Infinite Mixtape #41: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"

Actually a trio-- and from Brighton, no less-- Fujiya & Miyagi excel at making lockstep motorik liable to get toes tapping and heads bobbing. But they really hit their stride on "Collarbone", the groove-laden second track off compilation LP Transparent Things (Tirk Records). Just try to keep your hips in check as vocalist David Best (the group's Miyagi, apparently) affects breathy broken English, likening romantic fumblings to shoelace trippings over a butter-smooth bassline and claps on the beats.

Halfway through, one of the dudes starts riffing on that kid-favorite "Dry Bones" sing-along ("the X bone's connected to the Y bone," etc.), which soon weaves in and out of the ace main chorus, "Got to get a new pair of shoes/ To kick it with her." Air-y cosmic synths enter, and the whole thing electric slides off to a disco dance on the moon. Headphone-mongers and rump-shakers should agree: there's plenty to love here.

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#0041 > Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
[from Transparent Things; Tirk Records]
Info: [Fujiya & Miyagi] | [MySpace] | [Tirk]

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// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0040: Malajube: "La Monogamie"
#0039: The Polyphonic Spree: "Sonic Bloom"
#0038: Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"
#0037: Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]"
#0036: Flying Canyon: "In the Reflection"
#0035: Califone: "The Orchids"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Rhino Preps Massive Goth Box
Genre purists commit mass suicide

Rhino Records wants to remind you that goth isn't all about pale skin, séances, dripping black eye liner, and mall food courts...well, not completely. At one point, in the pre-Hot Topic days of yore, this dark strain of post-punk loosely constituted a serious genre (at least, in retrospect).

With A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box, Rhino's out to recapture goth's glory days with a lavish four-disc collection, replete with packaging that appears to resemble, at least in part, a corset.

The set hits stores (including, quite possibly, Hot Topic) on September 19 and compiles 53 goth-but-not-goth songs and 12 videos onto three CDs and one DVD. Although, to be fair, most of the bands on the comp have tended to resist being boxed in by the "gothic" label.

So what exactly functions as a "goth classic," since the underground movement didn't churn out a huge number of ostensible hits? Rhino mined a twenty-year period (1978-1998) to showcase bands that, although they often eschewed genre labels, are nonetheless considered pioneers of goth music culture. These include Joy Division, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Cure. [MORE...]

Pavement Wowee Zowee Reissue Tracklist Revealed

And the moment we've all been waiting for: the tracklist for Matador's deluxe two-disc reissue of Pavement's 1995 album Wowee Zowee. And goddamn, did Matador go all-out.

The Sordid Sentinels edition, due out November 7, features a whopping 18 unreleased tracks, including outtakes, live tracks, and radio sessions, as well as a ton of B-sides and random soundtrack and compilation tracks.

Did you know that Pavement was on a Descendents tribute album? Neither did I. [MORE...]

Infinite Mixtape #40: Malajube: "La Monogamie"

Hail French-Canadia! Having earned a rabid cult following in their home world (hey, Québec)-- not to mention a nomination for their country's prestigious Polaris Music Prize (alongside the likes of Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, The New Pornographers, and the mighty Cadence Weapon)-- rockers Malajube are finally starting to resonate south of the (Canadian) border.

Their second full-length Trompe-l’Oeil features guest spots from compatriots Les Trois Accords and The Dears-- and in some kind of crazy Dungen-esque international mixup, frontman Julien Mineau sings all lyrics in his native québécois.

But more importantly, they kinda fucking rock (and might be part of the reason we always accidentally typo their city "Monstreal"). Exhibit A: Pitchfork Infinite Mixtape entry #40, album cut "La Monogamie," a punched-up, epic shoutalong ripe for assuaging back-to-school misery and late-afternoon boredom. Yaaaah!

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#0040 > Malajube: "La Monogamie"
[from Trompe-l’Oeil; Dare to Care Records]
Info: [Malajube] | [MySpace] | [Dare to Care] | [Buy Now]

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// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0039: The Polyphonic Spree: "Sonic Bloom"
#0038: Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"
#0037: Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]"
#0036: Flying Canyon: "In the Reflection"
#0035: Califone: "The Orchids"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Ariel Pink and Friends Launch Record Label

From Paw Tracks to the Human Ear-- Ariel Pink is going through some serious evolution here. He has joined forces with roughly a dozen additional musicians to launch new record label, Human Ear Music, with a show at Los Angeles' Little Pedro's venue this Sunday. Other performers include Bubonic Plague, Vibe Central, Jason Creep, and Black Powder.

