-- The second album by UK rock act Foals is called Total Life Forever and Sub Pop will release it in the U.S. on May 11 digitally and June 15 physically. The record is out in the band's native country on May 10 via Transgressive/Warner.
-- Pin Me Down is a new duo featuring Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack and singer Milena Mepris, who used to be in a band called Black Moustache. Their self-titled debut album is out April 19 in the UK-- listen to single "Time Crisis" at their site. Lissack will also play guitar and keyboards with Irish power-pop band Ash during their upcoming UK tour, dates here.
-- Kill Rock Stars releases album number three from folk group Horse Feathers on April 20. The record is dubbed Thistled Springand you can download a track from it called "Belly of June" here.
-- The seven-day Sensoria music and film festival goes down April 23-29 in Sheffield, England. Highlights include the UK premiere of Search and Destroy: Iggy & the Stooges' Raw Power, Mogwai's live film Burning, Sufjan Stevens' The BQE, British Sea Power performing the live soundtrack to the film Man of Aram, and the world premiere of the Joe Strummer doc Strummerville.
John Eriksson: He's not just the John of Peter Bjorn and John! On a couple of new projects, Eriksson breaks away from the PBJ drum kit.
First off, there's Hortlax Cobra, Eriksson's classical/experimental solo project. Hortlax Cobra has a new series of three EPs out right now, each of them originally released on vinyl and limited to 222 copies, and also available digitally. Eriksson did all three EPs completely by himself. On the first, Everyone'd Talking About Hortlax Cobra, he focused on cassette recordings. The second, Nobody Knows Hortlax Cobra, is spacey and acoustic. And the third, Stop and Smell the Hortlax Cobra, is electronic.
Eriksson also plays guitar, piano, and percussion in the band Holiday for Strings, which also features Thieves Like Us member Pony. Favorite Flavor, the new Holiday for Strings album, is out right now on Sea You. It features covers of Arthur Russell's "Calling Out of Context" and electro maestro Egyptian Lover's "I Cry/Night After Night".
From Tall Dwarfs' "Nothing's Going to Happen" to Múm's "Sing Along", great music videos are 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 linking around the internet. A little behind-the-scenes dirt couldn't hurt, too.
This time, we talked to Andy Bruntel, the man behind Liars' recent lost-at-sea odyssey "Scissor". The clip finds band leader Angus Andrew besieged by supernatural elements hellbent on destroying him. It's dark, but also kinda funny! Over the past five years, Bruntel has helmed surreal and inventive clips for the likes of Stephen Malkmus, Modest Mouse, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, St. Vincent, and No Age, which are all available on his site. In our conversation, the director talked about being stranded in the middle of the ocean, the movie Cast Away, and Will Oldham.
Watch the "Scissor" video and read the Q&A below:
Liars: "Scissor" [Director: Andy Bruntel]
Pitchfork: Did you always plan on having Liars singer Angus Andrew star in this video?
Andy Bruntel: Originally, I had an actor in the raft instead of Angus, but he wanted to be the main character. I was a little bit nervous because it's a pretty physical part. I was like, "Can he swim?" But he was totally down. He even had some story about diving off a boat to chase a blue whale. He's a pretty adventurous guy.
Pitchfork: Did you shoot this video on location?
AB: Yeah, it's about a mile into the ocean off of Marina del Ray. In movies that are shot out in water, you can often tell when it cuts from being the ocean to a stage. Like, I caught this movie Open Water 2 on TV-- I didn't watch it on purpose [laughs]. It's about this group of friends that go out on a yacht. They all jump in the water but they forget to put the ladder down, so they're all just stuck in the water next to this yacht. It's a really bad movie, but something about being stranded in the ocean has a certain intensity.
Pitchfork: Were you inspired by "Lost" at all?
AB: I haven't watched it for a while and I never once heard the band bring it up during the shoot. But they did talk about Cast Away a number of times-- the movie where Tom Hanks talks to a volleyball. I haven't actually seen it.
Pitchfork: I love the final shot in the video. Did you plan that from the beginning or was it something that came up along the way?
AB: That was in the original treatment, but there are multiple versions of the ending. There's one where the boulder fully hits the boat and the camera goes underwater. For a while, the band was thinking about ending on the over-the-shoulder shot of the boulder coming towards him. Each ending leaves you with a slightly different feeling. When you see the rock completely hit the boat, there's this huge sound and it's funny. But the way it ends now leaves more to your imagination-- it's still funny, but there's something a little off-putting about it, too.
Pitchfork: There's some ambiguity.
AB: Yeah, something like this can come out so pretentious when you're not careful. There are a lot of surreal narrative videos coming out now that are more on the pretentious side, like the one for [Broken Bells' "The High Road"] where they're walking along this road, encountering all these symbolic visual things. But if you can make it fun, people will be entertained first and then they might watch it again and think about it some more.
Pitchfork: That was definitely my experience with your video for Bonnie "Prince" Billy's "Cursed Sleep", which is probably my favorite video of yours thus far.
AB: Thanks. While we were shooting that video, Will [Oldham] got a call that his dad had suddenly passed away. We were like, "If you need to be with your family, do whatever you need to do. It's just a music video." But he wanted to finish because he would've been sitting by himself at the airport otherwise. It's hard for me to watch that video without remembering the experience.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "Cursed Sleep" [Director: Andy Bruntel]
What:Hopscotch When: September 9-11 Where: Raleigh, NC Who: Panda Bear, Broken Social Scene, Public Enemy, Fucked Up, No Age, Atlas Sound, Washed Out, Bear in Heaven, Best Coast, Marissa Nadler, Javelin, Active Child, Harvey Milk, Tortoise, and more. (Full disclosure: Pitchfork contributor Grayson Currin serves as curator.)
Who: My Morning Jacket, the Dead Weather, Band of Horses, Pearl Jam, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes, Drake, Gil Scott-Heron, George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic, Juvenile & DJ Mannie Fresh, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, and more.
What:Electrónica en Abril When: April 16-18 and April 22-24 Where: Madrid and Barcelona, Spain Who: High Places, Hudson Mohawke, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Hauschka, Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never, and more.
What:WIUX Culture Shock When: April 17 Where: Bloomington, IN Who: Best Coast, Light Pollution, and more.
In the past couple months, Broken Bells, the new band that features Danger Mouse and ShinsfrontmanJames Mercer, played their first shows ever, one-offs in L.A., New York, Paris, and London, as well as a few SXSW gigs. Now, the Mercer/Danger Connection is launching its first-ever full-scale tour. The band will spend May and June crossing North America. San Franciscan indie crew the Morning Benders (who just earned themselves a BNM for their new Big Echo) will open.
Before that tour kicks off, the Morning Benders will play a bunch of smaller headlining dates in the U.S. After, they'll play a couple shows in Central Park with the Black Keys. We've got all the dates for both Broken Bells and the Morning Benders below.
