As Pitchfork prepares to take the holiday plunge, we leave you today with a digital stocking stuffer that should toast your Yule logs right good. Um, whatever the hell that means. +81 comes careening down your chimney courtesy of the kind elves at , straight off s Friend Opportunity-- which, , arrives January 23 via KRS, bundled with 10 tracks and 12 .

Bookended by some trumpets that almost sound From Barcelona, the track showcases the leaner, (not really) meaner Deerhoof, presently a trio following the departure of bassist Chris Cohen (who now plays in ). Satomi Matsuzaki s still cooing existential babytalk, guitarist John Dieterich is still slicing out razor-sharp riffs, and drummer Greg Saunier still holds it down in back, threatening to go all John Philip Sousa on us but soon settling on a simple, efficient beat. This is the Deerhoof we know and love, decked out in some festive ornamentation, and it should rock new friends as well as old.

Before +81 hits Friend Opportunity, however, it will kick off the +81 EP, set to land exclusively at digital retailers on December 19. Along with the title song, the EP collects four B-sides from the pre-Cohen, Reveille era (when the band was also a trio): Sealed With a Kiss (aka Bring Down the Nutritious Pigs , and an alternate version of the Apple O cut), Surprise Symphony (apparently inspired by Haydn), United He-Ho Brothers (the very first Matsuzaki-Saunier- Dieterich composition), and Aho Bomb (live favorite and Nels Cline s favorite Deerhoof song, according to Saunier). Phew!

, Deerhoof sweep across North America early next year. And they re up for a ! Vote .

Surely by now you ve seen the of scandalous tour Polaroids that graced these very pages, courtesy of tour manager/merch dude . Allowing us an intimate look into the dazzling life of these rockstars in their natural habitats (chiefly hotel rooms, vans, and diners), Horvitz photos garnered world wide (web) acclaim and remained permanently etched into the grey matter of all who saw them..

.for better or for worse.
So of course you re fixing for more!

And Horvitz hears your pleas, which is why he s put together , the latest installment in his series of handmade picture books documenting the exploits of Xiu Xiu on the open road. This one depicts moments from the Xiu s recent tour in support of .
But check it: this time, instead of seedy Polaroids of people peeing on their feet, Xiu Xiu Tour Book #4 collects significantly more tasteful and often fairly artistic shots of the Xiu crew in action.

They re hardly professional, however, which lends them a charm similar to that of your family vacation photos. If your family is, you know, slightly insane.
Horvitz hopes to make future editions of Book #4 featuring different photographs, and the first one-- which promises bigger pages and more photos than ever before-- is available now for $20 at Horvitz .

There s even a DIY mail-in option for folks who can t quite swing that sum. Swank! Holy fuck, our hard drive crashed!

said , when they lost what band member Brian Borcherdt, in an email to Pitchfork, called a good chunk of material for their follow-up to last year s self-titled . But they also added, Hey, let s put up some live mp3s on our website so people don t have to wait even longer to hear what we ve been working on.
The four tracks-- Safari , Choppers , Junglor , and Chicago Radio Rap Band -- were all recorded live at radio stations or gigs, and they re all analog electro in the post-rock vein.

This stuff would make perfect Megaman-style video game music.
Holy Fuck quickly hopped back on the recording train after their tech troubles and will begin mixing the new record with Broken Social Scene producer Dave Newfeld very soon. They also hope to have an additional recording session next year with Enon drummer Matt Schulz, who Borcherdt said was recently recruited as one of our few rotating drummers.

s follow-up, True Magic, comes out December 29 on Geffen, and it features production from Pharrell, Minnesota, and Preservation.
While you re pondering what an entire U.S.

state would sound like behind the boards and why a major label would release an album at the very end of the year on a Friday, you can listen to a stream of a song from the album titled...

Napoleon Dynamite . Hey, remember Napoleon Dynamite? That s that movie Gnarls Barkley were in, right?

Rather than referencing Uncle Rico, tater tots, and his pet llama, though, the MC basically uses the movies title as a jumpoff for a track about, um...

well, we re still not quite sure. He sums it up pretty well himself: But really I digress. It s not awful, just too tame for a guy who used to be able to give a pretty good sermon about exactly what beef is.

