Welcome to the latest edition of Pitchfork's Guest List. Each week, we ask one of our favorite artists to fill us in on what they've been up to lately: which tracks they can't stop spinning, what books they can't put down, and what new bands they've caught on tour. This week it's Tom and Gareth Campesinos!, of Los Campesinos!, who reveal themselves to be major Xiu Xiu fanboys, learn some netiquette from a popular indie flick, and have given up entirely on the radio.
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Tom Campesinos!: I can't remember when anything's released, but the opening track on Menomena's last album [ * Friend and Foe * ], "Muscle 'n' Flo" got me into them. The drumming on that track, and throughout the whole album, is so good. I'm desperate to see them live, but I haven't had the chance yet, but my brother tells me they're excellent. They were nice enough to let me wear their t-shirt in our last video, too.
We played with Germans at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto this summer, and we traded CDs after the show. They sound like Pavement fans making pop songs, so it was inevitable that I'd like them, and the album has so many good songs on it, but the climax to the opener "Tiger Vacuum Bottle" is perfect.
Gareth Campesinos!: I guess one of the most obvious ones for me would have to be something off the latest M.I.A. record [ * Kala * ], probably "Paper Planes". Other than that, the last track on the new Xiu Xiu Larsen album, "The Tale of Brother Cakes and Sugar Dust", sees a rare lead vocal for Caralee. Four or so minutes of instrumental noise before the song really kicks in, and Caralee's delivery sounds like she's run for miles to deliver this most desperate news. This is my favorite song to listen to whilst walking in the dark; it makes me feel invincible. And everything off Mika Miko's * 666 * EP.
__ >> Favorite Older Songs at the Moment __
TC: Gareth got me into Life Without Buildings when we first met, and everyone I've played their album to since has loved it. With their live album that came out recently, I've been listening to them again lots, particularly "Philip", but that album as a whole is pretty much flawless
New Order's "Ceremony" is a track I often go back to. I think it's made up of only two chords and just offers lots of variations on the same guitar riff, ultimately, but it's brilliant. It's always reassuring to hear how good such a simple song can be. And hearing it on the advert for Sofia Coppola's * Marie Antoinette * was nearly enough to make me go see that film, too. But not quite.
GC: "Watchmaker" by Excuse 17. I'm a sucker for screams.
"Birds" by Electrelane. If I ever don't know what I want to listen to, it's often this. A really beautiful song that makes my heart swell every time I listen to it. And the live version on the more recent Bits and Bobs release is equally as effective.
"Love Connection" by Parenthetical Girls. Some things are best left unsaid.
__ >> Favorite New Band __
TC: We've been touring with a band from Leeds called Sky Larkin who we've been friends with for a little while, and being able to see them live every night before we go on has been a bit of a treat. They're a three-piece and are really talented; you should definitely have a little listen to them.
GC: Johnny Foreigner from Birmingham. Simply amazing. Sonically, my Huggy Bear for the 21st century.
__ >> Favorite Song Ever __
TC: Inevitably, mine's a Pavement song, probably "Gold Soundz". I think it's my idea of the perfect pop song. It has this combination of euphoria and melancholy that Pavement seemed to do so well, and the line, "So drunk, in the August sun/ And you're the kind of girl I like/ Because you're empty, and I'm empty," always gives me goosebumps.
GC: Either "In Accordance to Natural Law" by Bikini Kill-- in 28 seconds it says more than most bands do in an entire discography-- or "Come Out 2Nite" by Kenickie.
__ >> Best Recent Concert __
TC: Being a late riser, I missed Matt & Kim's first performance at Lollapalooza, but then because CSS canceled, they were called in to replace them in the afternoon. They were awesome, so much energy. One of those bands it's hard to watch without grinning like an idiot.
GC: Earlier this year I got to see BARR play to about 30 people in a really grotty metal venue in Bristol. His performance was outstanding, and meeting him confirmed to me that he's surely one of the nicest and most handsome men alive. More recently, we all saw Picastro play in a church in Toronto, with Owen Pallett on violin. The setting, our mood and the music was suited perfectly.
