Christian Music Legend Larry Norman, R.I.P.

Often regarded as the "father of Christian rock", long-running music-maker Larry Norman passed away at his Salem, Oregon home early on the morning of Sunday, February 24, according to his official website. He was 60.

Norman first emerged in the 1950s, and signed to Capitol Records in 1966 as part of the group People!, whose debut I Love You (originally titled We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus, and a Lot Less Rock and Roll) arrived in 1968. Though outwardly Christian, People! would open for such secular giants of the era as the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and the Byrds.

Norman soon left People! and embarked on a solo career that would span the ensuing decades. Along the way his sometimes progressive views would draw the ire of more religiously conservative peers. He also won fans from across rock, including Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend, U2, Van Morrison, John Mellencamp, Danielson, and even Frank Black, who joined Norman onstage at a 2005 concert.

The influential singer and songwriter was twice invited to perform at the White House, and was inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Hall of Fame in 2001.

Arena Rock Recording Company has plans to release a Norman retrospective entitled Larry Norman: The Anthology on May 27.

Norman dictated the following message just prior to his death:

I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.

My brother Charles is right, I won't be here much longer. I can't do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help.

My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.

I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.

Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet again
Somewhere beyond the sky.
I pray that you will stay with God
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.

Larry

Larry Norman: "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" (live in 2000)

Paul Scheer Gets Role in Jack Black/Michael Cera Movie, Human Giant Cancel Tour Dates

I don't know too much about the comedy biz, but I have to imagine, when a Ghostbuster calls, you accept the charges. So it went for Paul Scheer of Human Giant, who's taken a last-minute role in the Harold Ramis-directed flick The Year One starring Jack Black and comedy dreamboat Michael Cera.

Good for Paul! But a tough break indeed for quite a few stops on the Human Giant's currently-in-progress comedy tour. With Paul busy shooting The Year One in Shreveport, Louisiana, fellow Giants Aziz Ansari and Rob Huebel have opted to axe a good chunk of their plotted dates. Still, Paul's schedule allows him to make it out to Noise Pop later this week, UPDATE: PAUL WILL NOT BE APPEARING AT NOISE POP and over to Austin next month for South by Southwest-- including, of course, a stop at the Pitchfork/Windish day bash at Emo's and Emo's Jr. on March 14. The cancelled dates will be rescheduled for April.

Human Giant will hit a little closer to home March 4, when the first season of the MTV show comes to DVD. The show's second go will hit the airwaves March 11. [MORE...]

Beirut Schedules Spring World Tour

Photo by Akmal Naim

It's been a long time now since we've seen, well, much of anything outta young master Zach Condon and his Beirut. After a productive summer/fall last year around the release of the soaring Flying Club Cup LP, Beirut have been in hibernation (or, perhaps, learning the ins and outs of another worldly genre to explore for the next album). But Zach's back, and ready to rock Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Europe on tour this spring. The North American trek surrounds a performance at the just-announced Sasquatch! fest.

In other news outta Beirut, he was recently remixed by Son Lux, and that DVD of his appearances on La Blogothèque's Take Away Show is available exclusively on tour and through his website. [MORE...]

Joy Division, Lou Reed, James Brown in SXSW Films
Plus: Gorillaz, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Wesley Willis, Daniel Lanois, Scorsese's Stones flick

What with all the hoopla surrounding the live music portion of the annual South by Southwest festival, it's easy to forget the event's pre-recorded happenings. We're talking about the SXSW Film Conference and Festival, which runs the week+ leading up to the music bit (with some overlap), March 7-15.

As in previous years, there are some big ticket showings, like the North American premiere of Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones doc Shine a Light, plus screenings of Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, the LCD Soundsystem-bolstered 21, the filmic adaptation of Fight Club scribe Chuck Palahniuk's super-disturbing Choke, Super Size Me guy Morgan Spurlock's Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?, and directorial debut features from thespians Helen Hunt (Then She Found Me) and David Schwimmer (Run, Fat Boy, Run).

There are some charmingly offbeat selections too, such as Kids screenwriter Harmony Korine's latest Mister Lonely (featuring music by Spiritualized's J. Spaceman), a Super Size Me parody of sorts called Super High Me in which a man goes on a 30-day ganja binge, and Harry Potter fan culture exposé We Are Wizards.

And then there are a whole bunch of music-oriented films. Some highlights: the U.S. premiere of Joy Division, the documentary on the iconic post-punk act by Grant Gee, director of Radiohead's Meeting People Is Easy; Lou Reed's Berlin, documenting a live performance of the living legend's classic album in New York City; Young@Heart, celebrating the Sonic Youth-loving, David Byrne-befriending choir of elders; Gorillaz doc Bananaz; The Night James Brown Saved Boston, about the Hardest Working Man in Show Business' 1968 concert following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.; and features exploring Lee "Scratch" Perry (The Upsetter: The Life & Music of Lee "Scratch" Perry), Daniel Lanois (the previously mentioned Here Is What Is), Wanda Jackson (The Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice), and the late, great Wesley Willis (Wesley Willis's Joyrides).

