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
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).
Simon Green, aka Bonobo, returns with his fourth album, Black Sands, out on March 23 via Ninja Tune. “The Keeper”, the first single from the album, is a fine collaboration between the British producer and musician and the soulful vocalist Andreya Triana. It’s mellow, dreamy and overall delicious track once again proving Green’s outstanding production skills.
Bonobo is going to be all over the place:
26 Feb 2010 Departure Lounge DJ set Edinburgh
27 Feb 2010 Le Belleviloise DJ set Paris
1 Apr 2010 Metro Chicago
2 Apr 2010 Opera House Toronto
4 Apr 2010 Music Hall Of Williamsburg New York City
5 Apr 2010 Bowery Ballroom New York City
9 Apr 2010 Club 828 Asheville
10 Apr 2010 New Earth Music Hall Athens, GA
17 Apr 2010 Ogden Theatre Denver
20 Apr 2010 Casbah San Diego
22 Apr 2010 El Rey Los Angeles
23 Apr 2010 Mezzanine San Francisco
24 Apr 2010 Wonder Ballroom Portland
25 Apr 2010 Showbox Seattle
4 May 2010 The Sage Gateshead
5 May 2010 MINE, Leeds University Leeds
6 May 2010 Maraia am Ostbahnhof Berlin
7 May 2010 Nomad Cafe Marseille, France
8 May 2010 Couleurs Urbaine Festival Toulon
9 May 2010 Theatre Lino Ventura Nice
10 May 2010 Elysses Montmarte Paris
11 May 2010 Melkweg Amsterdam
12 May 2010 Simplon Groningen
13 May 2010 Jazz sur les Pommiers Coutances
14 May 2010 Rock and Solex Rennes
15 May 2010 Walk The Line Festival Hague
16 May 2010 Botanique Brussels
17 May 2010 Tivoli Utrecht
20 May 2010 Guildhall Theatre Gloucester
21 May 2010 Hippo Plymouth
22 May 2010 O2 Academy Bristol
23 May 2010 Chill Out Festival Istanbul
26 May 2010 Rescue Rooms Nottingham
27 May 2010 Band On The Wall Manchester
28 May 2010 Hare and Hounds Birmingham
29 May 2010 Roundhouse London
30 May 2010 Wilde Theatre Bracknell
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
So Joanna Newsom went dormant for three years, and now wakes up with a triple album. Ah, such symmetry, such a sleeping beauty. Well, in that case, it’s quite befitting to accompany this awakening (of a woman!) with Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. Two songs from the upcoming Have One on Me were pre-released. Feast your ears on these while waiting impatiently for the next two weeks for the February 23rd released date. Somehow she strikes me as a post-2000s Fiona Apple. Luckily, she has Drag City and not Sony.
There’s a clear hierarchy between the warm-up band and the main act. It’s this kind of clear separation that makes revolutions so sweet. It’s not that St. Vincent wasn’t good. She was the exact rocked-down sweetness that we all came to see. She is charming on stage as she is in my headphones. However, in this night, she wasn’t alone. She wasn’t overshadowed by Wildbirds & Peacedrums, but she was definitely matched by them. This night was balanced, and that’s what made it so great. This balance was part harmony between the amazing energies of both St. Vincent and Wildbirds & Peacedrums, but was also characterized by one moment of contradiction. When early in her act St. Vincent started to talk about calm waters and yoga (it’s Seattle after all), she didn’t take into account the shamanic energies that Mariam Wallentin left behind her. Nobody, was into yoga at that point, people were into dancing in trace around random fires. However, St. Vincent was bold and it paid off when she started her deep version of the Nico’s These Days. At the moment, the crowd belonged to her, we were all yogists just for her. A few random words about Wildbirds & Peacedrums live music: fire, tribes, frost, drums (tons of them), pure energy, wacky ancient spirits possessing a crazy singer on stage. Don’t miss this gig (dates below).
St. Vincent and Wildbirds & Peacedrums:
Feb 6 2010 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, Oregon
Feb 8 2010 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California
Feb 9 2010 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, California
Feb 10 2010 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, California
Feb 11 2010 Rhythm Room Phoenix, Arizona
Feb 13 2010 The Bluebird Theater Denver, Colorado
Feb 15 2010 Bottleneck Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 16 2010 The Blue Moose TapHouse Iowa City, Iowa
Feb 17 2010 Turner Hall Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Feb 18 2010 Metro Chicago, Illinois
Feb 19 2010 The Pike Room at The Crofoot Pontiac, Michigan
Feb 20 2010 Outland on Liberty Columbus, Ohio
Feb 21 2010 Diesel Club Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 23 2010 Jefferson Theatre Charlottesville, Virginia
Feb 24 2010 9:30 Club Washington DC, Washington DC
Feb 25 2010 First Unitarian Church – Sanctuary Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
St. Vincent (without Wildbirds & Peacedrums):
Mar 12 2010 Yu Gong Yi Shan Beijing, Beijing
Mar 15 2010 Recital Studio, Esplanade Singapore
Mar 18 2010 Pacific Blue Festival Club Wellington, Wellington
Mar 28 2010 Big Ears Festival Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 30 2010 Highdive Champaign, Illinois
Mar 31 2010 MusicNOW Festival – Memorial Hall / University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio
Wildbirds & Peacedrums (without St. Vincent):
Feb 26 2010 Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Feb 27 2010 Bruar Falls (Williamsburg) Brooklyn, New York
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
The whole girls starry scenes reminded me of the Virgin Suicides, which befit quite well Warpaint’s music and lineup. We should probably hear and see more of this band. More I said? Well, check out this street-wise video for Billie Holiday (stick to the end, there’s a small sweet surprise):
In this later video Warpaint borrows heavily from Mary Wells‘ My Guy. One can draw a lot of what they copy and what they change. It’s interesting to see how it reflects on how society changed and how it didn’t. Just some food for thought. Since we are now into food, here’s Mary Wells, yummy:
It has been a while since an album was just looping continuously in my ears. The new Lightning Dust album, titled Infinite Light, is doing it for a few days now. Somewhere between the Dresden Dolls and Clientele, the Lightning Dust is a new gem.
