Dancing About Architecture 5.20.08
Posted by Adam Tool on 05.20.2008
New release news from Futureheads and Bound Stems. Another band decides to give away their music for free. Thievery Corporation look to do some good after taking so very much. All this, and music for alien life forms. Seriously.
The bit at the start
Hello again. In case you clicked on this article title without reading anything behind it, I am not Ian Wright. My name is Adam Tool and I write for the 411 MMA zone. For anyone who missed it a few weeks ago, this is my second time filling in on this column. Ian's still recovering from the ATP Festival, but I'm sure he'll be back next week to regale you with stories of all the awesome bands he saw.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album
The Heavy Blinkers - The Night And I Are Still So Young
If there was a law against hooks and harmonies, this band will be in prison for life
You news, you lose
The Futureheads hate America
Okay not really, but they did push back the U.S. release of their new album for no reason whatsoever. The band's third LP This Is Not The World was scheduled for release here in the States next Tuesday May 27th, but has now been pushed back a week to June 3rd. However the album will still make it's scheduled release date in England, on May 26th.
That's not all. U.K. residents can also go to the band's website and pick up a deluxe edition of the album that features a 60-page booklet as well as a DVD of a recent live show. It's a limited edition, and like I said you can only get it from the band's online store.
But wait, there's more. In addition to all this new album news, the group has announced a slew of new tour dates. How many of those dates are here in America? Not a single one.
What do you have against us Futureheads? Still bitter about that tea thing?
Corporation of thieves work to end hunger
The Thievery Corporation are behind a new tour with some hefty goals. The band is headlining the six-city Outernational Music Tour, and they'll be joined onstage at all dates by Seu Jorge. The supporting acts vary from date to date, and they include TV On The Radio, Gnarls Barkley, Ladytron, and Bebel Gilberto.
At each stop of the tour representatives from the United Nations World Food Programme will be on hand to teach concertgoers about global efforts to stop hunger the world over. No jokes to be made here, so let's get to the dates.
06-20 San Francisco, CA - Greek Theatre (with Bebel Gilberto, Los Amigos Invisibles, Federico Aubele)
06-21 Las Vegas, NV - Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino (with Gnarls Barkley, Bebel Gilberto)
06-22 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl (with Bebel Gilberto, Los Amigos Invisibles, Federico Aubele)
06-24 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ (with Ocote Soul Sounds)
06-26 New York, NY - SummerStage (with Bebel Gilberto, Federico Aubele, Turntables on the Hudson)
06-28 Washington, DC - Merriweather Pavilion (with TV on the Radio, Ladytron, Federico Aubele, Turntables on the Hudson)
It‘s a trend I can definitely get behind
Did Radiohead really change the music industry? Every week it's looking more and more like they did. After putting their album up on the internet for people to download at any price they saw fit, more and more bands are taking Radiohead's lead and cutting out the middleman. A few weeks ago Trent Reznor surprised everyone by offering the latest Nine Inch Nails album The Slip free of charge. Now a group of charlatans are getting into the act. More specifically, The Charlatans.
If you go to this website you can download The Charlatans' (who have to add a UK to their name here in the U.S.) tenth studio album You Cross My Path, and it won't cost you a thing.
The Charlatans are a band that has had numerous #1 albums and singles in their home country of England, but they've never achieved any real level of success here in the U.S. Maybe the act of giving their music away will gain them some new fans stateside. Lord knows we Americans love getting something for nothing.
Lost & bound
I enjoyed Appreciation Night, the debut from Chicago's Bound Stems. However while it was good, I would hesitate to call it great. It was good enough though that I'm excited about their follow-up.
The band's second album is called The Family Afloat and it'll be out on September 9th.
Not soon enough? Well if you've got one of those old-timey-record players you can score a vinyl copy of the album on the band's summer tour (dates are listed below). The LP also includes an access code for a digital download of the album.
That's right, you have to buy the vinyl version to get the digital one. Kind of seems like the opposite of progress doesn't it?
The Family Afloat track listing:
01 Taking Tips From the Gallery Gang
02 Happens to Us All Otherwise
03 Passing Bell
04 Palace Flophouse and Grill
05 Clear Water & Concrete
06 Cloak of Blue Sky
07 Only Clementine Knows
08 Winston
09 Crossed Off Together
10 Sugar City Magic
But what if the aliens aren't techno fans?
Swedish techno artist Håkan Lidbo is spearheading a project to take music as far as it can go. Specifically, into the furthest reaches of space where it can be heard and appreciated by beings that may not even have ears.
Lidbo, in cooperation with the Swedish Space Corporation, is behind a new compilation of music specifically for alien life forms. Music For Alien Civilisations contains 13 tracks written and recorded by artists such as Olof Dreijer (of The Knife), Andreas Tillander (aka Mokira), Tobias von Hofsten (aka One), Smyglyssna, Krister Linder, Henrik Rylander, Sol Anderson, and Lidbo himself.
The album will be transformed into a signal and broadcast into space by Sweden's Esrange station on June 4th. That same day a CD version will be released for us human beings, but Lidbo is quick to point out that "the music is made for alien civilisations and it holds messages and structures that are meant to give an idea who we are...some sort of universal message, sometimes with codes of binary figures, sometimes with scales and frequencies to explain how we humans function."
