Circulatory System Prepare Next Full-Length, Tour, Olivia Tremor Control Reissues
Rare "Jaminator solo" segment restored at last

Athens, GA-based psych-pop purveyors Circulatory System are about to hit the road for a 16-date tour that will include some shows with The Sea and Cake, as well as a few headlining gigs. The band, which last year offered six homemade CD-R recordings on their own Cloud Recordings label-- including Inside Views, a disc consisting of remixed versions of songs from their self-titled debut-- is planning on making another such CD-R available on this tour. Entitled Toybox, the new disc documents some home recordings that head-Circulator Will Cullen Hart has been working on for the past few months. According to bandmate John Fernandes, Hart "literally uses a toybox full of stuff (shakers, bells, sheet metal, whistles, balloons, etc.) in [creating] the songs."

Fernandes also told Pitchfork that the band has been busy recording new material at Cloud that will become the next Circulatory System album proper, with plans for a late 2003 release. You can look forward to some of this new material being previewed on the road next month. Tour dates:

04-09 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
04-10 Lexington, KY - Mecca
04-11 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center (with The Sea & Cake)
04-12 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall (with The Sea & Cake)
04-13 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace (with The Sea & Cake)
04-14 Montreal, QUE- Cabaret (with The Sea & Cake)
04-16 New York, NY- Bowery Ballroom (with The Sea & Cake)
04-17 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw
04-18 Hudson, NY - Hudson River Theater
04-19 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts (with The Sea & Cake)
04-21 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street (with The Sea & Cake)
04-22 Boston, MA - Somerville Theatre (with The Sea & Cake)
04-24 Purchase, NY- SUNY Purchase (with The Sea & Cake)
04-25 Swarthmore, PA - Swarthmore College Olde Club
04-26 Charlottesville, VA - Tokyo Rose
04-27 Carrboro, NC - Go! Room 4

In other Circulatory news, the band just bought back the rights to the Olivia Tremor Control catalog. The Flydaddy Records versions had been out of print since 1999, and the label had since filed for bankruptcy, having owed the band a substantial amount of money. An agreement was worked out, and Cloud now plans to issue expanded and remastered versions of both Dusk at Cubist Castle and Black Foliage: Animation Music Vol. 1 this fall. Said Fernandes, "The re-issues will include bonus discs which will uncover some lost 'Green Typewriters' sections, as well as songs like 'The Sky Is a Harpsichord Canvas' and 'Trilogy', which were cut from [those records] because of time constraints." He said that they may also include the Black Swan Network/The Olivia Tremor Control split EP as a bonus disc with one of the albums.

Expect Cloud Recordings to also reissue an album by the German band Workshop, entitled Meiguiweisheng Xiang, which was originally released only in Europe in 1997.

Cloud Recordings: http://www.cloudrecordings.com

Xiu Xiu Equipment Theft Forces Band to Cancel Tour
If thieves are apprehended, Jamie Stewart reserves the right to make "hurting my butthole" lyric a harsh reality

Sad news to report from the camp of those squealin' zaniacs Xiu Xiu, and you may already have guessed where this is leading due to that bold-ass headline: the band's equipment got swiped. Poor guys. It happened in Missoula, Montana last Saturday, after a show at Jay's Upstairs. When they were done rocking the place, they apparently parked their van, filled with virtually every instrument they own, in a lot and took off to hit the sack. The next morning, they woke up, returned to the van, and all their stuff had disappeared.

The worst part is, this was just before the band was about to embark on a massive 35-date U.S. tour, and as a result, they've had to cancel it, with the possible exception of the last few shows which take place on the West coast and in the Northwest. It's expected that the band will reschedule these dates if they recover the equipment, or when they get new gear. Incidentally, if you haven't heard the band's latest full-length, A Promise, we highly suggest you seek it out, even if it means you'll have some pretty disgusting Asian nudity tucked away in your CD collection.

Xiu Xiu: http://www.xiuxiu.org/
5RC: http://www.5rc.com

Jaga Jazzist's Animal Chin to Get U.S. Release
Contrary to what you may think, band is horrible at Jenga

Let's call it indie jazz, shall we? As the name implies, the Ninja Tune band Jaga Jazzist's sound is, you know, "jazzy," even if it doesn't quite fit into any one specific genre. They've been compared to everyone from Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Tortoise, Talk Talk, and Kid 606. So why haven't you heard of them? Well for starters, Jaga Jazzist is literally Norway's finest. Yeah, that Norway. And, until recently, they hadn't found much of an audience outside the frozen nation's border. Like Pitchfork, it took 'em seven years, but they're finally blowin' up the international scene. (High five, guys.)

