Two More New Robert Pollard Albums on the Way
We might as well just keep that headline up all the time

How many records does Robert Pollard put out every year? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

Just last week we told you about the Takeovers album featuring Stephen Malkmus et al, and a quick glance to your left on the main page all day Wednesday got you a glimpse of Jason Crock's review of Bobby's Silverfish Trivia EP. Shucks, it was just a month ago we wrote up something on a collection of the Fading Captain's best deep cuts. And isn't there a Circus Devils album in there at some point?

The man writes songs faster than most people drink beverages, and he owes us at least a beer or three for still paying attention. But he made Bee Thousand, dude... Bee Thousand.

So, here we go again. On October 9, Merge will simultaneously release two albums from our boy Bob. One, Standard Gargoyle Decisions, is being described as "down and dirty rock," while the other, Coast to Coast Carpet of Love, as "super-catchy pop."

In celebration of his newfound triumph over writer's block, in June he'll also kick off a year-long singles club through his website, backing a track from the new records with a non-album cut every month. [MORE...]

Clipse Announce Summer European Tour

Malice and Pusha T are warming up to this whole performing-at-outdoor-festivals thing. The potentially label-less duo known as Clipse have announced that they will play a whole string of European festival dates this summer leading up to their appearance at our own Pitchfork Music Festival. They also have quite a few club dates scattered in between the fests.

The tour kicks off June 14 in Leicester, England, and it ends with Pitchfork Fest at Chicago's Union Park on July 14. Also performing that day are Yoko Ono, Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues, Mastodon, Iron and Wine, Girl Talk, Grizzly Bear, Voxtrot, Battles, Califone, the Twilight Sad, Fujiya & Miyagi, Oxford Collapse, Dan Deacon, Beach House, the William Parker Quartet, Professor Murder, and Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound. [MORE...]

Sub Pop Loser Scholarship Winner Revealed!

When, some months ago, we alerted our readership of the existence of Sub Pop's Loser Scholarship, the Washingtonian teen in all of us collectively wished we'd spent less time playing Super Smash Brothers and more time doing cool shit.

But only one teenaged cool-shit-doer could emerge victorious, and that one, is seems, is Kennewick, WA's favorite son Kyle Raquipiso, who'll pack the nearly six grand Sub Pop ponied up for the scholarship and make a name for himself at Portland's Pacific Northwest College of the Arts.

Among presumably stiff competition, Raquipiso's formidable entry gained the edge; he managed to stuff tunes from three of his bands, a 7" of his own Leper Print project, and a mess of his own ink drawings in the envelope, along with an essay detailing his efforts at putting on shows around Kennewick and making real art in the midst of a burnt-out peer group. Congrats, Kyle! Six grand ought to pay for beersketchbooks at least through the spring.

Junior Senior (Finally) Issue Sophomore Set in U.S.
So much time has passed, now they're both Seniors

Much has changed in the astonishingly long while since we posted our initial review of Junior Senior's Hey Hey My My Yo Yo, the foot-moving Danish dance duo's sophomore album: tunes from the disc have been featured in PSP games and on "Ugly Betty", Le Tigre-- who guest on the disc-- have effectively split up, and a lot of the group's onetime Stateside fans have all but forgotten about their love for "Move Your Feet", their once-ubiquitous single.

But, North America, prepare to fall in love with Junior Senior all over again August 14, when Rykodisc issues Hey Hey My My Yo Yo on this continent for the first time ever, a mere two years after its initial issue (on Crunchy Frog).

The disc, as you'll recall, features guest spots from a couple B-52s, Spooner Oldham, and the aforementioned Le Tigre, and will come packaged with a DVD featuring "exclusive footage." Will the Junior Senior fire catch on again? Your move, North America.

Junior Senior have a single show on the bubble, at Belfort, France's Eurockéennes festival on June 29. They hope to hit the States this fall.

Decemberists, Neko, Grizzly Bear Take SummerStage
Plus Television, Common, Human Giant, Underworld

Stroll past the Diana Ross Playground, the John Lennon shrine, and the large piles of horse poop and you might just catch a glimpse of some fine indie rock, hip-hop, or comedy this summer in New York City's Central Park.

