Photos: Coachella [Saturday]

Photos by Natalie Kardos; Above: Portishead

Coachella 2008 came, saw, and conquered the California desert over the weekend, bringing with it more awesome bands than any one person could possibly take in over a single three-day span. Here we present the second of three photo dispatches from Empire Polo Field. Check out the first here, and stay tuned tomorrow for Pitchfork's complete feature writeup.

The Teenagers [Mojave; 1:30 p.m.]




Man Man [Mojave; 2:30 p.m.]




DeVotchKa [Outdoor Theatre; 3:35 p.m.]




Bonde do Rolê [Gobi; 4:05 p.m.]




Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks [Outdoor Theatre; 4:50 p.m.]




St. Vincent [Gobi; 5:20 p.m.]




Death Cab for Cutie [Coachella Stage; 6:30 p.m.]




Rilo Kiley [Outdoor Theatre; 7:20 p.m.]




Animal Collective [Mojave; 8:25 p.m.]




Portishead [Coachella Stage; 9:15 p.m.]




Prince [Coachella Stage; 10:45 p.m.]

Photos: Coachella [Friday]

Photos by Natalie Kardos; Above: The Raconteurs

Coachella 2008 came, saw, and conquered the California desert over the weekend, bringing with it more awesome bands than any one person could possibly take in over a single three-day span. Here we present the first of three photo dispatches from Empire Polo Field. Stay tuned tomorrow for Pitchfork's complete feature writeup.

Rogue Wave [Coachella Stage; 1:30 p.m.]






Les Savy Fav [Outdoor Theatre; 3:10 p.m.]




Jens Lekman [Mojave; 4:35 p.m.]






Cut Copy [Gobi; 5:15 p.m.]




Vampire Weekend [Outdoor Theatre; 5:40 p.m.]




The National [Outdoor Theatre; 6:55 p.m.]






The Raconteurs [Coachella Stage; 7:30 p.m.]




Aphex Twin [Sahara; 8 p.m.]






The Verve [Coachella Stage; 9 p.m.]






Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings [Mojave; 9:35 p.m.]




Black Lips [Mojave; 10:50 p.m.]




The Crowd and Grounds

Report: Dickson Street Music Festival [Fayetteville, AR; 4/25/08-4/26/08]

While the cool kids spent the weekend at Coachella, a little piece of the hipster stratosphere broke off and fell on Fayetteville, Arkansas. Pitchfork's Joe Tangari headed to the Dickson Street Music Festival to catch Sonic Youth playing with a lineup of good ol' boys and frat faves, and he lived to tell the tale.

Stay tuned for our Coachella coverage...

To a starving man, there's nothing better than a good meal. The indie rock fans of Northwest Arkansas do a lot of starving. A few bands a year come through George's or JR's, and the University of Arkansas books somebody decent at its Greek amphitheater about once a year... and that's it. So when Sonic Youth showed up as the day two headliner of the first annual Dickson Street Music Festival, indie rockers from about ten counties in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma came out in force.

At a glance, the bill for the festival looks incongruous: Shooter Jennings, .38 Special, and the Charlie Daniels Band on the first night and Little Feat, Michael Franti & Spearhead, and Sonic Youth on the second. Strange as it is, though, splitting the acts like that made it a lot less so.

On day one, cowboy hats and camouflage attire filled the audience in abundance and the crowd got exactly what it came for. .38 Special had 30 years' worth of rock star moves, complete with mic stand twirling (yes, the whole stand-- I thought someone was going to be killed or at least injured), jet noises as they walked on stage, drum stand lights that mimicked police lights, and a prolific smoke machine.

For a guy who looks vaguely like Santa Claus in denim and happens to be 71 years old, Charlie Daniels has a ton of on-stage energy. I listened to Daniels a lot when I was around 12 years old, and on Friday I was struck by how prog some of his old music is. The band played their hit "El Toreador" and it sounded like it could have come off a bizarro Old West Yes album. Charlie's fiddle is still as mean as ever.

