Dan Deacon Coughs Up Gunk, Cancels Tonight's Gig

Photo by Jason Bergman

Be warned: What follows is a lot more than you ever cared to know about Dan Deacon's insides:

hello,

im way to sick to play the show tonight. im coughing up weird chunks of yellow+blood. its really hard to speak, let alone sing. im really sorry. i promise i'll be back super soon.

dan

And smack dab in the middle of prime post-lunch digestion time, too! As the MySpace bulletin quoted above indicates, it seems our boy Deacon ran afoul of the old autumn nasty, causing him to miss out on tonight's gig with Girl Talk and White Williams.

One thing's for sure: no more eating hot dogs out of Gregg Gillis' butt. WAIT DAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOOOOOO [MORE...]

The Ponys, Chin Up Chin Up Join Forces for Tour

Not unlike those times when your auntie in Ravenswood overnights a freeze-dried deep-dish out to you in Bangor, a little taste of Chicago is heading your way. Two fine acts from the City of Big Shoulders-- The Ponys and Chin Up Chin Up, if you must know-- are taking it on the road in tandem this November.

The Ponys, of course, are still reverberating from this spring's release of Turn the Lights Out, while Chin Up Chin Up plan to hit us with a new disc late next year. Both bands have other dates besides, including the Ponys' forthcoming dish-like run with the Spoon. [MORE...]

Photos: The New Pornographers / Lavender Diamond [Los Angeles, CA; 09/19/07]

Photos by Akmal Naim

Hey, it's the old pornographers! Longtime studio collaborators Neko Case and Destroyer's Dan Bejar joined Carl Newman and company at Los Angeles' Henry Fonda Theatre last night in a rare live appearance. The Canadian pop maestros-- restored to full supergroup status-- treated the crowd to a set of tunes from their newest LP, Challengers.

(Speaking of challenges and those who accept them, don't forget about the Pornographers' viral video challenge: invent a new dance craze to the tune of a Newman number or a Bejar ballad, and win some prizes!)

The eagle-eyed in attendance might have noticed that usual drummer Kurt Dahle was missing in action. According to the New Pornographers' email newsletter, Dahle just had a baby, so Jon Wurster of Superchunk/Scharpling & Wurster has been filling in. Dahle will be back in action starting September 20 in Paris.

More photos of the Pornographers and openers Lavender Diamond, plus all their remaining tour dates (including a bunch of newly added European ones), below.

And one last item, for all you obsessives: The digital music store Zunior has made a treasure trove of rare Canadian indie rock vinyl available for download, including music by Thee Crusaders, an early band featuring Newman and keyboardist Blaine Thurier.

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS








LAVENDER DIAMOND



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Beirut Toasts Cup With Tonight's Tour Launch

Front page photo by Danelle Manthay

Raise your glasses and down a few in honor of Beirut's Zach Condon. The guy's barely old enough to drink himself, and yet he and his roving entourage of spirited horn-blowers and string-pullers have a second album, The Flying Club Cup, on the way and a continent-spanning tour kicking off tonight (September 20) in Brooklyn.

Kicking off publicly, that is. Beirut and band actually dusted off their gear last night for a secret warm-up gig in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood. Blog Thepunkguy has photos from this intimate-looking gathering.

The Flying Club Cup, as you know, lands October 9 Stateside via Ba Da Bing! and the day before UK-ways via 4AD. Digital retailers, however, not bound by geography, have the album available for download sale right now.

And if you thought La Blogothèque and Beirut couldn't get any friendlier, think again. As you may have read in Forkcast, the website-- fond of filming your favorite performers working their magic in unconventional spaces-- has revealed plans to post live "Take Away Show" videos for every single song on The Flying Club Cup. We may never leave our spinny chairs again. [MORE...]

Modest Mouse Add Even More Fall Dates
Photo fun continues

Photos by Pat Graham

Our last installment of the story of Mice and Men (touring together) concluded with the announcement of a whole bunch of new joint tour dates with Love as Laughter. This time, the quantity of new dates is fewer, but the spirit of boundless love between good bands remains.

