Flaming Lips, Hercules, Black Kids Do Camp Bestival

Once a year, BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank has brought a few of his favorite record-makers-- and many thousands of ticketholding onlookers-- to the Isle of Wight for a late-summer Bestival. But September is far away, and Rob da Bank's party planning instincts have already got the best of him. So, then, there's the first-ever Camp Bestival, which goes off July 18-20 at Dorset, England's Lulworth Castle.

Camp Bestival shares a lot with its elder sibling, and not just a few record collection touchstones. Like Bestival proper, there's readings, spoken word events (this one hosted by noted talker Scroobius Pip), a mess of comedians and comediennes, and a whole bunch of other unique fantasy world wackiness. There's also a petting zoo!

But, oh, the music: Camp Bestival has nabbed the likes of the Flaming Lips, Chuck Berry, Hercules and Love Affair, Billy Bragg, Black Kids, dan le sac and the aforementioned Scroobius Pip, Kid Creosote, and Kate Nash, among others. Billy Bragg won't just be doing his solo stuff; he'll perform in a Brit-folk supergroup along with Martin and Eliza Carthy, Sheila Chandra, and Chris Wood.

And, this being a DJ-curated festival, there'll be platters spinning damn near constantly, highlighted by appearances from Kevin Rowland of Dexy's Midnight Runners, Andrew Weatherall, DJ Yoda, Gilles Peterson, Idjut Boys, Queens of Noise, and a four hour psychedelic/prog DJ set from Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve (Erol Alkan and Richard Norris). Please avoid the brown Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Yoko Ono Explores "Female Experience" in Art Exhibit

Photo by William Nettles/©Yoko Ono

Long before she had 15,000 Pitchfork Music Festival attendees declaring their love for her via mini-flashlight signals last summer, and even before she was shrieking like a possessed dolphin on record, Yoko Ono made her name known in the international art world.

Ono's artsy endeavors span from her involvement with the Fluxus movement in the 1960s to her performance art-tinged work with the Plastic Ono Band in the 1970s, and on through the present day-- and the present is what we're here to discuss today.

Or, more precisely, the future: Tomorrow, April 18, Yoko Ono will open an exhibit at New York City's Galerie Lelong entitled "touch me". The show collects all manner of paintings, films, photographs, and sculptures-- including the unsettling pair of heels pictured above-- that, as the press release puts it, "comment on different facets of the female experience, calling upon the viewers to make direct and deeply personal connections."

Those viewers can connect with plenty of provocative stuff, including a couple interactive pieces: a massive canvas with openings intended for gallerygoers' appendages, and a collection of cameras with which the art-minded may take their pictures.

"touch me" runs through May 31.

Election Fever: Bruce Boosts Barack! Rockers 4 Novick!
Those rockers include Michael Stipe, Colin Meloy, Britt Daniel, Corin Tucker, Rufus Wainwright

With the general election less than seven months away (crazy, right?), Senator Barack Obama has quite a long road ahead of him.

Not only must he triumph over Democratic nomination challenger and fellow Senator Hillary Clinton, but he'll also-- should he prove the victor-- need to recover from that contest on a dime in order to mount up a formidable challenge against the presumed Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain.

So who better to ride in on a white horse and boost the spirits of a man who seeks to be boss of this country than Thee Boss of your rock'n'roll life, Mr. Bruce Springsteen?

Bruce recently took to his website to post a thoughtful missive voicing his support of Senator Obama. As the preeminent entertainer writes, "Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

"He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where '...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.'"

Check out Mr. Springsteen's message in full below. As he concludes, "Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President."

Ooh, maybe this means Bruce will link up with his old pals the Arcade Fire for another rip-roaring rally?

And with all the national media focus on the heated Obama/Clinton contest, it's easy to forget this country is full of other upstanding folk on all levels of government who will be vying for somebody's vote on Tuesday, November 4.

