Techno Overlord Carl Craig Anthologized on Sessions

How's this for a coronation? After twenty years behind the boards and in the spotlight, Detroit dynamo Carl Craig gets a career-spanning retrospective.

Craig and !K7 will issue the two-disc Sessions on March 3 in the UK and mainland Europe and March 11 in the U.S. Sporting more than twenty of Craig's groundbreaking compositions and remixes, it includes classic of all classics "Bug in the Bass Bin", that bangin' remix of Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom's "Revelee", and Craig's Grammy-nominated spin on the Junior Boys' "Like a Child".

Mr. Craig also has a handful of appearances in the coming months. [MORE...]

Shins, Wolf Parade, Rilo Kiley Design Charity Shirts
So do Au Revoir Simone

Many moons ago, we reported on the Yellow Bird Project, a fairly ingenious bit of rock'n'roll largesse. The Montreal-based non-profit drafts indie rock stars like Devendra Banhart, Stars, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and My Brightest Diamond to design t-shirts, with money from the sale of the shirts going to the charity of each band's choice.

Well, a little birdie-- or, rather, the Shins' MySpace blog-- reminded us that Yellow Bird's still doing their thing, and whaddya know, they've got a few noteworthy new designs since we last checked in. Experienced shirt designers the Shins contributed a sad sack guy standing in front of an exit sign, to benefit the Nature Conservancy. Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade scrawled a bird-like creature about to get swallowed by a dragon tail (or something), with the proceeds going to Eugene, Oregon's Glass Casters Union. Rilo Kiley doodled a leafy branch, to benefit the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund. And Au Revoir Simone have a little fun with squares on theirs, which gives it up to Transportation Alternatives.

All of these t-shirts are $25, available now. Many of the designs we mentioned way back when are still available as well.

Here are the Wolf Parade, Shins, Rilo Kiley, and Au Revoir Simone designs:

Pattern Is Movement Unveil New Album, Tour

Whittled from a trio to a duo in the past year, Philly's Pattern Is Movement (aka Andrew Thiboldeaux and Chris Ward) will return with their fourth album All Together on May 6. The ten-song record comes at us via Boulder, Colorado label Hometapes, and first taste "Right Away" is available for download at the link below.

Before All Together arrives, Thiboldeaux and Ward have two months of tour dates lined up. Their next show is tonight, February 27, in their hometown. [MORE...]

Vampire Weekend Axe Two UK Shows, Add Many More

Vampire Weekend's current mood? BUMMED! So says the band's most recent MySpace blog post anyhow, which explains the cancellations of tonight's gig in Manchester, England and tomorrow night's in Glasgow, Scotland. The reason? That towering beast, illness. But frontguy Ezra Koenig promises, "at least we'll be back in May."

So, how's about a bunch of new Vampire Weekend dates in the UK come May? The band have added a whole slew of shows to their itinerary across the pond, centered around their recently announced appearance at the ATP vs. Pitchfork festival. Both of the axed dates have already been rescheduled

Before heading across the pond, though, Vampire Weekend head out on a big North American tour in March and April, which will take them from Langerado through SXSW and all the way until Coachella. And even if you're not able to make it to SXSW, you'll be able to hear their set at the Parish on March 13 at 4:00 via a live webcast on NPR.

For now, though, get some rest, ya'll: being sick has a way of putting a damper on a perfectly good Weekend. [MORE...]

The Dodos Add Dates With Silje Nes

As they prepare for Frenchkiss' March 18 release of their second album, Visiter, the Dodos have revealed even more cities where they will be musical visitors this spring and summer.

The San Francisco duo's dates continue tonight, February 27, in their hometown. The expanded itinerary has them covering quite a bit of North America before mostly winding down in late April, and includes a whole bunch of gigs with Norway's Silje Nes. Please note that the Dodos' March 8 appearance at the Smell in Los Angeles has been cancelled. [MORE...]

Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson on New dEUS Album

Photo by Elin Berge

Apart from a few scattered remixes, a deluxe repackage, and one creepy-as-hell awards acceptance speech, we've heard nary a whisper from the Knife since 2006's mind-expanding Silent Shout and its preconception-destroying live show.

Indeed, it seems it would take an act of God to get a peep out of either of Sweden's icy synth siblings, and an act of God is just what we got-- in the form of genre-hopping Belgian mainstays dEUS. The outfit will issue Vantage Point, the follow-up to 2005's Pocket Revolution, overseas on April 21 via V2.

In addition to guest turns by Guy Garvey of Elbow and Lies Lorquet of dEUS's fellow Belgians Mintzkov, Vantage Point features vocals from the Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson on a track called "Slow".

"She's got a unique voice and we're all really proud she delivered so passionately," writes dEUS's Tom Barman on the band's website.

Thanks to reader Jean-Yves Lestienne for the tip.

Expect a music video for "Slow" to surface shortly, and praise dEUS on the band's upcoming European tour. [MORE...]

Andrew Bird Guests on Dianogah Album

Chicago post-rock three-piece Dianogah and indie-folk whistler/heartthrob Andrew Bird go way back. Dianogah member Jay Ryan is an accomplished designer and visual artist (you might recognize his work from our Pitchfork Music Festival posters and t-shirts), and he's created many album covers and posters for Bird over the years.

Last year, Bird and Dianogah teamed up for a Daytrotter session, and tomorrow night, February 28, they'll perform together at a Barack Obama benefit show at the Hideout in Chicago. But the collaboration has now stretched to Dianogah's new album. Unpronounceably titled qhnnnl, the record features Bird's contributions on four songs: "a breaks b", "andrew jackson", "sprinter", and "es posible fuego?". Yes, all of that is supposed to be in lower case.

