Kati Llewellyn reports:
Welp, it's about that time of the year again. Nope, not Valentine’s Day. It’s international Iron & Wine/Calexico Tour Announcement Day!

The soulmates will tour Europe in April, in support of last year’s collaborative EP In the Reins on Overcoat. They will be joined by vocalist/flamenco guitarist Salvador Duran for the entire trek.

Dates:

04-21 Manchester, England - Academy
04-22 Bristol, Engalnd - Academy
04-23 London, England - Forum
04-25 Frankfurt. Germany - Mousonturm
04-26 Utrecht, Netherlands, Tivoli
04-27 Bourges, France - Le Printemps de Bourges
04-28 Brussels, Belgium - Cirque Royal
04-29 Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
04-30 Stockholm, Sweden - Berns
05-01 Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller
05-02 Gothenburg, Sweden - Trädgårn
05-04 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
05-05 München, Germany - TonHalle
05-06 Graz, Austria - Orpheum
05-07 Wien, Austria, Arena Wien
05-09 Zagreb, Croatia - Pauk
05-10 Treviso, Italy - New Age
05-11 Milan, Italy - Rolling Stone
05-12 Lucerne, Switzerland - Boa
05-13 Zürich, Switzerland - Volkshaus
05-14 Haarlem, Netherlands - Patronaat
05-15 Krefeld, Germany - Kulturfabrik
05-16 Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar

Though the two bands seem to get along swimmingly, they need to do their own thing on occasion. Just yesterday, Iron & Wine released Live Session, an iTunes exclusive EP. Session, which features both Sam Beam and his sister Sarah, includes tracks from 2004's Our Endless Numbered Days, a previously soundtrack-only cut ("Trapeze Swinger"), and a cover of New Order's "Love Vigilantes".

Tracklist:

01 Love Vigilantes
02 Faded From the Winter
03 Sodom, South Georgia
04 The Trapeze Swinger (Clean)
05 The Trapeze Swinger
06 Cinder and Smoke
07 Naked As We Come

Calexico, as previously reported, will release their upcoming album, Garden Ruin, on Quarterstick come April 11. When Pitchfork spoke with frontman Joey Burns in December, he gave us a taste test of what's to come, explaining, "I guess it kind of sounds different from previous records. The Southwestern element is downplayed more on this release. It's focusing more on the songs themselves. There's no instrumentals on this record."

They’ll play a couple of dates in Germany in April sans Iron & Wine. And those are…

04-08 Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik
04-09 Köln, Germany - Palladium *

* with Tocotronic, the Revs

* Pitchfork Review: Iron & Wine/Calexico: In the Reins EP
* Pitchfork News: Iron & Wine/Calexico Kick Off Tour
* Pitchfork News: Joey Burns Talks New Calexico Album
* Iron & Wine: http://ironandwine.com/
* Calexico: http://www.casadecalexico.com/

Vitalic Schedules American Dates

James Gregory reports:
If you haven't seen the video for Vitalic's "Poney Part 1", run, don't walk, to www.vitalicokcowboy.com. It combines two of the greatest things in the world right now: Pascal Arbez's Technicolor French house, and dogs. Dogs!!!

What are you waiting for? Why are you still reading this? Are you some kind of...cat person?

Hopefully Arbez will bring along a canine companion or two when he journeys to our shores in March for a series of shows in support of the upcoming North American release of the 2005 Vitalic debut full-length OK Cowboy. A brief stint in Germany and Holland proceeds the tour.

Woof:

02-11 Cologne, Germany - Loonyland
02-16 Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso
02-17 Utrecht, Holland - Tivoli
02-18 Nijmegen, Holland - Doomroosje
03-16 New York, NY - Avalon
03-17 Toronto, Ontario - The Mod Club
03-18 Detroit, MI - Oslo
03-22 Philadelphia, PA - Fluid
03-23 San Francisco, CA - Boca
03-24 Chicago, IL - Smart Bar
03-25 Miami, FL - Doubletree Surfcomber Hotel (M3 Music Conference)

As previously reported, OK Cowboy will hit American record stores on February 21.