The world's most famous hotel for transients will host their 22nd year of SummerStage at Rumsey Playfield starting June 8 and running through September. The concert series includes a Decemberists/Grizzly Bear/Land of Talk triple-bill, Neko Case and Eric Bachmann, Television with the Apples in Stereo, Human Giant and Dimitri Martin, a Sloan/Apostle of Hustle Canadian celebration, Rufus Wainwright, Cinematic Orchestra, Femi Kuti & Positive Force, and Underworld, among many others. Unfortunately, Common is playing with Joss Stone.

But arguably the deffest bill belongs to the Wild Style 25th anniversary show on July 29, packing such legends as Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Caz, the Cold Crush Brothers, the Chief Rocker Busy Bee, and DJ GrandWizzard Theodore. Most shows are free, with a few paid shows serving as benefits for the series. [MORE...]

Album Leaf Tours With Under Byen, Arthur & Yu

Pop quiz, hotshots: what kind of mid-level indie band are you? Do you:

a.) Play a whole heaping bunch of instruments and make sensitive, sprawling, mellow tunes, such as those found on last year's Sub Pop release Into the Blue Again?

b.) Hail from Denmark, kick it with David Fricke, and have this nifty new record contract with Paper Bag, plus an album called Samme Stof something-or-other?

c.) Play under assumed names on your debut album, In Camera, coming out June 19 via newly christened Sub Pop offspring Hardly Art? Also, were you totally written up in Forkcast today?

d.) OMG I can't decide!

If you answered...

a.) You're the Album Leaf! Go contemplate the raindrops on your windowsill.

b.) You're Under Byen! Why aren't you the best band in the world yet?

c.) You're Arthur & Yu! You crazy!

d.) You're hopeless! Go see all of these bands as they tour together beginning next month. [MORE...]

Diplo, DFA, Spank Rock Play NYC Apple Store

Though most of us associate late-night computer binges with long overdue term papers or unspeakable excursions into our Second Life, the nice folks at Apple computers are yet again making it okay to geek out.

They're introducing Midnight Mix, a five-part series of performances and DJ sets at the New York City Apple Store's Fifth Avenue location, where noted beatsmiths will keep bodies moving from midnight 'til two a.m. and, hopefully, not break anything of value.

Sure to heat up the summer like a fan-less MacBook left on overnight, shake-making sorts Diplo, Spank Rock, T&T (aka Tim Goldsworthy of the DFA and DFA associate / WNYU's Beats in Space host Tim Sweeney), and François K. Starting things off June 1 is, uh, that Mark Ronson character. [MORE...]

Sufjan Explains Joni Mitchell Cover

The haters might slam Sufjan with invectives like "excessive," "boring," or "wimpy," but nobody in his or her right mind can accuse the guy of being thoughtless or insensitive. Further demonstrating just how much the opposite he is, Sufjan posted a brief essay on the Asthmatic Kitty Sidebar today explaining his thought process whilst covering A Tribute to Joni Mitchell cover cut "Free Man in Paris", one of the few redeeming tracks on that sorry collection of songfare.

"No other songwriter of her generation captured voice, tone, and point-of-view quite as precisely," writes Sufjan of Joni. He goes on to delineate his difficulties with "Joni's rollercoaster vocal lines with all those odd syntaxes and off beat emphases" and the challenge of inhabiting a character such as David Geffen, whose own words allegedly comprise the lyrics of "Free Man".

We could be smug here, but frankly it's refreshing to read an artist discussing his work in such lucid, enlightening terms. Check out the complete essay here.

Be on the lookout for more of Stevens' prose in the upcoming edition of The Best American Nonrequired Reading. And of course, don't miss Sufjan's recent Blogotheque Take-Away Show performance of Innocence Mission masterstroke "The Lakes of Canada".

Camera Obscura Schedule Summer Tour
They need all the film they can get

Lovely twang-tinged Scottish pop conglomerate Camera Obscura will get out of their country and into seven others on a few summer dates, including some Euro festivals and a handful of late August U.S. club dates.

