TVOTR, Wolf Parade, Notwist Members on Subtle LP

Sure, he could probably mimic all their voices, but Subtle superfreak Doseone has instead opted to enlist the talents of a bunch of cool people for the next Subtle longplayer, due out this fall.

According to a recent MySpace bulletin from the band, Yell&Ice will follow up last year's way-too-slept-on for hero: for fool. It will include "new music made with" Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio), Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs), Markus Acher (The Notwist), Yoni Wolf (Why?, cLOUDEAD), Andrew Broder (Fog), Chris Adams (Hood, Bracken), and Dosh (Dosh).

No word yet on a tracklist or a precise release date, but why not ask the Subtle six about those things in person? The septet hits the road next month for a string of West Coast dates with recent Anticon signing Thee More Shallows. There's a lone Chicago date floating around out there as well, and a Midwest and East Coast tour with Minus the Bear shaping up for fall.

In related news, Doseone recently issued an extremely limited poetry LP titled Soft Skulls. Score a copy here while they last. [MORE...]

MF Doom Tours, Reissues LP, Designs Shoes

No, the follow-up to Madvillainy is still not yet visible on the horizon, (nor is the long-rumored full-length Ghostface collab), but an MF Doom tour is almost as good.

The ever-elusive (and allusive, come to think of it) Stones Throw MC will hit the road quite soon, in fact. He now has a handful of solo dates to go along with his previously reported appearances on the Rock the Bells tour, which has the almost unquestionably finest lineup of any hip-hop tour this summer (just look at it!).

Doom's dates begin July 29 in New York City and end exactly one month later, on August 29 in Detroit.

Before Doom sets foot on stage, however, Rhymesayers will reissue his 2004 album Mm..Food?, which has been out-of-print for almost two years. The reissue comes on CD and double LP, and included is a DVD with over an hour of live and behind-the-scenes footage. A limited edition of the reissue will come in special packing that includes a sticker, a tour poster, and a chocolate-scented scratch-and-sniff wrapper. Talk about dedication to a concept. The Mm..Food? reissue is out July 24.

And following in the, uh, footsteps of everyone from Jay-Z to Johnny Marr, MF Doom has designed his own shoe. His Nike Skateboarding high-tops are available now, but judging by a Google search, you're gonna have to shell out some serious cash on eBay or at a specialty sneaker site to get 'em. Or pre-order the Mm..Food? reissue from Fifth Element and enter to win a pair.

[MORE...]

Arctic Monkeys Extend Tour Into Fall

With a Mercury Prize nomination for their second full-length under their belts, Arctic Monkeys have added dates to their world tour, which now includes stops in the U.S. and Brazil in addition to a couple of Canadian festival dates.

The new dates begin in early September, but the Monkeys have quite a few shows before then in Europe, Australia, and Japan. Their next show is tonight (July 18) in Lisbon, Portugal. [MORE...]

Rilo Kiley Shake Their Moneymakers on World Tour

The former child stars of Rilo Kiley are primed to take Under the Blacklight (out August 21 Stateside, August 20 overseas on Warner Bros.) under the hot fluorescent lights of a mid-sized club near you.

Usually we're all like "near you" to the exclusion of a good chunk of our audience, but this time we can at least report that Jenny, Blake, and the gang will play shows in proximity to both their European and North American fans. Our growing Guam contingent is still getting the shaft here, but hey, at least there's YouTube.

Rilo's EU duties begin August 15 in Hamburg and wrap up September 2 at Ireland's Electric Picnic festival. Then, after nary four days' rest, the quartet takes off and lands in San Francisco for the first of a smokin' heap of U.S. and Canadian shows. [MORE...]

Iron and Wine Plots UK Tour
The boy with a pence

Photo by Kathryn Yu

Over the weekend, we were lucky enough to rope in Iron and Wine's definitely-still-bearded Sam Beam for a rare live appearance at this little concert thing we had. We took in tunes from his forthcoming LP The Shepherd's Dog, gazed in quiet awe at his beard, and, in some cases, admired the gentle timbre of his speaking voice. Then we thought "when oh when can we repeat this overwhelmingly pleasant experience?"

