Jeff Tweedy, Colin Meloy, Iggy Pop on "Lil' Bush" DVD
Kevin Federline set to join their illustrious ranks

Remember "Lil' Bush", the Comedy Central cartoon show starring a tiny, boxy, juvenile version of our President? You might recall that said show featured a cavalcade of rock star voices during its first season: Jeff Tweedy (as God), Colin Meloy (as the smart version of Lil' Bush's brother Lil' Jeb), Iggy Pop (as Lil' Donald Rumsfeld), Frank Black (as Satan), Henry Rollins (as a veteran), and Dave Grohl and the Red Hot Chili Peppers as themselves.

Well, now you can enjoy these vocal performances accompanied by funny drawings in the comfort of your own home. Today, Comedy Central releases the DVD Lil Bush: Resident of the United States: Uncensored: Season One: The Invasion Begins. (If there were any more colons in that, it would be a Coheed and Cambria album title.) The DVD extras include deleted scenes, interviews, a "tour of the White House", and segments from "The Colbert Report", "South Park", and "The Sarah Silverman Program".

The second season of "Lil' Bush" starts on Thursday, March 13. Iggy returns as Lil' Rummy, and OMIGOD Kevin Federline cameos as Karl Rove, as well as his dreaded rap alias, MC Rove.

Here's a picture of Iggy on set, getting into character. Fun fact: Donald Rumsfeld is known to only wear shirts when cameras are around.

Man Man, Blitzen, Fleet Foxes Play Gas Food Lodging
With Why?, Cadence Weapon, Born Ruffians, Elf Power, Panther, Cryptacize

Believe it or don't, cramming five folks and a drumkit into a rusted-out van and playing for dozens of people at $6 a pop does not the most financially lucrative career make. Still, they do it, these rockers, cuz they've got love for the game. And Baton Rouge, Louisiana's Spanish Moon club has got love for them. So, for a handful of bands headed to/from Austin for this week's South by Southwest, Spanish Moon is offering a stage, a crowd, and a paycheck to be spent (er, ideally) on SXSW-related expenses. They call it the Gas, Food and Lodging festival, and it's going down tonight (3/10) through March 18.

Tonight, Spanish Moon will play host to Athens, Georgia's We vs. the Shark and D.C's Middle Distance Runner. Tomorrow sees a Canadian invasion from Cadence Weapon (full disclosure, Pitchfork knows Rollie) and Born Ruffians. South by Southwest kicks off Wednesday, but you wouldn't know it from the Moon's humpday lineup, featuring Man Man, Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes, and the Extraordinaires. Thursday and Friday find the bands (hopefully) on their merry way to south Texas, but Elf Power return to Baton Rouge Saturday to help them help themselves. A couple nights later, Why?, Panther, and Cryptacize will do what they do on the Spanish Moon stage, and the whole she-bang comes to a close on March 18 with Legendary Shack Shakers. [MORE...]

Dark Meat Sign to Vice, Reissue Indians, Tour Like Mad
Performing The Stooges' Funhouse in its entirety at SXSW

A lot of those ragtag, loose-knit bands from Athens, Georgia get slapped with the "collective" label, but dang it if Dark Meat-- the 17-piece bluesy psych orchestra with the sorta rude song titles-- don't deserve it more than most.

The big ol' band laid a tasty slab of rock on us in 2006 in the form of their album Universal Indians, released on Athens label Orange Twin. Now, they've signed to Vice Records, who will reissue Universal Indians with a trio of bonus tracks. The new Indians sports "One More Trip" and "Three Eyes Open", both recorded live in California's Joshua Tree National Park, plus "Universal Indians", the band's tribute to free jazz sax legend Albert Ayler. The newly expanded edition of the disc will arrive on CD April 8 and LP April 22.

And while they're doing their thing on a grand scale, Dark Meat will embark on a positively gargantuan tour of the U.S. It will include many stops at SXSW, most notably a March 12 set at the Orange Twin showcase at Spiro's, at which they will perform the Stooges' Fun House album in its entirety.

I'm also told that Dark Meat travel in a bright green 35-foot bus! Somehow, even that doesn't seem like it'll cover it. [MORE...]

Reinvigorated Wilderness Touring, Recording

Photo by Brian Gossman

Quiet as it's been kept, a couple years have passed since Baltimore's pithy art-rock troupe Wilderness, fresh from the release of their Vessel States LP, announced they'd be taking a hiatus. But, just like that, Wilderness are back, with a few shows, a new art-inspired work, and soon enough, another album. Welcome back, Wilderness! It's like you never left.

