Kindercore Label Reborn!
Considers changing name to Firstgradecore

Veritable indie pop paradise (and surefire way to get your name on a list should you put it in Google) Kindercore Records is back after nearly four years away. The onetime label of Of Montreal, Dressy Bessy, the Essex Green and plenty of other overcaffeinated pop-makers issued this statement on their website:

Hello world! Kindercore is indeed back and things are more than a little different than they were before. The site is still being built so feel free to look around, kick the tires, post in the forums... but check back often as things will be growing daily. In the next few weeks the online store will open with our new line of shirts as well as some goodies from the past and news on new releases.

So there you go. While most thought Kindercore dead, an official press release on the matter insists the label was merely "dormant" following "a bad business deal" and a good deal of legal wrangling. The courts ultimately granted Kindercore founders Dan Geller and Ryan Lewis the rights to their label's name, and the two already have plenty in store for Kindercore in 2007. For one thing, they're diversifying their assets: the first Kindercore 2.0 release will be a comic compendium titled The Trouble Revolution (bundled with a compilation download coupon). Beyond that, Kindercore plans to release good old-fashioned EPs from King of Prussia (Save the Scene) and Geller's Ruby Isle (Miracles) in the near future.

Finally, the kindly Kindercore kids will gather kith and kin for a celebratory hoedown at Athens, Georgia's Caledonia Lounge on August 18. Expect live bands, art, DJs, dancing, and the requisite surprises.

Thanks to several readers for the tip.

Animal Collective Prep "Peacebone" Single
Black Dice, Pantha du Prince provide remixes

Hey, if Panda Bear can throw a single out there for darn near every track on Person Pitch, Animal Collective could do the same for Strawberry Jam, couldn't they? Just think of it; all those trips to the local record shop? All those treasured B-sides? Why, that sounds like a deal just as sweet and sticky as strawberry jam itself.

"Peacebone", the first single from Strawberry Jam, will land on shelves in Europe August 13, courtesy of Domino. (A U.S. release has not yet been announced.) The single can be yours in the form of a digital download or a two-track 10" record. That second track? Why, it's "Safer", a non-Strawberry jam. UPDATE: A Stateside edition of the "Peacebone" single will drop August 21, backed with remixes by Black Dice and Pantha du Prince. It will be available on 12", 10" and CD, with the 12" featuring the remixes, the 10" featuring "Safer", and the CD with all of 'em.

You can watch the AC waggle their collective peacebones at you on a full-scale tour they've got going from next week through infinity (and beyond!). [MORE...]

Vedder, Eggers Sign on for Sonic Youth Starbucks CD
Plus: David Cross, Chloe Sevigny

Chances are you're still reeling from last month's announcement that underground overlords Sonic Youth will soon release a compilation via Starbucks. What an age we live in!

Any self-pinching on your part would have been painful, however, as this is no daydream/nightmare. Today comes news, via the official press release, that this puppy 1.) is indeed happening, 2.) is titled Hits Are for Squares, and 3.) will hit Starbucks shops like a quadruple mocha espresso americano frappawhatever in early 2008.

In addition to presumed input from Beck, Jeff Tweedy, Marc Jacobs, Portia de Rossi, and Michelle Williams (all of whom Thurston Moore mentioned when we chatted with him back in June), the limited edition Hits Are for Squares will also include choice Sonic Youth cuts selected by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Dave Eggers (whoa, those two are practically anagrams-- telling!), David Cross, and Chloe Sevigny. Peruse the liner notes and you will also find quotes from these curators regarding their selections.

Technically a joint effort between Starbucks Entertainment and Universal Special Markets, Hits will be available for squares at Starbucks locations in select cities-- NYC, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, and DC-- and online at the Starbucks label website, Hear Music.

What you won't find amid the biscotti and all those designer sweets at Starbucks is Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation live in its scalding-coffee-hot entirety. For that, my friends, you must journey to the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival (or one of several other locales). The Youth have a number of "regular" shows lined up as well, all recapped below.

