Dancing About Architecture 01.15.08
Posted by Ian Wright on 01.15.2008
British Sea Power, She And Him, Tour Dates, Goldfrapp, Radiohead, Dan Deacon, PJ Harvey and John Parish
The bit at the start
British Sea Power are a band that I've previously ignored for some reason. Perhaps it's because they're a British band from this decade signed to Rough Trade which meant that that I assumed that it wouldn't be my thing (that's being a little unfair on Rough Trade, the fact that they're a British band from this decade would be a more appropriate reason for dismissing them), perhaps it's due to their connection with the utterly risible Brakes (worse than The Cribs) or maybe it's due to the fact that someone told me once that they decorated the stage with foliage when they played live and I thought "fuck that".
Nonetheless hearing a decent tune being played on the radio yesterday coupled with enthusiastic praise from a friend whose tastes I broadly share as well as a number of really positive reviews resulted in their latest opus soundtracking my trip into Dublin today to finally pick up a few albums on vinyl that I'd only had in MP3 format previously (see, illegally downloading stuff does lead to records being sold ... six months later ... when I've decided that I really like the album) and my initial thought is that I really should check out their first 2 albums because this one is really rather good. Apparently British Sea Power have been compared to Joy Division previously and I can kind of see why they might, it's a horrible thing to say but if Editors weren't completely shit and actually got the Joy Division thing right they might sound like British Sea Power. But it's a little unfair to pigeonhole BSP in those terms as they've got ambitions far beyond merely being rip-off merchants. Their music is epic and sweeping and all very grand and despite it being quite overwhelming and gloomy at times it can also be really pretty with an almost pastoral quality making its way into the mix.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
John Sellers Perfect From Now On.
Disturbingly similar to my own life. Excellent read.
You news, you lose
A think I love Zooey Deschanel ...
And according to the wholly unscientific survey I've recently conducted amongst many of my indie loving friends I'm not the only one.
Anyway, it appears that the oddly named actress won't just be driving me to distraction thanks to her habit of popping up in quirky and enjoyable film and TV roles as during an interview with KCRW last week she announced that under the She And Him banner she'll soon be releasing an album entitled Volume One.
"Big deal," you might say. "Another actress suddenly deciding that she's a musician and putting out a shit record," you might continue.
Well hold on there buddy, Deschanel is only the "She" part of She And Him, the other half of the combo is M. Ward, whose Merge label will probably be handling the record's release. If the songs played during the KCRW spot ("Sentimental Heart" and "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here") are anything to go by Deschanel will be providing the vocals whilst Ward takes care of the music.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. Deschanel has a pleasant but not particularly strong voice so I'm not going to write the project off but I'd sooner hear a new M. Ward record.
I shouldn't like something so synthpoppy.
But I must admit to being partial to Goldfrapp. They've got a new album entitled Seventh Tree February 25th in the UK and the following day in the US on CD, (Gatefold)Vinyl and boxset. The latter contains four art cards, a foldout poster and a lyric book featuring recreations of Alison Goldfrapp's original handwritten lyrics. There's also a DVD which features a short film about the making of the record and the video for "A & E".
Before that all though it the obligatory lead off single which surprisingly (or not) is the song that they've made a video for. It's released digitally on February 3rd with the physical release coming 8 days later and features a number of remixes (listed below).
01 A & E (album version)
02 A & E (Maps instrumental remix)
03 A & E (Gui Boratto remix)
04 A & E (Gui Boratto dub)
05 A & E (Hercules and Love Affair remix)
Radiohead news.
I have to say that I was pretty shocked at the impact that In Rainbows made in the charts upon its physical release. Despite the whole pay what you want download thing (and the related discbox release) the album went to the top of the charts in the US and the UK (as well as Ireland) when it hit normal stores at the turn of the year.
Not really ones to rest on their laurels Oxford's finest have a busy (well for musicians) couple of weeks ahead of them at the BBC. On Thursday the band will be sitting in for the on holiday Zane Low and hosting his radio show on BBC Radio 1 from 19:00-21:00 GMT. They'll also be performing on BBC 2's "Later... With Jools Holland" on February 1st.
