Matthew Solarski reports:
Footwear-hater Jim James and his trusty troop of folk-jammers will try to get the better of Eddie Vedder this spring, as it was recently announced that My Morning Jacket will open for Pearl Jam on the first leg of their arena-hopping tour.

The primitive alternative radio gods will get back to their roots or something when they release LP8, a self-titled affair, on May 2. MMJ, meanwhile, will still be hawking copies of last year's much-loved Z at the merch table.

This stadium-sized Pearl-jaunt is book-ended by a quartet of farm-sized festival appearances--so fans hoping for some intimate MMJ contact this season should just see Band of Horses instead.

Dude, 1993 just called. It wants its hair back:

04-21 Nashville, TN - Rites of Spring Festival *#
04-29 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella Festival) ^#
05-09 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre $
05-10 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre $
05-12 Albany, NY - Pepsi Arena $
05-13 Hartford, CT - New England Dodge Center $
05-16 Chicago, IL - United Center $
05-19 Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena $
05-20 Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena $
05-22 Detroit, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills $
05-24 Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden $
05-27 Philadelphia, PA - Tweeter Waterfront $
05-30 Washington, DC - Verizon Center $
06-01 Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena $
06-03 Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena $
06-16 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival +#
06-29 Quincy, CA - High Sierra Festival

* with Ben Folds, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, et al
# with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
^ with Depeche Mode, Daft Punk, Franz Ferdinand, Common, Atmosphere, TV on the Radio, Ladytron, Cat Power, Animal Collective, Devendra Banhart, the Walkmen, the Juan Maclean, Lady Sovereign, Deerhoof, et al
$ with Pearl Jam
+ with Radiohead, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Common, Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Atmosphere, Amadou & Mariam, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, the Dresden Dolls, the Magic Numbers, Dungen, et al

As previously reported, Darla Records will raid the closet to drop another round of reissued Jacket goodies, Tennessee Fire & At Dawn Demos, on May 15.

* Pitchfork Review: My Morning Jacket: Z
* Pitchfork News: My Morning Jacket Demos to Be Released
* My Morning Jacket: http://www.mymorningjacket.com/

Scott Walker Reveals New Album Details

Caroline Bermudez reports:
Pop idol, lounge lizard, balladeer, avant garde adventurer: Scott Walker has inhabited each of these roles throughout his long, storied career. If there's anything consistent about the man who has inspired everyone from Brian Eno and David Bowie to Pulp, Radiohead, and Opeth, it's that he has always been willing to follow his whims and idiosyncrasies. Too art for pop and too pop for art, he has crafted an incomparable body of work that is out of step in the best possible way.

On May 9, Walker's first album in eleven years will be released. Entitled The Drift, the follow-up to 1995's Tilt is Walker's debut for the legendary 4AD label, which he signed with in 2004. Walker is notorious for letting many years lapse between records; The Drift is only his fourth proper album since 1974.

If The Drift's song titles are any indication, Walker still continues to be fascinated by Russian history. Tracklist:

01 Cossacks Are
02 Clara
03 Jesse
04 Jolson and Jones
05 Cue
06 Hand Me Ups
07 Buzzers
08 Psoriatic
09 The Escape
10 A Lover Loves

The mysterious figure of Walker has been a subject of much dissection throughout the years, and a new documentary film continues the exploration. Directed by Stephen Kijak with David Bowie serving as executive producer, "30 Century Man" (named after a track on 1969's Scott 3 that was also featured on the Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou soundtrack) will be released later this year. The film includes interviews with ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, Goldfrapp, and Radiohead (whose own documentary, 1999's Meeting People Is Easy featured the Walker song "On Your Own Again" off 1969's Scott 4).

* Pitchfork Review: Scott Walker: 5 Easy Pieces
* Scott Walker (unofficial): http://www.phinnweb.org/retro/scott/
* 4AD: http://www.4ad.com/

Junior Boys Ready Second Album

Matthew Solarski reports:
What do you get when you cross the Soft Boys and Junior Senior? God only knows, but mash their names together and your prize is Junior Boys, the glitchy, soft-spoken electro-pop project responsible for the 2004 sleeper hit Last Exit. While songs like "Bellona", "High Come Down", and "Birthday" read lyrically like the saddest of break-ups notes, it seems main Boy Jeremy Greenspan (of dubious relation to Alan) managed to piece things together again--only to watch it all tumble down once more. And you know what that means: new record time!

