Fool's Gold to Attack Spring With Tour, Releases

Just in time for SXSW, the party starters at Fool's Gold have prepared another musical takeover in the form of festival showcases, a tour, and, of course, a ton of singles.

Since they come first, let's start with the showcases. The first of the two is a SXSW showcase at Volume on March 15. In addition to label heads A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs, it will feature the live talents of Kid Sister, Flosstradamus, Chromeo, Kid Cudi, and Jokers of the Scene.

The second showcase takes place March 28 at the White Room in Miami during the Winter Music Conference. At this one, there will be sets from A-Trak, Nick Catchdubs, Sinden, LA Riots, Jokers of the Scene, Treasure Fingers, Sammy Bananas, and Nacho Lovers.

Next is the full-blown tour, dubbed "Screaming Bloody Murder" and featuring A-Trak, Sinden, Steve Aoki, Sammy Bananas, and special guests. The nine-date trek goes down in mid-April.

Finally, there are the releases. Fool's Gold just put out Kid Cudi's "Day 'N' Nite" and Jokers of the Scene's "Y'all Know the Name" singles, and they have quite a few more platters in the works, from the likes of Treasure Fingers, LA Riots, and Nacho Lovers, Trackademicks, Kavinsky, Bag Raiders, and Congorock.

To cap it all off, Fool's Gold is also working on its first label compilation and the co-release with Downtown of Koko B. Ware, Kid Sister's debut full-length. [MORE...]

High Places, Trey Told 'Em, Fuck Buttons on Huge Comp
Cardboard Records also preps Ecstatic Sunshine LP

Brooklyn label Cardboard Records unleashed a 57-track behemoth of a compilation today, March 4. The double-disc collection is called Love and Circuits: A Cardboard Records Compilation From Aa to Zs.

In addition to the titular bands and Cardboard owners Parts & Labor, there are contributions from High Places, Oneida, Girl Talk side project Trey Told 'Em, Ecstatic Sunshine, Fuck Buttons, Wilderness, Matt & Kim, Gowns, Japanther, Maps & Atlases, Pterodactyl, These Are Powers, Lucky Dragons, Numbers, the Oh Sees, Flying, and Shy Child, among others, all alphabetized by name. What's more, most of the tunes are exclusive to this compilation!

On March 12, Cardboard will descend on Austin, Texas with a SXSW showcase at Habana Calle 6 featuring sets from comp contributors Parts & Labor, Gowns, Ecstatic Sunshine, Pterodactyl, Shooting Spires, These Are Powers, and Best Fwends.

In other news from the Cardboard camp, the label will release Ecstatic Sunshine's latest full-length offering, Way, on April 8. Ecstatic Sunshine join their label bosses Parts & Labor on a bunch of tour dates this month. [MORE...]

Mogwai, Delgados Folks on New Malcolm Middleton LP

Former Strapping Arabian Malcolm Middleton released his fourth solo album in the UK via Full Time Hobby this week. The A Brighter Beat follow-up is called Sleight of Heart, and it features Middleton's covers of Madonna's "Stay", King Creosote's "Marguerita Red", and Jackson C. Frank's "Just Like Anything", among six other tunes.

Though it's mostly a low-key, acoustic affair, Middleton did enlist some other players on Sleight of Heart, including Mogwai's Barry Burns (piano) and ex-Delgado Paul Savage (drums). And yes, the titles of both Middleton's and fellow ex-Arab Strap member Aidan John Moffat's 2008 albums contain the word "heart". You guys are adorable, really.

Middleton has also lined up a spring tour of the UK and Northern Ireland, plus a few dates abroad in May. [MORE...]

Lindstrom Launches Label, Preps Dominique Leone LP

Space disco hero Hans-Peter Lindstrøm already runs one label, Feedelity, but he has extended his reach even further with the creation of a new one. Strømland Records is the new label's name, and it was formed in collaboration with Joakim Haugland, who himself founded Smalltown Supersound.

For their first release on Strømland, the two men have tapped Feedelity artist Dominique Leone, whose name may look familiar as a contributor to this very website. Congratulations to Dom on Strømland's May 20 release of his self-titled full-length debut.

Strømland will follow Dominique Leone with a reissue of the 1979 self-titled debut from Norway's Alf Emil Eik. An Eik 12" featuring a remix from Todd Terje is planned to precede the reissue.

In live Strømland news, both Lindstrøm and Leone have dates in the coming months. [MORE...]

Pitchfork to Launch Online Music TV Channel April 7

The 24-hour music network was such a great concept. What happened? Given music's nearly inexhaustible supply of notable artists and genres, there are no limits to how deeply it can be explored. But despite all the footage we've seen of high-profile rock and pop artists hitting their creative strides, similar documents of independent artists are far less accessible, if they exist at all.

