Video: Thom Yorke: "The Clock (Acoustic)"

Thom Yorke's The Eraser might not be a class-A stunner, but the guy remains a pretty captivating performer. Here's Yorke doing a killer live version of Eraser track "The Clock" in studio on IFC's "The Henry Rollins Show". The video's a web exclusive, but as mentioned in Pitchfork's T.V. Eye earlier today, you can watch Yorke's T.V. Party with ol' Hank on this Saturday's program, where he'll also perform a version of "Cymbal Rush".

Video: The Hong Kong: "Tongue Tied"

Dean Wareham was in Luna. Luna covered Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie and Clyde". This video for the Hong Kong's "Tongue Tied" features Wareham playing Clyde Barrow to HK lead singer Catherine Culpepper's Bonnie Parker. Culpepper kinda looks like Wareham's real-life romantic partner, former Luna bassist Britta Phillips.

It's one of those weird circular, referential things that's cute and makes sense on the internet but totally dies if you try to use it to make small talk with uninterested ladies at a bar.

The track is from the Hong Kong's forthcoming album, produced by Ric Ocasek.

Razorlight Ready Second Album

If I sold a million copies of my first album, my house would, first of all, be a house instead of an apartment. It would have an indoor swimming pool and a maid to clean my cats' litter box and a special room for my platinum album. Then, to keep up with my high standard of living, I would take the next logical step and release another album.

Rowdy British rockers Razorlight appear to have stolen my plan. The four-piece responsible for what the UK collectively deemed "The Shit" (or "the bollocks" or whatever the call it over there) in 2004 will release its self-titled sophomore effort in the UK on July 18 in the U.S. on August 22 via Universal Motown Records Group. The first single, "In the Morning" is out now in the UK, and you can hear it by clicking below.

Razorlight was produced by Chris Thomas, who worked with the Beatles, Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd, and Roxy Music. Bow down. [MORE...]

Exclusive: Basement Jaxx Reveal New Album

Oh my gosh! A new Basement Jaxx album! September 12 will bring Crazy Itch Radio to the floor, courtesy of XL Recordings. It will be available as a download, on vinyl and "specially packaged CD, featuring a super-swish lenticular cover," according to a press release. ‘Cause if there's anything in this world I want to be super-swish, it's my Basement Jaxx CDs.

The follow-up to 2003's Kish Kash is, like that album, a guest-heavy affair, featuring vocals from Jaxx associate Vula Malinga (who sang "Oh My Gosh") on "Hush Boy", grime MC Lady Marga on "Run 4 Cover", veteran British soul singer Linda Lewis on "Lights Go Down", and Swedish pop tart Robyn (as well as a children's choir) on "Hey You".

Full tracklist after the jump. [MORE...]

MP3: Editors: "You Are Fading"

Having allowed debut record The Back Room to settle in the States for a few months, Birmingham's Editors are ready to take another stab at North American audiences. They'll kick off a two-week jaunt later this month in Atlanta. After hitting both coasts, Canada, and even the Midwest, the band will jump overseas to Japan for the Summer Sonic festival. Then it's on to Europe for V on the Frequency Monsters en Jersey Coke. Or something like that.

To crank up the excitement a notch, we've gotten a hold of the rare Editors track "You Are Fading", which was previously released as a B-side on the limited edition The Back Room bonus disc, Cuttings.

[MORE...]

Icy Demons Fight Back With LP, Tour

Icy Demons, electro-jazz brainchild of Bablicon's Griffin Rodriquez, New New Body/Man Man's Chris Powell (Pow Pow), and instrumentalists Dave Moyland, Matt Schneider, and Dave McDonnell, are set to release the follow-up to 2004's Fight Back! this fall. Tears of a Clone is slated to drop September 12 on Prefuse 73's Eastern Developments label. [MORE...]

