Dancing About Architecture 02.03.09
Posted by Ian Wright on 02.03.2009
A bosstravaganza, new music from Doves, the people go nuts for indie music, buy Meg Whites drums, Frightened Rabbit, Dan Deacon to go on a monster tour and more.
The bit at the start
There are many reasons for me to love Bruce Springsteen. There's the fact that at the age of 7 my father bought the 5 LP live 75-85 boxset and, not trusting me with the record player, dubbed it all on to tape for me. That was all that I listened to for about 4 years.
There's the wonderful albums that he's made (well, no really wonderful ones since 87) and the dozens of brilliant songs that he's written (and he's still cranking out the occasional one of those).
There's the fact that at 59 years of age he and his band remain one of the most thrilling and engaging live acts in the world.
But right now I love him for what happened on Sunday night.
And I don't mean this
In front of what is probably the biggest TV audience he'll ever play to and with a new album just out he HAD to play something off of it. But instead on ramming it down people's throats he chose to play the bare minimum from the record's lead single so he could fit more in from the hits.
I'll be seeing Bruce and the E-Streeters on July 12th. I'm taking my father with me, he got me in Springsteen (and by extension music) and then took me to see him in 93 and 99. I'm really glad that I'm getting to return the favour.
Beg, borrow, buy, steal or download this album.
Lotus Plaza The Floodlight Collective
Almost Cryptograms Pt. 2 from Deerhunter guitarists side project.
You news, you lose
More Bruce
Sure Springsteen might empathise with the common man that goes to work at 7AM and who works a 23 hour shift down the mines (though there ain't been much work there lately, they've been laying people off, on account of the economy) and who dreams of bustin' out of some no-horse town with only a big engine in front of him, his baby beside him and a satchel full of dreams in the back seat (not sure why they don't use the trunk for storage) but every now and again he does make a misstep.
Like for example agreeing to release a Greatest Hits CD that was sold exclusively through not friend of the blue collar working man mega chain WalMart. The Boss is obviously not hurting for a few shekels and many long time fans did display disappointment at the move. So many in fact that a face saving move was in order.
"We just dropped the ball on it," Springsteen told The New York Times. "It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be."
In other Boss news his 1978 classic (and my second favourite studio album of his after Nebraska) Darkness On The Edge Of Town is set for the super deluxe reissue treatment. In fact, according to manager Jon Landou it's "not that far from completion, and when we can find six weeks to sit down and finish it I'm sure we will."
Much like the Born To Run reissue the collection will include a remastered version of the album, a making of documentary and a bunch of live footage.
Bruce is a pretty busy man right now though what with a new album out and a new tour to prepare for. Getting those 6 weeks might not be an easy thing.
Why not? It's not like she got that much use out of them even before she got too scared of playing live to tour.
For sale:
Drum Kit.
One previous owner.
Hardly used.
Last seen in the video for The White Stripes "The Hardest Button To Button" video.
Proceeds to go to The Jim Shaw (a Detroit musician who has cancer, which is as serious as well you can guess) fundraiser appeal.
How unexpected, last week three notable indie acts had releases in the Billboard top 20. Winning the battle of the titanic nobodies was Andrew Bird, whose disappointing Noble Beast sold 25,000 copies and was at #12, one place lower was Animal Collective who sold a similar amount of copies of Merriwether Post Pavilion and finally there was Bon Iver at #16 who shifted 23,000 Blood Bank EP's. Were they all on Grey's Anatomy the week before or something?
By the way, if anyone has a live version of "Woods" from that Bon Iver EP that isn't vocordered to shit then hook me up please.
Thanks.
Release the Doves
Doves have a new record ready to go. It's called Kingdom Of Rust and it'll be out on Astal Work on April 6th in the UK and a day later in the US. You can listen to the first single from it here.
Tracklisting:
01 Jetstream
02 Kingdom of Rust
03 The Outsiders
04 Winter Hill
05 10.03
06 The Greatest Denier
07 Birds Flew Backwards
08 Spellbound
09 Compulsion
10 House of Mirrors
11 Lifelines
Oh, and here's the cover art
The YouTube video of the week
Frightened Rabbit are embarking on an acoustic tour in a couple of months. Here's what it will probably sound a bit like.
If you can you should go to these gigs.
Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
04-01 San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion at San Jose
04-03 Glendale, CA - Jobing.com Center
04-05 Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center
04-07 Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
04-08 Houston, TX - Toyota Center
04-10 Denver, CO - Pepsi Arena
04-15 Los Angeles, CA - LA Memorial Sports Arena
04-21 Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
04-22 Boston, MA - TD Banknorth Garden
04-24 Hartford, CT - XL Center
04-26 Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
04-28 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
04-29 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
05-02 Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
05-04 Hempstead, NY - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
05-05 Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
05-07 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
05-08 University Park, PA - Bryce Jordan Center
05-11 St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
05-12 Chicago, IL - United Center
05-14 Albany, NY - Times Union Center
05-15 Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
05-18 Washington, DC - Verizon Center
05-19 Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
05-21 East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
05-23 East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
05-30 Landgraaf, Holland - Pink Pop Festival
06-02 Tampere, Finland - Ratinan Stadion
06-04 Stockholm, Sweden - Stockholm Stadium
06-05 Stockholm, Sweden - Stockholm Stadium
06-07 Stockholm, Sweden - Stockholm Stadium
06-09 Bergen, Norway - Koengen
06-10 Bergen, Norway - Koengen
07-02 Munich, Germany - Olympiastadion
07-03 Frankfurt, Germany - Commerzbank Arena
07-05 Vienna, Austria - Ernst Happel Stadion
07-08 Herning, Denmark - Herning MCH
07-11 Dublin, Ireland - RDS
07-16 Carhaix, France - Festival des Vielles Charrues
07-19 Rome, Italy - Stadio Olimpico
07-21 Turino, Italy - Olimpico di Torino
07-23 Udine, Italy - Stadio Friuli
07-26 Bilbao, Spain - San Mames Stadium
07-28 Benidorm, Spain - Estadio Municipal de Foietes
07-30 Sevilla, Spain - La Cartuja Olympic Stadium
08-01 Valladolid, Spain - Estadio Jose Zorrilla
08-02 Santiago, Spain - Monte Del Gozo
Dan Deacon (with band)
01-30 Brooklyn, NY - Danbro Studios (solo set) !
02-19 Wellington, New Zealand - Bodega * (solo set)
02-20 Auckland, New Zealand - Cassette 9 * (solo set)
02-21 Christchurch, New Zealand - TBC * (solo set)
02-27 Sydney, Australia - Oxford Art Factory (Summer Tones) (solo set)
02-28 Melbourne, Australia - The Espy (Summer Tones) (solo set)
03-05 Melbourne, Australia - The Tote (solo set)
03-06 Brisbane, Australia - The Zoo (Summer Tones) (solo set)
03-07 Meredith, Australia - Golden Plains Festival (solo set)
03-08 Perth, Australia - Perth Festival (solo set)
04-03 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
04-05 Williamsburg, VA - The Little Theater
04-06 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
04-07 Knoxville, TN - Catalyst
04-08 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
04-09 Athens, GA - 88/cp
04-10 Atlanta, GA - Eyedrum
04-11 Tallahassee, FL - FSU / Club Downunder
04-13 New Orleans, LA - The Candle Factory / The Heavy
04-15 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
04-16 Houston, TX - Orange Show
04-18 Ft. Worth, TX - The Ft. Worth Modern Museum
04-20 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse
04-21 San Diego, CA - Che Cafe
04-22 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
04-23 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
04-24 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
04-25 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project
04-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards
04-29 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
04-30 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
05-01 Kansas City, MO - Pistol S.C.
05-02 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock (early and late shows)
05-04 Madison, WI - Majestic Theatre
05-05 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
05-06 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club / Club Void
05-07 Chicago, IL - Metro
05-08 Mt. Pleasant, MI - CMU / The Wesley Foundation
05-09 Detroit, MI - Scrummage
05-10 Toronto, Ontario - The Deleon White Gallery
05-11 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
05-12 South Burlington, VT - HG Showcase Lounge
05-13 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs
05-15 Brooklyn, NY - Danbro Studios
05-16 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
05-17 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
! with Double Dagger, Future Islands, Woods, Blank Dogs, These Are Powers, USAISAMONSTER
* with High Places
Modest Mouse
02-22 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
02-23 Visalia, CA - Fox Theatre
02-24 Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Palladium
02-25 Tempe, AZ - Marquee
02-26 Albuquerque, NM - Albuquerque Convention Center
02-28 Boulder, CO - Balch Fieldhouse
03-02 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
03-03 Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
03-04 Austin, TX - Stubb's
03-05 Oxford, MS - Lyric Oxford
03-07 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
03-08 Miami, FL - Langerado Festival
Writing under the influence
Without which this column would not have been possible:
Talk Radio
Department Of Eagles In Ear Park
The bit at the end
I'm off to Crystal Antlers this evening. I won passes through the excellent Musical Rooms blog which features bands talking about the spaces they use to make music. It's an endlessly fascinating blog.
While I'm at it I should talk about Nick Thinks. Every day a guy named Ruan plays an album for his over 60 years old father and transcribes the discussion they have about it. It's a great concept that works really really well.