* Pitchfork Review: Vitalic: OK Cowboy
* Pitchfork Review: Vitalic's OK Cowboy Coming to America
* Vitalic: www.vitalic.org
* Citizen: www.citizen-records.com

Massive Attack Ready Anthology, New LP

Greg James and Amy Phillips report:
Feeling overwhelmed by all the potentially great records coming out in 2006? Massive Attack anticipated your anxiety, and dutifully will NOT release a new album until 2007.

Founding member Robert "3-D" Del Naja and producer/collaborator Neil Davidge have been holed up in the studio laying down tracks for their next album, Weather Underground, the first "real" Massive Attack album since 2003's lackluster 100th Window. (We say "real" because we're not counting the 2004 soundtrack to the Jet Li film Danny the Dog, or as we Americans lovingly know it, Unleashed.).

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Weather Underground sessions is the meeting of the minds between the trip-hop pioneers and TV on the Radio. This collaboration has forced Del Naja and co. to leave gloomy, old England for less-gloomy and less-old New York City in search of new sounds, or possibly just new weed.

According to posts by Del Naja on the official Massive Attack website forum, ex-Cocteau Twin and past Massive Attack vocalist Liz Fraser has spent time in the studio for the upcoming release, most likely contributing her signature ethereal vocals to a song destined to be the soundtrack to the conception of hipster babies worldwide in 2007.

For more immediate gratification, Massive Attack will release the "greatest hits" compilation Collected on March 27 in the UK and April 4 in America, via Virgin Records. The two-disc set features one CD containing the group's most famous songs, as well as a brand new track, "Live With Me", featuring Terry Callier (see: the 70s, Beth Orton), and one CD/DVD including rare and unreleased songs on one side, and all of the band's videos on the other. Legendary director Jonathan Glazer has come out of his six-year music video retirement to helm the "Live With Me" video, which is included on the DVD.

Collected tracklist:

Disc 1:

01 Safe From Harm
02 Karmacoma
03 Angel
04 Teardrop
05 Inertia Creeps
06 Protection
07 Butterfly Caught
08 Unfinished Sympathy
09 Risingson
10 Future Proof
11 Five Man Army
12 What Your Soul Sings
13 Sly
14 Live With Me

Disc 2 (CD side):

01 False Flags
02 Incantations
03 Silent Spring
04 Bullet Boy
05 Black Melt
06 Joy Luck Club
07 Small Time Shoot Em Up
08 I Against I
09 I Want You
10 Danny the Dog

Disc 2 (DVD side):

01 Daydreaming
02 Unfinished Sympathy
03 Safe From Harm
04 Be Thankful for What You've Got
05 Sly
06 Protection
07 Karmacoma
08 Risingson
09 Teardrop
10 Angel
11 Interia Creeps
12 Special Cases
13 Butterfly Caught
14 Live With Me
15 Live With Me (Terry Version)
16 False Flags

Just yesterday, Massive Attack were added to the lineup for the second day of the Coachella festival, April 30. Daft Punk were confirmed for that date as well, so get ready to party like it's 1997.

In related news, Portishead recently shoved Massive Attack into a locker between classes for being an overachiever.

* Pitchfork Review: Massive Attack: Danny the Dog OST
* Massive Attack: http://www.massiveattack.co.uk

Jon Langford Hits With Gold Brick, Art Book

Matthew Solarski reports:
Despite some 30 long years in the biz, Mekons founder and modern-day Renaissance man Jon Langford continues to make people half his age feel like slackers. The musician-producer-artist-Wacobro-familyman will release his third proper solo full-length, Gold Brick (or Lies of the Great Explorers or Columbus at Guantanamo Bay) March 7 on legendary punk/reggae label ROIR.

The album features contributions from Pine Valley Cosmonauts' John Rice and Pat Brennan, Waco Brother Alan Doughty, Ship & Pilot/Anti-Social Music violinist Jean Cook, drummer Dan Massey, and members of This American One Day Band. Langford plans to tour the nation in support of Brick, somewhere in between his two kajillion other exploits, some of which we'll recount below.

