Chris Leslie-Hynan and Brandon Dameshek report:
According to sources at Mint Records, The New Pornographers are ready to release their sophomore album on May 6th. The new record, entitled Electric Version, follows the band's beloved 2000 debut Mass Romantic, which Pitchfork dubbed "the first great straightforward pop record of the new century" as we nestled it snugly into our #9 slot of our 20 Best Records of 2001 list. Though the band has been and will continue to represent for Mint Records in Canada, the album will be licensed for release on venerable Matador in both the U.S. and Europe, further proving that wherever Stephen Malkmus goes, porn follows. Tracklist:

01 The Electric Version
02 From Blown Speakers
03 The Laws Have Changed
04 The End Of Medicine
05 Loose Translation
06 Chump Change
07 All For Swinging You Around
08 The New Face Of Zero And One
09 Testament To Youth In Verse
10 It's Only Divine Right
11 Ballad Of A Comeback Kid
12 July Jones
13 Miss Teen Wordpower

Recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Electric Version was produced by band members Carl Newman and John Collins. Dan Bejar, currently of Destroyer, also contributed some songs and sings lead vocals on them, but is listed in the credits separately from the other members as "secret member," as he no longer tours with the band, and contributes on record only. Guitarist/keyboardist Todd Fancey, who played with fellow Pornographer Kurt Dahle as a member of the mid-90s grunge-pop band Limblifter, has recently taken Bejar's place on the road, and more recently, endured a mean initiation in order to become a permanent member of the band. Nora O'Connor (Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire) appears as a guest vocalist on the record as well. A new song from Electric Version, "The Laws Have Changed", is available now for download on MP3 via the Matador website.

And finally, as reported like three days ago, New Pornographers vocalist Neko Case has kicked off another tour in support of her solo album, Blacklisted. Here's them dates again:

02-07 St Louis, MO - Off Broadway *
02-08 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck *
02-10 Denver, CO - Gothic Theater *
02-12 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad *
02-14 Austin, TX - Mercury *
02-15 New Orleans, LA - Shim Sham Club *
02-17 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
02-18 Asheville, NC - Stella Blue *
02-19 Chattanooga, TN - The Attic *
02-20 Louisville, KY - Headliners *
02-21 Columbus, OH - Little Brothers *
02-22 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
03-29 Seattle, WA - Experience Music Project
03-30 Seattle, WA - Experience Music Project

* - w/Catherine Irwin, Carolyn Mark

.: Pitchfork Review: New Pornographers: Mass Romantic
.: Pitchfork News: Neko Case Plans 15-date US Tour
.: New Pornographers: http://www.matadorrecords.com/the_new_pornographers/

Kevin Keenan reports:
As previously reported many, many moons ago by Pitchfork, Godspeed You! Black Emperor have announced an extensive 29-date tour of the United States throughout March and April of 2003, in support of their recent release, Yanqui U.X.O.. But look, the tour starts in less than a month, and we were pretty sure you weren't thinking about it. Shit, you probably didn't even have '03 calendars when we last wrote about this. But you do now. And we know you wanna see Godspeed. Don't even front. But wait, is this simply blatant filler to cover for the fact that there's really no other Godspeed-related news to report? Are we gaining knowledge? Are we approaching salvation? Or are we perhaps going in circles-- we who thought to escape from the cycle? Tour dates:

03-02 Bennington, VT - Bennington College
03-03 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
03-04 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
03-05 Baltimore, MD - Scottish Rite Temple of Freemasonry
03-07 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
03-09 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
03-13 Austin, TX - Texas Union Ballroom @ Univ. Texas
03-14 Fort Worth, TX - Ridglea Theatre
03-17 Columbia, MO - Blue Note
03-19 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
03-20 Chicago, IL - The Abbey Pub
03-21 Chicago, IL - The Abbey Pub
03-22 Chicago, IL - The Abbey Pub
03-24 Newport, KY - Southgate House
03-25 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom & Tavern
03-26 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
03-27 Totonto, ON - Palais Royale
03-28 Totonto, ON - Palais Royale
03-31 Pittsburgh, PA Carnegie Mellon Univ.
04-01 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (w/Black Dice)
04-02 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (w/Black Dice)
04-03 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw (w/Jackie-O Motherfucker)
04-04 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw (w/Jackie-O Motherfucker)
04-05 Wheaton, MA - Cole Chapel (w/Jackie-O Motherfucker)
04-06 Boston, MA - The Roxy (w/Jackie-O Motherfucker)
04-07 Portland, ME - TBA (w/Jackie-O Motherfucker)
04-09 Halifax, NS - Saint Antonios Hall (w/Jackie-O Motherfucker)
04-10 Moncton, NB - Oxygen (w/Jackie-O Motherfucker)
04-11 Fredericton, NB - Bailey Auditorium (UNB) (w/Jackie-O Motherfucker)

