PJ Harvey Preps "Piano" Single, Plays Shows

Photo by Kathryn Yu

The piano: not just the instrument PJ Harvey has embraced in earnest on her latest opus-- the haunting White Chalk-- but also the upcoming second single from said album.

"The Piano"-- which, amusingly, is a song played on guitar and zither-- drops on UK audiences November 26 via Island/Universal in digital and limited edition 7" formats. Polly's past and present collide on this release, which comes backed with "Heaven", a tune she wrote and recorded way back in 1988.

That's a solid 20 years before 2008, the year in which Harvey will head Down Under for a spate of February shows. She'll first, however, close out 2007 with a pair of upcoming gigs in Paris and Dublin.

And if you haven't already done so, do check out Harvey's musings on the 88 keys-- which she calls "enormously freeing"-- and many other matters in her interview with Pitchfork's Amanda Petrusich. [MORE...]

Photos: Modest Mouse / Man Man [Edmonton, Alberta; 11/03/07]

Photos by Aaron Vanimere

The freakiest joint tour of the year kicked off its reprise this past Halloween weekend, once again pairing the wacky stylings of Philly's Man Man with the skewed rock of Modest Mouse.

Brock, Marr, and company continue taking their Man-ly pals on a short string of Canadian shows before winding back through the continental States over the next month. More photos and a schedule of all your opportunities to catch the four M's below.

MODEST MOUSE








MAN MAN





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Un-T.V. Eye: November 5-11, 2007

Due to the Writers Guild of America strike, shows dependent on fresh topical content will likely be airing reruns all week (and for the future, if the strike is not settled.) Thus, musical performances on talk and late night shows have been canceled as well. Among many others, Band of Horses won't be performing on "Conan" tonight, Grizzly Bear probably won't be playing there tomorrow, and Amy Winehouse is unlikely to hit "Saturday Night Live" on Saturday.

UPDATE: Fuel TV's "The Daily Habit" will still be airing, so look out for UNKLE on Tuesday, November 6 and Blonde Redhead on Wednesday, November 7. Also, PBS' "Austin City Limits" will air an Arcade Fire performance on Saturday, November 10. 

Photos: ATP Presents Release the Bats [London, England; 11/02/07]

Photos by Lex Berko; Above: Deerhunter

You thought Halloween was over, did you? Well you must not have been accounting for the, um, time change? For one reason or another-- probably owing to Halloween falling on a Wednesday-- the All Tomorrow's Parties festivities for All Hallows' Eve were held on All Souls' Day, as Deerhoof, Liars, Deerhunter, Black Lips, and Fuck Buttons played ATP's first Release the Bats concert at London's Forum.

Pretty much everyone was feeling the spirit of the holiday: Deerhoof's John Dieterich stood by in a chef's suit while bandmate Satomi Matsuzaki sprayed the crowd with Silly String, Deerhunter's Bradford Cox showed off a very mod blouse, and Liars sweated off all their facepaint. Black Lips and Fuck Buttons, it would seem, came dressed as themselves. Clever, guys!

ATP keeps the party rolling with a number of upcoming events, including that big ol' throwdown with yours truly this May. More photos below.

DEERHOOF




LIARS






BLACK LIPS




DEERHUNTER


FUCK BUTTONS



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Franz Ferdinand Subject of New Book

An A-Z of Franz Ferdinand is Helen Chase's searing exposé of the seamy underbelly of the Scottish angle-rockers, a Kitty Kelly-style autobiography that digs up every last speck of dirt on the perpetually scandal-ridden, drug-addled renegades.

Sike! Remember, folks, this is a band whose frontman wrote a book about food. Still, there's plenty to learn about Alex and the lads from the tome. According to NME.com, Chase's A-Z features a series of thematic vignettes and never-before-seen photos, which should school even the biggest Franz Ferdi-fan (yep, went there). Chase conducted a series of lengthy interviews and did extensive research for A-Z, which seeks to serve as a definitive guide to the band's first five years. And beyond, apparently: the author dishes with the dudes about their elusive forthcoming third LP.

The book will be published by Northumbria University Press and will be launched November 18 at Newcastle, England's The Cluny. Bands Modes and Marcheys House are scheduled to play, because standing around looking at a pile of books on a table isn't a very good way to kill an hour. Though there are no concrete plans to release the book outside of the U.K. at the moment, Northumbria Press is currently in talks with an American publisher, with the hope of putting out the book around the time the new Franz disc drops next year.

Franz Ferdinand have no touring plans to speak of, though they do have a tune on that "Saturday Night Live" comp, which is kind of like a Franz Ferdinand concert, only far shorter, and no longer live. Hmmm.

Yeasayer Close Out 2007 With Live Dates

Photo by William Kirk

The hairy, harmony-heavy, hippy-dippy (except, you know, in a good way!) troupe they call Yeasayer will pack up the fretless bass, the sitar emulation pedal, and-- oh yeah-- all their Pitchfork-recommended Cymbals and head Europe-way this month for a run of mostly British gigs.

They return to the States in December for a handful of gigs, capping things off with their "last NYC show of 2007" at the city's Mercury Lounge on the 15th of that month. A North American tour, however, is in the works for early 2008. [MORE...]

Photos: Fun Fun Fun Fest [Austin, TX; 11/03 - 11/04/07]

Photos by Zach Vowell; Above: Of Montreal

As the "Live Music Capital of the World," Austin, Texas, is no stranger to the festivals. Between Austin City Limits and South by Southwest, Austinites are used to good ol' beer-drinkin', rockin' fun times.

But no festival in Austin (or anywhere, really) purports to have as much fun as the annual Fun Fun Fun Fest, which this weekend celebrated its second iteration with Battles, Cat Power, Explosions In The Sky, the New Pornographers, Of Montreal, Okkervil River, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Mates of State, and Final Fantasy, among others. (Meanwhile, Brooklyn's No Fun Fest sat in a corner with its arms crossed.)