Brush up on all the important details right here.

Diplo, CSS, Cool Kids Remix Sunny Day Sets Fire
Sunny Day Real Estate glad they bought fire insurance

Cosmopolitan London quintet Sunny Day Sets Fire have yet to release a full-length album, but they've managed to corral the Cool Kids, CSS, Spank Rock producer XXXChange, and Diplo and his Mad Decent crew to remix them on an EP. Pretty impressive for a bunch of upstarts.

That EP, a North American exclusive titled Stranger / Remix, will be released tomorrow, February 26 via IAMSOUND. The other artists remixing the band on the EP are Baron von Luxxury, the Slips, and Mad Decent.

On March 3, the UK will get some Sunny Day love with Brikabrak's release of a 7" for "End of the Road" (not a Boyz II Men cover, alas), which comes with "Lack of View" on the flip. The band's debut album, Summer Palace, will follow with a North American release on IAMSOUND in April May 6.

Sunny Day Sets Fire are set to play to-be-announced shows in NYC, L.A., and at SXSW in March, followed by a full-blown spring tour of North America.

You can hear the full Stranger / Remix EP here:

[MORE...]

T.V. Eye: February 25-March 2, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, February 25:

FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: Grand Ole Party
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Super Furry Animals
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Helio Sequence
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daley: Lupe Fiasco

Tuesday, February 26:

FUSE: The Sauce: Andre Benjamin (not performing)
NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: Lupe Fiasco

Wednesday, February 27:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Georgie James
CBS: Late Night With David Letterman: Kenna with N.E.R.D.

Thursday, February 28:

NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: Cat Power
CBS: Late Night With David Letterman: Liam Finn

Friday, February 29:

FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: Dengue Fever
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daley: Regina Spektor
OVATION: From the Basement: Thom Yorke, Albert Hammond Jr., Envelopes

Saturday, March 1:

NBC: Saturday Night Live: Wilco
FOX: Fearless Music TV: Cassettes Won't Listen

Wilco Postpone Show to Play “Saturday Night Live”

Photo by Kathryn Yu

Giving last year's Seth Rogen / Spoon episode a run for its money as most indie "Saturday Night Live" ever, this week's edition of "SNL" will feature host Ellen Page with musical guest Wilco.

Maybe Jeff Tweedy can play Ellen Page's dad in a sketch in which she tells her parents a big, big secret that she just can't hold in any longer: She's running away to Hollywood to pursue her dreams of becoming a stripper/screenwriter!

Unfortunately, due to the scheduling of the "SNL" appearance, Wilco have postponed their February 29 show in Charleston, South Carolina until August. But hey, maybe that means there's a Wilco summer tour in the works?

Thanks to Tony Wagner for the tip.

Like Super Furry Animals, Wilco are taking requests for their current tour. Fans are encouraged to submit their favorite song, along with a reason for picking it, here. [MORE...]

Sasquatch! 2008 Lineup Revealed
The Cure! Modest Mouse! Death Cab! Flaming Lips! R.E.M.! M.I.A.! New Pornos! National! Beirut! Destroyer! Battles! Okkervil River! Malkmus! Built to Spill! Jamie Lidell! Breeders!

You'll have to forgive us if we go all exclamatory up in this newspiece right here. It's just that Sasquatch! has been sighted yet again in the vicinity of the Gorge in George, Washington, just south of Quincy and about halfway between Seattle and Spokane. Sasquatch!, people!

Authorities confronted Sasquatch! and were able to wrest a cryptic note from the creature before it vanished once again into the mist. The note reads as follows: "The Cure, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, the Flaming Lips, R.E.M., M.I.A., the New Pornographers, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Battles, the National, Beirut, Destroyer, Okkervil River, Built to Spill, Jamie Lidell, the Breeders, Fleet Foxes, White Rabbits, the Cave Singers, Tegan and Sara, Flight of the Conchords, the Kooks, the Hives, Grand Archives, Mates of State, Thao With the Get Down Stay Down, Rogue Wave, Sera Cahoone, David Bazan, the Little Ones, Kinski, Throw Me the Statue, the Shaky Hands," along with a few more assorted scribbles. Also, something about a comedy tent and the "premiere" of a Flaming Lips movie called Christmas on Mars...underlined in blood!!

What does this mean? Sasquatch!, what are you trying to tell us?!

Hmm, perhaps this is some kind of clue: "May 24, 25, and 26".

