Drive-By Truckers Brighten 2008 With Album, Tour
Band also reissues back catalog on vinyl

Southern rock journeyfolk Drive-By Truckers will release their first post-Jason Isbell album, Brighter Than Creation's Dark, via New West Records on January 22. DBT bassist Shonna Tucker took up third songwriter duties for the first time on the album, the band's eighth and the follow-up to 2006's A Blessing and a Curse.

The Truckers have already offered a taste of the record with a digital EP, also called Brighter Than Creation's Dark, featuring album tracks "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife", "3 Dimes Down", "The Righteous Path", and "The Purgatory Line". The EP is available now via digital retailers, and if you get any of its tracks on iTunes, the purchase will knock a bit off the cost of the album, as part of the Complete My Album program.

After releasing the album, DBT will kickstart "The Home Front 2008 World Tour" with a bunch of North American dates in February and March (European dates are still forthcoming). And since they seem to like teasers so much, they'll preview both the album and the tour with three dates in Athens, Georgia. The first of the Athens dates will find them playing Brighter Than Creation's Dark in its entirety as part of their annual Nuçi's Space benefit.

Additionally, the band will give a good chunk of its back catalog vinyl reissues on February 5 via New West. The limited edition 180-gram vinyl pressings include reissues of Gangstabilly, Pizza Deliverance, Decoration Day, The Dirty South, and A Blessing and a Curse. For a bunch of these albums, this marks their first vinyl releases. [MORE...]

Bill Callahan Tours the South

Photo by Shannon McClean

Teenage spaceships, take flight: there's Bill Callahan tour dates aplenty if you want 'em. After gracing the northern part of this fair nation last fall, Bill Callahan will take a decidedly southern tack on his forthcoming tour, which kicks off a couple days after Valentine's in Baton Rouge.

Dance away... just don't dance too hard. Surely you've heard what that leads to. [MORE...]

Echo & the Bunnymen, Orchestra Play Ocean Rain Live

September 16, 2008, wildly influential Brits Echo & the Bunnymen will perform their classic Ocean Rain LP in its entirety alongside a full orchestra at London's Royal Albert Hall. Each and every track, from the shimmering "Silver" to the soaring "Killing Moon" to the epic title track, will be done up with strings and laid out by the recently reformed post-punkers.

The group has two other live engagements between now and next fall, including a free gig in Spain and an appearance at January 12's Liverpool 08 concert, where they'll perform "Nothing Last Forever" from 1997's Evergreen with the Liverpool Philharmonic. Frontman Ian McCulloch will also appear on "The Early Show" on CBS January 11. [MORE...]

Six Organs of Admittance Set to Hit the Road

White noise, fingerpicking, and a whole lot of bad "admittance"-related puns directed towards the folks working the door: later this week, Ben Chasny and his Six Organs of Admittance will hit the road for a healthy dose of all the above, with Magik Marker Elisa Ambrosio-- who helped her pal Ben put up his recent Shelter from the Ash-- in tow.

A good chunk of the dates find the Six Organs taking the same stage as Dirty Three string-plucker Mick Turner, whose rare Stateside appearances are nothing compared to the ultra-rare gig his Tren Brothers (the occasional duo he shares with his Dirty Three compatriot Jim White) will play at the New York date.

But enough about all that. This is a Six Organs blurb, and a Six Organs blurb it shall remain. Did you know Ben's bunch are also playing Owen Pallet's unlikely, traveling Maximum Black Festival? Well, they are. And the likelihood of all those tour dates following this red thing here? That, friends, is practically off the charts. [MORE...]

Band of Horses, McCombs Play Halfway to Forecastle
Plus: Catfish Haven, VHS or Beta, Early Day Miners, Tyler Ramsey (DJ set)

We're just a little more than six months away from Louisville, KY's seventh Forecastle festival, the Derby city's yearly rock'n'roll throwdown that brought Girl Talk and De La Soul to Louisville late last July. But that's half a rotation of the Earth from now, simply too long for some folks to wait around for their moment to rock. So the people who bring you Forecastle are chopping the wait down the middle and bringing you Halfway to Forecastle, a day's worth of bands and extreme sports at Louisville's Headliners Music Hall.

