Dancing About Architecture 02.07.06
Posted by Ian Wright on 02.07.2006
A Smashing reunion, Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, Modest Marr, indie awards, summer festivals and a much loved Grandaddy passes away.
The bit at the start
So I joined a band back in July. It's fun. I've been playing guitar for nearly a decade now (not that you'd know by hearing me) and it's something that I'd wanted to do for 3 years or so. I really love being in it and if I'm to be honest the practices are usually the highlight of my week.
But it's not all great. Being in a band and learning how bands write songs for multiple instruments (as opposed to sitting in your living room and banging out a few chords on an acoustic guitar which I'd been doing for years) has taken away some of the magic and mystery in music for me. My uncle is an artist and last time he visited we had a chat about art as I had been to Amsterdam and visited the Van Gogh museum a few weeks previously. He told me that as he'd been to art school and it was his profession it was hard for him to appreciate art on a purely visceral level. He'd look at it and just see the technique the artist used. He's got all this knowledge but to some degree it's robbed him of the ability to see something and just go "WOW".
That certainly hasn't happened with me when it comes to music and I'm pretty sure that it never will, I still get an incredibly visceral buzz from certain pieces. "Slipping Husband" on this album by The National that I'm listening to right now for example, it ends with Matt Berringer singing the line "Dear we better get a drink in you before you start to bore us" over and over before he screams it at the top of his voice, it's completely thrilling to listen to.
But that's singing, that's all about passion, when it comes to instruments and sounds my outlook has been changed somewhat. I was listening to Waiting Room's "Catering For Headphones" today and the last song on it starts with this odd guitar line being played over and over again. Previously I would have just thought "Oh, that sounds really cool", today I thought "I bet they used a Line 6 DL4 there and recorded a loop then set it to play in reverse", I was completely unable to appreciate the beauty in it, just the mechanics.
That perturbed me somewhat. Music is my big "thing". Ever since I was a kid listening to my Dad's Springsteen albums, through my angsty teenage years, past my angsty early 20's and through to my current angsty mid-20's. And I have been fulfilled hugely and had my life enriched by the stuff I've been doing with the guys; I don't even think about "making it" it's the act of helping to create something that you find pleasing yourself that does it for me; but at the same time I just realised today that I've lost something too.
Brian should really reconsider putting his full contact details in his e-mail sig, some prank calls and unordered pizzas are in store for him one of these days when I'm bored and drunk.
Jared hates Trent, Trent unconcerned about Jared, here's sports.
Rumours have been circulating for the past few months that plans for a Smashing Pumpkins reunion were afoot. According to Billboard.com things have become a bit more concrete in the last few days and Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain have signed a new management deal as The Smashing Pumpkins and plan on recording the first new Pumpkins album in 6 years.
At this point other former members James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky have not signed up but Melissa Auf Der Maur, who replaced D'arcy after the bassist left the band, has not been approached either and told MTV, "The coolest thing would be if D'Arcy was around, but I don't know where she's at and I don't think [Corgan or Chamberlin] do either. But I feel very comfortable being second best...My services are there for [Corgan] whenever he needs them."
Presumably touring would follow any new album and the Pumpkins were a long rumoured headliner for this year's Coachella but that hasn't panned out. Lollapalooza will take place in the band's hometown of Chicago this August however and rumours have been flying about that they may make a triumphant (they hope) return there however according to MTV a source has scotched this rumour.
I'm kind of torn on this one, the Pumpkins were one of the greatest bands of the 90's but things were really going off the rails towards the end, do we really want a repeat of the whole "Machina" debacle. Anyway if you are fortunate enough to catch them live make sure you heckle Corgan with comments along the lines of "play some stuff off thefutureembrace" to see if he storms off stage like he did in Australia last year.
I have never heard of these awards.
The Plug Independent Music Awards were held in New York last weekend and the big winners were Sufjan Stevens and Bright Eyes who both scooped 3 and 2 awards respectively.
Stevens won best male and his last album Illinois won the album of the year and album art of the year awards (no difference seems to have been made between the Superman/no Superman covers), while Bright Eyes were/was named artist of the year and "When the President Talks To God" won song of the year (They're kidding right? That song is awful.) Other winners included Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (New Artist) NekoCase (Best Female) DangerDoom (best hip-hop Album), Sleater Kinney (best punk album), Arcade Fire (best live act) and Bloc Party (best indie-rock album). A full list of nominees and winners can be found here.
The special "why did we even bother showing up" award went to my beloved The National (I always include the "The") who were nominated for 6 awards only to go home empty handed.
I need a new favourite girl fronted three-piece, Sleater Kinney are auditioning for the job as I type, they're doing OK.
