Quanah Humphreys reports:
Prepare for some intestine-tickling low-end rumblings: drone juggernauts Boris and sub-woofer rattlers Sunn 0))) are preparing to melt the ears and bowels of North America. Sunn 0))) trudges through four dates, starting tonight in Boston, before joining up with the Japanese doom trio next week. After their last show together, Boris peels off for four more East Coast dates with Troubleman Unlimited face-melters Growing and Thrones (aka Joe Preston of Earth, the Melvins, High on Fire, etc) before heading back to Japan where they'll shake up Shinjuku.

Oren Ambarchi will perform as a member of Sunn 0))) on all of the dates, and will open a few shows with a solo set.

Sunn 0))):

05-18 Boston, MA - Middle East *
05-20 Victoriaville, Quebec - FIMAV festival #
05-22 Toronto, Ontario - Music Gallery $
05-23 Grand Rapids, MI - Institute of Contemporary Arts $

* with Grief, Sin of Angels
# with Keiji Haino
$ with Oren Ambarchi solo set

Boris and Sunn 0))):

05-25 Minneapolis, MN - Walker Arts Center *
05-26 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium *#
05-27 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts*
05-28 Youngstown, OH - Emissions From the Monolith Festival *
05-30 New York, NY - Avalon *

* with Oren Ambarchi
# with Kevin Drumm

Boris:

06-01 Boston, MA - Middle East Club *#
06-02 Wallingford, CT - Wallingford American Legion Hall *#
06-04 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar *#
06-05 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *#
07-22 Tokyo, Japan - Shinjuku LOFT ^

* with Growing
# with Thrones
^ with Guitar Wolf

Before hooking up with Boris, though, Growing and Thrones take their fuzz-toned circus of noise on the road for a series of dates of their own. Consider these shows ample opportunity to zone out in a dim club and experience the sensation of having your teeth shaken out of your gums courtesy of sub-harmonic riffage.

05-19 Brooklyn, NY - The Syrup Room
05-20 Washington, DC - Black Box Warehouse Theatre #
05-21 Charlottesville, VA - Gravity Lounge
05-23 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge
05-24 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
05-25 Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light
05-26 Columbus, OH - High Five *
05-27 Grand Rapids, MI - Division Avenue Arts Collective *
05-28 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
05-29 Detroit, MI - Bohemian House *
05-31 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
06-03 New York, NY - Cake Shop

* with Mammal
# with Alasehir

Growing were recently signed to Mogwai's Rock Action label, and their latest album, Color Wheel, will be released in Europe and Japan on July 11.

* Pitchfork Review: Boris: Pink
* Pitchfork Review: Sunn 0))): Black One
* Pitchfork Review: Growing: His Return
* Pitchfork Review: Thrones: Day Late, Dollar Short
* Pitchfork Track Review: Boris: "(Song Three)"
* Pitchfork News: Boris to Paint U.S. Pink
* Boris: http://homepage1.nifty.com/boris
* Stephen O'Malley of Sunn 0))): http://www.ideologic.org
* Growing: http://www.growingsound.com/
* Southern Lord: www.southernlord.com

Kevin Shields Remixes Bow Wow Wow for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette Soundtrack

Amy Phillips reports:
If anything can lure Kevin Shields out of his lair, it's the siren call of Sofia Coppola. As she did for 2003's Lost in Translation, the director has enlisted the elusive My Bloody Valentine mastermind to contribute to the soundtrack of her forthcoming film, Marie Antoinette, due in theaters this fall.

Ever unpredictable, Shields' contribution involves two remixes...of Bow Wow Wow. (The 1980s new wave band Svengalied by Malcolm McLaren, not the "under 21 with a Black Card" guy. That's Bow Wow. Although we'd kill to hear what Kevin Shields could do with "I Think They Like Me". But I digress...)

Shields has sprinkled his fairy dust on Bow Wow Wow's version of Johnny Mercer's "Fools Rush In" as well as their signature hit, "I Want Candy" (also a cover). Bow Wow Wow's "Aphrodisiac" also appears in the film, untouched.

