Dancing About Architecture 02.06.07

Posted by Ian Wright on 02.06.2007

Frog Eyes, The end of the war of the Apples, Arcade Fire live, Neon Bible thoughts, new Arctic Monkeys album, Nick Drake, and Razorlight at War

The bit at the start

Right, I know it's coming, you know it's coming (if you read last weeks column). So let's get too it.

Arcade Fire in London on Friday. Very, very good. Not great though, but that's all relative I suppose. The first time I saw them I was ready to jack in my whole life and run away to join a band. Pretty much everyone else seemed to like it though and for once I'm not going to dismiss their thoughts as the opinions of cloth-eared buffoons. The finish of the gig was astonishingly cool though. The band picked up a load of acoustic instruments and walked off to the side of the stage and walked out into the centre of the crowd and performed "Wake Up" with Win Butler singing through a megaphone whilst playing a mandolin.

The set mainly consisted of song from the upcoming Neon Bible (which I'll get to in a minute) and they only played 4 songs off of Funeral which I guess is understandable as they need to roadtest the new material and make sure they've figured out how to play it live.

Chris Martin was at the gig apparently, no one stabbed him in the face.

As for the album itself (if it actually took you a minute to get from "which I'll get to in a minute" to here then I hope you enjoy yourself when you begin big school in a few years), it leaked last Friday week. I've got it, I've listened to it a lot … I like it.

This is not Funeral: Part 2 we're talking about here, the only thing which matches the energy of "Power Out" or "Rebellion" is the rerecorded version of "No Cars Go", which appeared on the band's original self-titled EP and now sounds fucking magnificent. It's a far more low-key and considered album and the songs have a lot more space around them then on the last record which is to be expected as Funeral took two weeks to record and the band spent the best part of a year working on this one.

But is it any good? Well yes, it is as it happens, there's a massive Springsteen vibe going on in places but as a Boss fan I can only view that as a positive and the closing four songs are nothing short of phenomenal. I'm not sure if it'll widen their audience much though, there's not much poppy stuff on it.

Also I can also exclusively reveal that in an exclusive to 411Mania that multi-instrumentalist (and my buddy Dave lookalike) Richard Reed Parry exclusively said to me "Thanks," when I told him I enjoyed the gig. That's an exclusive folks.

Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible



You can't do the third thing for about a month.

I swear I won't mention Arcade Fire again this week.

You news, you lose

Apple <3's Apple.

Don't you hate it when gajillionaires fight over money? It seems rather undignified no?

Fortunately the war between Apple Inc. (i.e. The makers of pretty but shit MP3 players) and Apple Corps Ltd. (i.e. The Beatles) is over the name Apple (well duh) is over. The two companies agreed to share the name in 1991 so long as the computer manufacturer didn't enter the music business, then they started making their aforementioned pretty but shit MP3 players (pretty shit MP3 players?) and selling DRM infested music via iTunes. This made Paul McCartney angry apparently and he, Ringo and the ghosts of the other two sued Steve Jobs for the silhouette of Bono or something like that.

But now they've kissed and made up and in a statement today it was announced that both parties have reached a settlement which "gives Apple Inc. ownership of all the trademarks related to 'Apple.' In addition, Apple Inc. will license certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use." In other words the worlds richest musician just got richer, I wonder if Heather will be getting any of the cash.

Steve Jobs also said, "We love the Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks. It feels great to resolve this in a positive manner, and in a way that should remove the potential of further disagreements in the future."

Is it just me or does this strike anyone else as being similar to the whole Israel-Palestine thing? Israel assumed ownership of Palestine then ‘licensed' part of it back to the Palestinians for their continued use. How's that one working out?

Aww crap.

The Arctic Monkeys announced details of their upcoming second album last week. It's called Favourite Worst Nightmare and will be out in the UK on April 23rd with a US release coming the following day on Domino. A week earlier the lead single "Brianstorm" (sic) will be released.

There's a number of summer gigs in store for the Monkeys as well with appearances at Coachella, Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Glastonbury and a couple of big gigs in Lancashire County Cricket Ground all lined up.

Tracklisting:

01 Brianstorm
02 Teddy Picker
03 D Is for Dangerous
04 Balaclava
05 Fluorescent Adolescent
06 Only Ones Who Know
07 Do Me a Favour
08 This House Is a Circus
09 If You Were There, Beware
10 The Bad Thing
11 Old Yellow Bricks
12 505

Frog's Eyes are kinda funny looking. Funny looking how?

Frog Eyes are difficult to listen to at times. I mean seriously, some of their stuff goes beyond challenging and into "what's this shit?" territory. Then some of it is really good, frustrating fella that Carey Mercer.