You may still want to pick this up, in case our new alien overlords are big fans.
Music for Alien Civilisations:
01 Intro
02 Sol Andersson: "All Is Full of Love"
03 Ghostfriend & Plantagon: "The Message [ft. the Indigenous Peoples of the World Through the Voice of Oren Lyons]
04 Mokira: "Rymdeko"
05 Håkan Lidbo: "Planet Earth"
06 Smyglyssna: "Meanwhile"
07 18000018018018401 and Hab: "Who We Are"
08 Yourhighness: "Calling for Cosmos"
09 Claudia Bonarelli: "Apartamento"
10 Olof Dreijer: "Al Jazeera"
11 Mathtiiaas Rosén: "Sju Flagioletter"
12 Henrik Rylander: "Information and Disinformation for Alien Civilisations"
13 One: "Heal"
The YouTube video of the week
Bon Iver performing "Skinny Love" solo on Later…With Jools Holland
If you can you should go to these gigs
Spiritualized
05-20 London, England - Koko
05-23 Athens, Greece - Gagarin Club
05-24 Bristol, England - Dot to Dot Festival
05-25 Nottingham, England - Dot to Dot Festival
05-26 London, England - Rough Trade In-store
05-28 Dublin, Ireland - Tripod
05-29 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Mandela Hall
05-30 Bologna, Italy - Rocker Festival
06-29 Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival
07-10 Lisbon, Portugal - Alive Festival
07-12 Liege, Belgium - Les Ardentes Festival
07-18 Benicassim, Spain - Beniscassim Festival
07-20 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07-21 Nashville, TN - City Hall Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
07-22 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse Nashville, TN - City Hall
07-23 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
07-25 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
07-27 New York, NY - Terminal 5
08-01 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
08-02 Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
08-03 Montreal, Quebec - Osheaga
08-09 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-10 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic Festival
08-15 Glanusk Park, Wales - Green Man Festival
08-30 Argyll, Scotland - Connect Festival
09-06 Toronto, Ontario - Toronto Islands Park
09-17 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
09-27 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits
Futureheads
05-23 Aberdeen, Scotland - Moshulu
05-24 Dundee, Scotland - Fat Sam's
05-25 Sheffield, England - Leadmill
05-26 Manchester, England - Academy 2
05-28 Coventry, England - Kasbah
05-29 London, England - Electric Ballroom
05-30 Southend-on-Sea, England - Chinnery's
06-01 Cambridge, England - Junction
06-02 Shrewsbury, England - Buttermarket
06-03 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
06-05 Paris, France - Le Trabendo
06-06 Nürburgring, Germany - Rock am Ring
06-07 Nuremberg, Germany - Rock im Park
06-11 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
06-12 Hultsfred, Sweden - Hultsfred Festival
06-14 The Hague, Netherlands - Music in My Head Festival
06-17 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
06-28 Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival
06-29 Oxfordshire, England - Wakestock Festival
07-05 Bonn, Germany - Rheinkultur Festival
07-06 Abersoch, Wales - Wakestock Festival
07-11 Kinross, Scotland - T in the Park
07-27 Niigata, Japan - Fuji Rock Festival
08-01 Munich, Germany - Sonnenrot Festival
08-09 Newquay, England - Unleashed Festival
08-10 Rothenburg, Germany - Taubertal Festival
08-14 Gampel, Switzerland - Campel Open Air Festival
08-16 Chelmsford, England - Hylands Park (V Festival)
08-17 Staffordshire, England - Weston Park (V Festival)
09-01 Konstanz, Germany - Rock Am See
Bound Stems
07-11 Chicago, IL - Schubas
07-18 Muncie, IN - Village Green Records
07-19 Toronto, Ontario - Sneaky Dee's
07-20 Montreal, Quebec - Jupiter Room
07-21 Boston, MA - Middle East
07-22 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
07-23 Philadelphia, PA - M-Room
07-24 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
07-25 Washington, DC - Velvet Lounge
07-26 Pittsburgh, PA - Howler's Coyote Lounge
The Dodos
05-29 Bristol, England - Louisiana
05-30 Nottingham, England - Red Room
06-01 Birmingham, England - Bar Academy
06-02 London, England - Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
06-03 London, England - Amersham Arms
06-04 Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje
06-05 Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
06-06 Diksmuide, Belgium - 4AD
06-07 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
06-08 Berlin, Germany - Magnet
06-09 Cologne, Germany - Luxor
06-11 Manchester, England - Night & Day Café
06-12 Glasgow, Scotland - Beat Club
06-13 Dublin, Ireland - Crawdaddy
06-19 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
06-24 Portland, OR - The Doug Fir *
06-25 Seattle, WA - Neumos *
06-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - The Bourbon
06-28 Calgary, Alberta - Sled Island Festival
07-02 Boise, ID - Downtown Boise Summer Series Festival
07-04 Bozeman, MT - The Filling Station
07-07 Fargo, ND - Aquarium
07-08 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
07-09 Madison, WI - UW Terrace
07-11 Grand Rapids, MI - DAAC
07-19 Brooklyn, NY - Coney Island (Siren Festival)
07-20 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival) $
07-25 Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party
08-07 Oslo, Norway - Øya Festival
08-08 Gothenburg, Sweden - Way Out West Festival
08-09 Rees-Haldern, Germany - Haldern Festival
08-15 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
