pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

It was a long Memorial Day weekend.  But it was a musically fruitful weekend.  I could have made it more fruitful by adding The Shins / Blind Pilot / Head and the Heart as well as the Tenacious D shows on Friday and Saturday in Bend, respectively; alas, I needed to save some time and energy for Beck in Bend on Sunday and Jack White in Eugene on Monday.  It was still quite a great full weekend for my ears!

I had never seen either Beck or Jack White in concert.  I was familiar with Beck’s music fairly well… having all of his stuff.  I was completely unfamiliar with Jack White’s music – outside of some of the White Stripes and Raconteurs that I’d heard.  Needless to say, I was equally excited about both shows.

Beck in Bend was the tail-end of a nice “Bend Ale Trail” weekend for me… sampling some new places for me: 10 Barrel Brewing & Good Life Brewing.  Both highly recommended for their beer and their food!  Bend also had some lovely weather and some odd rainbows in the clouds…

(not photoshopped… photo taken near Deschutes Brewery in Bend, OR)

Metric was Beck’s opener… the Toronto indie rock quartet ripped through a dancey hour-long set.  Their fifth album, Synthetica, comes out on June 12, 2012.  If the way they had the Bend audience going is any indication, the new album should be a crowd pleaser as well.

Beck went on after a short set break… kicking the show off right with some Odelay goodness by way of “Devil’s Haircut.”

Among his two-hour long set, he bounced around his back and “recent” catalog (2008′s Modern Guilt) fairly well.  Every era got some great representation.  As mentioned, I had never seen him live before.  I was pleasantly surprised with the great mix, especially the songs off of Sea Change…

Beck’s Setlist: about 2 hours

• Devil’s Haircut
• Loser
• Black Tambourine
• Soul of a Man
• Hotwax
• Sissyneck
• The Golden Age
• Lost Cause
• Sunday Sun
• Think I’m In Love
• The New Pollution
• Modern Guilt
• Paper Tiger
• “Song for Bend” [Improv]
• End of the Day
• Tropicalia [partial]
• Jack-Ass
• Gamma Ray
• Minus
• Girl
• Where It’s At
• Encore: Soldier Jane
• Looking Back
• Mutherfuker
• E-Pro

Next, on to Eugene…

I missed Jack White’s opener, Quasi.  I’d heard of them before, and would have liked to have seen the show (I like Sam Coomes work with Elliott Smith).  Alas, driving back from Bend and personal commitments made it so we skated into the venue right as Quasi was ending their set… d’oh!

Jack White’s show… what to say, what to say?  Professional, yet muddy.  Loud, yet not necessary.  Thoroughly energetic, yet confusing.  Quite enjoyable, yet painful.

The man writes hooky songs, and plays guitar and piano very well… yet, the sound was cranked through the roof.  It lost so many of the lushness and subtlety that I think would have been suited for this show at the Hult Center.

Another thing that can’t go without mentioning, the “III” imagery abounding.  Sure, rockstars should have iconic imagery.  But a suffix namesake seems like an odd thing to so vehemently brand… unless you’re branding your ego or something.

Several times it seemed as if Eugene wasn’t stroking his ego enough… he quipped that if we didn’t want, they didn’t have to come back out (after their 45 minute initial set).  He tried to get the crowd to do a sing-a-long on one song, but it seemed as if the song had ended already, and it was more of a confusing thing (or so it seemed to me).

The loudness, was, again… unnecessary.  Fantastic musicianship and seemingly intricate things going on with fantastic players… completely lost in the brash, feedback-induced sound cloud.  So many subtleties lost.  So many subtleties lost.

Jack White’s Setlist: two sets, ~45 mins & ~35 mins

• any help on the setlist??

(pro photos from Eugene will be posted at jwiii.com)

The bottom line… I really enjoyed the Jack White show.  The flaws that I saw in the show are totally fixable.  Who am I to say what he should do anyhow? :)  I’m just thinking that something that shows off his musical chops, his writing prowess, his voice, his players, and his songs at the forefront – not clouded by sheer volume – could have been far, far, FAR more enjoyable… and probably far, far, far more enjoyable to more to others (not just me).

