Caribou and Fuck Buttons Kick Off Joint Tour Tonight

Caribou photo by Sanchez and Kitahara

This evening in Hamilton, Ontario, the blissed-out psych-pop of Dan Snaith and his Caribou will meet the blissed-out caterwauling crunch of Fuck Buttons. It's the first of a ton of engagements the two will share all over North America over the next couple months.

Carting what's sure to be a truckload of pedals and gadgets and doo-dads along at every turn, Caribou and the bad-word Buttons (recent Best New Music recipients for their head-swimmingly superb Street Horrrsing LP) will make their long honeymoon an overseas affair as well, when the bands share May bills at Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival and the ATP vs. Pitchfork shindig.

Upon untangling their respective cables, and figuring out which MicroKorg belongs to which person, both bands have quite a few dates on their own. [MORE...]

Jay-Z Headlines Hove Festival
Other acts: Animal Collective, Les Savy Fav, Band of Horses

American Hove, meet Norwegian Hove. After all that fuss we made last year about the funny name of the finely curated Hove Festival in Arendal, Norway, the fest went out and snagged Jay-Z as one of this year's headliner. Well played, you guys.

Of course, Jay is hardly the extent of the 2008 bill. It also includes Animal Collective, Les Savy Fav, Band of Horses, the Raconteurs, Black Mountain, Yeasayer, the Cool Kids, Black Lips, Deerhunter, Stars, Boys Noize, Simian Mobile Disco, Crystal Castles, MGMT, Babyshambles, Black Kids, Kim Hiorthøy, Familjen, Foals, the Teenagers, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Kooks, Converge, and the newest candidate for worst band name ever, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, among many others.

This year's Hove Festival takes place from June 23-27.

Thanks to reader Anders Tønsberg for the tip.

Aphex Twin, Goldfrapp Added to Coachella Bill
One of these things is not like the other

Oh, snap. In our first post on the lineup for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival-- burning up the desert around Indio, California April 25-27-- we mentioned that, compared to previous incarnations, the 2008 roster was a little, shall we say, "underwhelming." (Though just about anything after Daft Punk in 2006 would underwhelm, with the possible exceptions of Neutral Milk Hotel or the Beatles.) But there ain't a damn thing underwhelming about Mr. Richard D. James, who will bring his crazy ass Aphex Twin to the States for the first time in god knows how long. Coachella, consider us officially whelmed.

But wait, there's more! In addition to all that gloriously buzzsawin' clickety-clack from our boy Rich, Coachella has further bolstered its roster with appearances from at least one more truly stellar get: the chameleonic Goldfrapp. There will also be sets from righteous rockers Redd Kross, Lily Allen-lite Kate Nash, System of a Down dude Serj Tankian, and English soul/jazz buzz-getter Adele. These, of course, pepper a lineup already featuring Portishead, the Breeders, M.I.A., Death Cab, the Verve, Jens Lekman, My Morning Jacket, the Raconteurs, the Streets, Animal Collective, and all those other bands on that poster you've seen floating around. Guess that means the graphic design department's hard at work on round two, huh?

East Coasters, don't forget, Coachella organizers Goldenvoice will be putting on the somewhat smaller yet paradoxically Radiohead-headlined All Points West festival in your neck of the woods this summer.

Surprise! New Raconteurs Album out Next Week!
And there's a tour, too!

Pictured above and below: The Raconteurs on the set of My Chemical Romance's "Welcome to the Black Parade" video. (I kid.)

Jack White has pulled some pretty crazy stunts in the past (the insisting that his ex-wife is his sister thing, the only wearing red, white, and black thing, the one-note concert thing), but this just might be the craziest stunt of all.

Yesterday evening (happy St. Patrick's Day, folks!), the Raconteurs-- White's band with Brendan Benson and Greenhornes Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence-- announced that they will release their second album, Consolers of the Lonely, on March 25. Yes, that is this coming Tuesday, one week from today.