CHARLIE DANIELS BAND:

On day two, about the only camouflage I saw was the ironic netting on Michael Franti's amplifiers. The crowd morphed pretty smoothly from Little Feat's mostly older audience to an enthusiastic jumping and hula-hooping mob of college and high school students for Franti's idealistic blend of reggae, funk, alt-rock and rap. Juxtaposed against the Charlie Daniels t-shirts with the words "these colors don't run" printed across an American flag, Franti's huge banner depicting some kind of faux-Hindu deity in a gas mask holding a bloody cheeseburger, an airplane, and a pistol under the words "caveat emptor" made for an interesting clash of ideologies.

SHOOTER JENNINGS / MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD:

SONIC YOUTH:

Much of Franti's audience hung around for Sonic Youth, and dozens of people I hadn't yet noticed in the crowd moved toward the front. As we were in a massive parking lot, these people had plenty of places to go before the band they came to see went on. The audience worked up a Sonic Youth chant twice during the interminable sound check (the sound guy did a great job, though, and the mix was fantastic), and the band played a hell of a set, aided by the addition of Pavement's Mark Ibold to the lineup.

The all-ages admittance policy didn't stop them from ripping through a careening version of "Bull in the Heather" or going on extended feedback sorties that whipped the crowd into a frenzy. They've earned a few rock star moves of their own-- Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore each spent some time busting crazy guitar moves on the amplifiers that jutted out toward the crowd, with Lee giving a few fans up front a chance to do a bit of strumming.

During one of the SY chants before the show, I heard two guys behind me-- one was in an instrumental metal band from Lawrence, Kansas, called Lethe and the other had on a Washing Machine t-shirt--commenting that the odd festival lineup (did I mention that Blind Melon played the after-party?) was pretty cool, and after watching the whole thing, I have to agree. The festival ran right next to the town's yearly Springfest, and it's not easy to serve such a general audience with music, but it seems just about everyone went home happy.

Yo La Tengo Scoring Ryan Reynolds Movie
Yeah, that guy

The Sounds of Science this one ain't. Adventureland is a forthcoming comedy film from Greg Mottola (Superbad, a couple episodes of "Arrested Development") scheduled for release late in the summer. According to IMDB, the flick is set in 1987 and at an amusement park, and features key players from the "Saturday Night Live" and Apatow camps near the top of the bill.

IMDB says that Adventureland is "centered around a recent college grad who takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world." And the star of this movie is none other than Ryan Reynolds. Yes, Ryan Reynolds, the genial blonde dummy from such films as Just Friends, Blade:Trinity, and Van Wilder.

The score for Adventureland will be provided by veteran Jersey trio Yo La Tengo. And there are very few things that wouldn't be improved with a little more YLT, right? Besides, it's not like "Yo La Tengo are scoring the new Ryan Reynolds movie" is the most surprising bit of news we've heard lately. This is.

Of course, this ain't the first time Yo La Tengo have hobnobbed with Hollywood elite. You'll recall their supporting role during She & Him's appearance on the "Conan O'Brien" program last week. (We hear they have a cameo in Zooey Deschanel's new film, Elf 2: The Elfening.) And they scored the Will Oldham-featuring movies Junebug and Old Joy.

Nor is Adventureland the only 2008 soundtrack to feature Yo La Tengo. Their cover of George McCrea's "You Can Have It All"-- from 2000's superb and then nothing turned itself inside out-- appears on the second volume of Juno music.

Yo La Tengo have a few live appearances scheduled for themselves in the coming months, with a trio of European stops in June and an appearance at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois' Pygmalion Music Festival off in September. [MORE...]

These New Puritans Gear Up for First U.S. Tour

UK post-punk youngins These New Puritans have scheduled their very first U.S. tour to take place in June. This tour allows the quartet to support their debut album, Beat Pyramid, which Domino recently released over here.

Right now, TNP are in the midst of a European jaunt that continues tonight (April 25) in Portsmouth, England.

For a preview of the Puritans live experience, check out Paul Thompson's SXSW report on the band. [MORE...]

