Ellen Page Talks Juno Soundtrack, Kimya Dawson

As the titular character in upcoming indie-friendly comedy Juno, Ellen Page plays another smart young woman in a line of smart-young-woman roles for her. Except this time, instead of a child abuse victim or a pedophile-torturer, she's an overwhelmed high schooler facing her unplanned pregnancy by a guy named Bleeker, played by the hilarious Michael Cera ("Arrested Development", Superbad).

As an indie-friendly comedy, Juno has a soundtrack comprised of tunes by the Kinks, Belle & Sebastian, Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Mott the Hoople, and Kimya Dawson in various guises (solo and as part of the Moldy Peaches and Antsy Pants).

Page had a hand in selecting Dawson's music for a good chunk of the movie's soundtrack, which Rhino will release digitally on December 11 and physically on January 15. Juno itself hits select theaters on December 5, so we caught up with Page by phone to talk about matters of music and movies.

Pitchfork: Is it true that you chose a lot of the Kimya Dawson songs on the soundtrack yourself?

Ellen Page: [Juno director] Jason Reitman and I were meeting for maybe the second or third time and he simply said, "Well, what do you think Juno would listen to?" Immediately I said the Moldy Peaches, and he, I guess, wasn't familiar with their work, so I hopped on his computer and I played the Moldy Peaches for him. The next thing I knew he'd fallen in love-- rightfully so, they're awesome-- and he was in contact with Kimya Dawson, who is the female in the band, and he added the song at the end of the film, which is a Moldy Peaches song. That song's been in my life for years, actually; there's a lot of sentimental value there. And the next thing we know Kimya Dawson is doing the music for the film. It was really incredible how that all worked out because it just feels perfect.

Pitchfork: What about Kimya Dawson and the Moldy Peaches makes you think Juno would listen to them?

EP: Well the Moldy Peaches' music is very humorous. I mean, it has a hint of novelty, but it is full of so much heart and so much simplicity and it's so genuine. It's really unique and it's quirky and all of those things, but it has heart to balance that. And that's one of the reasons why I always loved their music. I loved how it was just bare-boned, and I feel like that is similar to Juno, the film in general and the character. She has a sarcastic wit that she hides behind, but she's also just an extremely genuine, honest, says-what-she-thinks human being, and I feel the film's like that as well. It has that tone. [MORE...]

New Pornographers Host XM Show, Issue iTunes Single

First YouTube, now satellite radio: the New Pornographers are quickly becoming the kings and queens of new media. Every Tuesday night in December, a different New Pornographer will take over XM Satellite Radio's indie-centric XMU channel for their weekly "XMU A.I.R. (Artists in Residency) TIME" program. Though the content is left entirely up to the guests, XMU says that "setlists often include early influences, contemporary favorites, 'on my iPod right now' tracks, and lots of commentary."

So will AC throw on a little /DC? Will Dan Bejar mine selections from his vast array of Kidz Bop CDs? Will Neko host some sort of Delilah-style call in program with long distance, soft rock dedications? You'll have to tune in to find out just who spins what when. The show airs at 10 p.m. EST on Tuesdays, with encores Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and Thursday at 6 a.m. Ooh, drive time with Fancey!

Hey, and while we're talking Tuesdays with the New Pornographers, let's touch on this: Matador will issue an iTunes only single for Bejar-penned Challengers closer "The Spirit of Giving" on November 27. It comes backed with a new Carl Newman composition called "Joseph, Who Understood" and a combined pair of covers of tunes by (or, in the case of "Arms of Mary", covered by) fellow Canadian rockers Chilliwack.

As the band prepares to transmit themselves through space, their time on terra firma will be spent on tour. Those dates after the jump. [MORE...]

Prefuse 73, Books, Petra Haden Rework Cornelius on EP
Better yet: nearly all of Cornelius' featured MySpace friends are cats!

Photo by Shannon McClean

A month or so ago when we first reported Cornelius' brief run of U.S. tour dates this January, we mentioned that "an EP composed entirely of other people covering Cornelius tracks" was on the way. It still is; but this ain't it.

Gum, the forthcoming 12"/digital EP from the Japanese noisemaker, finds its way to stores January 15. And, despite a paradoxically music-free a cappella cover of Cornelius' "Music" by Petra Haden, the disc is otherwise all Corny.

Which didn't stop Prefuse 73 or the Books from getting their interloping hands all over "Gum" and "Fit Song", respectively, for a pair of remixes that round out the EP. Note that the 12" version of the Gum EP is one of those limited editions, and comes with a free 320 kbps mp3 download of the whole thing. Both that and the digital version arrive from Everloving.

