Karen O, TVOTR's Adebimpe, Wyclef Judge Fulbrights
Also: System of a Down's Serj Tankian

Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O is totally the new Fiona Apple, at least in terms of being the one girl on a panel that helps decide who gets a Fulbright scholarship. O, along with Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio), Serj Tankian (System of a Down), and Wyclef Jean (the Fugees, general goofiness), will help determine who will join the elite group of Fulbright-mtvU Fellows.

Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships are sponsored by MTV's college network and the U.S. Department of State, and the purpose of the program is to aid students who want "to travel abroad for a year and study how music can serve as a global force for mutual understanding," according to a press release.

Last year, the first Fulbright-mtvU Fellows were chosen with input from Apple, Common, and the Shins' James Mercer, all of whom remain more likely to win a PLUG Award than a Nobel Prize.

Still, we wouldn't put it past a dude like Serj Tankian to grind out a thesis on the relationship between international politics in the post-Vietnam War era and the music of the Dead Kennedys.

Applications for 2008-09 Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships are due March 1, and the application materials can be obtained here.

Kanye West to Tour With Lupe, N.E.R.D., Rihanna

As the Star Wars universe goes, C-3PO is probably the least Kanye West-like character one can think of. But that lovable, bumbling protocol droid appears to be the loose inspiration for the pretty freakin' badass tour poster you see up there, posted yesterday to Kanye's blog. (Thanks to reader Dallan Guzinski for the tip.)

And how can we gripe when the supporting cast looks as rock solid as this? Lupe Fiasco! N.E.R.D.! Rihanna! No word on dates for the "Glow in the Dark" tour just yet, but given the rate at which Kanye has been posting things to his blog lately, we reckon we won't have to wait long.

Seems that we can also look forward to seeing Kanye in a video for the Estelle track "American Boy" on which he's featured.

Death Cab for Cutie Name New Album

And the new album from Death Cab for Cutie is called...

Narrow Stairs

Yup. Just about as exciting a title as Plans.

Siouxsie Plans Gigs Near and Far

Proto-punker turned musical chameleon Siouxsie Sioux has lined up tours on both sides of the pond in support of her 2007 (and, somehow, first) solo disc Mantaray.

Siouxsie will put the emphasis on the Mantaray tracks at these shows, but she'll also spend time mining three decades' worth of mood pieces from her impressive back catalog as leader of both the Banshees and the Creatures.

The U.S. leg of gigs (with Rasputina supporting on most dates) kicks off February 8 in NYC, while Siouxsie graces her native UK beginning February 29. If all goes according to plan, these won't be Siouxsie's only live outings in 2008. [MORE...]

Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue Finally Reissued

Late Beach Boy Dennis Wilson's legendary solo album Pacific Ocean Blue is beloved by those who've waded in its grandiose psych-soul... and all but unknown to those who haven't. The album's been out of print for over 10 years, rendering the audience for this forgotten gem smaller and smaller. But after all that time spent out to sea, Pacific Ocean Blue will come crashing back to shore May 13 as a two CD set from Caribou/Epic/Legacy and a double LP vinyl version from the Sundazed label.

In addition to Pacific Ocean Blue's original 12 tracks, the discs will contain a slew of previously unreleased bonus tracks mixed by original Ocean engineer John Hanlon and Caribou Records owner Jim Guercio. Many of these songs were meant for Bambu, the album intended to follow Pacific Ocean Blue that Wilson never completed. Man, what is with those Wilsons and keeping the follow-up albums to themselves?

The set will be further bolstered by photos by Dean Torrence of Beach Boys contemporaries Jan & Dean, and liner notes by Beach Boys scholars David Leaf, Jon Stebbins, Ben Edmonds, and David Beard. [MORE...]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Announce Tour

Photo by Richard Sharman

Europe, lock down your valuables and keep an eye on your daughters: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are heading out for a spring tour of your fair continent, and sin-- not to mention well-crafted facial hair-- will be the order of the day. As will sorta spooky rock'n'roll of course, including plenty from the band's latest opus (you know, in the Biblical sense), Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, out March 3 in the UK from Mute and April 8 in the States on Anti-.

Will Nick and the Seeds be able to keep their hands to themselves and leave it all onstage as they wind their way around Europe? [MORE...]

Death in Vegas, APTBS, Dirty on Purpose Dudes Link Up
Plan album, tour as Black Acid

You've been warned against the brown acid time and again, but the Black Acid? Gobble that one down and, brother, you've got yourself a real trip on your hands. You'll see visions of Richard Fearless of Death in Vegas, be tormented by haunting, echoey voices that sound eerily like that of Oliver Ackermann of A Place to Bury Strangers, and find yourself dragged through the darkest recesses of your soul by Doug Marvin of Dirty on Purpose. When it's all over, you may just be in possession of a newly blown mind.

Black Acid may not be an ingestible commodity, but boy oh boy is it a potent mixture indeed. Combining the face-melting capabilities of bandleader Fearless with those of Ackermann, Marvin, and Nymph's Matty McDermott, the troupe has prepared an LP for release before the summer.

The band's Fearless leader will take Marvin and a ragtag bunch of Acid-heads on the road next month for a Black Acid tour sans Ackermann, who's all over the record but has this other band to attend to.