Last year, Jaga Jazzist caught the attention of the European press, and in typical fashion, the Americans are following suit. The band was honored with the "Oslo Prize '98" in the category for "Best Live Band", and, last year, were awarded "Best Jazz Album" by the BBC. San Diego's fuck'n sweeet Gold Standard Laboratories (GSL) label will unveil the band's first U.S. release, Animal Chin, on April 7th. The EP is a 30-minute, seven-track collection that includes material which has been unavailable to us non-Norwegians not using a file-sharing program. Three tracks are culled from the critically acclaimed A Livingroom Hush album, two from the Airborne EP, and two unreleased remixes round out the list. The EP is not-surprisingly being touted as an excellent introduction to Jaga Jazzist. Tracklist:

01 Animal Chin
02 Real Racecars Have Doors
03 Low Battery
04 Lithuania (remix)
05 Tristar
06 Going Down (remix)
07 Toxic Dart

The 10-piece group's members are a who's who of Norwegian musicians, which means that it's highly likely you've never heard of any of them. But to give you an idea of the musical experience you're in for, consider the variety of instruments in the lineup: Mathias Eick plays trumpet, upright bass, keyboards and (the so-five-minutes-ago) vibraphone; Harald Frøland plays guitars and (with) effects; Even Ormestad plays bass and keyboards; Andreas Mjøs plays vibraphone, drums, percussion and electronics; Line Horntveth plays tuba, melodica and percussion; Martin Horntveth plays drums and drum-machines; Lars Horntveth plays tenor sax, bass-clarinet and electric guitar; Morten Qvenild plays keyboards; Jørgen Munkeby plays flute, bass-clarinet, percussion and keyboards; and, Lars Wabø plays trombone. Godspeed You

Although GSL is handling the Animal Chin EP, a joint effort between Ninja Tune and Smalltown Supersound is responsible for bringing their previously unavailable works to an international audience. 2001's A Livingroom Hush has recently been made available for order on the Ninja Tune website and in select record stores. According to the Jaga Jazzist website, they will also be taking care of the U.S./International release of 2002's The Stix. There are some U.S. tour plans in the works, but it's all very tentative at this time. As always, we'll keep you on top of what's up.

.: Gold Standard Labs: http://www.goldstandardlabs.com

Jaga Jazzist: http://www.jagajazzist.com/
Ninja Tune: http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/
Smalltown Supersound: http://www.smalltownsupersound.com/

The Jealous Sound Launch Tour, Ready Debut Album
The Jell-O sound to end up on next Matmos record

The Jealous Sound is the fucking kiss of death. It goes like this: emotionally unstable boys form a band, tour relentlessly, get a little attention from the girls, and get invited on tours with At The Drive-In, The Promise Ring, and The Get Up Kids. Each of these bands subsequently breaks up. Coincedence? Time-Life books doesn't think so, and we don't, either. (Okay, so The Get Up Kids bit was wishful thinking). And now? A band that knows a thing or two about a breakup or two, The Fire Theft-- made from 75% of the former members of Sunny Day Real Estate: frontman Jeremy Enigk, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer Will Goldsmith-- will take a chance on The Jealous Sound, too, on the last remaining dates of their first post-Sunny Day Real Estate tour.

The Jealous Sound-- who themselves are bits and pieces from the ashes of Knapsack, Neither Trumpet Nor Drums, Sunday's Best, and The Killingtons-- are fresh from San Francisco's Noise Pop festival and Austin's South by Southwest conference and will also open for Boston prog-metal practitioners Cave-In on their West Coast tour, after one date with 2003 Wonder Twins, The Postal Service. What do Jealous Sound news, Olson Twins calendars, Arthur Fonzarelli, and Saudi Arabian trees all have in common? Dates, baby, dates (already underway):

03-28 Lincoln, NE - Knickerbocker's*
03-30 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre & Cafe*
04-01 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall*
04-03 San Diego, CA - Casbah+
04-14 Salt Lake City, UT - Xscape^
04-16 Spokane, WA - Fat Tuesday's^
04-17 Seattle, WA - Graceland^
04-18 Portland, OR - Meow Meow^
04-19 Vancouver, BC - Richards on Richards^
04-21 San Francisco, CA - Slims^
04-22 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour^
04-23 Anaheim, CA - The Chain Reaction^