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Beck’s Site
• Beck’s Social Media Links (see below)
  
• Metric’s Site
• Metric’s Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
• Les Schwab Amphitheater’s Site / Facebook / Twitter1 / Twitter2
  - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
  
• Jack White’s Site
• Jack White 2012 Tour Photos by Jo McCaughey
• Jack White’s Social Media Links (see below)
  
• Quasi’s Site
• Quasi’s Facebook / MySpace
  
• The Hult’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Next show for me… Emily Wells @ WOW Hall on 6/3.

~Dan – np: Sigur Rós – Valtari

Above Photos: Roger Waters ‘The Wall Live’ at the Rose Garden on 5/22/12
by Kevin Tomanka (more at Oregon Music News)

FYI… my PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

The spectacle, the brilliance that is Pink Floyd & The Wall Live… I sadly never got a chance to see Pink Floyd perform together, but seeing Roger Waters bring The Wall to us 30+ years later was still quite the treat.  It’s not my favorite album of theirs… I love Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon and Meddle a bit better, and before the show you’d have caught me saying things like “The Wall is quite overrated.”  Well, after the show, I still think the album is a bit overrated, but my opinion has definitely appreciated.

And the live show… holy smokes!  Amazing!!!

There was no opener; so the show started fairly promptly (8:15pm).  Wide stage with the start of the wall, a tape intro, then BANG… In the Flesh with fire, sparks, projected graffiti animation on the walls, an airplane flying in from mid-crowd ceiling crashing and bursting into flames just beyond the wall… whoa!  We were in for a SHOW!

The show featured several other blow up accoutrements… an evil schoolmaster during the school children song (local school children were used), a war pig, and another creature.  The imagery from the original The Wall movie was used in addition to a lot of modernized imagery and animations.  For “Mother,” Roger played with himself… a 1980′s Earl’s Court version of himself, that is.

The Wall went up slowly as the band went on… the second set, the band was primarily behind the wall, with Roger coming out to sing for a few tunes.  At the end… huge explosion and down it came!  They played The Wall in its entirety, no encore.

Setlist: just shy of 2 hours total

• Set 1: Outside the Wall [Tape]
• In the Flesh?
• The Thin Ice
• Another Brick in the Wall Part 1
• The Happiest Days of Our Lives
• Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
• Mother
• Goodbye Blue Sky
• Empty Spaces
• What Shall We Do Now?
• Young Lust
• One of My Turns
• Don’t Leave Me Now
• Another Brick in the Wall Part 3
• The Last Few Bricks
• Goodbye Cruel World
  <<25 minute intermission>>
• Set 2: Hey You
• Is There Anybody Out There?
• Nobody Home
• Vera
• Bring the Boys Back Home
• Comfortably Numb
• The Show Must Go On
• In the Flesh
• Run Like Hell
• Waiting for the Worms
• Stop
• The Trial
• Outside the Wall
  No Encore

Brilliant show!  Go go go go if you get the chance!  It’s a brilliant display of excess, but it also has good points about government overreach and the ills of war.  It’s a paradox and dichotomy.

Portland 5/22 The Wall photos:
(iPhone + 2 of Kevin’s pro shots)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Go to OMN for Kevin Tomanka’s pro shots

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Roger Waters’ Site
• Pink Floyd’s Site
• Roger Waters & Pink Floyd’s Social Media Links (see below)
  
• Rose Garden’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Next show for me… Beck @ Les Schwab (Bend) 5/27 and Jack White @ Hult (Eugene) 5/28.

~Dan – np: Beck – The Information

Well, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters plays The Wall in its entirety tonight (5/22) at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon… I shall be there, and it shall be awesome.  Review posted, um… maybe by Thursday?  In the meantime, enjoy this…

Sigur Rós “Ég anda” video

pre-order Valtari here, and look out for the Mystery Film Experience
coming soon for the rest of the album’s videos

And this…

Radiohead – OK Computer and Kid A in 8-bit

OK 8-bit mp3 download here

Kid 8-bit mp3 download here

~Dan – np: Beck – The Information

Fitting and cute Beastie Boys tribute to the fallen MCA / Adam Yauch…

Well done, kids!

~Dan – np: Storm Corrosion – Storm Corrosion

I was out on vacation; so this news is a couple days late… new teaser trailer for the upcoming fall release of Tomahawk – Oddfellows… no Mike Patton vocals in the mix yet, but it sounds rad, if you ask me…

Also, as reported earlier, Ben Folds Five is working on new music, and they put out a PledgeMusic drive (similar to Kickstarter).  They’ve already met their goal, but you still have time to jump on the bandwagon and get the music before it gets released traditionally…

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/benfoldsfive

~Dan – np: Storm Corrosion – Storm Corrosion

Podcaster George Hrab has been my favorite free entertainment for a LONG time.  Since late 2007 or so, when I got into his funny & insightful podcast called the Geologic Podcast, he’s been my favorite near-hour of entertainment that gets put out nearly every week.

