Liars' Fourth Album Revealed!
Mister, You're Prolific, Mister!

It's been mere months since we last pored over the MySpace blog of art-punk outfit Liars, gleaning what we could about their work on the follow-up to last year's impressionistic Drum's Not Dead. But, thanks to some far-less cryptic information just delivered to the Pitchfork news team in the form of a press release, we're now caught up on all things Angus.

On August 28, the folks at Mute will release Liars' Liars, the band's fourth long-player. Yes, a self-titled album from the band that brought you They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top and They Were Wrong, So We Drowned. (Looks like their first choice , We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, was already taken.)

Apparently, this new album serves as Angus Andrew's big Neil Young moment. Says Andrew: "I'd never felt like a songwriter 'til this album... If you said I'd be playing guitar solos, I'd have called you a liar." So that's the "chilled out vibe" they muttered about on last check, eh?

Liars will come three ways: on a CD, a slab of albino vinyl, and through the magic of computer technology. The tracklist is posted below; you'll note the utter lack of longwinded statements-as-titles this time out, a trick Modest Mouse can apparently keep for themselves.

Also, Liars freaks not already up on the free track posted as part of the Warm & Scratchy comp should click accordingly. [MORE...]

Hottest State [ft. Cat Power, Feist] Gets Release Date

The soundtrack for the Ethan Hawke-directed film adaptation of the Ethan Hawke novel The Hottest State now has a label and a release date: Hickory Records and August 7.

Except for the fact that the songs we originally credited to "Rosario Ortega" are actually credited to "Rocha", the tracklist from our original report remains intact. Cat Power, Feist, Bright Eyes, M. Ward, the Black Keys, Emmylou Harris, and Willie Nelson, among others, perform songs written by Jesse Harris (in addition to two score pieces).

The Hottest State hits theaters on August 24 via THINKFilm. It stars Ethan Hawke. [MORE...]

Pinback Return With Autumn of the Seraphs
Zach Smith working on new Three Mile Pilot material

Ah, the cycle of the seasons. Pinback know it well. The duo of Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell "Zach" Smith IV returns September 11, 2007 with Autumn of the Seraphs, the follow-up to their 2004 Touch and Go debut Summer in Abaddon, and fourth full-length proper overall. Does this mean we can look forward to the next Pinback release bearing a wintry Biblical title circa 2010?

Produced by the band, Seraphs collects 11 samplings of the angelically-sung, see-saw pop we've come to expect from these gentlemen. Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From the Crypt, Hot Snakes, Black Heart Procession) and Chris Prescott (No Knife) split drumming duties on the new disc as well, while Mike Sutfin did the artwork. And it's Touch and Go's 300th release! Congrats, guys!

Pinback have designs on taking Autumn on the road in, you guessed it, autumn.

Rob Crow, meanwhile, has been Living Well, helming his Robcore label, and eating healthy with his former Heavy Vegetable buds as Other Men. Robcore released Other Men's debut, Wake Up Swimming, a couple months back. The imprint promises a new disc from Crow's Goblin Cock, titled Come With Me If You Want to Live, in the near future, as well as releases from Optiganally Yours and Aspects of Physics.

Zach Smith has not yet started a Zachcore label, but he is reportedly working on new material under the recently revived Three Mile Pilot guise. [MORE...]

Thermals Resurrect Insound Tour Support Series
They hold the sound, but you can buy it off 'em

It's been a minute since we've heard from Insound's Tour Support series, which issued limited batches of goodies from Bright Eyes, Ted Leo, the Rapture, and others at the beginning of the decade. But now, after a three year hiatus, it's back as Tour Support 2.0, and Insound has picked a winner for the triumphant return: a baker's dozen of live tracks from Portlandic punk-pop powerhouse the Thermals.

The comp, available at live shows and via Insound starting July 3, gathers tracks from a gig at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill, a few from a studio session at Seattle's KEXP, and a trio of acoustic takes. One of those, "Welcome to the Planet", had only been previously available on one of those Burn to Shine DVDs.

We'll stress again just how limited this edition this truly is, so those of you looking to score one would be advised to jump on that.

In other Thermals release news, Sub Pop is putting out a download/7" single for "A Pillar of Salt" June 4, featuring previously unreleased track "Product Placement", as well as the four-track demos of The Body the Blood the Machine tracks "Pillar" and "St. Rosa and the Swallows".

The kids are in Scotland tonight, with a mess of Euro dates to come before their ever-expanding late-summer U.S. tour. Happy trails, Hutch. [MORE...]

Mystery Jets Postpone Tour Due to Visa Issues
Just too darn mysterious for U.S. Customs to handle

Man, what a bad week to be a border-crossing band. First M.I.A., then Handsome Furs, and now British five-piece Mystery Jets have canceled their North American tour due to visa issues.

According to a press release, the issues are simply the result of "the unfortunate reality of delays in paperwork and processing" and nothing more, and the Jets now hope to resume the tour after the summer.

As previously reported, the band will pass their newfound free time by recording the follow-up to their U.S. debut, Zootime (Making Dens in the UK...yeah, it's weird), with producer Erol Alkan. Zootime came out on Dim Mak on May 8.

Mystery Jets do have one show still scheduled, an August 10 set in London as part of the Underage Festival. They will announce the rescheduled dates of their North American tour soon. [MORE...]

Feist Extends Tour

Whether displaying a proclivity for public transportation or simply going off about her relative lack of four walls to call her own, the one they call Leslie Feist is a wayfaring sort.

In July, Feist will shove that free spirit into her duffel -- alongside a toothbrush, a change of knickers, and copies of the beauteous Reminder -- and hop a plane o'er the ocean. She'll do a few dates in England between a previously announced American stint with genteel growlers Grizzly Bear and a stop at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival.

She'll have to return to her native Canada someday; it's whether or not she returns my mash notes that remains to be seen. [MORE...]

Photos: Man Man Dinner Party [New York, NY; 05/23/07]

Photos by Kathryn Yu

Man Man's junkyard/garage sale setup and onstage theatrics tend to command exclusive attention. However, for this Secret Kitchen dinner party show last night at a commandeered Chinatown dim sum restaurant (Grand Harmony Palace), the ramshackle sextet had to compete with an eight-part gourmet vegan meal prepared by Post Punk Kitchen chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz, a smoke machine, and contortionists. Something tells us the awesomeness was even greater than the dim sum of its parts (zing!).

Fresh off a tour with Modest Mouse, Man Man chow down at a couple special gigs this summer.










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Pitchfork Music Festival Seeks Interns

The Pitchfork Music Festival seeks interns in Chicago to assist our production team with administrative work, research, and business development. Interns will learn about implementing media and promotional programs, and will interface with sponsors, vendors, event suppliers, and much more.

This position will also require manual labor in an outside environment, helping with the set-up, maintenance, and tear-down of the festival. Candidates will need to communicate effectively with on-site management to understand and achieve event goals, maintain equipment quality and cleanliness, and manage vendor accounts.

The internship is part-time and requires a minimum of 12 hours per week over a two-to-three day period. All potential candidates must be Chicago residents 21 years of age or older with a valid driver's license. The internship is not a paid position. College credit is possible for students. Recent graduates are also encouraged to apply.

If you're interested in the opportunity, send your resume and cover letter to intern@atpluto.com by 5:00pm CST on Monday, June 4.

BYOP's Stein Talks New Album(s), Touring, Thurston
"There's definitely going to be songs you can listen to and go freak out to."

Photo by Stefano Giovannini

Having just finished a three-week tour in support of Arctic Monkeys, teenage rampagers Be Your Own Pet will head back to the studio in June to record their second album with Steve McDonald, who also produced their self-titled debut.

BYOP guitarist Jonas Stein spoke to Pitchfork recently about the album, which they hope to release sometime in September. "We have about 15 songs written right now, but we'll probably try to kick out a couple more jams for the hell of it."

As for the title of the record, Stein said, "It might have been [bassist] Nathan [Vasquez]'s idea-- I don't remember-- but I thought it would be kind of funny to call it II."

Stein also said the sound of the record "might be a little more colorful" than the debut, meaning it will have "a little bit more variety. There's some really raunchy stuff, and there's some really poppy stuff. There's definitely going to be songs you get stuck in your head. There's definitely going to be songs you can listen to and go freak out to. Everyone's musical tastes have gotten deeper. I've been into the Kinks. Nathan's been digging on the Misfits a lot lately. We've been listening to some T. Rex, and we really like Animal Collective a lot."

Titles of the songs that may go on the new album include "Bummer Time" ("it's got some gang vocals in it"), "The Kelly Affair", "Blow Your Mind", "Becky", "Free the Beast", "Zombie Beach Party", "Food Fight", and "Twisted Nerve". Stein said most of the titles have come from singer Jemina Pearl because she has written most of the lyrics herself. "Being a singer, it's easier to sing what she wants to sing or what she feels rather than getting handed someone else's lyrics."

While touring with Arctic Monkeys, Stein noticed a difference in the way the two bands write. "Arctic Monkeys [take] really long sound checks, and they'll work on songs at the end of their sound checks. We don't really have the luxury of doing that yet. For us, we have to be plugged into amps and have loud noise going on for it to work. We can't just do it really quietly. In the beginning, as far where a riff comes from, that can be anything: acoustic guitar, whatever. But when it comes down to all four of us being in a room, getting a song finished, we need a vacation. [For] most of our writing, we have to cut out time and work on it at home."