The Raconteurs also announced a spring tour connecting their appearances at Coachella and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

I'm too damn tired to explain the band's reasoning behind announcing the album's existence so soon before its release, so I'm just going to let this press release speak for itself.

[MORE...]

Guide to Pitchfork's SXSW 2008 Coverage

We swear we don't actively try to overwhelm our readers with content. But we totally understand if sometimes you can't keep up with quite everything that comes across your RSS reader from this website-- particularly last week, when a bunch of your faithful Pitchforkers journeyed to Austin, Texas for the annual SXSW extravaganza, where we cold binged on live music and embraced our inner insomniacs.

A half-dozen of us also contributed photo-bedecked daily reports to the site, links to which we've happily compiled below for your reference. Whether you want to revisit a particular day, focus on a specific writer's musings, read up on the bands that most interest you, or count how many different ways we can say we <3 Robyn, consider this your jump-off point.

Lists of our personal top five favorite SXSW performances from Pitchfork's SXSW posse follow below as well. And away we go....

SXSW 2008 Coverage Guide:

Wednesday, March 12

- Tyler Grisham (Jeremy Jay, Bjørn Torske, diskJokke, Lindstrøm)
- Matt LeMay (Pattern Is Movement, Shearwater, Upright Citizens Brigade, the Judy's, Okkervil River/Roky Erickson)
- Dave Maher (The Cansecos, Peter and the Wolf, R.E.M., the Lemonheads)
- Amy Phillips (Peter Morén, the Mae Shi, Frightened Rabbit, the Tough Alliance)
- Matthew Solarski (Laura Barrett, Planningtorock, the Russian Futurists, Gowns, Silje Nes)
- Paul Thompson (Phosphorescent, Earlimart, These New Puritans, Times New Viking, musings on a missed Bun B performance)

Thursday, March 13

- Tyler Grisham (Jens Lekman, Yeasayer, Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, Bodies of Water, Man Man, High Places, El Guincho)
- Matt LeMay (R.E.M., So Many Dynamos, Yo La Tengo, the English Beat)
- Dave Maher (The Duke Spirit, Robyn, Phosphorescent, My Morning Jacket, Dizzee Rascal)
- Amy Phillips (Shout Out Louds, Lou Reed Tribute [Yo La Tengo, Mark Kozelek, My Morning Jacket, Thurston Moore and the New Wave Bandits, Moby, Laura Dawn, Lou Reed himself], Bellafea, the Wombats, Moby, Justice)
- Matthew Solarski (Thurston Moore interviews Steve Reich, the Brother Kite, Secret Shine, Sissy Wish, Retribution Gospel Choir, Mark Kozelek)
- Paul Thompson (No Age, Be Your Own Pet, Soiled Mattress and the Springs, Mike Rep with Times New Viking, Psychedelic Horseshit, High on Fire)

Friday, March 14

- Tyler Grisham (Snowglobe, Fuck Buttons, the Mae Shi)
- Matt LeMay (Portastatic, Chris Brokaw, Yo La Tengo, more Portastatic, She & Him, Destroyer)
- Dave Maher (Matt Walsh and Matt Besser, Human Giant, Be Your Own Pet, Fleet Foxes, Constantines)
- Amy Phillips (The Ting Tings, Santogold, the Kid Sister Pro Nails salon, Mika Miko, Robyn)
- Matthew Solarski (Inca Ore, Grouper, Sera Cahoone, Grand Archives, She & Him)
- Paul Thompson (Mika Miko, Herman Dune, Telepathe, Panther, Kid Sister, Clipse)
- Pitchfork/Windish Austin Bash Photos (High Places, Lykke Li, White Williams, Jay Reatard, Fuck Buttons, Bon Iver, Atlas Sound, Fleet Foxes, Times New Viking, Yeasayer, A Place to Bury Strangers, No Age)