So This Is Goodbye will be the new Junior Boys disc; it arrives this August via Domino Records, bearing among its fruits a collaboration with Andi Toma of Mouse on Mars and a cover of a Frank Sinatra standard ("When No One Cares"). We reckon the Boys do Ol' Blue Eyes proud. Check it:

01 Double Shadow
02 The Equalizer
03 First Time
04 Count Souvenirs
05 In the Morning [feat. Andi Toma]
06 So This Is Goodbye
07 Like a Child
08 Caught in a Wave
09 When No One Cares
10 FM

If you simply cannot contain yourself until August, cop a JB fix from the forthcoming Ghostly International comp Idol Tryouts Two, due out March 21. Junior Boys' Cowell-approved offering: a remix of "The Loving Sounds of Static" by the Mobius Band. It's better than the original!

Or pick up See You on the Moon, Paper Bag Records' hipster toddler comp--it arrives the same day. The Boys serve up a tasty track called "Max", alongside anthems for the Duplo-set delivered by Broken Social Scene, Hot Chip, Mark Kozelek, and the Steve Burns of quasi-Christian concept-folk, Suf-jeezy.

* Pitchfork Review: Junior Boys: Last Exit
* Junior Boys: www.juniorboys.net
* Domino: www.dominorecordco.com

Tapes 'n Tapes Announce U.S. Dates

Matthew Solarski reports:
Bands christened with silly, music-hardware-related names have gone over extraordinarily well here at Pitchfork. Just look at the Walkmen, Stereolab, the Microphones, and, hello, Radiohead. The latest entry in this hallowed litany: Minneapolis-based quartet Tapes 'n Tapes.

Conveniently coinciding with their recent 8.3 rating and "Best New Music" distinction, the infectiously scrappy indie-poppers have announced a wee lil' tour of Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, and, you guessed it, Iowa. Okay, nearly half these dates are SXSW BBQs. Still! Tapes could just be this year's *mumble mumble, nudge, wink*, if you know what I'm saying. Strike while this iron's molten.

AND they're playing a Houston venue called Super Happy Fun Land! For serious!

Loony:

03-10 Dallas, TX - The Cavern *$
03-13 San Antonio, TX - Blacklion *
03-14 Houston, TX - Super Happy Fun Land! ^
03-15 Austin, TX - Trading Post (SXSW Levi's/Fader Party) +
03-15 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Stage (SXSW Live on KEXP)
03-16 Austin, TX - Red 7 (SXSW Team Clermont/Echo Label Party) %
03-17 Austin, TX - Antone's (SXSW Spaceland/Echo Party)
03-17 Austin, TX - Latitude 30 (SXSW) ~
03-18 Austin, TX - The Velvet Spade (SXSW NY2LON party) #
03-21 Los Angeles, CA - AlterKnit Lounge
03-22 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland &
03-23 San Francisco, CA - Café du Nord
03-24 Portland, OR - Dante's @
03-25 Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern @
03-31 Iowa City, IA - The Mill (Mission Creek Midwest Festival)
04-01 Lincoln, NE - Duffy's
04-28 Chicago, IL - Subterranean =
04-29 Chicago, IL - Schubas !

* with Birdmonster
$ with Seventeen Evergreen, Bill (from Sound Team)
^ with Dr. Dog, Hudson Bell, The New Flesh
+ with the Zutons, Cities, Rumble Strips, Carina Round, La Rocca, Field Music
% with Midlake, Field Music, the Capes, Stephen Yerkey, King of France
~ with Jason Forrest, Best Fwends, Sukpatch, Tilly and the Wall, Au Revoir Simone
# with Editors, the Rakes, Two Gallants, the Morning After Girls, the Kooks, Voxtrot, Boy Kill Boy, the Heights, the Charlatans
& with Little Barrie
@ with The Double, Mazarin
= with Essex Green
! with the Wrens

* Pitchfork Review: Tapes 'n Tapes: The Loon
* Tapes 'n Tapes: www.tapesntapes.com

Ali Farka Touré, 1939-2006

Joe Tangari reports:
Legendary Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré died Tuesday in Bamako following a long illness. He was 67 years old. Touré, one of the principle proponents of a desert guitar style that became known as "African blues", helped popularize the connection between American blues and traditional Saharan guitar music.

Touré was nearly 50 years old when he rocketed from obscurity to worldwide acclaim after the 1988 international release of his self-titled debut on the Island subsidiary Mango. In an era when Afropop was being swallowed whole by synthesizers and drum machines, the album was a refreshing, minimal effort, often featuring Touré's striking voice backed only by his guitar. The recording garnered comparisons to American bluesman John Lee Hooker, an association Touré never really managed to shake.

International success and stardom didn't necessarily agree with Touré, who tended to shy away from the spotlight, retreating to his rice farm for years after each heralded record. He won Grammys for his collaborations with Ry Cooder (1994's Talking Timbuktu) and kora player Toumani Diabaté (2005's In the Heart of the Moon). His new releases throughout the 90s and early 00s were supplemented by a steady stream of reissues and compilations of his earlier recordings, which initially received no international distribution. Radio Mali, a disc of radio sessions from the 70s, and Red & Green, which compiles two early-80s efforts, are both exceptional.

Touré was elected mayor of Niafunke, his Northern Mali hometown, two years ago. He earned respect as a unifier during the 1990s rebellion of the nomadic Kel Tamashek (pejoratively known as the Tuareg) in the country's northern desert, as he sang in all of the country's major languages.

Touré had recently completed a new album, presumably to be released on World Circuit later this year. He will be buried in Niafunke and is survived by his wife and eleven children.

First Two Frog Eyes LPs to Be Reissued

Zach Vowell reports:
When Frog Eyes released their 2004 acoustic teaser Ego Scriptor in an edition of 1000 copies, it was either a show of humility or a knowing jab at fans who knew the band kicked ass, but could never find their first two albums.

That joke (if it was a joke) will be rendered moot by Absolutely Kosher Records in the very near future. The label, recording masters in hand, has informed Pitchfork that they plan to reissue Frog Eyes' long out-of-print debut The Bloody Hand and its follow-up, The Golden River, on April 18.

But wait, what about all the Blue Pine fans out there? Blue Pine, for those keeping score at home, was a band that included Frog Eyes frontman Carey Mercer and bassist Michael Rak prior to the real deal. Absolutely Kosher's version of The Bloody Hand (originally released in Canada only by Global Symphonic) will include as a bonus the entirety of Blue Pine's second album, Seagull Is on the Rise. Likewise, the new and improved Golden River will be appended by the "Emboldened Navigator" 7" as well as all of a scrapped recording session featuring Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown wiz Spencer Krug on the keys. Several songs from that session ended up on future Frog Eyes and Sunset Rubdown releases.

The recovered booty:

The Bloody Hand:

01 Sound Travels From the Snow to the Dark
02 The Fox Speaks to His Wife Who Is Not Quite Sure
03 Krull Fire Wedding
04 The Mayor Laments the Failures of His Many Townfolk
05 Our Lordship Has Devised a New Billing System
06 The Horse Used to Wear a Crown
07 The Fruit That Fell From the Tree
08 Silence but for the Gentle Tinkling of the Flowing Creek
09 Silence but for the Gentle Tinkling of the Flowing Creek
10 The Hardest Night to Sleep in the Swamplands
11 Libertatia's National Lullaby

Bonus: Blue Pine - Seagull Is on the Rise:

12 Seagulls on the Rise
13 One Considers Sailing On
14 Tyranny of Sight and Tyranny of Seeing
15 Picture Framing
16 "Buttercup"
17 Drinking: The Song
18 Body Body
19 Lost in a Godless Sea
20 Before They Was Killed in a Car Crash

The Golden River:

01 One in Six Children Will Flee tn Boats
02 Time Reveals Its Plan at Poisined Falls
03 Masticated Outboard Motors
04 Miasma Gardens
05 A Latex Ice Age
06 Orbis Magnus
07 Time Destroys Its Plan at the Reactionary Table
08 Soldiers Crash Gathering in Sparrow Hills
09 World's Greatest Concertos
10 Picture Framing the Gigantic Men Who Fought on Steam Boats
11 The Secret Map Flees From Plurality

Bonus: Emboldened Navigator and the Seagull Dots:

12 The Fruit That Ate Itself
13 Meadows and Madames and So Forth
14 A Latex Ice Age
15 Picture Framing and Some Other Dark Shit
16 American Waltz for the Good Americans
17 One in Six Children Will Flee in Boats
18 ?
19 Spencer's Song for Carey to Officially Sing
20 I Hope My Horse Don't Make No Sound
21 A Song Once Mine Now No Longer Mine
22 "Shots"
23 Libertatia National Lullaby

According to Absolutely Kosher, Frog Eyes are currently working on their next album, which effectively halts any hint of Mercer and co. coasting on their previous work. The new LP is tentatively set for an autumn release, but they've also just recorded a one-song, nineteen-minute CDEP for Spain's Acuarela Discos that will be available through Absolutely Kosher this spring at the earliest.

With all this activity, a tour was inevitable. A month or so after a few SXSW appearances next week, Frog Eyes will join Sunset Rubdown for a tour skirting the U.S./Canada border from west to east. Spencer Krug will handle keyboard duties for both bands.

Believe in anything:

03-15 Austin, TX - Habana Calle 6 Patio (Absolutely Kosher SXSW showcase $)
03-16 Austin, TX - End of an Ear (in-store)
03-17 Austin, TX - Emo's 4 #
05-06 Victoria, British Columbia - Logan's *
05-07 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards *
05-09 Calgary, Alberta - Broken City *
05-10 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlight Room *
05-12 Winnipeg, Manitoba - The Collective Cabaret *
05-13 Fargo, ND - VFW *
05-14 Mount Vernon, IA - The Orange Carpet in the Commons Building *
05-17 Northfield, MN - The Cave, Carlton Campus *
05-18 Chicago, IL - Schubas *
05-20 Montreal, Quebec - El Salon *
05-23 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
05-24 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge *
05-25 Cambridge, MA - TT the Bears *
05-26 Hanover, NH - Fuel Rocket Club *

$ with Say Hi to Your Mom, Goblin Cock, Pidgeon, Ex-Boyfriends
# with Castanets, Evangelicals, Karl Blau, Psychic Ills, My Brightest Diamond, Horns of Happiness
* with Sunset Rubdown

* Pitchfork Review: Frog Eyes: The Folded Palm
* Absolutely Kosher: http://www.absolutelykosher.com/
* Global Symphonic: http://www.globalsymphonic.com/

n0 things (ex-Liars) Hit the Road With Knife Skills

Kati Llewellyn reports:
While Valentine's Day is so last month, having sweet n0 things whispered in your ear provides year-long titillation. Or two months anyway, as New York's n0 things launch a tour with fellow New Yorkers Knife Skills tour today that will last well into those April showers.

Why do those names sound familiar? Well, shortly after Liars let out their monumental 2002 debut They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top, bassist Pat "Nature" Noecker and percussionist Ron Alberson split the scene. The two drop-outs then formed n0 things with Christian Dautresme (HiM), who we assume is responsible for the funny way "n0 things" is typed. The band has recorded two singles and their first full length, Trees, is due for release, uh, eventually. The hand-screened limited-edition self-released (what a mouthful) version can be purchased on the road.

Knife Skills, which features former and current members of the Hissyfits, Fxxxing Lion, and Narchitect, also have ties to Liars. Steve Revitte, who produced Liars as well as Black Dice, worked with Knife Skills on their debut record, Disco Apocalypso, set to hit stores this summer on 5RC.

Knife n0 Skills things:

03-08 Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
03-09 Philadelphia, PA - Mill Creek Tavern
03-10 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar (n0 things only) *
03-11 Richmond, VA - Nanci Raygun
03-12 Washington, DC - DC9
03-13 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
03-14 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
03-15 Little Rock, AK - Whitewater Tavern
03-16 Austin, TX - Flamingo Cantina (Kill Rock Stars SXSW party; Knife Skills only) %^=
03-16 Austin, TX - Velvet Spade (Ace Fu/Solid PR SXSW showcase; n0 things only) #
03-17 Austin, TX - Ms. Bea's Patio +^
03-18 Austin, TX - Emo's 4 (SXSW; n0 things only) ^@
03-18 Austin, TX - Lava Lounge Patio (SXSW; Knife Skills only) $%
03-20 Albuquerque, NM - Exxon Valdez
03-21 Phoenix, AZ - The Trunk Space
03-22 Glendale, CA - Taix Lounge
03-23 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell
03-24 Visalia, CA - Howie and Sons Pizza
03-25 San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
03-27 Eugene, OR - Diablo's
03-28 Seattle, WA - SS Marie Antoinette
03-29 Portland, OR - Towne Lounge
03-30 Boise, ID - ELK
04-01 Yankton, SD - Lazy D Saloon
04-02 Lincoln - Duffy's Tavern
04-04 Omaha, NE - O'Leaver's
04-05 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
04-06 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
04-07 Grinnell, IA - Gardner Lounge (Grinnell College)
04-08 Chicago, IL - No Exit Café
04-09 Detroit, MI - Painted Lady
04-10 Grand Rapids, MI - DAAC
04-11 Newport, KY - Southgate House
04-12 Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Art Works
04-20 New York, NY - Cake Shop (Knife Skills only) &
05-26 New York, NY - Cake Shop