Among those is Oregon's U.S. Senate hopeful Steve Novick, who, like Obama, faces a tight race within his own party on his quest to go up against-- and prevail over-- incumbent Republican Senator Gordon Smith.

Also like Obama, Novick seems to have struck a chord with the indie rock elite. A bunch of big names from Oregon and elsewhere recently stepped up to show Steve some love. Among them: R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy, Spoon principle Britt Daniel, producer and Death Cabbie Chris Walla, Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker, Rufus Wainwright, ex-Nirvana bassist/Flipper member/political blogger Krist Novoselic, Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard, and more.

As Meloy said in a press release, "I think we need a new kind of progressive leader in the U.S. Senate who isn't afraid to take on the tough issues. Meeting with Steve, I was quite impressed with his command of the challenges we face and his candor about what it will take to turn this country around. I'm proud to give him my support."

Meloy also made clear his intent to re-register to vote as a Democrat, adding, "I encourage everyone to get involved the elections happening across the country, regardless of who you support. The issues are too important, the stakes are too high, to leave it to someone else to decide for you."

Well put, Mr. Meloy! And on that note, and without deigning to too much handwringing, you really ought to do the voting thing. Go find November 4 on your calendar and circle it, highlight it, underline it, deck it out with Hello Kitty stickers-- whatever it takes!

Of course, before you do the voting thing, make sure to do the registering thing. Plenty of info about that can be found right here. [MORE...]

CSS Reveal North American Tour, Dates With Go! Team

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

CSS aren't about to let a little lineup shake-up slow their roll, and they've got the brand new tour dates to prove it. The Brazilian bodyrockin' quintet-- recently pared down a bit with the departure of founding member Ira Trevisan-- have added a North American trek to their schedule. The new shows take place in the late summer, and find them sharing stages with fellow exuberant-types the Go! Team on a few occasions.

The good times begin May 5 in Cardiff, Wales, with gigs on and off pretty much from then 'til it starts getting cold again. And, though details remain elusive at the moment, a new CSS record is indeed imminent. [MORE...]

Rilo Kiley Kick Off Tour Tonight

Tonight in San Francisco, Rilo Kiley will perform the first of many shows on their previously reported spring tour. Though they'll break for a bit after their appearance at Coachella, the Los Angeles band will largely stick to the road for the next couple months, joining up with Thao and the Get Down Stay Down in late May for a run and eventually touching down in Texas after a showing at Bonnaroo.

All those takeoffs and landings are yours after the jump. [MORE...]

Wilco Add Dates, Retribution Gospel Choir Join Tour

Photo by Will Marsh

It was just about this time last year when we announced that Minnesotan slowcore staples Low would be opening for their fellow Midwestern vets Wilco on a mess of late spring/early summer dates. Twelve months later, and the song remains largely the same: on Wilco's April and May 2008 dates, they'll be joined by Low guitarist/vocalist Alan Sparhawk's Retribution Gospel Choir. We're guessing the last time out went pretty well, eh guys?

Wilco have added quite a few dates since the last time we checked in with 'em, including new stops well into the summer and festival appearances at Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, and Ireland's Electric Picnic Festival. Two shows in Alaska, too!

As for Sparhawk, both Low and RGC have European dates before and North American dates after the big meetup with Wilco. And there's even a lone gig for Sparhawk's Black-Eyed Snakes in St. Paul when all is said and done. [MORE...]

Ecstatic Sunshine Hit the Road With Cex

Energized by the recent Cardboard Records release of their sophomore album Way, drone-y three-piece Ecstatic Sunshine have plans to hit the road with fellow Baltimore resident and glitch-hop weirdo Cex.

Before the two meet up, Ecstatic Sunshine kick off their tour tonight (April 17) in Princeton-- right after bandmember Matthew Papich gets weird in NYC. In addition to plenty of Cex, Ecstatic Sunshine will also share stages with Atlas Sound, High Places, Zs, and BARR. [MORE...]

