Pitchfork

Baritone Beat Happener Calvin Johnson's got a few new projects in the windowbox of his musical mind: one in the seedling phase, and one in full blossom. He'll hit the road for a month of dates with Julie Doiron starting in late May (with a one-off at a pizza place in Portland beforehand), and release Calvin Johnson & the Sons of the Soil April 24 on his own K Records.

Sons of the Soil serves as a bit of a Johnson retrospective (or primer, depending on how much K you've taken in your day). It's rife with new versions of old tunes from Johnson projects like Beat Happening and the Halo Benders, splayed out by Johnson and fellow K superstars Jason Anderson (Wolf Colonel), Kyle Field (Little Wings), and Adam Forkner (Yume Bitsu).

Sons presents a mix of studio recordings and live tracks, including some terribly amusing Johnson banter: "So people say to me, they say, 'Calvin Johnson, who are you?' And I say to them, 'why, I am no different than any other man. I put these Wranglers on one foot at a time. If you cut me, do I not bleed?'" Well, it's funny when he says it, anyhow.

Speaking of the Halo Benders, could there be an all-out reunion in the works for Cal and Doug Martsch's long-running side project? The K website links to an April performance of "Freedom Ride" from Martsch's hometown of Boise. Will they reel around the fountain yet again? You'll know when we do.

Sons of the Soil:

01 Lies Goodbye
02 Booty Run
03 Cattle Call Pt. 1
04 Tummy Hop
05 Love
06 Travels Faster
07 Banana Meltdown
08 Can We Kiss
09 Move Around
10 Cattle Call Pt. 2
11 What Was Me

Booty runnin':

05-10 Portland, OR - Mississipi Pizza Pub
05-31 Cambridge, MA - The Lily Pad *
06-01 Brooklyn, NY - Don Pedro's 8
06-02 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
06-03 Washington, DC - Black Cat Backstage *
06-04 Charlottesville, VA - Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar *
06-05 Wilmington, NC - Bella Festa *
06-06 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn *
06-08 Houston, TX - Aurora Picture Show *
06-09 Austin, TX - Emo's Lounge *
06-10 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves *
06-12 Tucson, AZ - Solar Culture *
06-13 San Diego, CA - Che Café *
06-14 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell
06-15 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Shop
06-16 Sacramento, CA - Fools Foundation
06-19 Seattle, WA - Atlas *
06-20 Anacortes, WA - Department of Safety *
06-22 Kelowna, British Columbia - Habitat *
06-23 Calgary, Alberta - Canyon Meadows *
06-24 Edmonton, Alberta - Listen Records *
06-25 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Le Relais *
06-27 Winnipeg, Manitoba - West End Cultural Centre *
06-28 Minneapolis, MN - First Amendment Arts Building *
06-29 Chicago, IL - South Union Arts *
07-01 Montreal, Quebec - La Salla Rosa Boul St. Laurent *

* with Julie Doiron