Shins, Death Cab Guitar String Bracelets for Charity
Or adorn yourself in metal cast off by My Morning Jacket, Weezer, or Elvis Costello!

Let's say you're the hapless roadie charged with gathering all the snapped guitar strings My Morning Jacket accrue during "Dondante". Slick with sweat and tangling in your natty beard, you pluck the noodle-makers from the fretboard and hand them over to the fine people at Relix Magazine. They, in turn, spin them-- fingernails and all-- into grimy metal rings to the delight of affluent hippies the world over. Sound like a dream job? Or just a staph infection waiting to happen?

For those of us unwilling to get that close to Jim James comes the Relix Band ("the perfect gift for dads who love music," we're told), a bracelet cobbled from used steel strings snapped from the necks of your favorite guitarists' trusty axes. Relix has lined up dozens of artists to contribute their garbage for the bracelets, from hippie legends like the Allman Brothers and Carlos Santana, to the light'n'mellow Guster, Maroon 5 and the Counting Crows, to metal dudes like Slayer's Kerry King and Black Label Society, and, oh yeah, some indie-friendly peeps, like the Shins' James Mercer, Death Cab's Ben Gibbard, Elvis Costello, and a couple guys apiece from Wolfmother and Weezer.

As if the idea of wearing dingy wires around your wrist wasn't bizarre enough, the Relix Band pricing seems to step out on reality in much the same way as the Relix Band product. The James Mercer and Jim James bracelets both cost the same amount as Maroon 5's Adam Levine's ($150)-- but all of them are $50 bucks less than John Mayer's ($200). Rivers Cuomo's bracelet will run you the same amount as Brian Bell's and Scott Shriner's ($125), and they all kick the shit out of Gibbard ($99). And nobody comes close to Tenacious D ($300)... except for Pete Townsend (also $300).

Sorry, Bon Jovi is sold out.

Proceeds from the sale of these bracelets will go to the charities Headcount, the Rex Foundation, Seva, and Rock'n'Wrap It Up!

Bright Eyes Go Orchestral at Hollywood Bowl

No dimmin' these Bright Eyes; no ma'am. Conor and the rest of his crew will cap a summer trek overseas with a single night at Los Angeles' famed Hollywood Bowl, with some help from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. You've come a long way, dude who wrote "It's Cool, We Can Still Be Friends."

Indie rock band playing with the L.A. Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Gee, that sounds familiar... Perhaps, as with the Decemberists, this will turn into a whole orchestral tour? Please?

In other Bright Eyes news, the band will release a double A-sided single for Cassadaga tracks "Hot Knives"/"If the Brakeman Turns My Way" on Polydor in the UK on Monday, July 9. Conor's also popping up on the Hottest State soundtrack, and may very well be doing something with Lauryn Hill. Oh, and catch Bright Eyes on "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" tonight. [MORE...]

Brunettes Structure Sub Pop Debut

Photo by Milana Radojcic

It feels like ages ago that indie-pop squad the Brunettes signed to Sub Pop (in 2005), and ages before that that the brown-haired New Zealand natives were hand-picked to open a North American tour by a moderately popular guitar band known as the Shins (also in 2005).

Yet here we are, in 2007, and the Brunettes have a shiny new record they just can't wait to deliver straight into our hearts. Structure & Cosmetics enlivens record store shelves at last August 7. It's the Brunettes' third full length overall and first for Sub Pop, following 2002's Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks and 2004's Mars Loves Venus, both released on NZ's Lil' Chief Records.

Structure includes charming first single "Her Hairagami Set", and would seem to further bolster the case for nine being the golden mean number of tracks on 2007 full lengths (see also: LCD Soundsystem's latest, Okkervil River's latest).

The Brunettes promise some red hot U.S. tour action in September and October. For now, they play scattered gigs across Oceania. [MORE...]

Fugazi Photo Book Due; Evens, Joe Lally Mount Tours

Perhaps the Fugazi hiatus doesn't loom quite as large as other beloved band hiatuses out there, and perhaps that's because the gentlemen of Fugazi are still doing all the things Fugazi did-- playing shows, making records, spreading positive vibes-- but just not doing them together at the moment.

