Dancing About Architecture 05.22.07
Posted by Ian Wright on 05.22.2007
Animal Collective, a bunch of live reviews, Elliott Smith, Elijah Wood, Will Oldham, Sunset Rubdown and I LOVE THE NATIONAL.
The bit at the start
Well howdy dudes. I've just come off the busiest gig going week I've had in a long time. I've been to 4 completely different sounding but almost all very enjoyable gigs in the past 7 days. Last Monday I caught a pretty under attended Au Revoir Simone gig. I was expecting a nice sedate gig full of pleasant harmonies but perhaps not much in the way of energy. However I was quite surprised by what I saw. They stretched the songs out quite a bit and all three of the girls in the band, particularly from Annie Hart, displayed a lot more personality then I expected.
Thursday saw the Irish debut of Elephant 6 legends The Apples In Stereo, featuring former members of the Olivia Tremor Control and the man who produced In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. It's a shame that there wasn't more people to see their utterly fantastic performance. There wasn't a duff tune amongst any of the wonderful sunny pop songs they played. Robert Schneider is also a really nice man.
Friday saw another Irish debut, this time from Grizzly Bear. I'm not a big fan of Yellow House because of its really muddy mix but live everything had a lot more space to be heard. I'm still not crazy about the vocals because they're really inconsequential and over simple but Daniel Rossen's surf tinged guitar and Christopher Bear's drumming were hugely impressive.
Unfortunately the Besnard Lakes on Sunday night, which I'd been really looking forward to, was a massive let down. I love their current album but live they sounded a bit like Low goes shoegaze but not very good and with added classic rock thrown in for good measure. At one point all 3 guitarists were soloing on top of each, it was a bit much to take.
Anyway, this week is officially "National appreciation week" here at Dancing About Architecture to coincide with the release of their marvellous new album Boxer so let's get going.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
The National – Cherry Tree EP
"About Today" could be the best song you've never heard.
The Dancing About Architecture MySpace band of the week.
Once again, the best fucking album of 2007 is released today, GET THEE TO A RECORD STORE.
Recommended song: Oh Jesus, they're all magnificent, umm ... All The Wine is probably the catchiest.
You news, you lose
Any excuse to talk about him.
Hot on the heels of the release of New Moon there's another pretty cool Elliott (I want to meet a woman who will allow me to name our first born Elliott with the second ‘t' still on) Smith related product hitting the shelves soon. Elliott Smith, which isn't a reissue of his eponymous second album nor the contents of his casket but is rather a photo book compiled by Autumn De Wilde, who shot the cover to Smith's Figure 8 album. It's tentatively scheduled for a November release and will gather over 200 pages of De Wilde's photos of Smith as well as handwritten lyrics as well as interviews with Smith's sister Ashley Welch as well as friends Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Sam Coomes (of Quasi and a former bandmate of Smith in Heatmeister), Matthew Caws (Nada Surf) and Jon Brion (Jon Brion) with proceeds going to the SIMS Foundation which provides affordable medical care to musicians and Outside In, a Portland based advocacy group for the homeless.
The book will also include a 5 track CD featuring previously unreleased live tracks from a Smith gig in L.A.'s Largo Club. The CD features 3 Smith songs "Angeles", "Between The Bars" and "Clementine" as well as covers of Quasi's "Clouds" and Hank Williams Jr.'s "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down."
The Duracell Bunny of indie rock.
Not content with putting a new Wolf Parade album due out later in the year Spencer Krug will unleash a new Sunset Rubdown album via the Jagjaguwar label entitled Random Spirit Lover at some point in October.
The album contains 12 newish songs many of which have been given a live airing on the band's post Shut Up, I am dreaming tours including hardcore fan favourite "Winged/Wicked Things".
Tentative tracklisting:
01 The Mending of the Gown
02 Magic vs. Midas
03 Up on Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days
04 The Courtesan Has Sung
05 Winged/Wicked Things
06 Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns
07 Stallion
08 For the Pier (and Dead Shimmering)
09 The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life
10 Setting vs. Rising
11 Trumpet, Trumpet, Toot! Toot!
12 Child-Heart Losers
Frodo with his cock out.