In Coppola's film, Kirsten Dunst plays the titular character and Jason Schwartzman plays Louis XVI. Marianne Faithfull, Steve Coogan, Molly Shannon, and Asia Argento also star. So basically you've got Spider-Man's girlfriend, Max Fischer, Mick Jagger's girlfriend, Alan Partridge, Mary Katherine Gallagher, and JT Leroy's best friend running around in wigs and listening to Bow Wow Wow.

WTF is going on here? Why is Bow Wow Wow on the soundtrack to a movie about 18th century France? And how did the band hook up with Kevin Shields? We called up Bow Wow Wow yesterday to find out. Yes, they're still around.

"They actually based Marie Antoinette, from a styling point of view, on [Bow Wow Wow singer] Annabella Lwin," explained the band's manager, Nicole Powers. "They drew parallels from the fact that they were both young girls who found fame and fortune at a ridiculously early age."

Indeed, Marie Antoinette was married to Louis XVI, the future King of France, when she was 14 years old; Lwin was the same age when McLaren discovered her.

Powers described Marie Antoinette as "totally a punk rock period drama." "All the graphic design is based around that Jamie Reid style that was on the Sex Pistols cover. One of the other characters-- one of Marie Antoinette's lovers in the movie-- is actually based on Adam Ant." Also according to Powers, Coppola's production company is named I Want Candy.

Shields' involvement was shepherded by Brian Reitzell, who, in addition to being the drummer for Air, supervised both the Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette soundtracks. Powers described the "I Want Candy" remix as "absolutely phenomenal and incredible" and "a bit more rock'n'roll" than the original, while Bow Wow Wow bassist Leigh Gorman said, "Kevin Shields has done a really cool job, especially from the bass player's point of view because, he kind of loops the bass, and it goes really well." Neither Powers nor Gorman had heard the "Fools Rush In" remix yet.

Gorman described the scene in which "I Want Candy" is used as occurring "where she's realized that she's been put into this weird arranged married, and she's really young and she's in this strange country because she's gone from Austria to Paris, and she realizes that, 'Wow, I'm probably the richest person in the world right now...well, the richest woman, at the age of 14, so I might as well just have fun!', and you just see her having a complete blast. She's just doing all these wonderful things-- watching sunsets and eating grapefruit."

An unofficial soundtrack listing has been floating around the internet, claiming that in addition to the Bow Wow Wow songs, the movie also features music from Gang of Four, Windsor for the Derby, Radio Dept., Aphex Twin, Air, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, New Order (whose "Age of Consent" appears in the trailer), Squarepusher, Adam and the Ants, the Strokes, and Phoenix. Secretly Canadian confirmed that Windsor for the Derby's "The Melody of a Fallen Tree" is in fact in the film, and Astralwerks confirmed Air and Phoenix's particiapation. But that's all we know for sure right now.

Also floating around the internet are rumors that Coppola is pregnant with Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars' baby. Hot gossip!

As for Bow Wow Wow, they've got a bunch of shows lined up for this summer and fall, including a tour with Devo.

Dates:

06-10 Milwaukee, WI - Pridefest
06-11 Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Pride
06-24 Temecula, CA - Pechanga Resort & Casino *
09-07 Green Bay, WI - Oneida Casino #
10-22 Phoenix, AZ - Maricopa County Events Center #
10-27 Anaheim, CA - The Grove #
10-28 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium #
10-31 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre #

* with the Go-Go's
# with Devo

* Pitchfork Review: The Go! Team: "Ladyflash (Kevin Shields Remix)"
* Pitchfork Review: Various Artists: Lost in Translation Soundtrack
* Pitchfork News: Kevin Shields Remixes the Go! Team
* Bow Wow Wow: http://www.bowwowwow.org/
* Marie Antoinette: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/marieantoinette/index.html

Concretes Can't Catch a Break, Cancel Rest of U.S. Tour

Kati Llewellyn reports:
Poor Concretes! First, as reported yesterday, the dream-pop eight(+/- a few)-piece fell victim to the East Coast gear theft scene, with several guitars, an organ, and a euphonium taken from their locked trailer in New York over the weekend. But the bad news bears don't just steal-- they eat white blood cells, too.

Yesterday, the band posted the following message on their MySpace:

"The Concretes cancel U.S. tour dates! Due to illness, The Concretes have been forced to cancel their remaining U.S. tour dates. The band and their management send their apologies to fans who may already have bought tickets or were simply looking forward to seeing the band's new live show, and hope to re-schedule new dates some time in the near future."