Impatient sorts like Band of Horses, Catfish Haven, Cass McCombs, Early Day Miners, and VHS or Beta will hit the Headliners stage January 26, and BOH's Tyler Ramsey will DJ a portion of the event as well. Furthermore, there will be a nautical theme, and costumes are encouraged! All proceeds from ticket sales go to local BMX legend Jimmy Levan, who's on the mend from serious injuries he sustained skating in New Jersey. Ouch, Jersey!

For you type-A sorts never far from your daily planners, make a note of July 25-27. Those are the dates of this summer's regular ol' Forecastle (or, if you will, Halfway to Halfway to Forecastle), which takes place at Louisville's Riverfront Belvedere. No lineup has been announced as yet... golly, we're not even halfway there yet!

Caribou Announces Huge World Tour
Fuck Buttons support on U.S. dates

Photo by Sanchez and Kitahara

Still no Andorra support in actual Andorra, but Dan Snaith and the rest of Caribou are now in the running for Longest Tour of 2008 So Far (watch out Black Lips!) with the announcement of a heap of shows across the globe.
The new dates start next week in Tokyo and wind their way through Australia, the UK, Europe, and North America, with Fuck Buttons providing opening act support in the U.S. and Canada. Things finally wind down in May, right before the band's appearance at a little event known as ATP vs. Pitchfork.

In other Caribou news, a silk-screened tour poster designed by artist Status Serigraph and signed by Snaith himself is currently up for eBay auction here as part of Merge's holiday season charity auction. All proceeds from the poster's sale will go to Oxfam America and the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. [MORE...]

Basia Bulat Brings Darling to U.S., Plans Shows
Eyebrow stays in Canada

Photo by A. Von Seckendorf

Ontario chamber popper Basia Bulat has already declared her love for the UK and her native Canada with the release of her debut album Oh, My Darling in those countries. But now she's finally making her way south to bring the album to the U.S. with a release via Rough Trade and some forthcoming tour dates.

Rough Trade will issue Oh, My Darling Stateside on February 5, and Bulat will celebrate with a few weeks of U.S. gigs beginning February 7. Before then, she has a healthy dose of Canadian shows, plus one in New York City. [MORE...]

A Place to Bury Strangers Announce Spring Tour
Many dates with Holy Fuck

It is almost certainly best to go on up and introduce yourself to A Place to Bury Strangers at your earliest convenience; after all, they're less likely to dump your body off if you're an acquaintance.

The New York noiseniks will make themselves available to meet, greet, and tear your face off with their custom-built pedal rack of stranger danger on their first ever full-fledged North American tour. It all kicks off Valentine's Day in Cleveland.

The guys will join their fellow sonic messer-uppers in Holy Fuck here and there, and they plan to drop in at South by Southwest for a spell too. And, when it's all said and done, they'll join all their new friends at this May's ATP vs. Pitchfork festival, going down May 9-11 near Rye, England. All those dates are available after the jump-- or, as we like to call it, a place to bury valuable information. [MORE...]

Daft Punk, Hot Chip, Pipettes, T.I. Design Playboy Shirts
As do Iggy Pop, Duran Duran, Tokyo Police Club, Gogol Bordello, the Shins (um...)

Hey, Playboy Magazine, that ever-reputable institution of letters and boobies, is hooking up with the rock'n'roll community yet again for this year's edition of their Rock the Rabbit series. Just like last year, Hef and the ladies have invited musical artists to put their own spin on the Playboy logo, in conjunction with the magazine's annual Sex and Music special issue, which hits a dark-colored plastic bag near you February 12.

