RX Sign [MP3]
Numbers [MP3]
Jewish Curses [MP3]
Body Parts [MP3]
Birds [MP3]
From feet to birds to jewish curses, Bob Dylan covered it all on his radio talkshow. At times he invited Tom Waits to send him tapes with his thoughts. The result is pretty psychedelic.
Returning in April are Balkan Beat Box with the new album Blue Eyed Black Boy. Recorded in Tel Aviv and Belgrade, the album ranges from Balkan inspired rhythms and Greek melodies to urban and hip hop beats. Blue Eyed Black Boy (2010) brings fresh yet familiar Mediterranean vibe that keeps your feet moving from the first beat. As the band is currently touring and promoting their upcoming record, we caught one of their famously energetic shows in Seattle. On stage Balkan Beat Box incorporate the catchy beats, drums, saxophones and bass into a dynamic and colourful show. The audience, as eclectic as the band’s musical influences, was full of energy and well prepared for a night of non-stop dancing, jumping and clapping — something we haven’t seen a long time. No doubt, Blue Eyed Black Boy is a perfect soundtrack for your late summer night party. Let the Mediterranean beats draw you to the dancefloor.
Live dates:
Apr 13 2010 Cafe de la Danse. PARIS
Apr 14 2010 Dingwalls LONDON, UK
Apr 15 2010 Aeronef Lille
Apr 16 2010 AB BRUXELLES
Apr 17 2010 Cargo CAEN
May 4 2010 Knust HAMBURG
May 5 2010 Festsaal Kreuzberg Berlin
May 6 2010 Paradiso Amsterdam
May 7 2010 Ampere Munich
May 8 2010 Ringlokschuppen/WDR birthday party MUHLHEIM (COLOGNE)
May 13 2010 Au Fond du Jardin du Michel BULLIGNY (NANCY)
May 14 2010 La 7eme Vague BRETIGNOLLES SUR MER (Vendee)
May 15 2010 Wiener Festwochen Vienna, Wien
Links:
MySpace Profile
When We Swam [MP3]
Know Better [MP3]
Indie folk songstress, Thao Nguyen, has been a part of several collaborations and projects, including Thao with the Get Down Stay Down band, Portland Cello Project, and touring with such artists as Laura Veirs and Xiu Xiu. Thao is a true indie darling whose catchy guitar-playing is irresistible and her energy on stage is contagious. We caught Thao playing a benefit show with Mirah at Seattle’s Vera Project. Being a versatile artist, Thao performed her own songs as well as a few of Mirah’s. Catchy, witty and fun on records, yet seeing her live, Thao was a bliss. Attached are two songs from Thao with The Get Down Stay Down’s latest album Know Better Learn Faster (2009).
Considering their season themed video for Modern Drift, it seems only natural that Efterklang embark on their seasonal migration now that spring starts to peek from under the blankets (or maybe not?). One can only hope that they will bring this so well-deserved touch of sun and grass to wherever their visit. This is a great excuse to see see how it all started. The tour dates, by the way, are at the bottom of this exceptionally long post.
Efterklang’s first album was Tripper, a brilliant exploration of organic textures and vocal instrumentation. Tripper, as its name suggests, was a repetitive orchestrated trip, diving deep into fractalic musical arrangements.
Under Giant Trees (only a mini album this time) was a direct continuation of this explorative epoch. The direction was vocals. I feel like have to say it with some caution, but my feeling is that religious music provided much of background. The backdrop for the growing fascination with vocals was still repetitive electronic music, building landscapes and exploring them. One more thing about Under Giant Trees, it was softer than Tripper, hinting towards the future in a sense.
Parades already has a full fledged plot. To me the first track already throws you on a explorer’s ships, recalling the age of the great explorers that crisscrossed our world with their expeditions. Efterklang left behind much of it click-ish background and switched to softer somewhat operatic sound. This is an exciting album, not only because it’s a change of direction, but mostly because this change is well grounded into their development until this point.
So what do we have? What can come next? One movement that I believe is evident in Efterklang’s music is towards the organic and natural. If Parade’s was the explorer’s voyage, maybe Magic Chairs will be their the explorer’s joyous arrival to the virginal land.
It’s also nice to see how their cover art developed through the years. I think you will find that the musical development is well mirrored in the visual art. From left to right, top to bottom – from Tripper to Magic Chairs.
Following Americo – North America:
Mar 2 2010 First Unitarian Church w/ Balmorhea Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 3 2010 Le Poisson Rouge w/ Balmorhea New York, New York
Mar 4 2010 TT The Bears w/ Balmorhea Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mar 5 2010 La Sala Rosa w/ Balmorhea Montreal, Quebec
Mar 6 2010 El Mocambo w/ Balmorhea Toronto, Ontario
Mar 7 2010 The Crofoot (Pike Room) w/ Balmorhea Pontiac, Michigan
Mar 8 2010 Lincoln Hall w/ Balmorhea Chicago, Illinois
Mar 11 2010 The Triple Door w/ Balmorhea Seattle, Washington
Mar 12 2010 The Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, British Columbia
Mar 13 2010 Doug Fir Lounge w/ Balmorhea Portland, Oregon
Mar 15 2010 Bottom Of The Hill w/ Balmorhea San Francisco, California
Mar 16 2010 Spaceland w/ Balmorhea Los Angeles, California
Mar 18 2010 TBA – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2010 tba – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2010 tba – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas
Back to the old world – Europe:
Apr 7 2010 Korjaamo w/ Heather Woods Broderick Helsinki
Apr 8 2010 Von Krahl Theatre w/ Heather Woods Broderick Tallinn
Apr 10 2010 Hornstull Strand w/ Heather Woods Broderick Stockholm
Apr 14 2010 Voxhall Aarhus
Apr 15 2010 Studenterhuset Aalborg
Apr 16 2010 Brewhouse Göteborg, Västra Götalands län
Apr 17 2010 Store Vega Copenhagen V
Apr 20 2010 Concorde 2 w/ Heather Woods Broderick Brighton
Apr 21 2010 Shepherds Bush Empire w/ Heather Woods Broderick London, London and South East
Apr 22 2010 Oxford Academy w/ Heather Woods Broderick Oxford
Apr 23 2010 Cabaret Voltaire w/ Heather Woods Broderick Edinburgh, Scotland
Apr 24 2010 Black Box w/ Slaraffenland Belfast
Apr 25 2010 Whelan’s w/ Slaraffenland Dublin
Apr 27 2010 Metropolis w/ Slaraffenland Bristol
Apr 28 2010 Nouveau Casino w/ Heather Woods Broderick Paris
Apr 29 2010 Grand Mix w/ Heather Woods Broderick Tourcoing – Lille
Apr 30 2010 VIP w/ Heather Woods Broderick Saint Nazaire – Nantes
May 1 2010 Centrifugeuse w/ Heather Woods Broderick Pau
May 2 2010 La [2] de Apolo w/ Heather Woods Broderick Barcelona
May 4 2010 INIT w/ Heather Woods Broderick Rome
May 5 2010 Covo Club – Rocker Festival w/ Heather Woods Broderick Bologna
May 6 2010 1. Stock w/ Heather Woods Broderick Basel (Münchenstein)
May 7 2010 TBA TBA
May 8 2010 Astra Kulturhaus – Friction Festival Berlin
May 9 2010 Rodeo Live Club w/ Frederik Teige Athens
May 11 2010 Gebäude 9 Cologne
May 12 2010 Knust Hamburg
May 13 2010 Rotown Rotterdam
May 14 2010 Doornroosje Nijmegen
May 15 2010 Cirque Royal – Les Nuits w/ CocoRosie Brussels
May 22 2010 Babel Malmö, Skåne län
May 28 2010 Immergut Festival Neustrelitz
Aug 6 2010 Off Festival Myslowice
Aug 14 2010 Haldern Pop Festival Rees-Haldern
I never find myself making those “best of…” lists at the end of a year, yet I can safely say Devendra Banhart’s Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (2007) is certainly among my most played albums ever. When earlier this year I discovered his new record (his seventh album!), it instantly became one of the most anticipated albums of 2009. No doubt, What Will We Be (2009) shares similarities with the 2007 record and carries that unmistakable Devendra sound. Yet What Will We Be stylistically is more eclectic as Devendra mixes everything from Rock, R&B, Country and Latin to Jazzy-lullaby arrangements. Such an eclectic approach is challenging and ambitious, but Devendra succeeded in delivering a mid-tempo record that flows with ease and delight. Now, I’m hoping for that West-Coast tour.
Update:
Devendra is going to perform a bit, you might be in one of the lucky locations:
Feb 4 2010 Tokyo Unit Tokyo
Feb 5 2010 Tokyo Unit Tokyo
Mar 18 2010 Showbox @ The Market Seattle, Washington
Mar 19 2010 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver
Mar 21 2010 Crystal Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Mar 23 2010 Warfield San Francisco, California
Mar 24 2010 Wiltern Los Angeles, California
Links:
MySpace profile
Efterklang just released a preview song form their new upcoming album, Magic Chairs. More details here. If this one is any hint of the upcoming album, it seems like quite a change of direction from their ultra landscape-oriented sounds. You can listen and/or download the new song above.
River of Dirt [MP3]
Marissa Nadler’s “busy mind”, as she puts it, recently released a fourth album. Titled “Little Hells” it continues Marissa’s haunting tradition, layering it with more and more complex music. This comes to show on stage as well, when she at times steps back from the microphone, into the shadows of her instrumental realm. In general this album continues Marissa’s exploration of musical instruments and effects. It seems like the natural next stop for her journey that started from such a vocal place. It’s definitely a fun ride so far.
Marissa performs with Alela Diane (one after the other, not collaborating) throughout her tour.
Trouble [MP3]
Since the debut of Mazzy Star in the early 90’s, Hope Sandoval has been a modern icon of psychedelic dream pop. “Trouble”, the fresh single from her upcoming album Through the Devil Softly (2009), features Hope’s hypnotic and soft vocals interwoven with hypnotizing ethereal arrangements. Hope Sandoval’s much anticipated full-length, her first in eight years, will be released via Nettwerk on September 29.
And a small reminder of why we are looking forward for this album so much:
Links:
MySpace profile
Official website
Time Lapse Lifeline [MP3]
Cartoons And Forever Plans [MP3]
Mostly known as a part of the dream pop duo Azure Ray, Maria Taylor just dropped by with her third solo effort LadyLuck (2009). As a post-relationship creation, the new album marks a whole new chapter in her life and ranges from melancholic to wistful and hopeful. Maria’s first single from the album “Time Lapse Lifeline” standouts for its dynamic bittersweet harmonies, gorgeous vocals, powerful guitar and dramatic orchestral strings. The closing track, up-tempo alt-country styled number “Cartoons and Forever Plans” featuring R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe on backing vocals is an absolute favorite and leaves the listener with a lighter note and optimistic outlook.
Links:
MySpace profile
Official website
Tell Me How [MP3]
Animals [MP3]
Sara Lov, known among ethereal dream pop lovers as a former member of Devics, describes her debut solo album as “simple and sad with a shot of scotch”. At times slightly bizarre and provoking, occasionally sweet and touching, her lyrics always leave room for interpretation. Sara’s solo album Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming (2009) ranges from tender and relaxed pop to whimsical and haunting folk arrangements.
Links:
MySpace profile
Official website
