Portishead Debut New Song at Secret Live Gig!

Photo by Grumpy Man DJs

Fans who check Portishead's MySpace hourly likely stumbled across the following somewhat cryptic message today from Geoff Barrow:

"thanks for everyone who came down to see me dj last night and the responce to the live stuff, even though it was only 2 songs. beth and ade enjoyed playin as well.

"sorry we didnt tell everyone about the gig but its good to do things like that every now and again, and its a tiny place."

He added, "ps. the new song hasnt even got a name yet."

Wait a minute-- live stuff? Beth and Ade?? New song??!

Believe it. Reconvening for their first live appearance since February, 2005's Tsunami Benefit one-off-- and debuting brand new material-- the Portishead supertrio of Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley, and Beth Gibbons played two songs to a tiny, unsuspecting crowd at Bristol's Mr Wolfs last night.

Alert Pitchfork reader Hector Gutierez was on hand to witness the magic, billed under the guise of a Grumpy Man DJs event featuring a guest appearance by Barrow. "After a couple of hours [spinning] eclectic sadcore classics from the likes of Tom Waits and Joy Division," wrote Gutierez, "Geoff and...Adrian Utley began to play 'Wandering Star'-- Geoff playing bass. A few bars in Geoff picked up the mike and asked 'Anyone here know how to sing?' At this point Beth walked on stage and started singing."

Apparently even venue staff were unaware of the live gig, and the person working the door actually charged Gibbons entry.

"The second song was brand new," Gutierez continued, "presumably from the forthcoming (if you believe the rumours, sometime this year) album. Rarely have I seen a room full of people all wear exactly the same facial expression, but when I looked at the crowd everyone had their mouths gaping and eyes wide open as if they were witnessing an alien landing. It was wonderful. The new song was completely gorgeous, carried by Beth's vocals and with very low-key instrumentation."

As the Grumpy Man website colorfully put it, "Adrian and Beth joined Geoff onstage and blew all our collective brains to shit." Thankfully said website also includes a link to a bunch of photos from the event. Rumor has it YouTube footage is likely to surface soon, so keep your person situated in front of the internet at all times for the latest developments in the 10+ year saga of Portishead's third album.

Love of Diagrams Prep Matador LP, Tour With Ted Leo

Australian three-piece Love of Diagrams, one of Matador's recent signings, are getting ready to prove themselves to the world. After putting out their self-titled EP on Matador last month, they're gearing up for the release of their sophomore full length, Mosaic.

The disc, which was produced with Bob Weston (of Shellac/Mission of Burma) last spring, lands on the trio's home continent March 3 via Remote Control; it's due in the rest of the world on April 10 via Matador.

In support of Mosaic and the EP, the band will launch the first leg of a lengthy tour this evening in Los Angeles. After heading to Europe in mid-March, they'll return to North America for a somewhat previously reported jaunt alongside Ted Leo/Pharmacists. [MORE...]

Photos: Midlake [Austin, TX; 02/23/07]

Photos by Zach Vowell

Residents of Denton, fresh from their tour kick-off in Houston, Midlake stopped in Austin Friday night and found a sold-out crowd waiting for them. They easily could've played a rousing "Roscoe" and then dialed in the rest of the set under cover of cozy songs-- but no! To meet the demand, singer Tim Smith ratcheted up his drowsy earnestness just so and the band followed suit with (mostly) material from Midlake's latest, The Trials of Van Occupanther, not so much serrating the album's soft-rock edges as filling them in with slightly more urgency and pluck.

Opener "We Gathered in Spring" quickly introduced the infectious throwback stylings of keyboardist Eric Nichelson (who could probably sweep all Garth Hudson look-alike contests). On the flipside of the stage Eric Pulido played guitar and keys-- with that creepy panther mask from Van Occupanther's album cover perched atop Pulido's keyboard stand, glaring over the crowd.

Smith was very clear about the mask being a panther, not a bear. Pulido claimed kids in Montreal and Houston had swiped the panther's papier-mâché nose, then threatened the Austin front row with his watchful gaze. Of course, both threats and clarifications were completely in jest, a quality that seemed to have similarly leavened much of Midlake's folksy preoccupations for the better. Midlake continue their U.S. tour through March, then hop overseas in April.






