Trainwreck Riders in Car Crash

Man, what a lousy weekend it was for bands in vans! First Jana and Ray, and now, San Francisco-based alt-country act the Trainwreck Riders. While in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday night, the boys were victims of a crash caused by a drunk driver. Though there were no major injuries to speak of, the band has been forced to cancel the rest of their tour and head home to regroup.

The Riders are no strangers to misfortune on the road-- remember what happened the last time they were in Texas?

According to a post on their website, this is how it went down:

For those of you who have not heard (or maybe you have, and that's why you're here), we were side-swiped by a drunk driver late Saturday night / Sunday morning (6/24). Our van was flipped and rolled. Luckily (miraculously), the van itself and our equipment took the worst of it. As far as we can tell, we did not sustain any serious injuries - various scrapes and bruises, a broken arm, maybe a rib - sticks and stones stuff mainly. We feel very lucky to have been able to walk away from this sort of accident. The drunk driver was caught a few miles down the road.

We are bummed to announced that we will likely have to cancel the rest of our US tour with the Black Diamond Heavies. We appreciate the Heavies' understanding and support - their kind wishes, more than appreciated.

We are currently headed home to San Francisco, where we will spend some time to gather ourselves and maybe heal up a bit.

A genuine thank you to all who have taken an interest in our well-being, and rest assured, we will do our best to make it back on the road as soon as possible.

The band is accepting donations to replace their banged-up gear and so forth via Paypal at trainwreckriders@yahoo.com. They should be rested up for a mid-September set at their hometown Treasure Island Festival. [MORE...]

Photos: Fiery Furnaces [Chicago, IL; 06/22/07]

Photos by Sanchez and Kitahara

The Friedberger family brought it home to Chicago's Empty Bottle this weekend, for the second date of their little summer jaunt around North America. This was the first hometown show for the Fiery Furnaces under their new hometown label, Thrill Jockey.

The Furnaces continue around the country-- with a brief stop in Canada-- for the next few weeks, pushing their upcoming Thrill Jockey debut, Widow City, which drops on October 23. Tonight they're in Toronto.

All remaining dates and a few more shots after the jump.




[MORE...]

Pitchfork Music Festival Two-Day Passes Sold Out!

We warned ya. As of this minute, two-day Saturday-Sunday passes for the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival-- that festive concert event taking place in Chicago's Union Park July 13-15-- are totally sold out.

With Friday and three-day passes already long gone, this means your only chance of catching Cat Power, Yoko Ono, Mastodon, Clipse, Of Montreal, the New Pornographers, Stephen Malkmus, De La Soul, and all the rest is to score a pair of individual passes for Saturday and Sunday. Those are available right now-- in extremely limited quantities, might we add-- at Ticketweb for the measly sum of $25 apiece.

As we announced late last week, the good folks at eMusic have once again helped us put together a downloadable Pitchfork Music Festival primer for the 2007 fest. eMusic subscribers and non-subscribers alike can score that 17-track set right here, at absolutely no cost other than a few megabytes of harddrive/iPod space.

There's also, of course, the free LunchBreak concert series going down the week leading up to the festival, presented by Chicago venues and the Chicago Cultural Center and featuring ace local acts.

Catch you in less than three weeks!

Wilco, M.I.A., Pumpkins, Rage, Spoon Do Voodoo Fest
Plus: Clap Your Hands, Common, Galactic [ft. Mr. Lif, Lyrics Born], Quintron

Break out the pins and the Billy "Big Bucks" Corgan effigies-- it's time for a little voodoo!

The 2007 Voodoo Music Experience picks up right where last year's bash left off, inviting a collision of indie notables, big names, and regional favorites to invade New Orleans' City Park over Halloween weekend.

Like a lot of fests in 2007 (ahem), the Voodoo Experience has expanded to three days this year, taking place October 26, 27, and 28. That means more hours of rocking, hours that will be filled by the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Wilco, Spoon, M.I.A. (for now), Rage Against the Machine, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Common, Galactic with Mr. Lif and Lyrics Born, Sinead O'Connor, Dr. John, Ghostland Observatory, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Earl Greyhound, and that Tiësto guy, plus loads more.

