Pitchfork

Good old Xiu Xiu, never for want of ways to draw us into their twisted art rock world. There was the Polaroid thing, of course, and the subsequent books, and the sound sculpture, just to name a few. Now we have the recently launched official website for sixth album Women as Lovers, which arrived this week via Kill Rock Stars.

Just what wonders await those who click the link up there? For starters, how about your very own personal haiku penned by the one and only Jamie Stewart? Stewart will serve up 17 meticulously arranged syllables to the first 234 people who submit a photo of themselves rocking a copy of Women as Lovers. Details here.

If you'd rather give than receive, how about lending your voice to a new Xiu Xiu instrumental and sharing the results with the world? The band is asking fans to sing over a track called, for now, "Untitled: Will You Please Sing on This". Intone, coo, shriek, shout, or mumble over the dancey number, give it a new name, and upload it. A couple fan offerings are already available for your ears here.

And if both giving and receiving are a bit too active for your tastes, why not sit back and get acquainted with "I Do What I Want When I Want", the new Xiu Xiu video magazine (not to be confused with the Women as Lovers track)? A giggly and quite possibly high Greg Saunier of Deerhoof inaugurates the series with a brainy discussion of "Star Trek", William Shatner, television theory, and Tourette syndrome.

Finally, it would be a sad year indeed if there weren't a Xiu Xiu tour going down. No need to worry about 2008 though, which officially becomes a happy year on March 7.

Xiu shows (all with Thao and the Get Down Stay Down):

03-07 Portland, OR - Someday Lounge
03-08 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
03-10 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
03-11 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
03-13 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop
03-14 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
03-15 Chicago, IL - Reggie's
03-16 Mount Pleasant, MI - Rubble's Bar
03-17 Toronto, Ontario - Sneaky Dee's
03-18 Ottawa, Ontario - Babylon Nightclub
03-19 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
03-20 Bennington, VT - Bennington College
03-21 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts Boston
03-22 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Smog (Bard College)
03-23 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
03-24 Purchase, NY - Student Center (SUNY Purchase)
03-25 New York, NY - Fordham University
03-26 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
03-27 Washington, DC - Black Cat
03-28 Columbus, OH - Skully's Music Diner
03-29 Newport, KY - Southgate House
03-31 St. Louis, MO - Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center
04-01 Springfield, MO - Randy Bacon Gallery
04-02 Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory
04-03 Fort Worth, TX - Lola's
04-04 Houston, TX - Orange Show Center for Visionary Art
04-05 Austin, TX - Mohawk
04-07 Santa Fe, NM - College of Santa Fe
04-08 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
04-11 Los Angeles, CA - Echo
04-12 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill