Jeff Mangum Raids Record Collection for Yeti Comp
Compilation also features Deerhoof, Iron and Wine, Atlas Sound

What's that unmistakable shape lurking in the shadows of a snow-swept indie newstand near you? Why, it must be a Yeti! Yeti #5, in fact.

And as they've done in the past, the offbeat lit/art/music publication has packed its pages with a bonus compilation brimming over with rare and exclusive jams. Yeti #5's attendant disc boasts the likes of Deerhoof, Iron and Wine, Atlas Sound (covering Sparks, "sort of"), Akron/Family, Dean & Britta (covering Dean's own Galaxie 500 über-classic "Tugboat"), Mount Eerie, and D+ (Phil Elverum, Karl Blau, and Beat Happening's Bret Lunsford).

What's more, the 25-track CD also includes four songs hand-selected by Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum and literally culled from the man's personal collection of rare 78s-- Mangum actually sent his old records to the Yeti crew for digitizing.

And that's to say nothing of the magazine itself, which spreads features on Akron/Family, Will Oldham, and the Sublime Frequencies label, just to name three, over its 228 provocative pages.

All that and more can be yours in Yeti #5, available for preorder now and due to hit shops March 7. (Full disclosure: Yeti is owned by Pitchfork contributor Mike McGonigal.) [MORE...]

New LCD Soundsystem Song Written for Action Flick
Soundtrack also features Rihanna, Broadcast, some song about young people by Peter Paul & Mary or something like that

Hey James Murphy! You've made Pitchfork's favorite song of the year and second favorite album of the year! What are you going to do next? Go to Disney World?

Close. He's going to Hollywood.

Yup, the newest piece of post-Sound of Silver music we're going to hear from LCD Soundsystem will be the song "Big Ideas", which will appear on the soundtrack to the new movie 21. The soundtrack will be released by Columbia Records on March 18.

According to a press release, "Big Ideas" is "a brand new track composed and recorded for 21." (Hello, 2009 Oscars!) Apparently it's an action flick about M.I.T. students who run a big scam on Vegas casinos or something. It stars Kate Bosworth, Jim Sturgess (the guy from the Beatles movie musical nobody over the age of 16 saw), Laurence Fishburne, and poor, poor Kevin Spacey.

It's in theaters March 20, though it will premiere at the SXSW film fest on March 7. There will also be a soundtrack celebration party on March 13, during the music portion of SXSW.

Other artists on the 21 soundtrack include Broadcast, Rihanna, UNKLE, Mark Ronson and Kasabian, producer David Sardy (Walkmen, Marilyn Manson) with Duke Spirit singer Liela Moss, and Amon Tobin. There's also a Soulwax remix of the Rolling Stones and Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks", a song that has yet to appear on any soundtracks to any kind of moving pictures. [MORE...]

Jarvis Cocker, Gossip's Beth Ditto Cut Charity Single

"Temptation": Heaven 17 crucial cut, Jarvis Cocker and Beth Ditto (The Gossip) cover tune of choice during the 2007 NME Awards ceremony, and now, digital charity single available for your repeat listening pleasure.

Rough Trade put "Temptation" up for purchase exclusively on iTunes today, and all profits from sales of the single-- recorded live during the aforementioned NME performance (relive it, obnoxious editing and all, at the link below)-- go to UK-based housing charity Shelter.

Temptation: that tickley feeling that makes me want to drive to Mexico to catch Jarvis live next month, then fly to France to see Ditto and the Gossip work their magic onstage. In the latter case, at least, I suppose I could settle for the U.S. dates brewing in April. Which is all to say: dates ahoy! [MORE...]

Headlights Deliver Some Album, Tour With Evangelicals

Photo by Justine Bursoni

Champaign, Illinois outfit Headlights will release their sophomore album, the follow-up to 2006's Kill Them With Kindness, via hometown label Polyvinyl tomorrow (February 19).

