Portishead Add Dates, Third Details Surface
Pop Group's Mark Stewart weighs in on new Portishead disc

Photo by Eva Vermandel

Portishead's Third may have been a good seventh of a lifetime in the making, but if post-punk icon Mark Stewart knows anything, the album will be well worth the wait.

The former Pop Group frontman and current Maffia leader received an advance copy of Third and waxed thoughtful on the disc for German magazine SPEX. Among Stewart's revelations: Third is no "straightforward rehash of [Portishead's] well-loved, trademark sound," it employs a marked degree of crate-digging, it has the band jacking funk the way Zeppelin jacked blues, and, oh yeah, its songs have titles! Who'd have thunk it?

"Small", "Magic Doors", "Deep Water", first single "Machine Gun" (Slowdive, where u at?), and a "very German-sounding" number called "We Carry On" are among the 11 new P-head tracks we can look forward to when Third hits UK shops April 14 via Island (U.S. release details forthcoming).

"Deep Water", in particular, sounds intriguing. Writes Stewart: "For the extraordinary one-and-a-half minutes of 'Deep Water' Portishead hired a male choir, arranged like one of those traditional barbershop choirs from the 1920s-- back in the days when hairdressers would not only cut hair, but also entertain their customers with pitch-perfect a cappella harmonies. For a brief moment, Portishead reference and revive an endearing English song tradition."

Stewart's complete musings can be found here, or in print in the forthcoming SPEX #313 (out February 22).

In other rumblings from camp Portishead, the Bristol bumout crew's long overdue 2008 tour has nearly doubled in size since our last dispatch. They also mention "filming stuff for the future" on their website. Ooh, perhaps a sequel to To Kill a Dead Man? Or at least another music video.

Finally, Mark Stewart has an album called Edit on the way via Crippled Dick Hot Wax! in May, and he and the Maffia are among the two or three bands added to the SXSW lineup yesterday. [MORE...]

The Kills Prepare for Mammoth World Tour

Expect plenty of Midnight Booms on the Kills' forthcoming world tour in support of said disc's March 18 U.S. / March 10 UK release on Domino. The din of night will be blowing through speakers all over the place when these Kills come around, hopping as they are from continent to continent well into the spring. The trip also has the raucous pair making a splash in Tokyo shortly, SXSW eventually, and morgues inevitably.

Those seeking an even greater fill of Kills can head over to MidnightBoom.com right now, download the component parts of album track "Cheap and Cheerful", and remix them to their heart's content. Look out for a "Cheap and Cheerful" single as well in March. [MORE...]

Yelle Gets Physical Release for Debut, Tours

Photo by Grégoire Alexandre

While her debut album POP-UP popped up digitally last year, French electro-popper Yelle has yet to convert her sizable studio presence into something more tangible in the U.S.

The days of digital-only Yelle on American shores will be over soon enough, however, with the U.S. release of POP-UP on CD and the lady's first U.S. performances in New York City and at Coachella.

The April 1 release of POP-UP on Caroline will come with a single bonus track: "A Cause des Garçons (Tepr Remix)".

In addition to the aforementioned U.S. shows, Yelle has plenty of European dates in the coming months. [MORE...]

Subtle Reveal New Album ExitingARM

Adam "Doseone" Drucker and his compadres (including Jeff "Jel" Logan and Dax Pierson) in the genre-melting Subtle will unleash ExitingARM, their third LP, on Lex Records May 13. The self-produced for hero: for fool follow-up is self-described as the group's "post-modern-pop opus and the 3rd installment in the epic of [recurring character] HourHeroYes."

For a lot more of what Doseone had to say about making the album (and a whole lot of other stuff), check out our interview here and here.

Subtle are currently working on a May tour, a digital comic book/almanac, and a new website. Until all that jazz is ready, though, feast on "Unlikely Rock Shock", the first taste of ExitingARM that hit Forkcast a week ago. [MORE...]

Go! Team Play Benefit for Old Cinema, Add Shows

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

Gather 'round, do gooders! There's a cause to be helped. It seems the Duke of York's Picturehouse in Brighton, England-- which has been operating continually since 1910, making it the longest-running cinema in all of Britannia-- has a leaky roof, and that's enough to put the ol' picture shack in jeopardy. Talks are under way to close the place down, provided the proper roof-fixing funding isn't accrued in time. And that's where we (and, perhaps more importantly, Brighton's own Go! Team) come in.

The Team are bringing their rollicking live show to the rickety Picturehouse March 14 for a benefit concert. They'll perform a pep rally in the cinematheque to the visual accompaniment of Bob Jaroc, who previously worked with Plaid on Greedy Baby. All in all, it ought to be the best time you'll have at the cinema this year, at least until the Daydream Nation movie comes out.

