Dancing About Architecture 3.18.08

Posted by Ian Wright on 03.18.2008

The Wrens, Okkervil River, Sonic Youth, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Pitchfork Fest, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobious Pip and more.

The bit at the start

Good day. As I type this it's 4PM on St. Paddy's day (note, its Paddy, not "Patty", that's a Peanuts character) and I'm staring out my kitchen window at a bull lying in a field which it has torn up due to it trampling around the place after the rain of the past week, I'm about to listen to the new Cloud Cult album.

I don't do Paddy's day, it's for fools, tourists and high-functioning alcoholics and I know I'm not 2 of those and hope I'm not the other. But I do get a day off work so I guess I should be grateful to Pat for bringing Jesus to Ireland. On the subject of Jesus I've got a 4 day weekend next weekend too because of Easter. I don't really do Jesus either but I guess I should be grateful to him for the time off he gets me.

Maybe this religion thing has something to it after all.

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

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# A# (Infinity)



Somehow, despite being near lyric free, political.

You news, you lose

Festivus.

They may have reached the point of being utterly self referential but damnit the gang of indie-rock Petes that staff Pitchfork usually pick good lineups for their festival and this year's event is shaping up to follow that trend.

Once again taking place in Chicago's Union Park the initial lineup for the event, which takes place from July 18-20 was announced last week and various from the sublime (Animal Collective, M. Ward) to the "sorry dudes I don't see it, it's really dull" (Vampire Weekend). There's a whole bunch of slots left to be filled but right now here's who's confirmed …

Friday, July 18:
Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties present Don't Look Back

Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Saturday, July 19:

Animal Collective
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
No Age
Atlas Sound
Fleet Foxes

Sunday, July 20:

Spiritualized
M. Ward
Boris
Extra Golden
El Guincho

Tickets cost $30 for a day pass, $50 for Saturday/Sunday and $65 for all 3 days, which represents great value, and are available here.

Wrens news.

I found this on the Wrens board recently and it made me deliriously happy.

I found this on a "Cavern" message board. Pretty cool, boys, pretty cool...

Feb 25, 2008
The Wrens have "nearly finished" recording a new album.

The band previewed two new songs at the recording of Channel 4's Live From Abbey Road last week, their first new material since 2003's The Meadowlands.

A source said: "They're way ahead of schedule with the new album. Abbey Road isn't going on screen for a while, and the band felt it was the right time to see what people made of the new songs."

--Joel

Of course in the world of The Wrens "nearly finished" could mean "you're gonna have to wait another 2 years" but still I'm optimistic.

In other vaguely Wrens related news but more directly related to another of my favourite bands Okkervil River. Due to his old lady having a baby Okk Riv are losing guitarist Brian Cassidy as a full time touring member. It's tough, being a dad is expensive, probably requiring more cash then being in a marginally well known indie-rock band generates. In announcing the departure Will Sheff said in a press release, "All the sadness we're feeling about Brian's not being able to tour with us for the foreseeable future is outweighed by our happiness for him and his family."

Okkervil River do have a fairly full touring schedule lined up though so a replacement needs to be drafted in and as a stop gap they've gone for …

Wrens guitarist and singer Charles Bissell (told ya it was related) a.k.a. Charles Mexico a.k.a. Pedal Boy who will tour with them till the Autumn at which point they'll go looking for a full time guitarist.

I bought this book yesterday.



I hope it's good, there's plenty of room in the world for a really good Sonic Youth biog (their chapter in "Our Band Could Be Your Life" is excellent but stops in the middle of the 80's).

Anyway, considering that they're a band of 50 year olds Sonic Youth put most other groups to shame in terms of their workrate. Recently they released a remastered version of 1987's Master Dik EP (making it's debut on CD), it's available for purchase on their website.

Next up is the bands 7th SYR release (a.k.a. the reason their recent albums don't sound as weird as their early stuff) on April 22nd. It's a limited edition vinyl release featuring a, "22 minute drone piece" from the NYC Ghosts And Flowers era and a piece originally intended for an aborted collaboration between the band and a fashion designer. Expect both to be blowing the roof off of indie discos by the middle of May.

The YouTube video of the week



If you can you should go to these gigs.