Saturday, March 15

- Tyler Grisham (Rachael Ray party [DJ Efren Ramirez, the Raveonettes], Kevin Barnes, Robyn, the Tough Alliance)
- Matt LeMay (Hard 'N Phirm, Paul F. Tompkins, Brian Posehn, Human Giant, Pissed Jeans, Jay Reatard, Atlas Sound, Crystal Antlers, Mr. Free & the Satellite Freakout!, No Age, Black Mountain, Islands, the Breeders)
- Dave Maher (Slim Cessna's Auto Club, David Bazan, M. Ward, Jim James, Wiz Khalifa, Murs)
- Amy Phillips (Home Blitz, Still Going, Holy Ghost!, go-go dancers, Chester French, N.E.R.D.)
- Matthew Solarski (Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling, Lightspeed Champion, Sons & Daughters, J Mascis, Thurston Moore and the New Wave Bandits, Misha, No Kids, Nadja, White Shoes & the Couples Company)
- Paul Thompson (Throw Me the Statue, Saviours, Ice Cube, Constantines, Jason Collett, Los Campesinos!)

Individual Top 5 Lists:

Megan Davey, General Manager:

1. David Banner
2. David Banner
3. David Banner
4. David Banner
5. David Banner

Tyler Grisham, Assistant Editor:

1. The Tough Alliance
2. El Guincho
3. Fuck Buttons
4. High Places
5. Lindstrøm

Chris Kaskie, Associate Publisher:

1. Fleet Foxes
2. The Dodos
3. Cut Copy
4. Vampire Weekend
5. Fuck Buttons

Nate Hileman, Senior Account Manager:

1. Lykke Li
2. Reggie Watts
3. Atlas Sound
4. Jeremy Jay
5. The Dodos

Matt LeMay, Senior Contributor:

1. Destroyer
2. Shearwater
3. Portastatic
4. Jay Reatard
5. Yo La Tengo

Dave Maher, Lead Reporter:

1. Murs
2. Bon Iver
3. Be Your Own Pet
4. Jim James
5. Peter and the Wolf

Amy Phillips, Senior News Editor:

1. Frightened Rabbit
2. Robyn
3. The Tough Alliance
4. Santogold
5. The Mae Shi

Scott Plagenhoef, Associate Editor-in-Chief:

1. Cut Copy
2. The Dodos
3. Fleet Foxes
4. Fuck Buttons
5. Robyn

Mark Richardson, Managing Editor:

1. Fleet Foxes
2. Simian Mobile Disco
3. The Dodos
4. Ponytail
5. El Guincho

Ryan Schreiber, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher:

1. Fleet Foxes
2. Fuck Buttons
3. The Mae Shi
4. HEALTH
5. Ponytail

Matthew Solarski, News Editor:

1. Gowns
2. Be Your Own Pet
3. Fuck Buttons
4. Mark Kozelek
5. Grouper

Paul Thompson, Lead Reporter:

1. Clipse
2. Robyn
3. Times New Viking
4. Gowns
5. Los Campesinos!

Band of Horses Issue New Single

The MySpace-proclaimed "healing & easy listening" work of Band of Horses continues with release of the single for Cease to Begin tune "No One's Gonna Love You". The 7" is out now on Sub Pop, and on its B-side it features a cover of Them Two's "Am I a Good Man" that was recorded live for Seattle radio station KEXP. (You might recognize "Am I a Good Man" from the Numero Group compilation Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label.)

It also continues the band's tradition of subtly striking art, as witnessed by the cover pictured above.

Band of Horses have a handful of shows in Florida to wrap up their March, and the next time they'll play out will be in England this July.

They also provided music for this weird New York Times fashion movie thing, which should give you a taste of what it's going to be like when "Is There a Ghost" starts showing up in every movie trailer ever. [MORE...]

Goldfrapp Tour U.S., Work With Yeasayer, Spiritualized
Share incredibly awesome promo video

Boy, you look away for a couple of days, and Goldfrapp's gone and lined up all kinds of crazy stuff for themselves. In the coming months, Alison and Will have scheduled an embarassment of new singles for Seventh Tree's "Happiness", a mess of new tour dates, and a few appearances in popular media outlets. The single's out first, so let's start there, shall we?

