Isobel Campbell to Lay Down Milkwhite Sheets
Exclusive MP3!

"The guy who mastered my album usually works on death metal records. He said it sounds 'satanic'! I was quite flattered..." You're not going to believe the source for that one, kids. Well, yes, a press release (duh), but the quote came from none other than ex-Belle & Sebastian member Isobel Campbell.

The chanteuse has remained true to her word to put out two albums in 2006, and has announced the release of Milkwhite Sheets, due November 6 via V2 in the U.S.

Unlike album #1, the Mercury Prize short-listed, Mark Lanegan-co-credited Ballad of the Broken Seas, Campbell sings by herself on Sheets. In fact, one track, titled "Loving Hannah", features her voice over no instrumental accompaniment at all. Ooh, gutsy.

The album, recorded in tandem with and shortly after Ballad, was inspired by a variety of folk artists (Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs, Jean Ritchie) and features several Campbell-reworkings of traditional songs.

The fine folks over at V2 were kind enough to hook Pitchfork up with an exclusive track from Milkwheet Sheets, "O Love Is Teasin'". [MORE...]

Photos: Comets on Fire [Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL; 09/03/06]

The beginning of the Comets on Fire set at Chicago's Empty Bottle this past weekend captured what I imagine the end of the world will feel like-- ears pummelled, lungs collapsed, body contorted from a constant assault of sonic booms. Simply put: fucking awesome.

The California crew played old and new material, including songs from the recently released Sub Pop LP Avatar. The first few songs showcased the Comets that most people may know: Utrillo Kushner drumming in purely menacing and spasmodic fashion, while Ethan Miller laid into his vocals and guitar like a grizzly bear-- and we ain't talkin' the pretty, Warp-signed variety either.

But when Kushner switched to keyboards, the quintet shelved the hysterics to share a newer sound heard on Avatar. With Miller's gentle vocals over the melodic spirals of distorted guitar, you probably saw a few tears in the crowd of rough-and-tumble hipsters. Simply put: beautiful. Though the audience wanted more by the time Comets finished, they were just too tired, said Miller. Understandably so; soundtracking the apocalypse is hard, people.

Fatigued or no, CoF keep truckin' next month. Dates and more photos ahead. [MORE...]

Zach Hill and Rob Crow's Holy Smokes Prep Second LP
Holy smokes! An exclusive MP3!

The children of today are the future tomorrow (and the next day and the next), which is why all you moms and pops should Talk to Your Kids About Gangs. If you take your orders from the indie-noise supergroup Holy Smokes, that is. Need we mention that their first record was called Masculine Drugs? And it came with a book? That's what we thought.

The group, spearheaded by drummer extraordinaire Zach Hill (Hella/The Ladies/Team Sleep/Nervous Cop/Zach Hill and Mick Barr) and co-conspirator Dan Elkan, and featuring Rob Crow of Pinback/Three Mile Pilot, Carson McWhirter of the Advantage, Jonathan Hischke of the Flying Luttenbachers, as well as Ian Hernandez and J.R. Thompson, will release Talk to Your Kids, their Skin Graft Records debut on November 7.

Check out a sneak peak of the album with this exclusive download of the titanic noise-metal track "Quantum Leaper of Los Angeles County". You'll realize immediately why they signed to Skin Graft.

[MORE...]

Love Is All Return to North America
Debut album gets re-released with wider distribution

For those who weren't sufficiently smitten the first time around, and for those whose love for live Love Is All has gone unrequited, North Americans finally have a second chance at sweet amore: the noise-pop notables return to the States and Canada this autumn for some heartwarming touring action.

The band behind the Pitchfork-approved LP Nine Times That Same Song will hit up all those groovy cities your friends are moving to, including New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, and more. Denizens of P4k's hometown of Chicago, meanwhile, must remain Love Is All-lorn for the time being. Phooey.

And just what, you ask, beckoned these enthusiastic Swedes yonder? Why, a release of course-- but don't inflate yr hopes too much, mister. Unless you live in Iowa or something: What's Your Rupture? Records will re-release Nine Times That Same Song on October 17. No new tracks or anything, but v. 2.0 will see wider distribution. Which means it might just turn up at the local record shop in some corn-infested state near you.

Your lovely pals also have new UK single on the way. "Make Out Fall Out Make Up" arrives October 2 via Parlophone (in CD and 7" formats) and features non-album B-sides "Kiss Kiss Kiss" and "Lost Thrills". [MORE...]

Pan Sonic Embark on Rare U.S. Tour

Yes, they may hail from the sweet land of salmiakki and moomins, but Finnish experimental techno duo Pan Sonic are notorious for their crushing lives shows. Now, two years after their last proper release (the four-disc set Kesto), they're coming to crush the States with their aggressive beats on a rare U.S. tour. Beginning tonight in Allston, MA, the tour stops in various major cities (+ New Haven) and wraps up with two nights in L.A. [MORE...]

