Stream: The Childballads (ex-Jonathan Fire*Eater)

Stewart Lupton, former vocalist for New York's once-great-hope Jonathan Fire*Eater, finally has an answer (and a MySpace page) in response to all those "Whatever happened to Stewart Lupton?" queries that have long circulated 'round the web. And it's this: the Childballads.

While several of his old Fire*Eater bandmates are pursuing their own musical ventures a hundred miles off as the Walkmen, Lupton is writing, recording, and performing music under this new moniker, along with fellow Balladeers Betsy Wright (vocals, viola, Wurlitzer, Farfisa), Hugh MacIntosh (drums), and Judah Bauer (guitar).

Although Lupton's signature pipes are once again at the foreground of this project, fans shouldn't expect a reincarnation of the Fire*Eater sound: the Childballads is a more country- and folk-inspired, acoustic affair (citing Bobby Charles as a primary influence), complete with pretty boy/girl unison vocals and howling fiddles. Check out two new tunes, "Cheekbone Hollows" and "Blackbird Trax", on the aforelinked MySpace page.

The Childballads will release their debut EP, Cheekbone Hollows (Pop. 1/2 Life), this fall on England's Loog Records.

Ghostface, Lupe, Rhymefest Ball for NBA 2K7

Okay, this is officially a trend. In April, Matador contributed music to 2K Sports' Major League Baseball 2K6. Then Sub Pop went ahead and lent tunes to 2K Sports' NHL 2K7 earlier this month. And now we have NBA 2K7, released just yesterday (September 26), also a 2K Sports product. This time, however, it's not indie rock that will soundtrack your hoop dreams. It's Ghostface, Lupe Fiasco, E-40, A Tribe Called Quest, Rhymefest, Mos Def, and more.

Dan the Automator produced the soundtrack to 2K7, which hit stores September 19 and features a whole roster of fly MCs performing totally new ball-themed songs from the game and an Automator remix of Tribe's "Lyrics to Go".

The press release for the soundtrack features the usual back-patting on both sides, including praises for Dan the Automator's "solid gaming skills," but that stuff is nothing compared to the revelation that "select featured artists appear in the game as playable characters, including Phife from A Tribe Called Quest, Dan the Automator, and Slim Thug, among others." So wait, I can play as or against Phife Dawg? Awesome, because I don't know the last time I played a funky diabetic.

Since we're on a roll here, I'd like to suggest a few more future musical pairings for some of 2K Sports' other games: an all Scott Walker soundtrack to the Amped series of snowboarding games, Saddle Creek Records and Top Spin (tennis), and an Absolutely Kosher backed World Poker Tour. Wouldn't you love to hear the Wrens sing "This Is Not What You Had Planned" just as someone's full house trumps your flush? [MORE...]

BBC Dicks Over Sparks
Good, your CyberPatrol software let you get this far

British people acting like squares? Way to live up to the stereotype, guys!

In a move that thoroughly irked Ron and Russell Mael, aka Sparks, BBC London 94.9FM refused to play the pair's new single, "Dick Around", from their most recent album Hello Young Lovers, on the radio station's Breakfast Show yesterday morning.

Using what to some (including my eighth grade computer teacher) might be considered extremely poor Netiquette, Sparks' management posted a series of angry press releases on the band's website.

According to the statements, the Maels were invited into the studio as guests of Breakfast Show, where hosts Jono Coleman and JoAnne Good were banned from playing the track on air.

"JONO AND HIS CO-HOST JO GOOD WERE OBVIOUSLY EMBARRASSED - PARTICULARLY AS THEY QUITE CLEARLY KNEW THAT THE TERM MEANS WASTING TIME," the release reads.

"RON AND RUSSELL WERE QUITE CLEARLY ALSO EMBARRASSED BUT ALSO APPEARED TO BE INSULTED THAT THEY HAD BEEN ASKED TO 'GET UP AT 6.15AM TO COME AND BE INTERVIEWED AND THEN NOT HAVE THEIR SINGLE PLAYED' AND WHAT SHOULD (AND COULD) HAVE BEEN AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW ENDED UP BEING A 15 MINUTE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE BBC BANNING THE SONG."

Ron commented, "THE BBC HAS OFFICIALLY KILLED OFF OUR NEW SINGLE DICK AROUND, OSTENSIBLY THROUGH RATHER CHILDISH OBJECTIONS TO THE TITLE, AN INNOCENT REFERENCE TO THE IDLE LIFE.

"THAT A PIECE OF MUSIC CAN BE CONDEMNED PURELY BY ITS WITHOUT THE 'DECISION MAKERS' EVEN HAVING THE DECENCY TO OPEN THE CD CASE IS A TRAVESTY AND AN INSULT TO BOTH US AS THE CREATORS OF THE MUSIC AND TO THE LISTENERS OF THE BBC.

"RUSSELL MAEL RESPONDED 'THE REACTION FROM THE PUBLIC TO THIS RECORD HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT POSITIVE SO THE BBC SHOULD STOP TRYING TO BE THE MORALITY POLICE WHEN IT IS SO CLEARLY MISPLACED." [MORE...]

Ex-Beta Band Members Are Aliens
Legal ones, though

The Aliens, comprised of former Beta Band members John Maclean, Robin Jones, and Gordon Anderson (who left the band early on to become Lone Pigeon), have invaded Earth. They put out their debut EP, Alienoid Starmonica, in May, and are currently working on a new album to be released in February 2007. And man, are they happy about it.

The British trio released the single "The Happy Song" last week, complete with a video of them singing, dancing, jumping, and tying their shoes with much happiness. And hyperness. (We're talking "I-just-ate-a-whole-packet-of-Fun Dip" hyper.)

This fall, the Aliens will land at various UK venues on a month-long tour, which will be followed (the band hopes) by appearances in the U.S., Europe, and "anywhere else in the world that will have us in 2007."

[MORE...]

Stephin Merritt Shares Gothic Archies Tracklist, Streams

It's a match made in-- well, hell, as either of these sarcastic mopes would likely put it. But in this case that's a very good thing! As previously reported, one Stephin Merritt (of Magnetic Fields, 6ths, and Future Bible Heroes fame-- and here in Gothic Archies mode) has been recording songs for one Lemony Snicket's (Daniel Handler to kith and kin) A Series of Unfortunate Events book series.

Book the Thirteenth: The End-- the latest and final volume in the gloom-besotted series-- arrives, most appropriately, on Friday, October 13. The corresponding CD on Nonesuch, the Gothic Archies' The Tragic Treasury: Songs From a Series of Unfortunate Events, would probably arrive then too, were it not bound by the strange laws which dictate that all U.S. music releases must come out on Tuesdays. Thus, it hits stores October 10.

Were I Snicket, I'd be beseeching you to under no circumstances check out the tracklist and the two streams from the album linked below. That is, unless you like utter damnation, odes to A Series' vile villain Count Olaf, and taking your gothic ornamentation for a stroll. And if those two links aren't cooperating with your machine, and you really can't take a hint, hear the new tunes here. I mean, if you absolutely must.

Merritt hits the road next month, performing as part of the Snicket book tour, with the author himself on percussion. Dates here. [MORE...]

Hey, Ryan Adams: STFU

You guys, the internet is so terrible. Today comes word that Ryan Adams has relaunched his website with a comical new Battlestar Galactica-style interface, soundtracked entirely by the tousled-haired singer/songwriter's own horrific beats and rhymes. Yes, he is rapping. In what is without question one of thee worst aural assaults of the year, Adams subjects visitors to no less than four minutes of a novelty hip-hop track that, at its best, consists of him shouting "NEW YORK CITY!", and at worst, has him putting on his best impression of a rappin' witch. There's also a fascinating song about a drunk Santa. It's a classic Adams wtf moment, a blatent publicity stunt we imagine he feels is unassailable since it's pretty much harmless and is just him goofing off and being his usual obnoxious self. You know what? No. This is basically criminal negligence. Who knows a lawyer?

Pernice Brothers Release New Album, Tour
Favor sweaty guys over fashion shows

Joe Pernice is sick of the cynical, the fashion show, the vapid, the overblown. (Or so he sings on his new track "Somerville".) Now the oft-melancholic musician is encouraging fans to resist vapidity and Live a Little, as his long-running band the Pernice Brothers will release a new album by that name on October 3, courtesy of his own Ashmont Records.

Produced by Michael Deming, who also worked on the first Pernice Bros album Overcome by Happiness, the new full-length features strings and horns (a la Overcome) but-- according to the band's official website-- "is much more a rock record, representing the running of big fat analog tape while sweaty guys played on well-crafted instruments through amplifiers and pounded on sweet, old drum kits."

Live a Little, the follow-up to 2005's Discover a Lovelier You, contains eleven new tracks plus a 2006 version of "Grudge F***" by the Scud Mountain Boys (Pernice's former band). Joe and friends will also bro down on a U.S. tour this fall. [MORE...]

Pink Mountaintops Kick Off Tour

Vancouver multi-band frontman Stephen McBean is hitting the road with his sex-and-drug-obsessed outfit Pink Mountaintops. Fans can see the softer side of Stephen tonight in Oakland and all along the West Coast during the first half of October.

Pink Mountaintops were originally supposed to open for Wolfmother on a couple of dates, but Wolfmother was forced to cancel due to the premature birth of bassist/keyboardist Chris Ross' son. However, there is a date with Man Man in San Francisco. Which more than makes up for it. [MORE...]

New Pornographers Gear Up for Next Full-Length
Guitarist Todd Fancey talks New Pornos, second solo LP

The New Pornographers have just wrapped up their festival dates with a performance at the V Festival in Baltimore, and they have a Canadian tour scheduled for October, after which they will record their fourth album in November. Guitarist Todd Fancey spoke to Pitchfork yesterday about new albums from both the New Pornographers and his solo project, Fancey.