Broken Bells:
05-18 San Diego, CA - Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay * 05-19 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre * 05-21 San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom * 05-24 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom * 05-25 Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market * 05-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom * 05-29 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre * 05-31 Chicago, IL - Vic Theater * 06-01 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall * 06-02 Toronto, Ontario - Queen Elizabeth Theatre * 06-04 Boston, MA - RoyaleNightClub * 06-05 New York, NY - The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza * 06-06 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory * 06-07 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club * 06-10 Atlanta, GA - Center Stage * 06-11 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
* with the Morning Benders
The Morning Benders:
04-01 Portland, OR - Holocene 04-02 Seattle, WA - Sonic Boom (in-store) 04-02 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café 04-03 Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club 04-05 Provo, UT - Club Velour 04-07 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive 04-09 Des Moines, IA - The Vaudeville Mews 04-10 Ames, IA - The Maintenance Shop 04-11 Rock Island, IL - Huckleberry's Pizza (Presented by Daytrotter) 04-12 Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern 04-14 Toronto, Ontario - The Drake Hotel 04-15 Montreal, Quebec - La SalaRossa 04-16 Winooski, VT - The Monkey House 04-17 Boston, MA - TT the Bear’s 04-18 Clinton, NY - Hamilton College (Acoustic Show) 04-22 New York, NY - The Mercury Lounge 04-24 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg 04-28 New York, NY - The Mercury Lounge 05-18 San Diego, CA - Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay * 05-19 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre * 05-21 San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom * 05-24 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom * 05-25 Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market * 05-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom * 05-29 Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre * 05-31 Chicago, IL - Vic Theater * 06-01 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall * 06-02 Toronto, Ontario - Queen Elizabeth Theatre * 06-04 Boston, MA - RoyaleNightClub * 06-05 New York, NY - The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza * 06-06 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory * 06-07 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club * 06-10 Atlanta, GA - Center Stage * 06-11 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club * 07-27 New York, NY - Central Park SummerStage # 07-28 New York, NY - Central Park SummerStage #
"If the fabled Brooklyn music scene does exist, we're definitely not part of it. Most of those bands are never going to be discovered by anyone because they're too insular and weird. Although there are very cool things happening in those makeshift clubs in Bushwick, they have nothing to do with us."
-- MGMT's Ben Goldwasser probably won't show up to that Woods gig at your friend's loft. (via BlackBook)
Fun fact: Wichita Recordings is not actually based in Wichita, Kansas. The British indie has been responsible for boosting new-school all-stars like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Peter Bjorn and John, Los Campesinos!, and Bloc Party. This year, the label hits double digits, and they're celebrating the big birthday with a slate of Record Store Day releases and a few birthday shows.
Record Store Day hits on April 17 this year, and if you're in the UK and show up to your local indie retailer early enough, you'll be able to cop new vinyl releases of some of the bigger records in Wichita's back catalog. First up, there's Wichita's debut release, Bright Eyes' great soul-baring 2000 LP Fevers & Mirrors. This is the first time the album's been available on vinyl in Europe. The Cribs' self-titled debut also drops on vinyl for the first time, and it includes a CD of their demos. Other vinyl reissues include Bloc Party's Silent Alarm, Simian Mobile Disco's Attack Decay Sustain Release, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' self-titled debut EP. (Yup, the one with "Bang" and "Our Time" on it.) Silent Alarm comes with a bonus 7", featuring the songs "Little Thoughts" and "Storm and Stress".
All these reissues will come on heavyweight vinyl, with deluxe packaging. The LPs are all limited to 1000 copies each, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP is limited to 500. There will also be 700 copies of a split 7", which features current Wichita artists First Aid Kit and Peggy Sue.
As for those birthday parties, the first goes down May 14 at the Brighton club Life. Peggy Sue, Sky Larkin, Gold Panda, and Dam Mantle will play the Great Escape club night. There's also a May 21 London show at a venue to be confirmed. Sky Larkin, Frankie & the Heartstrings, Cold Pumas, and Dam Mantle are all on hand for the Stag & Dagger night. And a few Wichita bands also play the launch party for Barcelona's Primavera Sound Festival, which happens May 26 at the Apolo. Los Campesinos!, First Aid Kit, and Peggy Sue all play.
The video for soul futurist Janelle Monae's "Tightrope" features OutKast's Big Boi, big bow ties, super slick and inventive choreography, and even an appearance from those mirror men from Yeasayer's "Ambling Alp" clip (originally seen in Maya Deren's experimental 1943 film Meshes of the Afternoon). "Tightrope" was recently named Best New Track by this very website.
In the post, Van Orman writes of Brock, "He is about the greatest guy around, and is doing some kickass music with us. And Flapjack is his favorite show! WOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Excitable!
No word on when the Brock-assisted episode will air just yet.
Flying Lotus, Kode9, and Nosaj Thing played at New York's Le Poisson Rouge last night, and our photographer Elisabeth Vitale was on the scene. Check out a selection of her shots after the jump, then head over to our photo book for a complete set of full-size photos.
