Shins, Rapture Raise Darfur Awareness With mtvU
Also: Kidz in the Hall, Kenna, Rich Boy, Rick Ross, Fabolous, K-Os, Gym Class Heroes

mtvU will continue its series of semi-confounding promotions with the Campus Invasion Music Festival, taking place in Austin, Atlanta, and Philadelphia in April.

One of the festival's main goals is to raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur through a partnership with the Save Darfur Coalition, and what better way to do that than with sets from the Shins, the Rapture, Rich Boy, Rick Ross, Kidz in the Hall, Fabolous, K-Os, Gym Class Heroes, Kenna, and, wait for it...Dashboard Confessional? Yeah, we're confused too. Also, none of the shows will take place on actual college campuses.

Since another one of the festival's goals is to promote up-and-coming collegiate musicians (okay, that one makes more sense), three unsigned, college-enrolled artists will round out each of the three lineups. Those lineups are listed below, with the proviso that the Atlanta festival still has to confirm a few more artists. [MORE...]

Tokyo Police Club Tease Us with New EP

So dudes, um, full-length? No? Not just yet? Well, okay, we'll settle for another EP-- but it'd better be good! Guess we'll find out today, as Tokyo Police Club's digital-only Smith EP hits eMusic and iTunes Canada (iTunes U.S. gets it next week) via Paper Bag Records.

Smith collects three Tokyo tracks, including UK B-side "Box", vinyl-only cut "Cut Cut Paste", and the would-be title track to TPC's debut EP, brand new jam "A Lesson in Crime".

To celebrate, the youngins of Tokyo Police Club continue enduring Cold Wars Kids on tour right now. Then, on May 1, TPC achieve their career goal: they play Tokyo. [MORE...]

Laura Veirs to Release Saltbreakers, Tour UK, US
IKEA to release saltshakers, catalogs ad infinitum

All systems are go for the release of bespectacled Pacific Northwestern chanteuse Laura Veirs' third Nonesuch release, Saltbreakers. The disc-- packed to the gills with languid, folky balladry-- will drop in Europe March 26, with an April 10 release Stateside. The iTunes version of the album will contain the exclusive bonus track "Bright Glittering Gifts".

Recorded with producer Tucker Martine (who twiddled the knobs on the Decemberists' The Crane Wife and might have had something to do with Veirs' guest vocal turn on that album's "Yankee Bayonet"), the album explores the collapse of Veirs' long-term relationship, as well as her short-term stint in a U-Haul from Seattle to Portland. Though most of Saltbreakers was committed to tape in Seattle, of particular note is "To the Country", a track recorded in Johnny and June Carter Cash's home in Hendersonville, Tennessee and featuring the eight-member Cedar Hill Choir.

Veirs fans should also be on the lookout for a disc by The Young Rapture Choir, a cadre of 45 French middle schoolers who belted out Veirs tunes in concert sometime last year. The limited-edition live album of said performance is available on Veirs' own Raven Marching Band imprint.

Veirs and band (the fittingly-dubbed "Saltbreakers") will hit the road for a late-spring trek across Europe before heading back to the States through early June. [MORE...]

Isaac Brock Self-Mutilates at South Dakota Gig?

"Does anybody know a way that/ A body could get away/ Does anybody know a way?!"

Isaac Brock attempted to answer his own "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" query in drastic fashion at a recent Modest Mouse show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, according to several eyewitness reports. While performing the Moon and Antarctica standout at Ramkota Exhibit Hall on March 18, Brock allegedly began hitting himself in the face with his microphone, then proceeded to draw a knife and cut his own chest.

According to reader Joshua Cole, after deliberately bonking his head, Brock "then walked back to his amp, grabbed a pocket knife, and cut a 12 inch cut across his chest. His assistant had to grab the knife and stop him. He was bleeding the rest of the concert, and later fell off the stage into the barrier before singing in the crowd."

"The show carried on despite Isaac's bleeding and various people's concerns," said Cole.