And who, you may ask, have they lined up for this celebration of restraint and good taste? Why, none other than Daft Punk, Hot Chip, T.I., Iggy Pop, the Pipettes, Tokyo Police Club, Gogol Bordello, New Young Pony Club, Working for a Nuclear Free City, Ghostland Observatory, Duran Duran, the Little Ones, Jamie T, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, Office, Dimitri From Paris, the Heavy, the Beasts of Eden, and the Oohlas. Also, the Shins... who might want to stay as far away as possible from anything having to do with the objectification of women right about now.

A far-flung bunch, sure, but it's always nice when a bunch of people can come together in support of unrealistic body images.

Each logo will be scrawled on limited edition t-shirts, which will be available at select Bloomingdale's locations and ShopTheBunny.com. The original designs from the artists themselves will be auctioned off with all proceeds going to Rock the Vote.

Remember: good cause or no, you're not gonna get away with buying a t-shirt "just for the articles."

Dizzee Rascal Expands Winter Tour

From coast to coast, Down Under, and then back to his native England in the span of just over a month: it's enough to make even the steadiest rascal a little bit Dizzee.

Grime kingpin Dizzee Rascal will travel along the aforementioned path on his current tour itinerary, which has the professor of Maths + English heading out in earnest January 18. Dizzee has added a number of dates around his previously reported Big Day Out festival stops down there in the Southern Hemisphere, plus a week's worth of UK dates.

In other Dizzee news, he recently penned a fine eulogy to UGK's late Pimp C on his MySpace blog. "Listening to Pimp C and UGK got me through a lot of hard times growing up...he will be sadly missed but I know his legacy will live on," Dizzee wrote. The grime MC worked with the Texas duo quite a bit in 2007, featuring on UGK's Underground Kingz and making room for both Pimp C and Bun B on the awesome "Where's Da G's" from Maths + English. [MORE...]

Shins' Crandall, Girlfriend Arrested for Domestic Assault

Sacramento County police arrested Shins multi-instrumentalist Marty Crandall Friday evening (January 4) after an alleged physical altercation with his girlfriend, model Elyse Sewell, in a Sacramento hotel. Crandall has been charged with domestic assault, a felony, and is presently being held on $25,000 bail, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department website. Sewell-- who previously made headlines as a contestant on the first season of "America's Next Top Model"-- was arrested and jailed as well, but released Saturday.

What we know of the situation thus far comes from Sewell herself, who explained her side of the story via her blog yesterday: "On the drive home (home?) from Albuquerque to Portland, my ex-boyfriend got shitfaced and roughed me up in a Sacramento hotel. I escaped from the room through a blitzkrieg of violence and talked to hotel security, who called the fuzz.

"Because he had a bite mark, inflicted in self-defense, on his arm, Marty told the police to PRESS CHARGES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST ME. Now I am a felon. I spent the night in jail." Sewell goes on to describe her tactless treatment at the hands of Sacramento County police, and includes a couple photos, including one depicting her injuries [see above]. The entirety of her post can be found after the jump.

Representatives for the Shins, meanwhile, have not yet responded to requests for comment. Crandall and Sewell are both due in court in the coming week. [MORE...]

Silver Jews' David Berman Talks Lookout, Outlook
"It sounds like a joke, you know, 'you were so fucked up you didn't know that you couldn't see out of your eye.'...But I was asleep for a lot of things."

In closing 2005's stellar Tanglewood Numbers, the fifth and most recent LP from his artful country act Silver Jews, David Berman touched on a "place past the blues" he never wanted to see again. It didn't take long for us rock critics to latch onto the phrase and its obvious connections to Berman's own stormy life, troubled by remnants of years of extreme chemical abuse and his then-recent decision to clean up.

In the two years since the release of Tanglewood Numbers, another phrase from "There Is a Place" seems to be more appropriate: "I took a hammer to it all." It's as apt a metaphor for Berman's recent trajectory as we'll get until Drag City's release of Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, the forthcoming new Silver Jews album. (Originally scheduled for release in April, the album has been pushed back until later in 2008.)