Variety reported last week that Elijah Wood is set to play Iggy Pop in a biopic of the punk pioneer. Due out in 2008 The Passenger will focus on Pop's early years with the Stooges.
This isn't Wood's first foray into music related projects as he's the head of Simian Records who put out the latest Apples In Stereo album and plays a part in the Flaming Lips' oft delayed Christmas On Mars.
There's no word on whether or not Wood will employ a Markey Mark style prosthetic for Iggy's favourite stage prop but given the reputation that little people have he may not need one.
Strawberry jam forever doesn't quite have the same ring.
Now, personally I don't really get Animal Collective but Brian Berry insists that they're great so I'll take his word for it.
Anyway, Strawberry Jam will be released this September on Domino and will be their first album since 2005's Feels. It was recorded at Wavelab in Tuscon, Arizona with Scott Colburn and at the Rare Book Room in Brooklyn with Nicholas Vernhes.
Tracklist:
01 Peacebone
02 Unsolved Mysteries
03 Chores
04 For Reverend Green
05 Fireworks
06 #1
07 Winter Wonder Land
08 Cuckoo Cuckoo
09 Derek
To quote Ash, "Groovy".
Acts performing albums in their entirety is all the rage at the minute what with this being the summer of Daydream Nation and all but not all of these performances from Sonic Youth, Slint and their ilk are connected to ATP's Don't Look Back series.
On June 10th Will Oldham will play Louisville, Kentucky's Headliner's Music Hall as Bonnie "Prince" Billy to perform 1999's I see a darkness as part of the 10th birthday celebrations for Wild and Woolley Video, a Louisville which "specializes in renting and selling videos and DVDs that are hard-to-find, obscure, or just too weird for the chain stores."
Tickets are an insanely cheap $5 and all proceeds will go to kosair charities.
The Youtube video of the week
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Polyphonic Spree
05-14 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
05-27 George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch! Festival)
06-23 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
06-24 Austin, TX - Stubbs BBQ
06-25 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
06-26 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
06-27 Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theatre
06-29 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
06-30 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
07-01 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
07-02 Boston, MA - Avalon
07-03 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
07-05 Toronto Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre
07-06 Detroit, MI - The Majestic
07-07 Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
07-08 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
07-09 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave II
07-10 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
07-13 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
07-14 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre
07-15 Seattle, WA - The Showbox
07-17 San Francisco CA - Great American Music Hall
07-18 Los Angeles CA - El Rey Theatre
07-20 San Diego CA - Canes Bar & Grill
07-22 Denver CO - Gothic Theatre
07-23 Aspen CO - The Belly Up
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-11 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-12 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic Festival
09-01 Stradbally, Ireland - Stradbally Estate (Electric Picnic Festival)
09-02 Argyll, Scotland - Inveraray Castle (Connect Festival)
Animal Collective
05-22 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue #
05-24 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad #
05-25 Marfa, TX - The Marfa Ballroom #
05-26 Dallas, TX - The Granada Theater #
05-27 Austin, TX - Antone's #
05-28 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree #
05-29 Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre #
05-30 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom #
06-01 New York, NY - South Street Seaport (Seaport Music Festival) *
07-11 London, England - The Coronet ^
07-13 Brussels, Belgium - Recyclart
07-15 Groningen, Netherlands - Vera
07-16 Nijmegen, Netherlands - Valkhof
07-17 Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
07-18 Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
07-21 Angouleme, France - Garden NEF Party
07-22 Valencia, Spain - Benicàssim Festival
07-25 Venice, Italy - Marcon Festival
07-26 Milan, Italy - Magnolia Festival
07-27 Marseille, France - Midi Festival
07-28 Laval, France - Festival des Trois Éléphants
07-29 Vienna, Austria - Arena
# with Sir Richard Bishop
* with Danielson
^ with Marnie Stern
Panda Bear
06-18 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
06-21 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar *
06-22 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *#
06-23 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *$
* with Scott Mou
# with Tickley Feather
$ with Eric Copeland
Interpol
More dates announced
05-27 George, WA - The Gorge (Sasquatch!)