First up is a gig March 10-- hey, today!-- at New York's Seventh Regiment Armory. Their hour-long set of all-new material will be a collaboration with visual artist Charles Long, as part of the Whitney Biennial. Long will oversee video projections during Wilderness' performance.

Wilderness will use this new work as the jump-off for an album they'll record in April. But not before hitting the road for a smattering of shows. [MORE...]

Elf Power Tour America This Spring

As Elephant 6-ers Elf Power prepare to unveil ninth studio album In a Cave outside their cave, they've announced a run of U.S. dates in celebration. In a Cave comes out March 25 via Rykodisc, and almost all of their tour dates follow it in April. However, they are playing a few shows in Austin this week, as well as in the vicinity before and after. Surprise, surprise.

For the eagerest of Elf Power fans, the band has also announced a partnership with Insound where anyone who pre-orders In a Cave on CD or vinyl through the retailer will receive a free digital copy of the record right now. Instant gratification! [MORE...]

Shining Touring America for the First Time
Like Clipse, they ride around Shining

For the first time EVAH, Norwegian jazz/metal mix-and-matchers Shining are in the States and doing their thing live and in person! Right this instant (well, starting in several hours)!

Sure, they're only playing a handful of times, but there's plenty of chances for you to get your Shining on, as the band will follow gigs in New York and Chicago with a trip on down to Austin for a few appearances at that South by Southwest thinger we keep typing so much about. They'll close things out in L.A. Sunday night. This tour is being presented by the folks at Norway's Oya Festival, as well as OhMyRockness.com.

After their brief time on our shores, it's back to Europe, where Shining have about a gig a month for the next three months, but not a whole lot else in terms of plans. (You could always come back here if you're bored, guys.) This is all in support of their latest album, Grindstone, which came out a year ago on Rune Grammofon.

In other Shining news, a few from their fold emerged on Hanne Hukkelberg's Rykestrasse 68, which was recently issued in North America on Nettwerk. [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: March 10-16, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, March 10:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Jaymay

Tuesday, March 11:

NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Drive-by Truckers

Wednesday, March 12:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: British Sea Power

Friday, March 14:

FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: British Sea Power
OVATION: From the Basement: Sonic Youth, José González, Laura Marling

Pitchfork Music Festival 2008!
Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back ! Animal Collective! Spiritualized! Vampire Weekend! M. Ward! Boris!

Gather 'round, lovers of live music, summertime, the great outdoors, the Windy City, and certain festive occasions where all these things come together. The time has come to announce that annual rite of indie passage, the Pitchfork Music Festival!

The 2008 edition of our yearly sonic bonanza returns to Chicago's Union Park on Friday, July 18, Saturday, July 19, and Sunday, July 20. We'll spare you our usual bombast and bad puns and take you straight to the initial lineup:

Friday, July 18:
Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties present Don't Look Back

Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
+ more, to be announced

Saturday, July 19:

Animal Collective
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
No Age
Atlas Sound
Fleet Foxes
+ many more!

Sunday, July 20:

Spiritualized
M. Ward
Boris
Extra Golden
El Guincho
+ many more!

Of course, that's just the beginning, so look for further lineup announcements in these pages in the near future.

And you read that correctly: Pitchfork is once again partnering with All Tomorrow's Parties to bring the Don't Look Back series-- in which artists play their classic albums in full-- to the Pitchfork Music Festival. The opening night of the fest will feature Public Enemy parading through hip-hop hallmark It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

Tickets for the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival go on sale this Wednesday, March 12 at 12 p.m. CDT, and as always, they're quite inexpensive. Three-day passes will run you $65, two-day passes for Saturday and Sunday can be yours for $50, and individual day passes cost $30. So you can use all that extra money you're saving to buy something nice for Mom. I mean, why not?

Photos: Xiu Xiu / Thao With the Get Down Stay Down [Portland, OR; 03/07/08]

Photos by Nilina Mason-Campbell

Pandapple's #1 fans Xiu Xiu kicked off their latest continent-spanning quest at Portland's Someday Lounge over the weekend, treating Xiu-philes to a newish four-member lineup and selections off sixth full-length Women as Lovers.

Thao and her trusty if clumsily-named Get Down Stay Down opened, sharing the wisdom of We Brave Bee Stings and All with those in attendance. Xiu Xiu and Thao's tour travels together continue through mid-April, with the former shipping off to Europe come May.