An all around great chap, his latest podcast (#262) featured a few hilarious “old timey” songs performed by “Manfreedy Johnson and the Nineteens“…

No Cell Service

Web Browser

Facebook

Subscribe to the Geologic Podcast on iTunes.

Beyond being a funny guy, a skeptic, and a thinker, he’s also a professional musician and has six full-length studio albums out (GO HERE to LISTEN).

~Dan – np: Kim Taylor – I Feel Like A Fading Light

So, Digital Noise Academy/DNA (formerly Los Angeles Digital Noise Academy/LADNA) has been teasing us with new album promises way back since the MySpace days.  The collaborative led by one of my favorite musicians Ken Andrews (Failure, On, Year of the Rabbit, worked with Tool, A Perfect Circle, NIN, Tenacious D, Copeland, etc) is what brings me to the table, but the other members are tops, too… Sharky Laguana (Creeper Lagoon), Charlotte Martin (Herself), Justin Meldal-Johnsen (NIN, Beck, Air, M83), Fernando Sanchez (Lenka, Ben Jelen, Racheal Yamagata, Chris Cornell), and Jordon Zadorozny (Blinker the Star, Sam Roberts).

Well, now they officially have a kickstarter.  I think it’s a great project, and I sincerely hope it gets made.  Check out the first single they released two years ago (which will be on the album), then check out the Kickstarter page…

KICKSTARTER PAGE

They have already completed two songs “Melting Inside” and “Thursday Night Party.”  Both these songs are currently available for free download on their website www.digitalnoiseacademy.com. 

~Dan – np: DNA – “Melting Inside”

5/4/12 Update: Ben Folds posted the 1st sneak peak (full track, free mp3 download) from the upcoming Ben Folds Five record… “Do It Anyway” http://bit.ly/IR7qg1

Ben Folds posted the following “airplane blog” last night on Facebook about the work they’ve done on the upcoming Ben Folds Five record… lots of news and insight…

About Ben Folds Five, the new album.

I’m writing this on a plane. I tweeted that I wanted to blog and most responses were – blog about the new album. Fine, I’ll start there. I won’t correct grammar or spelling so hopefully we’ll all deal. I’m typing as fast as I can… and I type damn fast if I do say so myself. I just screw up a lot….

The album started in January. We just started playing and recorded shitloads of stuff.

A way that I often wrote for us was to just sit and imagine what kind of sound, song, sentiment, arrangement I’d like to hear us do. It’s easy to imagine because we have a very distinct style of playing together that was pretty much writ in stone from our first rehearsal on. There were a couple of breakthroughs back in the day… Eddie Walker was one. We figured out some tonal stuff – the floor tom ride with lots of AAAHS and fuzz bass on the chorus was a defining technique for instance.

On the new album we’ve discovered quite a few new things like that. We’re tonally a few steps into the future. I remember when bands all had a ‘sound’. I know that sounds like a total old man thing to say, but hey if the orthopedic shoe fits… You know, a band that just set up their shit, played in the corner and just had a fresh sound. I’m not saying there’s no style today, just that plugging in and working with what you have makes you work hard to find a sound… okay. I’m rambling but that’s what I promised to do in the blog.

So we played hours of stuff on tape and it was inspired. Quite insane. I got little sleep for weeks as I had idea after idea on how to make these sounds into songs. I’d spend the mornings at the piano and then the guys would come in. It was a burst. We began on Pro Tools with the idea of moving off when we started recording ‘for real’ but we saw no advantage of moving over as we were only using the Tools as a tape deck anyway and were enjoying the freedom of being able to record more than a fifteen minutes of music at a time.

We set up in my studio in the same room with a little baffling, but without the interest in separation. In other words, for engineers, we welcomed bleed.

Lyrically it began to take shape quickly and we were much richer in ideas and material than any of the albums we did together. We were supporting each other, trying each idea instead of poo poo-ing each other’s creativity. It was a pretty amazing experience. UNTIL…

We ran out of time because I had stuff to do, Darren had a Hotel Lights tour and Robert’s son is too young to leave for too long. So we stopped and that’s where we are.