05-31 Dallas, TX - The Palladium
06-02 Atlanta, GA - HiFi Buys Amphitheatre (99X Big Day Out)
06-03 Chicago, IL - Metro
06-07 Toronto, Ontario - The Guverment
06-09 San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre (Live 105 BFD 07)
06-10 San Diego, CA - Devore Stadium (94/9 Independence Jam)
06-21 Dusseldorf, Germany - ISS Dome *
06-23 Scheesel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
06-24 Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany - Southside Festival
06-25 Dresden, Germany - Dresden Alter Schlachthof
06-27 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
06-28 Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
06-29 Stockholm, Sweden - Accelerator
07-01 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter
07-05 Lisbon, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock
07-07 Naas, Ireland - Punchestown Racecourse (Oxegen)
07-08 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park
07-19 Rochester, NY - Harro East Ballroom
07-20 Atlantic City, NJ - Music Box @ Borgata
07-21 Norfolk, VA - Norva
07-23 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
07-24 Pittsburgh, PA - Byham
07-25 Columbus, OH - The LC Amphitheatre
07-27 Grand Rapids, Michigan - Orbit Room
07-28 Detroit, MI - MI State
07-30 Milwaukee, WI - Rave
07-31 Indianapolis, IN - Egyptain
08-01 St. Louis, MO - Pageant
08-03 Covington, KY - Madison Theatre
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course (V Festival)
08-11 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-12 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-24 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-25 Leeds, England - Leeds England
09-08-09 Montreal, Quebec – Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
* with Pearl Jam
Dinosaur Jr.
05-22 Victoria, British Columbia - Sugar Nightclub *%
05-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom *%
05-25 Calgary, Alberta - MacEwan Hall *#
05-26 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlite Room *#
05-27 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Odeon Events Centre *#
05-28 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Garrick Centre *#
05-29 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock *
05-30 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock *
05-31 Chicago, IL - The Abbey Pub *
06-01 Chicago, IL - The Abbey Pub *
06-02 Chicago, IL - The Abbey Pub *#
06-03 Ann Arbor, MI - The Blind Pig *
06-04 Ann Arbor, MI - The Blind Pig *
06-06 New York, NY - Irving Plaza *
06-07 New York, NY - Irving Plaza *
06-08 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre *%
06-09 Montreal, Quebec - Club Soda *
06-10 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground #
06-11 Cambridge, MA - Harvard Square Urban Outfitters (Free Yr Radio)
06-15 Fort Collins, CO - Aggie Theater
06-16 Denver, CO - Westworld Music Showcase
06-17 Aspen, CO - Belly Up
06-26 London, England - Scala
06-27 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
06-28 Friborg, Switzerland - Fri-Son
06-29 Munich, Germany - Olympic Stadium ^
06-30 Berlin, Germany - Postbanhof
07-01 Hamburg, Germany - AOL Arena ^
07-05 Byron Bay, Australia - Hotel Great Northern
07-06 Brisbane, Australia - The Tivoli
07-07 Sydney, Australia - Metro
07-08 Sydney, Australia - Metro
07-09 Auckland, New Zealand - The Studio
07-11 Canberra, Australia - University of Canberra Union
07-12 Melbourne, Australia - The Forum
07-13 Adelaide, Australia - The Gov
07-14 Perth, Australia - The Capitol
07-20 Valencia, Spain - Ibecassim Festival
07-27 Storas, Norway - Storasfestivalen
07-28 Emmaboda, Sweden - Emmaboda Festival
08-11 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-12 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-25 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-26 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
* with Awesome Color
# with Lou Barlow
% with Uncut
^ with Red Hot Chili Peppers
Deerhunter
06-01 Roswell, GA - Whirlyball #
07-07 Atlanta, GA - The Earl %
07-11 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom ^
07-12 Cambridge, MA - ICA *
07-15 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival) &
07-18 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace $
07-21 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar @
# with the Carbonas, Selmanaires, the Coathangers
% with Fiery Furnaces
^ with Ex Models, Blues Control
* with Keith Fullerton Whitman
& with the New Pornographers, Stephen Malkmus, De La Soul, Of Montreal, Jamie Lidell, the Sea and Cake, Klaxons, Nomo, the Ponys, Menomena, Craig Taborn's Junk Magic, Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra
$ with the Ponys, Jay Reatard
@ with Battles
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
Calexico – A cover of Arcade Fire's Intervention
Okkervil River – Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe
