Pitchfork

Photo by Eva Michon

Sebastien Grainger, former Death From Above 1979 singer/drummer and self-proclaimed bringer of "fuck-rock," will hit the road this fall in support of his self-titled debut as Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains.

The tour starts with a record release show in Toronto on October 20, but from there until its end in early December, it's a strictly U.S. affair. Grainger will be performing as part of a four-piece band at these shows.

As previously reported, Saddle Creek will release Sebastien Grainger & the Mountains on October 21.

Photos by Ahmed Klink

New York Magazine celebrated 40 years of pressing ink to page over the weekend with a big bash at their titular city's Hammerstein Ballroom. Friday night brought together the likes of the National, Grizzly Bear, and dapper comedy troupe Stella, though the real fashion statement of the evening belongs to National frontguy Matt Berninger and those Craig Finn glasses of his.

Note that Grizzly Bear-- along with Zach Condon of Beirut and Nico Muhly-- will cab their way over to the Horticultural Society of New York on October 17 for an evening of live music and bingo-playing, all aimed at raising funds for presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Tickets to the intimate $100-a-head event will get you music from the aforementioned acts, food, drink, a crack at prizes, and a chance to bear witness to and participate in an Obama tribute and sing-along. Oh, and an opportunity to chat about that Department of Eagles record with none other than Howard Wolfson, the be-sweatered ex-Hillary Clinton campaign communications director and total hipster, who will offer a few remarks on the evening.

The National












Grizzly Bear










Stella








The National:

10-16 Cincinnati, OH - Fountain Square ("Vote Early Rock Late" Obama Rally) *
10-24 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - TIM Festival
10-25 São Paulo, Brazil - TIM Festival
10-27 Vitória, Brazil - UFES Theatre
11-08 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest

* with the Breeders

"Algerian trumpets, brilliant vocals, and heavy beat orchestration" litter the songs made by a cohort of Algerian musicians who laid the foundations for a form of folk music called Raï, according to a press release. Sublime Frequencies has collected eight tracks from this scene's heyday on a compilation called 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground, which the world music label will release tomorrow (October 14).

1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground is an LP-only release with a single pressing of 1,500 copies. Each record comes in a gatefold jacket with photos of the musicians and liner notes from compilation curator Hicham Chadly.

Dutch composer Stephen Emmer will bring his Recitement LP to the U.S. tomorrow (October 14) via Allegro Music. Those who have paid close attention to Forkcast and/or Pitchfork.tv in the last couple months might have caught the video for Recitement's "Passengers", a track that puts Lou Reed's reading of a text by Paul Theroux over music by Emmer.

The rest of Recitement takes the same shape as "Passengers": Music composed, arranged, and performed by Emmer soundtracking new and appropriated recordings of written works by Samuel Beckett, Charles Baudelaire, and Yoko Ono, among others. In addition to Reed, the list of performers on Recitment includes Allen Ginsberg, Jorge Luis Borges, and Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead).

If all those names aren't enough to pique your interest, there's one more: Bowie/T. Rex/Morrissey collaborator Tony Visconti produced and mixed the disc.

Photos by Kathryn Yu

Jeff Mangum's first live appearance in ages and that totally batshit insane Diesel party sure looked nifty, but the award for biggest spectacle in New York City this past weekend should probably go to Of Montreal, who hit up Roseland Ballroom Friday night in support of upcoming disc/sticker set/tote bag/etc Skeletal Lamping.

At this point, Of Montreal's live thing has evolved into something the term "rock show" couldn't hope to sum up, and indeed something this paragraph couldn't possibly contain. Photos do words one better in this case, however, and there are plenty of those for your perusal below.

And Love Is All are a great band, but I'd be amazed if anyone remembered a thing about their opening set after the variety show on acid that followed.

In other news from Of Montreal, the band should be playing an acoustic in-store at Rough Trade East in London right about now, NPR is currently streaming an October 9 performance from Washington, DC right here, and Skeletal Lamping is due on shelves October 21.

Of Montreal

Photos by Kathryn Yu

As promised, more photos from Saturday night's Diesel-sponsored xXx party at Pier 3 in Brooklyn. In a word, shit was BANANAS, with a visibly preggers M.I.A. making her first live appearance since Bonnaroo (joined by N.E.R.D. and Rye Rye), T.I. turning up unannounced and performing with Franz Ferdinand (plus both acts joining M.I.A. to do a bit of "Swagger Like Us"), and Hot Chip receiving an assist from a drumline and Chaka Khan(!), all topped off with acrobats, fire-eaters, contortionists, and raging blizzards of confetti. So, um, how was your weekend?