In recent years, independent film networks have dedicated themselves to the respectful and intelligent treatment of classic and underground cinema. But independent music has never had a permanent home. So today, we're proud to announce the April 7 beta launch of Pitchfork.tv, the first-ever music video channel dedicated to documenting independent music as it happens. As a visual extension of the music coverage Pitchfork has provided for more than a decade, and a means of updating and advancing the music television format, the online channel will bring you closer to the artists you love, through original mini-documentaries, secret rooftop and basement sessions, full concerts, exclusive interviews, and the most carefully curated selection of music videos online.

In addition, Pitchfork.tv will become the first online video channel to screen full-length feature films, vintage concerts, and music DVDs free of charge. From the Pixies' 2004 reunion tour film LoudQuietLoud and Todd Phillips' notorious GG Allin documentary Hated, to Jimmy Joe Roche & Dan Deacon's acid-drenched visual art piece Ultimate Reality, Pitchfork.tv will highlight a different film each week in its entirety.

This content is just the beginning. With one of the web's largest, crispest, and highest-resolution displays, Pitchfork.tv truly invites full-screen viewing. And, with all content available on-demand, we're putting you in control of the music you want, how and when you want to see it. Soon, we'll add personal playlist capabilities, so you can watch all your favorites in a row. And later this year, as part of a massive redesign effort, Pitchfork.tv will integrate with its parent site, presenting innovations and further advancements to the world of online music journalism.

Like Pitchfork itself, Pitchfork.tv is an independent company with no investment dollars or special interests, allowing us the freedom and control to stay true to our creative vision. We've waited decades for a music channel that respects our intelligence and reflects our ideals. Now that the technology is here, we're finally able to do it the way that people who really care about music have always wanted to see it done.

Silver Jews Announce Lookout Release Date

Nevermind a light, Silver Jews fans now have an end of the tunnel, period. The wait for David Berman and co.'s sixth album, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, will end with its June 17 release on Drag City.

The follow-up to 2005's Tanglewood Numbers is the first Silver Jews record played by the touring lineup that formed in 2006 in defiance of Berman's previous refusal to tour: Berman, his wife Cassie, Tony Crow, Peyton Pinkerton, and William Tyler. Lookout Mountain's tracklist has been rearranged a bit since our initial report, and one thing we didn't know then was that "Open Field" is a cover of a Maher Shalal Hash Baz song.

Back to touring, the Jews' May appearances at the Primavera Sound Festival and the Explosions in the Sky ATP are just a couple of stops on a spring European jaunt. Then, for the fall, the band is planning a tour of the U.S. And according to The Tennessean, Berman will give a poetry reading at Nashville's Watkins College of Art and Design on March 12.

For a lot more about the album and everything else going on in the Silver Jews universe, read our recent interview with Berman here. [MORE...]

Tom Waits Planning Summer Tour
OMG! That's that weird guy ScarJo covered!

Photo by Michael O'Brien

Septuplets, full solar eclipses, and Tom Waits tours: some things just don't come around too often. Lucky for us, 2008 is shaping up to be a favorable year, once which will see the elusive Mr. Waits grace stages across the U.S. and Europe.

According to report in "webpaper" The Washington Independent and confirmed by Waits' camp, the gravel-voiced one is in the process of putting together summer tours of the aforementioned locales. No dates just yet, but to be on the safe side, you probably want to start lining up outside your local ticket vendor now.

Waits last toured in August 2006, and people enjoyed it very much.

And hey, that Scarlett Johansson album! Word is it's better than you think.

Crystal Castles Postpone Shows Due to Injury

Photo by Matthew Taplinger

What is it with young bands and car accidents these days? Not yet a week after news of the hit-and-run involving Vampire Weekend drummer Chris Tomson, Crystal Castles have postponed a handful of tour dates because of a car accident involving lead singer Alice Glass.

Glass is suffering from two cracked ribs and will take the next week to recover. However, tourmates HEALTH will soldier on with their recently launched trek. Crystal Castles will resume playing out with their appearances at SXSW, after which they will rejoin HEALTH on the road.

If everything goes according to plan, Glass' recovery will coincide with the March 18 release of Crystal Castles' self-titled debut on Last Gang. [MORE...]

Hercules and Love Affair Ready Debut LP, Drop Single

We've made a bit of a fuss about Brooklyn disco dude Hercules and Love Affair (aka producer Andy Butler) over in Forkcast recently, which is great if you sit on the internet all day trolling for hot new underground sounds instead of doing things like going outside, reading books, eating food at restaurants, and occasionally talking to people while buying music from them. We heavily recommend all those activities, however, so in the interest of balance, know that the month of March holds actual releases from Hercules and Love Affair.