Thurston Moore, meanwhile, hits squares with a solo album, Trees Outside the Academy, via his own Ecstatic Peace on September 18. [MORE...]

Feist Sets Sights on Europe for Fall

Photo by Kathryn Yu

Having just wrapped a string of tour dates with Grizzly Bear, one might think Feist may be looking for a brief respite from the hardships of touring. One might also think Feist is the name of the German alchemist whose bargaining with Satan proves her undoing, but one would, in both cases, be wrong.

While Faust bounces around in purgatory, Feist will pogo about the European continent on a month of dates. Expect plenty of goofy voices, a reading from a borrowed term paper or two, and the occasional lovely song. [MORE...]

Photos: Man Man [Brooklyn, NY; 07/01/07]

If you couldn't tell from our ceaseless Man Man coverage over the past few weeks, we're getting pretty amped for the Philly-based crew's forthcoming third album.

A few weeks ago, we took a daytrip to the City of Brotherly Love to film the band at work on the record, whereupon they proceeded to fire off bottle rockets in the street, wrestle a dog into a bathtub, and pull off some pretty spectacular bike stunts. The following Monday, we posted these photos from the trip, and then just this past Friday, we finally aired the video in all its seven-minute documentary-style glory.

Well, today we're just keeping that big ball of non-stop, warpaint-smeared, sparkle-frocked Man Man fun rolling with shots of the band's headline performance yesterday afternoon at Brooklyn's McCarren Park Pool. Amidst 72 degrees of summer afternoon sunshine, the group plowed through a series of old favorites, spiked beach balls into the thousand-strong crowd, and even broke out a couple new jams.

Don't get too excited: The record still isn't out until early next year, and as of right now, the band only has four more dates on its touring itinerary. Although we have a sneaking suspicion there may be more just over the horizon...

[MORE...]

Ted Leo Cancels Remainder of European Tour

Alas, Cumberland Arms, it simply wasn't meant to be; Ted Leo and his Pharmacists have axed the remainder of their European tour dates, as Ted announced this weekend in Glasgow. A rep at Leo label Touch and Go confirmed the cancellation, citing a "family health emergency" as the reason. All Leo's previously scheduled American dates-- kicking off August 1 in Cleveland-- are still, for the time being, go.

Many thanks to reader and Glasgow gig attendee Alasdair Hunter for the tip. [MORE...]

PJ Harvey Plans New Album for September
Uh huh, her

Polly Jean Harvey and her practically-eponymous musical outfit PJ Harvey will issue White Chalk, the follow-up to 2004's Uh Huh Her, September 24 from Island UK (U.S. release TBA).

NME.com also reports that Chalk, her seventh studio album, was recorded with Flood and John Parish and features instrumental contributions from frequent Harvey collaborator Eric Drew Feldman and the Dirty Three's Jim White. Could the title allude to a newfound love of the pommel horse, or could there be a John Doe haunting Polly's dreams? Speculate on; you've got months.

Polly Jean has a handful of dates to her name at the moment, the first at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall this weekend. [MORE...]

Tapes 'n Tapes Guy Keeps Quotidian Blog Just Like You!
Josh Grier: Everyblogger

Photo by Jen Reel

Surely, given the mammoth success of their self-released debut (The Loon, later given wide release via XL Recordings) and subsequent tours, you'd think it's been nothing but champagne 'n hos for the lusty young men of Tapes 'n Tapes.

And indeed it has. Just take a gander at the MySpace blog Tapes brother Josh Grier has been keeping for all the lurid evidence you need. I mean, this thing has NSFW written all over it. It's a wonder these guys find any time to write, record, and perform their ramshackle indie-pop songs.

Get a load of this decadence ([sic] where applicable):

June 26: "i've got a trip to south dakota coming up. i'm really looking forward to it. it's always a good time in south dakota. it's very laid back and one of the most relaxing trips possible."

June 23: "there are a suprising number of really good sushi places in minnepolis."