When we think of (aka Sufjan compatriot Shara Worden), ponies, orchestras, and churches spring wamp wamp whoa! Which makes our thinking just plain wrong, because My Brighest Diamond has announced a remix disc, Tear It Down, set for release on March 6 via + The Band = the sadness.
Ben Gibbard slathers his sappy voice on this deep cut from the Band s self-titled second album (where it was called Rockin Chair ); the resulting DCFC hit-and-run is set to appear on the forthcoming Endless Highway Band tribute compilation, out via on January 30.

It s a shame that Death Cab don t do much more with this song than make it sound like a Transatlanticism B-side, and Gibbard s disinterested lullaby croon does no justice to the lived-in feel of a song with the lyric, I m pushing age 73. Even more depressing: the other songs on Endless Highway.
benefits, but sometimes, we just feel that nostalgic pang for some old fashioned cassettes.

And where there s nostalgia pangs, there s the , which will receive one tape per month (latecomers get a bunch at once, then one per month), each featuring lengthy exclusive tracks program, members can earn a big bonus for a slightly higher price-- six extra tapes curated by Jessica Rylan of Can t. Her list of musicians, currently incomplete, includes Captains of English, Julia Holter, Timeheater, and more at this point in time. For a full roster, click .

Tis the season to be jolly, and what s jollier than the act of giving? Especially when Smog s , avian folk-rockers , and Nick Hennies (of ) give you guys live performances for Pretty nice chain of events, yeah? a serious lack of snow, these three acts will rock , scheduled to take place at Austin s venue on December 23 (doors open at 3 p.

m.). Additional makers of music are expected to join the bill prior to the benefit concert, so lay the smack down on your inner Scrooge and pony up for two great causes: charity and quality live music.

journey to Bethlehem, but never like this. Usually, it s all OMG Mary s preggers and can t find an inn, poor thing! But did you ever think about the unfortunate that had to carry all that weight?

Probably not, but have it covered, naturally. Last year, they released a track, Little Donkey , on limited edition CD for a fan giveaway. Now, it s available once again, this time digitally via , The song, which is streaming on the band s page, will be available from Rough Trade up until New As previously reported, the ), but Jeff Tweedy isn t ready to break from the road just yet.

In mid-January, he will embark on a two-week solo jaunt that kicks off in Memphis and winds its way around the South and Southeastern United States. According to Wilco s , more dates are on way, but for now, details are under wraps. And unfortunately they re not our wraps, so just hold your horses and stay tuned.

As , recently embarked on a December European/U.S. tour.

He has since extended the journey to include shows in February, at which he and Wilco drummer will make several appearances together. In addition, Cline contributed to s Finally, John Stirratt and is trying to stir up interest in his long-irrelevant band again, and he s doing so with a couple of announcements. Let s start with the typical: Guns N Roses have canceled their four January tour dates (three in California and one in Nevada), and Axl is blaming the band s management for the poor handling of Chinese Democracy s alleged release.

More unexpected is Axl s official announcement that Chinese Democracy is tentatively scheduled for a March 6 release-- and the fact that he did so in an articulate (!) letter on the band s website. Newsflash: Axl Rose can write a sincere letter of apology to his fans.

We re not ruling out the possibility that he employs a letter writer for these kinds of things, but we must say that we re impressed nonetheless. Not that we re any more interested in Chinese Democracy now than we were .
Read the full text of Axl s letter-- which is quite long-- below, followed by Guns N Roses remaining four tour dates and the four that were canceled.

Our pals over at had the rather brilliant idea of soliciting folks like and to perform the unlikeliest of covers for their forthcoming CMG Fantasy Podcast Vol. 1 . And yes, by some devilish machinations, they managed to get the latter to cover Justin Timberlake s SexyBack -- you know, the one that divided the JT ranks until My Love sailed in and brought everybody together again.

Slowing things down to a trot, pulling out some woozy horns for the second verse, and wisely dumping all of Timbaland s bridge-barking, RPC imbues what was a sleazy come-on track with the same sense of foreboding that colors much of the Pitchfork Or consider it this way: if Timberlake s beckoning you back to his place for a little whoopy-makin , RPC s Chris Eaton sounds like he s luring you back for some serial killin . Yikes.
Plus you can practically see him rolling his eyes as he spouts quips like V.

I.P. and Look at those hips.

CMG kindly lent us the track to share with y all, so have a listen by clicking below.
The covers podcast goes live next week. Swing over to then to check out SexyBack , along with Broughton covering Cat Power s The Greatest , new Anticon signing SJ Esau doing (God help us) another cover of Crazy , Ned Collette taking on TV on the Radio s Hours , Shugo Tokumaru handling Peter Bjorn and John s Young Folks and Daniel Johnston s To Go Home , and offbeat selections from the Red Giants, Monster Bobby, Flying Lotus, Emperor X, and more surprises.

