Rourke, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Bobby Conn, and his latest album, Mobile, released this year on Nonesuch, is a fascinating exploration of his rhythmic questions. Plus, both Cline and Kotche insist that they're in some band called Wilco.

But a little more than a month before their first solo/duo tour, sweetly dubbed Alone/Together, the guitarist and drummer aren't quite sure how they will be handling the six East Coast and Midwest dates. Cline will play a solo set, followed by Kotche. They will then pair as an improvisational duo. But it's so improvisational they're not sure what they'll be playing. [MORE...]

Stream: Glenn Kotche: Clapping Music Variations (clip)
MP3: Nels Cline: Angel of Death

Touch & Go Anniversary Lineup Finalized
No, the Jesus Lizard aren't playing

Touch and Go Records are big fat liars...in the best possible way. The legendary indie label claimed that their 25^th anniversary celebration, taking place September 8-10 at the Hideout in Chicago (with proceeds going to local charities Tuesday's Child, Literacy Works, and the Thomas Drummond Elementary School) would feature 25 performers-- one for each year. But after announcing 24, they added "a few songs" by Big Black and claimed that didn't count as 25.

And now, even after revealing the real number 25 (reunited D.C. post-hardcore juggernaut the Monorchid), they've tacked on a slew of other acts to play in between the main bands: Sally Timms (the Mekons), PW Long (Mule), Tim Midgett and Andy Cohen (Silkworm), Brick Layer Cake, Cash Audio, Tara Jane O'Neil, and Jon Langford (the Mekons) with Kat (the Ex).

So now they're set all the way until their 33^rd anniversary. [MORE...]

Video: Touch and Go: Anniversary Documentary

Bonnie "Prince" Billy to Tour West Coast

After spending the summer giving his live performances away for free, Will Oldham has scheduled a fall trek that's going to cost money. In late October and November, Bonnie "Prince" Billy will travel up the West Coast from California to Vancouver in support of his forthcoming album The Letting Go, due out September 19 on Drag City (the day before on Domino in the UK). [MORE...]

Video: Bonnie : Cursed Sleep

Secret Machines Getting Up Close and Personal on Tour

It's no secret that the Secret Machines are best experienced in the live setting. But even haters of their retro-psych might be tempted to check the band out on their newly-announced fall tour.

"Intending to create an extraordinary and memorable concert event for their fans, the band have done away with the common end stage set-up, and will instead appear on an elevated circular platform in the center of each venue, allowing the audience to gather around them just a few feet away," a press release says. "Playing provides a truly communal live experience for the audience, who will be standing close enough to brothers Brandon and Benjamin Curtis and Josh Garza to feel their sweat."

Lightning Bolt--call your lawyers! [MORE...]

Video: Secret Machines: All at Once

Stream: The Walkmen: "Many Rivers to Cross"

A Hundred Miles Off isn't the only Walkmen album we'll get this year; as previously reported, the band has recorded a song-for-song remake of Harry Nilsson's 1974 John Lennon collabo Pussy Cats. It's coming out October 24 on Record Collection, but RollingStone.com has a preview stream of the Walkmen's take on "Many Rivers to Cross".

From the sound of it, this is going to be a whole lot better than Gus Van Sant's Psycho. [MORE...]

Stream: The Walkmen: Many Rivers to Cross

Birdmonster Hit the Road in Support of Debut

How monstrous!.

Despite this roadblock, the San Francisco four-piece has no intentions of ditching its name, especially now that "Birdmonster" is scribbled on venue calendars across the continent.

The band launches a tour this weekend in support of their debut album No Midnight, which will be released by SpinArt on August 29. [MORE...]

MP3: Birdmonster: Cause You Can

Califone Set Release Date, Tour

Fans of Califone's kitchen-sink folk have been tiding themselves over with film and television scores, a reissue, and the promise of a tour documentary, but we here at Pitchfork are happy to announce that the band's honest-to-goodness next full-length is almost here.

Roots & Crowns will see an October 10 release on Thrill Jockey, and if you've read our track review of "The Orchids", you can already guess that some of us think it's pretty great.

Songwriter Tim Rutili explains the album's title in a press release: "Uniting where you come from-- your roots-- with what you strive to be or what you reinvent yourself to become-- crowns... Some of these songs started as hummed melodies into my cell phone recorder while I was driving. Others were triggered by overheard conversations, loops brought in from home, field recordings or sounds we made in the studio before the tape was rolling... We took our time to shape and manipulate a more experimental collage of sounds into solid melodies and more concise song structures."

Longtime collaborator Brian Deck produced most of the album, the tracklist of which is listed after the jump. The tracklist is almost identical to the one we posted in May ("Spider's" instead of "Spiders"), but this time it's confirmed.

Califone have a smattering of tour dates scheduled as well, beginning with two shows in Chicago this weekend and picking up speed in October on the West Coast. The band will also perform live on NPR's "World Café" on November 11. [MORE...]

Video: Califone: Don't Let Me Die Nervous (live)

Boris / Sunn 0))) Collaboration Unleashed
Boris add more U.S. dates

On October 31, All Hallow's Eve, the beast shall awaken and all hell shall be loosed unto the Earth. For on that day, Altar, the Boris / Sunn 0))) collaborative album, is going to be released on Southern Lord. How perfectly EVIL is that?

Altar was written, recorded, and produced by all of the members of both bands, with quite a few special guests: Jesse Sykes (of indie-folk outfit Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hearafter), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Joe Preston (Thrones/Earth/Melvins/High on Fire), Bill Herzog and Phil Wandescher (Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter), Rex Ritter (Jessamine, Fontanelle), and Tos Niewenhuizen (Beaver, GOD). Dylan Carlson of Earth plays on the vinyl-only bonus track "Her Lips Were Wet With Venom".

KICK ASS!!! [MORE...]

MP3: Boris: Farewell
MP3: Sunn O))): It Took the Night to Believe

Video: Clell Tickle: Indie Marketing Guru

If there's anything Pitchfork loves more than making fun of the indie rock business, it's making fun of Pitchfork. So when our buddy (and Pitchfork Music Festival pre-party performer) Aziz Ansari does both at the same time, we are full of love. Lots of love.

Just don't ask us about our own marketing department. Things might get ugly.

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)