CSS Tour With Diplo, Ladytron

It's hard work being sexy, and frankly, our hot Brazilian friends are sick of putting up with it. But sometimes the urge to make people dance can overcome even the mightiest wave of exhaustion. Brazil's Cansei de Ser Sexy (Portuguese for "Tired of Being Sexy"), or CSS for short, will bring their baile funk jams to North American dancefloors this week, as Sub Pop releases their self-titled debut album tomorrow.

Starting Thursday, CSS will sex up North America on the road with Diplo, Pitchfork's resident DJ (seriously, we just stumble into HQ in the morning and dude's already in the middle of some megamix) and Bondo do Role, fellow Brazilians and the first signing to Diplo's Mad Decent label. The triple-threat tour will stop at the Pitchfork Music Festival.

CSS will take a month off between mid-August and mid-September, then they will get sexy again on tour with Ladytron. [MORE...]

Photos: Shearwater [Beat Kitchen; 07/01/06]

No longer a mere tributary of the mighty Okkervil River, rag-tag foursome Shearwater took flight last Saturday at Chicago's Beat Kitchen, proving themselves every bit as mighty-- and considerably more graceful. Foil to Okkervil's manic Will Sheff (who shared songwriting duties on the first three Shearwater records but was not present at this gig), soft-spoken and mild-mannered lead singer Jonathan Meiburg was kind enough to explain the provenance of several tunes from this year's excellent Palo Santo: a beautiful tapestry ("La Dame et la Licorne"), some spooky trees from the Galapagos ("Palo Santo"), and a depiction of the Virgin Mary ascending to heaven on a cloud of babies ("Hail, Mary"). Nice!

Meiburg was just as apt to cast a hush across the audience with his measured delivery as he was to shatter it with a sudden proclamation at high volume-- his band showing restraint, then rocking out correspondingly. The crowd appeared to relish every moment of the all-too-short set: while tuning Meiburg asked if there were any questions, prompting one in attendance to shout, "Are you playing anywhere tomorrow within driving distance?!!"

Photos and remaining tour dates: [MORE...]

T.V. Eye: July 10-16, 2006

Remote got yr thumb? No medical insurance to pay for those overworked opposables? Stop surfing the digi-cable menu and listen up. Welcome to T.V. Eye, Pitchfork's brand new weekly guide to your best bets for the next seven days of musical guests on television.  This week on a network near you:

Monday, July 10:
NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": My Morning Jacket (rerun)

Tuesday, July 11:
ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live": Sonic Youth
CBS: "Late Show With David Letterman": Nelly Furtado
CBS: "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson": Echo & the Bunnymen
NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": Brian Posehn, Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint
Syndicated: "The Ellen Degeneres Show": Madonna, Nelly (rerun)

Wednesday, July 12:
ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live": Smoosh

Thursday, July 13:
CBS: "Late Show With David Letterman": Band of Horses
NBC: "Late Night With Conan O'Brien": David Lee Roth

Friday, July 14:
ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live": Eagles of Death Metal

Saturday, July 15:
IFC: "The Henry Rollins Show": Thom Yorke

Dabrye Tours With Percee P

Dabrye, aka Tadd Mullinix, continues his crossover journey from IDM wunderkind to indie hip-hop beatsmith with the tour in support of his new album, Two/Three. The disc, which came out on Ghostly International last month, features rhymes from MF Doom, Vast Aire, Beans the late Jay Dee, and more. Kadence, who guests on two tracks, will join Dabrye on his American tour starting tonight in Boston. Stones Throw's Percee P is also on board. [MORE...]

Pitchfork Launches 'Infinite Mixtape' MP3 Series

As far as the arts are concerned, the Art of the Mixtape wasn't a difficult one to master. For cassettes and CDs, it mostly came down to a set of semi-arbitrary personal guidelines, a little common sense, and, if you were truly dedicated, obsessive sequencing and hand-crafted artwork. The possibilities of near-limitless storage, however, have since changed the ground rules. In the past few years, the format has evolved to encompass sprawling homemade box sets, Acid-enhanced continuous mixes, and countless other variations. And yet, few have attempted to take truly ruthless advantage of the staggering capacity our iPods and hard drives provide.

