Dancing About Architecture 11.27.07
Posted by Ian Wright on 11.27.2007
My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Weezer, Bat For Lashes, I hate gear thieves, Deerhunter
The bit at the start
Goddamnit, seemingly every time I take a week off from this column there's a major development in a story I've been tracking for weeks and I miss it. Last time it was the Radiohead album coming out and last week, when I had a cold and decided to spend my Monday in bed there was the announcement that My Bloody Valentine were reforming for a number of gigs in the UK next summer. I was fortunate enough to get a ticket for the first night in London and for me to say that I'm looking forward to it a great deal would put it mildly.
Speaking of gigs, I've been out for the past 3 nights enjoying the talents of Stars Of The Lid, St. Vincent and Pinback who respectively took me to another dimension, charmed the pants off me and blew me away by being one of the tightest bands I've ever seen.
All I've got booked for this week is Dan Deacon on Sunday, but that should be more than enough.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
Pinback – Summer in Abadon.
Indie-pop brilliance.
You news, you lose
At least there's a fresh MBV story to cover.
2 weeks ago I reported that Kevin Shields said that there was likely to be a new My Bloody Valentine album. Since then it's emerged that if and when it's complete it's most likely going to get an Internet release. According to Vinita Joshi, the band's manager, "At the moment, all I can say is that Kevin is getting the band back together and they will go into the studio next month to work on the new record.
The plan is that they will release the album themselves via the Internet, but there will also probably be a vinyl release."
The album is likely to comprise of new material as well as a number of songs that were recorded in 1993-94 and 1996-97.
Could be crap, could be great, I dunno, fingers crossed.
On a semi related note.
The Jesus And Mary Chain are set to release their first album since 1998's Munki. According to the band's manager Kevin Oberlin said "We thought having the band reunite for Coachella would help set up both of their [the Reid brothers'] solo albums, but the very next day after the show, Jim and William did an interview and said that they were going to do a new Mary Chain album."
Speaking to Billboard William Reid said, "I would say it's an evolution. It definitely sounds like the Mary Chain, but I guess you evolve as a person and a writer. You can't really stand still. If you do that, you're lost." He also spoke about the previous tensions in the band and the steps they're currently taking to keep a lid on them, "When we ended in '98, we hated each other. A lot of that was down to drink and drugs. Jim's completely sober now, and I don't drink during the shows. But there is a kind of wariness. We're both aware that we could snap at each other, but we're trying to hold it together. We love this band, and we love each other."
The new Mary Chain album is scheduled to be released in the first half of next year and the brothers are currently choosing 12 songs from a batch that they're written together.
Nerds Of The World Rejoice.
Weezer (who, lets remember, HAVE NOT, split up) have given a name to their forthcoming 6th album (which can't possibly be worse than the last one). Tour Ensemble and according to bassist Scott Shriner the album fulfils "some of [the band's] most challenging goals as a group".
The 18-song album will be released on April 22nd.
On a related note the collection of Rivers Cuomo's solo recordings has been pushed back a week to December 18th.
Bat for your head.
One of the more interesting releases of this year was Bat For Lashes' (a.k.a. Natasha Khan) Fur And Gold. When I say interesting I mean lots of people really liked it but I couldn't see the appeal at all.
Anyway, last week saw her release an iTunes exclusive EP (boy do I hate when people do that) featuring "What's a girl to do?" from the aforementioned album, a Plaid remix of the song as well as a live version of "The Wizard". Also bundled with the package is the video for "Girl".
Anyway, it's up there if you want it.
Death to gear thieves.
It's been a while since I've reported on a gear theft story. It's not because I've been ignoring them but rather because it's been a number of months since I've heard one but it's always something that I'll report because
a) I know how attached musicians get to their gear.
b) I know that they're expensive and many indie musicians don't really make all that much.
c) I fucking hate pricks who rob musical equipment.
d) You never know who'd reading and what they might come across.
Fugazi's Joe Lally and Capillary Action are on tour at the minute and on the night of November 16th on the corner of Valencia Street and Clinton Park between 3-10 A.M. some motherfucker broke into their tour van and robbed the following …
- Roland KC350 Amp with bent corner
- Yamaha S03 Keyboard with cracked side
- Alesis QS7 Keyboard
- Sharp VLNZ50U MiniDV Recorder with 3" Color LCD Screen (you'll find footage from a November 15 show in Palo Alto inside)
- Samsonite brown suitcase
On the off chance anyone has been offered equipment that matches those descriptions you can mail here.
Don't worry, they won't be gone too long.
Deerhunter recently wrapped up a European tour (including a fantastic appearance in Dublin) and on the band's blog main Deerhunter Bradford Cox revealed that the band would soon be taking a bit of a break "I would like to announce that the show we are playing at Primavera in Barcelona [December 8]...will be our last for quite some time. It will also be the last time we are ever playing the Cryptograms set we have been playing for the last two years. After that the band are going on hiatus. We all need some time to organize our lives.
Thanks to everyone who has helped us out. This has been a crazy year that I will always remember."
So that kinda sucks …
But not really, Cox will be releasing an album under the Atlas Sounds moniker in February and the band already have a show booked for next May at the ATP vs. Pitchfork festival in May and I have it on good authority that there will be another Irish date around the same time as that show.
So YAY!
The YouTube video of the week
Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown. Who cares how grainy it looks.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Bruce Springsteen
Provided that I can get a pair of tickets when they go on sale on Wednesday there's gonna be a serious father-son bonding session on the 22nd of May.
11-25 Madrid, Spain - Palacio de Deportes
11-26 Bilbao, Spain - Bilbao Exhibition Centre
11-28 Milan, Italy - Datch Forum
11-30 Arnhem, Netherlands - Gelredome
12-02 Mannheim, Germany - SAP Arena
12-04 Oslo, Norway - Oslo Spektrum
12-08 Copenhagen, Denmark - Forum Copenhagen
12-10 Stockholm, Sweden - Globe Arena
12-12 Antwerp, Belgium - Sportspaleis
12-13 Cologne, Germany - Köln Arena
12-15 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Odyssey Arena
12-17 Paris, France - Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
12-19 London, England - O2 Arena
02-28 Hartford, CT - Hartford Civic Center Coliseum
03-02 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre
03-03 Hamilton, Ontario - Copps Coliseum
03-06 Rochester, NY - Blue Cross Arena
03-07 Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena
03-10 Hempstead, NY - Nassau Coliseum
03-14 Omaha, NE - Qwest Center
03-16 Saint Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
03-17 Milwaukee, WI - Bradley Center
03-20 Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Center
03-22 Cincinnati, OH - US Bank Arena
03-24 Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
03-28 Portland, OR - Rose Garden
03-29 Seattle, WA - Key Arena
03-31 Vancouver, British Columbia - GM Place
04-04 Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena
04-05 San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
04-07 Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
04-08 Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
04-13 Dallas, TX - TBA
04-14 Houston, TX - TBA
04-18 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Bank Atlantic Center
04-19 Orlando, FL - Amway Arena
04-21 Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum
04-25 Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
04-27 Charlotte, NC - Bobcat Arena
04-28 Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
04-30 Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
05-22 Dublin, Ireland - RDS
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
A Sunset Rubdown bootleg that I've recently become rather obsessed with.
The bit at the end
Gene Simmons … what a dick.
Note to Wednesday Jamie, yes, it has been an exceptionally good couple of weeks.
Semi permanent plug for my blog. In the past week I've put up fuller thoughts on St. Vincent and Stars Of The Lid, an amazing Springsteen live clip as well as the usual football thoughts.