What was missing from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' sound? Most people would say bass (although I always thought that Nick Zinner made enough of a racket without it) however the band seems to disagree and have recruited ex-alaska!, New Folk Implosion and Lowercase (nope, never heard of them neither, ask Brian Berry) guitarist Imaad Wasif to join them on their upcoming mini tour.
Wasif will also be playing with the band on their April/May tour where they'll be promoting their second album Show Your Bones which "drops" at the end of March.
Hmm.
I like Modest Mouse, I don't love them but I think that when they get it right the results are stunning. So while I'm not itching to hear new material I'm pretty glad to hear that they're in the studio working on a follow up to 2004's Good News For People Who Love Bad News and according to the Onion A.V. Club Issac Brock is "really happy with it so far". And by the way Johnny Marr has been "been flying to Portland from Manchester to write songs" with Brock.
WHOA
Stop the presses.
Johnny Marr?
Yes, Johnny Marr.
The Johnny Marr?
Yes, the Johnny Marr.
The one from the Smiths?
Uh huh.
You know you're writing a conversation with yourself right?
Umm, yeah. Perhaps I should stop.
Anyway Johnny Marr, creator of the greatest guitar part in the history of music ("How Soon Is Now") is working with a band who I think are pretty good so that's cause for some minor celebration.
Festival Goodness.
There isn't going to be a Glastonbury this year to the award for world's best festival is up for grabs for 12 months or so. Two of the early contenders seem to be Coachella and Bonnaroo (heh heh Bonnar), taking place in the California desert and Tennessee respectively, and the initial list of bands playing each was announced last week.
Coachella will take place on the last weekend of April and features the following:
Saturday, April 29:
Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Ros, Common, Damian Marley, Atmosphere, Carl Cox, My Morning Jacket, Ladytron , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tosca, Cat Power, Animal Collective, Hard-Fi, Derrick Carter, Devendra Banhart, She Wants Revenge, The Walkmen, The Juan Maclean, Audio Bullys, Imogen Heap, Lady Sovereign, Deerhoof, The Duke Spirit, Editors, stellastarr*, Lyrics Born, Matt Costa, The New Amsterdams, The Zutons, Platinum Pied Pipers, White Rose Movement, Chris Liberator, Colette, Joey Beltram, Hybrid, Wolfmother, The Like, Living Things, Nine Black Alps, The Section Quartet, Infadels, Youth Group, Shy FX & T Power, Infusion
Sunday, April 30:
Tool, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, Paul Oakenfold, Scissor Sisters, Matisyahu, James Blunt, TV on the Radio, Sleater-Kinney , Mogwai, Coheed and Cambria, Gnarls Barkley, Coldcut, Phoenix, Digable Planets, Amadou & Mariam, Little Louie Vega, Mylo (DJ Set), Seu Jorge, Wolf Parade, The Go! Team, Kaskade, Metric, Art Brut, Dungen, The Dears, Jamie Lidell, The Magic Numbers, Los Amigos Invisibles, Jazzanova, Michael Mayer, Mates of State, Gilles Peterson, Gabriel & Dresden, The Subways, Minus the Bear, Be Your Own Pet, Giant Drag, Kristina Sky, The Octopus Project
Pretty impressive huh?
But Bonnaroo (once again, heh heh) has one card up its sleeve to trump anything Coachella has to offer, Radiohead are headlining!!!
That may be the first time I've ever used three exclamation in a row aside from referring to the band whose name is pronounced "Chick, Chick, Chick" but dammit it's worth doing now.
The festival begins on June 16th and in addiction to the head Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Ben Folds, My Morning Jacket, Cat Power, Amadou & Mariam, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Devendra Banhart, the Magic Numbers, Seu Jorge, Dungen, and Andrew Bird are also confirmed.
Tickets go on sale this Friday at 11:00 (eastern) from bonnaroo.com and capacity has been reduced by 10,000 this year so if you fancy sweating your ass off in the sticky south then by all means get booking soon.
That's a shame.
Grandaddy are to split after nearly 15 years together (during which they recorded one of the great chill out albums in 2000's The Sophtware Slump). Main man Jason Lytle told pitchfork recently that their forthcoming album Just Like The Fambly Cat will be their final release and they have no plans to tour the record.
"We've seen an erosion happening," Lytle said. "I use the word ‘erosion' in the most natural way I possibly can. It's not entirely such a bad thing. We have just, throughout the years, always looked at every album coming out as ‘Wow we've got another album, now what?' So that's still going on right now, it's just that it's a lot different. We're not jumping on that big rock n roll conveyor belt that happens when the album's done.
"Everybody has been set free to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue, whether it be amateur poker playing, or [becoming] veterinarians, or working in a hot dog stand."
Although Lytle will continue to make music he won't be using the band's name, "I think myself and the rest of the band hold that [name] pretty sacred," he said. "It definitely won't be this random assembly of crap shot players. There are plenty of people who are capable of standing up there and executing the songs. But it wouldn't be comfortable for anyone."
