Thursday, December 13th, 2001

Ryan Schreiber reports:
After having been available in Europe since late July, the Super Furry Animals' latest offering, Rings Around the World, will finally make it to U.S. shores in March 2002. Curiously, Epic Records, who issued the album overseas, isn't buying into the possibility of the Super Furries topping American charts (it could happen!). Instead, the record has been licensed to XL Recordings, who presently provides a home for artists such as the Avalanches, Badly Drawn Boy, and-- UK only-- the White Stripes. XL's stateside distribution is handled through the Beggars Group, who also distributes 4AD, Mantra, Mo'Wax, Too Pure and Wiiija.

The Super Furry Animals are pretty big in the UK-- Rings Around the World received almost unanimously positive reviews, was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, won a Q magazine award for best producer (Chris Shaw, who worked with Bob Dylan on Love and Theft), and debuted at #3 on the album charts. Even the British Knight Sir Paul McCartney himself makes a cameo on the record, as does fellow Welshman John Cale. It is possibly the only time in history that the British and the Welsh have tossed aside their differences and come together to create something of worth.

The band also plans to release a DVD on the same day, which Beggars claims will make them "the *first band in the world* to simultaneously release a CD and DVD." The "digital video disc" will feature 13 short films by li'l filmmakers from around the globe, including the Dogma team and the band's long-time album artwork designer, Peter Fowler. The Furries are presently booking their first U.S. tour in support of Rings Around the World, which is set to kick off in February.

.: Pitchfork Review: Super Furry Animals: Rings Around the World
.: XL: http://www.xlrecordings.com
.: Beggars Group: http://www.beggars.com
.: Super Furry Animals: http://www.ringsaroundtheworld.co.uk

Brandi Haker reports:
Cameron Crowe has been stalking the "publicity-shy and artistically uncompromising" Icelandic four-piece Sigur Rós. At least three "glacial" and/or "angelic" Sigur Rós songs will appear in the Cruise/Cruz/Diaz future blockbuster. After attending a Sigur Rós concert, Crowe asked for a live version of the song "Njosnavelin" to appear in a dramatic sequence of the movie. He's also borrowed some atmospheric footage-- shot by none other than Sigur frontman Jon Thor Birgisson on super-8-- from the band's live show backdrop, and has worked it into the final cut of the movie. Arty.

The film hits U.S. theaters tomorrow, and will reach the UK in February. This is the first time Sigur Rós has ever allowed their creativity on film over the course since they rose to international stardom almost one year ago. Except for Angels of the Universe, directed by Oscar-nominated Icelandic film director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson. Clearly, they are one of the most "publicity shy and artistically uncompromising" bands in the business. Ahh, but it's so easy to romanticize one of the most romantic bands in the business. Icelandic is the new French.

Vanilla Sky soundtrack tracklist:
01 R.E.M.: All the Right Friends
02 Radiohead: Everything in Its Right Place
03 Paul McCartney: Vanilla Sky
04 Peter Gabriel: Solisbury Hill
05 Julianna Gianni: I Fall Apart
06 Monkees: Porpoise Song
07 Looper: Mondo '77
08 Red House Painters: Have You Forgotten
09 Josh Rouse: Directions
10 Leftfield: Afrika Shox
11 Sigur Rós: Svefn-G-Englar
12 Jeff Buckley: Last Goodbye
13 Todd Rundgren: Can We Still Be Friends
14 Bob Dylan: Fourth Time Around
15 Nancy Wilson: Elevator Beat
16 R.E.M.: Sweetness Follows
17 Chemical Brothers: Where Do I Begin

.: Pitchfork Review: Sigur Rós: Agaetis Byrjun
.: Sigur Rós: http://www.sigur-ros.com
.: Vanilla Sky: http://www.vanillasky.com

Brandon Dameshek reports:
After four years spent languishing in the dark coffeehouses of Toronto, Canadian songwriter Hayden is ready to release his new album, Skyscraper National Park, on March 12th in the U.S. The album, which has been available since October in Canada, will be issued in the states by Badman Recording Co., which has distributed past releases by the likes of Rebecca Gates (Spinanes), Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters), and Lanterna. Skyscraper marks Hayden's first release since 1998's Outpost/Geffen-released The Closer I Get, which featured a full band and more of a rock sound than his earlier work. Wasn't Geffen also responsible for Weezer's self-titled green album? We smell a pattern...

When Outpost dissolved in 1999, Hayden was left without a label. After floating aimlessly around the seedy backstreets of Canada for a while ("bud? bud? wantsomebud?"), Hayden reemerged with 100 handmade copies of Skyscraper National Park in the summer of 2001. Although the limited release generated a buzz, MTV refused to deem it truly "buzzworthy." And then Ian Robinson shook nervously like a paranoid Jesse Ventura and made the devil handsign. (More tattoos don't make up for your overt geekdom, kid.)

With the immediate success of these rare copies, a second limited-edition run of 1,500 copies were pressed and released by Universal Music/Hardwood Records in support of a brief Canadian tour. Once again, the album sold quickly, convincing Hayden and Badman Recording Co. to give the album a wider release. The new album is rumored to contain "a newfound sense of playful happiness and a greater reliance on the higher range vocals that were avoided earlier in his career," according to Peter J. D'Angelo. After all, isn't happiness swell?

Hayden will perform a one-off show at Convocation Hall in Toronto on March 9th, only days before the album's domestic release. In the meantime, look for the first video from the new album for the song "Dynamite Walls." It features Howie Beck, Kid Lunch, Mitch Roth, and a slew of other individuals with prefabricated, stylized names.

.: Pitchfork Review: Hayden: The Closer I Get
.: Hayden: http://www.hardwoodrecords.com
.: Badman Recording Co.: http://www.badmanrecordingco.com

Brandi Haker reports:
Six Parts Seven want to wish you a post-rock Christmas. They'll be spending the month of December on the road in support of their upcoming third full-length album, Things Shaped in Passing, to be released March 11th, 2002 on Suicide Squeeze. In case you don't already know, Six Parts Seven are roughly one part grand piano, a few parts guitar, one part lap steel, part sample, with an occasional dash of e-bow, violin, and cello. We'll never really know if Things Shaped in Passing is meant to be a kidney stone concept album, given the instrumental nature of the band and the ambiguity of tracks such as "Sleeping Diagonally" and "Seems Like Most Everything Used to Be Something Else."

12-14 Boston, MA - Middle East
12-16 Washington DC - Metro Cafe
12-17 Orlando, FL - Sapphire Supper Club
12-18 Tampa, FL - Orpheum
12-19 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
12-20 Carrboro, NC - Go! Rehearsal
12-21 Nashville, TN - The End
12-22 Chicago, IL - Prodigal Son

Things Shaped In Passing tracklist:
01 Where Are the Timpani Heartbeats?
02 Spaces Between Days (Part 3)
03 Spaces Between Days (Part 4)
04 Sleeping Diagonally
05 Cold Things Never Catch Fire
06 Seems Like Most Everything Used to Be Something Else
07 New Like Photographs
08 The Want and the Waiting

.: Pitchfork Review: Six Parts Seven: Silence Magnifies Sound
.: Suicide Squeeze: http://www.suicidesqueeze.net