Twilight Singers and Lanegan Release EP
Twilight Sad cry

The "cover" (if you can call those things that show up in iTunes "covers") of the brand new Twilight Singers EP, A Stitch in Time (available today only on iTunes) is an image of a really grimy sink. Listening to the five-track collection feels just as dirty.

Pairing main man Greg Dulli with recently-added full-on band member Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees/Queens of the Stone Age/Isobel Campbell), it's a typically creepy affair, with everything sounding like it was recorded in a smoky bar with a dead body in the bathroom. Except for the song "Sublime", co-written by Dulli and Joseph Arthur, and featuring Arthur on vocals. That dude couldn't sound mysterious if he was dressed in a fedora and trenchcoat.

The EP leads off with a deliciously depraved cover of Massive Attack's "Live With Me", and also includes a cover of Fat Freddy's Drop's "Flashback". Dulli's Afghan Whigs bandmate Rick McCollum co-wrote the song "They Ride". And "Sublime" totally jacks "Sexual Healing". In a good way.

The Twilight Singers, with Lanegan in tow, launch a U.S. tour in two weeks. They head to Europe in November and December. [MORE...]

Stream: Stephin Merritt: "The Meaning of Lice"

Only one man could successfully write and record a wistful, feel-good, disco-danceable, three-minute ode to parasites and pestilence-- with a chorus that includes the word "subcutaneous"-- and that man is Stephin Merritt.

Our grim Future Bible Hero here interprets the storied third plague-- that of locusts-- with new ditty "The Meaning of Lice", set to appear on the Plague Songs compilation. As previously reported, the disc, already out in the UK, hits U.S. stores via 4AD on November 7.

The first two plague songs are already available for your streaming delight, and do check here over the coming weeks for more doomsday jams from Brian Eno with Robert Wyatt (Flies; Oct. 13), Imogen Heap (Locusts; Oct. 24), Scott Walker (Darkness; Oct. 25), Rufus Wainwright (Death; Oct. 29), and others.

So far this is shaping up to be the best apocalypse ever!!

Photos: Built to Spill [Philadelphia, PA; 10/07/2006]
Live concert stream tonight on NPR

Photos and show review by Maria Tessa Sciarrino

Just in case someone tries to tell you otherwise, Saturday night's sold out Built to Spill show at Philadelphia's Trocadero did not change anyone's life. There was some mild rocking with a dose of heavy jamming, there were constantly hand-holding couples in the audience covering every inch of floorspace.

Openers Camper Van Beethoven forgot to change the "Hello New York!" in their video projections. That was almost offensive as Terrell Owens going to the Dallas Cowboys. Well, at least David Lowery didn't crack any "sixth borough" jokes.

The Troc's expert staff whisked away all traces of CVB in what felt like record time, giving Built to Spill ample room to kick out the jams. The short change-over may have also been the root of the sound problems that marred the first four or five songs of their set with a loud buzzing sound, rendering Doug Martsch's vocals totally inaudible. (But really, who goes to a Built to Spill show for the lyrics?)

Only slightly less irritating was the frat dude next to me, screaming for "The Plan" at every free moment. (He got his request.) Overall, it was a lukewarm set with not too much to engage the audience or the band, save for a version of the Halo Benders' "Will Work for Food" and one new tune.

That splitting headache I encountered halfway through it all wasn't from the sheer awesomeness that is Built to Spill. No, that was my brain fighting to stay awake.

Tonight, you can enjoy that wonderful feeling from the privacy of your own home by listening to NPR.org's live stream of Built to Spill's show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. It starts at 9:00 pm EST.

More photos and tour dates below. [MORE...]

Little Ones Sign to Astralwerks
Tour the UK with the Boy Least Likely To

One of the cheeriest band on Earth have hit the big time. Los Angeles five-piece the Little Ones recently signed a worldwide deal with Astralwerks. The label is now officially the band's North American home, and its partner Heavenly Recordings has the band covered in Europe.

The Little Ones' Sing Song EP, which they initially self-released, will get a proper spot in the Astralwerks catalogue come next Tuesday, October 17. It will include a bonus track.

This winter, the band will record its debut full length in Los Angeles. It is slated for a tentative mid-2007 due date.

The Little Ones will play the Astralwerks CMJ showcase this November. In January, they'll tour the UK with fellow happy dudes the Boy Least Likely To. [MORE...]

Aziz Ansari Talks "Human Giant" MTV Show

Pitchfork Music Festival Pre-Party standup comedian Aziz Ansari and the rest of his Human Giant comedy troupe (Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, and Jason Woliner) have just announced that their own comedy series, creatively titled "Human Giant", will debut on MTV in the first quarter of next year.

All four troupe members will executive produce the show, with Ansari, Huebel, and Scheer also starring in it and Woliner directing it.

