Dancing About Architecture 01.20.09
Posted by Ian Wright on 01.20.2009
Pavement reunion, news from The Wrens, Radiohead, Dark Was The Night
The bit at the start
Happy Tuesday dudes, I'd say dudettes too but who am I kidding.
William Zantzinger died last week. Ordinarily I save the videos until the end but this song is good enough to make an exception for.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
The Taj Mahal Travellers – July 15, 1972
Wonderful droning Japanese experimentalism.
You news, you lose
The Night … It Was Dark
Dark Was The Night, a benefit compilation for the Red Hot Organisation is out next month (16th in the US, 17th in the UK) that's curated by the Dessner Brothers from The National. It's jam packed with exclusive songs from all sorts of indie luminaries like Bon Iver and Arcade Fire and … well why don't I just give you the tracklist:
This Disc:
01 Dirty Projectors and David Byrne: "Knotty Pine"
02 The Books [ft. Jose Gonzalez]: "Cello Song" (Nick Drake cover)
03 Feist and Ben Gibbard: "Train Song" (Vashti Bunyan cover)
04 Bon Iver: "Brackett, WI"
05 Grizzly Bear: "Deep Blue Sea"
06 The National: "So Far Around the Bend" (arrangement by Nico Muhly)
07 Yeasayer: "Tightrope"
08 My Brightest Diamond: "Feeling Good" (Nina Simone cover)
09 Kronos Quartet: "Dark Was the Night" (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
10 Antony and Bryce Dessner: "I Was Young When I Left Home" (Bob Dylan cover)
11 Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner: "Big Red Machine"
12 The Decemberists: "Sleepless"
13 Iron and Wine: "Stolen Houses (Die)"
14 Grizzly Bear and Feist: "Service Bell"
15 Sufjan Stevens: "You Are the Blood"
That Disc:
01 Spoon: "Well-Alright"
02 Arcade Fire: "Lenin"
03 Beirut: "Mimizan"
04 My Morning Jacket: "El Caporal"
05 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: "Inspiration Information" (Shuggie Otis cover)
06 Dave Sitek: "With a Girl Like You" (The Troggs cover)
07 Buck 65 [ft. Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti]: "Blood Pt 2" (based on "You are the Blood" by Castanets)
08 The New Pornographers: "Hey, Snow White" (Destroyer cover)
09 Yo La Tengo: "Gentle Hour" (Snapper cover)
10 Stuart Murdoch: "Another Saturday" (traditional)
11 Riceboy Sleeps: "Happiness"
12 Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues: "Amazing Grace" (traditional)
13 Andrew Bird: "The Giant of Illinois" (Handsome Family cover)
14 Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch: "Lua"
15 Blonde Redhead and Devestations: "When the Road Runs Out"
16 Kevin Drew: "Love vs. Porn"
Over the weekend I got my e-hands on a 9 track sampler from the album. In spite of the good intentions surrounding the project there's always the suspicion with things like this that there's a very good reason that the songs aren't being held back for the bands' own releases. The Arcade Fire song that's set to appear on the album (which isn't on the sampler but I've heard an old version of it) has been hanging around since the Funeral era and rarely if ever got a live outing. Similarly The National's "So Far Around The Bend", a decent song that harks back to the material from their self titled debut is, save for one brilliant turn of phrase from Matt Berninger ("take a bath and get high through an apple, wanted to cry but you can't when you're laughing,") and some lovely flourishes of woodwinds and French horns, something of a minor opus for them when put alongside the material on their two most recent albums. There is good stuff though, Grizzly Bear's "Deep Blue Sea" is a nice little acoustic guitar driven tune that's perhaps a little understated and conventional when put against the material from Yellow House but is plenty engaging.
