Dancing About Architecture 6.16.09
Posted by Ian Wright on 06.16.2009
I always end these blurbs with “and more”, you know what, this week I’m starting with it. And more, Sonic Youth Guitars, Pixies and Warp boxsets, Jesus Lizard reissues and … damnit.
The bit at the start
Hello. It is a sad day in the Wright household. I'm feeling sick so decided to take a half day from work. At least there's an upside to that insofar as that I get a half day from work but more horrifically of all this morning I trod on the coat pocket that my Zen was in … twice. The screen has been destroyed rendering the device "fucked" which I believe is a technical term. Truly that persiankiwi guy who has been tweeting about all the disturbances in Tehran post election (by the way anyone with an interest in it should be following him) doesn't have a damn clue about what it's like to have first world problems.
The upshot of this is that I'll be listening to a lot more music at my computer until I get my MP3 player replaced, or I'll listen to real records, but when I'm doing the former I can take solace in the fact that New Jersey's WFMU were at the Primavera Sound festival and are streaming many of the sets played there from this web page. Really looking forward to hearing the Jesus Lizard and Deerhunter sets again.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
So Cow – So Cow
Good review on Pitchfork today for excellent best of comp.
You news, you lose
The dumbest signature guitars ever produced?
Behold!!!
It's the brand new Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore signature Jazzmasters from Fender. I will concede that they look very nice but considering that the special thing about their guitars is how heavily they've personally modded them over the years to buy one off of the rack seems to go against the spirit of the thing. Just buy your own Jazzmaster and fuck up the electronics yourself. Anyway here's the blurb ...
Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore signature model Fender Jazzmaster guitars will be available in stores July 1. The guitars reflect decades of road-tested customization knowledge. According to the Fender site: "Lee and Thurston have always heavily modified their Jazzmaster guitars- removing all extraneous controls- simplifying and stripping them back to their essence, leaving just a 3 way switch and a volume knob. In many ways these 2 instruments are similar, yet in almost every major way (pickups, bridges, frets, pickguard) they are totally different." More info.
Pixies boxset.
Minotaur is its name and being huge is its game. This collection of Pixies' studio recordings and videos plus a live DVD, new artwork and a book will, if you buy the super deluxe limited edition (which will cost you a whopping $495), weigh in at a whopping 25 lbs and will stand two feet tall. The standard deluxe edition has a slightly less "what the hell are you thinking, we're in a recession" type pricetag ($175).
As to what's actually in the collections, well both Minotaur sets come with the following …
* Come on Pilgrim (1987), Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova (1990), and Trompe le Monde (1991) on 24k gold-plated CDs, mastered for 5.1 surround sound
* Come on Pilgrim (1987), Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova (1990), and Trompe le Monde (1991) on DVD/Blu-Ray discs, mastered for 5.1 surround sound
* DVD/Blu-Ray of a previously unreleased 1991 performance at Brixton Academy in London
* DVD/Blu-Ray of every Pixies video
* 54-page art book
But if you can scramble together the extra scratch for the limited edition version (of which only 3,000 will be made and all will be signed by all 4 band members plus set designer Vaughan Oliver) you'll also get …
* Come on Pilgrim (1987), Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova (1990), and Trompe le Monde (1991) on 180-gram virgin 12" vinyl, cut from the original analog tapes
* Faux fur hardcover 96-page art book
* Two 48" X 36", double-sided, fold-out, four-color wall posters
* A 22" X 14" Giclée print of brand new Larbalestier photo
You can pre order a copy of either the deluxe or limited editions here.
Also, if you're so inclined here's a making of video.
Can labels be seminal or is that just albums?
I can never tell what's appropriate when it comes to that word. Anyway if it can be applied to labels then one label that it certainly should be applied to is Warp, who are 20 this year.
Warp have historically been best known as home to experimental electronic acts like Aphex Twin and Autechre but in recent years they have branched out somewhat and began putting things out by the likes of Grizzly Bear and to celebrate their 20th anniversary they're releasing a boxset imaginatively titled Warp20. A very attractive looking package …
that includes 5 CD's, 5 10" records and a 12 page book. The exact tracklisting hasn't been announced yet but the set will include the following …
- The Warp20 (Chosen) double CD, a compilation of tracks from the label's history, with 10 songs chosen by fans' votes via the Warp website and 10 songs chosen by Warp co-founder Steve Beckett. You can view the fans picks here.