Simply Saucer Reveal Half Live LP Details, Tour Dates

Photo by John Pinto

Reunited Canadian punk forefathers Simply Saucer will release their very first official full-length record April 29 via Sonic Unyon. The previously reported album is called Half Human, Half Live, and it serves as a follow-up of sorts to the Cyborgs Revisited compilation of recordings from the band's initial incarnation in the 1970s.

True to its name, Half Human's first six songs are studio versions of never-recorded tunes from the band's original heyday. The last six were all recorded live for a private audience on June 23, 2007.

After the release of Half Human, Half Live, Simply Saucer have a handful of wholly live dates starting May 3 at Toronto's Over the Top Festival. [MORE...]

Roky Erickson, Ronnie Spector, ? Do Ponderosa Stomp
With Mary Weiss, James Blood Ulmer, the Collins Kids, Green Fuz, Al "Carnival Time" Johnson

James Blood Ulmer photo by Joseph Rosen

The seventh annual Ponderosa Stomp festival looks to pack quite a kick, gathering as it does dozens of acts at the New Orleans House of Blues April 29 and 30.

Joining this year's Ponderosa Stomp are the legendary likes of Roky Erickson, Ronnie Spector, Question Mark and the Mysterians, onetime Shangri-Las leader Mary Weiss, James Blood Ulmer (pictured), William Bell, Syl Johnson, the all-grown-up Collins Kids, Lil Buck & the Top Cats featuring organ/accordian kingpin Buckwheat Zydeco, garage rockers Green Fuz, Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, and more. Plus, none of that fancy tapdancing to be found.

Hold Steady, Sebadoh, Caribou Complete P4k Fest Bill!
Plus: Times New Viking, High Places, Bon Iver, Elf Power, HEALTH, Mahjongg, Icy Demons, Titus Andronicus, Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar

And there you have it! With this announcement you're reading right now, the lineup for the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival-- descending on Chicago's Union Park July 18-20-- is officially complete. And just which artists are we pleased to welcome to the bill this time out?

Well, filling out Friday's Don't Look Back festivities (held in conjunction with our pals at All Tomorrow's Parties), we have lo-fi giants Sebadoh, who will perform their soon-to-be-reissued 1993 album Bubble and Scrape in its entirety. They join Mission of Burma, blasting through Vs., and Public Enemy, turning back that clock to 1988's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

Then on Saturday, the Pitchfork Music Festival welcomes a bar band of arena proportions-- the mighty Hold Steady-- along with the percussion-heavy psych-pop of Caribou, the sunny day stylings of Elephant 6 affiliates Elf Power, Jersey barnstormers Titus Andronicus, the offbeat jazzy experiments of Chicago's Icy Demons, and the Balkans' own Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar.

Finally, on Sunday, the epic bill expands to include a quintet of impressive relative newcomers: folkie Bon Iver, noisemakers Times New Viking, chaos-mongers HEALTH, rhythm-happy Brooklyn duo High Places (full disclosure: featuring the sister of a former Pitchfork staffer), and high-energy genre-melders Mahjongg. Whew!

Here's what all that looks like in convenient list form (latest additions starred):

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
* Sebadoh performing Bubble and Scrape *
Mission of Burma performing Vs.

Saturday, July 19:

Animal Collective
Jarvis Cocker
* The Hold Steady *
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
Fleet Foxes
* Caribou *
Jay Reatard
* Titus Andronicus *
No Age
Atlas Sound
Extra Golden
* Elf Power *
The Ruby Suns
* Icy Demons *
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International
* Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar *

Sunday, July 20:

Spoon
Dinosaur Jr.
Spiritualized
M. Ward
Ghostface and Raekwon
Les Savy Fav
The Apples in Stereo
Boris
Dirty Projectors
* Times New Viking *
Cut Copy
* Bon Iver *
The Dodos
King Khan & His Shrines
El Guincho
Fuck Buttons
* HEALTH *
* High Places *
* Mahjongg *

Tickets for the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival are on sale now, and they're going fast. As in previous years, we've worked to ensure you get the most bang for your buck. Three-day passes run $65, two-day passes for Saturday and Sunday go for $50, and individual day passes can be yours for $30. If you like seeing awesome bands outdoors in the summertime in one of the world's great cities and don't want to spend a lot of money doing it, you can buy your tickets here.

