Subinev and Insound have teamed up to give you a shot at scoring a vinyl copy of Manners, as well as an exclusive lithograph poster (which is super sexy, if you ask me). Just head over to the contest page to enter. The winner will be announced here on May 6.

Too impatient to wait and see if you win the contest? Maybe you should just go pre-order the album now. It’ll be available in digital, cd, and vinyl formats.

Passion Pit US tour dates and ticket links after the jump!

May 23 The Gorge/ Sasquatch! Festival Quincy, Washington
May 24 Wonder Ballroom Portland, Oregon [get tickets]
May 26 365 Club San Francisco, California [get tickets]
May 28 The Troubadour West Hollywood, California [get tickets]
May 29 Echoplex Los Angeles, California [get tickets]
May 30 The Glass House Pomona, California [get tickets]
Jun 2 Granada Theatre Dallas, Texas
Jun 3 Emo’s Austin, Texas [get tickets]
Jun 4 Warehouse Live Houston, Texas
Jun 5 Spanish Moon Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jun 6 The Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, Georgia
Jun 8 The National Richmond, Virginia [get tickets]
Jun 9 The Black Cat Washington DC, Washington DC [get tickets]
Jun 11 Bonnaroo Manchester, Tennessee
Jun 13 Mad Hatter Covington, Kentucky
Jun 14 Empty Bottle (Sold Out) Chicago, Illinois [Call 773-276-3600 for info]
Jun 16 Lee’s Palace Toronto, Ontario, Ontario
Jun 17 Mohawk Place Buffalo, New York
Jun 18 Paradise Rock Club Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 19 Bowery Ballroom (sold out) New York, New York [get tickets]
Jun 20 Bowery Ballroom (sold out) New York, New York [get tickets]

Keep up with the band on Myspace and their blog, Pits And Lands.

Dup Crosson lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he records and performs under the moniker of Saint Solitude. My first encounter with Crosson was some time last year, when he was here in Portland (where he’s from originally) playing a show with Lady Lamb The Beekeeper. It seems that every few months he manages to make the trek up the coast to play shows and reunite with friends in the northeast. This time around, there’s a bit more fanfare around the trip, as he’s just released a video for the song “Flocking Disaster” (watch it below) in which he encounters a TARDIS! Clearly he’s just preparing it for the tour.

Also of recent news for Saint Solitude is a split EP entitled He Is Contrary to Him, with another one-man-band, Charles Martel, due out this month. The album will feature 3 tracks from each artist, as well as one collaborative piece.

Formerly the leader of Asheville-based trio The Cardinal Heart, Dup has kept some of those songs as he’s developed a robust sound based on live guitar and keyboard loops that can be reminiscent of Radiohead at times. He just completed work on the debut Saint Solitude full length, due out later this year.

NYC take note – he’ll be at Pianos next Friday, April 24th.

Video and tour dates (which start today in Johnson City, TN) after the jump!

Note that there are a few TBA dates in there where he is still looking for shows to fill in.

Apr 16 THE HIDEAWAY w/ Due Panic and Building Shadows Johnson City, Tennessee
Apr 17 ROOT BAR w/ Gavin Hart (his final Asheville performance!) Asheville, North Carolina
Apr 22 THE CAVE w/ The White Cascade Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Apr 23 TBA – help! Baltimore, Maryland
Apr 24 PIANOS w/ Mattison, Equestrian NYC, New York
Apr 25 PA’s LOUNGE w/ Faces on Film, Wesley Jeremiah Somerville, Massachusetts
Apr 26 THE ELEVENS w/ Trials & Tribulations, Dame Satan, Sore Eros, and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper Northampton, Massachusetts
Apr 28 SLAINTE Portland, Maine
May 1 RADIO BEAN w/ Villanelles and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper!! Burlington, Vermont
May 2 COUSIN LARRY’S w/ The Spanish Channel and Mystic Underground Danbury, Connecticut
May 3 TBA – help! Ithaca, New York
May 4 GARFIELD ARTWORKS w/ Lo Fi Lion, Vindell Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
May 5 SPEAKERTREE RECORDS Lynchburg, Virginia
May 7 THE ROCKET CLUB w/ Bowerbirds and La Strada Asheville, North Carolina
Jun 5 MODADDY’S Asheville, North Carolina
Jun 12 NIGHTLIGHT w/ Dark Meat Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Jun 14 SNUG HARBOR w/ King Tut Charlotte, North Carolina
Jun 25 THE BOILER ROOM w/ Night’s Bright Colors & Gray Young! Asheville, North Carolina

Our masters at eXtra Large Recordings have decided that the audiotory elements of Titus Andronicus are not doing the job as far as moving units is concerned, and so we must enter the visual world in the form of a music video for our forthcoming UK single, “Upon Viewing Brueghel’s ‘Landscape and the Fall of Icarus.’”

Since the men of Titus Andronicus are all ugly bastards, we humbly request yr presence at Silent Barn on this coming Monday (this is where we are going to make the video), so that you, in all yr beauty, can dance and throw confetti and pretend that Titus Andronicus are actually playing music instead of just pretending. In this way, perhaps we can manipulate the record-buying public into allowing us to seperate them from their hard-earned money, the fools.