Ansari explained the MTV deal in an interview today with Pitchfork. "We didn't pitch them a show or anything, they just saw the shorts and they really wanted us to do some sort of show for them. 'Shutterbugs' we shot on our own, and 'Illusionators', we shot in Vegas. We put a teaser trailer up for ['Illusionators'], but we never released it because it was too long. And we started talking to people about doing some sort of show, so we thought, 'We shouldn't release this so we have something in our back pockets. When people meet with us, we can show them this other thing.' So those two videos and then the mixtape video-- we had all those on a DVD. MTV got ahold of that DVD and told us they wanted us to make a pilot of short films like that. We started the pilot in April and finished it in July, and that's when we found out we got picked up. They ordered eight half-hour episodes and it'll be on regular MTV.

"When they said we got picked up on regular MTV and not even MTV2, I was really taken aback because if you think about it, I can't even think of any shows on MTV that are scripted anymore. They're all reality TV and stuff like 'My Sweet 16' or 'My Parents Just Set Me Up on a Date' or whatever, [but] with stuff like YouTube out there, people are familiar with sketch comedy. They understand that format, so I feel like if people see a sketch of ours on the internet and they like it, hopefully they'll want to watch our show." [MORE...]

Photos: TV on the Radio / Grizzly Bear [Chicago, IL; 10/09/06]

Boasting an impressive and likely unmatched 8.9 Pitchfork batting average for 2006, the Best New Tour roared into Chicago's Metro last night, featuring fellow Brooklyn chums TV on the Radio (whose Return to Cookie Mountain garnered 9.1 from this here website) and Grizzly Bear (whose Yellow House earned a not-too-shabby 8.7).

Grizzly kicked things off by demonstrating their intricate, measured approach to crafting textured, swelling mid-afternoon anthems, incorporating autoharp, flute, and clarinet in with the ol' guitar-bass-drums mix. They came across as four men sharing and communicating via a slightly different wavelength than the rest of us, and those with the patience to soak it all in were generously rewarded by this fine set.

TVotR broke out the gate with Tunde Adebimpe sermonizing ceilingward and gesticulating like he was trying to exorcise his left arm. For the most part they harnessed the fire at the heart of Cookie Mountain, with "Blues From Down Here", "Wolf Like Me", and encore surprise oldie "Staring at the Sun"-- which Adebimpe facetiously introduced as a cover of Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind"-- coming off particularly well. Unfortunately, the atmospheric elements-- particularly that awesome horn loop on "I Was a Lover"-- sometimes became buried in the mix. At their best, however, the boys treated the sold-out crowd to one hell of a rousing performance. Plus they invited the Grizzlies onstage to spazz around joyously for the encore.

More photos and remaining tour dates ahead. [MORE...]

Video: Islands: "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby"

All dogs go to heaven when they're in Montreal collective Islands. In the band's new video for "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby", "South Park" meets Yoshi's Island (no pun intended).

The colorful animated short features a series of silly happenings, including some "doot doot, doot doot" text, a massive dog food purchase, a muffin baby, and, finally, Islands driving down a mountain in a thunderstorm, then driving on a sun-puppy's back in outer space, and then driving to the aforementioned heaven. I won't spoil the ending.

Moment of silence for the ending of Ms. Houston and Mr. Brown's marriage. By the way.

As previously reported, Islands are currently on an extensive fall tour with Subtitle. [MORE...]

Ryan Adams Message Board Fiasco

Ryan Adams has been known to do some pretty crazy things, like kick hecklers out of shows, leave silly messages on Pitchfork's answering machine, and record bad rap songs. But even though we like to make fun of ol' Ry sometimes (ok, a lot of times), we aren't going to pick on him for something he didn't do.

Last week, the interweb was buzzing with rumors that Adams had demanded the shutdown of the message board on popular fan site RyanAdams.org, a privately-owned site over which Adams had no legal power. Allegedly, Adams and his management sought editorial control over the board's contents.

However, Pitchfork contacted David Smith, proprietor of RyanAdams.org, who set the record straight. "Ryan's management contacted me Tuesday, asking that the board be temporarily shut down," he disclosed. "Initially there were reports of censorship or an inability to deal with criticism and negative show reviews. But I've since had the opportunity to discuss the issue directly with Ryan...and apparently sensitive information of a personal nature had been exposed on the board which was a threat to the band. I won't go into details, but he was (understandably so) quite upset about this.

"I would like to stress that taking the board down was a voluntary action on my part. RyanAdams.org is a privately owned domain name, so I don't see a legal recourse. But out of respect for Ryan, I made the decision to comply with his request.

"I don't see the point of running a 'fan site' for an artist who disapproves of it, so the decision was an attempt at maintaining good relations with Ryan and his management." [MORE...]

WOXY Returns!
GM Bryan Jay Miller to Pitchfork: "We're really stoked."