__ >> Last Great Film I Saw __
TC: On the flight to Canada this summer I was driven to watching a DVD on my laptop, because the films being shown were so bad. Anyway, I'd picked up * Me and You and Everyone We Know * for a fiver before we left, and it was great. I picked up some handy tips for online chatroom etiquette. And it was definitely better than Transac's choice of film about a fire-fighting dog. Yes, a fire-fighting dog.
GC: I don't really like films.
__ >> Last Great Book I Read __
TC: Jonathan Safran Foer's * Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close * has been my favorite book of the past few years. I ended up writing my dissertation on it, and even when I was just scanning through it for quotations to use I found myself in big, girly tears. It's the only book that's ever made me cry, and never fails for some reason.
GC: There's an amazing comic book series written by a guy called Kieron Gillen, and illustrated by his pal Jamie McKelvie, called "Phonogram". The six-issue story has recently been compiled as a book, and it's based around the protagonist David Kohl's Britpop demons. The end of each issue has a glossary, explaining the more obscure of the issue's references, and includes a short essay with discussion on an element of Britpop. It's so, so good (and talks about Kenickie a fair bit).
__ >> Favorite Piece of Musical Equipment __
TC: Dave Newfeld introduced me to this great analog multi-fx box that can create such a bizarre array of sounds. But the last time he recommended some gear on the internet, he found the prices went up, so until I've bought one I don't really want to say the exact model yet.... Although if I recommend it, perhaps the prices will go down....
GC: That thing Tom's talking about sounds pretty neat. I know nothing, so I'll go with that, too.
__ >> Favorite Record Store __
TC: I think we all really liked Toronto's __ Rotate This __ . They're so good for vinyl, and the staff were genuinely helpful and really friendly. I found the origami fold-out of Menomena's "I am the Fun Blame Monster" 12" there, much to my delight.
GC: Yeah, I have to concur. I got a live Xiu Xiu record that I hadn't seen before from here, and while we were there they played the opening track of the new Donnas record, which is amazing and sounds like Metallica, and caused me to buy it... and I never listen further than that first track.
__ >> Best Purchase of the Past Year __
TC: Probably my MacBook. It's been vital over the past few months we've been away, and it has been kind of liberating to have everything I need stored on one portable computer. Being able to mess around with tracks on Cubase while on the train or bus has been really handy, too.
GC: About six more Xiu Xiu tees... or probably my Nintendo DS.
__ >> Best Thing I Did This Year __
TC: Finishing my degree was satisfying and meant that I could get on with this band lark full-time.
GC: I finished a degree, too, but I didn't care for it that much. I leapfrogged a six-foot man as he stood up completely straight; I preferred that to my degree.
__ >> Best Music Venue __
GC: I like the Thekla in Bristol a lot. It's a gig on a boat that you have to walk the plank to get onto. And it has a balcony and the girls like it because it serves pear cider.
__ >> Favorite TV Show at the Moment __
GC: The saddest thing about being on tour (okay, along with missing family, the only sad thing) is that I don't get to watch any television. I was formerly the TV Editor at my university newspaper, so I'm sure you can see how hard this has hit me.
__ >> Favorite Video Game at the Moment __
TC: It's been a while since I let myself become addicted again, because managing Brazil and maintaining Tottenham's three-year unbeaten run in the Champion's League at the same time had become quite stressful. But "Football Manager" is the only game I've let myself get completely absorbed in since the glory days of "Final Fantasy 7".
GC: High five for "Football Manager", for life. Other than that, "Mario Kart" for the DS is great. Our tour manager Todge also has a DS, so we have many heated two-player duels on boring bus journeys. We immediately regress to the age of 10 when playing.
__ >> Favorite Radio Show __
TC: Sadly, it's been far too long since I listened to the radio to have a favorite program.
GC: Yeah, what he said. I'm far too "alt" to listen to the radio.
__ >> My Ringtone __
TC: I lost my phone in Canada :-( but I have an aversion to ringtones; it was only ever on vibrate.
GC: Discreet, always. I couldn't bear drawing attention to myself with some awful, loud polyphonic thing. Plus, I like the feel of the vibrate.
