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...]

Phosphorescent Flaunts Pride on Big Tour

It's been far too long since we spoke on Matthew Houck, which is a shame: and not just because we like posting that handsome photo there. But while male nudity-- partial or otherwise-- for its own sake is well and good for some stories, there's another reason we're back to Matt: Houck's all set to release Pride, the latest disc from his Phosphorescent project, October 23 from the Secretly Canadian-spawned Dead Oceans label.

Pride's really quite lovely: check out opener "A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise" over yonder in Forkcast should you doubt, or throw caution to the wind at one of Phosphorescent's many many live engagements with his fellow folk imploders over the next couple months. Those dates, plus the Pride tracklist, are yours for the low low price of clicking here. [MORE...]

Neko Case Guests on New Matt Pond PA LP

Photo by Jeremy Balderson

They say no man is an island; Matt Pond, perhaps even less so than most. And, in keeping with both those statements, Matt Pond and his band-- the doubly-appropriate Matt Pond PA-- want desperately for you to hear Last Light, their forthcoming full-length release, out September 25 on Altitude.

The disc proudly displays guest turns by Neko Case, Beck/Elliott Smith producer Rob Schnapf, Bardo Pond's Isobel Sollenberger, and dudes from both Rooney and Ratatat. Wow, Rooney!

Matt Pond is touring PA and beyond for a month or so following the release of Last Light. Expect the word "autumnal" to come to mind more than once. And a lot of covers. A lot of covers. [MORE...]

Cave Singers Drop Matador Debut, Tour

Pretty Girls Make Graves offshoot the Cave Singers have assembled an album of Invitation Songs for their debut on Matador.

The august indie label will release the Songs on September 25, and the band will immediately follow suit with a record release show that night in its hometown of Seattle.

Then the Singers will hit the road with the similarly topographically-minded Black Mountain for a tour that ends October 27 back in Seattle. We swear, though, they leave the city for that month in between. [MORE...]

Maritime Tour With Jimmy Eat World

Hey kids, it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Watch how this makes the scoop on your seafaring friends in Maritime that much more exciting.

Like a phoenix from the ashes of second wave emo, yarrr, they rose: Maritime, former Promise Ring matey Davey von Bohlen's new thing. Shiver me timbers: their new album Heresy and the Hotel Choir docks October 15.

And, yarrr, what's a good post-emo band to do with a new record and a whole lotta time to themselves? Why, link up with the scallywags in Jimmy Eat World for a tour. Following a pair of Maritime headline shows, these two set sail October 7. [MORE...]

Shellac Shack Up for December Residency

As the days grow shorter and winter prepares to smother Chicago in its merciless chill, who better to cuddle up with on a frosty Sunday afternoon than your dear friends Shellac?

Indeed, Chicago-area-dwellers will have several opportunities to get up close and personal with one of their own this December, as Shellac have announced a residency of sorts at one of the city's coziest corners, the venerable Hideout (the very one co-owned by Tim Tuten, who's emceed past Pitchfork Music Festivals).

Steven Frank Albini (electric guitar), Todd Stanford Trainer (drum set), and Robert Spurr Weston IV (electric bass)-- as the Hideout's website makes clear-- will set up shop at the homely bar beginning December 13 and play six shows there over four days. This means, yes, for two glorious weekend days, you can get your Shellac on at noon.

Shellac don't have any other activity planned at the moment, but they do have that rather excellent Italian Greyhound LP, out now on Touch and Go. [MORE...]

School of Language (ex-Field Music) Sign to Thrill Jockey, Memphis Industries

Amidst David Brewis' talk of "Field Music The Company" and "Field Music The Band", Field Music The Music got kind of lost. Where are the sly little jams like the ones found on Tones of Town (and especially the band's debut)? Well, the closest approximation can be found on Brewis' debut album as School of Language, which will clear the semantic barricade for release next year.

Ships is the album's working title (hmm, sounds familiar), and Field Music home Memphis Industries will handle its release in the UK and Ireland while Thrill Jockey takes care of North America and the rest of Europe.

Brewis will play show and tell this fall on a handful of scattered dates. The first one is in Newcastle, England on September 21. [MORE...]

Pitchfork Seeks Intern in New York City

Pitchfork Media seeks an administrative intern to work in our New York City office. The ideal candidate will be available 10 - 15 hours a week and have prior administrative experience.

Tasks include, but are not limited to, coordinating schedules, communicating with our Chicago office, and assisting all departments with daily operations as needed. College credit is available.