UPDATE: Bonus! Everloving e-mailed to say they've added two tracks to the 12": Ms. Haden's Japanese version of "Music", and a collaboration between Cornelius and Ryuichi Sakomoto entitled "Turn Turn". Though Petra's Japanese take on "Music" will appear on the digital release, the Sakomoto track may be a vinyl exclusive. The amended tracklist is available after the jump.

In the coming spring, Everloving will release a Sensuous DVD featuring videos for each of the album's tracks, plus live footage spanning Cornelius' entire career. Also due from Cornelius as the snow melts: a handful of recently added Japanese dates.

Furthermore, we're not joking about the cats. [MORE...]

Baroness Roll Over East Coast on Tour

Stoner metal stalwarts Baroness laid a fine one on us this year with their Red Album. But there's just something so inherently un-metal about listening to a metal record on earbuds while walking to the bank and stuff, isn't there? Shouldn't you be in the closest proximity possible to the source of said metal, gleaming with the sweat of the unwashed masses, gazing in awe at a guitar improbably shaped like a V and gnarled beard hairs numbering in the thousands? Totally, dude.

So, then, head on down to these, the brief (but only preliminary) slate of dates on Baroness' fall tour. Metal will be there in the flesh; do say hello for us, would you? [MORE...]

Horse Feathers Sign to Kill Rock Stars

Photo by Jason Quigley

Wanna get signed to perennially great Pacific Northwest powerhouse Kill Rock Stars? Pack that fiddle and move up there. It worked for recent Portland emigrant Justin Ringle, whose twangy Horse Feathers just got signed to the label for their future releases.

The forthcoming sophomore set from Ringle, songwriting partner Peter Broderick, and collaborator Heather Broderick-- which follows up Horse Feathers' 2006 debut Words Are Dead-- is expected from KRS in October of next year. In the meantime, the group has a pair of shows close to home where they'll be joined by the Portland Cello Project. [MORE...]

Lookout, the Next Silver Jews LP Has a Title
It's a long 'un, too!

Shocker time: despite promises made that the forthcoming Silver Jews LP would bear a "two word title" (as was the case with nearly every one that preceded it), our Mr. Berman's doublin' up on it. Yes, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea-- due sometime this coming April from the Drag City lot-- breaks with formula a bit, but hey, that's just all the more Berman to debate and decode.

No word yet on a sequenced tracklist for the album, or (more importantly) whether previously alphabetized tunes "Chimerical Gangland" or "Party Barge" made the cut.

We've also heard some rumblings about a DVD release of the Silver Jews documentary we first mentioned this past spring, but it, too, seems a bit up in the air at this point. No tour's been planned as yet, though we're hoping the band's stint on the road in the wake of Tanglewood Numbers agreed with them as much as it did us.

DMC, De La Soul, Raekwon Play Jam Master Jay Benefit
Plus: Snoop Dogg, Mobb Deep, Dead Prez, Q-Tip, Marley Marl, Papoose

Photo by Glen E. Friedman

The first-ever J.A.M. Awards and concert, a benefit for slain Run-DMC "big beat blaster" and all around cool dude Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, will be held November 29 at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom.

Performances from Jay's friends and well-wishers DMC, Snoop Dogg, Marley Marl, Mobb Deep, De La Soul, Dead Prez, Papoose, Raekwon, Q-Tip, Everlast featuring DJ Muggs, Kid Capri, and more will serve as the evening's entertainment, while awards will be handed out to folks "for their outstanding efforts in promoting social Justice, Arts & Music" (hence, J.A.M.).

The Jam Master Jay Foundation for Music-- set up by his widow Terri Corley-Mizell and friends to support music and arts education in rural and urban schools-- will receive the evening's charitable donations.

Circulatory System, Daedelus, Liz Janes Play Athens Fest
As do Diane Cluck, Chris Schlarb, Dark Meat, Grampall Jookabox

Perhaps they're calling it Next to Last Fest because they know something we don't. Perhaps that's just how the Boggle letter-dice fell when they realized they needed a name, pronto. Or perhaps it's due to the "ludicrously low" ticket prices, which may assure this sort of thing only happens once more.

Whatever the reason, Athens, Georgia's Next to Last Fest ought to be the next to last thing you think of skipping the weekend of December 8-9, when Circulatory System, Daedelus, Liz Janes, Chris Schlarb, Dark Meat, Diane Cluck, those Grampall Jookabox characters, and many others join together in song and sodality. This penultimate party goes down in, well, the woods. Hope you like nature.

