Dancing About Architecture 11.18.08
Posted by Ian Wright on 11.18.2008
It’s a “coming soon new music from” extravaganza featuring The Wrens, Bruce Springsteen, Liam Finn, Handome Furs, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Bon Iver.
The bit at the start
Wow, it's late, nearly 2AM here. No time for the small talk.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
You know what? I recommend an album every week. Return the favour. There's a comment box at the bottom. Recommend one single album to me.
You news, you lose
Great news to start the week.
So great in fact that I'm just going to quote the press release as it speaks for itself and then go "whoop".
Working on a Dream was recorded with the E Street Band and features twelve new Springsteen compositions plus two bonus tracks. It is the fourth collaboration between Springsteen and Brendan O'Brien, who produced and mixed the album.
Track list:
1. Outlaw Pete
2. My Lucky Day
3. Working On a Dream
4. Queen of the Supermarket
5. What Love Can Do
6. This Life
7. Good Eye
8. Tomorrow Never Knows
9. Life Itself
10. Kingdom of Days
11. Surprise, Surprise
12. The Last Carnival
Bonus tracks:
The Wrestler
A Night with the Jersey Devil
Springsteen said, "Towards the end of recording Magic, excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing. When my friend producer Brendan O'Brien heard the new songs, he said, ‘Let's keep going.' Over the course of the next year, that's just what we did, recording with the E Street Band during the breaks on last year's tour. I hope Working on a Dream has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we've ever done. All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes, and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end."
Working on a Dream is Bruce Springsteen's twenty-fourth album and was recorded and mixed at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, GA with additional recording in New York City, Los Angeles, and New Jersey.
WHOOP.
Also on the new album front..
Those Wolf Parade members never stop. The second Handsome Furs (that's WP's Dan Boeckner plus wife Alexei Perry for the uniformed) album, entitled Face Control is on the way via Sub Pop on February third.
The album was recorded and mixed by Boeckner's Wolf Parade band mate Arlen Thompson at his Mount Zoomer studio and then mastered by Harris Newman at Godspeed! You Black Emperor's Hotel2Tango studio.
Tracklist:
Legal Tender
Evangeline
Talking Hotel Arbat Blues
(Passport Kontrol)
All We Want, Baby, Is Everything
I'm Confused
(White City)
Nyet Spasiba
Officer of Hearts
(It's Not Me, It's You)
Thy Will Be Done
Radio Kalininbrad
I'm really looking forward to this. Spencer Krug gets all the props for Sunset Rubdown and the prolific rate that he writes songs but I really liked Plague Park lots and not to mention the fact that Boeckner wrote "Shine A Light".
Bon bon (it's French).
Also releasing fresh material is Bon Iver in the form of a new EP, due out on CD and 12" in the middle of January (or even earlier if you catch them, I think it's safe to refer to Bon Iver as a "them" at this point, on their December tour.). It's called Blood Bank.
1. Blood Bank
2. Beach Baby
3. Babys
4. Woods
That's the tracklisting by the way. Live versions of tracks 1 and 3 are pretty easily found on YouTube and I'm not especially taken with them. Maybe they need time to grow on me. I dunno.
Another "new music from…" post.
This might be the shortest news item I've ever posted. There's a new song by my favourite band of all time here.
And again?
This time it's a new album from Bonnie "Prince" Billie who will release an album called Beware! on March 17th. In addition to Oldham's usual band the album features contributions from Dee Alexander, Leroy Bach (ex-Wilco), Jim Becker, Robert Cruz, DV DeVincentis, Jon Langford (Mekons), Greg Leisez, Rob Mazurek (Chicago Underground/Isotope 217, Exploding Star Orchestra), Nicole Mitchell (Exploding Star Orchestra, Frequency), and Azita Youseffi.
01 Beware Your Only Friend
02 You Can't Hurt Me Now
03 My Life's Work
04 Death Final
05 Heart's Arms
06 You Don't Love Me
07 You Are Lost
08 I Won't Ask Again
09 I Don't Belong to Anyone
10 There Is Something I Have to Say
11 I Am Goodbye
12 Without Work, You Have Nothing
13 Untitled
One more.
This one isn't as cool a name to drop as what went before but he's actually a super songwriter and much admired considering who he's drafted in to help out.
Neil Finn's last solo album featured contributions from the likes of Johnny Marr, Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien and drummer Phil Selway, and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano. Well for his next they're all back to help out again but on top of that Finn is drafting in Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, and Pat Sansone (all of Wilco), his son Liam Finn, plus fellow New Zealanders Don McGlashan and Bic Runga.
Recording is set for the Christmas and new year's period at Finn's Auckland Roundhead Studios.
As it's not been recorded yet then there's no tracklisting.
The YouTube video of the week
Don't like his band but I covet his guitar collection.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Bonnie "Prince" Billie
11-21 Lexington, KY - Old Tarr Distillery (with the Picket Line) (Save Kentucky's Hemlocks benefit)
11-26 Sorocaba, Brazil - Usina Cultural
11-27 Sao Paulo, Brazil - Studio SP
11-28 Salvador, Brazil - Boomerangue
11-30 Porto Alegre, Brazil - Centro Cultural Santander
03-19 Minneapolis, MN - Walker Art Center (two shows)
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
Blitzen Trapper – Furr
Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements
The bit at the end
Also coming next year … some time. A new Bell Orchestre record. And next June, a new Sunset Rubdown.
Semi permanent plug for my blog. Loads of shit this week. I've been busy.