Some Racing, Some Stopping is the record's title, and it betrays the tour-heavy nature of the band's schedule in the coming weeks. Recently expanded to a quintet-- thanks to the addition of Decibully's Nick Sanborn and Shipwreck's John Owen-- Headlights have already headed out on their previously reported North American jaunt with Evangelicals. Catch them all in Athens, Georgia tonight. [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: February 18-24, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, February 18:

CBS: Late Night With David Letterman: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

Tuesday, February 19:

NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: The Hives
CBS: Late Night With David Letterman: Ray Davies
FUSE: Foo Fighters Live at Madison Square Garden
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Andre Benjamin (not performing)

Wednesday, February 20:

CBS: Late Night With David Letterman: Foo Fighters
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: The Whigs

Thursday, February 21:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Black Mountain
NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: John Fogerty

Friday, February 22:

FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: Pinback
OVATION: From the Basement: The White Stripes, The Shins, Neil Hannon

Saturday, February 23:

FOX: Fearless TV: Super Furry Animals

Dude Auctions Off "World's Greatest Music Collection"

If you dropped the ball on Valentine's Day last week, here's one way to make it up to your sweetheart: prove your love to the tune of a nice little gift called THREE MILLION RECORDS.

No need to scour the nation's thrift shops and bargain bins for these, though. A Pennsylvania man by the name of Paul Mawhinney is auctioning them off-- all three million of them-- on eBay right this very instant.

The self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Music Collection" will set you back at least a cool $3 million (hey, that's just a dollar a record!) and it contains, well, what sounds like pretty much anything of relevance (and non-relevance) released over the last century or so.

"Every genre of American music is represented," declares the auction's website (yes, the auction has its own URL). "Rock; jazz; country; R&B; blues; new age; Broadway and Hollywood; bluegrass; folk; children's; comedy; Christmas, and more. No other collection in the world-- publicly or privately held-- even comes close."

This hobby gone completely mad includes CDs, plenty of vinyl, and duplicates galore, and apparently "more than half" of this stuff is brand new. Mawhinney has been stockpiling the goods for some sixty years now, but has been forced to sell due to "advancing age, declining health, and associated financial concerns."

Hopefully your "sweetheart" is "a museum, library, university, or charitable foundation, or...a philanthropist interested in purchasing the collection and donating it," because those are the kinds of well-intentioned buyers Mr. Mawhinney is seeking.

Hey, it's no Velvet Underground acetate, but 3,000,000 records should make somebody out there pretty happy.

Marky Ramone Condoms? Sure, Why Not?
Warning: The use of Marky Ramone condoms may result in an increase in speed and an endurance time of two minutes or less.

Did you know that last week was National Condom Week? (Not that the other 51 weeks shouldn't be spent with the safety and security of your crotch area in mind.) To commemorate this special occasion, onetime Ramones drummer Marky Ramone has teamed with safe sex education company Ready Two Go to unveil a series of "safer sex kits" to help promote the "cool, hip" (and, of course, disease-free) way to make your blitzkrieg bop and your gabba gabba hey.

What do you get with each kit, you hesitantly inquire? Why, a couple jimmy hats, some lube, and an STD resource card, packed in a discreet Marky Ramone-themed tin with the motto "Too Tuff to Break" emblazoned on top. Available in black or silver! And, as Ready Two Go reminds us, the tins are easily refillable with "coins, pills, cigarettes, stash, mints, gum."

Added bonus: Every 1,000th customer wins a free pair of Marky Ramone signature drum sticks! And 10% of net proceeds go to CitiWide Harm Reduction.

When Marky's not making the world safe for hot punk lust, he's spreading the seeds of rock'n'roll to far-off places like the Canary Islands and the United Arab Emerates. And, of course, there's Marky Ramone's "Punk Rock Blitzkrieg", a show for you fancies with your Sirius radios. [MORE...]

Andrew Bird and Dianogah to Play Obama Benefit

That Barack Obama's on a bit of a roll lately, huh? With primary wins left and right over the last week and support from all around the indie rock world, the senator from Illinois has picked up a little more hometown support on his quest to become the Democratic nominee for the presidency from fellow Chicagoan Andrew Bird.

