US Tour Dates:
Mon, Oct 03, Los Angeles, CA Troubadour $*
Tue, Oct 04, San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall $*
Fri, Oct 07 Portland, OR Doug Fir $*
Sat, Oct 08, Vancouver, BC Electric Owl $*
Sun, Oct 09, Seattle, WA Neumo’s $*
Wed, Oct 12, St. Paul, MN Turf Club $*
Thu, Oct 13, Madison, WI High Noon $*
Fri, Oct 14, Chicago, IL Empty Bottle $*
Sat, Oct 15, Detroit, MI Magic Stick $*
Sun, Oct 16, Toronto, ONT Lee’s Palace $*
Mon, Oct 17, Montreal, QU Il Motore $*
Wed, Oct 19, Boston, MA Paradise $@
Fri, Oct 21, New York, NY Bowery Ballroom $@
Sat, Oct 22, Washington, DC Black Cat $@
Sun, Oct 23, Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer $@
Mon, Oct 24, Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s $@
Europe Dates
Thu, Nov 03, Berlin, Germany Festsaal Kreuzberg
Fri, Nov 04, Cologne, Germany MTC
Sat, Nov 05, Lyon, France Big Tinnitus Festival at Clacson
Tue, Nov 08, Nantes, France Stereolux
Wed, Nov 09, Roubaix, France Le Cave aux Poetes
Thu, Nov 10, Brussels, Belgium Rotande Botanique
Fri, Nov 11, Amsterdam, Netherlands London Calling Festival
Sun, Nov 13, Manchester, UK FAC 251
Mon, Nov 14, Newcastle, UK The Cluny
Tue, Nov 15, Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
Wed, Nov 16, Wrexham, UK Central Station
Thu, Nov 17, London, UK ULU
Last night, I was listening to Active Child, trying to decide which cut I’d include with this post announcing their tour.
The soundscape was redolent with soft pop/eighties alterna-dance reference points. Mainstreaming alert! My wife’s nose reflexively wrinkles.
“You’re full of surprises,” said Kay. “Just when I think I’ve got your musical preferences sussed, you play something else that surprises me.”
Then she hears the next track I play from Active Child. “Oh, this is cool. I get it now. They’ve got more diverse musical tastes than I realized at first.”
I know I’m partial, but she’s so smart. Active Child songwriter Pat Grossi’s interests may encompass some radio-friendly fare that isn’t ordinarily my cup of tea, but he treats its elements far better than ordinary artists. And when he goes out on a limb, picks up his harp, and looks down more unusual pathways, I’m consistently engaged. One imagines that they’ll be doing quite a bit of the latter when they support M83 on tour (dates below).
You Are All I See is out now via Vagrant.
Active Child Tour Dates
Oct 28 – Washington DC @ Black Cat (Early Show)*
Oct 28 – Washington DC @ Black Cat (Late Show)*
Oct 29 – Raleigh, NC @ King’s Barcade & Tavern*
Oct 30 – Asheville, NC @ Moogfest
Oct 31 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade*
Nov 01 – Tallahassee, FL @ The Engine Room*
Nov 02 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham*
Nov 04 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live*
Nov 05 – Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
Nov 07 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom*
Nov 09 – Hollywood, CA @ The Music Box*
Nov 10 – San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine*
Nov 11 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom*
Nov 13 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos (Early Show)*
Nov 13 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos (Late Show)
Nov 16 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
Nov 17 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (Early Show)*
Nov 17 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (Late Show)*
Nov 20 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues*
Nov 22 – New York City, NY @ Webster Hall*
Nov 23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg*
White Hills tours in support of release this Fall. Maybe they’ll bring their mix of drones, post-psych guitar work, and kraut rock signatures to a venue near you!
UPCOMING FALL TOUR
Sep 3 Brooklyn, NY Aviator Sports Complex w/Psychic Paramount, Pictureplane
Sep 8 Vancouver, BC The Biltmore Cabaret w/Sleepy Sun
Sep 9 Seattle, WA Nectar Lounge w/Sleepy Sun, Kinski
Sep 10 Portland, OR Ash Street Saloon w/Eternal Tapestry, Pierced Arrows
Sep 14 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop w/Carleton Melton
Sep 15 Long Beach, CA Alex’s Bar w/RTX, Heavy Cream
Sep 16 Los Angeles, CA Nomad Art Gallery w/Sleepy Sun
Sep 17 San Diego, CA Soda Bar
Sep 30 Den Bosch, Netherlands W 2
Oct 1 Leuven, Belgium Het Depot
Oct 2 Cologne, Germany Underground
Oct 4 Vienna, Austria Arena
Oct 5 Feldkirch, Austria Graf Hugo
Oct 6 Stuttgart, Germany 1210
Oct 7 Weimar, Germany Werk
Oct 8 Cottbus, Germany Burning Earth Festival
Oct 9 Berlin, Germany White Trash
Oct 10 Hamburg, Germany Molotow
Oct 11 Bielefeld, Germany AJZ
Oct 13 Olten, Switzerland Quote D’Or
Oct 14 Wurzburg, Germany Cafe Cairo
Oct 15 Darmstadt, Germany 603
Oct 17 Savignano Sul Rubicone, Italy Sidro Club
Oct 18 Rome, Italy Sinister Noise
Oct 19 Quero, Italy Piettro Alternative Sound
Oct 20 Martigny, Switzerland Les Caves Du Manoir
Oct 22 Maastricht, Netherlands Musikgiterij
Oct 23 Birmingham, UK Supersonic Festival
Oct 24 London, UK Corsica
Those expecting Thurston Moore’s solo record Demolished Thoughts to sound like his work with Sonic Youth – experimental noise rock – will doubtless be surprised. The LP falls into Moore’s song-propelled, rather than improv-oriented, catalog. But it’s the arrangements that are game-changing.