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Exclusive: The National Enter the Ring With Boxer

After thirteen months of writing at their homes in Brooklyn, the National have announced the title and release date of their follow-up to 2005's Alligator.

The album's title is Boxer, and Beggars Banquet will release it on May 22.

Peter Katis (Interpol, Spoon) aided the NYC-via-Cincinnati quintet in Boxer's production and mixing, and Fred Kevorkian (Ryan Adams, Regina Spektor, Willie Nelson) handled the mastering.

The National will announce a full tour of the U.S. and European festivals shortly, but in the meantime, they have scheduled three dates in Europe and four at New York City's Bowery Ballroom in May. [MORE...]

The Faint Schedule Handful of Shows

Change is afoot in Omaha. Conor Oberst has a new haircut (or lack thereof), and the Faint have scheduled a short tour.

The Saddle Creek scenesters will begin their trek in Minneapolis on March 12 and end it just four days later with their first appearance at South by Southwest in seven years.

The Faint are currently in the process of recording the follow-up to 2004's Wet From Birth. [MORE...]

Photos: Patrick Wolf [Sheffield, England; 02/25/07]

With The Magic Position parading into UK record shoppes today via Loog, flamboyant Patrick Wolf continues his overseas tour in support of the release, his third full-length proper, and perhaps his finest yet.

Theatrical Patrick apparently had the kids crying "Wolf!" during last night's gig at Sheffield's Leadmill, donning a school boy's uniform and other loud attire, mustering chutzpah by the pound, and showcasing his talents on violin, keyboard, and even Theremin. He'll need all the chutzpah he can get-- as previously reported, Wolf opens a string of UK dates for Arcade Fire next month.

Import-averse U.S. audiences can look forward to The Magic Position's May 1 release via Low Altitude/Universal. Dates and more photos-- all courtesy of Lauren Solarski and Carl Blackmun-- after the jump.





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Vitalic, Trentemoller, Mylo Remix Moby's Best

Moby will release a remixed version of his 2006 hits collection Go: The Very Best of Moby in the UK on March 5. He has assembled an impressive list of remixers to contribute to the project, including Vitalic, Trentemøller, Mylo, Ferry Corsten, and himself.

Mute will release Go: Remixed in CD and download formats with slightly different tracklists for each. The CD will feature Moby's Old Skool Mix of "Feeling So Real" and a rework of his James Bond theme mixed by CJ Bolland, and the download will substitute Bob Sinclair's Main Vocal Mix of "We Are All Made of Stars" and the Manhattan Clique edit of "Escapar (Slipping Away)". Both versions include the previously unreleased Manhattan Clique remix of "In My Heart".

Moby will celebrate the release of the remix compilation with three DJ dates in Europe, the first of which is March 8 at a secret location in Brussels, Belgium. We feel safe in assuming that the location is not a McDonald's. [MORE...]

Snow Patrol, Silversun Pickups, OK Go Launch Tour

Snow Patrol, Silversun Pickups, and OK Go kick off a gargantuan tour tonight in Portland, Oregon, bringing joy to music supervisors for network television programs across the land. The long and winding trek will take the bands across North America over the next two months; it is scheduled to wrap up in early April.

But that's not all for these guys in 2007. Snow Patrol have a handful of Japanese dates slated for the spring, as well as some previously reported summer festival stops in the UK and Europe. In addition, they'll play a daytime benefit show for Diana Gualda at Los Angeles' Troubadour on March 3, and a gig at Mexico City's Teatro Metropolitan on March 14. And they'll appear on a little television show called "Saturday Night Live" on March 17.

Silversun Pickups will break up the Snow Patrol/OK Go mega-jaunt with a series of headlining dates of their own. They'll also perform at Coachella and on "Last Call With Carson Daly" this Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

OK GO will make a one-off stop at Malibu, California's Pepperdine University in April and then they'll spend most of June and early July on the road with the Fray. Sorry to hear it, guys. [MORE...]

Rage Against the Machine Rock the Bells With Wu-Tang
Atari Teenage Riot sadly unavailable

The lucrative prospects of a reunion tour can get to even the staunchest of socialists, and since Rage Against the Machine announced their reunion at Coachella in April, it seems they have decided to embrace their capitalist urges and schedule more dates.