* = with The Fire Theft
+ = with The Postal Service
^ = with Cave-In

According to the band's website, The Jealous Sound have been in Los Angeles, completing their first LP, Kill Them With Kindness, which they'll release through Better Looking Records on June 3rd. The new album features their new drummer, Adam Wade, formerly of Shudder to Think and Jawbox, and was produced by Tim O'Heir, who has worked with Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr. (He's lucky we didn't mention he produced the All-American Rejects... whoops!). What do Jealous Sound news, the B&O Railroad, and Courtney Love's forearms all have in common? Tracks, baby, tracks:

01 Hope For Us
02 Naïve
03 Anxious Arms
04 The Fold Out
05 The Gift Horse
06 Does That Make Sense?
07 Guard It Closely
08 For Once In Your Life
09 Abandon! Abandon!
10 Troublesome
11 Recovery Room
12 Above The Waves

Jealous Sound: http://www.jealoussound.com
Better Looking Records: http://www.betterlookingrecords.com

Super Furry Animals Announce Tracklist for New LP
Wales can't handle more good news on top of Zeta-Jones' Oscar; bursts into flames

Hey kids! Welcome to the Super Furry Clubhouse, where we have another Super Furry Update on those Super Furry Welshmen, the Super Furry Animals. We told you two weeks ago that the psychedelic pop-proggers were releasing a new disc to be called Phantom Power in July. In honor of the French and their fighting spirit, SFA will celebrate Bastille Day with a July 14th (July 15th here) street date via Beggars Group. As a forerunner to the LP, the first single "Golden Retriever" will hit airwaves on June 30th. Phantom Power will be available in both the standard plastic disc with mere 5.1 stereo surround sound and as a DVD, thereby creating a new basis for division of social classes, as foretold by Marx. Tracklist:

01 Hello Sunshine
02 Liberty Belle
03 Golden Retriever
04 Sex, War And Robots
05 The Piccolo Snare
06 Venus And Serena
07 Father Father #1
08 Bleed Forever
09 Out Of Control
10 City Scape Sky Baby
11 Father Father #2
12 Valet Parking
13 The Undefeated
14 Slow Life

Talking to the NME (because they're more conveniently located in relation to Wales, we tell ourselves, sobbing), head Furry Gruff Rhys commented on a few of the upcoming album's tracks. With respect to "Golden Retriever" he noted, "This is different [from previous album Rings Around the World's single "Juktapozed With U"], but it's still got a Furry sound. There's never gonna be a song that represents the whole album, but we talked about it and agreed on this one."

He also tried to deny the fact that "Liberty Belle" is clearly an innuendo about how Britain is America's beeyatch: "But the song's not specifically about the U.S. It's saying that responsibility [for Sept. 11] lies with everyone in the world. There's no point blaming Americans for everything. People are the same everywhere. It's saying we have to learn from our mistakes." Hey Gruff, we haven't. Give up your oil! We know you have some.

Meanwhile, the band is still scheduled to play Stephen Malkmus' "Down the Dustpipe" festival and is rumored to be appearing at the Glastonbury festival. As for the show with the Jicks' leader, Rhys had this to say: "We're big fans of Stephen Malkmus. I think that night we're going to concentrate on the more acoustic side of the band." Alright, so no club drugs at the Malkmus show, kids, this is strictly a cannibis-friendly environ.

Super Furry Animals: http://www.superfurry.com
Beggars Group: http://www.beggars.com/

Mouse on Mars' Glam to See CD Release
Proposed cover art of Danza in glamware out-horrors any Aphex Twin concoction to date

Just because a film stars Tony Danza, it doesn't mean that said film can't have a top-notch soundtrack. To wit: Glam, which was recorded by German post-techno duo Mouse on Mars, aka Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner. Intended as the soundtrack to an ultimately straight-to-video late-90s piece of shit film starring Danza and Ali McGraw, Glam the album was rejected by Josh Evans, the film's director, and found limited release on vinyl in 1998 on the band's label, Sonig. Though the vinyl quickly fell out of print, the album has been available on CD in Japan for some time, at crazy import prices.