Sufjan, Witmer Are Friends of Rosie Thomas alert! Our banjo-plucking, States- songwriting, stealer of hearts hooked up (in a purely musical sense, you gutter-dwellers!) with pals and in New York earlier this year to record a batch of songs by Rosie, who sought to escape the pressures of worldwide fame and acclaim and make music the old-fashioned, on-the-fly, inspired way.

Seems these sessions proved fruitful enough to warrant the release of an album, Rosie s fourth, titled These Friends of Mine. It s out now in digital format and should have a physical release in March 2007, courtesy of Rosie s own label, Sing-a-Long Records, partnered with . Sufjan sings backing vocals and plays instruments on a number of These Friends ten tracks, which include covers of R.

E.M. s The One I Love , Fleetwood Mac s Songbird , and Witmer s own Paper Doll .

Best of all, you can stream a pair of songs from Rosie s new disc right now at her and : Much Farther to Go , which features a prominent Sufjan backing vocal, and Kite Song , an innocuous ballad touched with strings and piano. They re pretty coffeeshop-ripe and a bit Jesus-y, which is great if you re into those things. Even if you re not, you may enjoy them for their pleasant nature and competent arrangements and production.

And because you love all things Sufjan. Admit it, you do. , lead singer of 1960s girl group the Shangri-Las (who you may remember from having songs at and on Pitchfork s 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s list), will return from 40 years of hibernation with her solo debut album.

The album is titled Dangerous Game and features all originals except for a remake of Shangri-Las B-side Heaven Only Knows . Weiss is backed on the album by Memphis garage rockers .
will release Dangerous Game on March 6.

too, Luke Wilson. , aka Mac McCaughan, is on to your tricks. The new video for the number, Song for a Clock .

makes an appearance as well, adding an interesting element to Portastatic s However, an insomnia-documenting clock is the clip s star. have teamed with mixtape-meisters and to release Rock Muzick, a mixtape companion to their excellent new album . The mixtape features Hell Hath tracks, freestyles, and even two throwback bonus tracks (including very early single The Funeral ) at the end, according to Boogie and Sparks League Crew .

Contributing MCs to the mixtape include Biggie, Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, the Game, Fam-Lay, UGK, Mobb Deep, Rick Ross, and Ab-Liva, of Clipse s four-man Re-Up Gang. Also on two tracks is Lil Wayne, who we thought was on poor terms with the Thornton brothers, not that they have to be in the same room to record a track together. Come to think of it, Biggie-- assuming the name refers to the late Notorious B.

I.G.-- isn t even in the same time period.

We re guessing this means the involvement of some Diddy-style cut-and-pasting in at least one instance, which must be what the press release refers to with the phrase creative remixes. Rock Muzick is available for purchase , and Clipse do indeed have it for cheap: only seven dollars. They are just talking about mixtapes, right?

Yeah, that's pretty much all we know Since we paid a visit to Pumpkinland (i.e. ), Pumpkins drummer has continued enthusiastically babbling nonsense about the progress of the band s MACHINA follow-up/reunion record.

Though the exact constituency of the band is still unknown, Chamberlin assures us via the Pumpkins MySpace that, The drums are finished, and that, We have been very busy carving up the sonic landscape with oceans of guitars and a sea of fuzz bass. We are four songs deep and about a hundred guitars in! Those wondering what sonic touchstones the record might have would do well to take a look at the following Chamberlin shout-out: We would like to thank the Grateful Dead, Rush, [and] Billy Thorpe for their guidance in this hour of need.

Honestly, though the promise of engaging Pumpkin prog seems pretty empty at this point, they could do much worse.
According to an entry from the Pumpkins webmistress, fans hungry to set sail on the band s guitar oceans will get the chance to see them live this summer at some European festivals. Vagueness from the Pumpkins camp?

You don t say! In her defense, however, she explained, As for which ones, that s still being finalized, so hold tight!
The Pumpkins webmistress also responded to the recent leak of four demo tracks allegedly from the recent studio sessions by saying, OH!

And those Baker Demo leaks...

well, we read it was a Brit band who was behind that. Don t worry Simon, no one s gonna sue you. The band got a kick out of the story.

The Simon she refers to is the lead singer of , the London band who leaked their own songs masquerading as Pumpkins demos via a torrent site as a prank. Pretty clever, actually. new record, The Magic Position, sometime in 2006.