Following their appearance at Coachella, Rage will play three dates on the Rock the Bells tour alongside the Wu-Tang Clan, who have a new album titled 8 Diagrams scheduled for a summer release.

Rage and Wu-Tang touring together? What year is this again?

A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Nas are among those who have performed as part of the traveling hip hop festival in the past, and this year's full line-up is forthcoming on March 26. [MORE...]

Gibbard, Oldham, Vedder, Pajo Burn to Shine
Also: Minus the Bear, David Bazan, Jesse Sykes, Shipping News, Long Winters, Magik Markers

All photos by Jim Saah

Whether you look at it as a profound meditation on impermanence or just a collection of sweet, unique live performances, the Burn to Shine series is a pretty wonderful thing. Conceived by filmmaker/director Christoph Green and producer/Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty as a means of visually documenting the sound of a city's scene in a space slated for demolition, Burn to Shine sprung to life with the 2005 release of its inaugural DVD, set in DC.

Subsequent installments included a slice of Chicago with Wilco, Tortoise, and Shellac, and a Chris Funk-curated Portland roundup featuring the Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney, the Shins, the Thermals, and more. For volumes four and five, Burn to Shine heads to Louisville and Seattle with its eyes on two more vital music scenes.

Death Cabbie/Postal Servant Ben Gibbard continues his Pitchfork news page dominance, lining up some ace Pacific Northwest talent for the Seattle edition of Burn to Shine; technically volume five, it will likely hit shelves prior to volume four, Louisville. Among the Seattle highlights: Eddie Vedder solo performing "Can't Keep" (from Pearl Jam's Riot Act LP), ex-Pedro the Lion principal David Bazan, math-poppers Minus the Bear, Gibbard's former Barsuk labelmates the Long Winters, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, and Harvey Danger, Sub Pop post-rockers Kinski, and Gibbard himself, here tackling "Broken Yoke in Western Sky".

Curated by Lucky Pineapple's William Benton, the Louisville edition of Burn to Shine will feature performances from Will Oldham, Rodan/June of 44-descendants Shipping News, David Pajo's metal band Dead Child, and Magik Markers, among others, all sharing their musical wares in a particularly eye-opening space.

"The Louisville house was the most insane house yet," director Christoph Green told Pitchfork via e-mail. "It was hand-built by a man whose wife died of cancer when he was halfway done with the construction. The whole house is completely random, rooms oddly spring up out of other rooms, a laundry room will have an ornate skylight/turret, etc. Of course, by the time we got there it was really fucked up and kind of dangerous."

Like previous installments, Burn to Shine four and five will culminate with footage of the performance space undergoing demolition.

Neither DVD has a definite release date yet, and Louisville's tracklist is not yet finalized, so keep your browsers tuned to Burn to Shine's Trixie DVD website and MySpace for details. Check out more of Jim Saah's photos ahead. [MORE...]

Lou Barlow Talks Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., Influence
"People were like, 'Man, you must be so mad, that Snow Patrol shit rippin' off indie rock and Sebadoh!' And I'm like, "Guys. No. I don't hear it…I love anthemic fuckin' songs like that, but god, Sebadoh? No. God, people don't understand our music was lite

In the pantheon of the indie rock gods, Lou Barlow gets his own hallway. As a founding member of Dinosaur Jr. and the leader of Sebadoh and the Folk Implosion, he has spent the past two-plus decades helping to sculpt the lo-fi, fuzz-driven sound that scores our lives.

Recently, both the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup of Barlow, frontman J Mascis and drummer Murph, and the "classic" Sebadoh lineup of Barlow, Eric Gaffney, and Jason Loewenstein reunited. After a series of successful tours, Dinosaur Jr. recorded a new album, Beyond, due May 1 on Fat Possum. A live DVD, Dinosaur Jr.: Live From the Middle East is due May 8 via Image Entertainment.

Ever prolific, Barlow continues to maintain his solo career, with an EP, Mirror the Eye, due out on Acuarela soon, and his next full-length on Merge in the works. More Sebadoh reissues are also due in the near future.

