Pitchfork

Photo by Matthew Taplinger

Mere weeks after the close of the first Atlas Sound tour, and Bradford Cox is already at it again. That other band of his, Deerhunter, is ensconced at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room Studios (yup, that place) at the moment, working on their third LP, Microcastle, with producer Nicolas Vernhes. The band is now officially a four-piece once again, with guitarist Colin Mee no longer in the picture.

But that's not all Cox has been up to lately. As heavily rumored and subsequently confirmed in the latest issue of SPIN magazine, Cox has collaborated with his good friend Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the music for the Dave Eggers-scripted, Spike Jonze-directed film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic picture book Where the Wild Things Are.

Cox provided us with this statement to help clear up any confusion regarding his earlier reticence to discuss the material:

"Last year Karen asked me as well as some other musicians to help out with some demos of songs she was writing for the score to Spike's amazing movie. The songs she had crafted are radical and honest. I was just a helping hand. The big story is not who was there, but Karen's excellent song-writing. I did not want to discuss working on the soundtrack because I think plenty of people would assume that I was trying to use Karen and her project to get attention for my album or whatever. That's not the case. I have no big news to break. Karen rules. Spike rules. All the people that were there ruled hard. I've never had a better time in my life playing music with people. The audiences for the music and the movie should be stoked because it's going to blow them away."

However, all of this is not to say that Atlas Sound is over and done with, even temporarily. In fact, Cox posted a new Atlas Sound track, "Sea Burial", to the Deerhunter blog over the weekend. As you know, 4AD will issue the Best New Music'd Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel in Europe--complete with new bonus disc-- May 5.

Atlas Sound have a couple of appearances planned for the next few months: at the Explosions in the Sky-curated ATP in May, and in July at the awesomer-by-the-minute Pitchfork Music Festival. Deerhunter have also lined up quite a few more post-hiatus gigs, including a few club dates with High Places in Europe and the recently announced Sled Island Festival in Calgary.

Deerhunter:

05-08 Dublin, Ireland - Whelan's *
05-09 Camber, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (ATP vs. Pitchfork) #
05-29 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound
06-03 Paris, France - Villette Sonique
06-11 Groningen, Netherlands - Vera ^
06-12 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
06-15 Glasgow, Scotland - Stereo ^
06-20 Brighton, England - Barfly ^
06-23-27 Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
06-24 Stockholm, Sweden - Accelerator Festival
06-25-28 Calgary, Alberta - Sled Island Festival

* with HEALTH
# with Bon Iver, the Hold Steady, Jens Lekman, Caribou, Hot Chip, Les Savy Fav, No Age, Black Lips, Of Montreal, Man Man, Vampire Weekend, Glass Candy, Dirty Projectors, Times New Viking, Meat Puppets, Jay Reatard, the Black Angels, Marissa Nadler, Wooden Shjips, Girls Against Boys, Shit and Shine, Sebadoh, Ween, Redd Kross, Pissed Jeans, Yeasayer, Fuck Buttons, Apse, A Place to Bury Strangers, the Clientele, Black Mountain, Harmonia, Born Ruffians, Howlin Rain, Car Sick Cars, Even
^ with High Places

Atlas Sound:

05-16-18 Minehead, England - Butlins Holiday Centre (Explosions in the Sky ATP)
07-19 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival) *

* with Animal Collective, Jarvis Cocker, Dizzee Rascal, Vampire Weekend, Boris, No Age, Fleet Foxes, !!!, Jay Reatard, King Khan & the Shrines, the Ruby Suns, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Occidental Brothers Dance Band International