Death in Vegas freaks, no need to freak: Fearless and his DIV compatriot Tim Holmes are spending this year concentrating on solo projects before heading back to the Strip for some carnage. [MORE...]

Vampire Weekend Kick off Big Tour Tonight
Add UK dates

As you know, we've fallen pretty hard for Vampire Weekend here at Pitchfork. (Full disclosure: one of us knows these dudes from college.) And, heck, maybe you have too, in the handful of hours you've had to have and hold their Best New Music-earning self-titled debut.

So, fans to fans and friends to friends, let us help you help yourself to a little slice of the Weekend smack in the middle of the workweek: Vampire Weekend are heading out on a sizable tour starting this evening in their native New York City. It will lead them from their native New York to the UK, from Langerado to Coachella, and quite a few points in between. Whether with the Walkmen or without, on a stage large or small, from Williamstown, Massachusetts to as far outta Cape Cod as they can get themselves, it's the freakin' Weekend, and baby, you're about to have you some fun.

BONUS! Want to see some stills from Vampire Weekend, the film that inspired the band name? Check out frontman Ezra Koenig's old blog here.

And what's the film about? Koenig writes, "I play the protagonist Walcott, a young man whose country is invaded by vampires. The film opens with the death of Walcott's father at the hands of a sunglasses-wearing werewolf vampire. His dad's last words are:

Walcott, you must go to Cape Cod. Tell the Mayor that vampires are taking over your country. You must kill as many of them as...possible.

The rest of the film is Walcott's bloody march to the Cape!"

[MORE...]

Rob Lowe, U.S. Maple Guys Form Singer, Issue Debut

Photo by Robert A.A. Lowe

A quartet of accomplished Chicago musicians has formed under the confusing name Singer to release its debut album on Drag City. Comprised of Rob Lowe (Lichens, 90 Day Men), Ben Vida (Bird Show, Town and Country), and U.S. Maple members Todd Rittmann and Adam Vida, Singer features "all four of these kids singing, harmonizing new chords over their communal cacapho-din," according to a press release.

Singer's debut album, Unhistories, will arrive March 25 via Drag City. And not only is it full of the band's vocal and instrumental interplay, it also supposedly "claims to address the homeless crisis with a physical solution." We smell an Obama running mate!

Singer have two hometown shows coming up in February. [MORE...]

Jaguar Love (ex-PGMG, Blood Brothers) Sign to Matador

Blood Brothers may have betrayed their blood oath by breaking up last fall, and Pretty Girls may now inhabit those Graves they made, but the spirit of both those raucous Seattle acts lives on in the previously mentioned Jaguar Love.

A trio, J-Love is comprised of ex-Brothers Johnny Whitney (vocals, piano) and Cody Votolato (guitar, bass), along with ex-Pretty Girl J Clark (drums, bass, keyboards). Having already caught the eye of Queens of the Stone Age, who took them on tour for a spell last year, Jaguar Love have since inspired the folks at Matador Records to sign them for a long-term, worldwide deal.

Jaguar Love join another act borne of the ashes (bones?) of Pretty Girls Make Graves on the Matador roster, the Cave Singers.

Look for the Clark-produced Jaguar Love debut full-length to arrive as soon as this summer. And while there are no finalized plans for Jaguar Love to stalk music-loving prey on the road right now, the band promises "Endless Amounts of Touring" kicking off March 14 in "Everywherepolis". We'll be there!

D'Angelo, Soulwax, Peaches Grace Prince Tribute Comp

Prince's appearance at last year's Super Bowl halftime show was the biggest and best combination of sporting and musical spectacle we've seen, and likely will see, in a while. (We seriously can't think of anything better. Radiohead opening the World Series with "The National Anthem"? Björk playing Wimbledon? Eh...)

Thus, Tom Petty as the Purple One's follow-up can't help but be a little disappointing, and it might force us to recreate Prince's rain-soaked antics by shutting our eyes and listening to "Purple Rain" on repeat for the umpteen millionth time.

Fortunately, Berlin's Rapster Records has given us an alternative point of entry into Mr. Rogers Nelson's catalog. It's a tribute compilation called Controversy, featuring songs like the title track, "Purple Rain", "Starfish & Coffee", and "She's Always in My Hair". Covering these songs: everyone from Soulwax, Hefner, Kode9 & the Spaceape, 7 Hurtz with Peaches, Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, Blues States, and Stina Nordenstam to the very Prince-like D'Angelo.

Rapster will release Controversy on February 4... the day after the Super Bowl. [MORE...]

Photos: Liars / No Age [Portland, OR; 01/28/08]

Photos by Nilina Mason-Campbell

Liars and No Age rocked the Wonder Ballroom in Portland last night, though Liars rocked in a slightly different manner than what we're used to. Angus Andrew, recovering from a back injury, placed three comfy chairs on stage and sat in them during various parts of Liars' performance. He also donned a red balloon around his waist for the encore.

Before the gig, No Age performed an in-store at Food Fight!, a local vegan grocery. While an actual food fight didn't break out, Dean and Randy did find plenty of ways to get rowdy.

More photos from Food Fight! and the Wonder Ballroom show, plus tour dates, below.

LIARS






NO AGE

NO AGE AT FOOD FIGHT!

[MORE...]

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.)