Ultimately though of the 5 songs here by an established regular act it's only Sufjan Stevens' contribution, the 10 minute long "Blood" that's genuinely exciting. In a single song it's a distillation of many of the different styles of music he's attempted in the past 9 years. Opening with what's possibly the first bit of electronic music he's put out since Enjoy Your Rabbit, there's elements of A Sun Came's and Michigan's pastoral chanting. There's noisy, discordant guitar reminiscent of "Sister" from Seven Swans as well as lush Illinois-like arrangements, and this is all in one song. Throw in for good measure glitchy beats and a part that begins with some jazzy minimalist piano that twists itself into a section of chamber music if this is an indication of where Stevens is heading with his upcoming material then his next album could be something really special. Or at least a return to form after the overblown second effort in the 50 states project and its accompanying offcuts album.
That song aside though it's collaborations that are most impressive, possibly because they aren't the result of rummaging through the back of the press to find a song that they've never worn out. It's not saying much considering the general lack of regard that I hold Dirty Projectors in but their collaboration with David Byrne is probably my favourite thing of theirs that I've heard. Bon Iver and Dryw Scully's "Bracket, WI" sounds just like a Bon Iver song, which is no bad thing. The Books and Jose Gonzalez's reading of Nick Drake's "Cello Song" takes advantage of Gonzalez's gentle voice but thankfully dispenses with his boring guitar playing. The Feist and Ben Gibbard song though, bit of a stinker.
Of course, there's still another 21 songs that I've not heard. There's a new song from the record streamed every day on MySpace
Wrens news.
The following message sent by Jersey's finest (yes, I even like them more than Bruce) to their mailing list last week.
Hi, it's the wrens.
How are you? How were your holidays? The previous few years before that? Good, good.
I know, I know…you signed up for this thing like 5 years ago, when you were young, with-it, and actively involved in keeping up on other young, with-it people in bands. Like us. (we can hear the laughter through your inbox)
Now everyone's a little older (I just threw a hip hitting the space bar), and receiving mail from us is like getting notice that your My Two Dad's fanclub membership is in need of renewal. Well it is.
Nevertheless, we continue to actively stalk you, dear reader, with an email update sent out like clockwork ever year or so. Maybe more like calendarwork.
But with brevity as our theme, really just writing to say that:
- 2009 marks our 20th year as a band. Mindbending. And most of us we're in our 40's when we met. Kidding.
- we've just released a new song, Pulled Fences, our first since the Meadowlands, and another milestone, the first time the four of us were in one room working on new music in exactly 10 years. Trees make quicker progress.
- next Monday, the 19th, we begin recording in earnest for the next album etc. in our basement.
- you can read all about this on our spanking-new website:
www.wrens.com
...where we'll be posting mp3's of songs-in progress (starting with whatever comes out of next week's recordo kick-off), adding four more blogs to the web's pile of millions, trying some other crap we've got planned…you get the idea.
In fact, we recommend subscribing to the RSS feed to complete your wrens 2.0 experience.
Alternatively, there should be a "who are you, please remove me from the list, what was I thinking" link at the bottom.
thanks, as always,
the wrens
This news made my fucking 2009 already. You would have thought that being at a label that actually liked them it wouldn't be another 7 year wait between albums but we're nearly there and the follow up to The Meadowlands is only being started now. I hope they wrote plenty of tunes in the meantime.
Wrens news AND Radiohead news in a week oh joy is me.
Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood is is set to collaborate with Israeli singer Dudu Tasa (me neither) on Tasa's next single "What A Day". The song is in Hebrew and is streaming here.
Slightly more relevant and interesting Radiohead news
Come March 24th you'll be able buy all over again Radiohead's first 3 albums in expanded double and triple disc versions. While there's no unreleased material on the reissues there is admittedly plenty of stuff that didn't originally appear on the albums. The double disc versions will come with the original album and a bonus disc of b-sides and live performances. The triple disc version is the same as the double disc one but with a DVD featuring videos, more live footage, snazzy packaging and postcards.