09-28 New York, NY - Spiegeltent
10-02 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts
10-03 Hanover, NH - Fuel
10-04 Montreal, Quebec - Pop Montréal
10-10 Richmond, IN - Earlham College
10-17 Carlisle, PA - Dickinson College
* with The Ohsees
$ with Spoon, Dinosaur Jr., Spiritualized, M. Ward, Ghostface and Raekwon, Les Savy Fav, the Apples in Stereo, Boris, Dirty Projectors, Times New Viking, Cut Copy, Bon Iver, King Khan & His Shrines, El Guincho, Fuck Buttons, HEALTH, High Places, Mahjongg
Hot Chip
05-25 Northamptonshire, England - Gatecrasher Summer Sound System Festival
06-06 Nürburg, Germany - Nürburgring Racetrack (Rock am Ring Festival)
06-07 Nuremburg, Germany - Frankenstadion (Rock im Park Festival)
06-27-29 Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival
07-03 London, England - Hyde Park (02 Wireless Festival)
07-04 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter
07-05 Arvika, Sweden - Arvika Festival
07-06 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-12 Naas, Ireland - Oxygen Festival
07-13 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park Festival
07-18 Barcelona, Spain - Benicassim Festival
07-19 Madrid, Spain - Benicassim Festival
07-20 Ferropolis, Germany - Melt! Festival
08-16 Stafford, England - V Festival
08-17 Chelmsford, England - V Festival
09-06 Isle of Wight, England - Bestival
09-21 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern
09-22 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern
09-23 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater
09-25 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
09-26 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
09-28 Chicago, IL - Metro
09-29 Chicago, IL - Metro
09-30 Toronto, Ontario - Koolhaus
10-01 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
10-03 New York, NY - Terminal 5
10-04 New York, NY - Terminal 5
10-05 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
10-07 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
10-08 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10-09 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10-23 Southampton, England - Guildhall
10-24 Cardiff, Wales - University
10-25 Liverpool, England - Carling Academy
10-26 Leeds, England - Carling Academy
10-28 Sheffield, England - Carling Academy
10-29 Birmingham, England - Carling Academy
10-30 Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange
11-01 Manchester, England - Apollo
11-02 Glasgow, Scotland - Carling Academy
11-03 Leicester, England - University
11-05 Brighton, England - Dome
11-06 London, England - Brixton Academy
11-07 London, England - Brixton Academy
Bon Iver
05-20 London, England - Scala %
05-22 The Hague, Netherlands - Paard
05-23 Ottersum, Netherlands - Roepaen
05-24 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso (Upstairs)
05-27 Paris, France - La Trabendo
05-29 Ghent, Belgium - Vooruit
05-31 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum (Primavera Sound)
06-02 Dublin, Ireland - Crawdaddy
06-04 London, England - St Giles-in-the-Fields Church
06-21 Minneapolis, MN - Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (Rock the Garden) !
07-20 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival) $
07-21 Detroit, MI - Crofoot Ballroom #
07-22 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace #
07-23 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret Music Hall #
07-25 Portland, ME - SPACE Gallery #
07-26 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Art #
07-27 Dennis, MA - Cape Cinema #
07-29 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #
07-30 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg #
07-31 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church #
08-01 Washington, DC - Black Cat #
08-02 Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theatre #
08-03 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center Performance Space #
08-04 Indianapolis, IN - The Lawn at White River !
08-06 Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre !
08-07 Charleston, SC - North Charleston Performing Arts Center !
08-08 Cary, NC - Koka Booth Amphitheatre !
08-10 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light ^
08-11 Nashville, TN - Exit/In ^
08-12 Bloomington, IN - Waldron Arts Center ^
08-14 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater ^
08-15 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue ^
08-24 San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands Festival)
08-25 West Hollywood, CA - The Troubadour ^
% with Jens Lekman
! with New Pornographers, Andrew Bird, Cloud Cult
$ with Spoon, Dinosaur Jr., Spiritualized, M. Ward, Ghostface and Raekwon, Les Savy Fav, the Apples in Stereo, Boris, Dirty Projectors, Times New Viking, Cut Copy, the Dodos, King Khan & His Shrines, El Guincho, Fuck Buttons, HEALTH, High Places, Mahjongg
# with Bowerbirds
! with Wilco
^ with A.A. Bondy
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible.
Bodies of Water - Ears Will Pop And Eyes Will Blink
Patton Oswalt - Werewolves and Lollipops
The bit at the end
Semi permanent plug for Ian's blog. I do have my own blog, but it's not very interesting at the moment so I'll just point you to his instead.
That's all for me. Ian should be back here next week.
If you're into that sort of thing, be sure to check me out in the MMA zone. This is a big week over there as we've got a tremendous UFC card coming up this Saturday. It really should be an excellent night of guys beating the crap out of each other.
