Fiona Apple Album to be Officially Released (Finally!)

Fiona has been freed! And it turns out she was holding herself hostage this whole time. According to a press release on her website, seductively eccentric piano thrush Fiona Apple will FINALLY release her third full-length, Extraordinary Machine, on October 4 on Epic. As everybody and her mom knows by now, an early version of the album has been floating around on file-sharing networks for eons, with rumors that evil label execs were keeping the collection of quirky post-cabaret ditties locked in the vaults because they weren’t commercial enough. Not so! Apparently, Apple just hadn’t finished the record-until now. The Extraordinary Machine you’re going to have to pay for (at least until somebody leaks it, too) will feature just two of the tracks us pirates are familiar with, alongside new recordings of nine of the previously leaked songs, and one new tune, "Parting Gift". And lookee here, you can listen to "Parting Gift", as well as the rejiggered version of "O’ Sailor" on Apple’s website and Myspace page. iTunes will begin selling the two tracks together as one of them "bundle" things tomorrow, with other online music stores hawking them separately.

The new Extraordinary Machine was produced by Mike Elizondo, whose name you might recognize from the credits on various Dr. Dre-related records. (Fiona goes gangsta!) Soundtrack superstar/Kanye-friend Jon Brion helmed the leaked version, but the official album will sound "radically different," Elizondo told the New York Times. "Everything was done from scratch." Mmm...fresh-baked Apple pie, made from scratch. Can’t wait to dive in.

Blood Brothers to Tour U.S. This Fall

The most beautifully egregious piece of promotional material this reporter has ever read about the Blood Brothers was in a review of Burn Piano Island, Burn and it said something like, "the Blood Brothers have only one speed: murder." This boast was supported by a live show in Philly, where roughly 200 ill-mannered high-school kids beat the shit out of each other to "Fucking's Greatest Hits".

While the band toned down the murder for 2004's Crimes (to, say, voluntary manslaughter?), their live show is still a sight to behold. Beginning next week, they'll hit the festival circuit in Europe (still in quasi-support of Crimes) before returning to the U.S. at the end of September with...ugh...Coheed and Cambria. Dates:

08-18 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08-19 Hannover, Germany - Cafe Glocksee
08-20 Erfurt, Germany - Highfield Festival
08-22 Linkoping, Sweden - Skylten
08-23 Malmo, Sweden - Festival
08-24 Bremen, Germany - Romer
08-26 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-27 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-29 Dortmund, Germany - FZW
08-30 Nurnberg, Germany - K4
09-01 Winterthur, Switzerland - Salzhaus
09-02 Wiesen, Austria - 2 Days a Week Festival
09-04 Bologna, Italy - Idays Festival
09-27 Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
09-29 Pittsburgh, PA - Club Zoo
09-30 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
10-01 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
10-02 Detroit, MI - State Theatre
10-04 Minneapolis, MN - Quest Club
10-05 Des Moines, IA - Val Air Ballroom
10-06 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
10-07 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
10-08 Magna, UT - The Great Salt Air
10-12 Seattle, WA - Showbox Theatre
10-16 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern Theatre

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/b/blood-brothers/crimes.shtml">Blood Brothers: Crimes
* Blood Brothers: <a

Diplo Announces Scattered Live Dates

Diplo is a man of many faces: producer, remixer, one half of Hollertronix, M.I.A. collaborator, and, last time we checked, plausible stunt-double for Jude Law. Lately, Diplo has been waxing Brazilian with favela funk, having just released the celebrated mix Favela Strikes Back. For the uninitiated, Diplo (born Wesley Pentz) seems to have an uncanny knack for throwing together messed-up melting pots that look insane on paper, but execute wonderfully on disc and at shows. He mixes Miami bass, Jamaican dancehall, elements of U.S. funk and hip-hop, and, of course, favela funk, all cobbled together with seemingly whatever's on hand-- whether that happens to be misbegotten tunes from the Smiths, the Eurythmics, or the Grease soundtrack, rhythmic and discordant drum patterns from Brazil, muffled caterwauling, or childlike rhymes.

