MP3: Okkervil River: "The President's Dead"

Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff crams quite a dense, winding narrative into the first two minutes of this folky not-quite protest song about an imagined assassination. Running laps upon a lilting melodic line, he spends as much time detailing what he was doing at the time ("And the coffee was great/ There was spring in the wind") as he does exploring the socio-political implications of such an event ("The early obits/ Say he was a good man/ You can't argue with that/ Not today you can't/ Not now you can't"). For the last 45 seconds, the band breaks into a polite little jam, not exactly celebratory but by no means mournful.

Jagjaguwar will press this new tune onto a limited edition 12", backed with "The Room I'm Hiding In" and slated for release sometime before the end of this year. As previously reported, Okkervil River will wind across the U.S. next month on tour.

Erase Errata's Jenny Hoyston Teams With Whitmore
But don't worry, she's not ditching the band

Erase Errata's Jenny Hoyston (aka Paradise Island) and her former tourmate/roommate William Elliott Whitmore are about to take a walk down the Hallways of Always. The two have joined forces to release a duets album that goes by the title above. It comes out on November 7, courtesy of Southern Records.

Recorded in Whitmore's cousin Luke Tweedy's living room (aka Flat Black Studios) over the course of a week, the project features six tracks, including one Hoyston solo number, "We Miss You", about the death of her father.

There has been no talk of the pair joining forces on the road anytime soon, but Whitman and Erase Errata both have extensive fall tours lined up. In addition, Paradise Island will play two gigs as part of Chicago's Estrojam festival on September 28 and 30. The first is an afterparty DJ set at the Abbey Pub with Donna Dresch (Team Dresch), and the second is a live stint at the Metro with Nina Hagen, Chi*Town Sirens, Carnie Gal Extraordinaire, and Alexandra of Oracle Aerial Dance Troupe.

Hoyston released a limited-edition solo CD on the Southern imprint Latitudes recently, and is working on a Paradise Island full-length for Southern, due early next year. [MORE...]

Animal Collective's Geologist, Bishop Allen Play DAM!
Plus Bound Stems, Dirty on Purpose, Early Day Miners

In support of the DC music scene, the inaugural District's Awake! Music Festival will showcase a variety of national "buzz bands" and notable hometown acts (that aren't Fugazi) for three days of live music in our nation's capital.

The city-wide extravaganza takes place from October 26 through 28 and features artists such as Longwave, Travis Morrison, Geologist (of Animal Collective), Cloud Cult, Dirty on Purpose, Bishop Allen, Early Day Miners, Bound Stems, Decibully, Hopewell, the Oranges Band, and more. Organized by musicians, artists, promoters, writers, web-publishers, venue owners, and entrepreneurs, the DAM! event is similar to San Francisco's Noise Pop Festival and Pop Montreal in its goal, politically speaking, which is to increase the city's visibility on the national music radar.

Of the DAM! Festival, President Bush commented, "I like damn music. So long as it brings about freedom and liberty."

(OK, kidding. But W does have his jams.)

Sufjan Recruits Choir for Berkeley Shows

Sufjan Stevens is not one to play a concert without a gimmick. In the past, he has incorporated cheerleaders, strings, and enormous wings into his sets. On October 10 and 11-- at Berkeley, CA's Zellerbach Hall-- he will have a 24-piece portion of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble with him on stage. We are seriously jealous of everyone who attends the show.

He is on tour now with My Brightest Diamond and will soon head over to Europe, where St. Vincent will support.
[MORE...]

PJ Harvey, Newsom, New Pornos Rock New Yorker
Throw your reading glasses in the air and wave 'em like you just don't care

When we think of The New Yorker, we think of hard-hitting investigative reporting, confusing cartoons, and that drawing of the snooty guy with spectacles and a top hat. We certainly don't think of ROCK AND MOTHERFUCKING ROLL. (Except when they run those funny pieces that try to explain Houston rap or reggaeton to rich white people.)

But next weekend, The New Yorker is all about the rock. Well, sort of. As part of their seventh annual New Yorker Festival, "a celebratory weekend of public discourse on arts and ideas" taking place October 6-8 at venues throughout the city, the magazine will host a series of musical events...and one sure-to-be-awkward dance party.

On Saturday, October 7, PJ Harvey will perform as well as chat with theatre critic Hilton Als at the Supper Club. Later that night, at that same venue, Randy Newman will talk with editor Susan Morrison, and at Newspace, the New Pornographers will hang out with James Surowiecki, the guy who does the Financial Page. So he and Carl Newman can trade stock tips. Down in Brooklyn, at the waterfront venue BargeMusic, Joanna Newsom will perform and talk shop with fellow "composers on the edge" Mason Bates, Corey Dargel, and Nico Muhly, as well as critic Alex Ross. [MORE...]

Photos: Wire Fest [Empty Bottle; Chicago, IL; 09/22/06]

Eclecticism reigned once again at Chicago's Empty Bottle Friday night, as The Wire brought together four acts from three different continents to play the third night of the Adventures in Modern Music festival (for a recap of night one, click here). The grab bag bill included Brazil's Tetine, France's Colleen, Portland's Yellow Swans, and Chicago's own Spires That in the Sunset Rise. [MORE...]

