Video: Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "Ebb Tide"

A striptease. A topless swim. Blue night-vision light.

The latest Paris Hilton escapade? Or...the new Bonnie "Prince" Billy video?

Congratulations, bald-guy-with-beard fetishists, it's the latter! Though not particularly raunchy, this clip for "Ebb Tide" (aka the hidden track at the end of The Letting Go) does feature Will Oldham stripping down to his swim trunks and taking a dip in the ocean. Director Jennifer Parsons' sea shots alternate with footage of Oldham, bathed in said blue light, crooning the song into the camera while making funny faces. Hot stuff.

TV on the Radio Schedule North American Tour

Following his Karen O leak outburst last month, Dave Sitek has found a new outlet for his pent-up creative energy: a TV on the Radio spring tour.

The band will hit the road in March, crossing the U.S. and Canada through late April. [MORE...]

Moore, Ranaldo, Chatham Head Experimental Fest
Also: Tony Conrad, Christina Carter, Sir Richard Bishop, Loren Connors, Zeena Parkins

New York I love you, but you're bringing me down. And that's mostly on account of the enormous distance between your culture-paved streets and the geometric avenues of the Second City-- and the fact that you're constantly getting kick-ass-to-the-max festivals like this one.

The Independents festival kicks off January 4 in Brooklyn and runs through the end of the month, bringing together pretty much anyone who's anyone in boundary-pushing music these days, and tossing in some film and poetry for kicks. All experiments in sound and vision go down at the Issue Project Room, which will host showcases all month long from a number of respectable labels, including Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace, Locust, Table of the Elements, Tompkins Square, XI, Pogus, and Family Vineyard.

Among the performers: Bark Haze (featuring Moore and Andrew MacGregor, aka Gown), fellow Sonic Youther Lee Ranaldo, guitar composer Rhys Chatham (performing with his "Guitar Trio All-Stars"), drone violinist Tony Conrad, Charmalambides' Christina Carter, Sunburned Hand of the Man (scoring some films), Ira Cohen (reading poems), mad drummer Jonathan Kane's February, crazed harpist Zeena Parkins, Sun City Girl Sir Richard Bishop, Loren Connors/David Daniell/Greg Kelley, No Neck Blues Band, MV+EE, Lau Nau, Function, Lichens, Ethan Rose, and Badgerlore. Scope the complete lineup and schedule here.

You're also highly encouraged to check out Leif Inge's SXSW smash "9 Beet Stretch", which elongates Beethoven's 9th Symphony out into a 24-hour drone mindfuck.

Shins Share Video, Digital LP; Rock "SNL"

Somehow I missed the Cast Your Kids in a Shins Video contest, which is a shame, since my kids love them some Shins, but lookee here! The video for the band's "Phantom Limb", first single from Wincing the Night Away (January 23, Sub Pop), thrusts our fair Shins and America's children into the throes of various tragic historical situations. Situations that, yes, changed lives-- but hardly for the better. Irony! Maybe.

Kids and Shins portray Joan of Arc and her army, vile conquistadors, oppressed native peoples, and the ill-fated members of the Donner party in the Patrick Daughters-directed clip. It's rather charming because 1.) the whole thing is set up and dramatized like a play, and 2.) such dire circumstances are pretty much the last thing the Shins' music evokes. Incongruity can be fun.



Also fun: the digital age. And in an effort to reconcile the technological advances our science hath wrought with the rampant nostalgia for all things vinyl, those jolly elves at Sub Pop will package all LP copies of Wincing the Night Away with a magical golden ticket which you may redeem-- at no additional charge-- for Wincing in mp3 format. Not unlike what Merge Records and a bunch of other labels are doing right now. And not a bad idea, if you ask us.

Finally, our boys will wince the "Saturday Night Live" away, appearing on the sometimes funny NBC program January 13, along with Jake Gyllenhaal of Donnie Darko and Brokeback Mountain fame. UPDATE: They'll be performing "Phantom Limb" and "New Slang".

Finally finally, there's a pretty fantastic Shins interview on the main page right now. You know you want to click it.

