Pitchfork

Pitchfork is making the leap from pixels to the page: On November 11, Simon & Schuster imprint Fireside Books will publish The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present. This handy paperback chronologically explores Pitchfork's 500 favorite songs from 1977-2006, constructing an alternate history of the past three decades of popular music-- one that extends beyond the typical Baby Boomer-approved canon of the Clash, Prince, Public Enemy, Nirvana, Radiohead, and Outkast.

From art-rock and proto-punk godfathers such as Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, and David Bowie to today's leading lights such as the Arcade Fire, the White Stripes, and Kanye West; from superstars to cult heroes; and from punk, indie, and pop to hip-hop, electronic music, and metal, we've created the ultimate playlist. Interspersed throughout are sidebars on the most vital subgenres from electro to grime to riot grrrl, along with pieces like "Career Killers: The Songs That Ended It All" and "Runaway Trainwrecks: The Post-Grunge Nadir."

Edited by Pitchfork Founder/President Ryan Schreiber and Editor-in-Chief Scott Plagenhoef, and written by an all-star team of contributors, The Pitchfork 500 is the perfect book for the train ride to work, a cozy winter's night by the fireside, or extended stays on the toilet.

For more information on The Pitchfork 500, go to www.thepitchfork500.com; to pre-order now, go to Insound. And remember to look for it at your local bookstore starting November 11! (It sure would make for a nice holiday gift, hint hint.)

Less than a week ago, the Black Angels supported legendary psych rocker and fellow Austin, Texas resident Roky Erickson at a show in Dallas. It seems the two acts get along, because they've also got a little West Coast tour together starting at the end of the month.

On the tour, the Black Angels will open for Erickson and then return later each evening as his rhythm section. And that's not the only special part of Erickson's sets, since they will include songs from the 13th Floor Elevators catalog that haven't been performed live in years.

In addition to their dates with Erickson, the Black Angels have quite a few shows, both in the U.S. and Europe. Their next date is tomorrow (October 11) in Pioneertown, California.

Semiannual arts mag Esopus has its 11th issue back from the presses and ready to ship, and with a new issue of Esopus comes a new themed compilation.

Esopus 11: Advice features 11 songs, each written with a piece of advice as its inspiration. The sources are as diverse as radio DJs, Billy Graham, and "Savage Love", and the tunes come from Shearwater, Wye Oak, Lucky Dragons, Stuart Dahlquist, Jenny Owen Youngs, the Muslims, and the Wingdale Community Singers (aka author Rick Moody, artist Nina Katchadourian, and musical types David Grubbs and Hannah Marcus), among others.

Advice follows previous Esopus comps themed after good news and dreams.

To order Esopus 11 and see links to all of the compilation's source material, visit esopusmag.com.

Björk and Thom Yorke, two of the mightiest figures in avant pop music, might will be joining forces for a good cause: protecting the Icelandic environment. If a promotional CD discovered by the French Björk fansite bjork.fr is to be believed (UPDATE: It is!), One Little Indian will release the new Björk single "Nattura", which features the Radiohead frontman on backing vocals. Although the promo indicates that the single is coming out this Monday, October 13, nothing about the single has been confirmed by anyone from One Little Indian or the Björk or Radiohead camps.

UPDATE: Björk's camp has confirmed that the single will indeed be released on October 20 from One Little Indian.

According to text on the promo, the song "highlights a grass roots movement in Iceland to reclaim the country’s natural resources and wilderness from the hands of big business and pollution." It is described as "more of a protest and rallying cry than a lecture." [Thanks to reader Daniel La France for the heads up.]

"Nattura" shares its name with the website Nattura.info, a gathering place for the Icelandic environmental movement. This wouldn't be the first time Björk has teamed with Nattura; this summer, she joined countrymen Sigur Rós at a concert to raise awareness for the organization. It also wouldn't be the first time Björk has teamed with Yorke. Back in 2000, the pair duetted on "I've Seen It All", a song featured in the Björk-starring Las Von Trier film Dancer in the Dark and included on its accompanying soundtrack album Selmasongs.

Read more about Björk's thoughts on Nattura here.

Maybe next these two can turn their attention towards fixing the Icelandic economy? (On a related note, the organizers of next week's Iceland Airwaves festival want everybody to know that the festival is still going on despite the country's economic woes. Party on!)

Photo by Justin Evans

Elephant 6-ers Elf Power and fellow Athens, Georgia songwriter Vic Chesnutt will hit the road this fall for a collaborative tour in support of their forthcoming collaborative LP, Dark Developments.

Credited to Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, and the Amorphous Strums, Dark Developments arrives via Orange Twin on October 28. The album now has a tracklist, which can be found below along with its cover art.

The tour starts a day later in Oxford, Mississippi. Chesnutt and Elf Power are also working on adding a run of East Coast dates for early next year.

Currently, Elf Power are trotting around the U.S. on that "Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour".

I think it's fair to say, at this point, indie rockers have chosen their candidate for next month's presidential election: that one.

The Senator from Illinois has already earned the support of, well, a lot of the music makers and dreamers of dreams, and with November 4 looming in the minds of just about everyone, even more artists are banding together in support of Barack Obama's bid for the White House.

First up is a gig tomorrow (October 11) at Los Angeles' the Smell, which finds the Mae Shi, Bad Dudes, Bastidas, and the Widow Babies joining up for an Obama fundraiser. The event is being put on by Noise for Obama, that nifty website we mentioned a while back that gathers fans of Democrats and decibels alike.