Anyhow, as we wait in joyful hope for the second coming of Fugazi, there are peripheral joys a-plenty to satisfy our jones for that distinct DC sound and ethos.

First up, respected Dogtown sk8tr boi turned dissident photographer Glen E. Friedman will release Keep Your Eyes Open, a book of his Fugazi photos, on September 3, 2007. Note the date: it marks the 20th anniversary of the very first Fugazi gig. Burning Flags Press will deliver the 112-page tome (pictured above), which also features an essay penned by the always entertaining Ian Svenonius (Nation of Ulysses, the Make Up, Weird War).

Next up, the Evens, Kent State shootings auxiliary investigator Ian MacKaye's duo with the Warmers' Amy Farina, will tour the Northeast this month (including a considerable chunk of Canada). As always, these gigs are all ages and all the relevant info is laid out for your convenience on the Dischord tour page (with dates, cities, and venues also listed below per Pitchfork's custom). The Evens dropped second LP Get Evens last fall.

Fugazi bassist Joe Lally hits the road in June as well-- half a world away in Japan. Lally will be joined by Italian trio Zu for all dates. He released There to Here last year on Dischord, while Ataxia-- a short-lived 2004 collaboration with John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Josh Klinghoffer-- released their second album just last month on Record Collection. It was born from the same free-form February 2004 recording session as the first (Automatic Writing), and Ataxia christened this one Automatic Writing II.

Lally also recently made the remaining stock of Fugazi Live Series CDs-- which document a whole bunch of the band's famed gigs-- available for sale on the Dischord website. These were previously only available through the series' website, and once the CDs run out, Dischord plans to sell the live recordings in digital format.

MacKaye and Lally collide on July 2 at a Fort Reno concert, part of the famed annual DC series which recently announced its 2007 schedule here.

Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, meanwhile, continues his production work, having helmed the boards for Ted Leo's latest, Living With the Living, among other recent releases. Canty and Christoph Green's Burn to Shine DVD series, featuring live performances from a particular city's bands in a space slated for demolition, has a couple new volumes in the works.

Not much to report on Guy Picciotto, but whatever he's doing, we're sure it's awesome. [MORE...]

Black Mountain Offshoot Lightning Dust Release Debut
Hey, Stephen McBean! What have you been up to lately? Quit sitting around picking your butt and write some songs!

Black Mountain members Amber Webber and Joshua Wells have added another regiment to their main band's army of side projects with the creation of Lightning Dust.

The duo will release their self-titled debut under the moniker via Jagjaguwar on June 19, and they will hit the road with their pals the Cave Singers for a U.S. tour starting June 20 in Seattle.

With the constant appearance of new side projects by Black Mountain members, it remains to be seen whether or not the band themselves will ever release another album. They did, however, contribute a song to the Spiderman 3 soundtrack recently, and they have two live shows scheduled for this year. The first is on August 12 in Vancouver's Cates Park for the Under the Volcano! festival, and the second is a previously reported appearance at the Portishead-curated Nightmare Before Christmas ATP in December. [MORE...]

Touch and Go Records Opens Digital Store
Trendwatch: DRM is the new trans fat

The celebrated Chicago-based Touch and Go/Quarterstick label group is pulling ahead of the pack in the digital realm, as they have propped open the purely-figurative doors of their own digital music shop, accessible through their website.

Starting yesterday, certain Touch and Go/Quarterstick catalog pillars and fresh cuts will be available in DRM-free 256 Kbps MP3 format, which, I believe, earns you a level-four power sword in D&D. The Touch and Go website will be the only place on the web that the Shellac and Rapeman discographies will be available, as well as Slint's Spiderland (and untitled EP), should you wish to bone up on all six of its lyrics in anticipation of their set at the Pitchfork Music Festival.

The store plans to offer plenty more digital exclusives in the future, like the head start they've given to a pair of mid-90s Bedhead EP reissues on Touch and Go, out now through the site and July 10 elsewhere.

Josh Ritter Conquers History on New Album
I really didn't expect global domination to come from a dude named Josh

Like Genghis Khan and Bill S. Preston Esq. before him, Josh Ritter is primed to embark on an epic journey where no wrongdoer shall be spared. Sure, Ritter's odyssey comes in the form of a singer/songwriter record, but the metaphor still applies.