Tracklists:
Pablo Honey (Special Collectors Edition)
CD1:
01 You
02 Creep
03 How Do You?
04 Stop Whispering
05 Thinking About You
06 Anyone Can Play Guitar
07 Ripcord
08 Vegetable
09 Prove Yourself
10 I Can't
11 Lurgee
12 Blow Out
CD2:
Drill EP:
01 Prove Yourself (Demo)
02 Stupid Car (Demo)
03 You (Demo)
04 Thinking About You (Demo)
"Creep" B-sides:
05 Inside My Head
06 Million Dollar Question
07 Yes I Am
08 Blow Out (Remix)
09 Inside My Head (Live)
10 Creep (Acoustic)
11 Vegetable (Live)
12 Killer Cars (Live)
"Anyone Can Play Guitar" B-sides:
13 Faithless, The Wonderboy
14 Coke Babies
"Pop Is Dead" single:
15 Pop Is Dead
16 Banana Co. (Acoustic)
17 Ripchord (Live)
"Stop Whispering" B-side:
18 Stop Whispering (U.S. version)
BBC Radio One session [06/22/92]:
19 Prove Yourself
20 Creep
21 I Can't
22 Nothing Touches Me
DVD:
Music Videos:
01 Creep
02 Anyone Can Play Guitar
03 Pop Is Dead
04 Stop Whispering
"Top of the Pops" [09/16/93]:
05 Creep
The Astoria, London – Live [05/27/94]:
06 You
07 Ripcord
08 Creep
09 Prove Yourself
10 Vegetable
11 Stop Whispering
12 Anyone Can Play Guitar
13 Pop Is Dead
14 Blow Out
The Bends (Special Collectors Edition)
CD1:
01 Planet Telex
02 The Bends
03 High and Dry
04 Fake Plastic Trees
05 Bones
06 (Nice Dream)
07 Just
08 My Iron Lung
09 Bullet Proof… I Wish I Was
10 Black Star
11 Sulk
12 Street Spirit (Fade Out)
CD2:
"My Iron Lung" B-sides:
01 The Trickster
02 Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong
03 Lozenge of Love
04 Lewis (Mistreated)
05 Permanent Daylight
06 You Never Wash Up After Yourself
15 Just
16 Maquiladora
17 Street Spirit (Fade Out)
18 Bones
DVD:
Music Videos:
01 High and Dry (UK Version)
02 High and Dry (US Version)
03 Fake Plastic Trees
04 Just
05 Street Spirit (Fade Out)
The Astoria, London – Live [5/27/94]:
06 Bones
07 Black Star
08 The Bends
09 My Iron Lung
10 Maquiladora
11 Fake Plastic Trees
12 Just
13 Street Spirit (Fade Out)
2 Meter Session, Holland [02/27/95]:
14 My Iron Lung
15 High and Dry
16 Fake Plastic Trees
17 Street Spirit (Fade Out)
"Later With Jools Holland" [05/27/95]:
18 The Bends
19 High and Dry
"Top of the Pops":
20 High and Dry (03/09/95)
21 Fake Plastic Trees (06/01/95)
22 Street Spirit (Fade Out) (02/01/96)
OK Computer (Special Collectors Edition)
CD1:
01 Airbag
02 Paranoid Android
03 Subterranean Homesick Alien
04 Exit Music (For a Film)
05 Let Down
06 Karma Police
07 Fitter Happier
08 Electioneering
09 Climbing Up the Walls
10 No Surprises
11 Lucky
12 The Tourist
05 Meeting in the Aisle
06 Lull
07 Climbing Up The Walls (Zero 7 Mix)
08 Climbing Up The Walls (Fila Brazillia Mix)
"No Surprises B-sides:
09 Palo Alto
10 How I Made My Millions
11 Airbag (Live in Berlin)
12 Lucky (Live in Florence)
BBC Radio One Evening Session [05/28/97]:
13 No Surprises
14 Climbing Up the Walls
15 Exit Music (For a Film)
DVD:
Music Videos:
01 Paranoid Android
02 Karma Police
03 No Surprises
"Later With Jools Holland" [05/31/97]:
04 Paranoid Android
05 No Surprises
06 Airbag
Whoo HOO
There's talk, and it's just a whisper at the minute but you never know, that a Pavement reunion might be on the cards. Ex guitarist Scott Kannberg told Loud And Quiet "I don't see why not, you know, it could be a fun thing to do, go and play your favourite songs every night. 2009 would be our twenty-year anniversary too, so that'd be a good time to do it, but I think that's too soon. It might have to be pushed back later."