First, Brick City:

01 Little Bit of Help
02 Workingman's Palace
03 Invisible Man
04 Buy It Now
05 All Roads Lead Back to Me
06 Anything Can Happen
07 Gold Brick
08 Salty Dog
09 Gorilla & The Maiden
10 Dreams of Leaving
11 Tall Ships
12 Lost in America

Arriving the very same day as Brick is Nashville Radio: Art, Words, and Music, a 144-page paperback book collecting scads of Langford's renowned visual art, much of which involves cowboys. In all, 215 painting and etching reproductions, along with song lyrics and autobiographical notes, and an 18-track CD, make Nashville Radio a mid-afternoon conversation piece that will smash your coffee table like some WWF dude.

Here's the tracklist for the companion CD:

01 The Death of Country Music
02 Slightly South of the Border
03 Oh No, Hank!
04 Dollar Dress
05 Tubby Brothers
06 Now We Have the Bomb
07 Hell's Roof
08 The Return of the Golden Guitarist
09 Pill Sailor
10 Hank Signs His Contract
11 Insignificance
12 It's Not Enough
13 Ugly Band
14 Blink of an Eye
15 Tom Jones Levitation
16 I Picked Up the Pieces
17 Nashville Radio
18 The Country Is Young

And that's barely the half of it: Langford has also put together a multimedia performance piece, "The Executioner's Last Songs", based on his Pine Valley Cosmonauts project of the same name. Langford has showcased the anti-death penalty bonanza at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art and will cast anchor in Minneapolis' Walker Art Center this weekend.

While he's in Minneapolis, Langford will show an exhibition of his paintings at that city's Rogue Buddha gallery. The show starts today, with an opening-night appearance by Langford himself, and runs until March 18.

Langford will also perform in Chicago as part of the 10th Annual Story Week Festival of Writers, "an evening of literary rock & roll" featuring readings and capped off by Langford's song-spells. Take notes:

02-08 Minneapolis, MN - Rogue Buddha Gallery (opening)
02-09 Minneapolis, MN - Walker Art Center (gallery talk)
02-10 Minneapolis, MN - Walker Art Center *#
02-11 Minneapolis, MN - Walker Art Center *#
02-11 Minnespolis, MN - Electric Fetus (in-store)
02-19 Chicago, IL - Hothouse $
03-16 Chicago, IL - Metro (10th Annual Story Week Festival of Writers)
03-19 Austin, TX - Continental Club *^
04-23 Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music %

* with Sally Timms
# with Ship & Pilot
$ with Nick Tremulis Orchestra, Rick Rizzo
^ with Alejandro Escovedo
% with Cowboy Jack Clement

Langford's other bag the Waco Brothers will appear at SXSW, at the Yard Dog Gallery, where J-Lang's art has been featured. That's a mere 100 miles from Waco itself, youngins. Yep:

03-17 Austin, TX - Yard Dog Gallery (SXSW)

And if you just can't get enough Langford (in which case you are probably a middle-aged rock critic), tune in to Chicago's WXRT every Tuesday at 10 p.m. CST for Jon's show with Nicholas Tremulis, "Eclectic Company". Future guests on the show include Sally Timms, Kelly Hogan, Andre Williams, Tim Rutili, the Subdudes, and Ivan Neville.

* Pitchfork Review: Richard Buckner & Jon Langford: Sir Dark Invader vs. the Fanglord
* Pitchfork Review: The Waco Brothers: Freedom and Weep
* So not Jon Langford: www.jonlangford.com
* Bloodshot: www.bloodshotrecords.com
* ROIR: http://www.roir-usa.com/

Norfolk & Western (ex-Decemberists) to Release EP

Kati Llewellyn reports:
Mark Twain dubbed the late 1800s "The Gilded Age", referring to that period's growth in industry and wealth, and, concurrently, materialism and government scandals. Hey, that sounds familiar.

Portland alt-folkies Norfolk & Western will attempt to make the connection between that time and ours with the April 11 release of their new EP, A Gilded Age, on Hush Records. N&W are the duo of former Decemberists drummer Rachel Blumberg and Type Foundry Recording Studio head honcho Adam Selzer. No, he can't get you free soda.

The eight-track disc lasts over half an hour, and includes the video for the title cut, so we'd have to say that it's more of an EP+ than an EP. It also features re-recorded versions of two songs that were previously available on last year's self-released CD If You Were Born Overseas. But it's still a bargain.

The vinyl version of the EP will be released by Jealous Butcher with three extra tracks.

Ageless beauty:

01 Porch Destruction
02 A Gilded Age
03 Watch the Days Slowly Fade
04 There Are No Places Left for Us
05 Minor Daughter
06 Clyde & New Orleans
07 We Were All Saints
08 A Voice Through the Wall

Norfolk & Western kick off a grueling mega-tour tonight in their hometown. We wish them the best of luck in this ambitious endeavour:

02-08 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
02-09 Olympia, WA - Eagles Hall *$
02-10 Seattle, WA - Vera Project *#

* with Karl Blau, Paleo
$ with Akron/Family, Sir Richard Bishop
# with Mt. Eerie

* Pitchfork Review: Norfolk & Western: If You Were Born Overseas
* Norfolk & Western: http://www.norfolkandwestern.org/

Seattle Bands Show Love for Magnetic Fields

Matthew Solarski reports:
"I heard he wrote you a song," crooned Beulah in the peppy tune "Popular Mechanics for Lovers". "But so what? Some guy wrote 69--and one just ain't enough."

That "guy" was Magnetic Fields mainstay Stephin Merritt, and Beulah is hardly the only band to find inspiration in the Fields' 1999 three-disc mega-opus 69 Love Songs. Indeed, Pacific Northwest music mavens Three Imaginary Girls have rounded up over a dozen area acts poked by Merritt's cherubic arrow to rock "A 69 Love Songs Pre-Valentine's Day Bash", blowing up tomorrow night at Seattle's Crocodile Café .

Acts tapped for the tribute will play interpretations of their most beloved Merritt Love Songs. On the bill are cuddlecore deities Tullycraft, tweesters Math and Physics Club, new Barsuk signee Rocky Votolato, the Transmissionary Six, Saeta, and members of the Long Winters, Visqueen, Harvey Danger, Vendetta Red, Kane Hodder, Daylight Basement, and more.

Gushed Three Imaginary Girls co-founder Liz Riley in a press release: "Since Stephin Merritt rarely tours, we figured the next best thing would be to have a bunch of our favorite bands cover the songs. I am giddy with anticipation."

"The crazy thing about 69 Love Songs is that no matter where you are romantically, it's fitting," added Dana Bos, another Imaginary girl. "You can rejoice, court, break-up, kiss, wed, laugh, fight, or drink with that album." Your challenge, intrepid Seattlites: do all these things tomorrow night. At the same time.

The KEXP and Barsuk Records-sponsored event will also feature raffles, readings of fan-submitted 69-inspired stories, and the antics of emcee Adrian Lefleur. Here's the complete line-up; be their valentines:

Rocky Votolato and Sonny Votolato (of Slender Means), Fork and Spoon (featuring Eric Corson of the Long Winters and Anna Lange of Dutch Elms), Rachel Flotard (of Visqueen), Zach Davidson (of Vendetta Red) and Sameer Shukla, Tullycraft, Math and Physics Club, Breno Dakota (featuring members of Daylight Basement), For Better Or For Awesome (featuring Andrew Moore of Kane Hodder and Alissabeth Newton, formerly of The Catch), Sean Nelson (of Harvey Danger) and His Mortal Enemies, Piglét (writer Kurt B. Reighley), The Transmissionary Six, and Saeta.

In other Magnetic Fields news, that Stephin Merritt Showtunes disc we've been hamming on about arrives March 14 via Nonesuch Records. It features musical selections from three Chen Shi-Zheng operas penned by Merritt. The complete scores should hit iTunes and other pay-download services in the near future.

And finally, what happens when two of America's foremost cynics join forces to create a children's book?? Find out October 13, when Lemony Snicket's (aka novelist Daniel Handler) thirteenth and final A Series of Unfortunate Events book arrives, along with a 13-song soundtrack (plus bonus cuts) composed by Stephin Merritt in his guise as the Gothic Archies. WoOooOOoo.

* Pitchfork Review: The Magnetic Fields: i
* Pitchfork News: Merritt Reveals Showtunes Release Date, Tracklist
* Stephin Merritt: www.houseoftomorrow.com
* Three Imaginary Girls: www.threeimaginarygirls.com

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