Southern will release qhnnnl in the U.S. on June 10 and in Europe on June 16. In addition to Andrew Bird, the album also features guitarist Billy Smith (Hubcap), vocalist Stephanie Morris (the Pawners' Society, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir), and Mark Greenberg.

Dianogah will play a record release party with all of the record's guests at the Hideout on May 31, and the show will serve double duty as the only place to pick up qhnnnl prior to its proper release.

Bird just has a few dates scheduled, including the MusicNOW and All Points West festivals. [MORE...]

Frog Eyes Extend Tour

Photo by Sarah Cass

It was less than a year ago that Frog Eyes released Tears of the Valedictorian, and the Canadian band still has plenty of energy to expend on supporting it on the road.

Carey Mercer and co.'s newest jaunt starts with three dates at the Owen Pallet-curated Maximum Black festival, then heads across Europe for a couple weeks before heading back to North America for a pair of New York dates. [MORE...]

My Brightest Diamond Bares Shark's Teeth on New LP

Photo by Matt Wignall

Impeccably dressed, Sufjan-approved, injury-prone Huey Lewis fan Shara Worden will issue her second My Brightest Diamond album, A Thousand Shark's Teeth, June 17 on Asthmatic Kitty. The self-produced disc, recorded in Berlin, Los Angeles, and New York City, has been in the works for six years; some of its tunes even pre-date Bring Me the Workhorse, Worden's 2006 MBD debut.

In addition to Worden's formidable piano and guitar work, the set is peppered with vibraphones, French horns, harps, clarinets, marimbas, and even a sample of trip-hop maestro Tricky.

The album's lead single will be opening track "Inside a Boy". Worden and My Brightest Diamond will embark on a tour this spring and summer, though the've only got a few dates lined up at the moment, including a couple of SXSW appearances.

But don't forget: she and the rest of the Asthmatic Kitty family will appear on the label's Encyclopedia Asthmatica DVD, which arrives March 4. [MORE...]

Frank Black, Isaac Brock...and Larry Norman?

Pixies man Frank Black is a pretty huge fan of Larry Norman, the Christian Rock trailblazer who passed away on Sunday at the age of 60. As mentioned in our obituary yesterday, Black had joined Norman onstage before. He had also covered Norman's songs, and a press release on Norman's death quotes Black as saying in eulogy, "Larry was my door into the music business and he was the most Christlike person I ever met."

But Black's ties to Norman go beyond immense respect, covers, and guest appearances. As it turns out, at the time of his death, Larry Norman was working on a record with Black, Larry's brother Charles Norman (who records as Charles Normal), and Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock. That record is indeed the previously mentioned re-working of Lee Hazlewood's Trouble Is a Lonesome Town. It will feature Black, Brock, and Norman each singing three songs, while Guards of Metropolis vocalist Kristin Blix sings the tenth. Guards of Metropolis serve as the backing band. Charles Normal (who also plays in Guards of Metropolis) produced the disc, and it's due later this year on Guards' Slackertone imprint.

As previously reported, Larry Norman: The Anthology arrives May 27 on Arena Rock.

Fleet Foxes Join P4K/Windish Party, Set Times Updated

What's a party without a little reverb-laden, pastoral country rock from the Pacific Northwest? The 3rd Annual Pitchfork/Windish Austin Bash just got a whole lot flannel-er (not to mention foxier) with the addition of Sub Pop-signed Seattle serenaders Fleet Foxes, who join an ace lineup that already includes 11 of your favorite bands, all itching to take the stages at Emo's and Emo's Jr.

The festivities still begin at noon on the totally arbitrary date of Friday, March 14 in the totally arbitrary location of Austin, Texas. With Fleet Foxes joining the bill, the set times have been bumped and shuffled about a bit. Here's the latest:

No Age (5:30 p.m.)
A Place to Bury Strangers (5 p.m.)
Yeasayer (4:30 p.m.)
Times New Viking (4 p.m.)
Fleet Foxes (3:30 p.m.)
Atlas Sound (3 p.m.)
Bon Iver (2:30 p.m.)
Fuck Buttons (2 p.m.)
Jay Reatard (1:30 p.m.)
White Williams (1 p.m.)
Lykke Li (12:30 p.m.)
High Places (12 p.m.)

Those funny fellers from Human Giant will also be on hand, and the whole event is being held by Pitchfork and the Windish Agency in conjunction with our friends at TicketWeb and 2K Sports, as well as our Pitchfork Music Festival partners Goose Island, Boost Mobile, and Sparks.

Jeremy Jay Preps Debut LP for K Records, Tours

In many ways, Jeremy Jay appears to be a man out of time. Sporting a mop-top and coarse wool blazer, Jay draws on such esoteric yet melody-minded songwriters of the past as Harry Nilsson and Bill Fay (with a little bit of post-punk disaffection thrown in for good measure). And while he's no throwback act, it's not hard to imagine a tune of his gracing the same classic film soundtracks populated by Simon and Garfunkel and Cat Stevens.

Jay recently released the Airwalker EP-- available for free in streaming format here-- which he'll follow rather quickly with his debut LP, A Place Where We Can Go, May 20 on K Records.

Jeremy has plans to tour around the disc, including a mess of gigs in his native California leading into even more at SXSW. [MORE...]

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