More photos of the two-day festivities below.

DAY ONE:

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS


OF MONTREAL


OKKERVIL RIVER


FINAL FANTASY (WITH GUESTS DAN BEJAR AND CADENCE WEAPON)


DAY TWO:

BATTLES


CAT POWER


TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS

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Loney, Dear's Sologne Reissued in the States

We North Americans may just now be coming around on this Loney, Dear character-- the well-punctuated project from Swedish songwriter Emil Svanängen-- but the nice folks at a handful of labels are sure making it easy to play catch up.

Earlier this year, Sub Pop treated us to the lovely Loney, Noir, and now, 2006's self-released Sologne (also issued on Something in Construction in the UK) will be reissued in the States December 4 from the Rebel Group. Our Roque Strew recently called Sologne a "very, very good thing," and Sub Pop must've agreed: it's the disc that inspired them to sign Loney, Dear for Noir.

The labels might be giving us a hand, but booking agents are keeping Loney in Europe for now. Tonight, Svanängen embarks on a few weeks of dates, in large part with fellow mellow fellow Andrew Bird. Loney, Dear is planning to tour the U.S. extensively early next year, though those dates have yet to emerge. [MORE...]

Grizzly Bear, Belle & Sebastian Members <3 the City
As do Bob Mould, Cornelius, Plaid, Rogue Wave's Zach, Sondre Lerche, Zooey Deschanel

No dig on flowers and trees and wild animals and stuff like that, but there's plenty of inspiration to be found right here in the urban environs so many of us call home-- just ask Sufjan, who recently turned an eyesore of an expressway into a multimedia extravaganza, or any of the sundry musicians set to partake in "Songs of the City", a night of odes to the urbane put on by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

January 8 finds city folk like Belle and Sebastian's Stevie Jackson, Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen, Bob Mould, Rogue Wave's Zach Rogue, Sondre Lerche, Franklin Bruno, Sean Lennon, Inara George, Biirdie, and Zooey Deschanel each serving up "a stripped-down, heartfelt performance that portrays their mobile, civic existence" at L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall.

UPDATE: Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio has been added to the lineup. And Sean Lennon has canceled.

And that's not all. On January 17, Japan's own Cornelius will descend upon the very same space with his Cornelius Group Synchronized Sensuous Show. Together they'll present a special "visual and sonic experience" known as Man-Machine in the Digital City. If it's anything like Tron, I am so there.

Ticket purchasers for Man-Machine will be treated to a special bonus in the form of three Cornelius mp3s, including "Breezin", a live version of "I Hate Hate", and a remix of "Fit Song" by the Books. They'll also witness an opening set by Plaid, featuring Greedy Baby collaborator and video artist Bob Jaroc.

Both events go down as part of the L.A. Phil's "Concrete Frequency" series, which has also programmed a few orchestral nights-- including a couple that pair pieces by Aaron Copland, Edgard Varèse, and George Crumb with a work by Frank Zappa. Hot dog.

The Magnetic Fields Announce 2008 Dates

The Decemberists may have canceled their tour of paired-up dates, but the Magnetic Fields have arrived just in time to pick up the slack.

Following the announcement of their new album, Distortion, which comes out January 15 via Nonesuch, Stephin Merritt and company have scheduled a tour consisting of two shows in each city they play (and six in Chicago!). This will be the first time the Fields have toured since 2004.

The first date of the tour is February 11 in Northampton, Massachusetts. [MORE...]

Radiohead's First Seven LPs Collected in Box Set
No, the seventh album isn't In Rainbows. It's the live album.

Each and every one of Radiohead's Parlophone albums will be re-released in a brand new box set December 10, the perfect holiday gift for the music fan who either doesn't own any Radiohead albums or wants to own all of them all over again.

The box includes all six pre-In Rainbows studio discs, from 1993's Pablo Honey through 2003's Hail to the Thief, plus 2001's live set I Might Be Wrong. The limited edition CD version of the set comes tucked snugly into new digipacks featuring the original album artwork.

Reserving those last inches of space on the shelf for your pre-ordered In Rainbows discbox? Well, the box set is also available as a DRM-free 320 kbps MP3 download, as well as a limited edition USB stick (made to look like that spooky grinning bear thing!) collecting all the records in CD-quality .WAV format, complete with digital artwork.

As you've probably heard already, Radiohead are on XL now... outside North America, anyhow. And they'll be touring next year, although where and when exactly we don't know just yet.

Bjork, Sufjan, Newsom, Brian Wilson Play Sydney Fest
Plus: Battles, De La Soul, National, Low, Andrew Bird, Bonde do Role, Spank Rock, Busdriver

Attention, wealthy thrill seekers, Northern Hemisphere collegiate types with an extra long winter break, and, heck, Australians: make your way to Sydney in January. Once there, you'll be treated to summer weather and three weeks of the Sydney Festival, which sports a lineup that'll make standing in line to get your passport photo taken well worth your while.

Where to begin with this thing? How about: Brian Wilson doing both Pet Sounds and his new "Lucky Old Sun" thing in their entireties. Sufjan will be there, as will Björk. Joanna Newsom's playing with the Sydney Symphony, Battles and Andy Weatherall are paying respects to Warp Records, De La Soul's doing a show with People Under the Stairs, and the National, Bonde do Role, Low, Andrew Bird, Spank Rock, My Brightest Diamond, Busdriver, Tunng, Clogs, Mice Parade, and Chromeo will make the trek, too.

There's a mess of other stuff going on around the music as well-- films, family fare, and the like-- but with a lineup like that, who's gonna have the time? The festival takes place at various Sydney venues January 5-26.

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.)