Stein's other band, Turbo Fruits (with BYOP drummer John Eatherly and a bassist named Turbo Max), will release their own self-titled debut on July 17 via Ecstatic Peace! (UK residents will get the album on Ark Recordings.) Stein said the Turbo Fruits album differs from Be Your Own Pet in that it's "not quite as spastic, maybe a little bit more classic rock oriented, maybe has a little more of a Southern vibe going on. [It's] still rowdy, but some of the songs are definitely more chilled out than some of the Be Your Own Pet songs."

Stein also sounded off on a few other topics, including partying with the Arctics, meeting Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth, and being such a young touring band.

Pitchfork: Are there any particularly memorable moments of your tour with Arctic Monkeys?

Jonas Stein: We went to a strip club in Minneapolis for the drummer of Arctic Monkeys' 21st birthday. We went to Déjà Vu. There's one in Nashville too, but this was the first one I went to. It was fun. I probably don't need to go again, but I had a good time. It was a little weird and creepy, but that's what I expected, to feel kind of sleazy sitting in that place, to have a bunch of girls dance around on the stage. It was just kind of what I expected. [MORE...]

Net Radio Update: SoundExchange Offers Deal to Webcasters

The war being waged between internet radio stations and copyright royalty collection agency SoundExchange turned another corner over the last 48 hours, as SoundExchange offered webcasters what could be characterized as a compromise.

In response to a letter sent by ranking members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, SoundExchange has proposed that-- instead of a per-play, per-listener fee-- small commercial and noncommercial stations would pay 10% of their gross income up to $250,000 and 12% of anything above that to the collection agency through 2010. The proposal is based on the similar stipulations in the Small Webcaster Settlement Act (SWSA), which defined a "small" webcaster as any station with a gross annual income of less than $1.2 million.

The vague offer failed to stipulate how much income a station has to accrue before they no longer qualify for the rate under the new proposal, leaving popular mid-sized sites such as Live365.com and Pandora.com still potentially vulnerable to the original rate hike. Internet radio advocacy sites like SaveNetRadio.org and AccuRadio head Kurt Hanson's Radio and Internet Newsletter also quickly joined the chorus of opposition to the proposal.

As Hanson stated in an e-mail to Pitchfork, "this offer does nothing for the webcasters that comprise 95% or more of Internet radio listening -- broadcast simulcasts, portals' sites (e.g., Yahoo! LAUNCHcast), midsize webcasters (e.g., Pandora and Live365), hobbyists, etc.-- and offers no long-term solution even for small webcasters."

By means of an official rebuttal to the SoundExchange offer, David Oxenford, a lawyer representing many of the small webcasters affected by the proposed rate changes, wrote a statement published yesterday afternoon: [MORE...]

Neko Case's Lingerie for Sale on eBay

Photo by Victoria Renard

Neko Case is certainly no slouch in the looks department, and Seattle photographer Victoria Renard knows this. Renard has featured Case in much of her "sensual portraiture" (in her own words on her website), and in one photograph-- a shoot for a 2000 Sympathy for the Record Industry promotional calendar (Case was Miss February)-- she adorned Case in "a 50s era black lace full length girdle-style bustier with 6 garter attachments made by Lady Marlene."

That quote comes from an eBay listing for the item, which Renard has now put up for auction.

Here are some other choice quotes from Renard's listing:

"We dubbed this little number 'The Secret Weapon' because it made you look hot in or out of your clothing and mysteriously attracted members of the opposite sex for either of us when worn...

The winning bidder will receive an original 8x10 color print of the photo [pictured] of Neko wearing The Secret Weapon...

Partial proceeds from this sale will go to Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue in honor of Neko's beloved greyhound, whom she rescued."

And no, Neko didn't just wear the threads just once. She kept the lingerie, and wore it for two years after the shoot.

Thanks to Seattle Weekly's Reverb blog for the tip.

The White Stripes Extend Tour Into Fall

The White Stripes may have just played their first show in a couple of years a few days ago, but that doesn't mean they aren't prepared. You might even call Jack and Meg over-prepared, since they just announced new dates on their globe-trotting tour, and these dates don't even take place until the fall.

The new dates, in September, show some love to places like Alaska and Wyoming, continuing the Stripes' trend of bringing the rock to out-of-the-way places. But if you don't live in Jackson Hole or Anchorage, (or even if you do), tune in to "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on June 18 for a Stripey fix.

The Stripes' new album, Icky Thump, will be released here via Third Man/Warner Bros. on June 19 (June 18 via XL in the UK).

The Stripes' world tour begins in earnest May 31 in Barcelona. Dates for their "Still Thumpin' Tour" in the summer of 2017 will be available shortly. [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.)