Dancing About Architecture 12.19.06
Posted by Ian Wright on 12.19.2006
More Arcade Fire news, Bonaroo, The Darkness (remember them), Chinese Democracy, and Tapes n’ Tapes robbed.
The bit at the start
Hello and welcome to the pre-Christmas edition of Dancing About Architecture. And this week I bring unto you glad tidings of great joy. For today I heard the good news and there was happiness in my heart…
The Wrens.
Wednesday February 15th, 2007
Whelan's, Dublin
Fuckin' A, about time too.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
Joanna Newsom – The Milk Eyed Mender
I still like this more than The Ys, early day.
You news, you lose
Leading with the same band 3 weeks out of the last 4. Ian with all this Arcade Fire news you are spoiling us.
Maybe it's a bit excessive but there's no Radiohead news to knock it off the top this week.
OK, some people were listening to Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1 last Thursday night and the hairy faced antipodean dropped a new song about 18 minutes into the show. That song was called ‘Intervention' and it's probably going to be on the next Arcade Fire record. You can listen to a really bad radio rip of the song here. But even with the bad recording it sounds pretty good, especially the pipe organ (that's right PIPE ORGAN, lord knows how they'll bring that on tour) intro, and I'm a sucker for delayed guitars.
Following up from what I wrote last week about who would be releasing the next record (which will be entitled Neon Bible, apparently it's not inspired by the John Kennedy Toole book of the same name) it now seems definite that the record will be out on Merge but outside North America it's still up in the air. There were reports last week that the band had signed to Mercury but that has been nixed since then. Apparently the record won't be coming out on Rough Trade, Mercury or any UK major; which rules out a lot of options for them.
As for a release date, it's looking more and more like it'll be March and certainly no sooner as the record still isn't completely finished (Thursday is what they're aiming for).
Also, check out neonbible.com and see if you can figure out what the hell is going on, because I can't.
On the subject of much anticipated albums...
… but perhaps anticipated for different reasons.
Guns N' Roses announced last week that they were cancelling 4 dates they had planned for next month. Well that's hardly surprising considering that they're not exactly known for not flaking out on gigs. Perhaps more surprising is that they've announced a (tentative) release date for Chinese Democracy.
No really, they have.
March 6th.
All this was announced in a (surprisingly articulate) letter posted by Axl Rose on the band's website which you can read in full below:
An open letter to our fans:
Guns N' Roses regrets to announce that the following concert tour dates have been canceled:
January 10: Sacramento
January 11: Bakersfield
January 13: Reno
January 16: San Diego
Because of the scheduling of these particular shows, valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album Chinese Democracy would have been lost. Rather than delay the album yet again, all involved have decided to remove these shows from GN'R's schedule. We hope our fans understand and we apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused. Tickets may be refunded at point of purchase.
To say the making of this album has been an unbearably long and incomprehensible journey would be an understatement. Overcoming the endless and seemingly insane amount of obstacles faced by all involved, notwithstanding the emotional challenges endured by everyone-- the fans, the band, our road crew and business team-- has at many times seemed like a bad dream in which one wakes up only to find that they are still in the nightmare. Unfortunately, this time it has been played out for over a decade in real life.
The true, ongoing, behind-the-scenes triumphs and casualties are much more complicated than any negative speculation that the media or otherwise has managed to hit upon. For much of the time, various legal issues have arisen, demanding that the best way to deal with these things publicly, quite frankly, was to keep our mouths shut in an attempt to ensure the best outcome-- especially one that wouldn't jeopardize the band or the album. It's easy for people to point out how others have handled similar situations or how they would have dealt with these issues themselves if they encountered them in their own lives. But again, without full knowledge of the various dynamics and circumstances involved, these types of comments or commentary are just uninformed, disassociated, generally useless-- and often hindering-- speculation.
When I agreed to do our recent North American tour, I did it with the understanding that my manager, Merck Mercuriadis, and I were in full agreement regarding our strategy and touring plans and, most important, that any and all things needed to release the album by Dec. 26 at the latest were in place. Unfortunately, it turned out that this was not the case, and I regret to say that the album will not be released by the end of the year. Although many things went extremely well and were very exciting, there were, in our opinion, unnecessary and avoidable complications on our tour having to do with the tour routing, scheduling and album and video plans that wreaked havoc on all involved. This was compounded by an overall sense of a lack of respect by management for the band and crew and each individual's particular expertise that has resulted, unfortunately, in the end of both Guns' and my managerial involvement with Merck Mercuriadis.