Smog Collaborates With Joanna Newsom, Tours

We're not sure if Bill Callahan (aka Smog) and Joanna Newsom are still dating, but the pair sure have been hanging out a lot recently. First of all, Newsom took that photo of Callahan you see above. Callahan returned the favor by contributing backing vocals to "Only Skin", track four on Newsom's forthcoming epic album Ys. (Or maybe he was returning the favor for her piano work on "Rock Bottom Riser".)

And on Tuesday, Newsom joined Callahan on stage at the Cactus Café in Austin, Texas. Wearing her trademark Renaissance Faire sleeves and a gigantic belt, Newsom accompanied Smog on keyboards for the entire set. Chalk it up to the Negro Modelos and whiskey, or to pure chemistry or whatever; the pair turned out a spectacular set.

Callahan's spare guitar picking was fleshed-out by Newsom's warm keys, at turns percussive and melodic and even verging on prog at times. The drama infused into the Smog material eventually galled Callahan into his beloved four-step jigs, despite the intimacy of the club's small capacity. Mutual buddy Jim O'Rourke would've been proud.

The set consisted mostly of songs from last year's A River Ain't Too Much to Love, but the night's highlights hung on two Knock Knock favorites ("Teenage Spaceship" and encore "River Guard") and the Drag City Supersession cut "Nothing Rises to Meet Me". The two pulled every re-invention off so effortlessly, and so refreshingly, that Drag City should seriously consider underwriting a Smog Family Plays (Smog)'s Greatest Hits.

UPDATE: Reader Erik Bogle confirmed that Newsom also backed Callahan the following night in Denton, Texas. 

Drag City couldn't confirm whether or not Newsom will join Callahan on the rest of the Smog tour, which continues throughout the coming month. [MORE...]

Jennifer O'Connor Launches Tour
Shares Stage With Mountain Goats, Portastatic, Mason Jennings

Jennifer O'Connor's Matador signing looks to have done her some good. The indie-folk chanteuse launches a U.S. tour today that will take her over the mountain, across the valley, back to the stars...the scenestars, that is, as O'Connor will lend support to Mason Jennings, Portastatic, and (as seen here) the Mountain Goats on the road over the next several months. Ahh, the positive consequences of success.

Jennifer O'Connor also paid a visit to the good folks over at Daytrotter recently, performing four songs from Over the Mountain, Across the Valley and Back to the Stars. [MORE...]

Dr. Dog Prep Album, EP, Tour With Raconteurs

Doctors make a killing (ha), but they're lacking one important thing: friendships with cool indie rockers. Word is, however, tacking "Dog" on after the "Dr." somehow ups the cool points to mega-cool proportions, despite the fact that it makes for one of the worst phrases in alliterative history.

The moral of the story? Philly rock quintet Dr. Dog are touring with some seriously cool peeps: Cold War Kids, the Raconteurs, the Magic Numbers, and the Black Keys! Frigid!

In celebration, they will release a limited edition (only 1,000 copies, kiddos), handmade (each one's unique), six-song EP, Takers and Leavers, via Park the Van Records. The disc arrives September 12 and features four exclusive songs and two tunes-- "Ain't It Strange" and "Goner"-- that will appear on Dr. Dog's next full-length. That as-of-yet untitled disc, their fourth LP overall, will hit record store shelves on February 13, 2007. Both releases were recorded on a 24 track and produced by the Docs themselves. [MORE...]

Mirman, Oswalt, Posehn Tour as Comedians of Comedy
Humor Is Funny So You Will Laugh

As most news these days is NOT a joking matter (er-- at least that of most media outlets), it's refreshing to turn our attention away from the serious business of touring and album-making and Paris Hilton pranks to funnier stuff. Y'know, like comedians and comedy. Or, say, the Comedians of Comedy fall tour!

The tour (featured in a Comedy Central show of the same name) involves a troupe of "alt comics"-- Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Eugene Mirman, and others-- who travel the country playing indie rock clubs and college venues, based on the notion that "no drink minimums, no crappy comedy club food," no "shopworn premises" or "hack punchlines" yields better comedy. In fact, (as the COC MySpace bio states) "this is stand-up comedy where it should be: not in a comedy club."

Kicking off tomorrow, September 8, in Nashville, the tour continues up the East Coast, before hopping over to Vancouver, BC for one west coast date. Patton Oswalt and Zach Galifianakis also play a couple shows in October.

Special guests will join the COC kids at various venues. A MySpace blog entry reports that in Nashville, audience members will be treated to a puppet show ("A puppet show! I'm not kidding. Some dude sent us a tape, and it was kind of funny. I don't know. You tell us. We're were just excited to have the marquee at the Exit/In read: "PUPPET SHOW AND COMEDIANS OF COMEDY"). In Philadelphia, the special guest will be Fred Armisen ("From television!"), and in New York, David Cross and Jon Benjamin will make an appearance ("It's not a puppet show, but it's damn close!") [MORE...]