That is, Modest Mouse have extended their fall tour into December, and some of the new dates are with Man Man and Love as Laughter. In fact, it seems entirely possible that both openers will appear with Modest Mouse on all of the new dates. (According to the Man Man camp, the band hasn't been confirmed for all of the shows "as of yet".)

The tour's first stop is in Spokane, Washington on October 31. On Halloween, does it become Spookane? Um, right...

And as you can see from the images above and below, Modest Mouse have continued updating the photo blog on their website with all sorts of shenanigans. The photos are by Pat Graham, who, as we mentioned, has a photo book out now.

[MORE...]

Tussle Remix EP (With Hot Chip, JD Twitch) Finally Due

Photo by Andrew Paynter

Tussle are releasing an EP with remixes from Hot Chip, Optimo's JD Twitch, and Liquid Liquid's Dennis Young. Hey, wait just one second; that sounds strikingly familiar to a story we wrote last year!

It's true, and while those who remember all 80,000 of our Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem tour stories can attest to the fact that Pitchfork News is not above the occasional rehash, this Tussle EP, Warning (hey, that also sounds familiar), has actually taken the year+ since that first report to come out.

But it's not here just yet. Warning will see a European release via Smalltown Supersound on October 15. In addition to the Telescope Mind version of the title track, the EP features the aforementioned remixes by Hot Chip (a 10-minute beast), JD Twitch (a seven-minute mix of various different parts of Telescope Mind), and Dennis Young, as well as a Kango and Torkill remix.

Tussle will go on a still-unrevealed tour of Europe later this year. In the meantime, they have one date in their hometown of San Francisco, where they are preparing their third full-length for release in the spring.

Finally, don't forget that Tussle appear on that Worried Noodles compilation we reported a little while back. It comes out October 23 on Tomlab. [MORE...]

TVOTR, GBV, Beirut Members on Ten Soundtrack
Scored by Shudder to Think's Craig Wedren

A Decalogue for the Garden State generation, The Ten, directed by David Wain of "The State", "Stella", and Wet Hot American Summer fame, hit select theaters early last month. Those who weren't turned off by a rather unfunny trailer and saw the film witnessed a cast of familiar faces-- Winona Ryder, Adam Brody, Jessica Alba, and others-- but may have missed some of the special musical guests. Indeed, members of TV on the Radio, Guided by Voices, Beirut, Shudder to Think, Vampire Weekend, and OK Go grace the film's soundtrack, composed by (sorta) ex-Shudder frontman Craig Wedren.

TVOTR's Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone lend vocals to a pair of tracks, while Guided by Voices/Shudder to Think guy Kevin March plays some drums, Beirut's Jon Natchez rocks the sax, and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij supplies keyboards, guitar, and arrangements. Other notable contributors include OK Go's Damian Kulash, Rashida Jones of "The Office" (U.S. version), and Steven Bernstein of Sex Mob/the Lounge Lizards.

The Ten soundtrack actually hit shops (via Commotion Records) back on August 28, but many of the special guest details came to light only recently. So impress your date this weekend at the cinema by telling him/her that the "Oooooos" on "Steven Montgomery" were indeed generated by actual living members of TV on the Radio. Hot dang. [MORE...]

Jay-Z Records Sorta Soundtrack for American Gangster

So maybe Kingdom Come didn't exactly see Jigga coming "back like Jordan wearing the 4-5." But, cobwebs adequately shaken out over the last few months, you can raise those hopes again for a new Jay-Z album. According to The New York Times, Jay has been working on a record inspired by American Gangster, the forthcoming Ridley Scott film starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Common, T.I., and RZA. The disc drops November 6 via (duh) Def Jam, according to Billboard.com, and the movie is out November 2.