There'll be art, a farmer's market, and fire acrobatics, too, if music ain't your bag. Proceeds from the festival's tickets (which truly are quite reasonably priced) will go to the Athens and New Orleans chapters of Common Ground, dedicated to providing "short term relief for victims of hurricane disasters in the gulf coast region, and long term support in rebuilding the communities affected in the New Orleans area."

Bruce Springsteen and Band Add Even More 2008 Dates

So ten-night stretches in every city isn't the plan for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's previously reported (and now expanded) tour schedule after all.

According to Billboard.com, Bruce and the big ol' band will forego the residency thing that often characterizes their tours, opting instead to cover the width and breadth of North America over two solid months of gigs. Bad news for Metropolis Mike with the jones for deep B-sides; good news for Sacramento Sandy with the hubby who owes her a night out.

UPDATE: According to a second Billboard.com report today, E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici will take a leave of absence from the band to undergo treatment for melanoma. Charles Giordano will handle live keys duties for the time being. [MORE...]

Justice, Peaches, 2 Live Crew, A-Trak Do NYE in L.A.

Big surprise here: in Los Angeles, on New Year's Eve, Steve Aoki's gonna be playing records at a party.

But, hey, so are Justice (doing a DJ set), Peaches (performing, and counting down to midnight), that Spank Rock cover band 2 Live Crew, A-Trak, Busy P, Whitey, Softlightes, and a full roster of the usual suspects as well.

And you, too, can be there for Hard New Year's Eve, provided you're 21 years of age and can make your way to the city's Premiere Events Center on the evening of December 31. Auld acquaintance will be wiped clean over the minifest's generous eight hour run time, and all those DayGlo hoodies ought to keep you upright well into 2008.

Bat for Lashes Drop iTunes EP With Plaid Remix

Much like the flying rodents after which she's named, Natasha Khan and her Bat for Lashes have snuck up on us all unexpected-like.

The lovely "What's a Girl to Do?" from her similarly lovely Fur and Gold LP made its way to iTunes today as part of an exclusive EP featuring the original song, a remix thereof from Plaid, and a live take on "The Wizard" from a recent gig in New York City. The much-lauded, previously Forkcasted "Girl" video comes bundled with the thing, too, should you or your media device be tiring of that Feist vid. Perish the thought.

As for Khan, she's taking a rare break from the road at the moment. Whatever for, you ask? Why, "working on writing the next album," of course. [MORE...]

Michael Showalter Talks Sandwiches, State Reunion
"I think within the next two years, you will be hearing about a State movie. In the vein of a Monty Python film, which is to say a sketch comedy film. Like The Meaning of Life or something."

To promote the release of his very first comedy album, Sandwiches & Cats, Michael Showalter recently took to a handful of blogs and started writing. One of his juicier posts appeared on My Old Kentucky Blog, where he revealed that his mid-90s sketch comedy group the State, they of the beloved MTV show of the same name, "is reuniting (though in truth we never broke up) to make a sketch comedy movie. All I can say about it is that we're back together after a brief ten-year break, and it's going to be about the history of our country. Hopefully, funny."

Pitchfork's (and a whole bunch of other people's) interest piqued, I called Showalter to talk to him about the reunion and all of the other things he has on his plate at the moment. In addition to the obvious stuff (the reunion, his album, his tour with fellow State member and frequent collaborator Michael Ian Black), we talked about hecklers, the Writers Guild of America strike, and his relationship with Sandwiches producer and former Shudder to Think frontman Craig Wedren. And yeah, sue me, I talked to yet another person about baseball.

Pitchfork: Are you and Michael [Ian Black] performing on stage together at all on this tour?

Michael Showalter: No, no. Not really. We're traveling together, but we're not performing together.

Pitchfork: Have you influenced each other's sets indirectly in any way? Any sabotage, intentional or unintentional?

MS: I think so. No sabotage, but I think we feed off of each other in certain ways.

Pitchfork: What sorts of ways?

MS: Mostly we eat food off of each other's stomachs and stuff like that.

Pitchfork: Do you clean it up before you go on stage, or do you just leave it on your stomachs?

MS: We try to, but sometimes there's no time.

Pitchfork: So you gotta work on the fly?

MS: Yeah. And I go up first, so I'm usually a little messier.

Pitchfork: You go up first?

MS: Yeah. I open.

Pitchfork: How was that decided?

MS: Well, Mike is sort of the headliner because he's more famous than me. He just has a lot more exposure than I do. He's a more recognizable face than I am. So like, when I'm traveling with Michael, I would say that for every ten people [who recognize] Michael, eight of them also [know] who I [am].

Pitchfork: So it's like he is 25% more popular than you, is what you're saying?

MS: He is probably a little bit more like-- and popular is also not the right word. He's just more famous. He's probably 30% more famous than me. [MORE...]

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