Sunday (October 12) at New York City's St. Raphael's church, Vampire Weekend, David Crosby, and known Brit Graham Nash will perform "intimate, short acoustic sets" at a benefit for Music for Democracy's Be the Change GOTV (Get Out the Vote) campaign. That effort aims to boost the youth vote by support "progressive netroots technology." After all, nothing says youthful exuberance like, um, David Crosby.

Back on the West Coast, These United States and a "surprise headliner" will take the stage at San Francisco's Independent October 15 as part of Barack 'n Roll, a fundraising effort for obamatravel.org. That particular organization aims to help shuttle Obama volunteers to key swing states. That's just a day before the Breeders and the National hit up Cincinnati in support of the Obama/Biden campaign.

The following day, the Black Keys will join Devo at that October 17 show at Akron, Ohio's Civic Theatre as a benefit for Summit County Democrats. And a little bit closer to the election, the Beastie Boys will bring a rotating cast of characters-- including Santogold, David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Tenacious D-- out for a brief tour of swing states. Rock the Vote reps will be onhand as well; check the initial dates for that jaunt below.

If you'd prefer to dance out your frustrations with the thought of a McCain/Palin regime, the fabulous DJ Z-Trip has crafted a free "Obama mix", a 54-minute mash-up of "uplifting and motivating calls to action in support of" the Illinois Senator that can be downloaded here.

Or, should the pumping of fists be more your style, you can shake 'em in the general direction of Mr. McCain, who's been using the Foo Fighters' "My Hero" without their permission at his campaign rallies. The band is pissed, declaring in a statement that McCain's campaign has "appropriated [the tune] without our knowledge and used [it] in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric [and] just tarnishes the song." Maybe you wanna ask Meghan for a little advice on the matter? Er, on second thought...

Mississippi musician Dent May has signed to the Animal Collective-founded Paw Tracks imprint for the release of his full-length debut. The record, attributed to Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, is titled The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, and it comes out February 3. The AC gang reportedly discovered Mr. May while recording their new album Merriweather Post Pavilion down in the Magnolia State.

Dent May has a few shows this month, including an appearance at CMJ.

UPDATE: OOPS! IT LOOKS LIKE 99MATTERS' SERVER IS DOWN! SORRY, EVERYBODY! SEEMS TO BE BACK UP AGAIN.

Sam Fogarino of Interpol favors selflessness! Sam Prekop of the Sea and Cake appreciates his own autonomy! Dan Snaith of Caribou loves math! Torquil Campbell of Stars likes love! Lambchop's Kurt Wagner likes eggs with his breakfast! These revelations from some of indie rock's bigger names come from 99Matters, a German website centered around asking said big names an ostensibly simple question: "What is really important to you?"

The almost unfailingly earnest answers, in video form, are then posted up on the 99Matters website for all to see. Like so:



The 99 Matters crew has managed to get some good stuff out of folks, from Eddie Argos being uncomfortably complimentary to Jonathan Richman, to Annie Clark of St. Vincent pushing her liberal agenda, to Sam Beam of Iron and Wine calling the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Bob Marley "the holy triumverate."

Other participants in the project include Bill Callahan, José González, Bob Mould, and members of the National, Blonde Redhead, Yeasayer, Voxtrot, Pinback, Why?, Architecture in Helsinki, Travis, Future of the Left, Shout Out Louds, and loads more. Unless "getting some fresh air every once in a while" is what's most important to you, it's worth a click or two.

Pitchfork seeks an inspired individual with excellent management, sales, and marketing skills to manage and develop the sales operations of Pitchfork Media and Pitchfork.tv out of our Chicago office. In this role, you will be responsible for overseeing the site's day-to-day sales activities, establishing and maintaining agency and client relationships, and collaborating with Pitchfork's sales and business team to create strategies designed to grow existing business. Also included would be developing the means to support those strategies with research, market analysis, and other collateral. The ideal candidate should be a confident and polished manager, presenter, and writer-- willing to take any task put in front of him or her.

You should be comfortable with work ranging from conducting cold calls to working with Pitchfork's sales staff and business partners to developing the direction of Pitchfork's sales operation. A commitment to developing a productive, effective sales environment while providing Pitchfork's clients with the best possible online advertising experience is required. This position will report to Pitchfork's Publisher/COO.

Sure, it might take Max Tundra a while-- okay, a long while-- to craft his acutely detailed music. But in the kitchen, the dude's a whiz, shaving time off even Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals. In fact, Max has whipped up 250 cans of (totally edible!) kosher chicken soup, for which he's started taking orders through the Domino Records webstore.

So what's the occasion for Tundra's foray into the realm of the culinary? Why, not unlike Of Montreal's recent "buy some stickers, download our new jams" gambit, Tundra will offer the lucky diners a digital download of his awesome new album, Parallax Error Beheads You, when it's released overseas from Domino on October 20.

You'll note that the release date of Parallax has been pushed back a week since our last report; something like this, you've just gotta let simmer. Those who nab the soup can version of the set will also get a crack at a digital Max Tundra covers album entitled Best Friends, which finds some of Tundra's many chums using his debut LP, Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be, as a jumpoff.

Meanwhile, Parallax Error comes to North America November 18 from Domino USA, though in a format a lot less pleasing to the taste buds. Tundra's got live dates aplenty in Europe over the next several weeks.