- The Warp20 (Recreated) double CD, a compilation of Warp artists covering other Warp artists. Autechre, Jamie Liddell, Maximo Park, Harmonic 313, Clark, Seefeel, Luke Vibert, and Plaid have all contributed songs to this.
- The Warp20 (Elemental) CD, a specially commissioned an hour-long piece from "Intro-Inspection" mash-up artist Osymyso, which exclusively uses Warp samples.
- The Warp20 (Unheard) triple 10". Possibly the most enticing part of the boxset which collects rare and unreleased tracks from the likes of Boards of Canada, Broadcast, Autechre and Elektroids.
-- The Warp20 (Infinite) double 10", a collection of locked-groove loops from Warp tracks.
-- Warp20 (1989-2009): The Complete Catalog, a 192-page book of cover artwork from every Warp release up until August 2009.
I'm saying now, I much prefer Pixies but I'm far more likely to buy Warp20 than Minotaur, that's a truly fantastic collection right there.
When I say Jesus you say lizard, JESUS ...
The Jesus Lizard are set to re-release their first 4 albums on September 22nd (and seriously, if you haven't heard at the very least Goat and Liar then there's something seriously wrong) via Touch and Go on CD and Vinyl. Bob Weston and Steve Albini worked together on the remasters of the records, the packages will also come with bonus tracks and extended liner notes. All the reissues will be available on CD, vinyl and MP3. The CD version of debut album Head will come with a copy of the band's first release, the Pure EP though that will also be available separately on vinyl. As well as that all the vinyl version will come with download codes.
Tracklistings:
Head:
01 One Evening
02 S.D.B.J.
03 My Own Urine
04 If You Had Lips
05 7 vs. 8
06 Pastoral
07 Waxeater
08 Good Thing
09 Tight 'N Shiny
10 Killer McHann
11 Chrome *
12 Killer McHann (live) *
Pure EP (included with Head CD):
01 Blockbuster
02 Bloody Mary
03 Rabid Pigs
04 Starlet
05 Happy Bunny Goes Fluff-Fluff Along
06 Bloody Mary (live) *
Goat:
01 Then Comes Dudley
02 Mouth Breather
03 Nub
04 Seasick
05 Monkey Trick
06 Karpis
07 South Mouth
08 Lady Shoes
09 Rodeo in Joliet
10 Sunday You Need Love *
11 Pop Song *
12 Seasick (live) *
13 Lady Shoes (live) *
14 Monkey Trick (live) *
01 Fly on the Wall
02 Mistletoe
03 Countless Backs of Sad Losers
04 Queen for a Day
05 The Associate
06 Destroy Before Reading
07 Low Rider
08 50 ¢
09 Ammerican BB
10 Horse
11 Din
12 Elegy
13 The Best Parts
14 White Hole *
15 Glamorous *
16 Deaf as a Bat *
17 Panic in Cicero *
* bonus track
The YouTube video of the week
Get ready to go "awwwww".
If you can you should go to these gigs.
The Jesus Lizard
07-14 Nashville, TN - Exit/In
07-17 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07-24 Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party
08-21 Kiewit, Belgium - Pukkelpop Festival
09-11 Monticello, NY - ATP New York Festival
10-14 San Diego, CA - Casbah
10-15 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theater
10-17 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
10-22 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
10-24 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
11-07 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Festival
Sunn 0)))
07.02.09 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
07.05.09 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
07.06.09 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium/Underground
07.07.09 - Kansas City, MO - The Riot Room
07.08.09 - St. Louis, MO - The Firebird
07.10.09 - Dekalb, IL - House Cafe
07.11.09 - Pontiac, MI - Eagle Theater
07.12.09 - Newport, KY - Southgate House
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
The Warlocks – The Mirror Explodes
The bit at the end
If you're a Sigur Ros fan then you should go here.
