Dancing About Architecture 4.08.08
Posted by Ian Wright on 04.08.2008
Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Phosphorescent, The new Weezer album, a National film, Beirut and more.
The bit at the start
Hello, sorry I wasn't around last week, I was busy fucking up my romantic life and sulking about it.
On the subject of sulking and being alone
A friend of mine recommended Phosphorescent to me a week and a half ago as we were waiting for the Ladyflash club, where a couple of bands I'm friendly with were playing, to start up. It's the ultra lo-fi alt country project of Matthew Houck and whoever else he can drag into his gang at any particular time. Regardless of what else happened that night and the quality of the performances (which were hampered a little by a malfunctioning kick drum mic buzzing like crazy) the knowledge that he imparted to me that Phosphorescent exists was worth the 7 in. Houck makes gorgeous, distant, shambling music full of droning synths, spacey guitars, gentle acoustic strumming and effortless falsettos. For some reason it reminds me of going for a walk in the snow on an icy winter's night with my old man when we were going through a power cut back in the day. I think I was about 8 at the time.
Houck's last record Pride is a bit of a gem and if you've been captured by the charms of Bon Iver in the 8 months or so you might really be into this too. There's a video for one of his songs down at the bottom but head over to his MySpace and check out "Wolves".
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
Following from the last column.
Cloud Cult Feel Good Ghosts (Tea Partying Through Tornados)
The other of my 2 favourite albums of the year.
You news, you lose
Extremely early new Weezer album details.
Weezer have a new album.
It will be released on June 17 on Interscope.
It is entitled Weezer.
This is the third album of that name they have released.
It will have a red cover and will presumably be dubbed "The Red Album" by most everybody.
Whether or not it will be a big steaming pile of shit like the last Weezer album (which wasn't named after the band) is unknown at this point.
You can resume your normal activities now.
Or you can read the rest of the column.
National news.
See this?
It's the cover to Vincent Moon's (the take away shows guy, check out the one of St. Vincent playing "Marry Me" on a bed. If your name is John, or a variant of same like mine is, try to resist the urge to scream "yes, yes, dear god yes Annie" at your monitor*) film about the making of my favourite album of last year, The National's Boxer. It'll be out on May 20th on Beggers Banquet.
Excitingly the DVD will also come with a 12 track EP containing a number of demos of National tunes, b-sides and covers ("About Today" live which originally appeared on the Cheery Tree EP is now a behemoth of a song).
Virginia EP:
01 You've Done It Again Virginia
02 Santa Clara
03 Blank Slate
04 Tall Saint (demo)
05 Without Permission
06 Forever After Days
07 Rest of Years (demo)
08 Slow Show (demo)
09 Lucky You (Daytrotter session)
10 Mansion on the Hill (live) (Spingsteen Cover)
11 Fake Empire (live)
12 About Today (live)
Looking forward to that Beirut gig were we?
The following was released by Beirut last week with regard to their upcoming summer European tour:
A Letter from Zach
It's with great regret that I have to tell all of you that Beirut is cancelling their summer European shows. My reasons for doing this are many, a lot of them personal, but I still feel I need to provide something of an explanation.
The past two years have been a mindblowing experience. From the first indications that people were putting songs from Gulag [Orkestar] up on their blogs to our incredible tour of Australia and New Zealand that we just completed, everything that has happened has been beyond anything I'd ever hoped could happen with the music I wrote and recorded in my bedroom. Once things started happening, I decided I wanted to do everything as big as possible. So, I set about putting together a large band, and giving that band a huge sound, and making the most spectacular records we possibly could.
I know this can sound like an artist shithead kind of comment, but going through all that really does have its low points along with the highs. The responsibilities of gathering people around your vision, working with great people like those who work directly for the band and those at the label, wanting to insure that every show is as good as humanly possible so that every single person in the audience sees that we put in a real effort, all of that leads to a lot of issues in terms of doing right by people who have done you right.
It's come time to change some things, reinvent some others, and come back at some point with a fresh perspective and batch of songs.
Please accept my apologies. I promise we'll be back, in some form.
-Zach
There's still a number of North American dates with tickets still on sale but here's the ones that have been scratched
06-26 Paris, France - Olympia
06-27 Évreux, France - Festival Le Rock
06-28 St. Gallen, Switzerland - Openair St. Gallen Festival
06-30 Munich, Germany - Muffathalle
07-01 Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur
07-02 Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall
07-03 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter
07-04 Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik
07-06 Gdynia, Poland - Heineken Open'er Festival
07-20 Benicassim, Spain - Benicassim Festival
07-24 Sines, Portugal - Festival Musicas do Mundo
08-06 Oslo, Norway - Øya Festival
08-08 Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West
08-15 Crickhowell, Wales - Green Man Festival
I find Zach Condon/Beirut to be really frustrating. The first album was half brilliant/half really dull but I felt The Flying Club Cup was a giant step forward in terms of consistency even though there was nothing on it that touched "Postcards From Italy". They were rubbish any time I saw them live as well.
Liars and Blinking Grizzly Bears.
Last column I reported that Liars would be opening for Radiohead on the first leg of their North American tour. It's since emerged that the Head have also invited Grizzly Bear along for some of the ride.
It's not confirmed which dates they'll be along for the ride on but I'm not sure if simply assuming that they'll be the second leg openers is the best idea. Still, cool if you like Radiohead AND Grizzly Bear. I don't, GB do little for me.
More Radiohead.
EMI are planning on putting out a Radiohead best of comprised of the material that the band recorded for them in the years before the release of In Rainbows. It's coming out in all sorts of multi-format forms; single disc CD, 2 disc CD featuring the single disc material and 13 other songs and 4LP Vinyl. Radiohead have always been wary of the greatest hit thing and it should be noted that though they'll be making money off of this they haven't sanctioned it. It's out on this side of the Atlantic on June 2nd.