The lyric stuff. Loss of ego. That emerged as a theme. Ways to lose the ego. Funny thing is that I didn’t realize that each of those ego losing songs would be failures. I mean, each character who aspired to do so only succeeds for a short time and then the ego comes back. I guess that’s the way it works in real life. Anyway… for instance…. Being Frank. That’s a song on the album. It’s kind of historical fiction in a way. Certainly when Frank Sinatra died, he had a tour manager and let’s say that tour manager was with him his whole career. Decades. When Frank passed the tour manager might have realized that he’d spent most of his adult life setting the thermostat for someone else, eating his leftovers, essentially trying to think like Frank to anticipate his needs. Frank’s death would have been a crisis but an exciting one. How to be yourself when someone you’re attached to is gone. What kind of coffee do you like, who are you really? But then I started to realize that that tour manager would have wanted to take some credit for Frank’s career. He suggested THAT lyric or that TV show etc. Frank was really being HIM. Loss of ego, failure.

Other songs titles… Erase Me. Do It Anyway. The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind (that’s Nick Hornby’s lyric and my music). Sky High (beautifully written Darren song). We really spent quite a bit of production time on Sky High. It warranted it. You know that 10cc trick where they looped vocals, unison AHHHs and assigned each note to a fader on the console? Then they play the console like it’s a keyboard using the faders. We did that. Nobody does that and they should. It’s not “copying” 10cc… it’s recognizing that they invented an instrument. We play that instrument on Sky High. I’ll put up video of that. It’s kinda interesting.

What else… I’ve had a chorus that goes “If you can’t draw a crowd, draw dicks on the wall” for quite a while. Since Reinhold era. It had different melodies, but I always liked the idea. When someone wants attention and they don’t get it, often we do something really stupid or even destructive. The song is Draw A Crowd. It’s partially silly and partially deep. Many will latch on to the silly part and give me shit for it and maybe when they grow up they’re get the other part. If not, oh well. It’s okay. I like Kesha songs and some people don’t.

We’ll get back together in June. We kinda fucked up. We meant to finish the album and then do gigs. But we’re doing a few festivals and will be paddling ferociously between those gigs to finish our album. That’s alright. Deadlines are good.

I suppose the album should come out in September and we do not want to release it traditionally at all. I’m all into traditional record releases but for this one… I want to avoid ass kissing. It’s not healthy. I think we’re going to pass on radio promo and on most advance press. No sending it out for reviews etc. We’ll just let you know through Twitter and Facebook that it’s coming out. That’s the idea, and we’ll see how that goes. Maybe we’ll adjust our thinking. Just seems like such a musical experience I hate to be in the position of selling it to people who don’t care. I’d rather spend my time telling people who DO care and save the money and time. Sell fewer records probably to those who want it. That leaves more time to make new records and tour. Less ass kissing, more music and life. A good theory… we’ll see… lemme know what you think of that theory.

What else can I tell you. If you’re a Robert fan, you’ll shit. He’s better than ever and we’ve grown into knowing how to put him up front and letting him do what he does. Darren is playing lyrically as ever, like a fine jazz drummer – cymbals are gorgeous and he doesn’t give a damn so every once in a while he just makes a mockery of every drum fill you’ve ever heard but does it twice as crazy and makes it mean something. It’s quite damn amazing. Look out for what he does on a song called Michael Praytor. That song comes from a ‘rock this bitch’ partially. I’d always liked the melody but it comes to life with Robert and Darren in a way I never expected. Its a song about how some people just come back and back into your life whether you like it or not. You don’t choose them, they just show up.

There you go. I’ll do another blog now. The record pops out of the speakers and I’m finding myself wondering if we should tone it down. Nope. I think it’ll be just fine.

~Dan – np: Many Arms – Many Arms

From the self-titled debut album by Storm Corrosion featuring Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt and Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson hits record stores on May 8th, and their animated video for the epic 9+ minute “Drag Ropes” is here:

You can pre-order the physical CD or mp3 version NOW.

~Dan – np: Storm Corrosion – Storm Corrosion

Update 5/17/12 for youtube excerpt below…

Mike Patton & the Ictus Ensemble is putting out Laborintus II in July 3, 2012, on Ipecac Recordings.  The cover art is below…

This is presumably taken from live recordings from Holland Fest 2010.  More news as it’s available.