Kannberg also said that the Coachella people have been chasing them to reform for their festival for some time now. Regarding getting back together to play in the sweltering heat the former Spiral Stairs said "Our booking agent's pretty strong, you know, he's waiting for the right number, I think."
I do think this will probably happen at some point. The demand for it is just too high for there never to be another Pavement show again. We'll just have to sit back and wait for it though. Apparently Mark Ibold is happy for it to happen as well.
The YouTube video of the week
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Handsome Furs
01-20 Rome, Italy - Traffic (Generiq Festival)
02-09 Berlin, Germany - Bang Bang Club
02-11 Paris, France - Point Ephemere (Super Festival)
02-12 Besançon, France - Le Cylindre (Generiq Festival)
02-13 Dijon, France - Le Vapeur (Generiq Festival)
02-14 Belfort, France - La Poudrière (Generiq Festival)
02-15 Zurich, Switzerland - Abart (Generiq Festival)
02-17 Brescia, Italy - Lio Bar
02-18 Milan, Italy - La Casa 139
02-19 Bologna, Italy - Lokomotiv
02-20 Rome, Italy - Traffic (Generiq Festival)
02-21 St. Malo, France - Route du Rock Winder Edition Festival
03-12 Ottowa, Ontario - Mavericks
03-13 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern
03-14 Champaign, IL - Blind Pig
03-15 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03-16 St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway
03-17 Columbia, MO - Mojo's
03-20 Austin, TX - Club Deville (SXSW)
03-21 Dallas, TX - The Loft
03-23 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Saloon
03-25 Fargo, ND - Aquarium (Dempsey's Upstairs)
03-26 Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
03-27 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop
03-28 Iowa City, IA - The Mill
03-30 Newport, KY - Southgate House
04-01 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
04-02 Syracuse, NY - Spark Art Space
Hugh Places
01-19 Los Angeles, CA - Kerckhoff Grand Salon at UCLA
01-20 Irvine, CA - Acrobatics Everyday
01-22 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo *
01-23 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill ^
01-24 Santa Cruz, CA - The Crepe Place #
02-05 Philadelphia, PA - Danger Danger Gallery $
02-06 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street Nightclub $
02-08 Boston, MA - Institute of Contemporary Art $
02-09 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern $
02-10 Hamilton, Ontario - Pepper Jack Cafe $
02-11 Buffalo, NY - Soundlab $
02-12 Princeton, NJ - The Terrace Club $
02-13 New York, NY - The New Museum %
02-19 Wellington, New Zealand - Bodega !
02-20 Auckland, New Zealand - Cassette 9 !
02-27 Sydney, Australia - Oxford Art Factory !
02-28 Melbourne, Australia - The Espy !
03-01 Adelaide, Australia - Urtext Studios !
03-06 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo ! ~
03-07 Perth, Australia - Perth Festival ~
03-26 Malmo, Sweden - Debaser
03-27 Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Medis
03-28 Umea, Sweden - Umea Open Festival
03-31 Turko, Finland - Dynamo
04-01 Helsinki, Finland - Kuudes Linja @
04-02 Oslo, Norway - Bla
04-03 Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
04-04 Aarhus, Denmark - Musikcafeen
* with Hecuba
^ with Mi Ami, NewVillager
# with Hawnay Troof
$ with Soft Circle
% with Grouper
! with Dan Deacon
~ with the Ruby Suns
@ with Ponytail
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
TV
The bit at the end
Dublin's finest record store, Road Records is closing this month after 11 years in business. It was run by two of the nicest people that you'd ever want to meet. Without them many independent Irish bands would have had nowhere to sell their releases. Not just Irish ones for that matter, they were the first people in the world to stock Josh Ritter's music. It's all terribly disappointing.
It was announced tonight that Kaka' wouldn't be transferring to Manchester City. It's probably good for the game.
Semi permanent plug for my blog. Football talk, there's a cool Star Wars vid, more music and reviews and stuff.
