Dancing About Architecture 09.02.08
Posted by on 09.02.2008
Merge settles the score, Beck gets ready for some quality time with his father, Danielson compacts his catalog, Stars unleash some sad robots, and you can blow just like Bob Dylan.
The bit at the start
Hello again. I am not Ian Wright. He's off at a picnic. Or maybe it was a festival.
No, wait. He's actually at the Picnic Festival. Good for him.
My name is Adam Tool and while I rarely venture out of my home in the MMA zone, I do share Ian's love of music outside of the mainstream. This is my third time filling in on Dancing About Architecture so rest assured that you are in good hands.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album
The Uglysuit
Big hooks. Sweeping melodies. It's all here.
You news, you lose
What‘s the score?
One of the biggest independent labels, Merge Records, will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. To commenerate the event the label is releasing a box set entitled SCORE! Merge Records: The First 20 Years. The box set will consist of 14 compilations spanning the company's entire catalog. These compilations will be curated by a variety of individuals and released exclusively through a subscription service. Quanities will be limited to the number of people that pre-order between September 8th and the end of 2008.
The first two volumes will be curated by Peter Buck of R.E.M. and director Phil Morrison. Future volumes will be curated by the likes of David Byrne, comedienne Amy Poehler, author Jonathan Lethem, artist Marcel Dzama, Momofuku chef David Chang, and more. Each set will feature selections picked personally by the curator along with original artwork.
Proceeds from the sales of SCORE! will go to benefit charitable causes handpicked by the curators.
No tracklistings or song selections have been announced, but there's quite a lot of stuff to pick from. The lineup of Merge artists includes: The Arcade Fire, Spoon, Camera Obscura, Dinosaur Jr., …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, M. Ward, Caribou, Destroyer, The Rosebuds, Robert Pollard, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Clientele, Imperial Teen, The Magnetic Fields, and many more.
The family that plays together…
On September 20th the original indie rocker Beck will headline a one of a kind show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles alongside Spoon and MGMT. Also in attendence that night will be Beck's dad, David Campbell. However Campbell won't simply be cheering his son from the audience, but instead the two will be sharing the stage.
In addition to siring one of the coolest rock stars ever, David Campbell is also a very well known arranger-conducter. Campbell will be conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Strings as they play along with his son.
You may not be too familiar with Campbell, but there's a good chance you've heard some of the artists he's worked with over the years: Paul McCartney, Marvin Gaye, The Rolling Stones, Carole King, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, and Cat Power. He's also arranged strings for several of his son's records as well.
Did I step on your compilation?
A few years ago Danielson (a.k.a. Daniel Smith) had his big breakthrough when he released the excellent Ships. Anyone who liked that album probably did a little digging and discovered that Danielson had been releasing music (both as a solo act and as Danielson Famile) for quite some time. For an artist with a growing fan base and a huge back catalog there can be only one solution: anthology time!
On November 4th Danielson will release Trying Hartz, a collection of 28 tracks from the pre-Ships days. There are album tracks, alternate versions, live cuts and a few previously unreleased gems as well. The booklet will contain Mr. Smith's personal feelings about each and every song, along with additional material written by novelist Rick Moody.
Tracklisting? You're soaking in it.
Disc 1:
01 Now Try
02 Body English
03 Flip Flop Flim Flam
04 Singers Go First
05 Jersey Loverboy
06 Animal in Every Corner
07 Rubbernecker
08 Sold! To the Nice Rich Man! (live)
09 Thanx to Noah
10 Rallying the Dominoes
11 The Lord's Rest (live)
12 A Meeting With Your Maker
13 Daughters Will Tune You
14 Runnin' to Brother
Disc 2:
01 A No No
02 Good News for the Pus Pickers
03 Don't You Be the Judge (live)
04 The Wheel Made Man
05 Fetch the Compass Kids (live)
06 Idiot Boksen
07 Nice of Me (live)
08 Cutest Lil' Dragon (live)
09 Pottymouth
10 Southern Paws
11 I Am My Beloved's (live)
12 Hammers Sitting Still (live)
13 Smooth Death
14 Cheer Hart
Danielson has also lined up dates for a North American tour, and they can be found below in the usual place.
Sad robots seeing stars
Yesterday, the "other" indie Canadian musical collective Stars released a new EP entitled Sad Robots. Don't bother going to your favorite CD shop to buy it though, as the set is available exclusively via digital download at sadrobots.ca.
If you're the kind of person that simply must purchase all of your music in physical form, you'll have a chance to pick up the EP exclusively at one of the band's upcoming tour dates (which can be found below).
Sad Robots features five new tracks as well as a live version of the song "Going, Going, Gone." If you head to the website now you can download the live track for free.
Here's the tracklisting:
01 Maintenance Hall, 4am
02 A Thread Cut With a Carving Knife
03 Undertow
04 Going, Going, Gone (live)
05 14 Forever
06 Sad Robot
Blow on this
Numerous rock stars and rappers have lent their name and likeness to a product, whether it's a line of signature guitars, a new energy drink, or a video game. Now the guy that you thought would never sell-out is putting his endorsement on a new product.
Music legend Bob Dylan has partnered with Hohner USA to create the Bob Dylan Signature Series of harmonicas.
Yes. Harmonicas.
Each harmonica in the series of seven (available individually or as a complete set) features a stamp of Dylan's signature and a logo designed by him.
But wait, maybe you're a big Bob Dylan fan. Perhaps something of the more obsessive-compulsive variety.
Then you'll want to get your hands on the limited box set. This set features seven Marine Band harmonicas in the natural keys (C, G, D, F, A, B, and E) that Dylan himself has pre-tested (no word on if his saliva will be a part of the deal). Good luck getting the set though because Hohner is only making 25 of them.
They'll also be producing a limited series of 100 individual Marine Band harmonicas (in C) as well, and all of the limited edition harmonicas will feature Dylan's actual signature.
The limited editions will be available only through Sam Ash Music beginning on October 29th.
If you can you should go to these gigs
Beck
09-19 San Diego, CA - Street Scene Festival
09-20 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl $%^
09-22 Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theater %
09-23 Albuquerque, NM - Kiva Auditorium %
09-25 El Paso, TX - Abraham Chavez Theatre %
09-27 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Festival)
09-29 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater %
09-30 Minneapolis, MN - Wilkins Auditorium %
10-02 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom %
10-03 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom %
10-05 Toronto, Ontario - Sound Academy %
10-06 Montreal, Quebec - St. Denis Theatre %
10-09 New York, NY - United Palace %
10-10 New York, NY - United Palace %
$ with Spoon
% with MGMT
^ with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Strings, conducted by David Campbell
Danielson
10-31 New York, NY - Knitting Factory *
11-02 Philadelphia, PA - TBA *
11-04 Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Pike Room *
11-05 Chicago, IL - Reggies *
11-06 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club *
11-07 Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room *
11-08 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive *
11-09 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court *
11-11 Seattle, WA - Vera Project *+
11-12 Portland, OR - Backspace *+
11-14 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
11-15 West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour *^
11-16 Phoenix, AZ - Modified *
11-18 Austin, TX - Mohawk *
11-19 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington*
11-20 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater *$
11-21 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone *
11-22 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
11-23 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle *
* with Cryptacize
+ with Bart Davenport
^ with Soul Junk
$ with Mount Righteous
Stars
09-17 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street *
09-18 Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel *
09-19 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero *
09-20 New York, NY - Terminal 5 *
09-22 Columbus, OH - Milo Arts *
09-23 Newport, KY - Southgate House *
09-24 Chicago, IL - The Vic *