.: Pitchfork Review: Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Yanqui U.X.O.
.: Godspeed You! Black Emperor: http://brainwashed.com/godspeed
.: Constellation: http://www.cstrecords.com

Steve Haag and Kevin Keenan report:
Drag City singer/dongwriter Bill Callahan, the man who dared to wrap parentheses around the word "Smog," has firmed up a handful of tour dates in preparation for the March 18th release of his new LP, Supper. A highly anticipated follow-up to November's leftovers compilation, Accumulation: None, the album will serve as his first offering of completely new material since 2001's not-actually-all-that-well-received Rain on Lens (sorry, Bill), and was produced by Callahan his damnself in August and September of 2002. Tracklist:

01 Feather by Feather
02 Butterflies Drowned in Wine
03 Morality
04 Ambition
05 Vessel in Vain
06 Truth Serum
07 Our Anniversary
08 Driving
09 A Guiding Light

Callahan is also making his way across the States on a long and winding tour (ba-bah) that-- provided you live in Milwaukee, Madison, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Philly, New York, Cambridge, Easthampton, Brooklyn, D.C., Baltimore, Chapel Hill, Atlanta, Knoxville, or Lawrence-- leads to your door. Go and see this man. Exchange your goods for his services. He shall kindly return the favor by staying up past his bedtime to entertain your sorry, drunk ass. Remaining tour dates:

02-28 San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Records (in-store, 6pm)
03-01 San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
03-15 Austin, TX - The Ritz (SXSW/Drag City showcase w/Neil Hagerty, Papa M, Suntanama, Azita)

Lest you think all Callahan does is tour and release records under his parenthetical moniker, Drag City assures us he is keeping busy by "working on his novel again, as well as some comedy sketches and other short pieces. Yeah, and he's filling canvas after canvas with his distinctive painting style as well. The motherfucker is a goddamn renaissance man!" Right, well, unless he can tune an Oldsmobile 442 to play fucking Brahms, we'll challenge that title all day long.

.: Pitchfork Review: (Smog): Accumulation: None
.: Pitchfork Review: (Smog): Rain On Lens
.: Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com

Rob Mackey reports:
Instrumental throwback-specialists Trans Am are preparing to embark on a short tour of California, which will begin in Santa Cruz on February 19th and end in San Francisco just a week later. Intermittently joining the band on the road will be Sean Tillman's R&B; incarnation Har Mar Superstar, psych-core wizards Oneida, and the highly mathematical Minus the Bear. As Pitchfork recently reported, before the beefy-cousin-to-the-Firebird namesakes head out to the left coast, the D.C. three-piece will be taking part in the University of Virginia's Indie Rock Extravaganza on February 8th. And while we're on the topic of festivals, it should be noted that the February 26th date has the band performing at this year's Noise Pop Music Fest. Tour dates:

02-08 Charlottesville, VA - University of Virginia
02-19 Santa Cruz, CA - Veteran's Hall (w/ Har Mar Superstar)
02-20 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour (w/ Har Mar Superstar)
02-21 San Diego, CA - Casbah (w/Har Mar Superstar, Oneida)
02-22 Pomona, CA - Glass House (w/Har Mar Superstar)
02-24 Sacramento, CA - Capitol Garage (w/ Har Mar Superstar)
02-25 Chico, CA - The Brick Works (w/ Minus the Bear)
02-26 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall - Noise Pop Fest (w/Minus the Bear)

.: Pitchfork Review: Trans Am: TA
.: Pitchfork News: Q and Not U, Trans Am to Play UVA Indie Rock Fest
.: Thrill Jockey: http://www.thrilljockey.com/