Anyway, they've announced details of their upcoming 4th album. It's called Tears of the Valedictorian and will be out on Absolutely Kosher in the US on April 1st and in Canada on Scratch the same day.

Tracklisting:

01 Idle Songs
02 Caravan Breakers, They Prey on the Weak and the Old
03 "Stockades"
04 Reform the Countryside
05 The Policy Merchant, the Silver Bay
06 Evil Energy, the Ill Twin of...
07 ...Eagle Energy
08 Bushels
09 My Boats They Go

Drake, a duck, an all male duck.

My favourite 70's uber-quiet sing-songwriter Nick Drake hasn't done much for the past 32 years being, as he is, dead. Surprisingly that isn't going to prevent the release of a new Nick Drake album later in the year. Family Tree is a collection of extremely rare material, none of which has been previously released officially however some of the songs set to feature on the album has been available on bootlegs for some time.

There's been no confirmation of a tracklisting as yet so I'll just leave a blank space below.

Tracklisting:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

What could be more entertaining than a Razorlight gig?

Being repeatedly punched in the balls for starters, but there's also this.

During a gig in Lyon last Sunday singer Johnny Borrell and bassist Carl Demano had a bit of a scrap onstage.

The pair began to argue about halfway through the gig at the Ninkasi Stadium before coming to blows. Borrell then left the stage with the rest of the band. A short time later the band reappeared and finished their set. People with taste were very disappointed by that development.

Then again, people with taste wouldn't have gone to a Razorlight concert.

If you can you should go to these gigs.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

02-06 Cologne, Germany - Gebaeude 9 *#
02-07 Brussels, Belgium - AB Club *#
02-08 Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Paradiso *#
02-09 Berlin, Germany - Postbanhof *#
02-11 Hamburg, Germany - Knust *#
02-12 Paris, France - La Cigalle *#
02-13 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire *#
04-10 Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel *
04-11 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Night Club *
04-12 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *
04-13 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis *
04-14 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus *
04-15 Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom *
04-17 Nashville, TN - Cannery Ballroom *
04-18 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
04-19 Athens, GA - 40 Watt *
04-20 Jacksonville, FL - Freebird *
04-21 Orlando, FL - The Club at Firestone *
04-22 Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution *
04-24 New Orleans, LA - Republic *
04-26 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
04-27 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre *
04-28 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ *
* with Elvis Perkins in Dearland
# with Cold War Kids

Frog Eyes

03-17 Austin, TX - SXSW (Absolutely Kosher Showcase)
04-14 Victoria, British Columbia - Logan's Pub
05-01 Seattle, WA - Crocodile
05-04 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
05-05 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
05-10 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves
05-11 Austin, TX - Emo's
05-12 Houston, TX - Proletariat
05-15 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
05-16 Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel
05-17 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
05-18 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
05-22 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
05-24 Toronto, Ontario - Sneaky Dee's
05-25 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
05-27 Chicago, IL – Schubas

Jonathan Richman

02-01 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
02-02 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
02-03 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
02-04 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
02-07 Asbury Park, NJ - Wonder Bar
02-08 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
02-09 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
02-10 Charlottesville, VA - Starr Hill Music Hall
02-11 Williamsburg, VA - College of William and Mary
02-13 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
02-14 Charlotte, NC - The Evening Muse
02-15 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall
02-16 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
02-17 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
02-18 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
02-20 East Nashville, TN - Radio Cafe
02-21 East Nashville, TN - Radio Cafe
02-22 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone Cafe
02-23 Little Rock, AR - Sticky Fingerz
02-24 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room
02-26 Austin, TX - Continental Club
02-27 Austin, TX - Cactus Café

Jarvis Cocker

02-15 Sheffield, England - The Plug
02-16 Sheffield, England - The Plug
02-17 London, England - Astoria
02-19 Manchester, England - Academy
02-20 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
04-23 New York, NY - Webster Hall
04-27 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
04-28 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
04-30 Seattle, WA - Showbox
05-01 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore

Xiu Xiu / Sunset Rubdown

04-12 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
04-13 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
04-14 Bloomington, IN - WUIX Culture Shock at Indiana University
04-16 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
04-17 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04-19 Seattle, WA - Neumos
04-20 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
04-22 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
04-23 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
04-24 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour

Writing under the influence

Without which this column would not have been possible:

Talk Radio
Jarvis

The bit at the end

The Shins sold 118,000 copies of their new record on it's first week of release. Holy Shit.

I've got free tickets to Micah P. Hinson on Sunday thanks to a radio competition, I hope he's not as bad as last time I saw him, dude needs a band backing him up.