Diplo will be appearing all over the place in the next three months-- at Scandinavian and UK events, over in Tel Aviv for a one-off show, and two just-announced shows at the end of October with Brazilian godfather of funk Fernando Luis Mattos da Matta, better known as DJ Marlboro. It's highly unlikely that these are all the dates planned for Diplo this year, but until more get announced, we'll whet your appetite:

08-20 New York, NY - Amsterjam, Randalls Island Park
08-25 Tel Aviv, Israel - Kahlif
08-26 Dublin, Ireland - Ri Ra
08-27 London, England - TDK Cross Central *
08-31 Stockholm, Sweden - Tradgarden
09-01 Helsinki, Finland - Cafe Rose Garden
10-07 London, England - Fabric
10-26 Los Angeles, CA - Conga Room #
10-27 San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop #

* with Mr. Scruff
# with DJ Marlboro

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/d/diplo/favela-strikes-back.shtml">Diplo: Favela Strikes Back
* Hollertronix: <a

North American Dates for Juana Molina

The hottest producto de Argentina since that country's 1986 World Cup team is comedienne-turned-vocalist Juana Molina. After walking away from a successful television career (and her own hit comedy show Juana and Her Sisters), Molina began recording albums in 1996 and last year released the stellar Tres Cosas. Molina's third and most stripped-down recording, Tres Cosas got her dubbed "Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier covering Nick Drake" by Entertainment Weekly, and she was later invited to play Coachella, as well as hand-picked by David Byrne to open for his most recent tour. Now she's prepping for a U.S. tour in support of Tres Cosas and a newly-released 12" entitled Salvese Quien Pueda.

Released on May 16th, Salvese Quien Puede contains two remixes of the title track by label mate Four Tet, and an eight-minute revision of the original song by Molina. Fans of experimental Latin music (you know, with, like, synthesizer and stuff) are already worked into a froth over the next Juana Molina album, Numero Quatro, due out in spring of 2006. For now, catch her at the following dates:

09-01 Los Angeles, CA - The Fold in Tangier
09-02 Santa Monica, CA - McCabes Guitar Shop
09-03 Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club
09-04 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot
10-19 Cambridge, MA - Regattabar
10-20 New York, NY - Joe's Pub
10-21 Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music*
10-22 Minneapolis, MN - Walker Arts Center *

* with Sam Prekop

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/molina_juana/tres-cosas.shtml">Juana Molina: Tres Cosas
* Juana Molina: <a

Longwave Tour With Doves

After being championed by the Strokes, New York shoegazers Longwave cut the umbilical cord and made sizable strides of their own-- the band's latest LP, the John Leckie-produced There's a Fire, was released in June on Red Ink. Natch, the group's heading out on tour in support of the disc, but that's not all they'll be supporting. For a smattering of September dates, Longwave will open for soulful British favorites Doves. As an added bonus, Longwave will take part in a free concert alongside Spoon as part of Boston alt-rock station WFNX's "New Music Concert Series" later on this month. Dates:

08-18 Boston, MA - DCR Memorial Hatch Shell *
09-12 Boston, MA - Avalon #
09-13 Montreal, Quebec - Spectrum de Montreal #
09-17 Baltimore, MD - Sonar #
09-19 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle #
09-20 Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theatre #
09-22 New Orleans, LA - TwiRoPa #
09-23 Houston, TX - Meridian #
09-24 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Ballroom #

* with Spoon
# with Doves

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/l/longwave/theres-a-fire.shtml">Longwave: There's a Fire
href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-05/23.shtml#longwave">Longwave Finish Third Album
* Longwave: <a

Ryan Adams Cancels Tour (Again), Blames Cysts

All owners of four-leaf clovers, rabbit's feet, and picked-up pennies should forward these cherished items to a man who needs them so much more. Honestly, Ryan Adams must be the most unlucky man in rock. Or the unhealthiest. Can you tell where I'm going with this? Ryan Adams and the Cardinals have canceled the remainder of their U.S. tour, six dates in total. The trek, supporting May's delivery of Cold Roses, was scheduled to run through August 20, but we all knew it was a gamble going in, didn't we?

Adams offered an explanation for the latest round of cancellations on his website: "The band got a bad bug on the way back from Japan that just kept wearing us down. Really sorry about having to cancel the gigs, especially since I never have to cancel anything." (Um, what?) "But my voice was fried and the band was toast. And I never fully recovered from my inner ear infection. Was trying to avoid canceling any more shows. Unfortunately, I have infected cysts next to my ear canal, causing hearing, balance and throat problems." Yikes. To all the haters who think he's just making excuses for being a lazy drunk, he has this to say: "Some people would protest that it's just the wine. Where as the wine to me is just self-respect." Consult your shrink to figure out what that means.

A bouquet of "Get Well Soon!" and "Good Luck!" balloons is on its way to Adams straight from PFMHQ. J/K! But seriously, feel better, dude. Them cysts is a motherfucker.

Canceled tour dates:

08-12 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
08-14 Oakland, CA - Paramount Theatre
08-16 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
08-20 San Diego, CA - Spreckels Theatre

The same website post revealed that Adams and the Cardinals had recently finished recording music for the new Cameron Crowe movie Elizabethtown. "What started as 1 ended up being 18," Adams wrote. "Only one or so will be used. But this is your heads up that there might be another Cardinals record in your near future." Good god, ANOTHER Ryan Adams album this year?! Does he have a songwriting sweatshop somewhere?

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/adams_ryan/cold-roses.shtml">Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: Cold Roses
href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-08/05.shtml#ryanadams">Ryan Adams to Release Even More Records, Tour

My Morning Jacket Announce U.S. Dates

Despite being exhaustively classified as "southern" rock by every music publication on earth (including the one you're reading right now), the boys from Louisville's own My Morning Jacket haven't forgotten about their fans up north. These guys are true uniters, not dividers. Of the seventeen shows they recently scheduled for the month of October in support of their new LP, only two occur below the Mason-Dixon line. The rest of the tour will take place in the New England, the Great Lakes region, and (gasp!) Canada. Speaking of which, Canuck folk-pop singer Kathleen Edwards will be joining the boys for the first half of the tour, in all of the cities except, oddly enough, Toronto. Weird. Even weirder: post-rap poet/rocker Saul Williams will open the second half.

Before the October tour, My Morning Jacket will journey to London to play a one-off show at the Scala on September 6. But that's not all! Those lucky Londoners get a triple dose of honey-voiced MMJ frontman Jim James, as he will be performing a solo acoustic set at St. James Church the night after (ooh, James at James!) and DJing at the famous post-rave club the Social the night before. Yeah, yeah, hold your WTF?s. Remember when you thought Will Oldham couldn't DJ either, and then he brought the R. Kelly jams to Intonation? Well, maybe Jim James will spin some Jim Jones bangers. Or some Saul Williams remixes. That would be hott.

The way that he sings:

09-05 London, England - The Social (Jim James DJ set)
09-06 London, England - The Scala
09-07 London, England - St. James Church (Jim James solo)
10-06 Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theatre*
10-07 Knoxville, TN - Blue Cats*
10-08 Nashville, TN - City Hall*
10-10 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club*
10-11 Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club*
10-12 Philadelphia, PA - TLA*
10-14 Philadelphia, PA - TLA*
10-15 Boston, MA - Avalon*
10-16 Portland, ME - State Theatre*
10-18 New York, NY - Webster Hall*
10-19 Toronto, ON - The Guvernment
10-20 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues*
10-22 Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre*
10-23 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue*
10-25 Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's*
10-26 Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts*
10-28 Madison, WI - The Annex*
10-29 Minneapolis, MN - The Quest*
10-31 Boulder, CO - Fox Theater#
11-01 Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue#
11-03 Vancouver, BC - Commodore#
11-04 Seattle, WA - Showbox#
11-05 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater#
11-08 San Diego, CA - House of Blues#
11-10 Los Angeles, CA - Fonda Theater#
11-11 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore#
11-12 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore#