Bird and his pals in Dianogah, who joined him on last year's Daytrotter session, will rock an Obama benefit at Chicago's Hideout on February 28. Both acts will perform separately and together.

The suggested minimum contribution for tickets may be $100, but you can't put a price on picking a president, can you? Besides, all ticket buyers will receive a limited edition handscreen poster by Chicago artist Kathleen Judge available this night and this night only.

As for Andrew, he's got a couple other tour dates scheduled right now, including that stop at the MusicNOW festival in Cleveland Cincinnati! DOH!  [MORE...]

What Made Milwaukee Famous Prep New LP, Tour

Austin's What Made Milwaukee Famous are wasting no time releasing the follow-up to their debut album. Barely a year and a half after the arrival of the Barsuk edition of Trying to Never Catch Up (the original version of which, okay, came out in 2004), they will unleash What Doesn't Kill Us via Barsuk on March 4.

The band will head out on a North American tour in March and April, on which they're stuck opening for Louis XIV. What Doesn't Kill Us, indeed. But before that begins, they'll play a handful of other shows, including a five-show L.A. residency across various venues. The first pops off tonight (February 18) at Spaceland. [MORE...]

Photos: St. Vincent [Los Angeles, CA; 02/15/08]

Photos by Akmal Naim

Patron saint of gaga-eyed indie boys across the land, St. Vincent swept through Los Angeles' Echoplex this past weekend on a pilgrimage to discover the true meaning behind her 2007 bid for matrimony. Said meaning will apparently only reveal itself after St. Vincent plays many a song for the kids, so that's just what she and band did.

Unlike past jaunts that had St. Vincent's Annie Clark supporting folks like Sufjan, Midlake, and Jolie Holland, this current one-- bound for Portland tonight-- finds St. Vincent topping the bill. And, at the Echoplex anyway, projected larger-than-life behind the stage as well. Maybe those big faces will translate to big wins at the PLUG Awards in March?

ST. VINCENT







[MORE...]

Human Giant Embark on Pre-Season Two Tour
We were just idly surfing the net when we came across this DVD...

The funnymen of Human Giant-- who look suspiciously like those Manhammer fellows up there-- will hit the road this week in preparation for the March 11 premiere of their self-titled show's second season on MTV.

Following an appearance this past weekend at the Telluride Comedy Festival, Rob Huebel, Aziz Ansari, and Paul Scheer will explode minds and give Columbian neckties at venues across the U.S. beginning February 21 in Los Angeles.

The tour also serves as a reminder that Human Giant's Human Giant: Season One DVD comes out March 4. As for Manhammer, well, we suggest you inquire at your local adult video store about that one. [MORE...]

Pollard Leaves Merge, Starts Label for New Album
MP3 of new song available

Only two months into 2008, Robert Pollard is already off to business, and his next order of business is releasing a solo album called Robert Pollard Is Off to Business.

Consisting of a mere 10 songs in 35 minutes, the record finds Pollard amicably peacing out of his partnership with Merge Records for a June 3 release on his own newly formed label, Guided by Voices, Inc. The label is run by Pollard along with manager David Newgarden, tour manager Rich Turiel, and business manager Eric Weiss.

Off to Business was produced by frequent Pollard associate Todd Tobias. Check out the track "Gratification to Concrete", available for downloading below.

The album is scheduled to coincide with Fantagraphics' publishing of the previously mentioned coffee-table book Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard.

Prior to the release of Off to Business, GBV Inc. will inaugurate itself with the single for album track "Weatherman and Skin Goddess". Out April 8 but only available through Pollard's website, it's a three-song EP featuring two exclusive non-album tracks, "Kiss the Quiet Man" and Coat Factory Zero". It will be available on CD and 12".

And because this is a Robert Pollard news story, we can't only mention just one new album from the guy. As previously reported, the Psycho and the Birds (aka Pollard and Tobias) album We've Moved is out February 26 on Happy Jack Rock Records.

Also, for all you super fans out there, an acetate of the GBV album Half Smiles of the Decomposed is up for auction on eBay right now. It features an original Pollard collage on the cover created specifically for the auction, and is autographed by the man himself. [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.)