A separate report on Sioux Falls blog Link described the incident further: "It appeared [Brock] had some sort of object in his hand that he used to make two swift cuts on his torso. Immediately after the frantic moves, the band's bearded stage hand/sound guy/roadie seated to Brock's left jumped on stage and grappled with Brock, making sure the singer's arms couldn't reach his body for further harm. Brock then cooled down a bit, embraced the stage hand and they talked in each other's ears for a second before each released the other and Brock returned to the mic. It all happened in about 10 to 15 seconds.

"After the incident, Brock's white T-shirt had two clear slices on its front with blood stains building around the cuts...Yet, he didn't miss a song and played through several more of the band's tunes before breaking for an encore."

A super sloppy YouTube clip of "Tiny Cities" in Sioux Falls shows Brock muttering indecipherables, presumably just before he put the knife to his own chest. Another clip depicts Brock subsequently performing "Float On", looking a bit dazed, perhaps, but not seriously hurt despite a blood-like substance clearly visible on his shirt. 'Twas only a flesh wound?

Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank hits shops today, March 20. According to the band's publicist, they have no statement and will continue their North American tour in Seattle tomorrow night.

For something truly gruesome, check out the new Ford advert featuring "American Idol" contestants kidz-bopping to "Float On". [MORE...]

Battles Kick Off Tour

The May 15 release of Battles' first full-length album, Mirrored, can't come soon enough. Fortunately, longtime fans and recent "Atlas" converts don't have to wait to see the band live because they kick off a world tour tonight in Baltimore.

Battles will make the jump from North America to Europe in May, and they will continue to tour just barely into June. [MORE...]

Björk, Interpol, Pumpkins Play Virgin Festival
Also: Tokyo Police Club, Metric, the Killers, Hot Hot Heat

For its second year in Canada, the Virgin Festival has expanded to include weekends in both Toronto and Vancouver. Of the acts announced so far, the Killers are the only ones to play both festivals.

The Vancouver festival takes place May 20 and 21 at Thunderbird Stadium, and, in addition to the Killers, its lineup includes My Chemical Romance, Metric, Hot Hot Heat, Thursday, Sebastien Grainger et les Montagnes, Rise Against, Stars of Track and Field, and AFI.

The Toronto weekend is September 8 and 9, and its lineup features Björk, Interpol, Smashing Pumpkins, Tokyo Police Club, Amy Winehouse, Paolo Nutini, and, of course, the Killers.

Like the 2007 Sasquatch! Festival, the Virgin Festival is aiming to be a carbon-neutral. The folks behind the festival also hope to raise over $100,000 for Virgin Unite, a charity focused on youth-related issues and HIV.

TV on the Radio Transmit Amoeba Live EP

The gentlemen of TV on the Radio sure like to mix their media. Not only do they let cathode ray tubes and radio waves intermingle, they also play live shows in record stores. Like last September's gig at Amoeba Records in Hollywood.

Missed the show? Don't sweat it. Next Tuesday, March 27, Amoeba will exclusively release the Live at Amoeba Music EP, collecting four live TV on the Radio jams from that September 22 session. Score a copy through one of Amoeba's Cali locations, or on the venerable store's website. While you're around, check out the video footage from the performance. That's right: TV on the Radio on the Internet.

TVotR continue their spring tour with Subtle, and later, the Noisettes, through late April. [MORE...]

Pretty Girls Make Graves Head to China on Final Tour

Before they call it quits in June at the end of their final tour, Pretty Girls Make Graves are making one last pit stop: China. In late April, the punk five-piece will launch their farewell trek with dates in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, hopefully not inciting a riot along the way. Then, come May 10, they'll launch the American portion of the tour in the slightly less exotic environment of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Thanks to Berwin Song of That's Beijing for the tip. [MORE...]

The Field Prepares to Go Sublime on Kompakt Debut

Man, that Kompakt is on a roll once again. Following up last month's supremely well-received Gui Boratto long-player, the German techno powerbrokers return with a full-length from Sweden's Axel Willner, aka the Field.