Soft-spoken, and seemingly quite sober, David Berman circa late 2007 really does seem a different person. Excited by the prospect of touring, writing songs when he doesn't have to, and preparing to be "useful in the event of an emergency," Berman speaks of this album like it's his first.

On the phone from the Nashville home he shares with his wife, Silver Jews bassist and occasional singer Cassie Berman, David discussed his new attitudes, new routines, and-- oh yeah-- the new record he's preparing to mix.

Pitchfork: How has the process of making the new album been going?

David Berman: It's been really good. I'm real happy about the writing. I've never really been completely satisfied with a release. I have always felt like you start to write a song and you can stop where you want to. And I always felt that I didn't know what would happen if I went on ahead. In a way, I kind of built in delays into the process. I really thought it was going to be done in September, but the other part of my mind knew it would take longer. When I went into the studio, the songs were about half as good as they are now. Just sitting with them for a couple months, I just couldn't leave them alone and they got better and better. I don't think I'll ever stop so early in the songwriting process again.

Pitchfork: You referred to the songs as "epic" in a recent interview. Can we expect these to be longer songs? Story songs? I can see that meaning a lot of things for you.

DB: More story songs, I would say. Even to the point of saying one of them I could define as picaresque, and another one as burlesque. One of the rules that I set up is that there's no songs that doesn't mean anything that uses oblique language or anything like that. Each one is self-contained, and it just starts in this unraveled place where things have happened, kind of a hangover kind of mood. The second side is happier but more pragmatic, like it's made its peace with the corrupt world. So it's a general arc, with the first side being the problem and the second side being the solution.

Pitchfork: It's not much of a stretch to see that as a metaphor for some of the recent events in your life.

DB: Well, all of my other albums always ended with a death or a goodbye. This one ends with a song that Cassie and I sing together that's more like Johnny Lee or some kind of urban-country love song. But even in that, it's like we could be looking for the same thing. Which is the sentiment. It's post-romantic. It's very pragmatic, almost in the way I would see older couples. Like my mom has a boyfriend and it's impossible, after a certain point... people who've been through a lot of bullshit and hard times. They no longer seek a perfect match. They're educated to know that that's impossible. They seek a compromise of some sort as just a common feature. The kind of writing I do would never, ever feature such a cop-out. In the context in this record, it means a lot.

Pitchfork: As bleak as your lyrics have been in the past, Tanglewood Numbers might've been the bleakest set yet. You seem to be suggesting that there's a little more hope here.

DB: Oh yeah. It's definitely more about human possibility. Even if the characters themselves are just kind of like rogues or whatever living by their wits, they're much more of an indomitable character, like a Saul Bellow character or Henry Miller's voice in his books. They're definitely more persistent. And I think that, in general, there's a moment of morbidity in one song. Maybe. Which is really like that.

Pitchfork: You're talking about this album like it's the first one you've ever made.

DB: With the first four records, I kind of felt like I was trying to write the same record over again in different ways, or better. And then [Tanglewood Numbers] I think is my first shot at documenting what life might be like after hell. And so this is me with my footing, and it's smarter than the last record and it's less eager to please. I turned 40 this year. I feel like now, as a writer, I'm just figuring out how to do it. I feel like all those years of not being a working rock musician, I hope has given me a different period in which to be peaking because I really feel like these are the first songs where I'm happy all the way through. I feel like as far as the writing goes, I pretty much feel peerless. I might sound like one of the British bands for a second, but I just don't hear anything that means anything to me. I don't know if this album is necessarily so good, but it's so much better than what's out there. To me, it appears to be really, really good.

Pitchfork: Actually, I recently spoke with your friend Stephen Malkmus, and he pretty much said the same thing about his new record.

DB: [pauses, then deadpans] I'm sure his will be very non-verbal. [MORE...]

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