Human Ear's focus will be mail-order, limited-run releases with handcrafted cover art. The label, a self-described "very very fancy and exclusive social club," (how appetizing) is meant to serve as an outlet for a community of L.A.-based artists, AP included. It will kick off with eight releases, including Pre, a 2-disc/4-cassette anthology of early Pink material from Ariel Rosenberg's Thrash and Burn, contributions from Vibe Central, Bubonic Plague, Geneva Jacuzzi, Greg Gomberg, Jason Supercreep (who will drop a 3-disc set), Andrew S.A. (a book), and a compilation of collaborative music composed by the Human Ear crew.

The Human Ear website is currently hosting a handful of MP3s, including Ariel Rosenberg's Thrash and Burn's "I Disguise You". Listen below!

As previously reported, Pink will play a series of Australian dates starting at the end of the month. [MORE...]

The Make-Up Storm Your DVD Player

It's time for the Make Up to put on their makeup, as they're headed for the big screen...that is your television. The now-defunct D.C. quartet is the subject of a DVD, titled The Make Up: In Film/On Video, due out November 6 on Dischord.

The disc features the James Schneider film Blue Is Beautiful (with audio commentary from frontman Ian Svenonius), videos for "Save Yourself", "White Belts", "Call Me Mommy", and "Little Black Book", something called "German TV INTERCEPT from outpost 'Spex' (7 minutes)" (nobody seems to know what this means, though there are guesses that it's a German interview), and videotaped performances from live shows at Washington, D.C.'s Wilson Center and L.A.'s Troubadour. Songs recorded at these shows include "Intro", "Here Comes the Judge", "Feelin' Man", "Pentagon", "C'mon Let's Spawn", "I Want Some", "U R My Intended", "The Bells", "Live in the Rhythm Hive", "Medley-Backstage", "Untouchable Sound", and more.

Matador Signs the Ponys, Love of Diagrams
Interpol are so 2002

Matador has gone on a signing spree over the past few months, snapping up two groups of whippersnappers over the past couple months: Chicago's Ponys and Melbourne, Australia's Love of Diagrams. The Ponys' first two albums, 2004's Laced With Romance and 2005's Celebration Castle, were released on the garage rock powerhouse In the Red, and Pitchfork is quite fond of both.

Pitchfork spoke to head Pony Jered Gummere about the signing. "We just started talking to them [Matador] and...I don't know. That was the best option out there so I definitely wanted to, you know, proceed with it. We've been big fans of the label for a while, so [it was a] pretty easy decision to make." As for In the Red, the band remains "really good friends" with the label.

The Ponys plan to record their new album at

Chicago's Electrical Audio this month, and then mix it in New York City. The record should be out in early 2007.

Gummere's other band, Hot Machines, who you might remember from their scorching set at the Pitchfork Music Festival, don't plan on being too active in the coming months. The trio, which also includes Miss Alex White and Matt Williams of the Baseball Furies, don't have any shows planned at the moment, but a live album is in the works on the Dusty Medical label.

Love of Diagrams are a trio who have put out an album (2003's The Target Is You) and an EP (2005's We Got Communication) on Australia's Unstable Ape Records. They have a self-titled EP due out on that same label on September 18. The six-track EP features two tracks from their forthcoming album, recorded in late 2005 and early 2006 at Electrical Audio with Bob Weston, as well as two outtakes from the same sessions, and two live tracks, including a cover of "Cool" by the sadly underrated early 80s Athens, Georgia band Pylon. Matador has tentative plans to re-release that same EP (minus one live track and one outtake) in January, and the full-length in March.

Exclusive: Output Recordings Calls It Quits

It's never easy for the underdog. But with his impressive creative output-- album art, installations, performance, production, DJ projects (Playgroup), remix projects (under the alias Underdog), and record releases, Trevor Jackson always seemed to manage to make it look pretty easy.