From Here We Go Sublime does just that, if you define "here" as the first second of opening track "Over the Ice" (aka Pitchfork's 62nd favorite track of 2006, when it kicked off a divine Field 12"). Axel re-appropriates a couple other cuts from that 12" onto From Here's seamless current of sound, along with several new jams and some surprise samples. Find out just how majestic loop pedals can get on March 26 in the EU and April 3 in the U.S. [MORE...]

Bjork Announces Tour Dates, Talks Timbaland Collab
"The first time I met him, he was like, 'So what do you wanna do? You wanna do something weird? Or something like a hit?' And I'm like, 'How can you say that?' I could never work like that-- sort of decide what it is before you even start."

A Björk tour is always cause for celebration. Less a rock show than a circus or an opera, her live show is truly a spectacle unto itself. And the tour in support of her forthcoming album Volta, due out May 7 in Europe and May 8 in America on One Little Indian/Atlantic will be no different.

In a recent interview with Pitchfork's Brandon Stosuy, Björk revealed that the Volta live show will feature accompaniment from percussionist and album contributor Chris Corsano, longtime collaborator Mark Bell, a ten-piece, all-female brass band, and "an old friend of mine who is an Icelandic Chinese concert pianist, and I got him a huge pipe organ, so he's going to wear tails and do some very virtuoso dramatic performances in between sets."

"I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

Just a smattering of North American dates and international festival appearances have been announced so far, but more are in the works. The dates can be found at the end of this story.

Unfortunately, one person who will not be joining Björk on tour will be Volta contributor Timbaland. In part two of Pitchfork's Björk interview, Stosuy chats with Björk about her collaboration with the superproducer.

Read part one of the interview, in which Björk talks about the politics and sonics of Volta, HERE. [MORE...]

SXSW Report [Zach Vowell]

Even though Pitchfork's gang of four wore our soles thin trekking from showcase to showcase in the name of SXSW festival coverage, there was still plenty we didn't get a chance to see. Lucky for us, Pitchfork correspondent and Austin resident Zach Vowell was on the prowl as well. As you endure SXSW withdrawal and jetlag today, check out Vowell's photos and thoughts on several festival performances, including Arbouretum, Crystal Castles, Dosh with Andrew Bird, and Frightened Rabbit.

And hey, how about a handy guide to the rest of our SXSW coverage? Voila:

Amy Phillips: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Matthew Solarski: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Dave Maher: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Jessica Suarez: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Pitchfork Music Festival/Windish Agency Day Party at Emo's

Frightened Rabbit [Mohawk Patio; March 14, 9:45 p.m.]






Scots Frightened Rabbit set the stage for fellow countrymen the Twilight Sad, sharing nervous racket and liberally applying a din to their set of indie pop songs. It was an appropriate brand of propulsion for the first night of festivities, when neither the audience nor surname-less Rabbit frontman Scott seemed able to stand in one place for too long. Indeed, the catchiness of their songs approached anthemic hypnosis-- until you realized you had somewhere else to go. [MORE...]

The Go! Team Announce Shows

On your marks, get set...Go! Team. Brighton's brightest have broken out of huddle formation and revealed their first 2007 dates, a pair of special UK gigs going down in April and May.

The first has the Go! Team crashing the holy confines of Edinburgh's Mansfield Traquair on April 20, while the second pits our junior kickstarters against you (the fans), as part of All Tomorrow's Parties' ATP Versus: You (The Fans) super-mega-insane festival in Somerset, England. Joining the Go! Team for the fest: a dream lineup that includes Modest Mouse, Mogwai, Yo La Tengo, Built to Spill, Patti Smith, Les Savy Fav, Wilco, Explosions in the Sky, Battles, Band of Horses, the Books, Sparklehorse, Grizzly Bear, Isis, and more.

Look for more festival dates and info on the forthcoming follow-up to Thunder, Lightning, Strike very soon. And get your G!T fix by shaking your shit to Ninja's guest vocal on Simian Mobile Disco's "It's the Beat", set to appear on the dance duo's forthcoming Wichita debut, Attack Decay Sustain Release.

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.)