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Monday, June 15

Chris Knox (Tall Dwarfs, Flying Nun) Recovering From Stroke

Chris Knox (Tall Dwarfs, Flying Nun) Recovering From Stroke

New Zealand punk rock great Chris Knox (Tall Dwarfs, the Enemy, Toy Love, Flying Nun Records) is currently in an Auckland hospital recovering from a stroke he suffered on Thursday, according to The New Zealand Herald. While early reports claimed the 56-year-old musician might never walk again, a story from today's Otago Daily Times states doctors are now waiting for swelling to subside before putting forth a prognosis.

The Otago Daily Times story also includes a promising (and generally bad ass) anecdote from a family friend close to Knox: "Someone came in to see Chris [at the hospital] and asked him if he wanted any help with religion. Chris just rolled his eyes...That's the Chris Knox we all know."

Knox's friends and family have started the "Chris Knox had a stroke and everyone wants to know how he is, how the hell are we gonna keep you all updated all at once" blog, which is located here.

Posted by Ryan Dombal on June 15, 2009 at 11:05 a.m.

Tags: Chris Knox, Tall Dwarfs

 

Echo Chamber: Colin Meloy

Echo Chamber: Colin Meloy

"Every time someone calls Bonnaroo 'the Roo,' a kitten dies."

-- We hope Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy is wrong, or else a lot of cats were lost this weekend. (via @colinmeloy)

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 15, 2009 at 10:50 a.m.

Tags: Colin Meloy, Echo Chamber, The Decemberists

 

Director's Cut: Dinosaur Jr.'s "Over It"

"At what point are you supposed to be over doing stuff that you enjoy-- like skating or playing ear-splitting music-- just because society says it's uncool to do it? My answer: Never." Director's Cut: Dinosaur Jr.'s "Over It"

From the Replacements' "Bastards of Young" to Beyonce's "Single Ladies", great music videos are quick bursts of sound and vision that leave an indelible impression. Director's Cut is a Pitchfork News feature in which we chat with music video directors about their creations. The men and women behind the camera are often overlooked in today's YouTube era, but this feature aims to highlight their hard work while showcasing the best videos currently banging around the internet. A little behind-the-scenes dirt couldn't hurt, too.

This time, we checked in with Mark Locke, the man behind "Over It", Dinosaur Jr.'s ode to skating, biking, and good friends. Mostly filmed over four days while the band was touring Georgia and Florida this April, it shows the reunited group tackling some impressive tricks, falling down, getting up, and-- gasp!-- having what looks like an awesome time. Of course, stunt doubles were employed to pull off the video's tough maneuvers, but there's nothing phony about the warm camaraderie running through the whole thing. It could very well be the feel-good video of the year.

Click on for our chat with Locke, in which he talks about how they pulled it off:

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News in Brief: Soulsavers, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, the Howling Bells, Teenbeat Takeover

News in Brief: Soulsavers, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, the Howling Bells, Teenbeat Takeover

-- On August 17 in the UK, V2/Cooperative will release Broken, the third album from the depressive British production crew Soulsavers. The album features a ton of guest appearances from elegantly debauched underground rock royalty. Mark Lanegan, Mike Patton, Richard Hawley, Spiritualized frontman Jason Pierce, and lead Butthole Surfer Gibby Haynes all stop by. (It's due for a September release in the U.S. on Columbia.)

-- Matthew Sweet and the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs love the 70s. The power-pop mercenary and the Bangles frontwoman will soon release Under the Covers, Vol. 2, their second collection of covers. The album is due July 21 from Shout! Factory. Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham, Yes's Steve Howe, and George Harrison scion Dhani Harrison all make guest appearances.

-- On July 28, Australian narco-rockers the Howling Bells will release sophomore album Radio Wars on Nettwerk. They'll open for Coldplay on tour this summer.

-- A whole mob of Nuggets-era mainstays will converge on Montreal August 6-8 for the Teenbeat Takeover Wooly Weekend! festival. ? and the Mysterians, the Electric Prunes, Love (minus Arthur Lee, of course), and Seeds frontman Sky Saxon will all take part. Fun fact: Despite the festival's name, it's been a while since any of these dudes were teens.

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 15, 2009 at 9:40 a.m.

Tags: Album, Festival, Matthew Sweet, Soulsavers, Susanna Hoffs, Teenbeat Takeover, The Howling Bells

 

Pixies' Minotaur Box Set Revealed

It's two feet tall and looks like the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Pixies' <i>Minotaur</i> Box Set Revealed

Front page page photo by Renaud Monfourny. Above: the Limited Edition Minotaur box set

Holy cow, are we in a boom time for mouth-watering box sets right now or what? (See: the news story directly below this one.)