But that's rather Brit centric news I'll admit. What about North America?
Well, if you live in the following cities
Atlanta
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Houston
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Miami
Montreal
New York
Philadelphia
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Seattle
St. Louis
Tampa
Toronto
Vancouver
Washington, DC
You'll get the chance to see the band play in your hometown at some point this year.
Once again, Dan Deacon is probably the most fun live act in the world right now.
How'd you like to feature on the next Dan Deacon single, which also happens to be the debut release on the new Wham City label. All you have to do is show up at his gig on February 8th in New York's Whitney Museum of American Art because Deacon is recording the gig for use on his next record and audience sing-along favourite "Silence Like The Wind" will be released as a 7".
If you can't be there and/or can't wait for the new album then there's good news. Deacon is currently redesigning his website and as part of the re-launch he's going to post all of his pre-Spiderman Of The Rings albums on the site for free download.
So that'll be nice.
Oh good.
Hey, have you ever heard Dance Hall at Louse Point, the rather good album Polly Harvey and John Parish made back in 1996? Well if you haven't you really should. If you have you may be glad to learn that later this month the duo ill be heading back into the studio with Eric Drew Feldman (long time Parish collaborator), Autolux's Carla Azar, and Giovanni Ferrario.
Details are still a little sketchy but the sessions should wrap up by the middle of February and the album should be out towards the end of the year.
The YouTube video of the week
She And Him preview.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Cat Power
01-21 Paris, France - Bataclan
01-27 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire
02-06 New York, NY - Terminal 5
02-07 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
02-08 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
02-09 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus
02-10 Chicago, IL - Vic
02-11 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
03-07 Cairns, Australia - Tanks Arts Centre
03-08 Brisbane, Australia - The Tivoli
03-09 Sydney, Australia - Enmore Theatre
03-10 Adelaide, Australia - The Gov
03-12 Castlemaine, Australia - Theatre Royal
03-13 Melbourne, Australia - The Forum
The National
01-15 Auckland, New Zealand Kings Arms
01-16 Brisbane, Australia The Zoo
01-17 Brisbane, Australia The Zoo
01-18 Melbourne, Australia The Corner
01-19 Melbourne, Australia The Corner
01-21 Sydney, Australia City Recital Hall Angel Place *
01-22 Sydney, Australia City Recital Hall Angel Place *
01-23 Sydney, Australia City Recital Hall Angel Place *
02-22 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Academy of Music
03-09 South Florida Everglades, Florida Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation (Langerado)
05-16 Minehead, England Butlin's Holiday Centre (Explosions in the Sky ATP)
* with Clogs
The Breeders
03-05-08 Toronto, Ontario - Canadian Music Week
03-12-16 Austin, TX - SXSW
04-07 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
04-08 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
04-09 Leeds, England - Metropolitan University
04-10 Nottingham, England - Trent University
04-12 Sheffield, England - Leadmill
04-13 Birmingham, England - Academy 2
04-14 Manchester, England - Academy 2
04-16 London, England - Koko
04-25-27 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music Festival
British Sea Power
01-10 London, England - Czech Embassy
01-17 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Spring & Airbrake
01-18 Dublin, Ireland - Whelan's
01-20 Norwich, England - Waterfront
01-21 Portsmouth, England - Wedgewood Rooms
01-23 Leeds, England - Irish Centre
01-24 Kendal, England - The Brewery
01-26 Glasgow, Scotland - The Arches
01-27 Manchester, England - Academy 2
01-28 Oxford, England - Academy
01-29 Brighton, England - Komedia
01-31 London, England - KOKO
02-01 Brighton, England - Digital
02-10 Paris, France - La Danse
02-15 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
02-16 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown
02-17 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
02-18 Munich, Germany - Ampere
02-19 Frankfurt, Germany - Cookys
02-20 Berlin, Germany - Lido
02-21 Hamburg, Germany - Molotov
02-22 Cologne, Germany - Geb
02-25 San Diego, CA - Casbah
02-27 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
02-28 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
02-29 Visalia, CA - Cellar Door
03-01 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (Noise Pop)