Polvo's Ash Bowie Talks "Reformation"
More U.S. dates added

Photo by Ashley Worley

As a member of Polvo and Helium, singer & guitarist Ash Bowie helped paint the indie rock landscape of the 1990s. Following over ten years of silence, Polvo return to the stage in May, but don't call it a reunion. Bowie prefers the word "reformation." He told us as much when he answered our questions over email.

In addition to clarifying terms, Bowie explained why former Cherry Valence drummer Brian Quast has replaced original Polvo drummer Eddie Watkins and gave us insight into the rehearsal process, the band's history, and the possibility of a new record.

Pitchfork: After a decade of inactivity, why has Polvo reunited now? Did the reunion come about purely as a result of being asked to play Explosions in the Sky's ATP, or was this something you guys had thought about and discussed previously?

Ash Bowie: We never actually ruled out playing together again, but this was the first opportunity to do so when the timing seemed good for all of us and when we might realistically have enough time to get together and practice. We definitely wouldn't be doing this right now if Explosions in the Sky hadn't asked us to play. The ATP festival is something that we, as music fans, think is pretty cool, and we're definitely lucky to be a part of this one.

Pitchfork: Why is Brian Quast filling in for Eddie Watkins on drums? Is Eddie's relationship with the other members of the band strained in any way?

AB: Obviously, this is not the original band lineup doing a reunion. "Reformation" is probably a more accurate word. Therefore, no one is filling in for anyone. We consider Eddie a good friend who played a big part in the band's history, but after he amicably quit the band, we kept going with our friend Brian Walsby on drums, and this time around we felt that Brian Quast would be a great fit for us, stylistically. Both Eddie and Walsby were great to have in the band and are terrific drummers, and we aren't slighting either of them now by choosing to play with someone new in order to create something new.

Anyway, we're on fine terms with Walsby, who is now happily playing with Double Negative, and I think Eddie understands why we wanted to make a fresh start with yet another drummer, but of course I can't speak on his behalf. [MORE...]

RZA's World: Ice Picks, Chess, and System of a Down
RZA and SOAD's Shavo Odadjian form new band, Achozen

Um, hey, extremely rich people? Many of you may, in fact, be crazy. It's the only way I can get my head around the very existence of the Jagger Dagger, an icepick designed by Jade Jagger (spawn of Mick'n'Bianca) that retails in the neighborhood of a quarter million dollars.

But the Jagger Dagger ain't for any old frozen-water-stabbin', no way: the Dagger-- "a sword boasting an 18-carat white gold hilt studded with 12 carats of brilliant-cut diamonds, 42 pale sapphires, and inlaid with a central blue lapis lazuli square"-- was conceived for the sole purpose of chilling Belvedere vodka, either in the comfort of your own incredibly large home, or in those shitty clubs with "bottle service".

And why, you might ask, would a person need to drop $250,000 on such a pointless thing? Well, duh: "The irregular surfaces of hand-cracked ice melt down more slowly than traditional evenly-shaped ice cubes, keeping vodka cold without diluting its taste and potency." I mean, if this not-so-liquid sword ain't worth that kinda money, I don't know what is. [from Fashion Week Daily, via Lola y Maria]

OK, so, why are we talking about this thing? Well, tonight at New York City's Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, Wu-Tang Clan rapper/producer extraordinaire RZA will perform at an event celebrating the Jagger Dagger. Why? Well, because RZA recently collaborated on a Belvedere ad with Vincent Gallo. And probably because he's getting paid handsomely. Perhaps in Jagger Daggers?

Moving on...

In significantly less wacky RZA news, over the weekend at a chess tournament in Menlo Park, California, he announced the launch of the online chess community WuChess.com. It's RZA's first online venture, co-created with Chesspark to help bring chess players of all ages together to play and chat. A portion of the site's revenues will go to the Hip Hop Chess Federation's scholarship fund. A fine idea for a noted chess nut such as he, though one imagines elaborate scenarios in which RZA and some 11-year-old from Dayton are pitted head-to-head, unbeknownst to each other. "Nice move!" "BONG BONG." Etc.