Peter Moren Adds Dates, Collaborates With Froberg

Do we detect a whiff of Americophilia in Peter Morén? First, he announces his solo debut, The Last Tycoon, will be released on Chicago label Quarterstick onto North American shores April 8, nearly a month before Wichita takes it to the UK May 5. Then he goes and lays out plans for a North American tour well before taking care of his native Scandinavia or, you know, the rest of Europe. And it's only recently that he's laid any dates on us even remotely close to his side of the pond, and nary a one of those comes before dude makes his way to the North Americas yet again for South by Southwest. Hey, man, we like you too!

But now, Morén has finally added a European trek to his itinerary. It will fill up a bit of space in April before he heads back to our shores. Tycoon track "Real to Reel" will be issued as a single in the UK on Wichita sometime in April, designed to coincide with the tour. Hey, don't we get a single? I thought we were friends!

Joining Morén in his touring band and opening for him on all of his tour dates (except the stint at SXSW) will be Tobias Fröberg, who co-produced The Last Tycoon. Morén returned the favor by producing UPDATE: Whoops, he didn't produce it Fröberg's forthcoming album Turn Heads Now, which is due out April 8 on Cheap Lullaby Records in North America and April 9 in Scandinavia on Playground Scandinavia. Morén also sings on the song "Just Behind a Brick Wall", which can be heard on Fröberg's MySpace.

And as if all that wasn't enough, Peter Bjorn and John posted on their website that they have begun recording their new album. Whew. [MORE...]

Beauty Pill's Clark Undergoes Successful Heart Surgery

Friends, family, and fans of DC producer, music-maker, and Dischord associate Chad Clark (of Beauty Pill and Smart Went Crazy fame) have much to be thankful for, following Clark's emergence from a successful open-heart surgery procedure on Friday, February 22.

Clark contracted a mysterious virus last year that resulted in an inflamed heart, known to medical professionals as cardiomyopathy. He kept publicly quiet about his condition until revealing all in a MySpace blog post on Friday, a mere four hours before we was to undergo surgery.

Explained Clark: "What is the problem, exactly? Well, my heart is getting a little bit larger each day because my valves are not connecting. And because my heart is getting larger, it is causing the valves to not connect. Read those two sentences again. Yup. A vicious cycle. After a while, if your heart keeps getting larger, game over."

Clark described feeling "confident and optimistic" going into the surgery, and also addressed the matter's provenance and consequences in thoughtful detail. (His words are well worth your time; read them all here.)

As his musical undertakings are concerned, Clark intends to release one if not two new albums with Beauty Pill this fall, while his Silver Sonya recording studio has largely fallen into the capable hands of bandmate and Medications member Devin Ocampo.

As Beauty Pill's Jean Cook wrote later Friday in a note declaring the surgery a success, "Please know that we appreciate your thoughts. It's been a bit of a surreal time. Thanks for bearing with us, and for the good wishes...We'll update as we learn more."

OMG! It's a Virtual Devendra Dress-Up Doll!

Here at Pitchfork World Headquarters, between grinding out news stories and sacrificing small animals on our altar to Radiohead, we tend to fantasize about two things: lunchtime, and what it would be like to dress and undress Devendra Banhart. The internet has yet to do a damn thing for our stomachs, but oh me oh my, it's now doing wonders for our latter fantasy.

A lovely little feature on the Devendra website called "Dress Me" has been making our dreams come true for a minute now. With just a few clicks and drags, we can deck out Mr. Banhart any which way we please. And what will our wee Devendra wear today, hmm? Perhaps some dashing plaid pants? A tie-dyed sock or two? This creepy-ass clown mask? Or maybe our Devendra, stripped to his undies, should just frolic with this other Devendra here, the one with the little bow attached to the back of his tighty whities? People, the possibilities are endless.

Many thanks to reader Wiley Laufman for the tip.

Clipse Working With Joss Stone

Photos via Re-Up Gang blog

Her last name may be a fine punchline for rhymes about selling rock, but, man, I dunno about this one. According to the Re-Up Gang blog (via Blender's blog), Virginia rhymers Clipse and British blues borrower Joss Stone are working together.

Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider blog reports that Clipse will appear on Ms. Stone's next album, while Stone will grace Clipse and crew's Re-Up Gang LP, tentatively due in June on Columbia. Apparently, Clipse and Stone already have a song together in the can called "Just Walk on By", which was recorded for, um, Randy Jackson's Music Club, Volume 1. However, the final version of the song cuts out the Clipse and leaves only the Joss. (For some reason, Three 6 Mafia are listed as being in the track, though. Oh Randy Jackson, why must you confuse us so?)

In other Clipse news, they'll rock the Primavera Sound festival in May, their Play Cloths fashion line is in the works, and the Re-Up Gang recently issued that We Got It For Cheap, Vol. 3 mixtape fire. Nary a Stone required!

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.)