After much clamoring by German post-techno duo fans (a clamor you do not want to hear, trust me), MoM has decided to re-release Glam on CD via Thrill Jockey Records on April 8th. The reissue features three tracks not available on the original vinyl copy. The mind reels at trying to imagine what Tony Danza was doing in the film while a song called "Mood Leck Backlash" played on the soundtrack. Here's the tracklist, full of song titles that Microsoft Word doesn't recognize as actual words:

01 Port Dusk
02 Grindscore
03 Snap Bar
04 Tankpark
05 Mood Leck Backlash
06 Rerelease Hysteresis
07 Pool, Smooth and Hidder
08 Flim
09 Tiplet Metal Plate
10 Hi Court Low Cut
11 Funkytiste
12 Starroom
13 Litamin
14 Heizchase Nailway
15 Glim

In other Mouse on Mars news, the duo is working with IDM star Matthew Herbert under the moniker DJ Collapse on a two-track 12" EP set for release via Accidental Records this May. The tracks are "Jawfunk" and "Shinbone".

Mouse on Mars: http://www.mouseonmars.com
Thrill Jockey: http://www.thrilljockey.com
Accidental Records: http://www.magicandaccident.com

Arab Strap to Release New Album, Tour
Arabs strapped for cash release airspace to American planes

As if you needed a little more depression in these trying times, April 22nd will see the U.S. release of Mondays at the Hug and Pint on Matador a whole day after Scotland-based Chemikal Underground Records drops it in the UK. But at least it's a family friendly title, considering their ill-fated first choice (cover your eyes), The Cunted Circus. As you can imagine, it was hastily turned down by all labels and distributors involved. All right, then. Let's have that tracklist:

01 The Shy Retirer
02 Meanwhile, At the Bar, A Drunkard Muses
03 Fucking Little Bastards
04 Peep Peep
05 Flirt
06 Who Named the Days?
07 Loch Leven Intro
08 Loch Leven
09 Glue
10 Act of War
11 Serenade
12 The Week Never Starts Round Here
13 Pica Luna

It's been rumored that this record will not deviate significantly from the band's tried-and-true formula of self-deprecating poetry peppered by the occasional disco-beat or "pretty" accompaniment. And judging from the advance copies peppering the office, it hasn't. But then again, none of Arab Strap's last four albums and numerous EPs have deviated from said plane either.

According to the Matador site, "Mondays at the Hug and Pint is so brutally focused, both lyrically and musically, that this might as well be the band's first album (and we mean that in a good way). Both principals seem revitalized following their recent solo forays..." Malcolm Middleton and Aidan Moffat (essentially Arab Strap) both released solo albums last September, and though we haven't offered you our invaluable guidance via meandering Pitchfork Review, we can speculate that both solo albums are... depressing.

Arab Strap will be supporting this new release by touring with Bright Eyes. The tour kicks off in none other than granola capitol, Boulder, CO:

04-01 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre *
04-04 Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom *
04-05 Seattle, WA - Showbox*
04-06 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
04-08 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore *
04-09 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre *
04-10 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre ^
04-11 Pomona, CA - Glass House ^
04-12 San Diego, CA - The Scene ^
04-13 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre ^
04-16 Dallas, TX - Trees ^
04-17 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa #
04-18 Houston, TX - Engine Room #
04-19 New Orleans, LA - TBA *
04-21 Tampa, FL - TBA *
04-23 Miami, FL - The Manuel Artime Theatren %
04-24 Orlando, FL - The Club @ Firestone %
04-25 Athens, GA - 40 Watt %
04-26 Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle %
04-27 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
04-28 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero *
04-29 Boston, MA - Roxy *
04-30 New York, NY - Irving Plaza *
05-01 New York, NY - Town Hall *
05-02 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre *
05-03 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *
05-04 Montreal, ONT - TBA *
05-05 Toronto, ONT - TBA *
05-06 Cleveland, OH - Agora Ballroom $
05-07 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews $
05-08 Chicago, IL - Metro $
05-09 Madison, WI - TBA $
05-10 Minneapolis, MN - TBA $
05-11 Omaha, NE - TBA $

*Bright Eyes Only
^ with Bright Eyes and Simon Joyner
# with Bright Eyes and Her Space Holiday
% with Bright Eyes and Sorry About Dresden
$ with Bright Eyes and Head of Femur

In related Arab Strap news, Chemikal Underground released a 15-track compilation album titled Out of Our Heads on Skelp on February 3rd. If you happen to live in the UK (where they presumably know what "skelp" is), you can find it at "good record shops" for £2. This comp features classic Chemikal Underground releases from the like of Mogwai, The Delgados, and Radar Brothers, as well as a "brand new" track from Arab Strap called "Who Named the Days". We make the punctuation-mark signal hand motion around brand new, considering the song actually first appeared in acoustic form on "Quiet Violence", a limited edition EP handed out at the band's appearances at the Triptych Festival in April of 2002. Cut 'em some slack, though, it's been fully re-recorded for Mondays at the Hug and Pint. You can also look forward to a bonus track, which is said to be a poem by Aidan called... oh forget it. They obviously have a fondness for the "C word", let's just leave it at that.

