Dancing About Architecture 02.27.07
Posted by Ian Wright on 02.27.2007
The Wrens live, a new feature, Primavera, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Lily Allen, Joanna Newsom, and Sasquatch
The bit at the start
Hi, yeah I know, I wasn't around last week when I said I would be. No one died because of it though so it's not like it's a disaster.
Anyway, I won't bore you with non-music related details of the past 14 days so I'll just talk about The Wrens playing in Dublin. I've travelled abroad on 4 occasions to see that band 7 times, they've never been bad and often been brilliant and last Thursday week fell into the latter category. They played pretty much all of The Meadowlands as well as 2 of my favourite songs off Secaucus and Silver and then hung out at the venue until 3AM hanging out with fans and chatting to whoever wanted to talk to them despite the fact that they'd flown in overnight from New York and were existing on just a few hours sleep. The nicest band on the planet.
Oh yeah, I played piano on "She Sends Kisses" and when my part was over Kevin Whelan waved me over to the mic to sing the end of the song with him and Charles Bissell.
Pretty good night so.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me.
As good as last year's "career best" effort.
The Dancing About Architecture MySpace band of the week.
From Reading in England mixing Neutral Milk Hotel's lo-fi aesthetic with a Win Butleresque howl and some really great pop songwriting.
Recommended song: 100,000 thoughts.
You news, you lose
I'm so glad I'm going to this festival.
Although I may eventually go to The Electric Picnic in September my current plans for music festivals this year involve eschewing these islands and looking to the continent. Specifically Spain (despite the fact that I speak no Spanish) and Barcelona (nor Catalan for that matter) in particular for the Primavera Sounds festival which takes place there from May 31 – June 2. I booked tickets on the strength of the ATP people curating one of the stages and was pleased enough with the bands they'd booked but the full lineup was announced last week and it looks pretty great.
Slint, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, Low, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Three, the Durutti Column, Isis, Band of Horses, Brightblack Morning Light, Death Vessel, Oakley Hall, Pelican, Smashing Pumpkins, Wilco, the Good, the Bad & the Queen, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Maxïmo Park, Bad Brains, Spiritualized (acoustic), Múm, Architecture in Helsinki, Blonde Redhead, the Melvins, Klaxons, Justice, Billy Bragg, Nathan Fake, Spank Rock, Bonde do Role, Explosions in the Sky, Diplo, the Long Blondes, Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3, Fennesz & Mike Patton, Patti Smith, Luomo, Barry Adamson, Ivan Smagghe, Jonathan Richman, Comets on Fire, Buzzcocks, Dominik Eulberg, David Thomas Broughton, the Rakes, Kid Koala, Girls Against Boys, Bola, Reinhard Voigt, Kimya Dawson, Luke Slater, Matt Elliott, Toktok, Erol Alkan and more will play the festival that doesn't require me to camp in a muddy field but rather allows me to stay in a nice apartment in the city.
Well, nice may be pushing it a bit, there is about 12 of us going.
I bet every man that meets her is fucking terrified.
Despite not really digging anything that's influenced her and having a very low tolerance for bright and breezy pop I've got nothing against Lily Allen, in fact I rather like her melodies. She's hardly got the strongest voice in the world but she uses it well and I can't really think of anyone else who sings like her.
But that's enough of the critiquing, this is a news column damnit. When not making music/being mean to people/allegedly getting banned from the Groucho Club for making too frequent trips to the toilet there(when did having the shits become a banning offence?) she's taken to designing clothing. The Guardian reported last week that the offspring of one of the most loathed men in the English media will have a collection of cloths in the New Look chain of shops debuting on May 9th. The collection includes accessories, six dresses and two pairs of shoes and will being available in the chain's 312 stores.
Yeah, slow week.
Wub.
Joanna Newsom is set to release an EP in April under the oh so witty name of Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band.
So we've discovered that making with the yuk yuk is one thing that the pin-up of choice for most fanboys can't do. Details of the release are sketchy at present but the EP features Newsom and her touring band performing one new song and 2 from The Milk Eyed Mender and Ys.
Newsom heads to Europe in April for a number of dates in support of my favourite album of last year, including one in Dublin which I have front row tickets for; despite a female friend of mine suggesting it I doubt that my viewing angle will enable me to "look up her dress and see her ye olde-fashioned frilly panties".
I completely respect Ms. Newsom as an artist by the way.
Yeti.
On the subject of festivals, which I was on a few items ago those of you in Washington State are in for a real treat this memorial day weekend at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George WA because the lineup for this year's Sasquatch Festival looks pretty impressive with The Arcade Fire, Bjork, The Hold Steady, Interpol and Mirah (there's a name I've not heard in a while, I loved C'mon Miracle) all performing. The full announced lineup is as follows …
Saturday, May 26:
Björk
The Arcade Fire
Manu Chao Radio Bemba Sound System
M.I.A.
Citizen Cope
Neko Case
The Hold Steady
Grizzly Bear
Ghostland Observatory
Electrelane
Two Gallants
The Slip
Loney, Dear
Aqueduct
The Thermals
Viva Voce
The Blow
Gabriel Teodros
Sunday, May 27:
Beastie Boys
Interpol
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Spoon
Bad Brains
Ozomatli
Dandy Warhols
The Black Angels
Mirah
Tokyo Police Club
Money Mark
St. Vincent
Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter
Smoosh
Common Market
Helio Sequence
Minus the Bear
Oh god I hate Bobby Gillespie
I really do, so it's a testament to how good The Jesus and Mary Chain were that I'm able to say I like that band. They're all set to reform at this year's Coachella (for probably an obscene amount of money) and they've now added a couple of Spanish festival dates to their touring schedule which up until now had been completely fucking empty for the past 9 years. Unfortunately for me it's not going to be the festival I'm going to but on the upside Bobby Gillespie isn't involved in the reunion so if I do manage to catch them at some point I won't be putting any money in his pocket.