Jana Hunter and Castanets Gear Stolen
Just as they stole our hearts in song, only much crappier

For the love of god, could all you petty thieves get together and agree to leave the indie musicians of the world alone? It's bad enough they struggle for recognition; now they've gotta struggle to keep their stuff? Can't you rip off Daughtry or something?

Following in the unfortunate footsteps of the Concretes, the Dears, Film School, Xiu Xiu, and other victims, the Jana Hunter and Castanets tour van was robbed right under the nose of Castanet Ray Raposa. So what's the story, mourning glories?

Hunter sent out the following message over the weekend:

So, the story is, last night we played in tucson at solar culture. afterward, we loaded our stuff up, went downtown, had a drink, and went to a house to crash on the floor. en route, we damaged a door, making it such that the door won't close and such that eventually, before we return the vehicle to the rental company, we'll have to pay on the order of 2 grand to replace the door.

seeing as how we had an unsecured vehicle, ray (castanets) slept in the van. sometime during the night, some brave fuck(s) very quietly opened the back door and took what they could carry. we assume their were more than one of them given all the shit they managed to walk away with. we're gathering what serial numbers we can, but in the meantime, here's a rudimentary list:

JH gear-
fender classical guitar (ser.#9505151116)
new boss 20xl loopstation
boss reverb/delay pedal
original digitech whammy pedal
original b k butler tubedriver overdrive pedal
peavey 6 mixer (ser.#k0344300)
shure beta 98/s
custom flashlight circuit-bended thing

Castanets gear-
late 60's blue fender music master guitar
line 6 delay pedal
boss tremolo
mutron volume/wah pedal
boss tuner pedal
digitech metal master
ebow
slides/cables

That's some cold-blooded stuff right there!

Despite the setback, Jana, Ray and the rest will continue their string of dates together without their circuit-bended thing. They've set up an e-mail address-- mutualincarnation@gmail.com-- at which they'll gladly accept Paypal donations to help them replace their gear.

Go see 'em! They need your love now more than ever. [MORE...]

Okkervil River Announce Fall Tour

Despite the flurry of news that has surfaced regarding Okkervil River's forthcoming album, The Stage Names (out August 7 on Jagjaguwar), the band had yet to announce a full-blown tour of anywhere, much less their home continent. Until now, since they've just lifted the veil on a full month of shows. It all kicks off September 3 in San Diego and has Okkervil covering most of the rest of North America as well.

The Austinites, led by Will Sheff, still have those previously reported back-to-back shows in the Northeast this July, beginning with a benefit show in Sheff's home state of New Hampshire on July 14. [MORE...]

Pharoahe Monch Talks Desire, Artistic Process, Asthma
"If you're a nerd with two-inch-thick glasses and you're making a great song, I'm going to buy into your product before I'm going to buy into somebody who's fresh out of prison who actually murdered three people and has an album and it just sucks."

Pharoahe Monch's second solo album has been a long time coming. After a run of three records with partner-in-crime Prince Po (or Prince Poetry) as Organized Konfusion, Monch closed out the 90s with the release of his first solo album, Internal Affairs, in 1999. The album-- on underground hip hop powerhouse label Rawkus (also home to Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Big L at the time)-- cemented Monch's status as one of the genre's premier lyricists. And he followed it up by effectively disappearing.

Label politics played a part in the disappearance, though an exact explanation of his absence from music is still seemingly non-existent. No matter, since last year Monch started making noise again, leaking songs and making videos and a mixtape to promote a (finally) forthcoming new album.

That album, Desire, will finally arrive on record store shelves tomorrow, June 26, via SRC Records. It's an ambitious record full of Monch's trademark tongue twisters and extended metaphors as well as an Elvis homage of sorts ("Body Baby") and a partial Public Enemy cover ("Welcome to the Terrordome"). Last week, Monch spoke to Pitchfork about the album, his writing style (and some of his more illicit metaphors), and how his near-lifelong battle with chronic asthma has affected his career path.

Monch has a couple weeks' worth of tour dates this summer, most of which are part of the Rock the Bells festival and tour. His next show is on June 29 in New York City.