The Best Of:
01 Just
02 Paranoid Android
03 Karma Police
04 Creep
05 No Surprises
06 High and Dry
07 My Iron Lung
08 There There (The Boney King of Nowhere.)
09 Lucky
10 Fake Plastic Trees
11 Idioteque
12 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm.)
13 The Bends
14 Pyramid Song
15 Street Spirit (Fade Out)
16 Everything in Its Right Place
The Best Of disc two:
01 Airbag
02 I Might Be Wrong
03 Go to Sleep (Little Man Being Erased.)
04 Let Down
05 Planet Telex
06 Exit Music (For a Film)
07 The National Anthem
08 Knives Out
09 Talk Show Host
10 You
11 Anyone Can Play Guitar
12 How to Disappear Completely
13 True Love Waits
The Best Of (vinyl):
A1 Just
A2 Paranoid Android
A3 Karma Police
A4 Creep
B1 No Surprises
B2 High and Dry
B3 My Iron Lung
B4 There There (The Boney King of Nowhere.)
C1 Lucky
C2 Fake Plastic Trees
C3 Idioteque
C4 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm.)
D1 The Bends
D2 Pyramid Song
D3 Street Spirit (Fade Out)
D4 Everything in Its Right Place
E1 Airbag
E2 I Might Be Wrong
E3 Go to Sleep
F1 Let Down
F2 Planet Telex
F3 Exit Music (For a Film)
G1 The National Anthem
G2 Knives Out
G3 Talk Show Host
H1 You
H2 Anyone Can Play Guitar
H3 How to Disappear Completely
H4 True Love Waits (Live)
In North America it'll be out on June 3rd and the single disc edition will feature Optimistic
The YouTube video of the week
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Radiohead
05-05 West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre *
05-06 Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre *
05-08 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre *
05-09 Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre *
05-11 Bristow, VA - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge *
05-14 St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre *
05-17 Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion *
05-18 Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center *
06-06 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide #
06-07 Dublin, Ireland - Malahide #
06-09 Paris, France - Bercy #
06-10 Paris, France - Bercy #
06-12 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum (Daydream Festival) *#^$
06-14 Nimes, France - Arenes #
06-15 Nimes, France - Arenes #
06-17 Milan, Italy - Civica Arena #
06-18 Milan, Italy - Civica Arena #
06-20 Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany - Southside Festival
06-22 Scheeßel, Germany - Hurricane Festival
06-24 London, England - Victoria Park #
06-25 London, England - Victoria Park #
06-27 Glasgow, Scotland - Glasgow Green #
06-29 Manchester, England - Lancashire County Cricket Club #
07-01 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Westerpark #
07-03 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-05 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-06 Arras, France - Main Square Festival
07-08 Berlin, Germany - Wuhlheide
08-08 Jersey City, NJ - All Points West Festival
08-09 Jersey City, NJ - All Points West Festival
08-13 Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center
08-15 Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheatre
08-20 Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheatre
08-22 San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival
10-04 Tokyo, Japan - Saitama Super Arena
10-05 Tokyo, Japan - Saitama Super Arena
* with Liars
# with Bat for Lashes
^ with Low, Clinic, Modeselektor
$ with Ensemble Nacional de España de Música Contemporánea, performing pieces by Jonny Greenwood and Radiohead
Flaming Lips
05-23 Chillicothe, IL - Summercamp
05-24 Philadelphia, PA - Penn's Landing (Jam on the River)
05-26 George, WA - The Gorge (Sasquatch! Festival)
06-06 Lawrence, KS - Wakarusa Festival
06-15 Birmingham, AL - City Stages Music Festival
07-19 Dorset, England - Camp Bestival
07-20 London, England - Lovebox Weekender
07-25 Detroit Lakes, MN - 10,000 Lakes Festival
07-26 Pemberton, British Columbia - Pemberton Festival
08-07 Haldern, Germany - Haldern Pop Festival
08-09 Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West Festival
Cursive
04-03 Madison, WI - University of Wisconsin *
04-04 Iowa City, IA - The Mill (Mission Creek Music Festival) *
04-05 Columbia, MO - Mojo's *
04-06 St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle *
04-07 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club *
04-08 Bloomington, IN - Rhino's *
04-09 Cincinnati, OH - Below Zero Lounge *
04-18 Danbury, CT - Heirloom Arts Theatre (Not Brooklyn Fest) #
04-20 Poughkeepsie, NY - Polish Club
04-21 Providence, RI - Club Hell
05-19 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
06-27 Chicago, IL - Subterranean
* with Capgun Coup
# with the Appleseed Cast
Spoon, the Walkmen, and White Rabbits
04-02 Kansas City, MO - Uptown
04-03 Davenport, IA - Capitol Theatre
04-04 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
04-05 Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
04-06 Detroit, MI - Emerald Theater
04-07 Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Music Hall
04-10 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
04-11 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
04-12 Norfolk, VA - Norva
04-14 Atlanta, GA - Centerstage
04-16 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
04-17 North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - House of Blues
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago
Pavement Wowee Zowee
The bit at the end
* I met Annie Clarke last time she played Dublin. Had an interesting (for me) chat about her gear with her. She's a charming lady.
My week was made last week when Bon Iver announced a Dublin date for June. I've been tracking down bootlegs of his gigs in the past few weeks. He's sounds pretty amazing live, can't wait.
Semi permanent plug for my blog. Stuff about Frightened Rabbit who are awesome, a few tracks by bands I've mentioned here, a video of the worlds greatest drummer, a Holy Fuck Radiohead remix and other stuff went up in the past week.