Beginning today, Pitchfork intends to take this celebrated music geek custom a step further with the institution of a concept we've fantasized about for years: The Infinite Mixtape. Consisting of only the very best of our favorite new tracks, this endlessly expanding compilation kicks off with 21 free MP3s that've kicked our collective ass in 2006 so far. And again, that's just where it starts.

Of course, we recognize the challenge limitless capacity introduces: How to decide what not to include. Well, that's easy: Since the key to a great mix is potency, we're employing a strict no-filler policy, meaning rather than posting three tracks of garbage every day, we'll post just one addition every few days-- basically, whenever we hear something new that blows us away.

Yes, it's true that the fast-scrawled tracklists and dedication to thematic consistency that mixtapes once invited were always underrated crafts, but as far as we're concerned, the only principal that ever really mattered was cramming as much quality shit as you could into the space allotted by your chosen format. Elvis Costello was right: Not all good things come to an end.

[Note: Issues experienced this morning with certain MP3s not downloading have now been resolved. All MP3 links are now functional. Go crazy...]

#0001 > Boris: "Farewell"
[from Pink; Southern Lord]
Info: [Boris] | [Southern Lord]

#0002 > Band of Horses: "The Funeral"
[from Everything All at Once; Sub Pop]
Info: [Band of Horses Official] | [Myspace] | [Sub Pop]

#0003 > Asobi Seksu: "Thursday"
[from Citrus; Friendly Fire]
Info: [Asobi Seksu Official] | [Myspace] | [Friendly Fire]

#0004 > Figurines: "The Wonder"
[from Skeleton; The Control Group]
Info: [Figurines Official] | [Myspace] | [The Control Group]

#0005 > Meho Plaza: "The Beach"
[from Meho Plaza EP, Self-Released]
Info: [Meho Plaza Official] | [Myspace]

#0006 > Barbara Morgenstern: "The Operator (Single Edit)"
[from The Grass Is Always Greener; Monika]
Info: [Barbara Morgenstern Official] | [Myspace] | [Monika]

#0007 > I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness: "According to Plan"
[from Fear Is on Our Side; Secretly Canadian]
Info: [I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness Official] | [Myspace] | [Secretly Canadian]

#0008 > Sunset Rubdown: "Stadiums and Shrines II"
[from Shut Up I Am Dreaming; Absolutely Kosher]
Info: [Sunset Rubdown Official] | [Myspace] | [Absolutely Kosher]

#0009 > Neko Case: "Star Witness"
[from Fox Confessor Brings the Flood; Anti]
Info: [Neko Case Official] | [Myspace] | [Anti]

#0010 > Cat Power: "The Greatest"
[from The Greatest; Matador]
Info: [Cat Power @ Matador]

#0011 > Man Man: "Van Helsing Boombox"
[from Six Demon Bag; Ace Fu]
Info: [Man Man Official] | [Myspace] | [Ace Fu]

#0012 > Beirut: "Postcards From Italy"
[from Gulag Orkestar; Ba Da Bing!]
Info: [Beirut Official] | [Myspace] | [Ba Da Bing!]

#0013 > Petra Haden: "God Only Knows"
[MP3-only; Self-Released]
Info: [Petra Haden Official] | [Myspace]

#0014 > Destroyer: "European Oils"
[from Destroyer's Rubies; Merge]
Info: [Destroyer Myspace] | [Merge]

#0015 > Voxtrot: "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives"
[from Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP; Cult Hero]
Info: [Voxtrot Official] | [Myspace]

#0016 > Mission of Burma: "2wice"
[from The Obliterati; Matador]
Info: [Mission of Burma @ Matador]

#0017 > Ladyhawk: "The Dugout"
[from Ladyhawk; Jagjaguwar]
Info: [Ladyhawk Official] | [Myspace] | [Jagjaguwar]