With a visa or a really big boat, we Yanks might be able to catch Iron and Wine, but for those of you who live on an island off the left coast of Europe, well, you're in for a treat: Iron and Wine have announced a week and a half's worth of English, Scottish, and Irish dates in October. Cheers! For the impatient amongst you, Sam and friends have put together a show early next month at London's the Spitz. Double cheers!

All this, of course, coincides with the release of The Shepherd's Dog, out September 25 from Sub Pop in the U.S. and the day before in the UK from Transgressive Records. Pleasant sorts that they are, Transgressive will also release the "Boy With a Coin" single August 25 on 10" vinyl, though it's already out Stateside on a compact disc. So that's three cheers, then, or four? Either way.

Appropriately enough, the UK trek ends with a gig at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on Halloween. Shepherd's Dog, Shepherds Bush-- cheers all around! [MORE...]

Fire Engines Classics Bundled on Hungry Beat

Following the Domino-issued 2005 collection Codex Teenage Premonition, Franz Ferdinand's spiritual godfathers and fellow countrymen Fire Engines are poised to further cement their legacy with the release of Hungry Beat on October 2.

Hungry Beat, issued by Acute Records (also responsible for fine discs from Glenn Branca, Theoretical Girls, and Ike Yard), collects studio recordings from the band's brief initial incarnation in the early 1980s. Not unlike last year's compendium from fellow Scots Josef K (also on Domino), this will mark the first time these Fire Engines jams see release in the U.S. on CD.

Having reunited in 2004, Fire Engines plan to sate the appetites of beat-hungry fans and tour behind Hungry Beat, although no gigs have been confirmed yet. UPDATE: THEY WILL PLAY SEPTEMBER 1 AT THE CONNECT FESTIVAL IN INVERARY, SCOTLAND. [MORE...]

Common Talks New Album, Gap Ad, Spirituality
"If you've got knowledge or wisdom, you need to be in the streets among the people that need to hear that information."

With seventh studio album Finding Forever set to hit shelves July 31 on Geffen, we caught up with Chicago MC, actor, and driver's cap connoisseur Common to talk about the record.

Relaxed and affable, he also gave us his thoughts on sustaining a career, "American Idol", his appearance in a Gap commercial, and his spirituality.

Pitchfork: Did Kanye produce most of Finding Forever, like he did on Be?

Common: Yeah.

Pitchfork: I heard you're a little more particular with his beats than other people are. How does that work, when you tell him he needs to step it up a little bit?

Common: [laughs] Well, you know, we work in the studio-- he'll be creating the music, and he'll be like, "This beat is gold." And I'll be like, "It's all right." I'm basically honest and don't just accept anything because, you know, Kanye-- or any producer for that matter-- made it. It has to be something I think goes with the vision that I want for my music. It's got to touch me. It's got to feel like some of their best work for me. I've got to say, "This goes along with what I want my music to sound like." You know, that challenge is something that allows Kanye to grow and actually make certain beats that end up on his album. I might be like, "I don't want to use that," and he'll go and use it, and make it a great song too. He's got a song on his album where he talks about "Common passed on this beat." It's just about really getting the music that I feel as an artist is inspiring for me and is what I want to create.

I've got to say, Kanye challenges me too, as an MC. He'll be like, "Man, you can come better on those lyrics than that, man." He'll look at every word [and say], "No, that line could be better." So we challenge each other, but I'm definitely not one to just accept any beat because he made it.

Pitchfork: What kind of stuff makes you revise a lyric? Is it like an image isn't sharp enough? The rhyme isn't tight enough?

Common: Sometimes I could be writing a story, and I may not give enough of the details I would like to or it may not have enough punch. You really want things that you choose to say to have an impact. You want every rhyme to say something; you know that captures their attention. If it isn't capturing the attention, then do something better. You've got to revise it and work on it, you know? I like MCs that when I listen, I'm like, "Damn man, how did he think of that? That's incredible." I go back and I hear new things that the person says, because they're saying so much.

Pitchfork: Do you remember the last line that was like that, a line that you really fixated on, where you were like, "I need to do more stuff like that"?

Common: It was a line in this one song called "Drivin' Me Wild". One line I say is, "Doing all she can for a man and a baby/ driving herself crazy like the astronaut lady." That made me feel good because the song is called "Drivin' Me Wild", and it's about some people who drive themselves wild over doing things. It fit with the subject matter and, lyrically, "driving herself crazy like the astronaut lady" adds humor to it. That made me just feel good, you know? Lines like that, to me, are what hip-hop is all about. Hip-hop has so many dimensions to it. It's clever. It's humorous. It's thoughtful. You know? [MORE...]

