Pitchfork Music Festival Three-Day Passes Sold Out!

As of right now, three-day passes for the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival are no longer available. Those suckers sold out! That'll happen with tickets to the only festival that offers the remote possibility of witnessing an interaction between Les Savy Fav frontman Tim Harrington and Public Enemy jester/VH1 reality star Flavor Flav.

But never fear, dear snoozers, you haven't lost out. Still available are $50 two-day passes for the Saturday and Sunday portion of the festival as well as $30 individual tickets for all three days. We recommend making your way to TicketWeb sooner rather than later.

Just a reminder: The festival takes place July 18-20 at Chicago's Union Park. Like last year, the whole shebang kicks off with an ATP/Don't Look Back night, featuring Public Enemy, Mission of Burma, and Sebadoh each performing one of their classic albums in its entirety.

For a refresher course, here's the full lineup (note: Fuck Buttons are now performing on Saturday and Occidental Brothers Dance Band International are now performing on Sunday):

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
Fuck Buttons
Elf Power
The Ruby Suns
Icy Demons
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
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
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International
King Khan & His Shrines
El Guincho
HEALTH
High Places
Mahjongg

And once again, the Pitchfork Music Festival is happy 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.

Bound Stems Prep Sophomore Album, Plan Tour

Psst. Hey, you. Wanna know a secret? Flameshovel's releasing The Family Afloat, the sophomore set from Chicago barnstormers Bound Stems on CD and LP September 9. Wait, wait, we're not to the secret part yet! Here ya go, sleuthy: you can nab yourself a copy of Family on vinyl nearly two whole months early. Shhh, keep it down, you're making a scene! You and yours can attend one of the band's summer shows-- kicking off with a hometown bash July 11-- to secure a copy of the LP, which also allows you access to a digital download of the record. Just, y'know, keep this to yourself, okay? [MORE...]

Arbouretum, Pontiak Cover John Cale on Split 12"
Pontiak sign to Thrill Jockey, re-release 2007 album, tour with Wye Oak

Baltimore slowburners Arbouretum have settled into their Thrill Jockey home very nicely since the release of last year's Rites of Uncovering. So to welcome new Thrill Jockey signees Pontiak into the fold, the Arbros have split a 12" with them.

Not only is this split 12" Pontiak's label debut, it also includes three covers of John Cale originals. Arbouretum offer their rendition of "Buffalo Ballet", while Pontiak take on "The Endless Plain of Fortune" and "Mr. Wilson". Each band also serves up some originals. Thrill Jockey will release the 12", punningly titled Kale, on July 22, and the acts plan to tour together this summer to support it.

For the moment, Arbouretum are keeping pretty quiet, apart from a single scheduled show with Pontiak. Pontiak, however, have a bunch of dates with Merge folkies Wye Oak, and they'll soon issue their first official Thrill Jockey full-length. Sun on Sun, a wide release of the limited edition record Pontiak put out via their own Fireproof Records in 2007, is due from TJ September 9. [MORE...]

The Decemberists, Barack Obama Team for PDX Rally

Indie rock's #1 candidate crush Barack Obama is sittin' quite a bit prettier than he was a few weeks ago when the Arcade Fire and Bruce Springsteen went to bat for him, but the dashing junior Senator hasn't quite clinched the Democratic party nomination yet. Next up on the primary agenda are Oregon and Kentucky, whose voters hit the polls Tuesday, May 20. Should Obama win a heaping majority of the delegates up for grabs that day, he'll be within inches of securing the hotly-contested nom.

And look who's arrived to give Obama the extra push he needs to get on the ballot in November. Why, it's none other than those kings and queens of the month after, the Decemberists!

Singin' Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query, and recent solo-flyer John Moen will join the Obama-non himself for a free rally at the Bowl at Portland's Waterfront Park this Sunday, May 18. Gates open at 12:30 p.m. PDX time. For more info and RSVP details, head here.

Apart from this bit of politicking, the Decemberists have only one other show coming up: a sweater-tuggers' love-in with Death Cab for Cutie and Rogue Wave in Bend, Oregon later this month. [MORE...]

Classic Butthole Surfers Lineup Reunites for Tour
Plus kids!

Acid-addled Texas psych-punks Butthole Surfers are reuniting their classic 1980s lineup to tour the U.S. and UK this summer. Satan! Satan! Satan!

The cast for this brief run of shows will include Jeff Pinkus on bass and both Teresa Taylor (aka Teresa Nervosa) and King Coffey on drums. As the Surfers' website states, "This is the rhythm section the band had for most of the '80s and marks the first time this lineup has played together since 1989." Unfortunately, guitarist Paul Leary is not guaranteed to appear at any of the shows except the one in NYC due to "prior commitments."

Also notable about this Butthole Surfers lineup configuration is that it includes some of frontman Gibby Haynes' new friends. "Forming a virtual Butthole Surfers Orchestra" will be the kids of the Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars.

This is gonna be crazy.

Thanks to Jordan Johns for the tip. [MORE...]

Juliana Hatfield Preps 10th Album, Pens Autobiography

Juliana Hatfield has hit a milestone with the release of her 10th album this summer. The follow-up to 2005's Made in China is called How to Walk Away, and it features guest turns from Nada Surf's Matthew Caws and Psychedelic Furs' Richard Butler on vocals, Fountains of Wayne's Jody Porter on guitar, and Tracy Bonham of "Mother Mother" fame on violin.

Hatfield will release How to Walk Away via her own Ye Olde Records on August 19. She'll preview songs from the record at her only scheduled show at the moment, a May 21 set at Joe's Pub in New York City.

With over two decades in rock music, Hatfield has some stories, and, in a Dean Wareham-like move, she has decided to share those stories in an autobiography Wiley and Sons will publish next year. [MORE...]