* with Celebration, Rogers Sisters
% with Spider and the Webs
^ with Wooden Wand
= with Imaad Wasif, Laura Veirs, Panther
# with Velella Velella, Annuals, Tunng, Man Man, Parts and Labor, DeVotchKa, An Albatross
+ with Von Iva, Jack Rose, Zombi, Old Haunts, more
@ with the Gossip, Dada Swing, They Shoot Horses Don't They, Sam Champion, Panther, the Ark, the Giraffes
$ with Boyskout, IMA, Die! Die! Die!, Happy Flowers, Faceless Werewolves, Skullening
& with Big Bear, Michael Columbia, More Teeth

* Pitchfork News: Ex-Liars Members Form New Band
* n0 Things: http://www.no-things.com/
* Knife Skills: http://www.knife-skills.com/

Racebannon Mount Massive Bi-Continental Tour

Matthew Solarski reports:
What's more exciting than being mauled by a flock of rabid seagulls? Probably nothing, but listening to Racebannon sure comes close. The Indiana-based four-piece take sheer chaos, violence, volatility (and fun!) and stir it all up in one rusty pot and leave it on broil until the stove explodes. It's the perfect antidote to all that polite NPR-ready fare you've been cranking in your Volvo of late, and it's about to barnstorm a gated community near you.

Teaming with Level Plane's excellent post-hardcore-preachers Gospel, Racebannon just last night launched an epic U.S.-spanning trek. These two workhorses will play a mind-boggling 30 consecutive dates altogether (note that Gospel head to Houston on March 17), with nary a night off to soothe seared vocal chords or re-string mangled guitars. Then after a brief respite, Racebannon will do it all over again in Europe, precise dates to be announced. Fucking maniacs.

Jonny Quest got nothing on this shit:

03-08 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
03-09 Newark, DE - University of Delaware *#
03-10 Washington, DC - Warehouse *#^
03-11 Richmond, VA - The Fortress of Solid Dudes *#%
03-12 Raleigh, NC - Wolves' Den at North Carolina State *#
03-13 Charleston, SC - TBA *#
03-14 Atlanta, GA - The Historic I Defy *#&
03-15 Birmingham, AL - Cave 9 *#
03-16 New Orleans, LA - The Big Top *#
03-17 Austin, TX - Lava Lounge (NFI/Alone SXSW showcase) $
03-18 Austin, TX - Snake Eyes Vinyl (SXSW) *
03-19 Denton, TX - The Northern Wastes *$
03-20 Phoenix, AZ - Modified *+
03-21 Tucson, AZ - Skrappy's *
03-22 San Diego, CA - Ché Café *
03-23 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory *
03-24 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell *
03-25 San Francisco, CA - The Hemlock Tavern *
03-26 Berkeley, CA - 924 Gilman Street *
03-27 Oakland, CA - The Imperial *
03-28 Reno, NV - The Record Street Café *
03-29 Salt Lake City, UT - Bert's Tiki Lounge *
03-30 Denver, CO - The 15th Street Tavern *
03-31 Wichita, KS - Headway Skatepark *
04-01 Sioux Falls, SD - Renner American Legion *
04-02 Minneapolis, MN - The Triple Rock Social Club *
04-03 Milwaukee, WI - The Breakfast Nook *
04-05 Lansing, MI - The Temple Club *@
04-06 Columbus, OH - High Fives *
06-23 Hoogeveen, Holland - Trashfest

* with Gospel
# with Mass Movement of the Moth
^ with Rue the Day
% with The Catalyst
& with The Power and the Glory
$ with Funeral Diner, Rapider Than Horsepower, Pattern Is Movement, Ahleuchatistas
+ with An Albatross
@ with They Shoot Horses Don't They

* Pitchfork Review: Racebannon: Satan's Kickin' Yr Dick In
* Racebannon: www.racebannon.net

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