Stream: The Decemberists: "Yankee Bayonet"

On this Civil War-themed cut from the Decemberists' The Crane Wife, due out October 3 on Capitol, Colin Meloy steps to fellow Pacific Northwesterner Laura Veirs, "But oh, did you see all the dead of Manassas, all the bellies and the bones and the bile?" Then she's all like, "No, I lingered here with the blankets barren and my own belly big with child." Oh no you didn't!

As is customary with these sorts of things, the rift is mended when she makes a grave so he can return home, possibly as a ghost. So basically, it's your average he-said/she-said shit.

Video: Xiu Xiu: "The Fox and the Rabbit"/"Boy Soprano"

For those keeping track, "The Fox and the Rabbit" is the fifth video from Xiu Xiu's The Air Force-- the rest we've recapped below for your convenience.

"Fox", directed by Cam Archer (who's also done videos for Six Organs of Admittance, Zero 7, and Imperial Teen), features gorgeous sylvan cinematography and some masked, winged, and horned dudes. Unlike the grainy Super 8 and camcorder vibes of previous Air Force vids, this one utilizes some high quality film stock, which means it looks awful purty, like a car commercial. Archer leaves the drama to the song itself, complementing it with ambiguous imagery that quietly suggests something horrific while leaving the gory details to the viewer's imagination. Well done.

Xiu-fanatics have likely already stumbled across the Jose Perez III-directed video for "Boy Soprano", which teleports charmingly pixelated renditions of Jamie Stewart and Caralee McElroy into an incredibly cynical old school video game. Marvel as they kick 8-bit squirrel ass! If you haven't scoped this yet, you really should. And man, we're all waiting for a giant Yoshi to hop out of that giant egg at the end and save the day, BUT HE NEVER DOES.

Xiu Xiu's massive U.S. tour kicked off on Friday-- don't forget to bring your Polaroid film!

Yo La Tengo Begin Ass-Beating World Tour
And they're not afraid to do it

We're shakin' in our boots. Tonight, the dangerously aggressive Yo La Tengo begin their previously reported assault on North America with a gig at Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut. Fans are sure to come out of it with at least one black eye.

The band will continue on through the States and Canada alongside opener Why? until November, when they'll head to Europe for some wintertime butt-kicking.

In other news, John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus will see its U.S. premiere at New York's Landmark Sunshine on October 4. You care because YLT contributed new material to the film. Plus there's sex. REAL SEX. [MORE...]

Video: Of Montreal Outback Steakhouse commercial

Well folks, here it is. The Outback Steakhouse commercial featuring the beefy version of Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)" has hit the tube-- both the one inside your television set and the one beginning with "You".

I gotta say, this is a pretty boring ad. It doesn't make me hungry at all. But I'm a vegetarian, so that may have something to do with it.

Mission of Burma Tour Diary, Part Ten

As the legendary Mission of Burma make their way down the West Coast on a week-long trek, guitarist Roger Miller shares his tour diary with Pitchfork. Stay tuned for daily entries ("Of course, it depends a bit on free WiFi," Miller says.)

Here's part ten, in which Burma end the tour in San Diego.

Read part nine here.
Read part eight here.
Read part six here.
Read part five here.
Read part four here.
Read part three here.
Read part two here.
Read part one here.

---

Saturday, September 23:

Are you getting bored of this yet? Definitely feels like the end of the tour. All a bit tired, but fine. Loaded gear out of the Troubadour and then on to San Diego. Stopped off for some superb fish tacos, then picked up some bass strings; if Clint breaks one tonight, we can still finish the show. And that extra-long guitar cable I used last night got coiled around my beer during the show and knocked it over onto my Vacu-Trem Unit during the set! So we picked up a more reasonable 12' cable-- no beer knock-overing tonight...

This is Sharon's hometown, and she guided us to Brick by Brick, the venue for tonight. A fine, if slightly divey, space-- and they have Arrogant Bastard on tap! Then my memory kicked in, and I recalled No Man opening up for No Means No here in 1991. We had loaded out before the violence happened-- and the story was that it was pretty ugly. Tonight we're going to burn incense and hang peace signs all over the club to defray the mayhem.

So SoCal [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: September 25-October 2, 2006

Pitchfork's T.V. Picks for This Week:

Monday, September 25:

CBS: "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson": Joan Jett
CBS: "Late Show With David Letterman": Elvis Costello and Tony Bennett
NBC: "Last Call With Carson Daly": Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (rerun)

NBC: "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno": Death Cab for Cutie
Syndicated: "Live With Regis and Kelly": Nelly Furtado

Tuesday, September 26:

CBS: "Late Show With David Letterman": Sean Lennon
NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Scissor Sisters
Syndicated: "Live With Regis and Kelly": Ludacris

Thursday, September 28:

ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live": Ludacris
CBS: "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson": M. Ward

Friday, September 29:

NBC: "Last Call With Carson Daly": Ludacris
NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": David Cross
NBC: "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno": Snow Patrol
Syndicated: "The Ellen Degeneres Show": Ludacris

Saturday, September 30:

NBC: "Saturday Night Live": The Killers

Monday, October 2:

MTV2: "Subterranean": Regina Spektor

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.)