According to the band's publicist, it's frontwoman Victoria Bergsman who has fallen ill, and a doctor advised her to cancel the tour.

We hope that a) Victoria makes a full recovery, and b) The Concretes are not too mad at North America to make a return sometime soon.

Canceled dates:

05-18 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café
05-19 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
05-20 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
05-22 Long Beach, CA - Fingerprints (in-store)
05-23 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
05-24 San Diego, CA - Casbah

The band's European festival dates are still on, however:

05-27 Stockholm, Sweden - Popaganda Festival
06-16 Hultsfred, Sweden - Hultsfred Festival
07-14 Madrid, Spain - Boadilla del Monte (Summercase Festival)
07-15 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum (Summercase Festival)
07-28 Ostersund, Sweden - Storsjoyran Festival

* Pitchfork Review: The Concretes: In Colour
* Pitchfork News: The Concretes Latest Victims of Gear Theft
* The Concretes: http://www.theconcretes.com/

Awesome Free Shows Take Over NYC This Summer

Kati Llewellyn reports:
To balance out its super pricey rents and sales tax, New York City is offering a boatload of free concerts this summer. For the most part, the hit shows belong to one of three categories: Central Park SummerStage gigs, the Celebrate Brooklyn Performing Arts Festival in Prospect Park, and the River to River Festival at various locations in lower Manhattan.

Pitchfork has done the job of sifting through these organizations' event schedules, cherry-picking the best of what the Big Apple has to offer (does that even make sense?). Big names include Belle and Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, TV on the Radio, Voxtrot, Feist, Lady Sovereign, Prefuse 73, Hot Chip, the Hold Steady, Alex Chilton, Mates of State, and Super Furry Animals. And there's also a tuba parade.

The cream of the crop:

>>Central Park SummerStage:

06-17 Rhett Miller
06-25 Feist, Buck 65, Jason Collett
07-02 Seu Jorge, José González
07-16 Amadou & Mariam, Birdy Nam Nam
07-23 Konono No. 1
07-30 Lady Sovereign, Pete Rock, Jean Grae
08-13 Prefuse 73, DJ Spooky

>>Celebrate Brooklyn:

06-17 Laurie Anderson
06-30 TV on the Radio, Matt Pond PA, Voxtrot
07-13 Yo La Tengo, Samara Lubelski
07-15 Nortec Collective
07-27 Philip Glass and Kronos Quartet perform live score to Dracula
08-03 Bill Frisell
08-04 Los Amigos Invisibles

>>River to River Festival:

06-02 South Street Seaport - Super Furry Animals, Dead Meadow, Andy Votel
06-04 World Financial Center Plaza - Anthony Braxton's Composition #19 - Marching Piece for 100 Tubas
06-04 World Financial Center Plaza - Bang on a Can All-Stars, Matmos, Alarm Will Sound
06-13 World Financial Center Plaza - Eels, Smoosh
06-20 World Financial Center Plaza - Son Volt
07-04 Battery Park - Belle and Sebastian, Martha Wainwright
07-06 Castle Clinton - Mates of State
07-11 World Financial Center Plaza - Puffy AmiYumi
07-13 Castle Clinton - Okkervil River
07-20 South Street Seaport - Sugar Hill Gang
07-27 Castle Clinton - The Hold Steady
07-28 South Street Seaport - Richard Hawley, Nicolai Dunger
08-04 South Street Seaport - Hot Chip
08-11 South Street Seaport - Josh Ritter
08-18 South Street Seaport - The Box Tops featuring Alex Chilton, Tralala
08-25 South Street Seaport - Ted Leo/Pharmacists

* Central Park SummerStage: http://www.summerstage.org
* Celebrate Brooklyn Performing Arts Festival: http://www.brooklynx.org/celebrate/default.asp
* River to River Festival: http://www.rivertorivernyc.com/

Coachwhips Resurrected on CD/DVD

Kati Llewellyn reports:
The Coachwhips are dead! Long live the Coachwhips! The San Francisco noise-punk band broke up last year, but they live on in a CD/DVD set, Double Death, due out next Tuesday, May 23, on Narnack. The CD features a slew of rare B-sides and hard-to-find covers, while the DVD holds previously unseen live footage. No, none of it was shot at the Ginger Minge. But thanks for asking.