In regard to a release date for the album itself, certain minor-- and I do mean minor-- additions, as well as contract negotiations, need to be completed. Barring any unforeseen complications, these things have now been adequately scheduled. The band and I, along with our record company, feel that this record deserves the proper setup and promotion, not the '13 Tuesdays left' and 'It may just appear in your record store' approach offered by management. We believe this strategy may have been used as a tool by management to sell this latest tour to the various promoters, and if this was the case, this was obviously unfair to them. The stress of dealing with this situation has been considerable for everyone, including the band, but more important, in our opinion, it was something utterly insane to do to our fans. You have our apologies, and please know we have been laboring over this with management for the entire North American tour.
It takes approximately eight weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company. For whatever reasons, it appears that it may have been mistakenly inferred by management that this time period could be condensed to three weeks. With that being said, this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee, but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this album. Others have made up all the other dates for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalized and official, you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons, you also will be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date, and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience.
In the end, it's just an album, but it's one that I, the band, our record company and all involved believe and feel is a true Guns N' Roses album. Ultimately the public will decide, and regardless of the outcome, our hearts, lives and our passion has been put into this project every step of the way. If for no other reason, we feel those elements alone merit your consideration. We do hope you can hold on just a bit longer, and if not, please take a break and we'll be more than glad-- if you so choose-- to see you again later.
Once again, we offer our sincere apologies and our deepest thanks. Guns N' Roses also would like to thank all the fans who attended the 70 concerts in 21 countries for their support in 2006. All the best to each and every one of you over this holiday season, thank you and God bless.
Sincerely,
Axl Rose
So there you have it. Maybe the record will be out on March 6th, maybe it won't. At this stage Rose has been working on this record for over half my life and I'm not going to believe that it even exists until I get the opportunity to see it in a record shop and I walk past it and buy something I want to listen to.
Heh heh, bonar
Yes, it's a juvenile gag but I like it. It was announced last week that the 6th Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will take place in Manchester Tennessee between June 14 and 17 next year. There's no news on a lineup but it'll have to be pretty good to top last year's Radiohead headlined festival.
Speaking of huge festivals on farms Emily Eavis spoke about the lineup for next years Glastonbury last week denied that The Killers and Muse were being lined up to headline the event, which is probably for the best.
They even took their Tapes.
Losing gear is a pain in the ass. You know what's worse? Having it stolen.
That's what happened to Tapes n' Tapes in Australia over the weekend (insert joke about nations of convicts here). The band played a gig in Perth and then had their van broken into and amongst the items stolen were their passports, computers and guitars.
The band issued a statement saying, "If you are in Perth, and happen to see any of these items under suspicious circumstances, please let the police know or email us. Thanks for any help!"
I feel really sorry for the band. I love my guitar more than I love my unconceived, unborn and unwanted children; I'd murder the man who tried to steal it from me to death until he died from it.
The bottom of the barrel.
So what do you do when you're in a novelty cock-rock band who flukes a big hit with it's debut record, then flops with the follow up and then break up the band because in the meantime you've developed a massive coke habit (and certainly not because you were dropped, no certainly not that)?
Well if you're ex-darkness screecher Justin Hawkins you go on celebrity big brother. Following his recent spell in rehab Hawkins is high on Channel 4 in the UK's wishlist of contestants to humiliate themselves appear on the show.
I wonder how clean Hawkin's is. Seeing him jonesing for a toot while he's locked up like that could be some real car crash TV.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Jeff Tweedy
01-16 Memphis, TN - Germantown Performing Arts Center
01-17 Nashville, TN - James K. Polk Theater
01-19 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
01-20 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
01-21 Marfa, TX - Liberty Hall
01-23 Austin, TX - Hogg Auditorium at University of Texas
01-24 Austin, TX - Hogg Auditorium at University of Texas
01-26 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
01-27 Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
01-29 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
01-30 Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre
01-31 Charlottesville, VA - Paramount Theater
Nels Cline (Also from Wilco)
12-19 Los Angeles, CA - Mint #
12-20 Long Beach, CA - Di Piazza #
12-21 Los Angeles, CA - Echo (Sassas benefit show) ^
12-28 New York, NY - The Stone %
12-29 New York, NY - The Stone &
02-20 Bellingham, WA - Nightlight Lounge @
02-21 Seattle, WA - Triple Door @
02-22 Vancouver, British Columbia - Red Room @
02-24 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge @
02-26 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord @
02-27 Los Angeles, CA - Echo @
* with White Out
# with Banyan
^ with Polar Goldie Cats, Dinosaurs With Horns, Smegma, DJ Take, DJ KUTMAH, DJ Ras G, Frosty
% with Zeena Parkins Duo
& with Vinny Golia Quartet
@ with Glenn Kotche
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
The late great Daniel Johnston: Discovered covered – Various Artists
Arcade Fire - Intervention
The bit at the end
I spent the weekend learning how to use the pedal's I posted pictures of last week. That RC20XL may be the greatest invention the world has ever seen.
I don't anticipate there being much in the way of news this week but nonetheless I'll be back next week with the inevitable end of year lists.