* with Kathleen Edwards
# with Saul Williams

Need we remind you that the band's next album, Z, drops on October 4? Nah, didn't think so. How about the fact that it fucking rules? You knew that, too. But did you know that My Morning Jacket will be play-get this-a SOUTHERN ROCK BAND called "Ruckus" in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, a movie you might be familiar with from the previous news story? One guess as to what song they perform. Yup, "Freebird". My Morning Jacket will also be appearing, along with Sun Kil Moon, Elvis, Bill Monroe, Nancy Wilson and Patty Griffin on the Elizabethtown tie-in EP Songs From The Brown Hotel. As we reported yesterday, the disc will be released by the Coalition of Independent Music Stores' Junket Boy label on August 16, and proceeds will go to the Center for Women and Families.

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-07/20.shtml#mmj">My Morning Jacket Discuss Upcoming Album

Vashti Bunyan to Release Second Album

The sophomore slump is an ugly, ugly thing. Musicians don't like falling into it, and on occasion it offends our ever-so-delicate sensibilities to have to listen to it. With everyone's welfare in mind, therefore, some artists go to great lengths to avoid the phenomenon. Take British folk goddess Vashti Bunyan, for example. Her strategy? Wait 35 years to release a second album. Lookaftering, Vashti's new LP, and her first since her beloved 1969 debut Just Another Diamond Day, will be unveiled on October 25, courtesy of DiCristina in America and FatCat in the rest of the world.

Though the title sounds suspiciously close to a word coined by my four-year-old cousin, Vashti insists that its origin goes back further than that: "Lookaftering is a word my family has always used for taking care of someone or something. I also felt it could mean looking back--which is a lot of what the album is about-- and that lookaftering is what I've been mostly doing in the intervening years." The majority of Bunyan's "lookaftering" has occurred since 1997, when she typed her name into an internet search engine and learned of her cult following. Since then, she has recorded with the likes of Piano Magic, Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, and the Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde.

And what would be the point of making all these friends if they aren't there to help when you need them? Lookaftering will feature no shortage of guest stars, with folks like Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and Adam Pierce (Mice Parade) all lending a hand. "Post-classical" composer Max Richter is also helping with the album, as both a producer and a co-arranger.

For now, we're lookaftering our dear readers the only way we know how-- with a tracklist:

01 Lately
02 HereBefore
03 Wayward
04 Hidden
05 Against The Sky
06 Turning Backs
07 If I Were
08 Same But Different
09 Brother
10 Feet Of Clay
11 Wayward Hum

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-06/02.shtml#vashti">Vashti Bunyan Signs to FatCat Records

The Kills to Release EP, Tour with Bloc Party

The Kills, the Bonnie and Clyde of snarling, sucker-punch garage blues, already gave us one of the sexiest album of 2005, No Wow, released in March via Rough Trade/RCA. But VV and Hotel don't get down by resting on their laurels; or on each other's laurels for that matter. (Ooh, that sounds dirty!) On August 16th, the duo will release Run Home Slow, a five-track EP that includes remixes of three No Wow tracks, the previously unreleased title song, and a b-side that appeared on the CD single for "Love Is a Deserter." Here's what the full tracklisting looks like:

01 The Good Ones (Rich Costi Mix)
02 The Good Ones (Jagz Kooner Mix)
03 Love Is A Deserter (Caveman Mix)
04 Run Home Slow
05 Passion Is Accurate

Rough Trade/RCA gets the first crack at Run Home Slow; but then on August 29th, another version of the EP will hit iTunes with one additional song stamped on. For the time being, the Kills are in the midst of wrapping up a smattering of shows in South and Central America. Soon after, they'll head back north where they'll hook up with Bloc Party on dates throughout September.

