Scarlett Johansson Album Has Tracklist, David Bowie!

Frankly, Scarlett, we do give a damn. Anywhere I Lay My Head, the previously reported debut album from screen thespian Scarlett Johansson, arrives May 20 on Atco/Rhino.

It's an album comprised almost entirely of Tom Waits covers, with one ScarJo original, "Song for Jo", as its centerpiece. And now we know just which Waits numbers get the Johansson touch: "I Don't Want to Grow Up", "Town With No Cheer", and "No One Knows I'm Gone" are among the tunes by the gravel-voiced one that make up the rather odd Anywhere tracklist, reported on Billboard.com yesterday evening.

We already knew Dave Sitek produced and members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Celebration, and Stars Like Fleas play on it, but here's the kicker: a pair of tracks ("Falling Down" and "Fannin' Street") feature guest vocals from none other than David Bowie! That's right: the other girl from Ghost World has recorded Tom Waits covers with David Bowie. Minds = blown.

As far as the covers themselves, "I Don't Want to Grow Up" will probably turn some heads. The Billboard.com report describes the track as having "drum machine beats straight out of a New Order song." Oh boy.

Waits gave the project his blessing, however. "I sent him some of the early, early recordings," Johansson told journalists at a press conference yesterday, "and he said, 'Go ahead.'

"I've heard he's very pleased."

While Johansson has no immediate plans to tour the Anywhere material, she is considering the possibility of "getting everybody together" for a festival appearance. [MORE...]

Amplive's Radiohead Remixes Now Available

After a bit of legal wrangling, Bay Area DJ/producer Amplive's Rainydayz Remixes project is here to stay. (Rainydayz being the Zion I member's reimagining of Radiohead's In Rainbows with assistance from MCs like Too $hort, Del the Funky Homosapien, Chali 2na, and his Zion I partner MC Zumbi.) And it's available for download now by following this very link.

In addition to the MP3s, Amplive is releasing a track from Rainydayz Remixes to his iLike iCast every 24 hours until he's all out, which apparently means you can put it on your Facebook or something. Seeing as we're all still trying to add each other on Friendster over here, we'll just stick to what we know: Rainydayz tracklist and Amplive, er, live dates after the jump. [MORE...]

Handsome Furs Announce Spring Dates

Touring with Handsome Furs is all Dan Boeckner seems to do these days, so maybe it's time to start calling Wolf Parade the side project. Either way, Boeckner and Alexei Perry are heading out in support of last year's Plague Park once again this spring.

The duo's new headlining dates are all on the East Coast in late March and early April, starting with a show in Miami on March 27. UPDATE: Looks like a West Coast tour is taking shape. They'll also play Sub Pop's SXSW showcase. [MORE...]

Working for a Nuclear Free City to Tour U.S., UK
Working for a Canada-free tour

After a few UK dates over the rest of the month, Manchester, England's Working for a Nuclear Free City will sandwich a brief U.S. tour with appearances at Noise Pop and SXSW. In between, they'll work on bringing cities devoid of the pleasures of dance rock the same kind of reversal effect they've had on the nuclear problem. Get thee to Tehran, fellas. [MORE...]

Mark Linkous Discusses the State of Sparklehorse
Working on new album, looking for a label, improvising with Fennesz, teaming with Danger Mouse, the Flaming Lips, and Gruff Rhys

Although Sparklehorse has stayed out of the spotlight for most of the time since the release of 2006's Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain and a subsequent tour, main man Mark Linkous has been keeping plenty busy. When Pitchfork chatted with the amiable, soft-spoken singer/songwriter last week, he opened up about his collaboration with Danger Mouse (featuring the Flaming Lips, Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys, and many others), his In the Fishtank session with Christian Fennesz, and the material he's working on for the next Sparklehorse album. He's also looking for a new label. Industry folks, take note!

Pitchfork: It's been a little while since we've heard new music from you. What have you been up to?

Mark Linkous: Well, I'm working on what I hope will be my next record and writing a lot of new songs that are sort of atypical of a lot of Sparklehorse stuff we've been doing. I've been trying to write really simple songs to make them sound like they're coming out of a satellite that's crashing into a gas giant or something.

Pitchfork: [laughs] Where did that image come from?

ML: I don't know; I tried to imagine if you were in another satellite or if you were floating in space and you heard these amazing pop songs that were short and really simple, not unlike Buddy Holly songs, but you wanted to fuck 'em up in a way, but not gratuitously. So I don't know, you know those sort of suicide probes that absorb as much information as they can before crashing into the sun or some kind of other unfriendly atmosphere.

Pitchfork: That seems like the kind of thing that would maybe translate into how you produce the record?

ML: Yeah, I'm trying to keep [the songs] short and simple but with a lot of cool noises and not be so anal about every little aspect of every track.

Pitchfork: Is that different from the way you've worked in the past?

ML: Well on, like, the first album... when people want me to sign records they usually always have Vivadixie[submarinetransmissions], and I think that's a lot of people's favorite record. And that was sort of when I was just learning what I was doing. So I think maybe I'm trying to forget or not be so conscious about plastic circuitry and just go for the feeling, not unlike that pact between Lars von Trier and all those guys. It was called Dogme something [Dogme 95 --Ed.]. It was between Lars von Trier and [Thomas] Vinterberg. They had this pact that they would make these movies, and if the lighting was terrible but the performance was great, they would use the great performance. Didn't use any music that wasn't playing in the scene, like coming off a radio or something. And yeah, the main ideal was to go for emotion and not technology. I mean when you watch Breaking the Waves, some of those scenes, the interior scenes, technically they're barely... you can't hardly see what's going on. [MORE...]