On April 14 in the UK, Mute will issue "Happiness" on several formats. There's the regular CD edition, boasting a single version of the track and an acoustic version of "Road to Somewhere", a maxi-CD with a Yeasayer remix of "Eat Yourself", a take on "Monster Love" credited to Goldfrapp vs. Spiritualized (ah, I get it now), and a Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve Re-animation of "Happiness".

There will be a pretty 7" picture disc, too, with the single version of "Happiness" backed with a Metronomy remix of the tune featuring the much-talked-about Teenagers. And, though the details are scant for the time being, a "stack of downloads" is also promised.

As you know, Alison and Will plan to hit the road with all those backdrops and stuff come April, with a spotty schedule that's filling in nicely into the summer. They've added several dates since we ran them down last time, including appearances at both the Coachella and Glastonbury festivals and a couple non-fest gigs in the U.S. Their trip to the U.S. will also find the group making a stop on "Jay Leno" on April 22, and chattin' it up with Mr. Harcourt in between jams on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" the next day.

Oh, and since you were all so patient with our run-down, here's the craziest thing you're likely see in a while:

These two are so great. [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: March 17-23, 2008

Live music on TV this week:

Monday, March 17:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Bell X1
NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: The Bravery
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Billy Bragg

Tuesday, March 18:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Cribs
NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: Erykah Badu
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Stars

Wednesday, March 19:

CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Gutter Twins
FUEL TV: The Daily Habit: Working for a Nuclear Free City

Thursday, March 20:

NBC: The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: Nada Surf

Friday, March 21:

OVATION: From the Basement: PJ Harvey, Super Furry Animals, Free Blood, Operator Please
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Lupe Fiasco (rerun)
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Mary J. Blige
Syndicated: The Ellen Degeneres Show: Erykah Badu

Saturday, March 22:

FOX: Fearless Music TV: The Dodos, the English Beat

Decemberists Members Play Pogues Cover Show Tonight

Erin Go Bragh and so forth! It's St. Patrick's Day, everyone's favorite excuse to eat all kinds of sweaty meat and salty vegetables, ingest a gallon or so of green dye, and then spend the next week peeing it all out.

And what better way to soundtrack this most culturally sensitive of all holidays than with the music of trad-Irish punks the Pogues? While Shane MacGowan and company will shamrock the hell out of New York's Roseland Ballroom this evening, all across the world, Pogues cover bands aplenty will revel in their big moment before, you know, going back to their cubicles tomorrow morning, Tylenol in hand.

But K.M.R.I.A., who play Portland's Crystal Ballroom tonight, well, they've got the luck of the Irish with 'em. Once tonight's set is through and all that Jameson runs its course, all of them will go back to being in bands of their own. K.M.R.I.A. is a bit of a who's who of Pacific Northwest rock, featuring Chris Funk and Jenny Conlee of the Decemberists, Derek Brown of eels, Casey Neill, Ezra Holbrook of Dr. Theopolis, Hanz Araki of the Whyos and Paperboys, and Jesse Emerson of Amelia.

The band, who play Pogues music and Pogues music only, take their name-- an acronym for "Kiss My Royal Irish Ass", don't you know-- from a bit in James Joyce's BEST BOOK EVAR Ulysses, touched upon in the Pogues' classic "Transmetropolitan".

Beyond, like, famous people, the band's got something most of those other Pogues cover bands don't: the approval of a real life Pogue. According to the K.M.R.I.A. Myspace page, James Fearnley helped teach Chris and Jenny how to play "the impossibly arcane middle section of 'Bottle of Smoke', which neither Jem [Finer] (who wrote the damn middle section) nor Terry Woods (who never plays the same thing twice) can actually get through without extemporizing." Fearnley adds, "neither can I, truth be told. But at least I know how it's supposed to go."