T.V. Eye: January 2-8, 2007

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

Tuesday, January 2:

ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live": My Chemical Romance
NBC: "Last Call With Carson Daly": Regina Spektor (rerun)

Wednesday, January 3:

ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live": Twilight Singers
NBC: "Last Call With Carson Daly": Wolfmother (rerun)

Thursday, January 4:

NBC: "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno": Akon

Saturday, January 6:

PBS: "Austin City Limits": Damian Marley

Monday, January 8:

MTV2: "Subterranean": the Thermals

While We Were Out
Stuff that happened during the break

For the past two weeks, the Pitchfork news team has been on our annual Mexican vacation, swimming in the ocean, sipping margaritas, and building beach bonfires out of stacks of bad promo CDs. (Sorry, Bull Cock.)

However, just because we're busy rubbing suntan lotion on one another's backs doesn't mean the music world stops generating news, though we would prefer if it did.

So here's a brief wrap-up of some of the more notable happenings that took place since December 15, 2006 and today. Happenings that weren't as notable as James Brown's death or Stephen Colbert enlisting Henry fucking Kissinger to beat Chris Funk at guitar-soloing, that is.

Happy new year!

ARCADE FIRE ONSLAUGHT BEGINS

The week before the break, a mysterious advertisement appeared on our website, bearing only the phone number 1-866-NEONBIBLE and a link to www.neonbible.com. Assuming it was some cheesy viral marketing campaign for a Christian youth movement or a car (Dodge Neon, maybe?) or something, we ignored it.

Whoops!

Turns out it was an ad for the new Arcade Fire album, titled, yes, Neon Bible. Calling the phone number got you a static-y, almost unlistenable version of the song "Intervention". Thankfully, on December 28, the real "Intervention" in all of its orchestral, over-the-top glory became available as an iTunes download benefiting the nonprofit health care group Partners in Health.

The Neon Bible track "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" also became available as an iTunes download benefiting Partners in Health, albeit accidentally. According to a post from Win Butler on the band's website, someone from Merge Records mistakenly put the track on iTunes on December 26. Thanks, dude.

The band also added five shows at Judson Memorial Church in New York City to their previously reported residencies in London and Montreal. Tickets go on sale January 5, but they probably somehow sold out already.

BRIGHT EYES RETURNS

According to Google, Cassadaga is some sort of spiritual cult thing involving communicating with the dead. How emo! Cassadaga is also the name of the forthcoming Bright Eyes album, due out on April 10 on Saddle Creek. It will be preceded by the Four Winds EP on March 6, which includes the title track and five non-album B-sides: "Reinvent the Wheel", "Smoke Without Fire", "Stray Dog Freedom", "Cartoon Blues", and "Tourist Trap".

Conor Oberst is joined by producer Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott on Cassadaga. As previously reported, the album also includes cameos from M.Ward, Gillian Welch, and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney and the Jicks.

A Bright Eyes tour is in the works for February.

TAPES 'N TAPES ROBBED IN AUSTRALIA

What a shitty way to start the holidays: Right before Tapes 'n Tapes were set to fly home to Minneapolis from an Australian tour, the band's van was robbed. For some reason, the thief or thieves didn't take a lot of equipment, but they did take "one of our passports...two Mac laptops...one digital camera, all of Josh's clothes, one Blackberry, two cell phones, and all sorts of various inconvenient personal effects (glasses, keys, wallets, shoes, etc.)," according to a post on the band's website.

Why would you want someone else's glasses?

PAUL WESTERBERG STABS HIMSELF IN THE HAND WITH A SCREWDRIVER

 

 

 

Um, yeah. This made the front page of CNN.com.

VELVET UNDERGROUND ACETATE GOES FOR $25,200.00

That insanely rare Velvet Underground record was sold on eBay for a second time, and was presumably bought by a reputable person. We hope.

 

 

PETER BJORN AND JOHN INVADE AMERICA

Pitchfork's 24th favorite album of 2006, Swedish indie pop trio Peter Bjorn and John's Writer's Block, will be released in America on February 6. It's coming out on the brand new label Almost Gold, which is a partnership between Scott Rodger, manager of Arcade Fire and Bjork, and Isaac Green of StarTime International.

The U.S. version of the album includes the "single version" of "Let's Call It Off", as well as a bonus disc featuring the original take on that song as well as "Ancient Curse", "All Those Expectations (Weak Remix)", "Self-Pity", "Sitar Folks", and the "Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation" version of Pitchfork's fifth favorite song of 2006, "Young Folks".

PB&J also scheduled two New York City shows, one at the Mercury Lounge on January 29 and one at the Bowery Ballroom on January 30.

TED LEO REVEALS TERRIBLE ALBUM COVER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come on, man.