#0018 > El Perro del Mar: "Party"
[from El Perro del Mar; Memphis Industries]
Info: [El Perro del Mar Official] | [Myspace] | [Memphis Industries]

#0019 > Danielson: "Time That Bald Sexton"
[from Ships; Secretly Canadian]
Info: [Danielson Official] | [Myspace] | [Secretly Canadian]

#0020 > Belle & Sebastian: "Another Sunny Day"
[from The Life Pursuit; Matador]
Info: [Belle & Sebastian @ Matador]

#0021 > Camera Obscura: "Let's Get Out of This Country"
[from Let's Get Out of This Country; Merge]
Info: [Camera Obscura Official] | [Myspace] | [Merge]

Strokes to Open for Tom Petty

In lieu of having to pay legal fees for ripping off "American Girl" so blatantly on "Last Nite", the Strokes will open five shows for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers this September. (What, were the Red Hot Chili Peppers busy?) Other openers on the next leg of Petty's tour include Trey Anastasio, the Allman Brothers Band, John Mayer, and-- why the hell not?-- Frank Black.

The Strokes are in Europe right now, conquering the festival circuit. They'll head to Asia and Down Under later this summer before joining up with Petty. [MORE...]

Photos: Roskilde Festival '06

Each year, about 20 miles outside of Copenhagen, roughly 100,000 music fans converge on the city of Roskilde, Denmark for Northern Europe's annual musical highlight, the renowned Roskilde Festival. Established in 1971, it's easily the longest-running festival on the European circuit-- and this year, with the cancellation of Glastonbury, it was also the largest. Boasting hundreds of the world's biggest and best artists spread out over six stages, Roskilde 2006 was a utopian four-day free-for-all, the likes of which North America has very little to compare to.

Among the big draws this year were Bob Dylan, Guns 'n Roses, Kanye West, Tool, Sigur Rós, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, The Raconteurs, Arctic Monkeys, Morrissey, The Streets, Death Cab for Cutie, Animal Collective, Parliament/Funkadelic, Primal Scream, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Scissor Sisters, Silver Jews, Soulwax, Rufus Wainwright, Opeth, Happy Mondays, Ricardo Villalobos, and yes, Roger Waters performing Dark Side of the Moon (not to mention more than three hours of other Pink Floyd stuff ranging from Ummagumma-era freakouts to crowd-pleasers off The Wall).

Not eager to miss what was certain to be the most spectacular musical event in all of Europe this year, Pitchfork traveled more than 4,000 miles to witness a series of inconceivably massive concerts-- the proceeds of which, incredibly, benefit humanitarian non-profit organizations. Here's what we saw:

[MORE...]

Walkmen, Wrens, Man Man on MACRoCk DVD

College DJs can be an insular bunch. Sometimes they're so busy crafting radio shows around concepts like "three dissonant 15th Century classical records playing simultaneously" that they forget there are listeners on the other end. And, well, sometimes there aren't. Not so the folks at James Madison University, host school to the annual MACRoCk (Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference).

This year MACRoCk celebrated its tenth anniversary, and for its birthday, students of JMU's School of Media Arts and Design are giving us a present: the MACRoCkumentary DVD. Detailing the events of MACRoCk X, which occurred this year during the weekend of April 7 & 8, MACRoCkumentary features performances by ten of this year's bands (including the Walkmen, the Wrens, Man Man, and Voxtrot) in addition to a 26-minute documentary about the history of the conference. The doc includes interviews with the conference's founders, band members, and Ian MacKaye, who played the conference as a member of Fugazi in 2002 and whose Dischord label is a clear influence on MACRoCk's mission to preserve the "youthful activism and self-possessed passion that has come to define the independent genre."

MACRoCkumentary is available for purchase online now. Proceeds from all sales go to the MACRoCk committee and the School of Media Arts "One Day/One University" Scholarship Fund. You can see the DVD's live performance tracklist after the jump. [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.)