Thom Yorke Turns NPR DJ on Valentine's Day

No doubt about it: the members of Radiohead love playing records. And what better day to spread that love than Valentine's Day (February 14, yo), the very date of Thom Yorke's forthcoming guest DJ stint on NPR program "All Songs Considered"?

Yorke follows in the paw prints of past "All Songs Considered" guest DJs like Conor Oberst and Joanna Newsom, and in addition to dishing out some choice cuts-- including, we hope, "Hottest Record in the World" "Archangel" by Burial-- Yorke will also chat with host Bob Boilen about In Rainbows, The Eraser, and how the Radiohead frontman goes about discovering new music. Say, Mr. Yorke, I know this website...

To find out what time this episode of "All Songs Considered" will air in your area, head here, and look out for a downloadable podcast version come Thursday afternoon here.

Following a Radiohead tour announcement and an Eraser benefit auction contribution, this dispatch hereby completes the Thom Yorke Pitchfork hat trick for this, the 12th day of the 2nd month of 2008. Hallelujah, amen. [MORE...]

Constantines Reveal New Album Details

Kensington Heights: It's not just the name of the subdivision daddy's moving into with that nice lady he met at the grocery store. It's also the new album from Canada's Constantines. Their new label Arts & Crafts will issue the disc April 15 in the band's homeland, and it'll make its way to the States April 29.

Those of you lucky enough to have nabbed a copy of last month's limited edition "Easy Money" 7" are already privy to the disc's leadoff track.

The band aren't exactly lighting up the live circuit at the moment, though they've got a couple dates lined up for March. The first is a stop at New York's Mercury Lounge, and the second is an appearance down at South by Southwest. [MORE...]

Dalek, Isis Members on Tracy Wilson (Dahlia Seed) LP

Lo, to be just another name in the Rolodex of Tracy Wilson. The former Dahlia Seed-ling has amassed quite a circle of friends in the decade or so since the demise of her beloved group, and just about all of them pop up on Decimal, her new LP under the Ringfinger heading.

Members of Dälek, Isis, Jessamine, Fontanelle, Cave In, Film School, Engine Down, Jah Division, Denali, and others help Wilson with the finer points of Decimal, of which J Robbins and Dälek's Oktopus each produced a portion. The album's been available for a minute in a digital way, though Magic Bullet's vinyl-only physical release of Decimal didn't arrive until today (February 12).

Wilson appears to have no plans to tour at the moment, but she is blogging, which is sort of like a tour... of her mind. Check that out here. [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: February 12-17, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Tuesday, February 12:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Band of Horses
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Louis XIV

Wednesday, February 13:

FUSE: The Sauce: Cassie

Thursday, February 14:

CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Bebel Gilberto

Friday, February 15:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Yeasayer
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Regina Spektor

Saturday, February 16:

FOX: Fearless Music TV: Sondre Lerche

Foals Prepare Debut LP for Sub Pop/Transgressive

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

Dave Sitek produced it (in Brooklyn no less), Celebration's Katrina Ford sings on it, and a few friendly folks from the Antibalas horn section play on it. Return to Cookie Mountain II: Cookie's Revenge? Nah, it's Antidotes, the debut full-length from Oxford, England's Foals. Look for this, Foals' debut full-length offering, in the UK via Transgressive March 24 and in the U.S. via new Stateside home Sub Pop April 8.

The fun, feisty post-punk tunes these guys craft will be splayed out over eleven tracks on Antidotes, though the Sub Pop edition is bolstered by a pair of tracks lifted from recent UK singles. Speaking of which, a single for album track "Cassius" is due from Transgressive March 10.

And, while they're skirting both sides of the pond, know this: Foals have dates both at home and abroad over the coming months. The next is tonight (February 12) in New York City. Perhaps they'll use the occasion to talk up their new fave rave, Barack Obama? [MORE...]

Islands Sign to Anti- Records
Nick Thorburn interview coming tomorrow

Photo by Alex Wagner 

For their sophomore effort, the previously announced Arm's Way, Nick Thorburn (formerly Nick Diamonds) and his Islands have moved on into the Anti- fold. (Anti- being the Epitaph sister label that houses the likes of Tom Waits, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Neko Case, Bob Mould, Man Man, and many, many others.)

Islands will issue Arm's Way on May 20. Be sure to check back here tomorrow for our interview with Thorburn, where he discusses the label switch, the music of Arm's Way, and the state of some of those wacky side projects he's perpetually involved in.

Following a date in their native Montreal this weekend, Islands will set off on a tour of the UK and Europe before making their way to the U.S. for South by Southwest, Coachella, and quite a few other gigs besides. [MORE...]

Apes Play Ghost Games on New LP, Tour

If it seems like a while since we've heard from Washington, D.C.'s Apes, rest assured, they haven't just been monkeyin' around (sorry). Rather, they've replaced longtime lead singer Paul Weil with visual artist/new vocalist Breck Brunson (great name, BTW) and busied themselves with some Ghost Games, which they'll release on CD and LP February 19 via Gypsy Eyes.

You can expect your Ghost Games CD and your Ghost Games vinyl to look vastly different, and not just because one is like four times bigger: the discs will come with different artwork. And, in the spirit of overdoing it on the creative tip, you can expect a bunch of videos for Ghost Games' tracks to emerge shortly, courtesy of a number of the band's craftier friends. The first, "Dr. Watcher", is available for Dr. watching below. Find more here.

And what's a new album without a brand new tour? Those Apes head out in support of Ghost Games tonight (February 12), joined at a number of stops by Anticon artist Sole and elsewhere by the rowdy An Albatross. [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.)