And because his myriad musical projects just weren't enough, RZA had to go and add another one to the pile: Achozen, his new project with System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian. The group also features rapper Kinetic 9 from Wu-Tang associates Killarmy and RZA collaborator Reverend William Burke, and their forthcoming debut albums includes cameos from GZA, George Clinton, Killah Priest, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante, and others. That album will be released this summer on Odadjian's label urSESSION, with the first track, "Deuces", set to debut on urSESSION's website on April 22. A tour is expected to follow.

RZA's next nice move is a mess of UK/North American tour dates in the coming months, as well as the July 1 Koch release of his latest Bobby Digital LP, now called Digi Snacks. There's also a handful of Wu-Tang Clan dates on the way, though I wouldn't necessarily count on RZA's presence at any of 'em.

For a lot more RZA, stay tuned for Pitchfork's interview with the man himself, coming soon to a website near you! [MORE...]

Deerhoof, Times New Viking, Prefuse 73 Go Wordless
Plus: Stars of the Lid, Eluvium, A Sunny Day in Glasgow

The Wordless Music Series is back and more ambitious than ever this spring and summer, and the whole of the music-loving world is better off for it.

Not only will the high-minded, NYC-based concert series welcome even more acts known to use actual words this season, it will also expand its reach to two additional cities and quite a few new venues as well.

First up, the "regular" Wordless programming, which includes a trio of gigs on that current Stars of the Lid/Christopher Willits tour and an additional Portland show featuring Eluvium. The SOTL and Eluvium PDX shows mark the beginning of a partnership between Wordless, the Holocene venue, and a certain Spectre Entertainment Group that can only yield even more wondrous happenings down the road.

Then come June, we can look forward to four consecutive Fridays at New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art featuring performances by Times New Viking, Prefuse 73, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, and the Berg Sans Nipple. Free admission, too!

Finally, Wordless promises a pair of "unusually over-the-top summer events", the first of which you may have read about in these pages: Deerhoof in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. As for the second, well, that remains under wraps for the moment. Please, let it be My Bloody Valentine and the New York Philharmonic doing Loveless in the Holland Tunnel, or something.

The pairing of adventurous indie fare and contemporary compositional offerings has been a lynchpin of the Wordless Music Series, and this year is no different. The aforementioned Wordless events will also feature performances of works by Dimitri Shostakovich, Arvo Pärt, John Adams, and Zoltán Kodály, among others, as well as that previously mentioned "remix" of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring that will precede the Deerhoof gig.

Find out who's performing where and when below, and for more detailed info on Wordless Music Series events, seize upon this link here. [MORE...]

Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Extravaganza Begins

"Flashing Lights" meet big cities (and smaller ones) as Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark" tour commences tonight in Seattle.

As we have frequently reported, Kanye's "Glow in the Dark" tourmates include Rihanna, N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco, Jim Henson creatures, Daft Punk lights, hologram girls, and of course, his own ego.

In other Kanye news, this is very cute. [MORE...]

No Age, Marnie Stern, Hella Dudes on Zach Hill Solo LP

Hella drummer and Marnie Stern collaborator Zach Hill will release his very first solo album, Astrological Straights, via Ipecac on August 26.

Fortunately for us, Hill couldn't quite quell his collaborative tendencies, and the record's long guest list is chock full of juicy names: Stern, Hella bandmates Carson McWhirter and Josh Hill, both members of No Age, Les Claypool, !!!/LCD Soundsystem's Tyler Pope, one-time Flying Luttenbacher and former Hella bandmate Jonathan Hischke, former Rx Bandits saxophonist Steve Borth, the Advantage's Robby Moncrieff, Marco Benevento, and Chino Moreno of Deftones, aka the best band ever (maybe an exaggeration but not a joke). [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.)