"[Carl is] working on [the New Pornographers album] now [in New York], and as a band we're going to rehearse the songs on tour in October at soundcheck. So we'll rehearse the songs, go over the tempos. Then [drummer/producer] Kurt [Dahle] will probably get the files in Vancouver and work his ass off again like he did on Twin Cinema and get the drums down. There will be file-sharing going back and forth between the coasts. And then it's [touring] Australia [and] Japan. It's busy times, and I guess we wouldn't have it any other way," said Fancey.

He also said that Dan Bejar and Neko Case will join the band in the studio, and Bejar will continue to contribute songs to appear on the new record. Realistically, he expects the record to come out in June. "There's still a lot of work to do. For the Pornographers, it's going to take months of preparatory work to set up this campaign. It seems like things have been ascending slowly record-to-record, and I guess if we're lucky, it will be the same thing. So it's such a huge campaign, whereas [with] Fancey it's like, just put it out whenever and do some touring and have fun with it."

Speaking of his solo project, Fancey is also busy readying the follow-up to his 2004 self-titled solo debut. Along with the soft rock of the first album, he's bringing a couple of other influences to the table. "There's a country rock song on it and a couple of Sabbath-y ones. That was the biggest thing for me growing up when I first got into music, so I come back to it sometimes, just the guitar style [and] a little bit of the vocal style," Fancey said.
[MORE...]

Infinite Mixtape #44: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"

Not a day goes by at Pitchfork World Headquarters that we don't get our eyes and ears molested by news of some hot new band said to be intrepidly melding genres x, y, and z, cultivating "a sound that is all their own," saving the children, fighting the power, and changing the face of modern music as we know it.

And no, Bound Stems aren't that band, either. But "Western Biographic", from the Chicago-based four-piece's recent Flameshovel LP Appreciation Night, succeeds gloriously on its own merits by continually thwarting expectations, never settling on one genre, melody, or arrangement for long. In two-and-a-half short minutes, the band shifts from brooding guitarwork to barnburning mayhem to prancy piano to a bass-driven breakdown, and a chorus that erupts from the speakers with volcanic might. If this is how Chicago rolls from now on, consider us along for the ride.

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

#0044 > Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
[from Appreciation Night; Flameshovel Records]
Info: [Bound Stems] | [MySpace] | [Flameshovel]

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// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0040: Malajube: "La Monogamie"
#0039: The Polyphonic Spree: "Sonic Bloom"
#0038: Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"
#0037: Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]"
#0036: Flying Canyon: "In the Reflection"
#0035: Califone: "The Orchids"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Viva Voce Tour With Silversun Pickups, The Kingdom

Three acts on the rise, three new LPs (two of them debuts), a dozen or so West Coast kids-- it all adds up to one honey of a fall tour, and it kicks off tomorrow night in San Francisco.

The Players: Portland pop rock couple Viva Voce (touring behind their recent Barsuk LP Get Yr Blood Sucked Out), L.A. rock troupe Silversun Pickups (touting their Dangerbird-stamped full-length debut, Carnavas), and PDX fivesome the Kingdom (supporting their Arena Rock full-length debut K1). Sweet Jesus, that is a lot of rock for your buck.

Come November, Silversun Pickups will ditch their tourmates and ride off into the sunset with the recent wolffather and his buds in Wolfmother. [MORE...]

M.I.A. Kicks the "Bird Flu"
Plays new material at secret club performance

M.I.A.'s latest MySpace blog entry has been M.I.A. since August 18-- at least to the Pitchfork staff. Sorry, guys. Better late than never though, amirite?

The Sri Lanka via London mash-up queen's once-cryptic "bird flu lab" (see: previous story) has lost it mystery, as we can now report that M.I.A. will soon upload a new number to her MySpace page, "Bird Flu".

Why the deadly title? In her words, "I CALLED THIS BIRD FLU BECAUSE THIS BEAT GON KILL EVERYONE!!" Of course.

M.I.A. filmed the track's video in a fishing village on the south coast of India (photos here). She explains, "THE VILLAGE WAS HIT BY A TSUNAMI, BUT THEY STILL WERE IN GOOD SHAPE!! WE PARCTICALLY MOVED THERE AND HAD THE CRAZIEST TIME GOING OUT FISHING EVERYDAY.

"AND I ALWAYZ USED TO SAY THAT ONE DAY IM GONNA RUN AWAY AND MARRY A FISHERMAN AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER AND I THOUGHT DAMN I WAS CLOSE TO SEEING THE REALITY OF MY FOREVER PLAN B."

Look out, Diplo!

"WE DISCOVERED AN AMAZING BOY WHO CAN OUT DANCE ANYTHING I VE ever SEEN. HE INVENTED ME THE BIRD FLU DANCE." [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.)