Reunited Young Marble Giants to Play Primavera Sound
Public Enemy, Animal Collective, Cat Power, Malkmus/Jicks, Atlas Sound, Vampire Weekend, Silver Jews, Caribou, Menomena, No Age also added

Primavera means spring, the season of rebirth and new beginnings and all that, so who better to rock the Primavera Sound festival than a band who rejuvenated, reinvented, and rewrote pop according to their own rules?

Young Marble Giants, largely dormant until last year and still an extremely rare live spectacle indeed, will treat audiences at this spring's festival to their unique and endearing songfare-- almost all of which can be found on last year's expanded reissue of Colossal Youth. The set times haven't been announced just yet, but the festive happening descends on Barcelona's Parc del Fòrum May 29-31. Our friends at All Tomorrow's Parties have even curated a whole festival stage.

A whole flaming heap of other cool peeps have joined on since our last report as well, and we'd be remiss not to give them some mention. Here goes: Animal Collective, Cat Power, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors, Boris, Caribou, Menomena, Sebadoh, Silver Jews, Tindersticks, Times New Viking, Voxtrot, A Place to Bury Strangers, Bill Callahan, Bon Iver, Dr. Octagon, the Go! Team, Atlas Sound, De La Soul, Dinosaur Jr., No Age, Simian Mobile Disco, Throbbing Gristle, White Williams, Rufus Wainwright, 808 State, Alan Braxe, Apparat, El Guincho, Ellen Allien, Enon, HEALTH, Prinzhorn Dance School, Six Organs of Admittance, Supermayer, and Why?, among others.

Plus there's a reunited Polvo, and Public Enemy will give It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back yet another go. Barcelona, how we envy thee.

M.I.A., Vampire Weekend, Lupe, Girl Talk Play Brown
Insert joke about Vampire Weekend and the Ivy League here

Providence, Rhode Island's Brown University, as befits a school of its stature, is steeped in tradition. There's the legend of professor of psychoceramics Josiah S. Carberry, who simply never existed. There's the Naked Donut Run, which is exactly what it sounds like. And there's the annual Spring Weekend, a chance to cast off the pressures of the spring semester to the strains of some fine, fine music.

In recent years, the Spring Weekend has seen Brown play host to the likes of the Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo, the Roots, Ted Leo, Common, Wilco, the Shins, and others. And this year's spring fling, taking place April 11-12, will once again pack a mighty wallop, with Vampire Weekend (representing Brown nemesis Columbia) joining Lupe Fiasco on Friday night, and M.I.A., Girl Talk, and jammy jammersons Umphrey's McGee doing their thing Saturday.

That's all well and good, but when will the future leaders of tomorrow do their homeworks?

Allien, Swayzak, Modeselektor on Apparat Remixes Set
Plus: Orb's Fehlmann, Boys Noize, Nathan Fake, Telefon Tel Aviv, Monolake

I'm not one to soapbox, but Apparat's Walls: possibly the most unduly slept-on album of 2007? Hopefully dude's exquisite electronic renderings will receive greater attention thanks to Things to Be Frickled: Parts & Remixes, a forthcoming two disc collection compiling remixes of and by the man born Sascha Ring.

Swayzak, Boys Noize, Nathan Fake, Paul Kalkbrenner with Ellen Allien, and Lusine are among those who get the Apparat remix treatment on the first disc, while the second boasts Apparat remixes by the likes of Modeselektor, Telefon Tel Aviv, Monolake, Thomas Fehlmann of the Orb, and Boys Noize and Lusine again. A few bonus goodies turn up on Things as well, including a live "re-version" of "Let Your Love Grow" by Apparat/Modeselektor merge-up Moderat. We're Frickled pink!

Things to Be Frickled arrives April 15 on Apparat's own Shitkatapult imprint.

And in case you missed it, Walls knockout "Arcadia" received its own remix EP last month, thanks to France's InFiné label and Shitkatapult. The 12"/digital release features Telefon Tel Aviv and Boys Noize reworkings also found on Frickled, plus the "video edit" of the track.

Mr. Ring also has plenty of live activity brewing in the coming months. He'll travel across Europe well into spring, with a stop-over on the U.S. West Coast planned for mid-May (dates TBA). Many dates feature live visual accompaniment courtesy of Berlin's Transforma, while others have Ring busting out the backing band.

P.S.: Go listen to Walls. [MORE...]

Lemonheads' Ray Gets Deluxe Reissue, SXSW Show

The Lemonheads don't wanna take up your whole time in Austin: they just want a bit part at SXSW. But the veteran band's walk-on role is a little different than most, as Evan Dando and company will bring the entirety of their 1992 gem It's a Shame About Ray to Emo's Annex on March 12. It's all in celebration of Rhino's March 25 release of a remastered collector's edition CD/DVD set of Ray.

