The Daily Swarm

UPDATE: Pitchfork to Launch Online Music TV Channel April 7:

So today, we’re proud to announce the April 7 beta launch of Pitchfork.tv, the first-ever music video channel dedicated to documenting independent music as it happens. As a visual extension of the music coverage Pitchfork has provided for more than a decade, and a means of updating and advancing the music television format, the online channel will bring you closer to the artists you love: through original mini-documentaries, secret rooftop and basement sessions, full concerts, exclusive interviews, and the most carefully curated selection of music videos online.

In addition, Pitchfork.tv will become the first online video channel to screen full-length feature films, vintage concerts, and music DVDs free of charge. From the Pixies’ 2004 reunion tour film LoudQuietLoud and Todd Phillips’ notorious GG Allin documentary Hated, to Jimmy Joe Roche & Dan Deacon’s acid-drenched visual art piece Ultimate Reality, Pitchfork.tv will highlight a different film each week in its entirety.

Yesterday’s Pitchfork “Forkcast” featured a Sigur Rós acoustic performance recorded by the site’s own video team, and streamed in an extra-large, self-hosted video player. Is this a sneak preview of the upcoming P-TV format?

Forkcast:

In early October, Sigur Rós played the French Institute in New York as part of the New Yorker Festival. The occasion was a screening of the Dean Deblois-directed band documentary/love-letter to Iceland Heima, which comes out on DVD tomorrow, and they warmed up the crowd by playing three songs in low-key acoustic mode. Pitchfork was on hand to film their set, and here’s the band’s performance of the film’s title track.