My turntable has been out of commission ever since I broke a very important wire with a very poorly placed footstep. As such, it was impossible for me to enjoy Pill Wonder’s LP Jungle/Surf that they were kind enough to mail me a few weeks ago. It sat on a stack near my desk until a trip to the store left my turntable in working order again. And man, what a fun record to have waiting for me.

MP3: Pill Wonder – Wishing Whale
It almost sounds like Pill Wonder are having too much fun with this for it to have been made in the Pitchfork/blog era. This sounds like music that would have been made back when you didn’t have to worry about what people were going to think on the internet, you could just do what you wanted. At times Jungle/Surf is kinda rough, but it’s always fun.

Pill Wonder on Myspace

Well, it almost didn’t happen, but I think we managed to put together a fine, fine lineup for this year’s “Eastbound & Found” SXSW day party. This year You Ain’t No Picasso teamed up with Sweet Leaf Tea, Car Toys, Chromewaves, Dos Lunas, Knuckle Rumbler, My Old Kentucky Blog, Ultra8201, Yours Truly and Ziegenbock to bring you a great time.

Eastbound & Found takes place Thursday March 18 from noon to 9pm at 1001 East Sixth St. It’s FREE, all ages and takes place in a really great space. And of course, the lineup is pretty good too.

Stage One
12:15-12:50 Ragen Fykes
1:10-1:45 Freelance Whales
2:05-2:40 Ume
3:00-3:35 Warpaint
3:55-4:30 Morning Benders
4:50-5:25 Here We Go Magic
5:45-6:20 Maluca
7:00- 8:00 GZA

Stage Two
12:30-1:05 Burnt Ones
1:25 – 2:00 Diamond Rings
2:20-2:55 Kid Sister
3:15-3:50 Slow Club
4:10-4:45 Danielson
5:05-5:40 Delorean
6:00 – 7:00 [TBA]*

Even though this was to be MGMT’s “no singles” album, it looks like we’re going to get a one-track preview of Congratulations today.

If you head over to WhoIsMGMT.com and enter your email, you can snag it right now.

Still no word on what’ll be the prize for their multi-city scavenger hunt, but this new track is a gift we can all enjoy.

Stereogum premiered this new video for White Hinterland’s song “Amsterdam” off her album Kairos (out today). It’s fairly odd, but is easily the best video about wolves and pickles I’ve ever seen.

So Cults are pretty much blowing up. Pitchfork really seems to want to make them a hit, having given them Best New Music and an interview just before and just after this past weekend. But I can’t poke too much fun at P4K’s obsession — I’ve likewise been bit by the bug. The tracks off their 7″ were pretty much all I wanted to listen to over the weekend and now that I’m in super sunny LA, it’s really only gotten worse.

MP3: Cults – Most Wanted
“Most Wanted” is just about neck-and-neck with “Go Outside” for my favorite Cults song. This one leans more toward a 50s/early-60s vibe that sounds not unlike if Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor produced the best song the Pipettes ever wrote.

Cults’ bandcamp site

Thanks to the Audio Perv for getting this video online so quickly. Here’s Ted Leo and the Pharmacists ripping through “the Mighty Sparrow” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It’s off his great new record The Brutalist Bricks, which is in stores today. Fingers crossed for a Pitchfork appearance!

When I asked Ben from MGMT what the best thing that the band had been able to do with their major label’s funding, how were either of us ever to know that pool would one day include a multi-city scavenger hunt in support of their sophomore record?

MGMT fans in NYC, Philly, Boston, Austin (during SXSW, no less), SF and LA may want to check out WhereIsMGMT.com for information on this cryptic scavenger hunt.

This weekend marked my third time seeing the Magnetic Fields and my first time seeing them in support of their current record Realism. As always, their show was a great chance to relax and enjoy slightly more delicate versions of the classics (and rarities) you’ve enjoyed for years.

Claudia Gonson informed us early on that they had devised two set lists for this tour in order to keep themselves from getting bored. That night we would be getting “set B.” I didn’t know if that meant we’d be getting fewer of ‘the hits’ than the other set, but I correctly assumed it meant we’d be getting a fair amount of rarities. For instance, the show opened up with the 6ths’ track “Lindy-Lou,” pretty much setting the tone for the setlist. And though I don’t think we got anything off Showtunes or the Eban and Charley soundtrack like we did in San Francisco two years ago, they did a fair bit of dusting off of old tracks for us and it was appreciated.

In fact, I’d say the set list and performance was just about perfect for me. I’d already seen them do most of my favorite songs (except for “Luckiest Guy…”) and the inclusion of “Fear of Trains,” “100,000 Fireflies” and “All the Umbrellas in London” pretty much scratched the rest off my favorites list. Sure, there are still a few dozen more songs I hope to see them play before I die (top of the list: “Born on a Train”), but for having such an expansive back catalogue, they’ve done more than should be expected to appease myself and other fans.

And as my friend who went to the show pointed out, that might have been one of the most heartwarming things about the Magnetic Fields’ show: fan reaction. Nearly every song was met with someone in the audience letting out an audible gasp or small cry of elation. Even if you didn’t know or particularly care for a song, it was good to know that someone was getting great joy out of it.

Finally I have to confess that the songs on Realism did sound a lot better live than I gave them credit for on record. Maybe it’s because the intimate performance left me able to focus more on the lyrics, or perhaps I was just so enraptured by the show that they seemed better. Who knows. The point is that, though I would have usually preferred something off another album, the Realism songs weren’t half bad. The real bummer was that Distortion was completely bumped from the set list with the exception of “the Nun’s Litany.” A shame, since that album has only grown on me since its release. Maybe Realism will do the same.

More photos after the break.

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