Note that this gig won't see a full-on reunion of the Ray-era 'heads lineup, but will find Evan doing his best to remember what 1992 was like with the help of bassist Vess Ruhtenberg and drummer Devon Ashley.

Still, there's plenty of the old Lemonheads crew-- including bassist/backing vocalist Juliana Hatfield and drummer David Ryan-- on the brand new Ray reissue. There are also nine previously unreleased demos, "My Drug Buddy" single B-side "Shaky Ground", and the first-ever DVD version of their 1993 collection Two Weeks in Australia. Daddy, what's a VHS? [MORE...]

Tokyo Police Club Give Shell a Release Date, Add Shows

When we reported that Tokyo Police Club's well-anticipated debut LP Elephant Shell was due "in late April" on their U.S. home Saddle Creek, one question still remained. Would the Club do us a solid and lay Elephant Shell out April 22, still technically "late April" but a merciful seven less days spent waiting for fresh new Tokyo Police Club jams (of which we've had far too few) than an April 29 release date? OH THE SUSPENSE.

Turns out, waiting is for suckers (and, um, folks in Europe and the UK), as Saddle Creek will issue Elephant Shell on April 22. Memphis Industries will let the disc loose on their side of the pond May 5.

The Club have added quite a few dates on to the end of their previously reported tour plans, which oughta keep 'em busy practically into June. [MORE...]

Teo Macero, Legendary Jazz Producer, R.I.P.

Legendary jazz producer and player Teo Macero-- best known for his work with Miles Davis during his incredibly fertile jazz-rock fusion period of the late 1960s and early 70s-- died Tuesday, February 19 according to The New York Times. He was 82.

Macero, born in Glens Falls, New York, studied at the Julliard School of Music before becoming involved with Columbia Records in 1957. In his nearly 20 years with Columbia, Macero was a pioneering figure in the way jazz was released on record. His early work with the label yielded such classics as Davis' Kind of Blue, Dave Brubeck's Time Out and Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um, lending the proceedings a warm, natural sound.

But it was his involvement with Miles Davis' experiments with rock music beginning in the late 60s that truly defined Macero as a producer. Not content to simply let Miles and company's gloriously unruly sessions be released in their unedited form, Macero laboriously edited Davis' raw improvisations to create the finished product. He believed that the studio albums themselves were as vital as the performances on those works.

Macero's touch-- and deftness with a razorblade, then the best way to splice together audio tape-- can be felt on such landmark LPs as In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. According to the New York Times, Macero was not involved in Columbia's reissue series of Miles Davis' sessions from that era in largely unedited box sets, as he saw the proper LPs as the only true "finished versions" of the work.

In addition to his role behind the boards, Macero was an accomplished composer and saxophonist, playing in Mingus' band and recording LPs under his own name. As a performer, he was also involved in the proliferation of the jazz/classical hybrid Third Stream in the 1950s. Macero also worked as a producer on Broadway cast recordings and film soundtracks, and, after leaving Columbia in 1975, went on to work with a diverse crew of artists like Robert Palmer and Vernon Reid.

Radiohead to Headline San Francisco Festival?
August shows in Los Angeles also rumored

Man, by the time the summer's over, Thom Yorke and Jack Johnson are sooo gonna be BFFs. Unconfirmed rumors-- as reported by the San Francisco Weekly's "All Shook Down" blog-- would suggest that Radiohead, Johnson, and football game sideshow attraction Tom Petty will headline the inaugural Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park August 22-24.

The SF Weekly piece runs down a number of circumstantial factors that would lead one to believe their anonymous source (who, it should also be noted, doesn't work for the festival) isn't just making stuff up, including documents filed by promotion company Another Planet Entertainment suggesting a gathering of roughly 160,000 in the park over that weekend. According to the piece, Radiohead are rumored to be in California around that time for a pair of shows in Los Angeles August 24-25, though those dates have yet to be confirmed.

Of course, if you really wanna catch Radiohead and Jack Johnson buddying up in August, you could just catch a ferry to Jersey City August 8-10 for the All Points West festival. But, hey, maybe now you won't have to? [MORE...]

Photos: The Magnetic Fields [New York, NY; 02/21/08]

Photos by Kathryn Yu

You'd think all the fuzzed-out pop-rockin' found on latest release Distortion might have coaxed Stephin Merritt off his cozy stool from the get-go, but there he was last night as the Magnetic Fields kicked off the first show of four at New York City's Town Hall. A reverentially quiet crowd took in a two-part set that interspersed a bunch of Distortion numbers with a cavalcade of classics from the Fields and other Merritt projects. Naturally, the set also featured plenty of dry-humored Merritt banter.

The Magnetic Fields return to Town Hall tonight and twice more this weekend, follow that up with a trio of two-night stands, and cap things off with a six gig blowout in Chicago come mid-March.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS







[MORE...]