And once again, the Pitchfork Music Festival is thrilled to remind you that its new radio partner, KEXP, will broadcast live from Chicago in the days leading up to the festival. KEXP DJs John Richards and Cheryl Waters will do their shows from the festival grounds on Saturday and Sunday, and throughout the weekend KEXP will air select live festival performances.

Cee-Lo Co-Writes Jennifer Hudson Song for Sex and the City Movie Soundtrack

Photo by Kathryn Yu

We don't picture Cee-Lo as much of a cosmo drinker, but he's certainly done Odder things than co-write a song for an Oscar winner for the soundtrack of the forthcoming Sex and the City: The Movie. The movie hits theaters May 30, and its soundtrack comes out May 27 on New Line Records.

Mr. Green's contribution to Sex and the City: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack comes in the form of "All Dressed in Love", which he wrote with previous collaborator MC Jack Splash of Plantlife. Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson, who plays a personal assistant to Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City, performs "All Dressed in Love". To top it all off, the song appears over the movie's end credits.

While Green/Splash/Hudson's contribution to the soundtrack is probably the most promising, the disc also features tunes from Al Green (featuring Joss Stone), Nina Simone, the Bird & the Bee, Morningwood, and Run-D.M.C. (featuring Steve Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith).

Run-D.M.C. working with guys from Aerosmith? That could be groundbreaking!

P.S. Gnarls Barkley are touring festivals this summer. [MORE...]

Wolf Parade Announce Summer Tour

Photo by Carlie Armstrong

There's still no title on that sophomore album of theirs, but Wolf Parade have already rolled out a tour in its support. After Sub Pop releases the record on June 17, the Canadian foursome will take North America by storm starting with a July 7 show in Pontiac, Michigan.

Other than that, it's waiting season until we find out the name to replace Kissing the Beehive on the album cover.

Spencer Krug's Sunset Rubdown still have European dates scheduled for May and June. [MORE...]

Kevin Barnes, High Places Play Over the Top Fest
Plus: Silver Apples, Peter and the Wolf, Rock Plaza Central, Wye Oak, Simply Saucer

The Over the Top Festival returns to various venues around Toronto for another year, starting April 30 and going through May 4.

Over the course of the five days, Over the Top will host concerts, movie premieres, and even some theater performances.

Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes headlines the musical portion of the festival, which also includes sets by Silver Apples, Peter and the Wolf, High Places, Rock Plaza Central, Our Brother the Native, Bobby Birdman, So Many Dynamos, Simply Saucer, Wye Oak, Aa, Cloudland Canyon, DD/MM/YYYY, Peter Walker, Barzin, and An Albatross.

Sigur Ros Line Up Summer Tour Dates
Ditch the Hopelandic on new album?

Following a brief but well-earned winter hibernation, Sigur Rós have brushed the crumbs from the corners of their eyes, thrown their bows into their guitar cases, and lined up a summer tour. The jaunt finds the band hitting many a festival, first in North America and then around Europe. But there are quite a few theater dates tucked away in there as well, just in case you'd like to see Sigur Rós making their gigantic noises in slightly tinier spaces.

Speaking of which, the band had indeed been tucked away in downtown Reykjavík, working up their latest LP with producer Flood. Recently, however, they took a trip to London's Abbey Road studios to cut a track "with a boys choir and 67-piece orchestra." Nice! According to the Sigur Rós website, the new album is nearly done and may arrive as soon as this summer, and it will also feature lyrics that are "more understandable to the public than on previous albums." Talk about a departure!

Finally, Riceboy Sleeps-- the art project of Sigur Rós vocalist Jón "Jónsi" Birgisson and Alex Somers of Parachutes-- will exhibit their work in Brussels, Belgium April 30 as part of the BadTaste4ever festival. Bad taste? Don't sell yourselves short, fellas. [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.)