Video: TV on the Radio: "Wolf Like Me"

TV on the Radio look positively bad-ass playing in a frantic haze of smoke and film scratches in this brand new video for "Wolf Like Me"-- from the much-loved Return to Cookie Mountain-- now playing on AOL's music blog. There's a somewhat hokey silent film werewolf love story thang going on here too, but director Jon Watts expertly levels his acute sense of drama with a similarly acute sense of humor. The video's dramatic cadences match the song's perfectly, the werewolves come off fearsome and huggable all at once, and that last intertitle is priceless. A fittingly awesome video for an awesome song.

Pretty Girls Make Graves Bassist Launches Side Project

While pretty girls make graves, Cave Singers make their own brand of gentle, country-tinged Pacific Northwestern folk, citing their primary influence as "current life." Yep, the side project of Pretty Girls Make Graves bassist Derek Fudesco-- also featuring Peter Quirk (Hint Hint) and Marty Lund (Cobra High)-- is a pretty subdued affair.

The three-piece (which shares a name with Fudesco's blog) formed this year in a basement and anticipate recording an album this fall.

"Pete and I have been playing for about nine or 10 months," Fudesco told Pitchfork, "We live together and would go in the basement and play and record songs we made up. We really liked the stuff we were writing, so we decided to make it a band. About two months ago, we got Marty to help us play better."

The Cave Singers are recording with Colin Stewart (PGMG, Black Mountain) this October, but they don't have a label yet. "It would be awesome if someone wanted to put [the album] out," said Fudesco. "If not, then we will release it."

While the band hope to make Cave Singers "an ongoing thing." Fudesco has also kept busy writing songs for a film-- Analog Days, directed by his friend Mike Ott, which recently premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and will appear at the Vienna Film Festival in October.

"It was a really cool experience, writing to fit scene clips and creating a vibe and not just writing songs the same way I'm used too," said Fudesco, "It's something that I would like to try and do more of."

Meanwhile, Pretty Girls Make Graves recently recorded an exclusive live iTunes session which includes versions of "Pyrite Pedestal", "The Number", "Pictures of a Night Scene", and "Domino", all from the band's latest record, Élan Vital. The latter track appears as a seven-and-a-half-minute-long "dub mix".

PGMG head out on a massive North American tour this fall. [MORE...]

Elf Power Kick Off U.S. Tour

Defying all odds, the entire Pitchfork readership made its way onto Santa Claus' "Nice" list this year. (The longlist, anyway.) To reward us for all that hard work, the elves of Athens, Georgia will bring the gift of music cross-country for the enjoyment of all.

Elf Power will kick off an exhaustive U.S. tour tonight with a stint at Macon, GA's Hummingbird club. The seven-piece collective is scheduled to trek through the States nonstop for the next month. No breaks! How's that for elfin magic? After wrapping up the trip, Elf Power will make two Atlanta appearances in late October. [MORE...]

More Arthur Russell Recordings on the Way

Audika Records is at it again. The label famed for its comprehensive collection of rare Arthur Russell recordings is all lined up to release yet another batch of material from the legendary cellist/composer/singer/disco man.

The newest addition to Audika's Russell catalogue, Springfield, is ready to go and slated for release this coming Tuesday, September 12 (CD with bonus track) and September 26 (double vinyl).

"Springfield" (the song) is one of the last compositions ever created by Russell. He recorded over four hours of tracking with the goal of getting together with a producer for the piece's completion. His efforts will now be rewarded, as the DFA recently edited and completed Russell's original recording. With the exception of minimal keyboards, no overdubs were used for the final product, and three versions are included on the disc, with separate vocal takes. The remaining four tracks on Springfield (three on the vinyl edition) are culled from the 1985 unreleased work, Corn.

The LP is meant to be a companion album to 2004's Calling Out of Context. [MORE...]

Infinite Mixtape #38: Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"

Brooklyn-based three-piece Oxford Collapse have been kicking around the underground for a minute now, and with two well-received LPs for Kanine Records under their belt, bassist Adam Rizer, drummer Dan Fetherston, and guitarist/vocalist Michael Pace have sharpened up their hooks, honed their scrappy indie rock chops, and now seem prepared to promptly blow the fuck up.

Good timing: Their forthcoming John Agnello-produced Sub Pop debut, Remember the Night Parties, is due October 10-- and first single "Please Visit Your National Parks" is an inspired introduction to their sunny, post-summer post-punk jams.

The boys have a much-anticipated gig lined up this Saturday at New York's Cake Shop venue, but they'll be on the road soon enough: As reported last week, a full-scale U.S. tour with Chicago rockers Chin Up Chin Up kicks off October 7. For now, check this awesome anthemic shoutalong, the newest addition to our Infinite Mixtape.