If you've seen the trailer for the film (which, if you've been to a theater in the last three months, or have clicked on the link below, you almost certainly have), you've caught the strains of The Blueprint's "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" rolling through the background. But that's old news, as Jay told the Times he's got nine new songs done for the disc already.

There's no tracklist yet, though it's supposed to include "Pray", "No Hook" (sounds like an outtake from his last record, LOL) and "Blue Magic", reported by Billboard.com to have been produced by that cutie Pharrell Williams. Jay-Z's American Gangster apparently isn't the film's official soundtrack, which will be released separately.

In other Jay-Z news, that new "I Get Money" remix is pretty good.

A Place to Bury Strangers Hit Vinyl, Play Benefit for Cat

You may have taken note of our recent infatuation with A Place to Bury Strangers, the braying, bedlamite cabinet-blowers and Best New Music recipients from NYC. Worry not, they've noticed you, too, and are doing what they can to make sure you've got every opportunity to get familiar with 'em, pronto. Not only have they added a handful of dates to their meager tour roster, but they're issuing their self-titled LP on vinyl October 23 via Important Records.

The band is also giving back in another, completely different, way. On October 17 at their studio space, Death by Audio, AP2BS will play a benefit show along with Dirty on Purpose. And who is the benefit for? Sez their MySpace page: "Our studio cat 'Hammer' got hit by a car and had expensive medical bills. This benefit is for our cat and also we will be donating money to the local animal shelter BARC."

Awww! Isn't that, like, the cutest thing ever? [MORE...]

Morrissey Kicks Off Tour

Photo by Paparazzi by Appointment

While $75 million can't buy a Smiths reunion gig, a mere fraction of that sum will get you a seat at the next sermon delivered by the world's preeminent man-diva, Morrissey. Step right up and get your tickets!

Moz's previously reported trek across North America kicks off tonight (September 20) in Tijuana, and, provided the man who forgave Jesus can atone for a tremendous tequila hangover, he'll continue in serpentine fashion across the U.S. through early November.

San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City get near-lethal multiple-night doses of Moz, while a previously mentioned press release calls this stretch of gigs "the last Morrissey will do for the foreseeable future." Not quite cause for alarm for those of us who can't foresee past next Tuesday, sure, but if you've always meant to catch Moz live, make this your tour.

Kristeen Young still opens all shows, several of which are make-up dates after Moz done got all sick and cancelled part of his summer tour. [MORE...]

Hip-Hop Flick Wild Style Gets 25th Anniversary DVD

Here's a little story that must be told, about a new DVD made from a film so old: Wild Style, the 1982 flick encapsulating the then-incubatory hip-hop culture in the South Bronx, turns 25 this year. To celebrate, Rhino has revamped and repackaged Wild Style, and will release it on DVD September 25.

The movie-- which centers around graffiti artist Zoro's foray into high society-- features legendary appearances from the likes of Grandmaster Flash, Cold Crush Brothers, Rock Steady Crew, Chief Rocker Busy Bee, and Fab Five Freddy.

In addition to new audio and video transfers of the film, the DVD features interviews with many of the performers, a Grandmaster Caz DJ battle, and footage from a 20th anniversary concert.

Animal Collective, Okkervil River, Rilo Kiley Rock NPR
Also: John Vanderslice, the Apples in Stereo, Bishop Allen

There's the worsening weather, the increasingly early darkness, the upcoming baseball playoffs, and now, yet another reason not to leave the comfort of your home, this one brought to you by The Internet, LLC: a pretty stellar September schedule of performers on NPR Music's Live Concert Series.

Past concerts in the series, which broadcasts select Washington, D.C.-area gigs live at www.npr.org/music, have recently featured the likes of the National, Björk, Low, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

The upcoming shows include sets by Animal Collective, Okkervil River, Rilo Kiley, John Vanderslice (with Bishop Allen), and the Apples in Stereo (tonight!). The full schedule, complete with venues, is after the jump, but an archive of each show will eventually appear at www.npr.org/liveconcerts. So again, don't get up. [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.)