The instrumentation is quite different from SY’s, with an emphasis on acoustic guitars and even strings. Moore explores this “softer” palette enthusiastically, but he never loses his conceptual edge. There’s still a dysfunctional tinge to the lyrics. What’s more, many of ths songs exhibit a druggy post-psych folk ambience: Moore attributes this to his observations of the college age alterna-hippy set in his hometown – Northhampton, Massachussetts (He even dedicates the video below to these fair minded NoHo inhabitants).
Whatever the influence, Demolished Thoughts is a pleasant surprise, one that suggests that Moore’s music contains yet more previously unexplored multitudes.
_______
Thurston Moore plays the Pitchfork Festival tonight. You can check out his other tour dates, and a video for the album cut “Circulation” below.
Thurston Moore Tour Dates
7/15 Pitchfork Festival, Chicago, IL
7/16 High Noon, Madison, WI
7/18 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theatre #
7/21 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre #
7/23 Portland, OR – Alladin Theatre #
7/26 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall #
7/28 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour #
7/29 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour #
7/30 San Diego, CA – Casbah #
in the lead-up to the LP’s release, Pure X is also doing a mini-tour (dates below).
Tour Dates w Sleep∞Over and This Will Destroy You:
May 25 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
May 26 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
May 27 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
May 28 – Chicago, IL – The Bottom Lounge
Woods Tour Dates
Sat-May-28 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre / B.O.M.B Fest 2011
Mon-Jul-11 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall *
Tue-Jul-12 Montreal, QC La Sala Rossa *
Wed-Jul-13 Toronto, ON Lee’s Palace *
Thu-Jul-14 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop *
Fri-Jul-15 Bloomington, IN Russian Recording *
Sat-Jul-16 Chicago, IL Pitchfork Music Festival
Mon-Jul-18 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry #
Tue-Jul-19 Fargo, ND The Aquarium #
Sat-Jul-23 Vancouver, BC Electric Owl #
Sun-Jul-24 Bellingham, WA The Shakedown #
Mon-Jul-25 Portland, OR Doug Fir #
Wed-Jul-27 Sacramento, CA Sol Collective #
Fri-Jul-29 San Francisco, CA The Independent #
Sat-Jul-30 Big Sur, CA Woodsist Festival – Fernwood Lodge ***SOLD OUT***
Sun-Jul-31 Big Sur, CA Woodsist Festival – Henry Miller Library ***SOLD OUT***
Tue-Aug-02 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex #%
Wed-Aug-03 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room %
Fri-Aug-05 Austin, TX The Mohawk %
Sun-Aug-07 Oxford, MS Cats Purring Dude Ranch %
Mon-Aug-08 Atlanta, GA The Earl %
Tue-Aug-09 Asheville, NC Grey Eagle %
Sat-Aug-13 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom %!
Sun-Sep-04 Dorset, UK End of The Road Fest
Mon-Sep-05 Manchester, UK Sound Control *
Tue-Sep-06 Glasgow, UK Stereo*
Wed-Sep-07 Bristol, UK The Fleece *
Thu-Sep-08 London, UK Scala *
* = w/ Kurt Vile and the Violators
# = w/ The Fresh & Onlys
% = w/ White Fence
! = w/ Ducktails
The new indie classical kids on the block, Newspeak, have just released their first video. David T. Little’s composition sweet light crude, featuring soprano Mellissa Hughes in fine voice and the ensemble grooving up a storm, is ready for your delectation on YouTube.
The piece has been given the “jump cuts and jitter” treatment by videographers Satan’s Pearl Horses.
sweet light crude, Newspeak’s debut CD, is slated for release by New Amsterdam Records on November 16. Jitter not included: perhaps that’s for the best.
On Cold and Kind, their 2007 debut, the 1900s explored the plight of those left behind after the Rapture. Return of the Century, the band’s latest Parasol LP (out this week), is similarly imaginative in its choice of setting. The songs are populated by characters from an underground world where “people’s minds are held in thrall in the name of spiritual advancement.”
If all of this sounds a little too highfalutin in sketch form, or if concept albums in general leave you cold, fear not. The story is a loose framework for a collection of compelling songs. The band has pared down a bit to a sextet, and Return of the Century’s arrangements are correspondingly tauter, leaning more towards folk/pop rather than the orchestral ambitions of some of 1900s previous endeavors. There are moments when the rock guitars come to the fore, as on “Zerkalo’s” incendiary solos and the psych-tinged breaks found on “Babies.”
But mostly we’re treated to vocals front and center, and when the harmonizing is felicitous, as it is on “Bmore” and “Amulet,” folk-inflected melodies craft a beguiling ambience.
Rufus Wainwright is having a busy August! Hot on the heels of All Days are Nights, his latest album and first recording that’s just a voice and piano affair, Wainwright is hitting the road for a bunch of dates.
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES August 1
Paramount Theatre – Asbury Park, NJ August 3
Opera House – Boston, MA August 4
Mann Center for the Performing Arts - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 6
The Ridgefield Playhouse - Ridgefield, CT August 7
The Music Center at Strathmore - North Bethesda, MD August 8
Carnegie Music Hall – Pittsburgh, PA August 10
Pabst Theatre – Milwaukee, WI August 11
Orchestra Hall – Minneapolis, MN August 13
Bank of America Theatre – Chicago, IL August 15
The Midland by AMC – Kansas City, MO August 17
Paramount Theatre – Denver, CO August 20
The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA August 21
Fox Theater – Oakland, CA August 22
Uptown Theatre - Napa, CA August 23
The Mountain Winery – Saratoga, California August 25
Paramount Theater – Seattle, WA
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