The prancing around will begin at around 4:30 PM and continue long into the evening. If any of you still have jobs for some reason, or some other obligation to see to, it will be perfectly fine in you want to come at a time after 4:30 PM. Nobody will think ill of you. We just desire yr presence in whatever way it may manifest itself.

We ask with the utmost humility that you come equipped with either a white or black t-shirt and pants.
No print on them please – a shirt turned inside out would be okay!

Also, please feel free to invite all yr friends so that we can create the illusion that everyone loves us.

This is all happening at Silent Barn, which can be reached by taking the L Train to Halsey, or by taking the M to Myrtle/Wyckoff. Here is Silent Barn on Google Maps.

Okay, that’s all. Please come, or our self esteem will suffer irreparable damage.

Try having that on yr conscience!”

Sounds like fun! Of course, the boys are on tour. Read on after the jump for dates with Lucero and Ted Leo (separately)!

Apr 9 Off Broadway St. Louis, Missouri * [get tickets]
Apr 10 Metro Chicago, Illinois *
Apr 11 The Majestic Theatre Detroit, Michigan *
Apr 12 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Ontario *
Apr 14 Mohawk Place Buffalo, New York *
Apr 15 Pearl Street Downstairs Northampton, Massachusetts *
Apr 16 The Paradise Boston, Massachusetts *
Apr 17 We are not playing at the First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ???? [get tickets?]
Apr 18 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York *
Apr 19 Black Cat Washington, Washington DC *
Apr 21 Outback Lodge Charlottesville, Virginia *
Apr 22 123 Pleasant Street Morgantown, West Virginia *
Apr 23 Southgate House Newport, Kentucky * [get tickets]
Apr 24 Radio Radio Indianapolis, Indiana * [get tickets]
Apr 25 Headliners Louisville, Kentucky * [get tickets]
Jun 8 Ottobar Baltimore %
Jun 9 Canal Club Richmond, Virginia %
Jun 10 Neighborhood Theatre Charlotte, North Carolina %
Jun 11 40 Watt Club Athens, Georgia %
Jun 12 Bottle tree Birmingham, Alabama %
Jun 15 Southgate House Newport, Kentucky %
Jun 16 Diesel Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania % [get tickets]
Jun 19 Toads Place New Haven, Connecticut %
Jun 20 AS220 Providence, Rhode Island %

* w/Lucero
% w/Ted Leo and The Pharmacists

‘Sup Mag recently did a pretty extensive interview with the band, check it out here. I also highly recommend viewing The Black Lips in India debacle.

US tour dates after the jump.

Mar 30 @ The Social Orlando, Florida
Apr 15 @ The Detroit Bar Costa Mesa, California
Apr 16 @ The Casbah San Diego, California
Apr 17 @ The Clubhouse Tempe, Arizona [get tickets]
Apr 18 @ Plush Tuscon, Arizona [get tickets]
Apr 20 @ The Black Sheep Colorado Springs, Colorado [get tickets]
Apr 21 @ Bluebird Theater Denver, Colorado
Apr 22 @ Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, Utah
Apr 23 @ Neurolux Boise, Idaho [get tickets]
Apr 24 @ Berbati’s Pan Portland, Oregon [get tickets]
Apr 25 @ Neumos Seattle, Washington
Apr 27 @ WOW Hall Eugene, Oregon [get tickets]
Apr 28 @ The Blue Lamp Sacramento, California
Apr 29 @ The Blue Lagoon Santa Cruz, California
Apr 30 @ Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California
May 1 @ El Rey Theater Los Angeles, California [get tickets]
May 2 @ Glasshouse Pomona, California [get tickets]

MP3: The Black Lips – “I’ll Be Witih You”

The Black Lips are on Myspace.

O’Death / Laundromatinee / Pendleton, Indiana

O’Death – Home from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Hotpipes / Lake Fever Sessions / Nashville, Tennessee

The Hotpipes “Future Bolt” from Lake Fever Sessions on Vimeo.

The National / Pitchfork / New York, NY

Samuel James / [dog]and[pony] / Portland, Maine

[dog]and[pony] presents Sam James from Nick Poulin on Vimeo.

Sigur Ros / La Blogotheque / Paris, France

Sigur Ros – Við spilum endalaust – A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

From a post on Comic Impact, check out this video overview of all of the various Batman logos through the years.

The range of designs based on one seemingly very straightforward concept is really remarkable.

This reminds me, in less than two months the Maine Comic Arts Festival hits Portland! I’ll be there with full coverage of the event for HillyTown.

You can also check out a unique split-screen version showing the final video and some behind-the-scenes footage of it here.

Fantasies will be available digitally on iTunes March 31 and in US stores on April 14. You could always pre-order it (in any of a number of special editions and variations).

The Thermals @ Red 7 from Patrick Duffy on Vimeo.

Check out the rest of Pat’s SXSW videos here.