Rhys Chatham, School of Seven Bells on Radium Comp

Experimental label of note Table of the Elements' newish, more rock-centric imprint Radium is set to show just what they're made of on a new collection of material from some of their brightest lights. Entitled Impala Eardrums: A Radium Sampler, the compilation includes a Rhys Chatham cut from back in 1986, plus more recent selections from Megafaun, Collections of Colonies of Bees, School of Seven Bells, Neptune, and more.

Each of Impala's eight tracks makes its CD debut on this release. Impala Eardrums is due on CD (and LP too!) May 20 from, naturally, Radium. [MORE...]

Blitzen Trapper, Menomena/Gang of 4 Project on Comp
Also unreleased tracks from Yacht, Valet, Talkdemonic, Au

PDX Pop Now!-- the annual compilation and festival celebrating the music of Portland, Oregon-- will return this summer for a fifth installment.

The two-disc compilation, PDX Pop Now! 2008, becomes available to Portland retailers and CD Baby on June 17. It features tunes from Chromatics and Panther alongside previously unreleased tracks by the Blitzen Trapper, YACHT, Horse Feathers, Yellow Swans, Talkdemonic, Au, Pink Martini, the Joggers, and Faux Hoax (a collaboration between Menomena's Danny Seim, Gang of Four's Dave Allen, and John Askew). Proceeds from compilation sales will go toward funding the festival.

Speaking of the festival, it takes place July 25-27 at Rotture, and it features appearances from Panther, Y La Bamba, World's Greatest Ghosts, Atole, SubArachnoid Space, Starfucker, Meth Teeth, New Bloods, Guidance Counselor, the Builders & the Butchers, Reporter, and Argumentix. Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster of the Thermals, aka the recently revived Hutch and Kathy, are also tentatively scheduled to perform.

You can check out the compilation contributions from Blitzen Trapper, the Joggers, and Faux Hoax below. [MORE...]

Futureheads Push Back U.S. Release, Prep New Single
Add quite a few dates as well

It turns out, May 27 is not, as we'd previously reported, the North American release date for the Futureheads' new one, This Is Not the World. June 3, however, very much is. No reason was given for pushing the record back a week, but it's still due in the UK May 26, and still emerges from the band's new label Nul Records.

And, as it turns out, when the disc makes its way to the UK May 26, you can take your pick between the regular old edition and the deluxe model. The fancy one comes with a 60-page booklet stuffed into a special package and a DVD featuring a live show recorded at London's Brixton Academy in March, interviews with the band members, and acoustic and "street" performances. It's only available from the Futureheads' website, and it's limited edition, so don't spill anything on it.

And, wouldn't you know it, there's even more Futureheads coming down the pipe. A single for "Radio Heart" is due in the UK May 19 on CD and two-colored 12", sporting two new B-sides and a live take on "Radio Heart". And their tour just keeps getting bigger, with a ton of new festival additions since our last report as well as a one-off American date at NYC's Bowery Ballroom on June 17.

All the present concerns of the Heads from the future, just past this right here. [MORE...]

Photos: The Mary Onettes [Chicago, IL; 05/15/08]

Sweden's the Mary Onettes are in the midst of their very first U.S. tour, which found them at Chicago's Beat Kitchen last night. Decked out in dapper black and bolstered by a fifth member on keys, Labrador Records' unabashed new wave revivalists swept through a handful of tunes from their ace self-titled debut, including showstoppers "Lost" and "Void" (but not "Slow"!). It was over all too soon, which means we'll be on pins and needles until they return.

Check out more photos and the Mary Onettes' remaining tour dates below.








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Love Documentary Coming to DVD, Late LPs Reissued

Last year, Pitchfork reported about Love Story, a documentary about the legendary psychedelic folk/pop band Love, as well as reissues of a couple Love albums that came after their 1967 classic Forever Changes. Now, the movie is coming to DVD, and those records are getting a wider reissue on a different label.

Start Productions will release Love Story on DVD July 29. The documentary delves into the legacies of Love and bandleader/frontman Arthur Lee, who died of leukemia in 2006. In addition to interview footage with Lee himself, the movie contains interviews with all of the original band's surviving members, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and Mani, the Doors' John Densmore, Elektra Records' Jac Holzman, and Lord Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, among others.

Love Story also features rare footage of Love and previously unreleased footage of late band member Bryan MacLean. The DVD includes an hour of bonus material, and Bobby Gillespie wrote the package's liner notes.

As for the reissues, they are of 1969 double album Out Here and 1970's False Start, both originally recorded for the Blue Thumb label and reissued last year in a limited edition box set called Love: The Blue Thumb Recordings. These new reissues come out June 10 on Collectors' Choice and give the albums separate, less limited releases.

Out Here and False Start are notable for a more electric sound than Forever Changes, due to the fact that Lee almost entirely reassembled Love's lineup following Forever Changes' release. False Start even kicks off with "The Everlasting First", a song co-written by Lee with Jimi Hendrix and featuring Hendrix on guitar.

Windsor for the Derby Get Lost on New Album

It's NBA Playoff season, which means the air is filled with not only victory, but also defeat. Windsor for the Derby will take part in the latter with the May 20 release of How We Lost on Secretly Canadian.

How We Lost is the Windsors' follow-up to 2005's Giving Up the Ghost and includes the songs "Let Go", "Maladies", "Troubles", and "Spirit Fade". Man, these guys are full of cheery titles, aren't they?

In other news from this camp, WFTD's Gianmarco Cilli recently released a solo album via MySpace, while Philly supergroup the Silver Ages, comprised of members of Windsor, the War on Drugs, and more, are mulling a collaboration with Jens Lekman. [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.)