The pinhole enthusiasts, having recently issued a single for Let's Get Out of This Country highlight "Tears for Affairs" backed by an ABBA cover (which, alas, isn't "Waterloo"), will kick off their summer plans June 1 at Spain's Indyspensable festival. [MORE...]

Asthmatic Kitty to Release Thousand Rappers
Thankfully, none are from Dipset

Unusual Animals, the Asthmatic Kitty label's new spot for all things conceptual and electronic, will hit the world with a rap album on August 7, in the form of Land of a Thousand Rappers - Vol 1: Fall of the Pillars.

The album-- indeed, a concept disc from Asthmatic Kitty's own A&R/Development dude Michael Kaufmann, his longtime artistic companion Wayne S Feldman (who played with Kaufmann in Therefore), and guests Liz Janes and dub-maker Ero Gray-- recounts a tale of Future Rapper and the Holy Fool. An accompanying press release for the disc-- the first of a planned series of ten-- cites influences like L'Trimm, Choose Your Own Adventure books, and geolinguistics. Which, on paper, sounds kind of like a Kool Keith record. [MORE...]

De Stijl Signs Distro Deal With Sub Pop
Preps releases from Michael Yonkers, Ed Askew, Charlie Nothing, Smegma's Ju Suk Reet Meate

The folks behind Minneapolis label De Stijl have decided to continue the relationship they began with Sub Pop-- with the 2003 unearthing of the Michael Yonkers Band's Microminiature Love-- in the form of a full-on distribution deal. The deal sees the mostly-vinyl-only label embracing the CD format (welcome!), and there's already a whole slab of new-release beef on the De Stijl plate.

The first release under the new deal is Jakob Olausson's Moonlight Farm, which is available now. The next two releases are both scheduled for late summer. The first is a solo album by Smegma's Ju Suk Reet Meate titled Do Unseen Hands Make You Dumb? and originally recorded in 1978 and 1979. It comes out August 7 and features liner notes from John Olson of Wolf Eyes, who's collaborated with Smegma in the past. The second release is Michael Yonkers' follow-up to the 1968-recorded Microminiature Love, titled Grimwood and originally put to tape in 1969. That's due September 11.

There are two other albums the Sub Pop/De Stijl team currently have planned for release. The first is Ed Askew's Little Eyes, an unreleased 1970 recording that De Stijl finally put out on vinyl in 2003, and will release on CD on September 25. It will come supplemented by previously unavailable live tracks and liner notes by music journalist Bryon Coley. The second is 40 Years of the Ding: A Charlie Nothing Anthology, a collection comprised of psychedelic saxophonist Charlie Nothing's recordings for John Fahey's Takoma label, as well as a privately pressed LP, three singles, and choice cuts from innumerable cassettes. The anthology is scheduled for release in January.

VHS or Beta Bring On the Comets, Tour
Also: Ex-member Buck forms People Noise with ex-Boom Bip collaborator

Photo: Piper Ferguson

Louisville dance outfit VHS or Beta will return with their third album, Bring on the Comets, on August 28. Comets-- the follow-up to 2004's Night on Fire-- will come out on Astralwerks, and the band have quite a few dates scheduled on a tour that spans the summer.

The beginning of the band's tour is composed of DJ dates (in progress now), and true to the form, the band will release a 12" of Comets' "Burn It All Down" in advance of the album. The 12" will come supplemented with club mixes. The "Burn It All Down" release differs, however, from the first single, which is "Can't Believe a Single Word".

VHS or Beta are also planning a full-blown North American tour for August.

Former VHS guitarist Zeke Buck is set to release the debut album from his own new band, People Noise, a duo with Matt Johnson (formerly in Boom Bip's band). Though the duo don't yet have a label for the album, titled Ordinary Ghosts, they are planning on a late June release, and lead single "The Killing Fields" is available for download now.

People Noise have their own tour as well, which starts May 31 in St. Louis. On tour, Buck and Johnson are joined by a full band consisting of guitarist Rahman McGuinnis, keyboardist Woody Woodmansee, and bassist Mike DuFresne. [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.)