"Hey folks, we'd like to save woxy," began a simple September 19 post on the message boards of WOXY.com, the venerable Cincinnati-based radio institution that-- citing financial shortcomings-- pulled the plug last month after 23 years of playing quality music to the masses.

"We're very well funded and humbled by the great work the people here have done," the mysterious post continued. "Please tell the fab four at woxy to contact us." Most thought it a hoax, but the post's author-- Bill Nguyen, co-founder of CD-trading service lala.com-- was quite serious.

Today, his noble offer saw fruition, as WOXY returned to the internet airwaves at 10:10am EDT, 10/10/06. Now partnered with Nguyen's La La, WOXY is not only back, but it has a few new surprises up its sleeves. Allow us to spoil them for you.

The first: listener-generated playlists, or what WOXY and La La have deemed "Citizen Radio". Beginning in a matter of weeks, WOXY fans will be able to program their very own set of favorite tunes over at lala.com, drawn from the extensive and always growing WOXY digital catalog. Quite a few test playlists are already up and running at La La's website.

With La La's help, WOXY also has designs on extending its much-loved Lounge Acts series of live sessions by erecting additional studios in cities across the country. As with the main Cincinnati studio, these satellite Lounge Acts studios will host national touring acts; they'll also record sessions from promising local talent. The first will go up in San Francisco in the near future, and WOXY and La La hope to establish more in Austin, New York, Chicago, Seattle, and elsewhere eventually.

La La is essentially a CD-trading network that allows users to list CDs they want, and those they already have. By drawing from a vast body of subscribers, it facilitates multi-party trades for a small fee ($1.00 per exchange, with $0.20 going to the artist, plus $0.75 shipping)-- so if Manny in Missoula has OK Computer but wants Loveless, Billy in Boise has Loveless but wants Cracked Rear View ('cause he's crazy like that), and Ginny Sue Beth in Dallas has Cracked Rear View but wants OK Computer-- well, a few postage stamps later, everybody's satisfied. And, when trades involve deceased artists, La La donates that $0.20 to its "Z" Foundation, dedicated to "address[ing] the economic challenges [working musicians] face"-- health care, and the like.

Pitchfork recently chatted with WOXY General Manager Bryan Jay Miller, a 13-plus-year veteran of the station, about the partnership with La La and the new direction for WOXY. [MORE...]

Mars Volta Team With Can's Damo Suzuki

Start picking tomatoes and making sauce, because it's time to get noodly. Can yelper Damo Suzuki and Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez have teamed up to release a collaborative vinyl-only 12" EP via GSL.

Please Heat This Eventually features contributions from the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet: Omar, Mars Volta bassist Juan Alderete de la Pena, MV percussionist (and Omar's brother) Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark Nishita, and MV flutist/saxophonist/percussionist Adrian Terrazas Gonzales. It will be available via GSL's mailorder on December 1 and in stores in January.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez also has collaborations with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante up on iTunes right now; they are part of GSL's Special 12 Single Series compilation, which collects tracks previously released by the label only on 12". Their two tracks are titled "0" and "0=2". The comp also includes a song by Xiu Xiu ("Red Croissant") and two by Alavaz Relxib Cirdec (spell it backwards): "Live Private Booths (Long Version)" and "Sapta Loka".

The Mars Volta hit the road with the Red Hot Chili Peppers next week, then head to Mexico, Japan, and Down Under in November and December. [MORE...]

Exclusive: Earlimart Talk New Album, Elliott Smith
Share exclusive MP3s

Some bands come raging out the gates with some landmark debut album, then break up or fizzle off into mediocrity. Some toil for years and years before hitting their stride. And a few just plug along the old fashioned way, learning from their mistakes, growing steadily as songwriters, and improving by degrees with each release. Like Los Angeles rockers Earlimart.

The Aaron Espinoza-fronted combo has four albums under its belt, each building upon the merits of the last. "I think [with] every album I'm getting better [as a producer], and the albums sound better and the songwriting gets better," Espinoza recently told Pitchfork. By that logic, the self-produced, as-yet-untitled latest offering from Earlimart should be the band's best yet. While he's "still tinkering" with the new disc, which has no label or set release date yet, Espinoza was happy to talk about its genesis. [MORE...]

Video: J Dilla: "Nothing Like This"

The weirdos at Adult Swim team up with the weirdos at Stones Throw and-- surprise, surprise-- come up with a thoroughly weird video for Dilla's solo contribution to Chrome Children, "Nothing Like This", directed by Daniel Garcia and Mixtape Club. It's fantastical and also kind of fantastic, especially when the jellyfish/squid/
globule/strawhead main character becomes an ice cream monster.

Yes, that just happened.

Stay tuned for new Chrome Children videos every day this week.

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.)