03-03 Portland, OR - Doug Fir
03-04 Seattle, WA - Neumos
03-05 Vancouver, British Columbia - Plaza Club
03-08 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
03-12-16 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-19 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
03-20 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
03-21 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
03-22 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club
03-24 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03-25 Pontiac, MI - Eagle Theatre
03-26 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
03-27 Columbus, OH - The Basement
03-29 St. Louis, MO - Billiken Club
Low
01-16 Brisbane, Australia - The Troubadour
01-17 Sydney, Australia - Speigeltent (Sydney Festival)
01-18 Sydney, Australia - Speigeltent (Sydney Festival)
01-19 Sydney, Australia - Speigeltent (Sydney Festival / ATP) *
04-05 Helsinki, Finland - Tavatia
04-07 Stockholm, Sweden - Sodra Teatem
04-08 Oslo, Norway - Rockefeller
04-09 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
04-11 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Motel Mozaique
04-12 Norwich, England - Arts Centre
04-14 Bristol, England - Thekla Social
04-15 Portsmouth, England - Wedgewood Rooms
04-16 Brighton, England - St. Georges Church
04-17 Leeds, England - City Varieties
04-18 Gateshead, England - Sage
04-19 London, England - Union Chapel
* performing Things We Lost in the Fire
Islands
02-18 Dublin, Ireland - Whelan's
02-19 Belfast, Ireland - Speakeasy
02-20 Manchester, England - Night & Day
02-21 Bristol, England - Thekla
02-23 Nottingham, England - Stealth
02-24 Brighton, England - Brighton Barfly
02-25 Cambridge, England - Cambridge Barfly
02-26 London, England - Hoxton Bar & Grill
02-27 Paris, France - Point FMR
02-28 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown
02-29 Nijmegen, Netherlands - Merleyn
03-01 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
03-02 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
03-03 Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli
03-09 Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
03-11 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone
03-12 Burleson, TX - Haileys
03-17 Norman, OK - Opolis
03-18 Columbia, MO - Blue Note
03-19 Lawrence, KS - Off Broadway
Xiu Xiu
03-07 Portland, OR - Someday Lounge
03-08 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
03-10 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
03-11 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive
03-13 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop
03-14 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
03-15 Chicago, IL - Reggie's
03-16 Mount Pleasant, MI - Rubble's Bar
03-17 Toronto, Ontario - TBA
03-18 Ottawa, Ontario - Babylon Nightclub
03-19 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
03-20 Bennington, VT - Bennington College
03-21 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts Boston
03-22 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Smog (Bard College)
03-24 Purchase, NY - Student Center (SUNY Purchase)
03-23 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
03-25 New York, NY - Fordham University
03-26 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
03-27 Washington, DC - Black Cat
03-28 Columbus, OH - Skully's Music Diner
03-29 Newport, KY - Southgate House
03-31 St. Louis, MO - Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center
04-01 Springfield, MO - Randy Bacon Gallery
04-02 Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory
04-03 Fort Worth, TX - Lola's
04-04 Houston, TX - Orange Show Center for Visionary Art
04-05 Austin, TX - Mohawk
04-07 Santa Fe, NM - College of Santa Fe
04-08 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
04-11 Los Angeles, CA - Echo
04-12 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
Broken Social Scene (The proper band not the BSS presents thing)
02-20 Auckland, New Zealand - King's Arms
02-21 Wellington, New Zealand - San Francisco Bath House
02-23 Adelaide, Australia - Laneway Festival
02-24 Melbourne, Australia - Laneway Festival
02-27 Melbourne, Australia - The Corner
02-28 Sydney, Australia - Manning Bar
02-29 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo
03-01 Brisbane, Australia - Laneway Festival
03-02 Sydney, Australia - Laneway Festival
03-05 Osaka, Japan - Club Quattro
03-06 Tokyo, Japan - Liquid Room
03-09 Singapore, Singapore - Esplanade Theatre on the Bay
05-16-18 Minehead, England - Butlins Holiday Centre (All Tomorrow's Parties)
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
The bit at the end
Don't fuck with Bjork. Especially if you're a Kiwi photographer.
That Marty Crandall thing from last week was dismissed. So that's the end of that.