"For whoever gives a shit, they can rest assured that it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's no sadder than...I'm likening it to the natural crumbling of canyon walls. It can be sped up or done in by artificial forces. I just think we saw the opportunity to bring it to an end, to do it and still remain friends."
As to what is next in store for him Lytle has "All I'm working on now is regaining a pure appreciation for just playing music, just sitting and playing music. It seems to have been attached to and saddled by a lot of stuff. It's getting fun again.
"I don't intend on ever stopping. I've actually tried to stop a bunch of times, but it's not really possible. Sometimes I hate it so much, because it's something that fatigues me. I'm going to do something, but I have no idea what."
I'm sad to see them split and all, they were great at Glastonbury a few years ago but what the fuck is that guy talking about?
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab For Cutie
Bring a grenade launcher.
03-22 Portland, OR - Memorial Coliseum
03-23 Sacramento, CA - Memorial Hall at Sacramento Convention Center
03-24 Reno, NV - Reno Hilton Pavillion
03-27 Tucson, AZ - Centennial Hall at University of Arizona
03-29 Austin, TX - The Backyard
03-30 Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater
03-31 Grand Prairie, TX - Nokia Theatre
04-07 Durham, NC - Cameron Stadium at Duke University
04-08 Camden, NJ - Tweeter Center Indoors
04-09 Ithaca, NY - Barton Hall at Cornell University
04-11 Washington, DC - Constitution Hall
04-12 Boston, MA - Agannis Arena
04-13 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
04-14 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
04-15 Montreal, Quebec - Cepsum at University of Montreal
04-17 Toronto, Ontario - The Docks
04-18 Detroit, MI - State Theatre
04-19 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
04-20 St Paul, MN - Northrop Auditorum at University of Minnesota
04-23 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cummings Theatre
04-25 Edmonton, Alberta - Shaw Conference Centre
04-26 Calgary, Alberta - Stampede Corral
Dinosaur Jr.
02-26 Tokyo, Japan - Shibuya-AX
02-27 Tokyo, Japan - Shibuya-AX
03-01 Osaka, Japan - Namba Hatch
03-02 Nagoya, Japan - Diamond Hall
03-05 Perth, Australia - Club Capitol
03-07 Byron Bay, Australia - Great Northern
03-08 Brisbane, Australia - The Tivoli
03-09 Sydney, Australia - Annandale Hotel
03-10 Sydney, Australia - Metro Theatre
03-11 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner Hotel
03-12 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner Hotel
03-13 Auckland, New Zealand - Shadows
03-29 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room
03-30 Austin, TX - Stubb's Bar-B-Q
03-31 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
04-01 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
04-02 Tallahassee, FL - The Moon
04-03 Jacksonville, FL - Freebird
04-04 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
04-05 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
04-06 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
04-07 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
04-08 Atlanta, GA - The Variety Playhouse
04-09 Nashville, TN - City Hall
04-10 Memphis, TN - Young Avenue Deli
04-11 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
04-12 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
04-13 Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
04-14 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
04-16 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
04-18 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
04-19 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
04-20 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
04-21 Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
04-22 Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
05-19 East Sussex, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (All Tomorrow's Parties) *
Jenny Lewis
Brian Berry and I are in agreement that the solo album is garbage but if you go and she's terrible then hope that she wears a short skirt and you can be like these guys are a recent Favours gig in New York:
02-08 Birmingham, England - Glee Club *
02-09 London, England - Spitz *
02-11 Manchester, England - Academy 3 *
02-12 Glasgow, Scotland - Mono *
03-04 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club $%
03-06 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater %
03-07 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
03-08 Seattle, WA - Neumo's $%
03-10 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
03-11 Omaha, NE - Scottish Rites Hall
03-12 Minneapolis, MN - Woman's Club
03-13 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre
03-14 Chicago, IL - Park West
03-15 Grand Rapids, MI - Calvin College
03-16 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
03-17 Cambridge, MA - Somerville Theatre
03-18 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
03-20 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church Sanctuary
03-23 Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere
03-24 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
03-25 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
03-26 Nashville, TN - Belcourt Theatre
03-28 Austin, TX - The Parish
03-29 Dallas, TX - Horchow Auditorium at Dallas Museum of Art
04-01 Los Angeles, CA - Orpheum Theatre
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Tom Dunne's Pet Sounds on Today FM, Monday to Thursday, 19:00 – 22:00 GMT
The bit at the end
I saw Clap Your Hands Say Yeah live last Saturday, I thought they were spectacularly mediocre live. Big let down, but I've got Broken Social Scene on Saturday and hopes are very, very high.
Sorry I wasn't around last week, I had about 10 nights on in a row, needed a break.