M.I.A.






Franz Ferdinand with T.I.
















M.I.A. with N.E.R.D.






T.I.








Hot Chip






Hot Chip with Chaka Khan and drumline

Alton Ellis, the Jamaican singer known as "The Godfather of Rocksteady", passed away Friday, October 10 at Hammersmith Hospital in London. He was 70 years old.

According to an AP report citing hospital officials, "Ellis died peacefully," and "his family did not wish to release details." However, an obituary on the Trojan Records site points to a longstanding battle with cancer of the lymph glands as the cause of Ellis' death.

Ellis rose to prominence in Jamaica as a ska singer for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One label in the early 1960s, but his most influential contributions to Jamaican music came with his jump to Arthur "Duke" Reid's Treasure Isle in the mid-60s. It was there that Ellis pioneered rocksteady, which preceded reggae by slowing down the tempo of ska, putting more direct focus on the bass, and aping the sweeter, lighter singing style of American R&B stars.

Both solo and with his vocal group the Flames, Ellis' hits for included "I'm Still in Love With You", "Get Ready - Rock Steady", "Cry Tough", "Girl I've Got a Date", "My Willow Tree", and "Dance Crasher".

In the 70s, Ellis moved to England, where he started his own Alltone label and record store. In 2006, he was inducted in the International Reggae and World Music Awards Hall of Fame.

"I'm Still in Love With You"

"Cry Tough"

"Get Ready - Rock Steady"

So. Here we come again to another rousing round of Taco Bell's Feed the Beat, the contest that lets you, as they put it, "hear some great tunes and help pick this year's best indie bands."

Things are a little different this time out, with 100 bands receiving the $500 in free Fourthmeal-- you know, the stuff you chomp down when you're stoned between dinner and breakfast-- and then competing for a chance to "have a single produced and promoted by Taco Bell...on www.feedthebeat.com, through online advertising, and with in-store efforts in the spring of 2009." And who in the hell wouldn't want that?

We'll sure tell you who might: the likes of Robert Pollard's great new Boston Spaceships, the Mae Shi, A Place to Bury Strangers, the Little Ones, Colour Revolt, Murder by Death, Be Your Own Pet offshoot Turbo Fruits, and pretty much every pop-punk/emo/screamo band ever. Yeah, I bet you dudes want some free Volcano Tacos.

Unlike past Feed the Beat competitions, you, the consumer, get a crack at selecting your faves. From now through October 23, you can vote for the hungriest-looking act, and the top 24 vote-getters will then be pitted against each other in a head-to-head tourney. From 24, there will be 12, and so on and so forth, until three lucky winners get their time in the Taco Bell Studios. Hey, worked for Little Richard.

And even if the Taco Bell Studios thing doesn't work out, each of the above-mentioned acts still has that $500 in free Fourthmeal to consume or get rid of in a creative fashion. If you'll recall, Mr. Gregg Gillis of Girl Talk parlayed his winnings in a prior Feed the Beat contest into a big fiesta, while Ted Leo and John Schmersal of Enon had their reservations.

Photos by John Kendelhardt

You've seen the videos in Forkcast, you've read the news story, and now... check out some lovely photos of elusive Neutral Milk Hotel mastermind Jeff Mangum jamming out with his Elephant 6 collective pals Saturday night at the Knitting Factory in NYC. Gotta admit, the guy looks just a wee bit messiah-like in the lighting up there, no?

As previously reported, lumberjack Jeff put in guest appearance as part of the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour, which also features folks from the Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, the Music Tapes, and more. The fun continues tomorrow night (October 14) in Portland, Maine.

Jeff Mangum


The Olivia Tremor Control


Elf Power

Photo by Doug Coombe

Veteran Dearborn, Michigan duo Windy & Carl tend to take their time with things, but they're ready at last to issue a new album, one that Kranky is calling their first proper full-length since 2001's Consciousness. Songs for the Broken Hearted is due tomorrow (October 13) on CD and double LP from the Chicago label and longtime W&C home.

Songs follows close on the heels of Windy Weber's recent solo album, I Hate People. And while the duo doesn't have any dates at the moment, Weber will appear with Thomas Meluch (aka Benoît Pioulard) under the Lambs Laughter moniker at this year's Brainwaves Festival, going down outside Boston in late November.

In addition to the new LP, Windy & Carl have some music in Chris Eska's August Evening, which is screening all over the place this fall.