White Stripes Close Canadian Tour on a Funny Note

If the boat show and the bus show and the park show and the classroom show taught Canadian fans of the White Stripes anything, it was to expect the unexpected as the duo set forth on a comprehensive tour of the land up north. But even with those precedents in mind, we doubt anybody was prepared for the Stripes' final secret show (or shall we say "show") on Canadian soil, which took place yesterday (July 16) in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland before the pair's scheduled gig that night at the Mile One Centre.

If Jack and Meg appear to be smiling extra wide when they take the stage in the following YouTube video, it's probably because they know something you and the gathered St. John's masses don't. We won't spoil it, other than to say if you have 49 seconds to spare, it's worth a look:


"We have now officially played in every province and territory in Canada," sums up an excited Jack. Laughs galore, but you gotta feel for the kid without a Mile One ticket who trekked all the way out there for a practical joke (although, according to this CBC News report, fans were warned).

Thanks to reader Brendan O'Neill for the tip!

And with Canada officially conquered, the Stripes return to the States this weekend. [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: July 17-22, 2007

Live music on TV this week:

Tuesday, July 17:

NBC: "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno": Ryan Adams
NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": the Cribs
CBS: "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson": Bright Eyes (rerun)

Wednesday, July 18:

NBC: "Last Call With Carson Daly": Deerhoof

Thursday, July 19:

CBS: "Late Show With David Letterman": White Rabbits
CBS: "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson": Patti Smith (rerun)
NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Fountains of Wayne

Saturday, July 21:

NBC: "Saturday Night Live": Justin Timberlake (rerun)
PBS: "Austin City Limits" : Franz Ferdinand, What Made Milwaukee Famous (rerun)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Add U.S. Dates

Steady rhythms, good-natured yelping, easily-identifiable reference points; rope all those in and it can only mean a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah tour. Well, or a Clap Your Hands record, but they just did that. Tour it is, then! The band have added a few East Coast dates to their continent-spanning tour, which finds them giving some skin and affirming things in Munich tonight.

In other Clap Your Hands news, they recently found a hidden portal into the brain of master thespian John Malkovich, heard all that sweet music, and recorded it for the score of The Great Buck Howard. [MORE...]

Hot Hot Heat Tour Tour Places

Hot Hot Heat, the injury-prone Canadian shriek-pop synthesizers, have themselves a little tour poppin' off tonight (July 17) in the appropriately sweltering Santa Barbara. Paradoxically, they're opening for the frigid Snow Patrol, which sounds to us-- experts that we are on the subject-- like somebody's idea of a bad joke.

Chuckle or not, the Heat will be keeping up temperatures all over most of the U.S. through the next few weeks. They'll then bring the loud loud loudness to Europe for a spell as August turns to September, all the while gathering audiences into the Happiness LTD. fold. [MORE...]

Of Montreal Announce Fall U.S. Tour

Photo by Jason Bergman

Having bared his soul (and a good portion of his tuchus) to the gathered masses at this weekend's un-damn-believable Pitchfork Music Festival, Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes can't wait to show it all off again. Will he again be joined by Darth Vader, a giant crab, and the puffy-suited guy with five Kevin heads?

Maybe, maybe not, but on the band's just-announced fall North American tour, he'll bring along totally cracked hip-hoppers Grand Buffet as an opening act, which is almost as strange (though the two groups have toured together before). Check out their track "Dark Autumn", from the Haunted Fucking Gazebo EP and forthcoming album King Vision, by clicking on the link below.

Also opening the North American tour is MGMT, who will release Oracular Spectacular on Columbia this fall. Check out the floaty synth-pop tune "Time to Pretend" below.

In other Of Montreal news, you should keep an eye peeled for the Girl Talk remix of Hissing Fauna's "Gronlandic Edit" which he assures us he's working on. Will Mixmaster Gillis still match the track with Rick Ross' "Hustlin'", as he did during Saturday night's festival set? Or is something else in the cards for the "Edit" edit? If they do, one's thing's for sure: there'll be a lot of art-rock dandies goin' down in Dade County. [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.)