CD:

01 Mr. Hyde
02 My Job at the Hive
03 Prisoner 119
04 I Don't Need You
05 ATM
06 We Are in Love
07 Mid-tempo Violent Dancer
08 Hands On...
09 Hey Fanny
10 He-C-She
11 Brains Out
12 Ringing the Chowbell
13 Fight With My Heart
14 Ghost of a Chance
15 I Don't Know
16 Deathmachine
17 Boom Pow Awesome (The Traps cover)
18 Guess I'm Falling in Love (Velvet Underground cover)
19 Drowning (Gories cover)
20 I Gotta Move (Kinks cover)
21 Pigs (Icky Boyfriends cover)
22 Only Inch of My Heart (Horrors cover)
23 Pay-N-Pac (Icky Boyfriends cover)
24 Whip in My Valise (Adam Ant cover)
25 The Witch (The Sonics cover)

DVD:

01 Letter to London
02 OOPS, Uh, Uh
03 I Made a Bomb
04 Hey Fanny
05 Hands on the Controls
06 I Drank What?
07 You Know You Wanna
08 Recline Recline
09 Brains out
10 Ringing the Club 6
11 Look Into My Eyes When I Cum
12 Dancefloor, Bathroom
13 Peanut Butter & Jelly

And just because the Coachwhips are chilling at the morgue doesn't mean their members are picking out tombstones. Frontman John Dwyer has been keeping busy with his group the Ohsees (formerly OCS), who recently finished up a record with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek producing. The Cool Death of the Island Raiders will see a Narnack release on June 13. (This guy sure likes death, doesn't he?)

If we had waited a bit longer to run this story, we could have made a See You Next Tuesday joke in reference to the first track, but alas:

01 The Gilded Cunt
02 The Dumb Drums
03 Turn Off
04 Losers in the Sun
05 Drone Number One
06 Island Raiders
07 Cool Death
08 Broken Stems
09 We Are Free
10 Drone Number Two
11 You Oughtta Go Home

* Pitchfork Review: Coachwhips: Peanut Butter and Jelly Live at the Ginger Minge
* Narnack Records: http://209.200.80.36/

Numero Group Preps Eccentric Soul: The Big Mack Label

Kati Llewellyn reports:
The Numero Group's latest addition to its Eccentric Soul series doesn't qualify as a success story, but hey, this is the Numero Group we're talking about. The reissue label specializes in digging up overlooked gems; if you weren't a failure, they're not interested! (We kid because we love.)

Eccentric Soul: The Big Mack Label, due out this Tuesday, May 23, turns its focus on the "nobodies" of Ed McCoy's Big Mack record company, founded in Detroit in 1961. Big Mack's life spanned nearly two decades, its business fueled by an ad in the Detroit Free Press offering anyone and everyone the opportunity to cut a record for $14.95. A press release describes the label's recording history as packed with "young artists with awful, wonderful, and awfully wonderful voices," and now the best tracks (the "wonderful," we hope) will finally see an official release.

Now that's what I call eccentric:

01 L. Hollis & the Mackadoos - "Bui Bui"
02 Edd Henry - "Your Replacement Is Here"
03 Bob & Fred - "I'll Be on My Way"
04 Soul President - "Got to Have It"
05 Performers - "Mini Skirt"
06 Mae Young - "The Man Puts Sugar In My Soul"
07 Grand Prix's - "You Drive Me Crazy"
08 Manhattens - "The Feeling Is Mutual"
09 Ms. Tyree Jones - "If You Feel It"
10 Essence - "Fever"
11 Edd Henry - "Crooked Woman"
12 Soul President - "Get It Right"
13 Mae Young - "Let's Give Our Love a Try"
14 Manhattens - "Why Should I Cry"
15 Grand Prix's - "I See Her Pretty Face"
16 L. Hollis & the Mackadoos - "Monkey Time Shine"
17 Sleepwalkers - "Mini Skirt" (Instrumental)
18 Ms Tyree Jones - "If You Feel It" (Instrumental)
19 Essence - "Fever" (Instrumental)

* Pitchfork Review: Various Artists: Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label
* Pitchfork Review: Various Artists: Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label
* Pitchfork Feature: Interview: Numero Group
* Numero Group:http://www.numerogroup.com/

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