Nevertheless, the founder and owner of the fiercely independent UK label Output (which has released singles and albums by MU, Four Tet, Colder, Dead Combo, LCD Soundsystem, the Rapture, and more) has announced that his label is officially shutting down, effective immediately. Indeed, visit the Output website, and all you'll see is a black screen with the dates 1996-2006: year of birth and death.

Jackson issued an official statement to Pitchfork about Output's untimely demise, citing manifold reasons (financial issues, "friends turning into monsters," and the general nightmarish-ness of running a label).

"I never wanted to have all my passion and enthusiasm knocked out of me," he said, "But somehow it's happened. I simply wanted to showcase exciting, experimental, and forward-thinking music with individuality and personality."

Acknowledging the dedication of fans throughout Output's successful ten-year run, Jackson said: "I would like to express my gratitude to all the music lovers, buyers, record stores, radio & club DJs, journalists, labels, artists, promoters, and remixers worldwide who supported the label (many of you from day one!). I will miss all the positive feedback and kind words, which I constantly found uplifting, and which gave me the energy to carry on even in the most difficult of circumstances."

Starting October 1, the final Output releases (comprising the label's 100th release) will be available as free mp3 downloads from Output's website for one month only. After that, there are no immediate plans to continue manufacturing any of the label's back catalogue, and its titles will likely disappear into collector-dom. So grab what you can, quick!

Jackson's full statement-- part explanation, part eulogy-- appears after the jump. [MORE...]

Mike Patton Forcibly Namedropped on Soap Opera
"Not many care about Mike Patton anymore," quips soap character

Um, wow. This is why we have that "wtf" tag. What's there to say about this? Two characters on ABC daytime soap "All My Children" attempt to persuade rocker "Zarf" to pimp their cosmetics company-- but when irritable Zarf gets up to leave in disgust, the subject of Mike Patton proceeds to dominate an entire minute of dialogue. WHAT THE F

 

 

Ex-Tapes 'n Tapes Bassist Joins Planes for Spaces

After leaving Tapes 'n Tapes last April, bassist Shawn Neary (who played bass on The Loon) recently found a new musical niche in Planes for Spaces. The Minneapolis band, featuring the spacious vocals of Joe January accompanied by a revolving group of musicians including Tim Luntzel (Bright Eyes, Gillian Welch), Ryan Sawyer (Fiery Furnaces, At the Drive-In), and Scott McPherson (Elliott Smith), formed in the spring of 2005 and maintained a weekly residency at Minneapolis' 400 Bar. Last year, they put out an album, Letters From the Waves, behind which the band toured the U.S. with the likes of Death From Above 1979, Lou Barlow, Earlimart, and I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. This month, PFS crash into California for two shows.

Places to spot Planes for Spaces:

09-20 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
09-21 San Francisco, CA - The Independent

The Knife: New Single and Video

Penknives are pretty cool. One minute you're signing an autograph, the next you're carving up somebody's chest. And they just got cooler, as spooky Swedish duo the Knife will release their next single, "Like a Pen", on Brille in the UK on October 16. The track is from the Knife's still fantastic latest album, Silent Shout, out now on Mute in North America.

As for the "Like a Pen" video, it's "Sesame Street" done in the aesthetic of early MTV! An amorphous brown character goes around touching things with a pencil and running away from more humanoid characters in a space maze. Let's just call it "Knife-esque."

[MORE...]

The Evens Get Evens

Revenge is sweet, and even though we're not quite sure how we wronged them, the Evens are coming for it. The post-post-harDCore guitar-and-drums duo-- comprised of Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi) and Amy Farina (The Warmers)-- returns this fall for vengeance, in the form of second LP The Evens Get Evens.

Get Evens follows up the band's 2005 self-titled debut, and arrives November 6 via Dischord. Like any full-length the venerable DC label releases, it will probably read "$10 postage-paid" on the back, and that is awesome. Ten tracks, recorded by the band at the Dischord House and mixed by good ol' Don Zientara at his long-running Inner Ear Studios. Ten bucks. Can't be beat.

The Evens will mount a tour in support of Get Evens this November, dates to be announced. It will be, we reckon, the single coolest thing to happen to you in November since that "Even Stevens" Thanksgiving marathon on the Disney Channel. Seriously. [MORE...]

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.)