Get the guns out:

08-18 Guadalajara, Mexico - Foro Alterno de la Universidad de Guadalajara (Manifest Festival) *
08-19 Mexico City, Mexico - Roots (Manifest Festival) *
08-20 Monterrey, Mexico - Auditorio Coca-Cola (Manifest Festival) *
09-07 Montreal, Quebec - Club Soda
09-08 Boston, MA - Avalon #
09-09 New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom #
09-10 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory #
09-12 Toronto, Ontario - The Docks #
09-13 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre #
09-14 Chicago, IL - Congress Theatre #
09-15 Lawrence, KS - Granada
09-16 Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre #
09-18 Tucson, AZ - Plush
09-20 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium #
09-21 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre #
09-22 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre #
09-23 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
09-24 San Diego, CA - The Casbah

* with Radio 4, the Faint
# with Bloc Party

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-05/18.shtml#kills">The Kills Set to Release New Single

The Magic Numbers Vs. "Top of the Pops"

"What do you get when you put two brothers and sisters in a band?"
Apparently not "a big fat melting pot of talent." At least not if you're the Magic Numbers.

According to NME, the British folk-pop act was not amused when Richard Bacon, host of the BBC's "Top of the Pops", used that little question-and-answer bit to introduce the band's scheduled performance on the British TV show on Sunday. The siblings immediately walked off the show and later issued a statement on their website, saying, "We would like to apologise to anyone disappointed by our non-appearance on 'TOTP' on Sunday (believe us, we were disappointed too). Due to derogatory, unfunny remarks made in the guest presenter's introduction to our performance, we felt we had to make a stand and leave. It was an important day for us and we should have been special. We didn't make this decision lightly, but we stand by it."

According to a BBC spokesman, Bacon was using the word "fat" as a "figure of speech referring to the band's status. It was absolutely in no way referring to the appearance of any of the band members. Richard was mortified about the misunderstanding and any offence caused, so he attempted to apologize to the band. However, their management denied him access to the band they decided not to go ahead with their performance on the show."

Body fascism aside, the Magic Numbers have plenty of reasons to feel special these days. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize, recently headlined the Diesel U-Music Festival and grace the cover of this week's NME. They've also got a daunting touring schedule ahead of them, starting with the last of the mammoth European festivals this month, winding across the continent and their native land in September and October, and ending up in the good ol' US of A. for the Vegoose extravaganza in Las Vegas on Oct 29-30 and a tour with Bright Eyes sometime in the fall. We'll let you know those dates when we sniff ‘em out. Let's hope that, as Mary J. would say, there's no more drama.

08-12 Oslo, Norway - OYA Festival
08-13 Leicester, England - Summer Sundae Festival
08-18 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop Festival
08-19 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands - Lowlands
08-20 Chelmsford, England - Hylands Park
08-21 Stafford, England - V Festival
08-23 Liverpool, England - Carling Academy
08-24 Edinburgh, Scotland - Liquid Rooms
08-26 Northampton, England - Roadmender
08-27 London, England - TBA
09-04 Belfast, Ireland - The Limelight
09-05 Dublin, Ireland - Ambassador Theatre
09-09 Isle of Wight, England - Bestival
09-12 Bergen, Norway - Garage
09-13 Oslo, Norway - Bla
09-17 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
09-19 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
09-21 Cologne, Germany - Gebaeude 9
09-23 Berlin, German - Magnet
09-24 Munich, Germany - Atomic Cafe
09-25 Zurich, Switzerland - Abart
09-28 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 3
09-29 Madrid, Spain - Moby Dick
10-04 Leeds, England - Leeds University Refectory
10-05 Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow Barrowland
10-07 Sheffield, England - Sheffield University
10-08 Wolverhampton, England - Wulfran
10-09 Cardiff, Wales - Cardiff University
10-11 Oxford, England - Brooks University
10-12 Cambridge, England - Cambridge Junction
10-13 Portsmouth, England - Pyramid Rooms
10-15 Nottingham, England - Rock City
10-16 Norwich, England - University of East Anglia
10-18 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
10-19 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
10-21 Reading, England - Reading University
10-22 Bristol, England - Bristol University
10-23 Manchester, England - Manchester Academy
10-29-30 Las Vegas, NV - Vegoose Festival