Please email jobs@pitchforkmedia.com with your resume by Friday, September 21.

The Fiery Furnaces Extend Fall Tour, Again

Photo by Amy Giunta

A sign language ballet, a new album of "arias"...but Friedbergers, what about your old new album, Widow City? Is it still coming out October 9 on Thrill Jockey? Can we still see you performing songs from it and your next 37 albums on tour?

Do not fret, Fiery Furnaces fans. The answer is "yes." In fact, Matthew and Eleanor will include a sizable portion of Europe in the fun, as they have just announced the dates of a tour there in November. (Fans in the UK have to wait until October 15 for the album, though.)

Before then, their North American dates remain intact. And in a nice bit of synergy with Widow City's release date, the first show of that tour is on October 9 in Newport, Kentucky. [MORE...]

Low's Sparhawk, Atmosphere's Slug Share Wisdom
Plus Tapes 'n Tapes bassist Erik Appelwick

Alan Sparhawk photo by Reverend Hans Johnson

Making music: actually not as easy as you think. But here to help guide you through the process by sharing some insight into their own are three near-legends of Minnesota music-making: Alan Sparhawk of Low, Sean "MC Slug" Daley of Atmosphere, and the guy who plays bass in Tapes 'n Tapes.

These three will partake in the latest series of talk/interview/performance spectacles known as Making Music and presented by the Twin Cities' the Whole venue. Erik Appelwick of Tapes 'n Tapes is this round's first guest, appearing September 27 (and to be fair, the bass is but one of Appelwick's specialties; he also produces, and records with Vicious Vicious). Sparhawk's up next on October 10, while Slug closes out the fall series on November 29.

All events are free and open to folks of all ages, but securing advance tickets is advised, as these things fill up. Each one goes down at the Whole, located inside the Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Past guests include Andrew Bird, Tapes' Josh Grier, P.O.S., Martin Dosh, and Haley Bonar.

In you're a mite confused about what you're in for, the series' website sheds some light: "Making Music...features long-format discussions with talented musicians about their art...[and] includes interviews, live demonstrations, videos, exclusive and unreleased tracks, prizes, and Q&A from the audience." Prizes! I'm so there.

Both Low and Atmosphere have plenty of dates in queue, with the latter act having extended its tour significantly since our last report. Sparhawk's Retribution Gospel Choir side project also gigs out a bit in late October. And Tapes 'n Tapes, as you may have read in these pages, play a benefit in Minneapolis on September 23. [MORE...]

Photos: Simian Mobile Disco [Chicago, IL; 09/18/07]

Photos by Sanchez and Kitahara; text by Tyler Grisham

James Ford looked like a mad scientist on stage last night at Chicago's Empty Bottle. With his floppy plume of curls and an almost maniacal gleam in his eye, he hunched over a stitched-together system of Frankenstein'd synths and mucked about tweaking this and plugging that. Performing with James Shaw as Simian Mobile Disco, the duo rocked a Flavorpill-sponsored party, playing their hybrid mix of ravey dance tunes and electropop jams from their Recommended debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release.

Equally as impressive as the stacks of keyboards and amps was the circle of excruciatingly bright light columns set up in a circle around the stage, flashing in colorful sequences and recalling Daft Punk's laser pyramid at a much more blinding proximity. But the overall effect of seeing Ford's Elsa Lanchester 'do illuminated in pulsing green lights, while the guy bounced around playing both producer and hype man, was anything but frightening.

Tour dates and more stage shots-- plus the Jameses enjoying a slice of Chicago deep dish pizza-- below.








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Hot Chip, DFA, Soulwax Remix Gorillaz on D-Sides

From kooky Blur side project to full-blown multimedia force-- inspiring a "circus opera" and sharing an artist with a line of vibrators, no less-- it has been a strange journey for Damon Albarn's Gorillaz.

That journey will receive further documentation with the release of D-Sides, the band's second collection of B-sides, remixes, previously unreleased tracks, and general rarities (the first being 2002's G-Sides). Remixers featured on D-Sides include Hot Chip, DFA, Soulwax, Jamie T, and Metronomy. The collection will come in double-disc standard and deluxe editions, and will hit UK retailers via Parlophone on November 5 (the U.S. release follows the next day via Virgin).

Fans of comic-inspired high culture, don't forget that the aforementioned "circus opera," Monkey: Journey to the West, is playing at Paris' Théâtre de Chatelet from September 26-October 13. [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.)