Pitchfork

Part one of a two-part episode of "Don't Look Down" features the Hold Steady running down two favorites from Stay Positive high above the streets of New York City. This is how this band should play all their gigs-- okay, not really, but they do sound pretty great. The link below will take you to "Constructive Summer", and "Sequested in Memphis wil start immediately after. Stay tuned tomorrow for more of the Hold Steady.

[original versions from Stay Positive; out now on Vagrant]

MTV's Subterranean blog posted an amazing performance of Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" from 1994, when they appeared on "120 Minutes". They were so much younger then, to offer an obscure R.E.M. reference that surely Stephen Malkmus would appreciate. A special new band indeed. MTV proper has two more songs from the same set, "Unfair" and "Stop Breathin'", but you'll have to sit through minute-long advertisements to watch those-- still worth it though. (Note that as of this posting, the song titles for those two are inverted, "Unfair" is incorrectly labeled as "Stop Breathin'" and vice-versa).

Video:> Pavement: "Cut Your Hair" (Live on "120 Minutes")

Video:> Pavement: "Unfair" and "Stop Breathin'" (Live on "120 Minutes")
[original versions from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain; out now on Matador]

Not sure exactly what is going on here, but it makes for an entertaining video. the song is from Brazil's Télépathique, from their brand new one Time on Earth.

[from Time on Earth; out now on Control Group]

You hear the phrase "Bat for Lashes covering the Cure's 'The Forest'" and you think to yourself, "Yeah, that could be good." As heard on the upcoming Perfect as Cats: A Tribute to the Cure, the combination is indeed organic, as Natasha Khan sounds right at home inside the spooky confines of the dark new wave tune. She swaps out some of the pulsing guitar of the original for the clanging sound of an autoharp, which works terrifically, and though the tempo is slightly slower, she keeps the insistent propulsion of the track's rhythm.

MP3:> Bat for Lashes: "A Forest"
[from Perfect as Cats: A Tribute to the Cure; due 10/28/08 on Manimal Vinyl]

"Bright, uncomplicated jock-jam synths and muted, subterranean percussion underpin hypnotic female chanting, for a combination not too far off from Simian Mobile Disco's 'Hustler'-- only about dancing rather than stealing records, and closer to crunk than to Justice. Getting more regionally specific: "Jerk It" distills the essence of the electro-fixated hip-hop and funk of Montreal neighbors A-Trak and Chromeo, or like-minded Chicagoans like Kid Sister, Flosstradamus, and Cool Kids," is how Marc Hogan described this Thunderheist track. The video, directed by That Go and starring a lone woman and a rooster, is all about the details.

[from the Jerk It EP; out now on Nasty Mix]

Either someone is cheating death, or the camera is lying-- regardless, it's a fitting theme for the video of "You Lie, You Cheat", the B-side to second single "Sweet Talk" from Spiritualized's Songs in A&E. Director Jake Chapman's entire clip is shot in a sped-up first person steadycam, and takes the viewer through a series of city buildings, racing up staircase after staircase, and leaping through window after window as Jason Pierce's voice strains to break out of the song's thunderous pace with a cry of "freeeee..." Finally the suicidal cameraman takes the elevator to the 13th floor and, well, you'll have to watch to find out where it goes from there. [via Stereogum]

[from Songs in A&E; out now on Fontana/Spaceman/Universal]

As Pitchfork news reported, David Byrne and Brian Eno have completed a new album called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, which will be available this month. The first track, "Strange Overtones", is available for download from the album's website. After one listen, it sounds very promising, these two really do bring out the best in each other. "This groove is out of fashion," Byrne sings, "These beats are 20 years old." Ha. (Note that you need to give up an e-mail address for the track.)

MP3:> David Byrne and Brian Eno: "Strange Overtones"
[from Everything That Happens Will Happen Today; due 08/18/08 and self-released]

Monday morning brings two new videos for the title track from Coldplay's Viva La Vida. The official version, with its painterly colors and jerky, disorienting motion, is directed by Hype Williams. The alternate version (remember they did two for lead single "Violet Hill" as well) is directed by Anton Corbijn and goes for a more absurd approach. 

Official (directed by Hype Williams)

Alternate (directed by Anton Corbijn)

[from Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends; out now in UK on Parlophone and the U.S. on Capitol]

If any band is due for a resurgence of interest given the current musical climate, it's Royal Trux. Their loose, scraggly, just-rocking rock would be a fine antidote to all the overly polite indie pop and overly up-its-own-ass abstraction causing tension in my oh-so-critical critic-mailman relationship. New Yorkers the Walkmen, who have a newsworthy album of their own on the way this month, have been covering this Royal Trux song for years, and now they've recorded it-- along with three other tunes by Trux's Neil Hagerty-- in an encore session for Daytrotter.

"I don't like this arrangement," the Walkmen's Hamilton Leithauser rasps-- a great opening line still, 10 years after "Yellow Kid" first appeared, on Royal Trux's 1998 Accelerator. The current arrangement doesn't have the wheezy harmonica or off-key clanging of the original, but its majestic air is more befitting the Walkmen's anthemic abilities. Stick-heavy percussion takes on a more central role, the strums become clear and poignant rather than muddled and off-kilter, and Leithauser's voice as usual is in commanding form. Only problem is, this arrangement may be too likable. That great opening line was full of shit.

MP3/Stream:> The Walkmen: "Yellow Kid" (Royal Trux cover)
[original track from Accelerator; out now on Drag City]

The 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival closed two Sundays ago with a set from Spoon. Bradford Cox of Deerhunter/Atlas Sound, indie rock's own Johnny-on-the-Spot (he'd jammed with King Khan to fill time at the Balance Stage while waiting for Cut Copy only moments earlier, and look for him here in an upcoming Special Presentation), joined them for their final song, "Mountain to Sound".

Boris brought the smoke machine, the oversized gong, and their own brand of noise-rock fury to the stage on Sunday afternoon. This is what "Farewell" looked and sounded like.

What a year Bon Iver have had. We've featured Justin Vernon's band plenty of times here on Forkcast and are happy to do so again. Here they are on "Flume".