Could it be that this ragtag bunch are gonna out-Pogue the Pogues' brogue? Nah, not quite, but I'm sure they're gonna have a real kickass time trying.

As they say in Ireland, Beannachtai na Feile Padraig! Man, I bet that's hard to say after a sixer of those big Guinness cans.

Sufjan, Rafter, Dosh Contribute Music for Video Games

AudioSurf, a computer-based video game, is kind of like the next step on the acoustic-kinetic evolutionary ladder that began with the Dancing Coke Can. By inputting different music into AudioSurf, you alter the gameplay of this Tetris-like puzzler.

The Asthmatic Kitty crowd is pretty geeked about AudioSurf, so geeked in fact that they've gone ahead and assembled a 15-track compilation of tunes conducive to the game. Music for Video Games Vol 1 awaits on the AK site right now as a free download, and includes offerings from Sufjan Stevens, Dosh, Rafter, and Ero Gray (aka Future Rapper collaborator Papa Alabaster), plus an exclusive new track from Anticon artist Son Lux.

Just what kind of game will AudioSurf serve up to the tune of Grampall Jookabox's "The Girl Ain't Preggers"? My friend, there is only one way to find out. Score an AudioSurf demo right here (PC users only, sorry dudes!) and download Music for Video Games at the link below. [MORE...]

Radiohead Rack Up Google Hits With "Nude" Single
Host animated video contest; Liars, Underworld to open North American tour?

Come March 31, UK fans of Radiohead will have the opportunity to get "Nude". The single (what else would we be talking about?) for the string-saturated In Rainbows standout arrives that day via XL Recordings in three delicious formats: CD, 7", and digital. Depending on the format you choose, you could be treated to B-sides "4 Minute Warning" and "Down Is the New Up", both culled from the second disc in the In Rainbows discbox.

There's also talk of a "Nude" remix contest, details forthcoming. And speaking of contests, the Radioheadz have another, separate one for all the aspiring animators out there. Radiohead's U.S. label TBD, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and cartoon networking site aniBoom are inviting folks to submit storyboards for a music video for an In Rainbows track of their choosing. Ten finalists will be selected and given $1,000 to produce a one-minute clip, and the party responsible for the best of these gets $10,000 and the chance to make their Radiohead video, which Adult Swim will premiere. Can you top this? How about this? Contest details here.

Finally, on the Radiohead live front, the band has firmed up a couple of those Japan dates and will play a special BBC Radio 2 gig in London on April 1 (no foolin'). Fans must apply for tickets to that one via Radio 2. Last but most assuredly not least, sources are reporting that Liars (!) will open the first leg of Radiohead's North American tour. While unconfirmed at this time (and can we ever truly confirm anything concerning a crew calling themselves Liars?), that pretty much rules like no other. Rumored to open the second leg: Underworld. [MORE...]

SXSW: Saturday [Amy Phillips] (Potentially NSFW)

Home Blitz [Blind Pig Rooftop; 8:30 p.m.]

"MOOK CENTRAL," my friend Maria scrawled in my notebook as we stood around the Blind Pig waiting for Home Blitz to play. Yeah, that pretty much summed it up: backwards baseball caps, Red Hot Chili Peppers blasting on the sound system, cargo shorts.

These people are in for a big surprise, I thought. Home Blitz's ramshackle garage rock isn't exactly the best soundtrack for macking on that hottie Tri Delt in the spaghetti strap cocktail dress.

Surprisingly, I was wrong. The space didn't clear out when the New Jersey trio commenced their racket-- in fact, quite a few people seemed to be enjoying themselves, and even attempted to dance. I have underestimated you, mooks of Austin, Texas!

Home Blitz sounded just as goofy and dinky as they do on record, with singer/guitarist Daniel Dimaggio acting extra bored and whiny, in a good way. (Full disclosure: Dimaggio and I worked at the Village Voice at the same time a few years ago.) The drummer had the best drum faces I saw at SXSW, at one point jumping up from his stool to lean over the rooftop venue's railing and yell something at the crowds on Sixth Street below.