If you're looking for a little fun with the Go! Team minus the rain hat the Duke of York's gig may require, the band has added a few dates in Mexico this month and in France come April since last we spoke on the matter. [MORE...]

Jenny Lewis Working on New Album
Collaborating with Elvis Costello, M. Ward, Zooey Deschanel? Maybe not.

Photo by Michael Alan Goldberg

Although she's still technically in Rilo Kiley mode-- the band has another tour in the works and will toast Under the Blacklight at both Coachella and Bonnaroo-- Jenny Lewis knows the benefits of making a little time for herself. And in recent weeks, this time to herself has consisted of a return to the studio to start work on the follow-up to her 2006 solo-ish LP with the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat.

Though, it would seem, Lewis has hardly been alone. According to a report from EW.com's Hollywood Insider blog, she has been working with beau/tourmate Johnathan Rice, Blacklight co-producer Jason Lader, and "Farmer Dave" Scher of Beachwood Sparks/Tyde. What's more, M. Ward, Zooey Deschanel, and the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson apparently "dropped by" to contribute some guest vocals. And to top it all off, Lewis recorded a duet with Elvis Costello!

Sounds grand, but according to Lewis's publicist, we shouldn't necessarily believe everything we read. Lewis's publicist described the phrasing of the EW.com report as "misleading" and the list of guest musicians as "inaccurate."

So all that's really confirmed at this point is that Lewis is indeed in the studio working on the Rabbit Fur Coat follow-up, and that said studio is in Los Angeles. Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see. But hey, new Jenny Lewis album in the works! That's pretty cool.

Thanks to reader Jon Latessa for the initial tip. [MORE...]

Daydream Nation, Soon to Be a Teen Comedy Movie Starring That Girl From "Heroes"
Save the cheerleader, save the album

Daydream Nation: Sonic Youth's masterpiece, the inspiration for two decades of indie rock, still sounds great today, the greatest album of the 1980s, "You'd be hard pressed to find many fans of indie rock who don't have some love for this record."

Daydream Nation: Forthcoming teen comedy directed by Michael Goldbach, starring "Heroes" cheerleader Hayden Panettiere and maybe Kieran Culkin, "the producers are hoping to reinvent the coming-of-age story for the 21st century, calling the film an intellectual comedy a la Juno and Election."

See also: The Replacements, Can't Hardly Wait, Just Like Heaven, Things We Lost in the Fire

YLT, Okkervil River, Destroyer, Diplo, Annie Join SXSW
Plus: Atlas Sound, Thurston Moore, Los Campesinos!, Be Your Own Pet, Blow, No Age, T'nT

All these people will be there. Rachael Ray, too (but not her beloved Battles). Will you? It's SXSW, pretty much the four-letter center of the indie rock universe as far as mid-March is concerned. And, as of today's announcement of the list of 2008 showcasing artists, this thing took the expected leap from tantalizingly overwhelming to, well, utterly mind-numbing in its scope.

We've done you the service of selecting but a few names from the latest additions to highlight here. Call it a Pitchfork-oriented tip of the SXSW iceberg.

And here goes! Set to invade Austin from March 12-16: Jim James (My Morning Jacket) solo, Yo La Tengo, Destroyer, Okkervil River, Atlas Sound, Annie, Thurston Moore, Diplo, Be Your Own Pet, Los Campesinos!, the Tough Alliance, Peter Morén, Tapes 'n Tapes, Black Mountain, Bon Iver, No Age, Akron/Family, Times New Viking, the Blow, Yeasayer, El-P, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Madlib, Tokyo Police Club, N.E.R.D., Evangelicals, Simian Mobile Disco, Handsome Furs, Fuck Buttons, Castanets, the Cool Kids, Flosstradamus, Jason Forrest, MSTRKRFT, Jay Reatard, Asobi Seksu, Fucked Up, Jandek, the Slits, the Concretes, Mark Kozelek, Cadence Weapon, Bodies of Water, HEALTH, Crystal Castles, Phosphorescent, White Rabbits, Constantines, Elf Power, High on Fire, Holy Fuck, Ghislain Poirier, Eugene Mirman, Half Japanese, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Richard Hawley, the Black Angels, Dälek, Pissed Jeans, Shining, the Russian Futurists, and approximately 3,498,013 others.

Nestled amid these usual indie suspects you'll also find a few names you don't often see, including Dolly freaking Parton, dudes! Shit! Yes!

Also: Punk legends the Homosexuals! David Banner! Wheatus! Ice Cube! Um, Moby! And, let's admit it, the bands we're actually most excited about: Fastball, the Presidents of the United States of America, and Hanson.

Aw hell, just read the whole damn list right here. My sympathy goes out to the poor SXSW intern who had to type that one up.