------------------------------------------------------

#0038 > Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"
[from Remember the Night Parties; Sub Pop]
Info: [Oxford Collapse] | [MySpace] | [Sub Pop]

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// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0037: Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]"
#0036: Flying Canyon: "In the Reflection"
#0035: Califone: "The Orchids"
#0034: Beach House: "Apple Orchard"
#0033: The Thermals: "A Pillar of Salt"
#0032: Grizzly Bear: "Lullabye"
#0031: Swan Lake: "All Fires"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Architecture in Helsinki Talk New Album
AIH-Clan Ain't Nothing to Fuck Wit'

A few weeks ago, Australian indie pop band Architecture in Helsinki sent out a MySpace message filled with news. In addition to an update about their new album (which we'll get to in just a little bit), the band announced that they have slimmed down to a six-piece, as members Tara Shackell and Isobel Knowles (no relation to Beyonce) have left the group.

"Their presence and pizzazz over the past few years has helped make AIH what we are," the group wrote. "We want to thank them endlessly for their heart and energy and wish them the very best with their future endeavors."

As for their third full-length, the follow-up to last year's In Case We Die, "the jamz are sounding dope, though, we are probably getting a little too into [member] Cameron [Bird]'s Latin percussion drum machines (the Phil Collins influence is definitely putting a damper on that!)"

We got in touch with Bird, who said that Architecture in Helsinki are hard at work on "a little pan-continental cyber-sonic wang-exploration." He provided Pitchfork with a kind of verbal 'blueprint' of the new album. [MORE...]

Photos: Scratch Acid [Emo's, Austin, TX; 09/02/06]

As evidenced by the dense crowd at Austin's Emo's last Saturday, folks couldn't wait to have hometown favorites Scratch Acid back in their lives. They formed mosh pits out of enthusiasm rather than convention and stage-dove to the tune of guitarist Brett Bradford's punishing chords and David Yow's disturbing exhortations. Meanwhile, the sing-along contingent would have been annoying if the David Sims/Rey Washam rhythm section weren't so on-point, keeping everyone locked into tunes from the great Scratch Acid repetoire.

Yow, on cue, lost his shirt almost immediately, and instantly poured everything from his short but imposing frame into the mic. Despite the nearly 20 year hiatus, the band played tight. They even pulled off an ace rendition of "El Espectro", which required Bradford on vocals, Sims on guitar, and Yow on bass. Sure, nostalgia and people who had actually been to a show at Raul's ran rampant, but that had nothing to do with the music. Everything coming out of the speakers kicked the crowd's ass even though they, young or old, had been waiting for it for years. Get ready, Chicago and Seattle-- you're next.

Dates and photos ahead. [MORE...]

Videos: Basement Jaxx: "Hush Boy" / "Take Me Back to Your House"

The Jaxx have hit us with some bangin' videos over the years, and these latest two from Crazy Itch Radio (XL Recordings) continue that proud audio-visual legacy. Standard B-Jaxx fare, but of course standard for these guys involves far-flung fantasy scenarios, quirks galore, and some bad-ass dance numbers.

"Hush Boy" features a trippy dinner-date, a fancy-footed wait-staff, and a touch o' the ol' toilet humor-- but sadly, no muppets croaking out that "If you want me for your girlfriend" bit. Director Dougal Wilson's "Take Me Back to Your House", meanwhile, whisks us away to some remote Soviet watering hole populated by dancing Cossacks, dancing bears, and a big dude with a big tank. Both vids deliver enough spectacle to make them well worth your clicks.

Lady Sovereign Announces Tour

Public! Warning! Sov's in town! Or, rather, she will be in town. Def Jam's latest Great White Hope, Lady Sovereign, has announced a fall tour in support of her forthcoming debut album, Public Warning, due out October 17.

Public Warning's first single, "Love Me or Hate Me" is on the airwaves now. In fact, I heard it on the Philly pop station Q102 last week-- crazy, huh? [MORE...]

The Dears Launch Tour
Plus: Video for "Ticket to Immortality"

In celebration of the October 3 U.S. release date of their third and latest album proper, Gang of Losers (Arts&Crafts), Montreal drama-pop sextet the Dears launch a brief U.S. excursion tonight, and will then spend most of the autumn touring the shizzle out of Europe (where said album dropped last week via Bella Union). Score your tickets today, kids.

Or score a "Ticket" of a different kind, and watch the the Dears work their magic from the privacy of your home with this video for first Gang single "Ticket to Immortality". It's a slightly out-of-focus but relatively straightforward shoot of the gang of Canadians playing in front of the silhouettes of images from the album cover. If you like shots of the band staring you down as well as closing their eyes and "getting into it," this is right up your alley. [MORE...]

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)