Pitchfork: How does it feel to be releasing your second solo album almost a decade after your first?

Pharoahe Monch: It's awesome. It feels great. I love the record. The time thing is really not an issue with me, because I feel like if I would have released this record under Geffen or [in] another situation, it wouldn't be what it's going to be. And it's going to be really good.

Pitchfork: Is this the record you would have wanted to release as a follow-up to Internal Affairs?

PM: It's taken a lot of different forms, and I think, as my second effort, I wanted it to be what the people are getting right now. I wanted the proper control, and I didn't want to worry about putting the current, trendy r&b artists on a chorus, none of those things. A lot of times when you're steadfast [in] your integrity you have to have patience as well. As [much] as the hiatus was [because of] regular label politics and things gone wrong with the label situation, I was just enjoying my freedom for a good period of time, touring and having a good time.

Pitchfork: Do you feel like you play a different role in the scene now than you did eight years ago?

PM: Definitely, because of the way things have changed. I think my attitude when I signed with Rawkus was kind of similar to now. I was like, "Yo, I think I can give you two to three records that can compete in the marketplace with what's going on currently and give you tangible music that's on the cusp, but still ahead of its time," and I was just so enamored with how wack things were then.

I just was like, "Musically, it's such an easy thing to compete," where before, when you had Tribe and Brand Nubian and Leaders of the New School and the Pharcyde, and all these different artists pushing the envelope, it was like, "Uh, maybe we should go back to the drawing board. Uh, maybe we should uh--." That was good for the barometer of hip-hop, because it kept pushing the envelope. Every time one of those albums came out, you were like, "Wow." They stretched it. Whether they stretched it politically or stretched it musically, they stretched it at the time. In '99 I think Rawkus-- I don't want to say it was easy for us, but it was nothing to be competitive with what was out there.

Pitchfork: But that actually inspires you?

PM: Yeah. Before I signed with them, I was like, "I can give you records that can more than compete with what's going on in the industry, business-wise," and [it's] the same thing now. The difference is, this record is a total reflection of all that I am emotionally, without being concerned with what's going on in the industry. And you can call me a fool, and I know the label will hate to hear this, but I'm not really concerned with what's going on in the industry right now. From what I hear from the complaints and what I hear when I do turn on the radio once a week, it's pretty fucking bad.

Pitchfork: And you feel like it's your job to offer a positive alternative?

PM: People should listen to whatever the hell they want to listen to. I just want a fair share at showing people that there are alternatives to the approach to making hip-hop records and expressing yourself. I only get frustrated when the equality of that is taken away. Even on my side of things, let's say the record goes double platinum and people say, "How the hell did he do that in an industry that's not selling records? He just came through with this record, and it caught on and spread through word of mouth, and people love the record." Let's say that happens and record labels are like, "Do you have anything that sounds like that guy, Pharoahe Monkey or whatever his name is?" and people start sounding like my shit. I'll be the first one to say, "Come on, let's get off the ride-the-wind, trend shit," and that's what you get a lot of. Whether it's the East Coast or the West Coast or down South or the hot producer, it's just bad for the culture, for the musical form to be like, "Pharoahe's hot right now. Let's get him to produce some..."-- you know? It's just ridiculous, man. [MORE...]

M.I.A., Twilight Sad, Voxtrot, Cursive Play Siren Fest
Also: Black Lips, Lavender Diamond, New York Dolls, Matt and Kim

The Village Voice's Coney Island-inhabiting Siren Music Festival will take place this year on July 21, and its lineup includes M.I.A., Voxtrot, the Twilight Sad, New York Dolls, the Black Lips, Matt and Kim, Cursive, Lavender Diamond, We Are Scientists, the Detroit Cobras, Elvis Perkins, Dr. Dog, Noisettes, White Rabbits, and various DJs.

The free, all-ages festival will happen rain or shine, and the event's organizers plan to add even more acts to the lineup in the coming weeks.