Okkervil River

04-05 Dallas, TX - Granada
04-06 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone *
04-07 Bloomington, IN - Buskirk-Chumley Theater *
04-09 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre #
04-10 Pontiac, MI - The Crofoot Ballroom #
04-11 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall #
04-12 Munhall, PA - Carnegie Music Hall in Homestead #
04-13 Ithaca, NY - The State Theater of Ithaca #
04-14 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club #
04-16 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place #
04-17 Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre #
04-18 Nashville, TN - The Cannery #
04-19 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant #
04-20 Chicago, IL - Riviera #
04-21 Madison, WI - Orpheum #
04-22 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom #
04-24 Covington, KY - Mad Hatter
04-25 Hattiesburg, MS - Thirsty Hippo
05-16-18 Minehead, England - Butlins Holiday Centre (Explosions in the Sky ATP)
05-24-26 George, WA - The Gorge (Sasquatch!) #
05-29-31 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival
08-05-09 Oslo, Norway - Oya Festival! with Roky Erickson

* with Howlin' Rain
# with New Pornographers

Cloud Cult

04-08 Minneapolis, MN - Electric Fetus
04-11 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
04-12 Indianapolis, IN - Radio Radio $
04-13 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig $
04-14 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo
04-16 Boston, MA - Middle East
04-18 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
04-19 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
04-21 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
04-22 Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar $
04-24 Columbus, OH - The Basement
04-25 Chicago, IL - Schubas (two shows)
04-26 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
05-07 Bozeman, MT - Filling Station $
05-08 Missoula, MT - The Loft $
05-09 Seattle, WA - Neumos
05-10 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
05-13 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
05-14 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
05-16 Aspen, CO - Belly Up
05-17 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge ^
05-18 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
05-19 Omaha, NE - Slowdown ^

* with My Brightest Diamond
^ with Kid Dakota
$ with the Forms

Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobious Pip

04-01 Exeter, England - The Hub
04-02 Bristol, England - Thekla
04-03 Poole, England - Mr Kyps
04-05 Letchworth, England - Plinston Hall
04-06 Reading, England - South Street
04-07 Oxford, England - Academy
04-08 Northampton, England - Soundhaus
04-10 London, England - New Slang
04-12 Portsmouth, England - Wedgewood Rooms
04-13 Southend-on-Sea, England - Chinnery's
04-14 London, England - KOKO
04-15 Brighton, England - Concorde 2
04-17 Sheffield, England - Union Fuzz Club
04-18 York, England - The Junction
04-19 Leeds, England - The Cockpit
04-20 Stoke, England - Sugarmill
04-21 Manchester, England - Academy
04-23 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's
04-25 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
04-28 London, England - IndigO2 *
04-29 Cardiff, Wales - Barfly
04-30 Swindon, England - 12 Bar
05-01 Liverpool, England - Academy 2
05-02 Newcastle, England - Academy 3
05-03 Birmingham, England - Academy 2
05-04 Belfast, Northern Ireland - The Limelight
05-06 Derry, Northern Ireland - Nerve Centre
05-24 Towcester, England - Whittlebury Hall (Gatecrasher)
06-11 North Cornwall, England - Beachbreak Live
06-21 Maidenhead, England - Word on the Street
06-28 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop Festival
07-05 Knebworth, England - Wild in the Country
08-01 Hertfordshire, England - Standon Calling
08-02 Kendal, England - Kendal Calling

* with RZA

Leonard Cohen

06-06 Toronto, Ontario - Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
06-07 Toronto, Ontario - Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
06-14 Dublin, Ireland - IMMA
06-15 Dublin, Ireland - IMMA
06-17 Manchester, England - Opera House
06-18 Manchester, England - Opera House
06-19 Manchester, England - Opera House
06-20 Manchester, England - Opera House
06-23 Montreal, Quebec - Montreal Jazz Festival
06-24 Montreal, Quebec - Montreal Jazz Festival
06-25 Montreal, Quebec - Montreal Jazz Festival
06-29 Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival
07-01 Oslo, Norway - Aliset Stadium
07-03 Helsingborg, Sweden - Open Air
07-05 Copenhagen, Denmark - Rosenborg Castle
07-06 Aarhus, Denmark - Radhus Parken
07-08 Montreux, Switzerland - Montreux Jazz Festival
07-09 Lyon, France - Festival
07-10 Bruges, Belgium - Cactus
07-12 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Westerdam
07-16 Edinburgh, Scotland - Castle
07-17 London, England - O2 Arena
07-19 Lisbon, Portugal - Passelo Maritimo
07-20 Beniccasim, Spain - Benicassim Festival
07-22 Nice, France - Jazz Festival
07-25 Lorrach, Germany - Stimmen der Welt
07-27 Lucca, Italy - Summer Festival
07-29 Athens, Greece - Lykabettus Theatre

Writing under the influence

Without which this column would not have been possible:

Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts (Tea Partying Through Tornados)

The bit at the end

SXSW enforced lack of news items this week. Sorry.

Semi permanent plug for my blog. Bon Iver live material, rare Wrens stuff, Man Man and other treats.