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-07/20.shtml#magic">The Magic Numbers Debut to See U.S. Release

13 & God Ready to Go West

The geographically unlikely combo of California post-hop collective Themselves and German lap-poppers the Notwist, aka 13 & God, have announced a run of North American dates to support their self-titled debut, after completing a sprawling six-week tour across Europe. Still pressing on without Themselves member Dax Pierson, who is recovering from a devastating neck injury suffered in March, 13 & God plan to hit the coasts and a smattering of Midwest and Canadian cities along the way. Throughout the 15-date tour, they will be supported by one-man wonder Boy in Static. The Notwist folks will presumably wing their way back to Germany after the outing ends on Anticon's turf, unless they develop an unhealthy fascination with Jamba Juice. Not that this happened to us once or anything.

Go to figure out who's the number and who's the deity:

09-15 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
09-16 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret
09-17 Providence, RI - Living Room
09-18 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts
09-19 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
09-20 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
09-21 Washington, DC - Black Cat
09-22 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
09-23 Chicago, IL - Abbey Pub *
09-24 Minneapolis, MN - Walker Art Center, McGuire Theater *
09-27 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
09-28 Portland, OR - Dante's
09-29 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
09-30 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
10-01 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater

* with Black Dice

On a charitable note, Anticon continues to host benefit shows for Dax Pierson across the country. Following two such events last weekend in San Francisco, Tortoise will take part in the next benefit, to be held at the Empty Bottle in Chicago on Friday, August 12. All proceeds from the show will go toward Dax's recovery.

href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/t/thirteen-and-god/13-and-god.shtml">13 & God: 13 & God

The Hold Steady Announce U.S. Tour

Attention Craig Finn (and former GBV) groupies: It's time to restock the Miller Lite, as well-lubricated Minneapolis outfit the Hold Steady have recently announced a string of new live dates in continuing support of its 2005 sophomore LP Separation Sunday. The band previously toured throughout the U.S. earlier this summer and currently have 19 dates stretching from September through early November. And as the group's previous 2005 outing saw a number of sellout performances-- fans might want to think about dusting off that Episode III camping gear again and staking claim to a cozy slab of box office pavement. Dates:

09-09 New Britain, CT - Central Connecticut University
09-17 New York, NY - CBGB'S (Frenchkiss Records Showcase)
09-30 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwells
10-01 Lexington, VA - Washington & Lee University Outdoor Fest
10-10 Fargo, ND - VFW Hall
10-11 Winnipeg, Manitoba - West End Cultural Center
10-15 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
10-16 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
10-17 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
10-18 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
10-20 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
10-22 San Diego, CA - The Casbah
10-23 Tuscon, AZ - Plush
10-25 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
10-27 Columbia, MO - Mojos
10-28 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
10-30 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
11-05 Cambridge, MA - The Middle East
11-07 New York, NY - Webster Hall

In other Hold Steady news, both the band and their Separation Sunday track "Stevie Nix" are currently featured in the web-only "college life" series "Odds Against 7even", which began streaming weekly episodes last month. And yes, the multi-chapter show is produced by retail giant Target, but before your indie-lovin' eyes glaze over with dollar signs, guitarist Tad Kubler spoke to Pitchfork about the band's participation in the online series during a recent interview with Brian Howe:

"The kind of campaign that they're doing, it's hard to know how that will translate to the band, in terms of profile stuff, record sales, or more people coming to our shows. Because Craig and I are older, how many times do you think we've heard, 'This record is great, you guys are going to be huge!' But this kind of stuff is really helpful in terms of enjoying what you're doing and being in the moment. It's not like I'm looking for places to buy in Manhattan now because we're on the Target website."

The web series also features a number of other high-profile Pitchfork heroes, including tracks from Bloc Party (who contributed the theme song), Stars, British Sea Power, the Black Keys, and Super Furries frontman Gruff Rhys. We can smell a line of pre-faded Yo La Tengo and Bright Eyes shirts hitting the racks any day now.

* The Hold Steady: <a

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.)