Arab Strap: http://www.arabstrap.co.uk
Chemikal Underground Records: http://www.chemikal.co.uk
Matador Records: http://www.matadorrecords.com/

Taking Pictures Tour the U.S.
Talking pictures decried as fad by desperate Universal Silent Film Division

The life of an underground musician usually involves jumping from project to project waiting for an errant soundbyte to fall on the ear of the guy who starts the word-of-mouth machine. The members of Hurl put all their guitar-driven punk/math rock into their singles and albums, but left none for their road game, never really gaining the escape velocity to be well-known outside of their steel-town of Pittsburgh. Three out of four members of Hurl have regrouped, however, tweaking their old formula ever-so-slightly and becoming Taking Pictures.

In support of their late 2002 release, Friends Are Ghosts, Taking Pictures is hitting the road to atone for the shortcomings of their predecessor. On a three-week jaunt of the East and Midwest, the band's spiraling sound will hit stages with the likes of Xiu Xiu, Ex-Models, and Denali. So, Hurl fans that want to bitch about the old days when their boys weren't getting enough press, that's a review and news article courtesy of the 'Fork. The rest is up to Taking Pictures. Dates:
03-28 Chicago, IL - Fireside Bowl (w/ Xiu Xiu, The Watchers)
03-30 Detroit, MI - Detroit Art Space (w/ Summersault)
03-31 Columbus, OH - Bernie's (w/ The Handshake)
04-01 Pittsburgh, PA - Modern Formations (w/ Pikadori, Arrivals & Departures)
04-02 Akron, OH - Lime Spider
04-03 Buffalo, NY - Big Orbit Galleries
04-04 Philadelphia, PA - Doc Watson's (w/ Jai Alai Savant)
04-05 Brooklyn, NY - North Six (w/ Ex Models)
04-06 New York, NY - Piano's (w/ Turing Machine)
04-07 TBA
04-08 Richmond, VA - Univ. of Richmond (w/ Denali)
04-09 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
04-10 Chapel Hill, NC - Go Studios
04-11 Louisville, KY - Aslan's (w/ Parlour)
04-12 Saint Louis, MO - TBA

My Pal God: http://www.mypalgodrecords.com

Sonic Youth Ready SYR 6, Tour the World
Should package it with "Get Out of Tonic Free" cards as added incentive

Catherine Lewis and Eric Marth report:
Sonic Youth are nearing completion of the sixth installment of SYR, the series they initiated back in 1997 as an outlet for their most challenging experimental pieces, improvisational works, and collaborations with like-minded artists. In keeping with previous editions-- on which they've been joined by the likes of Ikue Mori, DJ Olive, Wharton Tiers, Christian Marclay, William Winant, Christian Wolff, now-official-member Jim O'Rourke and even Thurston/Kim collaboration Coco Hayley Gordon Moore-- the new disc will prominently feature French singer Brigitte Fontaine and her longtime singing/songwriting collaborator Areski. Fontaine is presumably returning the favor-- Sonic Youth guested on her recent Kekeland album.

Originally scheduled to see release in April of last year, but pushed back for reasons unknown, SYR 6 is now rumored to have been expanded to a DVD/CD collection, and will likely include a behind-the-scenes documentary (or something like it) detailing its creation-- as well as tracks excluded from Fontaine's Kekeland and concert footage from a performance in the Pompideau Center in Paris. No specific release date has been etched in stone, but the band is definitely shooting for sometime next month.

In related news, Sonic Youth are performing on April 12th at New York City's Anthology Film Archives as a memorial tribute to one of America's greatest filmmakers, Stan Brakhage, who passed away on March 9th in Victoria, British Columbia. The concert will be a benefit to assist Brakhage's medical expenses and will be a predominantly instrumental "chamber concert" with an assortment of Brakhage films screened during the performance.