The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, the 14-track follow up to Ritter's 2006 album The Animal Years, will burn and pillage August 21 courtesy of Sony BMG/Victor.

Ritter, who recently worked a track into the formula of the curmudgeonly medical dramedy House, has a few scattered skirmishes scheduled in the run up to his epic journey. Who knows what manner of beasts there are to fell in the heart of Jacksonville, OR? [MORE...]

LCD Soundsystem Add Summer Dates
To celebrate, Murphy switches to iced coffee for photo

Pit stains: they're a plight on the t-shirt wearer. Yet, every time you see James Murphy donning his "No Moët, No Showet" tee, any and all traces of that telltale antiperspirant remainder and unfortunate brownish-orange tinge are gone. A liberal splash of bleach in the pre-rinse? A trusty laundry service, maybe? What's his secret?

James and his LCD Soundsystem will tear through pack after pack of V-necks as, again, they've loosened the belt on their summer-spanning world tour. After hipping real live American teenagers to the scum they are at a few gigs later this week, they'll migrate to largely Eurasian locales for a systematic conquest of many of the world's finer festivals. Black tie, we'll assume, is optional... though we suspect James has a tuxedo t-shirt should the occasion arise. [MORE...]

Lou Reed to Bring Berlin to Europe
Takes Sharon Jones along with him

Having already unveiled a theatrically-enhanced version of his classic 1973 album Berlin live with Antony last December, Lou Reed will take it on a tour of the European continent this summer-- including a stop in the album's titular city.

The 30-piece ensemble Reed has assembled for the tour will consist of his band, a string section, a horn section, and a children's choir (singing about drug addiction, mind you). Sadly, Antony will be absent from the tour, but soul singer Sharon Jones will serve as one of Reed's backup singers.

The tour begins June 18 in Brussels.

Reed also has two photography exhibits on view right now. The first is a touring exhibition of his own work titled "New York" that will appear at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh through September 2. He also just curated another one, titled "New York Genius" (somebody's obsessed!), which will run at the Steven Kasher Gallery in New York City through June 19. [MORE...]

The Long Blondes Kick Off North American Tour

Amped off of the North American release of Someone to Drive You Home yesterday (June 5), Britain's Long Blondes will serve the continent a previously reported nine-date slice of that good guitar pop starting tonight (June 6) in Brooklyn.

The North American dates continue through June 16 in San Francisco before the band hop back across the bond, then all over the world, for a heap of festival dates and a few club shows.

And if you're curious about what drummer Screech Louder has been digging lately, check out today's Guest List. [MORE...]

Band of Horses Hit the Road This Summer
They go on tour because they like the

Echo-laden equine epic-makers Band of Horses are by all accounts putting the final coat of reverb on the follow-up to last year's monster debut Everything All the Time, but they've found the time to rope in a handful of tour dates this summer.

They'll stick to the left side of the North American continent for a week or so starting June 30, ultimately saddling up with the Decemberists (and Andrew Bird) for their orchestratal Hollywood Bowl show. In August, the Horse whisperers hit Coney Island with Modest Mouse and Clipse (!) and then make their way to a couple of stops on the roving Download Festival. [MORE...]

Dan Deacon Needs Your Casiotone Keyboard

Dudes! Ladies! Dan Deacon needs your help! Again! The schizo-pop mastermind behind Spiderman of the Rings-- presently spreading insanity across the nation-- posted a MySpace bulletin today explaining his ordeal.

It seems Dan's Casiotone keyboard is broken! Yes, broken! That's what happens when you go batshit on a keyboard one time too many.

"This sucks," wrote Deacon, "because i need it badly for most of my songs."

The Casiotone is an MT-800, and Dan is reaching out to his fans to help "save the tour" by hooking the brother up with a working instrument. Maybe you have one lying around from when you tried to start a band? Or maybe you could sell your printed hoodie collection and buy Dan one?? Maybe Owen Ashworth can lend a hand?

As of now, Dan's tour continues tonight in Tallahassee with a man down, and climaxes at the Pitchfork Music Festival in July. Check out the full text of his MySpace plea below. [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.)