XIU XIU






THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN



[MORE...]

Photos: Sally Shapiro and Johan Agebjorn [New York, NY; 03/07/08]

Photos by William Joines

Sally Shapiro and Johan Agebjörn (wo)manned the decks at New York City's Mercury Lounge this past Friday as part of their first-ever tour of this continent (and Sally's first live appearances ever). Alas, this wound up being the final tour stop after logistical tie-ups kept the elusive disco chanteuse and her producer from visiting Chicago over the weekend.

But as a going away party of sorts for one who's just arrived, this DJ set offered pretty much everything Sally could have hoped for: a gathering of enthusiastic, supportive fans, a bit of dancing, and even a bouquet of flowers from one thoughtful showgoer. The notoriously shy singer, meanwhile, repaid her devotees with the sort of smiles you can't fake. Here's hoping she returns to these shores in due time.

Look for Remix Romance Vol. 1 on April 15, and check out more photos below.

SALLY SHAPIRO AND JOHAN AGEBJÖRN







[MORE...]

British Sea Power Help Save the Polar Bears

"Following the release of their Do You Like Rock Music? album," the press release begins innocently enough, "British Sea Power now turn their gaze to the plight of the polar bear and a race to the North Pole."

Uh, right, naturally! Yes, British Sea Power are no longer quite so concerned about your preferred genre; they just wanna know if you can do you part to help save the polar bears. So they have designed a special t-shirt and sew-on badge, with proceeds going to exactly that cause. More specifically, the proceeds will go to Gareth Ellis, who will join a team of two other researchers/crazy people in the Polar Challenge in April and May. And what's the Polar Challenge? Why, it's a 350-mile race across the Magnetic North Pole.

Let me be the first to say: "BRRRRRRRRRR".

While trudging across the North Pole, Ellis and crew will be doing research into the plight of the polar bear for the Polar Bears International organization. It seems some mysterious unnamed force (...ahem) is melting the ice upon which the polar bears once cutely frolicked and, as is my understanding, once drank Coca-Cola products. Ellis and company are looking to collect data in the rarely-trodded-upon high Arctic, necessitating this long and arduous duty.

Ellis' fondness of the Ursus Maritimus is apparently rivaled only by his love for British Sea Power. And BSP were more than happy to lend a hand to Ellis, provided there was no risk of frostbite to said hand. In addition to turning over proceeds from the shirt and badge to Ellis' team, they'll also provide them with their very own brand of Kendal mint cake and a brand of hair pomade that can be eaten, if one finds him or herself under duress. Extreme duress.

BSP's dedication to bears runs deep: They travel around with a ten-foot bear named Ursine Ultra from time to time, and you'll recognize that bear silhouette up there from the cover of their 2005 LP Open Season. As singer/guitarist Yan inquires in a press release, "Who wouldn't want the big old bears to stick around?" Well put. He's also supporting the cause by hand-drawing 30 "polar themed" illustrations, which will be given to the first 30 people who order shirts.

When they're not out ensuring the success of the Zoobooks series for many years to come, British Sea Power are on the road. They'll do "Letterman" on Wednesday, hit South by Southwest throughout the long weekend, and keep on keepin' on with their huge North American tour from there. A new single for Do You Like Rock Music? track "No Lucifer" is out today (March 10) on Rough Trade in the UK either via download or on a limited edition of 1,000 10"s. [MORE...]

Drummer Lorin Coleman Leaves the Thermals
Band working on new album

Lorin Coleman (pictured above in red), drummer of Portland punk-pop pummelers the Thermals for the last two years, has left the band in a "totally amicable" split. In a kindly MySpace blog post titled "Thank You Lorin!", Thermals frontguy Hutch Harris gives many a prop to the departing Coleman, calling him a "fantastic drummer and a good friend." It seems that as a Thermal, Coleman had been neglecting his duties in the band Andy Combs and the Moth, to which he'll now return on a more consistent basis.

In the same post, Hutch explains that he and Kathy Foster are "just about" finished with their follow up to 2006's top-notch The Body, The Blood, The Machine, and "almost done" working up demos for the disc. The pair expect to split drum duties on the record, with the possibility of making that the regular recording setup from now 'til the future.

You might gather from this that finding a replacement for Coleman isn't a high priority, and you'd be right. Hutch says they're not exactly looking for a new drummer just yet, though "if you live in Portland and are just fucking amazing on the drums, feel free to drop us a line."

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.)