Filter News

All Album Releases Commentary Industry News Pitchfork News

Best New Tracks

Thursday, June 18

Hear the Very Best Song With Ezra Koenig

Earlier this week, we broke you off with the news that the Very Best, the collaboration between Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and Euro DJ duo Radioclit, are getting set to follow up their great mixtape with an official debut album. Warm Heart of Africa is due this fall from Green Owl.

Now you can hear the album's title track, which features Mwamwaya trading off vocals with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig over Radioclit's impossibly buoyant track. The song is streaming on the Abeano Music blog here.

Email Link MORE >>

Broken Social Scene Play Surprise Show (With Feist!)

Plus video! Broken Social Scene Play Surprise Show (With Feist!)

It was just like old times at Toronto's Courthouse last night when Broken Social Scene took the stage as surprise headliners of their label Arts&Crafts' NXNE showcase. The night was special enough, but it automatically turned near-legendary when Feist-- who hasn't toured with the band in years-- showed up for a couple songs, including unreleased rarity "New Country", which is embedded after the jump. It looks and sounds amazing.

There's also a relatively high-quality YouTube rip of a new song below. According to the message board Broken Telephone, five new songs were played: "World Sick", "Forced", "Your Hate", "Small Big", and "Meet Me in the Basement".

According to a report from the National Post, the new stuff "seems less space jam arty and the feedback guitar noodling was held back. Maybe with the guys all doing individual art projects, Broken Social Scene will focus on being a straight ahead indie rock band."

As previously reported, BSS are currently recording their official follow-up to 2005's self-titled album in Chicago with Tortoise's John McEntire.

There's another Arts & Crafts showcase-- featuring another "Surprise Headliner"-- at the Courthouse tonight.

Here's a photo by Zack Vitello of Feist, Kevin Drew, and Pitchfork contributor/This Book Is Broken author Stuart Berman, rocking out together:

Click for videos and setlist.

Email Link MORE >>

Dead Body Found at Bonnaroo

Photo by Matt Jordan

After last weekend's Bonnaroo Festival wrapped up, the cleanup crew found a dead body on the festival grounds.

The Tennessean reports that on Tuesday, Bonnaroo workers found the body of an unidentified white man in his 20s in a tent. The man was apparently last seen alive around 3 p.m. on Monday, and police believe he may have been from Alabama. There were no signs of trauma on the body. Police are conducting an autopsy.

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 18, 2009 at 11:45 a.m.

Tags: Bonnaroo, Festival

Email Link

Air Announce New Album: Love 2

Dig out the velvet throw pillows! Air Announce New Album: <i>Love 2</i>

Just when we were beginning to forget that French musicians don't traffic exclusively in EQed-to-death monster-house jams, Phoenix came along with the weightless Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and reminded us that, oh yeah, the French can also be pretty great at luminously suave pop music. Now that our appetite for smoove, starry-eyed Gallic studio-rat music has been restored, it's the perfect time for Air to drop a new album. And that's exactly what they're doing.

Email Link MORE >>

News in Brief: Bloc Party, Harlem, Shannon Stephens, Green Man Festival

Photo by Francis Chung

-- Still-incredibly-popular twitch-rock kingpins Bloc Party will release a new single, "One More Chance", on August 10 via Wichita. Producer Jacknife Lee twiddled the knobs. Pray it's not a Biggie cover.

-- The Matablog reports that the lo-fi Austin trio Harlem have signed to Matador. The band's self-released debut Free Drugs;-) is available via Matador Direct, and they are now recording their second album, set for release in 2010.

-- On September 8, Asthmatic Kitty will release The Breadwinner, the new LP from the Seattle-based singer-songwriter and former Sufjan Stevens bandmate Shannon Stephens. Bonnie "Prince" Billy covered her song "I'll Be Glad" on Lie Down in the Light.

-- A whole mess of esoteric rock heroes will descend upon Crickhowell, Wales August 21-23 for the Green Man Festival. The fest's basically unfuckwithable lineup includes Animal Collective, Jarvis Cocker, Bon Iver, Wilco, Roky Erickson, Dirty Three, Camera Obscura, Andrew Bird, and Grizzly Bear.

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 18, 2009 at 9:50 a.m.

Tags: Album, Bloc Party, Festival, Green Man, Harlem, Matador, Shannon Stephens, Signing, Single

Email Link

Pinback Announce Tour

They've got a new home at Temporary Residence and a new album coming sometime next year, but Pinback aren't sitting around waiting for Rob Crow's beard to get longer.

This fall, the San Diego indie stalwarts will tour North America extensively.

Dates below:

Email Link MORE >>

Wednesday, June 17

Beck Enlists Devendra, MGMT, Lidell to Cover Albums for His Website

First up: The Velvet Underground Beck Enlists Devendra, MGMT, Lidell to Cover Albums for His Website

Photo by Beck/Drew Brown, front page photo by Autumn de Wilde

When most of us have extra spare time on our hands, we end up zoning out in front of "Daisy of Love" reruns or rereading Watchmen for the billionth time. Beck, on the other hand, challenges himself to record cover versions of entire albums as quickly as possible. Different strokes, I guess.

Email Link MORE >>

New Release: Woolfy: If You Know What's Good for Ya!!

New Release: Woolfy: <i>If You Know What's Good for Ya!!</i>

Artist: Woolfy
Album: If You Know What's Good for Ya!!
Release Date: June 23
Label: RONGDFA (DFA/Rong)

Email Link MORE >>

David Lynch Writes a Rock Album

David Lynch hasn't directed a film since 2006's marathon mind fuck Inland Empire, but he's not just sitting around basking in decades' worth of indescribable weirdness. Along with the photographs and vocals he recently contributed to the Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse Dark Night of the Soul project, Lynch has another new music-related endeavor on the way.

Fox Bat Strategy: A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi is a seven-track album featuring lyrics by Lynch due out June 30 via Rykodisc ADA and David Lynch Music Company.

Email Link MORE >>

News in Brief: Polyvinyl, Willie Nelson, Lullabye Arkestra, Dockville

-- Indie label Polyvinyl (of Montreal, Mates of State, Architecture in Helsinki) are currently having something of an everything-must-go sale after downsizing their warehouse space. So instead of destroying 10,000 albums they don't have room for anymore, the label is selling the stock in low-priced bundles-- just $50 gets you 26 Polyvinyl CDs and 2 DVDs. That's about $1.78 per disc! Head over to this site for more info. (Full disclosure: a member of the Pitchfork staff is an investor in Kickstarter.)

-- Willie Nelson is set to put his one-of-a-kind, twanging spin on even more standards with American Classic, due August 25 via Blue Note. Guests include Diana Krall, and Norah Jones, who helps out on "Baby It's Cold Outside".

-- "WE'RE MARRIED. WE'RE LOUD." says the "About Us" section on Toronto husband-wife duo Lullabye Arkestra's MySpace page. And, based on new song "We Fuck the Night"-- from their upcoming LP Threats/Worship due September 1 on new label Vice-- the description is about right. (We have to assume the night really wanted to be fucked.)

-- MGMT, Patrick Wolf, Black Lips, and HEALTH are but a few of the bands set to touch down in Hamburg, Germany for this year's Dockville Festival August 14-16.

Posted by Ryan Dombal on June 17, 2009 at 2:20 p.m.

Tags: Album, Dockville, Festival, Lullabye Arkestra, Polyvinyl, Signing, Willie Nelson

Email Link

Next Page >