[Editor's note: Even though the Voice has been taken over by evil robots, we still heartily endorse the Siren Festival. Plus, since Coney Island is about to be demolished and turned into a 21st century tourist nightmare, you might as well enjoy the old school rides and freak shows while they're still there.]

Diplo Launches Heaps Decent Non-Profit

You knew all along master blaster Diplo was a mad decent dude. What may not have crossed your mind was just how decent the dude could be. The Hollertronix whiz kid has announced the creation of Heaps Decent a "non-profit music initiative" that "aims to connect current popular recording artists with students from underprivileged communities around the world and reinforce the positive influence of music education through technical skill development and public performance."

Heaps Decent got its start following Diplo's stint on this winter's Big Day Out tour, when he headed out on his own on an Australian mini-vacation, visiting a number of remote locales. While there, the DJ/producer met a group of indigenous Australian youngsters interested in hip-hop. With help from Ed Banger's DJ Mehdi, the Australian label Modular, and sponsors Apple, Obey, Serato/Rane, and Ableton, Diplo held a series of workshops for students from the Northern Australian locale Maningrida and from a Southern Australian New South Wales juvenile justice center. These sessions resulted in the creation of the single "Smash a Kangaroo", which will be available on iTunes soon and is currently streaming on the Heaps Decent MySpace page).

UPDATE: PITCHFORK WAS GIVEN INCORRECT INFORMATION REGARDING WHO, EXACTLY, SET UP THIS PROGRAM. HEAPS DECENT IS BEING RUN BY DIPLO ALONG WITH PARTNERS ANDREW LEVINS AND NINA AGZARIAN. THE AUSTRALIAN SESSION WAS PUT TOGETHER BY DIPLO AND ROSIE DWYER. MODULAR AND DJ MEHDI WERE NOT INVOLVED, THOUGH JUSTICE AND BUSY P FROM ED BANGER DJ'ED A FUNDRAISER. 

Diplo plans to bring the project to other locations throughout the world, starting with a session in Rio de Janeiro's Rochina favela in January.

Meanwhile, Diplo's got plenty of music on the way-- including a couple tracks on M.I.A.'s forthcoming Kala-- and a bunch of tour dates all over this world of ours. [MORE...]

Aa Play the Touring gAame

Photo by Tod Seelie

Aa (aka BIG A little a...so many "a"s!!!!) will hit the road this summer in support of their debut CD/DVD full-length, gAame.

The Brooklyn band have a show tomorrow (June 23) at Coney Island, and after that their tour begins in New York City on July 8.

The day before kickoff, members of Aa will play in Brooklyn Bridge Park with Boredoms (and a ton of other rhythm freaks) as part of the latter band's previously reported "77 Drum" performance experiment. But good luck picking the Aa dudes out of a mass of 77 sweaty heads and 154 flailing arms (barring any Leppard-like participants). [MORE...]

Os Mutantes Schedule More Shows

Our suspicions were correct! Os Mutantes are not just, as previously reported, playing two U.S. shows and disappearing back into the psychedelic mists of their Brazilian homeland. Instead, they have a respectable-sized tour assembled for the month of July, including four U.S. dates and a handful more in the UK and Europe.

The Tropicalia legends' last three dates are part of their previously reported participation in the TrocaBrahma festival, which finds them collaborating with Optimo's JD Twitch.

The band's tour still begins July 11 in Chicago. [MORE...]

Luscious Jackson's Gabby Glaser Makes a Solo Splash

Though the forty ladyfingers of breezy NYC funk-poppers Luscious Jackson spend more time making the babies swoon than making the kiddies dance, co-founder Gabby Glaser isn't the type to rest on her laurels.

She'll take one whopper of a cannonball into the proverbial waters of solo-dom with Gimme Splash, due June 26 on Latchkey Records. The reverb-laden, hip-hop tinged pop of Splash, Glaser's solo debut, will wash over her fellow New Yorkers on a single planned date June 28 at Brooklyn's Union Hall. Latchkey also has a pair of digital singles from Splash available now on the label website.

Gabby's fellow Luscious Jackson co-founder Jill Cunniff, as previously reported, released solo disc City Beach earlier this year. Jill has a trio of NYC dates to play in the coming months. [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.)