09-25 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant *
09-26 Lawrence, KS - The Granada *
09-28 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Music Festival)
10-01 Los Angeles, CA - Avalon #
10-02 Anaheim, CA - House of Blues #
10-03 Santa Barbara, CA - UC Santa Barbara #
10-04 Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre #
10-06 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore #
10-07 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall #
10-08 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom #
10-09 Seattle, WA - Showbox Theatre #
10-10 Bellingham, WA - Western Washington University #
10-29 Fredericton, New Brunswick - SUB Ballroom ^
10-30 Moncton, New Brunswick - The Manhattan Club ^
10-31 Charlottestown, Prince Edward Island - The Wave ^
11-01 Halifax, Nova Scotia - The Marquee Club ^
11-03 St. John's, Newfoundland - Club One ^
* with Bell X1
# with Think About Life
% with Hey! Rosetta
Animal Collective
09-20 Hasselt, Belgium - Open Circuit Festival
10-11 Berlin, Germany - Berghain
10-12 Warsaw, Poland - Fabryka Trzciny
10-13 Krakow, Poland - Jazz Club Hipnoza
10-14 Prague, Czech Republic - Archa Theatre
10-15 Vienna, Austria - Arena
10-16 Ljubljana, Slovenia - Menza pri Koritu
10-17 Bratislava, Slovakia - A4
10-18 Zagreb, Croatia - Teatat and TD
10-19 Belgrade, Serbia - Dom Omladine
10-20 Skopje, Macedonia - Mac MKC
10-21 Thessaloniki, Greece - Principle Theatre
10-22 Athens, Greece - Gagarin 205
10-23 Tel Aviv, Israel - Zappa
10-24 Istanbul, Turkey - Babylon
10-25 Valencia, Spain - Greenspace Festival
11-06 Buenos Aires, Argentina - La Trastienda
11-08 São Paulo, Brazil - Planeta Terra Festival
11-13 Lima, Peru - Video and Sound Festival
11-14 Lima, Peru - Centro Fundación Telefónica
Tilly And The Wall
09-14 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks (Monolith Festival)
09-15 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue *
09-17 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom *
09-18 Seattle, WA - Showbox *
09-19 Portland, OR - Roseland *
09-20 San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine - Treasure Island After Party
09-22 Los Angeles, CA - Mayan Theatre *
09-23 Los Angeles, CA - Mayan Theatre *
09-24 Pomona, CA - The Glass House *
09-25 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
09-26 Albuquerque, NM - Historic El Rey Theater
10-17 London, England - Pure Groove
10-18 London, England - Matter
10-20 Southampton, England - Brook
10-21 Birmingham, England - Barfly
10-22 Manchester, England - Manchester Club Academy
10-23 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
10-24 Leeds, England - Cockpit
10-25 London, England - ULU
10-27 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Limelight
10-28 Dublin, Ireland - Andrews Lane Theatre
10-29 Cork, Ireland - Cyprus Avenue
10-30 Galway, Ireland - Róisín Dubh
* with CSS
No Age
09-04 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom (Musicfest NW) #
10-14 Brighton, England - Komedia *
10-15 Liverpool, England - Academy 2 *
10-16 Leeds, England - Irish Centre *
10-17 Dublin, Ireland - Whelan's *
10-18 Glasgow, Scotland - School of Arts *
10-20 London, England - Electric Ballroom *
10-21 Bristol, England - Fleece *
10-22 Manchester, England - Academy 3 *
11-10 Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel
11-11 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
11-12 Washington, DC - Black Cat ^
11-13 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern
11-14 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
11-15 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
11-16 St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle
11-17 Madison, WA - Club 770
11-18 Chicago, IL - Reggies Rock Club
11-19 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
11-20 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop %
11-21 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace
11-22 Montreal, Quebec - Theatre Plaza
11-23 Worcester, MA - The Grind at Clark University
11-24 Cambridge, MA - Middle East (Downstairs)
# with Battles
* with Los Campesinos!, Times New Viking
^ with Diplo, Abe Vigoda, Telepathe, Boy 8-Bit
% with Matt & Kim
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
The Besnard Lakes - Volume I
Final Fantasy - Spectrum, 14th Century
The bit at the end
That's all for now. Ian will be back next week. Thanks for reading.