June 19: "i am putting a 1 week moratorium for myself on talking about the weather. you won't read about how 'hot' it is. or how 'rainy' it is. or even how 'nice and wonderful' it is outside. unless minneapolis gets hit by a natural disaster, i'm not talking about the weather."

And if you don't want your innocent mind forever corrupted, don't even think about checking out the guy's June 14 recipe for "josh's super easy and pretty cheap grilled pork tenderloin."

Good grief, Grier! Should our young people really be subjected to this shameless hedonism? Think of the children!

Assuming Grier and his fellow mischief-makers clean up their act anytime soon, they'll be playing a pair of festivals this summer. [MORE...]

Girl Talk Remixes Of Montreal!

Having already tweaked the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Grizzly Bear, Peter, Bjorn and John, and Beck, mixmaster Girl Talk has taken on yet another challenge: remixing Of Montreal! Gregg Gillis has committed to renovating the glam-poppers' bouncy falsetto-fest "Gronlandic Edit", from their fantastic latest album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?.

The best part? You aren't going to find this remix on a CD, or for sale on iTunes. Nope. It's going to be available as a free download ... right here on Pitchfork! We can't tell you exactly when, because we don't know. Gregg is actually working on it right now-- probably adding the guitar riff from "Party Like a Rockstar" or something as we speak. So stay tuned!

Both Of Montreal and Girl Talk are playing the (sold out!) Pitchfork Music Festival, on July 15 and 14 respectively. And they both have tons of tour dates-- Of Montreal heading to Europe, and Girl Talk covering North America both with and without Dan Deacon.

Of Montreal's "Suffer for Fashion" video will "debut" on MTV2's "Subterranean" this Sunday, although you can already see it here. [MORE...]

Digitalism Trot Around the Globe on Tour
Man, that little guy really looks like Luke Skywalker

All the Idealism in the world won't save the handsome Hamburgers of Digitalism from themselves. One hopes they've plugged into a steady stream of some good multivitamins or at least started hitting the treadmill if they're ever going to make it through the nearly four full months of tour dates they've lined up for themselves, including a two-week stint in the U.S. come October. If not, they're likely to run into another, uglier "ism": defeatism. We've got faith that they can pull it off, but load up on plenty of electrolytes now anyway, fellas; you've got many miles to go before you sleep.

It all begins tonight in Stockholm. [MORE...]

Correction: Built to Spill Not Controlled by Demon
But they are putting out a new single

It has come to our attention that, contrary to false information reported by Pitchfork on Wednesday afternoon, Built to Spill do not actually "take orders from a tiny, omnipotent demonic being" named Gurguroth.

While this psychic monstrosity is renowned throughout the music industry for allegedly controlling the careers of such other bands as the Goo Goo Dolls, Blake Shelton, and Lil Scrappy, we have been assured by Warner label spokespersons that Gurguroth does not, in fact, have any hand whatsoever in determining Built to Spill's touring or release schedules, nor does he reside within the billowy depths of Doug Martsch's beard, where he could theoretically sustain himself on small crumbs and various soup particles.

Pitchfork regrets the error.

In related news, Built to Spill will release a new single on Warner Bros. Records on July 10: new song "They Got Away" backed by a cover of the Gladiators' "Re-Arrange". Yes, the reggae Gladiators. In fact, both songs are reggae songs. But, according to a press release, Doug Martsch says, "I want to make sure that people don't think we are becoming a reggae band. We play reggae because we love to play it."

The single will be available as a 12" and digital download, and will be in stores, online, and for sale at the band's many, many shows from July 10 onward. Those shows again... [MORE...]

Pelican Take City of Echoes to Cities of People

Chicago instrumental metalheads Pelican will hit the road this summer in support of their newest album, City of Echoes (Hydra Head).

The big bird's tour dates start with a run of European shows kicking off July 1 in Belfort, France.

Their North American dates, however, begin July 19 in Cleveland Heights, which is like France with less of all that weird French stuff (just kidding, crepes rule!). [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.)