Band of Horses Cancel Shows
Ben Bridwell's throat is feeling a little ho... oh, you know

They're some fine players, sure, but without those pipes of Ben Bridwell's at their most pristine, Band of Horses just ain't the same. So you'll have to forgive 'em for canceling a pair of Florida dates on their current world tour due to a run-in with the scourge of the season.

"We got hit by a flu bug and played thru it," the band write in a MySpace bulletin posted this afternoon, "but now the voice is completely gone and there's no other option." That's what I'm saying, dude! Shit is integral!

Though tonight in Tallahassee and tomorrow in Gainesville are out, the Gainesville show has already been rescheduled for March 24.

One hopes the Horses are back in full power in time for their appearance on the Conan O'Brien television program this Tuesday (2/12), to say nothing of the rest of their tour. Should they shake the sickness, they'll head to Orlando, Carnegie Hall (with Sufjan), the UK and Europe in the coming weeks. [MORE...]

Bonnie "Prince" Billy on Latest Louisville V-Day Comp

When it comes to amorous types and their amorous undertakings, there's no better place to be than Louisville, Kentucky. At least, that's what the folks behind the Louisville Is for Lovers website and compilation series keep trying to tell us. Weird, since all those Slint and Rodan records I've played for my significant others have only scared them away. Maybe I should have been rocking the My Morning Jacket?

Or how about the Will Oldham? Oldham, in his Bonnie "Prince" Billy guise, features on the latest Louisville Is for Lovers comp, Vol. 8. He's joined by the Phantom Family Halo (which includes Michael McMahan of David Pajo's Dead Child), and, well, a lot of bands non-locals may not know so well. But hey, that's what love's about, right? Taking chances? Embracing the unknown? Sure it is.

LIFL Vol. 8 is available now via several Louisville shops and Louisvilleisforlovers.com, so you have plenty of time to snatch up a copy before Valentine's Day. While you're there, why not check out the previously mentioned Louisville Babylon Halloween comps as well?

Thanks to Zach Willenbrink for the tip. [MORE...]

Be Your Own Pet Schedule More Awkward Dates
Like most dates, actually

They may be young, but Be Your Own Pet know awkwardness isn't a purely North American phenomenon. Thus, they have extended the tour in support of their forthcoming sophomore album Get Awkward to include a couple weeks' worth of UK dates in late March and early April.

Not coincidentally, March also marks the release of Get Awkward. For UK residents, it's XL that will serve it up on March 17. For North Americans, it's Ecstatic Peace/Universal making the delivery the very next day. [MORE...]

MSTRKRFT Check in From Studio, Announce Tour
"I guarantee you when this record is done and people have heard it, everyone will want to talk to us again."

Photo by Geoff McLean

Now that MSTRKRFT have had a few years to hone their krft, the rock-bred club converts are itching to hit us with what they hope will be their most accomplished artistic statement yet. By artistic we of course refer to the art of making your ass shake in spite of itself, and by accomplished, well, we'll let them explain.

Pitchfork caught up with MSTRKRFT's Jesse F. Keeler (ex-Death From Above 1979) and Al-P as the pair was preparing the follow-up to 2006's The Looks and bracing for a sizable tour.

"We base everything we do on really big ideas," says Al-P. "Initially, when we first got our record deal, we had no time to make an album or even really figure out what we wanted to do. We kind of planned on making a full record years in the future, but then suddenly the opportunity came and we had to do it quick.

"Whereas with this one we've been working on it pretty much since the day we submitted the last one. So we've had a ton of time to decide what kind of record it will be...and so far it's a lot like what I was hoping it might be."

The as-yet-untitled sophomore platter should see the light of day in September or so via an as-yet-undetermined label. Among the big ideas on it: a bevy of guest vocalists.

While the guys aren't at liberty to say just who yet, according to Keeler, "I can guarantee that people will be surprised by every single one."

What shouldn't surprise folks nearly as much is the inclusion of popular MSTRKRFT cut and live set favorite "VUVUVU" on the new disc. Not only fun to say, "VUVUVU" also has an amusing backstory.

Says Keeler, "The song was inadvertently named by Xavier [de Rosnay] from Justice. While we were traveling around together, he was describing the kind of music that they make and the kind of music we make. He says the music they make is [imitates] 'PRPRPRPR TISH, PRPRPRPRPR TISH' and the music we make is 'VUVUVU' in this funny Parisian accent.

So when we were making that song we were like, 'Fuck, there isn't a more 'VUVUVU' sounding track in existence!'"

Adds Al-P with a laugh, "As Xav said, [mimics French accent] 'I do not need this VUVUVU, all I need is kicks and snares to drive them wild'-- and then took a drag of his cigarette." [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.)