Tonight in San Diego, Sebadoh kick off a lengthy North American tour. To celebrate the occasion, Pitchfork chatted with Barlow about nostalgia, influence, those Dinosaur Jr. sneakers, and what's been rocking his two-year-old's stereo.

Pitchfork: You're currently a member of two reunited bands, Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr. By their very nature, reunions inspire people to think back on "the good old days". How do you feel about the concept of nostalgia? Do you think it's a good thing?

Lou Barlow: Both of these bands are such an emotional thing for me. Like, getting back and playing with Dinosaur, the last thing I'm thinking about is why people are going to see us play. And kind of the same with Sebadoh, 'cause for me, this isn't a nostalgic thing. It's actually been a lot of trying to reclaim the music from all the ambivalence and negativity that kind of surrounded both bands I guess, with these particular lineups.

So for me, going out and doing this stuff, it's actually about something very new for me. It's very new. It's something I've never done before, and kind of thrilling in that way. Like, nostalgia itself, I mean, that's cute. Nostalgia's cute is all I can say. It's nice. It doesn't really exist, like, people have to be going to these shows to see the music, basically, you know? The music is the real thing, and music never dies. A good band, they're playing together, and you get that sense-it's always kind of new, you know?

With Dinosaur, the weird thing is that so many of the people who came to see Dinosaur play were really young kids. Like really young, to the point that it's doubtful that they were even born when we put out our first records.

Pitchfork: When you say that you're "trying to reclaim the music from all the ambivalence and negativity" surrounding both Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, are talking about personal problems you've had with other members?

LB: Oh, yeah. It's about all the personal stuff that got attached to it, that's all. I mean, it's a total cliché, but as you become older, it becomes more about clearing that kind of stuff out of my life, like that sort of negativity. It's learning how to apologize or how to, I don't know, just understand people, to understand where they're coming from, and spending time, and respecting all of that. That's really what is behind both of these things for me, and the fact that people are going to see us play makes it possible. And it feels real.

Pitchfork: Do you hear any new bands that are around today that seem to have been influenced by Sebadoh?

LB: No, I never have. I always hear bands that sound like Pavement and Sonic Youth to me, but never Sebadoh. Whenever someone says like, "Oh, it really sounds like Sebadoh," I listen to it and I'm like, "No. What are you talking about?! It doesn't sound like Sebadoh."

Like people were saying that guy from Snow Patrol sounded a lot like me. I'd actually met him a few years ago, and his friends practically pushed him on me, like, "HE SOUNDS JUST LIKE YOU!" And I'm like, "Uhh..."

Pitchfork: I don't hear that either.

LB: And then people were like, "Man, you must be so mad, that Snow Patrol shit rippin' off indie rock and Sebadoh!" And I'm like, "Guys. No. I don't hear it."

Pitchfork: Snow Patrol sounds like Coldplay to me.

LB: Exactly! Which I like. I'm fine with that. I'm like, great, I love anthemic fuckin' songs like that, but god, Sebadoh? No. God, people don't understand our music was literally put together with Scotch tape and staples. We're not out to impress anybody with our velocity. [MORE...]

Jesus & Mary Chain Join Sis as Sister Vanilla
Judge them not by the cheap font on their album cover

As concert-goers of the world snap up earplugs by the bushel-load in anticipation of the Jesus and Mary Chain reunion, looks like we finally have some new material from the brothers Reid-- with sister!

Jim, William, and sibling Linda-- whose vocals grace JAMC Munki jam "Mo Tucker"-- have joined forces for the debut Sister Vanilla LP, Little Pop Rock. Scotland's Chemikal Underground will deliver the 12-track set-- some ten years in the making, from initial idea to recorded reality-- on April 2 in the UK and April 3 in the U.S.

True to its title, Little Pop Rock is a modest affair, drawing together fuzz and acoustic jangle from various points in the JAMC timeline into a tasty sonic milkshake, featuring vocals from all three Reids (with Linda taking centerstage). JAMC/Freeheat mainstay Ben Lurie rounds out the Sister Vanilla quartet.

Check out the Psychocandy-ready "Jamcolas" and sunshine anthem "Can't Stop the Rock" below. [MORE...]

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