Still Going / Holy Ghost! [Pangaea; 11:30 p.m.]

Sometimes, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

At 11 p.m., I was poised in the front row of the Cedar Street Courtyard, ready for Neon Neon's set at the Indie 103.1 FM Los Angeles showcase. I love Neon Neon's debut album Stainless Style, and I was excited to see how Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys and soundscape architect Boom Bip would pull it off live.

But then a bunch of scruffy dudes took the stage, and they most certainly weren't Neon Neon. The girl next to me said that the schedule had gotten mixed up, and Neon Neon had played at 10 p.m. Here now to entertain us were the Deadly Syndrome, a deadly boring L.A. scenester band.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Consulting the handy SXSW guide, I realized that the Cedar Street Courtyard was just around the corner from Pangaea, that douchey bottle service dance club where I'd seen Robyn the night before. The DFA/Metromix/GBH showcase was in full swing, so I thought I'd stop by to check out recent DFA signings Still Going and Holy Ghost! before heading to the Perez Hilton party (more on that shortly).

Despite its previously documented shortcomings, Pangaea has an excellent sound system, perfect for the bottom-heavy mix of diva house and minimal techno that Still Going were spinning when I arrived.

Everything was going just fine-- a good mix, a dance floor that wasn't too crowded-- until Still Going handed the decks over to Holy Ghost!

Then this happened:

And this:

That's right, Pangaea employs its own go-go dancers! And it let a pair loose on the DFA showcase, positioning them on either side of the DJ setup, right next to those enormous DFA banners. The floor filled up real quick. DFA artists aren't particularly known for, um, blatant sexuality, but all of a sudden, well-crafted experimental electronic dance music had a whole bunch of new fans.

A word about the dancers themselves: they were really good! These ladies could move, and in ways I personally have never been able to contort my body. I was mesmerized, and not in a sexually attracted way. These were master craftswomen at work.

So hats off to you, girls. I hope they pay you well.

Chester French [Palm Door; 2 a.m.]

So yeah, the Perez Hilton party. As Tyler Grisham just mentioned, the swag and beverage offerings were pretty swank, and there was a hairstyling station. The crowd was pretty much what you would expect, mostly people who look like you've seen them standing in the background on "The Hills" at some club where Spencer and Heidi are having a fight.

Much has been made of Perez's influence in boosting musicians' careers, and while it remains to be seen if he can translate buzz into significant sales, the dude really does seem to genuinely love the artists that he champions. He stood right next to the stage for every performance at his party, singing along and rocking out. Which is quite a feat of stamina when the performance in question came from one Chester French.

Chester French are a duo of recent Harvard graduates discovered by fellow alum Rivers Cuomo and signed to Pharrell's Interscope imprint Star Trak.

They are beyond terrible.

Playing their third show ever at the Perez party, Chester French sang songs about girls who wear Jimmy Choos and girls who require you to use protection when having sex with them, because their sexual pasts are suspect. The latter song is apparently Chester French's debut single, and it comes in a package shaped like a CD-sized condom. D.A. Wallach, the Napoleon Dynamite-looking frontman pretending to be a sex god, threw a single into the crowd with such alarming force that when it hit me in the arm, it left a bruise.

Seriously, look at these guys! Look at them! Ack!

N.E.R.D. [Palm Door; 3 a.m.]

Providing a nice palate-cleanser after the stank of Chester French, "surprise" celebrity guests N.E.R.D. took the stage at 3 a.m. to the craziest, most packed crowd I experienced at SXSW. (Pardon the lack of good photos, I was fearing for my life.) Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Shay were joined by a fierce live band that tore through "Lapdance", "She Wants to Move", and new single "Everyone Nose".

When I'd last seen a N.E.R.D. performance, back in 2002 when their first album In Search Of… had just been released, it was clear that this was a studio project, and the Neptunes were far more comfortable behind a bank of equipment than in front of an audience. But six years later, these guys are bona fide rock stars.

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.)