 

 

 

 

MALKMUS, DEERHOOF, EL-P TO PLAY PLUG AWARDS; DAVID CROSS HOSTS

The 2007 PLUG Awards got even cooler with the announcement of the awards ceremony's entertainment lineup. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Deerhoof, El-P, Tokyo Police Club, and, ugh, Silversun Pickups, will all perform at the big event, taking place February 10 at NYC's Irving Plaza.

Malkmus will receive the PLUG Impact Award (basically the indie version of the Lifetime Achievement Grammy), while the other performers are up for PLUGs in various categories. Comedian David Cross will host the show and make fun of everybody.

LADY SOVEREIGN RESCHEDULES SHOWS

As promised, Lady Sovereign rescheduled her Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles shows that were either cut short or canceled due to illness last month. The new dates are:

 

 

01-04 Las Vegas, NV - Empire Ballroom
01-08 San Francisco - Club Mezzanine
01-09 San Diego - House of Blues
01-10 Los Angeles - El Rey Theatre

James Brown 1933-2006

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul and the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, died early this morning in Atlanta, Georgia, the Associated Press reports. He was 73 years old.

Brown was hospitalized yesterday for pneumonia, though his agent told the AP that it was unclear at this time what, exactly, was the cause of death.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Brown's longtime friend, told the Associated Press, "He was dramatic to the end-- dying on Christmas Day. Almost a dramatic, poetic moment. He'll be all over the news all over the world today. He would have it no other way."

One of the most influential figures in rock'n'roll history, James Brown helped invent the soul, funk, modern r&b, and hip-hop genres, with top 10 hits in four decades and an unparalleled live show. He kept performing until the very end, and was scheduled to play in New York City on New Year's Eve.

James Brown: "I Feel Good"

[MORE...]

Colbert Cheats to Victory Over Decemberists!
Peter Frampton, Rick Nielsen, Robert Schneider, Eliot Spitzer, Henry Kissinger join in fun!

Leave it to the conservative right to connive its way into the winner's circle once again! While the Decemberists' Chris Funk did indeed shred valiantly on tonight's episode of "The Colbert Report" (even if he did look a little more like a Von Trapp than a rawk titan), he was no match for the cunning of Colbert himself-- nor the man's uncanny catalog of celebrity connections.

As you may recall, possibly-sarcastic talk show pundit Stephen Colbert accepted the Decemberists' challenge to a guitar duel, which was itself a response to a green screen challenge from Colbert-- who was miffed by purported similarities between the band's "O Valencia!" video contest and Colbert's own lightsaber green screen shenanigans.

Tonight it all came to a head, with "America's last hero" Colbert devoting an entire half-hour episode of his show to the challenge, which he deemed the "Rock'n'Awe Countdown to Guitarmageddon". Dude pulled out all the stops, deploying enough ridiculous rock'n'roll puns to make Lordi blush and inviting a host of unlikely music celebrities and political types to help him conspire to victory over Funk and the Decemberists.

After an inexplicable indie pop homage to Colbert performed by the Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider, the pundit unveiled his celebrity judges-- Rolling Stone scribe Anthony DeCurtis, Grammy-winning producer/engineer Jim Anderson, and New York governor-elect and payola buster-upper Eliot Spitzer-- and moderator: none other than Henry Kissinger.

Funk then laid down some competent riffage, and Colbert took the stage in response with a five-neck guitar stolen from Cheap Trick, then faked a finger injury (all in front of a green screen, naturally) and called in Peter Frampton to complete the challenge on his behalf!

Once the riff-dust had settled, not surprisingly, Colbert claimed a dubious victory, stemming mostly from his chokehold over the studio audience and his being in cahoots with Kissinger. His prize: The Crane Wife!

In the end, however, the real victor was you, television-watching American (or internet-watching foreigner), who never in a million years would've thought you'd see Peter Frampton, Chris Funk, Robert Schneider, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, and Stephen Colbert (with talk box!) perform an "all-star guitar jam" onstage together.

You can click here to watch the whole thing for yourself, but fair warning: It's Comedy Central and they make you watch some shitty commercial first.

Okay, back to roasting chestnuts for us. Enjoy your holidays, people!

MP3: Deerhoof: "+81"
+81 digital EP out December 19

As Pitchfork prepares to take the holiday plunge, we leave you today with a digital stocking stuffer that should toast your Yule logs right good. Um, whatever the hell that means. "+81" comes careening down your chimney courtesy of the kind elves at Kill Rock Stars, straight off Deerhoof's Friend Opportunity-- which, as previously reported, arrives January 23 via KRS, bundled with 10 tracks and 12 unique cover opportunities.