This will be the first in a series of shows this spring and summer, including a previously reported appearance at Los Angeles' Coachella Festival, with Interpol, The White Stripes, and The Stooges. The group will be playing trough June (including a number of unconfirmed dates), ending the stint with a date with Wilco in late June at Central Park. Dates:

04-12 New York NY - Anthology Film Archives (Stan Brakhage Memorial concert)
04-27 Indio CA - Coachella Festival
04-24 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival
05-25 Lisbon, Portugal - Colisseum
06-12 Asheville NC - Orange Peel
06-13 Manchester TN - Bonnaroo Festival
06-15 Pittsburgh PA - Three Rivers Arts Festival
06-17 St. Louis MO - The Pageant
06-26 New York NY - Rumsey Playfield Central Park (with Wilco)

As we previously reported, a remastered and widely expanded edition of the band's 1992 release Dirty will hit stores on April 8th. The collection will feature b-sides and demos, encompass two discs as a Geffen Records release, or four vinyl LPs as a Smells Like Records box set. The band is planning similar expansions of Goo and Daydream Nation in the very near future. There are also plans to reissue three of Sonic Youth's VHS releases on DVD. 1991's The Goo That Lives on in My Heart, 1992's 1991: The Year Punk Broke and 1995's Screaming Fields of Sonic Love will all be issued with extra material, though no dates are currently available to reveal when those might be made available.

What else have we got? Well, SY guitarist Lee Ranaldo's Text of Light ensemble will be heading to Europe for a few selected dates. The group took its name from Brakhage's 1974 silent film of the same name, to which they have performed improvised soundtracks over the past year. For the first set of these European performances, the group will include Ranaldo, Alan Licht, Ulrich Kreiger, DJ Olive, and William Hooker, and the final June date will feature drummer Tim Barnes filling in for Hooker:

03-28 Bologna, Italy - Link
03-29 Venice, Italy - Mestre/Rizonanze Festival
03-31 Parice, Fance - Pompidou Center
04-01 Berlin, Germany - Bodewil
06-01 Nancy Vandoeuvre, France - France Musique Action Festival

Since we've mentioned Stan Brakhage twice in this article, it's fitting that we take a moment to pay a small tribute to such a legendary filmmaker, whose work has touched musicians and influenced mainstream moviemakers such as David Lynch and Martin Scorsese. Brakhage was a member of a huge group of underground/DIY filmmakers in the 50s and 60s, which included Kenneth Anger, Andy Warhol, and Michael Snow. In the past fifty years, he made nearly 400 films, ranging in length from nine seconds to four hours, whose subjects included childbirth, lovemaking, and even autopsy. Some films, such as 1963's Mothlight, were made without using a camera at all, by placing images directly on the film itself, either painting, drawing, or scratching by hand, treating the film as a miniature canvas. (Luckily for all of us, Criterion has promised us a collection of 26 Brakhage films on DVD sometime soon.)

Throughout his career, Brakhage explored the nature of vision and image-perception. In Metaphor on Vision (1963), he wrote: "Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective... an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception."

Over the past few months, Brakhage had been working on a film that he had talked about making for years, called The Chinese Series, scratching with his fingernails directly onto 35mm black leader. At the time of his death, he had finished several feet of footage. He said it should end wherever he stopped. Brakhage is reported to have said to his wife Marilyn, on the day before his death, "I've had a wonderful life. Life is great." We here at the 'Fork couldn't agree with him more.

.: Stan Brakhage: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Brakhage,+Stan
.: Criterion Collection: http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=184

Sonic Youth: http://www.sonicyouth.com
Anthology Film Archives: http://www.anthologyfilmarchives.org/
Smells Like Records: http://smellslikerecords.com/slr/

Sea and Cake to Release Mini-LP, Continue Tour
Prekop takes picture of shoe, classes it up with elegant white border

The Sea & Cake will release a seven-track mini-album called Glass on May 8th, according to the band's official website. Interestingly enough, glass is also the official Pitchfork Newswire-approved smoking accessory. The album will feature four new songs plus three tracks from the band's January release, One Bedroom, remixed by Stereolab, Broadcast and Carl Craig. Until Thrill Jockey gives Glass its commercial release, it'll be sold at shows on the band's current tour. We gave you all the baked (wink) sweetness on this tour in a February article, but a few dates have been added since then, so we'll pull the latest list of dates out of the oven at the end of this article. Also, the band has a European tour planned for May, and we'll let you munch (nudge) on that, too. Tracklist:

01 To the Author version 1
02 To the Author version 2
03 Traditional Wax Coin
04 An Echo In
05 Hotel Tell (Stereolab remix)
06 Interiors (Broadcast remix)
07 Hotel Tell (Carl Craig remix)