If you re thinking, Hey, there are only two Mondays left in the year. Wolf s album is probably going to have to wait, you re very astute. It will see the light of day on February 26, 2007.

According to Wolf s his new material, including a track, Augustine , slated for The Magic Potion, on his most recent video podcast, available (and for non-iTunes users). Tune in, because Wolf gives away some special info that will help fans answer the question What age was Patrick when he first started playing the violin? will have a chance to win two tickets to Wolf s December 19 show at London s Union Chapel.

For more details, check out his second-most-recent . Following that show and another one-off gig (acoustic and mic-less!) in London this month, Wolf will rest up for a lengthy UK tour.

The trek is scheduled to begin in late January, and will run through early March.
Milwaukee trio seem to have been hanging out with Emily Haines recently. On February 20, the band s sophomore LP, Soft Skeletons, will land via the band s new label, .

As far as we know, the album has nothing to do with Haines band the Soft Skeleton...

but can we ever be sure? To celebrate the album, Call Me Lightning have planned two record release parties: at their Skeletons, Billion Eyes , has already made its way online, and an influence. For some seriously loud drums and a sense of good old-fashioned below.

, founder of , died yesterday, December 14, in New York City. He was 83 years old. The legendary executive had been in a coma following an October 29 fall backstage at a Rolling Stones concert.

It was a fitting conclusion to a life that both was shaped by rock n roll and helped shape rock n roll. The son of the United States Ambassador to Turkey, Ertegun was born in Isanbul, Turkey in 1923 and spent his childhood traveling the world. He founded Atlantic at the age of 24 in 1947 with $10,000 borrowed from his family dentist.

Through the label, Ertegun would go on to cultivate the careers of stars in virtually every era of rock history. In the 1950s, Ertegun helped lay the groundwork for American soul and r b as we know it by signing such artists as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and Ray Charles. Concurrently, Atlantic also released seminal jazz records by the likes of John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman.

In the 1960s, Ertegun and Atlantic virtually invented classic rock, putting out albums by Led Zeppelin, Yes, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, King Crimson, Crosby, Stills Nash, and Blind Faith. He signed the Rolling Stones in 1971 and Genesis in 1973. Atlantic was sold to the company that would go on to become Warner Communications in 1967.

It continues to be a powerhouse to this day, with artists ranging from Diddy, Lupe Fiasco, Death Cab for Cutie, and Bjork to Gnarls Barkley, Bloc Party, the Streets, and Missy Elliott.

I try to be candid in interviews..

.but I've learned that whenever you try and make a point about anything, you always end up sounding like a douchebag. strings wizard Owen Pallett put himself at a distinct disadvantage by naming own project .

Google it: dude s official website doesn t come up until page seven, such is the interweb might of the RPG juggernaut with which he shares his name.
But who needs Google when you ve got the , the Canadian honor Pallett for 2006 s , and the $20,000 that comes with it? Or an adoring fanbase?

Or friends in the Arcade Fire? Or plans up the wazoo? As Pallett told Pitchfork recently via e-mail, with 2006 drawing to a close, he s on a roll.

First up: releases galore. Right now I m at work on some 7 s and some EPs, wrote Pallett. Down the line, I ll follow up He Poos Clouds with an LP with the inoffensive/boring title of Heartland.

The connotations of Heartland are intended, Pallett elaborated in a on a message board he frequents at . The album title is meant to evoke that mysterious sense of homestead nationalism.
Pallett continued: It s another concept album, but this one has an overarching narrative.

A plot arc, if you will. Like a Batman comic or..

. or..

. a 19th century Romantic song cycle like [Robert Schumann s] Dichterliebe.
Recording wise, it s going to sound exactly like He Poos Clouds but with better microphones, better writing and we re using compressors to make it sound taut and clicky.

No more weak, fey shit! Except the singing. That will always be tacky.

Pallett also disclosed some info to Pitchfork on his contributions to next Arcade Fire record, which even your mom is excited about. I played on a bunch of songs with a string quartet..

. six? Seven?

I don t remember. I also worked with R e gine [Chassagne] on a couple of orchestral arrangements. It was fun!

R e gine is a genius!
It was the first time I d ever written orchestral arrangements for a pop album. It was a heavy task.

I listened to a lot of Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov, and looked at a lot of scores. And I had to convince R e gine that trumpets and woodwinds were necessary..

. they were against the idea at first. But everything turned out great in the end.

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.