First up is the digital and physical release of lead single "Blind" via DFA/EMI, available now in the UK. Like several other tracks on Hercules' forthcoming self-titled debut, "Blind" features vocal contributions from Antony Hegarty, and the CD and 12" versions of the single include a remix of the track from Chicago house legend Frankie Knuckles.

Speaking of Hercules and Love Affair, DFA/EMI will release the album on March 10 in the UK. But if you must stay inside and get it, the iTunes version of the record will include previously unreleased track "I'm Telling You" as a bonus.

And if you're looking to leave the house, catch Butler DJing in London this month, and Hercules and Love Affair playing live in June. [MORE...]

Photos: Arcade Fire Members Rock for Obama, Part 2 [Cleveland, OH; 03/03/08]

There's a lot of romance surrounding Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Imagine, for a moment, that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson was the candidate lodged in a late winter dogfight with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Would Albuquerque natives the Shins be playing rallies prior to the March 4 primary in Ohio? My guess is no.

With the polls indicating a shrinking Clinton lead, most of the Arcade Fire made the 14-hour trek from Montreal to Ohio to drum up support for Obama, playing in Nelsonville on Sunday, March 2, and performing two free shows last night, March 3, at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland.

Braving long lines, rain, and a rapidly descending temperature, the throngs of Obama supporters/Arcade Fire fans packed the one-time Croatian dance hall in the slowly-but-surely gentrifying Waterloo neighborhood. There was a surprisingly stark contrast between the two sets: the early show was an almost somber affair, while the second set was a raucous revival of sorts.

The band kicked off the early show with a subdued cover of David Bowie's "Heroes". Win Butler quipped that the last time they played on the Beachland stage there were one hundred people in attendance (he was understating that a bit), and that the increased attendance "means Barack Obama should be the president." He offered up "Intervention" as a cry for help after the 2004 election, adding a scorching run through of John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth" as the answer to that cry. The short set wound down with what seemed to be a perfunctory "Wake Up" and a somewhat stale arrangement of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come".

The late set was an almost entirely different event. Will Butler proved to be a far more adept political speaker than his brother, firing the crowd up with the assertion that "if Barack Obama doesn't become president, this whole movement will not mean anything...history doesn't remember the candidate that didn't win."

Opening this set with "Intervention", the band was clearly operating on a more vital level than a couple of hours earlier. This was especially evident in the increased urgency added to a burning "Antichrist Television Blues" and a more energetic, almost punked-up repeat of "Gimme Some Truth".

After a short speech from Obama spokesman Kevin Griffis (who was personally responsible for the Ohio rallies, as his series of emails with Win Butler led to the hastily-arranged shows), the band revisited "A Change Is Gonna Come" (again without the undesired effect). The second set's infectious energy was recaptured with a searing "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)", with Win delivering the second half of the song from the floor among the packed crowd. The crowd responded accordingly, and the combination of dancing and shoving was nearly the polar opposite from the stoic nature of the earlier group of attendees.

This set's take on "Wake Up," which closed the night, found the band in their typical post-show impromptu balcony formation, creating the sort of crowd participation befitting a rally for participatory democracy.

There is plenty to make voters cynical in our country, and a skeptical reaction to a band of native and transplanted Canadians holding a political rally for an American presidential candidate is fairly predictable. But for a state with such a late primary (traditionally, the early March voting in Ohio has offered little aside from the opportunity for voters to cast a petulant vote of displeasure with the prohibitive candidate), the closeness of the Democratic race was a rare chance to attract this sort of attention before the general election. The decidedly young crowd reveled in the occasion, swept up in equal measure by the band and the romance of Obama's campaign. A bleak and rainy day awaits voters on Election Day, but the fighting spirit that the Arcade Fire brought with them to northeast Ohio proved that the possibility for less-cynical politics has a willing audience in Cleveland.

[MORE...]

Man Man Kick Off World Tour
Warning: shows may be Rabbit Habit-forming

No strangers to the epic expedition, Man Man begin their newest live journey tonight, March 4, in Baltimore. The three-month-long itinerary includes dates with Yeasayer, Islands, Dirty Projectors, and an appearance at the ATP vs. Pitchfork festival. It's a regular oddball parade!

Of course, the reason for Man Man's touring season is the April 8 arrival of their third LP, Rabbit Habits, via new label Anti-. Check out the album cover right up there. [MORE...]

Daft Punk to Release Electroma on DVD and Blu-Ray

Photo by Kirstie Shanley

It looks like North Americans are in for another summer of Daft Punk. The beloved French-humans-posing-as-robots will bring their robots-on-a-quest-to-become-human film Electroma to DVD on July 22 via Vice Records. The silent, experimental feature directed by Daft Punk themselves will be available on both DVD and the shiny new Blu-Ray format. The package is a metal case with imprinted cover images, and a 40-page book of stills from the movie.

In anticipation of the DVD's release, there are two screenings of Electroma scheduled for next week in Florida. [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.)