North American Dates:
03-28 Chicago, IL - Metro (w/ 90 Day Men & Lonesome Organist)
03-29 Chicago, IL - Metro (w/ Joan of Arc & The Aluminum Group)
04-11 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts (w/ Circulatory System)
04-12 Detroit, MI - St Andrews Hall (w/ Circulatory System)
04-13 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace (w/ Circulatory System)
04-14 Montreal, QC - Cabaret (w/ Circulatory System)
04-16 New York City, NY - Bowery Ballroom (w/ Circulatory System)
04-17 New York City, NY - Bowery Ballroom (w/ Dabrye & Karen Elson)
04-18 New York City, NY - Bowery Ballroom (w/Azita & Karen Elson)
04-19 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts (w/ Circulatory System)
04-21 North Hampton, MA - Pearl Street (w/ Circulatory System)
04-22 Boston, MA - Sommerville Theater (w/ Circulatory System)
04-24 Purchase, NY - SUNY Student Union (w/ Circulatory System)
04-25 Washington DC - 930 Club (w/ Califone & Brokeback)

European Dates:
05-13 London, UK - Underworld
05-14 Leuven, Belgium - Stuk
05-15 Lille, France - Gran Mix
05-17 Paris, France - Mains D'Oueve
05-18 Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur
05-19 Hamburg, Germany - Logo
05-20 Koln, Germany - Gebaude 9
05-21 Berlin, Germany - Columbia Fritz
05-22 Poznan, Poland - Blue Note
05-23 Warsaw, Poland - CDQ
05-24 Vienna, Austria - Flex

The Sea and Cake: http://www.theseaandcake.com
Thrill Jockey: http://www.thrilljockey.com/

R.E.M. Offer Protest Song Online, Prepare New Full-Length and Greatest Hits Package, And Tour Europe
Bush order troops out of Iraq, sends get-well-soon card to Hussein

There's something about Michael. The man is cursed with the type of skinny, sexless body the American mainstream detests, yet he's the standard bearer for success in the business of rock. He sings in idiotic movies and appears with the glitterati at inane award shows, yet represents all of indie's integrity. Ten years on from Automatic and twenty since Murmur, he, with brothers Mike and Peter, is back to guide us through a most troubling time once again.

On Sunday, R.E.M. played a new song during The Minus 5's in-store appearance at Zulu Records in Vancouver, British Columbia. "The Final Straw", which is now available as an MP3 on the band's official website, is pop's best and most human response to the American war in Iraq so far. Following on participation with Musicians United to Win Without War, who placed a full-page ad in the New York Times on February 27th, the new song voices fears of the war's toll on the American morale and objections to the Bush administration's lawless and unethical decision-making process. Like most great protest songs, "The Final Straw" is a point around which other objectors can rally in hope of staying strong and speaking up compassionately and with conviction to end atrocities threatening all hope for peace, love, and freedom, with a foundation in democracy, not death.

"The Final Straw" is only one more piece of evidence that 2003 is the year the band formerly know as the Twisted Kites finally gets its shizzy togizzy (c'mon, Stipe once wore a fake gold toof-- they're so down). They will release a new best-of collection by year's end, to go with 1988's Eponymous and that CD-R mix you burned for your girlfriend's birthday. The greatest hits album will include favorites from the band's Warner Brothers output over the past fifteen years, unreleased material, and two new songs. According to Peter Buck, "It's hard because what is a single isn't necessarily your favorite song. But we can balance it out. You can fit a fair amount of information on a CD." At which point, Mike Mills straightened his glasses and confirmed that a single compact disk read-only memory unit can fit up to 650 MB of binary-coded information. Nice, Nerdlinger!

The band is also working on its follow-up to 2001's Reveal in Vancouver, BC with producer Pat McCarthy and engineer Jaime Candiloro, for release late this year or in early 2004. Contributors this time around will include guitarist Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5), guitarist Ken Stringfellow (Posies, Minus 5), and drummer Bill Rieflin (Ministry, KMFDM). According to remhq.com, the band has recorded demos for more than forty new songs, including "The Final Straw" and an uptempo number, "Weatherman", that they debuted at a surprise gig during the intermission of the December 15th Minus 5 show in Vancouver.

