Pitchfork

Is the Mountain Goats' Peter Hughes the indie rock Andrew Ridgley? Hughes logs time in the studio, pulls tour duty, and gets to stick his head in every press photo, but he never receives the accolades that John Darnielle, "America's Best Lyricist," seems to bathe in. Them's the breaks for a bass-playin' sideman.

Hughes can ponder his role as John Oates to Darnielle's Daryl Hall while on the Mountain Goats' brief April tour of New Zealand and Australia, and then again in the long months between that trek and the glory of the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Private Eyes (they're watching you!):

04-06 Auckland, New Zealand - King's Arms
04-07 Wellington, New Zealand - Indigo Bar
04-08 Christchurch, New Zealand - TBA
04-12 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner Hotel *
04-13 Fremantle, Australia - Fly by Nigh &
04-16 Sydney, Australia - The Great Escape Festival !
04-17 Sydney, Australia - The Annandale Hotel $
04-18 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo %br> 04-19 Sydney, Australia - The Annandale Hotel #
07-29-30 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival) ^

* with Tucker Bs & Michael Noga
& with the Kill Devil Hills
! with Silverchair, Sigur Rós, Femi Kuti, the Black Keys, others
$ with Death Mattel
# with Wallspace
% with Texas Tea
^ with Devendra Banhart Band, Band of Horses, Destroyer, Mission of Burma, Yo La Tengo, Silver Jews, Spoon, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Aesop Rock, Jens Lekman, the National, Tapes 'n Tapes, Man Man, Hot Machines, more

To go along with the tiny, nine-date tour, the Mountain Goats will release the tiny, five-song Australia-only Babylon Springs EP on April 3. Nestled among the four Darnielle originals is one cover, a version of Trembling Blue Stars' "Sometimes I Still Feel the Bruise." The tracks were recorded in January by Tony Doogan (Mogwai) at the Castle of Doom studio in Glasgow.

While Babylon Spring isn't available outside Oz just yet, don't despair. Say the Goats via their website, "Beggars Banquet are working to make this EP available to stores who buy direct from them in the U.S., so don't anybody go buying expensive imports or taxing the Soulseek engine about it. If people trying to find leaked copies of Chinese Democracy get frustrated in their efforts, we'll all suffer."

Going to tracklist:

1. Ox Baker Triumphant
2. Alibi
3. Sail Babylon = Springs
4. Sometimes I Still Feel the Bruise
5. Wait for You

The Mountain Goats recently finished recording their new album with producer Scott Solter at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, CA. It's due out in the fall, so hopefully we can expect a preview at the Pitchfork Music Festival.

* 4AD: http://4ad.com/
* Pitchfork Music Festival: www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com

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