Crystal Castles, HEALTH Kick Off Tour Tonight

HEALTH photo by Kathryn Yu / Crystal Castles photo by Daniel Cantó

Something unusual is about to happen to Hamilton, Ontario, and it may be heading your way. Noises will be made. Science will be dropped. And yes, oh yes, there will be dancing. Los Angeles' HEALTH and Toronto's Crystal Castles will meet this evening for the proper start of their fairly massive joint tour of North America, which sees the two acts traveling in tandem for the better part of five weeks.

Along the way, Crystal Castles' self-titled debut will make its way to stores March 18 on Last Gang. Once they say their goodbyes in Toronto, the Castles will rest up for the UK/European tour they're plotting for April (dates TBA), while HEALTH, fresh off their Suicide Squeeze single for "Perfect Skin", will rock their previously-reported dates, and a few new ones since the last time we brought it up. [MORE...]

Malkmus, Shins' Mercer Play Portland School Benefit

All the experts will tell you: start 'em young. Prolonged exposure to superlative indie rockers beginning at an early age will lead to a heightened awareness of one's own unique talents, improved taste in music, and increased chances of churning out quality indie rock later in life.

And who are the folks at Portland's Buckman Elementary School to question the experts? For their 2008 "Buckman Bash" benefit concert, they've rounded up two of the brightest indie stars to emerge from the Rose City in modern history: Stephen Malkmus and Shins frontman James Mercer.

M & M will perform at their hometown's Jupiter Hotel on April 11 for the benefit bash, with proceeds going toward Buckman and its Arts Focus programs (which focus on, you guessed it, the arts). Performance artist Andrew Dickson will emcee the event, while a third, as yet unannounced music act will open.

The Buckman Bash is but one part of the 18th annual Buckman Art Show & Sell festival, which runs from April 11-12 at the school. And if this Buckman name keeps ringing bells, this isn't the first time they've treated their young people to the beneficial effects of indie rockers. A swag auction this past spring featured contributions from the Decemberists, Isaac Brock, Mercer and his Shins, and Mr. Malkmus' Jicks bandmate Janet Weiss.

After a busy 2007, Mercer and his Shins have kept otherwise quiet of late (er, mostly), while Stephen Malkmus and his Jicks are just getting started. Real Emotional Trash arrives March 4 on Matador, while the band's tour kicks off March 19 in Minneapolis following a couple recently added in-stores. [MORE...]

Third Annual Pitchfork-Windish Austin Bash Revealed
Yeasayer, No Age, Atlas Sound, Bon Iver, Times New Viking, Jay Reatard, White Williams, High Places, A Place to Bury Strangers, Fuck Buttons, Lykke Li, Human Giant set to play

This March, music-minded men and women of the world will flock to Austin, Texas by the thousands-- pens, notepads, earplugs, cameras, cellphones, and contracts in hand-- with their sights set upon but one monumental event: the annual Pitchfork-Windish party at Emo's and Emo's Jr. I mean, why else would they be there?

All biases aside, Pitchfork and the Windish Agency sure have cooked up a good one this year (not that last year's was slackin'). A whole parade of kick-ass acts will grace the Emo's and Emo's Jr. stages across the afternoon of Friday, March 14.

And here they are:

No Age (5 p.m.)
A Place to Bury Strangers (4:30 p.m.)
Yeasayer (4 p.m.)
Times New Viking (3:30 p.m.)
Bon Iver (3 p.m.)
Atlas Sound (2:30 p.m.)
Jay Reatard (2 p.m.)
Fuck Buttons (1:30 p.m.)
White Williams (1 p.m.)
Lykke Li (12:30 p.m.)
High Places (12 p.m.)

Partygoers can also look forward to MTV sketch comedy group Human Giant, whose previously reported Season One DVD comes out March 4.

This celebration of live music, comedy, and general merriment is being held in conjunction with our friends at TicketWeb and 2K Sports, as well as our Pitchfork Music Festival partners Goose Island, Boost Mobile, and Sparks.

See you in Austin!

Silver Apples, Spectrum Do Dallas' Melodica Fest

Melodica 2008 bills itself as "a different kind of music festival," and that much is true: most music festivals named after one particular instrument actually feature a lot of bands who employ said instrument in their music. But we'll leave the semantics to the cynics and focus instead on the festival lineup, blowing through several venues in Dallas' Expo Park neighborhood today (February 22) and tomorrow.

Highlights include Silver Apples (who, I'm told, still bring it live), Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember in his Spectrum guise, Mike Simonetti (of Troubleman and Italians Do It Better), Yellow Fever, Finally Punk, and dot-matrix doodlers Treewave. Plus the whole thing is entirely DIY, without an iota of corporate sponsorship. So hats off to this Melodica, crazy keyboard-horn or no crazy keyboard-horn.

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.)