Bookended by some trumpets that almost sound From Barcelona, the track showcases the leaner, (not really) meaner Deerhoof, presently a trio following the departure of bassist Chris Cohen (who now plays in the Curtains). Satomi Matsuzaki's still cooing existential babytalk, guitarist John Dieterich is still slicing out razor-sharp riffs, and drummer Greg Saunier still holds it down in back, threatening to go all John Philip Sousa on us but soon settling on a simple, efficient beat. This is the Deerhoof we know and love, decked out in some festive ornamentation, and it should rock new friends as well as old.

Before "+81" hits Friend Opportunity, however, it will kick off the +81 EP, set to land exclusively at digital retailers on December 19. Along with the title song, the EP collects four B-sides from the pre-Cohen, Reveille era (when the band was also a trio): "Sealed With a Kiss" (aka "Bring Down the Nutritious Pigs", and an alternate version of the Apple O' cut), "Surprise Symphony" (apparently inspired by Haydn), "United He-Ho Brothers" (the very first Matsuzaki-Saunier- Dieterich composition), and "Aho Bomb" (live favorite and "Nels Cline's favorite Deerhoof song," according to Saunier). Phew!

As previously reported, Deerhoof sweep across North America early next year. And they're up for a PLUG Award! Vote here. [MORE...]

Xiu Xiu Release Handmade Tour Photo Book

Surely by now you've seen the two installments of scandalous Xiu Xiu tour Polaroids that graced these very pages, courtesy of tour manager/merch dude David Horvitz. Allowing us an intimate look into the dazzling life of these rockstars in their natural habitats (chiefly hotel rooms, vans, and diners), Horvitz' photos garnered world wide (web) acclaim and remained permanently etched into the grey matter of all who saw them...for better or for worse.

So of course you're fixing for more! And Horvitz hears your pleas, which is why he's put together Xiu Xiu Tour Book #4, the latest installment in his series of handmade picture books documenting the exploits of Xiu Xiu on the open road. This one depicts moments from the Xiu's recent tour in support of The Air Force.

But check it: this time, instead of seedy Polaroids of people peeing on their feet, Xiu Xiu Tour Book #4 collects significantly more tasteful and often fairly artistic shots of the Xiu crew in action. They're hardly professional, however, which lends them a charm similar to that of your family vacation photos. If your family is, you know, slightly insane.

Check out lo-res samples of all the pix here.

Horvitz hopes to make future editions of Book #4 featuring different photographs, and the first one-- which promises bigger pages and more photos than ever before-- is available now for $20 at Horvitz' website. There's even a DIY mail-in option for folks who can't quite swing that sum. Swank!

MP3s: Holy Fuck: Various Tracks

"Holy fuck, our hard drive crashed!" said Holy Fuck, when they lost what band member Brian Borcherdt, in an email to Pitchfork, called "a good chunk of material" for their follow-up to last year's self-titled debut. But they also added, "Hey, let's put up some live mp3s on our website so people don't have to wait even longer to hear what we've been working on."

The four tracks-- "Safari", "Choppers", "Junglor", and "Chicago Radio Rap Band"-- were all recorded live at radio stations or gigs, and they're all analog electro in the post-rock vein. This stuff would make perfect Megaman-style video game music.

Holy Fuck quickly hopped back on the recording train after their tech troubles and will begin mixing the new record with Broken Social Scene producer Dave Newfeld very soon. They also hope to have an additional recording session next year with Enon drummer Matt Schulz, who Borcherdt said was "recently recruited as one of our few rotating drummers."

Mos Def Conjures True Magic, Shares Stream

Mos Def's New Danger follow-up, True Magic, comes out December 29 on Geffen, and it features production from Pharrell, Minnesota, and Preservation.

While you're pondering what an entire U.S. state would sound like behind the boards and why a major label would release an album at the very end of the year on a Friday, you can listen to a stream of a song from the album titled... "Napoleon Dynamite". Hey, remember Napoleon Dynamite? That's that movie Gnarls Barkley were in, right?

Rather than referencing Uncle Rico, tater tots, and his pet llama, though, the MC basically uses the movies title as a jumpoff for a track about, um... well, we're still not quite sure. He sums it up pretty well himself: "But really I digress." It's not awful, just too tame for a guy who used to be able to give a pretty good sermon about exactly what beef is. [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.)