Talking about the reunion Jim Reid said, "It's taken this long for me and [brother] William to get to a point where it would be realistic to [get back together], and to some degree each of us assumed the other wouldn't be interested, and it was only after we talked about it that we realised this. Also Coachella were very persistent."
Reid also views these upcoming dates as a chance to wash the nasty taste of the bands last gig out of his mouth saying, "The last Mary Chain gig was in 1998 and was such a bloody awful mess, too much drink, too many drugs, nobody seeing eye to eye on anything and the band just blew up, and I suppose you could say this is another good reason for our reformation, 'cause that was no way for the Mary Chain to end."
As for the question of more gigs or a possible new record Reid is unsure, "I really don't know. Maybe. I think we would like to and we're looking at another show or two."
Regardless of that the 2 Reid brothers will both be releasing solo albums later in the year.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Explosions In The Sky
02-19 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw *
02-20 New York, NY - Society for Ethical Culture Concert Hall #
02-23 Cologne, Germany - Gebäude 9
02-25 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
02-26 Brussels, Belgium - AB
02-27 Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
03-01 London, England - Koko
03-05 Austin, TX - Emo's ^
03-07 Houston, TX - Numbers ^
03-08 New Orleans, LA - The Republic ^
03-10 Ybor City, FL - Crowbar ^
03-11 Sunrise, FL - Markham Park (Langerado Music Festival)
03-12 St. Augustine, FL - The Alcazar ^
03-13 Atlanta, GA - Lenny's Bar ^%
03-14 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle ^%
03-15 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle ^%
03-16 Charlottesville, VA - Starr Hill Music Hall ^%
03-17 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ^%
03-18 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom ^%
03-20 New York, NY - Webster Hall ^%
03-21 Cambridge, MA - Middle East ^%
03-23 Montreal, Quebec - Le National ^%
03-24 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House ^%
03-25 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House ^%
03-26 Detroit, MI - Saint Andrews Hall ^%
03-28 Chicago, IL - Metro ^
03-29 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue ^%
03-30 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground ^%
03-31 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck ^
04-01 Norman, OK - Oklahoma Memorial Union %
04-02 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater ^
04-17 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
04-18 Manchester, England - Academy 3
04-19 London, England - Astoria
04-27 San Diego, CA - Epicentre ^
04-29 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
05-01 San Francisco, CA - Slim's ^
05-04 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
05-04 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
05-06 Seattle, WA - Neumos
05-20 Somerset, England - Butlins Minehead (All Tomorrow's Parties)
* with Mountains
# with Ayano Kataoka
^ with Eluvium
% with the Paper Chase
Yo La Tengo
02-27 Perth, Australia - Amplifier Bar ^
03-01 Sydney, Australia - Metro %
03-03 Brisbane, Australia - Laneway Festival
03-04 Sydney, Australia - Laneway Festival
03-06 Melbourne, Australia - Corner Hotel %
03-08 Adelaide, Australia - Fowlers Live $
03-10 Meredith, Australia - Golden Plains Festival
03-12 Singapore, Singapore - Concert Hall at Esplanade Theatres on the Bay (Mosaic Music Festival)
04-05 New Orleans, LA - Tipitina's
04-06 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
04-07 Austin, TX - Stubb's
04-08 Dallas, TX - Granada
04-10 Tulsa, OK - Cain's
04-11 Lawrence, KS - Granada
04-13 Indianapolis, IN - Vogue
04-14 Madison, WI - The Barrymore
04-16 Newport, KY - Southgate House
04-17 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
04-18 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
04-21 Providence, RI - Brown University !
04-29 New York, NY - Webster Hall
^ with New Rules for Boats
% with David Kilgour
$ with Clue to Kalo
! with the Flaming Lips
Tortoise
06-14 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
06-15 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-16 Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre *
06-18 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
06-20 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
06-22 San Francisco, CA - Independent
06-23 San Francisco, CA - Independent
06-26 Seattle, WA - Neumos
06-30 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
07-01 Chicago, IL - Metro
07-03 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
07-05 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Art
07-07 Washington, DC - Black Cat
07-08 New York, NY - Webster Hall #
* with Hot Chip
# with Kieren Hebden, Steve Reid
Sonic Youth
02-23 Guadalajara, Mexico - Foro Expo
02-24 Mexico City, Mexico - Salon 21
04-17 Osaka, Japan - Namba Hatch *
04-18 Nagoya, Japan - Diamond Hall *
04-20 Tokyo, Japan - Studio Coast *
04-23 Beijing, China - The Star Live
04-24 Shanghai, China - Paramount
04-27 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
06-23 Neuhausen, Germany - Southside Festival
06-24 Scheessel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
06-29 Gdynia, Poland - Open'er Festival
08-31 London, England - Roundhouse (ATP Don't Look Back)
09-01 London, England - Roundhouse (ATP Don't Look Back)
* with Vooredoms
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
Titty Driven Mp3's
The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me
Rickey Gervais podcast.
The bit at the end
I'm off to see The Hold Steady tonight. The venue is a really featureless boxy room but if I try hard enough maybe I'll imagine it to be some bar in Asbury Park. Note to self … buy shirt with blue collar (not an expensive one).