Pixies superfans are in for a real treat with Minotaur, the previously reported gargantuan box set that rounds up the band's studio recordings and videos with a live DVD, new artwork, and a book. Now, we've got the rundown of Minotaur's contents, as well as a glimpse inside the set, which is available for presale starting today at the Artist in Residence website. It will ship to buyers between late September and mid-October.

Minotaur will be available as a $175 Deluxe Edition and a $495 Limited Edition (not $450, as previously reported). The Limited Edition is pictured at the top of this story. Here's what the Deluxe Edition looks like:



For the details of what's inside the box set, plus video of what it looks like, click below.

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Friday, June 12

The Warp Box Set Sure Looks Pretty

Ooooooooooooh! The Warp Box Set Sure Looks Pretty

Back in March, we told you that the pioneering IDM/not-IDM label Warp Records would celebrate its 20th anniversary this year with a box set and parties around the globe. Well, now we know everything about the Warp20 (Box Set) except for the exact tracklist. But hoo boy, this thing is purty.

Warp started out as the home to experimental electronic types like Aphex Twin and Autechre, and those groups' cover art used to invariably depict crazy futuristic-looking space polygons. Well, Warp has kept that proud tradition alive with the design of the Warp20 box set, which looks incredible. The set will include five CDs, five 10" records, and a 192-page book.

Check below for more photos and more details on the set's contents.

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News in Brief: Taco Zone, Nurses, Woodstock, Free Press Summer Fest

News in Brief: Taco Zone, Nurses, Woodstock, Free Press Summer Fest

-- Some causes transcend petty politics, and the plight of the Los Angeles eatery Taco Zone is one of them. Tonight, June 12, at Spaceland, friends of the Echo Park spot, which recently suffered damages from attempted arson, will hold a benefit for its repairs. The Mae Shi (pictured) will DJ, Aziz Ansari will do a comedy set, and Har Mar Superstar will host. People must really love Taco Zone, huh?

-- Portland band Nurses have signed with Dead Oceans. On August 4, they'll release Apple's Acre, their first album for the label.

-- On August 18, Rhino will release a deluxe six-CD box set to commemorate the 40th anniversary of everyone's parents' favorite music festival, Woodstock. Woodstock--40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm will include 77 songs of live performances from the 1969 fest, sequenced in the order in which they were performed. 38 of the tracks are previously unreleased. When the 40th anniversary of Woodstock '99 rolls around, it probably won't get the same treatment.

-- The Free Press Summer Fest jumps off in Houston's Eleanor Tinsley Park August 8-9. Seven bucks per day gets you in to see Broken Social Scene, of Montreal, Explosions in the Sky, Voxtrot, the Sword, Octopus Project, What Made Milwaukee Famous, and more. Pretty good deal!

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 12, 2009 at 3:20 p.m.

Tags: Album, Aziz Ansari, Benefit, Box Set, Dead Oceans, Festival, Free Press Summer Fest, Har Mar Superstar, Nurses, Signing, Taco Zone, The Mae Shi, Woodstock

 

New Release: BLK JKS: After Robots

New Release: BLK JKS: <i>After Robots</i>

Artist: BLK JKS
Album: After Robots
Release Date: September 8
Label: Secretly Canadian

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Weezer Get an Online Radio Station

Weezer Get an Online Radio Station

What does Rivers Cuomo listen to at home? I'm guessing it's all Kiss all day, but we'll get a better idea next month when Weezer get their own online radio station.

According to Billboard, Clear Channel Radio and Frontline Management are starting something called a.p.e. (artist personal experience) radio, which will allow artists to produce their own 24-hour online radio stations. The stations will play songs chosen by the artists alongside interviews and commentary. The program will launch in July with Weezer, as well as stations from Christina Aguilera and the Eagles.

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2009 Pitchfork Music Festival Two-Day Passes Sold Out!

"Write the Night" voting ends tonight 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival Two-Day Passes Sold Out!

You snooze, you lose. Two-day passes for the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival, which takes over Chicago's Union Park July 17-19, are now sold out. Three-day passes are long gone. So if you want to hit up the world's most well-run, well-curated, and all-around pleasant music festival (yes, we're biased), your last option is to pick up individual day passes. Day passes for all three days are still on sale, but Sunday night is going fast.

In more other fest news, the voting for "Write the Night: Set Lists by Request" ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. If you want to help pick the songs that the Flaming Lips, Built to Spill, the Jesus Lizard, Yo La Tengo, and Tortoise will play, there's no time to waste!

And finally, we've added more excitement to the already crowded list of extra-musical activities going down at the festival. So check below for info on the PMF Recycling Store and the festival's food accommodations, as well as the schedule of artists playing this year.

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