Picking up where the pug-looking Dixie Chick left off, Mills, Buck, and Stipe will interrupt recording this summer for a world tour, including a handful of North American dates to be announced later this month and twenty European dates:

06-27 Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival
06-29 Werchter, Belgium - Werchter Festival
07-01 Hamburg, Germany - Volkspark
07-03 Odense, Denmark - Midtfyn Festival
07-04 Berlin, Germany - Waldbuhne
07-05 Munich, Germany - Konigsplatz
07-07 Locarno, Switzerland - Piazza Grande
07-08 Vienna, Austria - Schloss Schoenbrunn
07-10 Warsaw, Poland - Gwardia Stadium
07-12 Glasgow, Scotland - T in the Park Festival
07-13 Manchester, England - Move Festival
07-16 Dublin, Ireland - Marlay Park
07-17 Dublin, Ireland - Marlay Park
07-19 Wiesbaden, Germany - Bowling Green
07-20 Carhaix, France - Vieilles Charrues Festival
07-22 Padova, Italy - Stadio Euganeo
07-23 Ancona, Italy - Stadio del Conero
07-24 Naples, Italy - Neapolis Festival
07-26 Vienne, France - Cotes du Rock
07-27 Nyon, Switzerland - Paleo Festival

R.E.M.: http://www.remhq.com
"The Final Straw": http://www.remhq.com/finalStraw/finalstraw.html

El Guapo Release New Album, Tour
Tim Meadows to make guest appearance

Washington D.C. band El Guapo is gearing up to release what might be the strangest record of they year. That is, if last year's 18-track, genre-bending Super/System is any indication. The new album, Fake French, scales it down to a mere 12 tracks (that's good, since Super/System's 18 seemed to overwhelm our reviewer). It's their fourth full-length-- their second with legendary D.C. label Dischord-- and it's scheduled to hit the shelves of your local, um, Wal*Mart on April 14th. Tracklist:

01 Glass House
02 Just Don't Know
03 Ocean and Sky
04 Space Tourist
05 Justin Destroyer
06 Fake French
07 Underground
08 I Don't Care
09 Hawks
10 The Time: Night
11 Pick it up
12 Hollywood Crew

According to the most-certainly non-hyperbolic press release, the album "brings brash art-punk to the post-millenial dance floor." By the way, where is this dancefloor and exactly who is dancing to this crazy shit? But I digress. Comparisons range from Devo, Suicide, and Kraftwerk to The Stooges and Run-DMC. In addition to all the hard work that is art-punk today, El Guapo drummer Justin Moyer also plays guitar in a band called Antelope, from which a six-song EP is slated for early this year as a split release with Dischord and Bug Records. Keyboardist Peter Cafarella has recorded with The Rapture and periodically tours with his synth duo Shychild.

These guys have been touring extensively for the past few months. They wrapped up a U.S./European tour in December with heavy-hitters such as The Dismemberment Plan and Black Heart Procession, among others. And for those of you who missed these dates, yet remain curious about how these guys will pull it off on stage, now's your chance because they gonna be flyin' all ovah this biatch. As reported previously, El Guapo will be supporting Q and Not U for a few of the shows and will also get Ted Leo's back for part of the tour. Here are those dates:

03-29 Brooklyn, NY - Newsonic HQ
04-01 Boston, MA - Middle East *
04-02 New York, NY - Knitting Factory *
04-03 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head *
04-04 Harrisonburg, VA - MacRock Festival (w/ Q and Not U, Black Eyes, Kid 606, Pele)
04-07 Durham, NC - Duke Coffeehouse #
04-08 Wilmington, NC - The Soapbox #
04-09 Myrtle Beach, SC - The Rhythm House #
04-10 Atlanta, GA - The Eyedrum #
04-11 Murfreesboro, TN - Red Rose Coffee #
04-12 Lousiville, KY - Aslans How Art Gallery #
04-13 Indianapolis, IN - Solidarity Books #
04-14 Champaign, IL - Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center #
04-15 St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle (At Washington University) #
04-16 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck #
04-17 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
04-18 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04-19 Las Vegas, NV - The Cooler Lounge
04-20 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell
04-22 Ventura, CA - The Loft
04-23 Claremont, CA - Pomona College, Doms Social Room
04-24 San Diego, CA Scolari's Office (w/ Xiu Xiu)
04-25 San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
04-26 Berkeley, CA - Gilman Street (w/ Xiu Xiu)
04-27 Sacramento, CA - TBA
04-28 Portland, OR - The Blackbird
04-29 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
05-02 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry (w/ I Am Spoonbender)
05-05 Milwaukee, WI - The Cactus Club $
05-06 Chicago, IL - Fireside Bowl $
05-07 St. Louis, MO - Creepy Crawl $
05-08 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground $
05-09 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck $
05-10 Denver, CO - Climax Lounge $
05-14 Seattle, WA - Graceland $
05-16 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill $
05-17 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour $

* w/ Pele
# w/ Q and Not U
$ w/ Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Dischord Records: http://www.dischord.com/

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