Also, Mike Patton-related, if you missed the Record Store Day 2012 3-LP boxset from Tomahawk called eponymous-to-anonymous over the weekend, there are allegedly 5,000 copies floating around per Ipecac news; so you may have decent luck finding it this week at your local indie stores (or eBay).  Tomahawk’s 4th album is due out late Summer/early Fall 2012.

“Laborintus (Excerpt)“

Pre-order the CD

~Dan – np: Sufjan Stevens & Rosie Thomas – Hit & Run Vol 1

While nothing is “new” per se with their (obvious) choice of theme (the one they always do), this trailer for the upcoming Fear Factory album, The Industrialist, actually made me a bit excited for the new album… especially the ramp up double kick drums at the last 20 seconds…

The new album comes out June 5th, 2012, and it marks the 2nd album since vocalist Burton C. Bell & guitarist Dino Cazares patched up their differences.  The new album also features Gene Hoglan on drums (the mega-monsterous drummer from Death, Testament, etc).

~Dan – np: Boards of Canada – High Scores EP

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

I got to the venue just in the nick of time as Jonathan Kingham was starting his opening set.  I had seen him about four years ago in Eugene with Glen Phillips.  I thought he was great last time, and he held up to that memory quite well on Thursday night.  I think he’s matured a little bit in his songwriting, and still quite the charmer on-stage.  Funny, witty, smooth voice, and slow jams.  He played some new tunes, some tunes about food, a tune called “Satisfied” (about a poodle?), a cover of Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step” with an impressive improv rap, and ended the 45 minute set with “Grace” with Glen on backing vocals.

After a short break, Glen Phillips came out and dug right in.  He played the first handful of tunes unaccompanied, then Jonathan joined him on guitar and backing vocals for the classic Toad song “Walk On the Ocean.”  Jonathan stayed with him for the rest of the set, switching to piano partway through.

The things that draws me in to Glen are his voice and his poetic lyricism.  Whether it be with his solo stuff, his side-projects, or with his first band Toad – his humor, wit and joy for life shines through.  He played a great mix of songs throughout his career and even treated us to a couple brand new songs.  No word on if these new songs will show up on an upcoming solo album, collaboration album, or the rumored upcoming Toad the Wet Sprocket album.

Setlist: ~90 mins

• The Next Day
• Crowing [Toad the Wet Sprocket]
• Thankful
• End This Now
• Return to Me
• Blood Pressurize [RemoteTreeChildren]
• Walk on the Ocean* [Toad]
• The One Who Got Away
• Always Have My Love
• Released
• Whatever I Fear [Toad]
• True
• Finally Fading
• Windmills [Toad]
• new song “I could never be as strong as you”
• Solar Flare
• Fred Meyers
• All I Want [Toad]
• Rise Up
• Encore: Rare Bird (new song)
• Brothers on a Hotel Bed [Death Cab for Cutie]
  *J. Kingham guest on guitar for “Walk On the Ocean” through
  “Whatever I Fear” & on piano from “True” through “Rise Up.”
  

A great show from two fantastic, silken-voiced singer-songwriters.

GLEN PHILLIPS PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2012 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution

(click for larger)

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Glen Phillips’ Site
• Glen Phillips’ Social Media Links (see below)
  
• Jonathan Kingham’s Site
• Jonathan Kingham’s Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
• My Other Related Reviews~
  • Toad @ Bend Summer Fest (Bend – July 2011)
  • Toad @ Crystal Ballroom (Portland – July 2010)
  • W.P.A. @ WOW Hall (Eugene – Sept 2009)
  • Glen solo @ WOW Hall (Eugene – Feb 2008)
• Alberta Rose Theatre’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Next show for me… Dan Deacon at the University of Oregon on 4/17.

~Dan – np: Boards of Canada – Twoism

Glen Phillips & J. Kingham show review/setlist from Portland’s Alberta Street Theatre (4/12) to be posted this weekend.  Up now, some news…

Yesterday Sigur Rós announced their first few dates for their North American tour for the upcoming album, Valtari…

July 2012
30 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Skyline Stage at The Mann
31 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Prospect Park Bandshell

August 2012
1 – Toronto, Ontario @ Echo Beach at Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
3 – Montreal, Quebec @ Osheaga Festival Musique Et Arts
4-5 – Chicago, Ill. @ Lollapalooza
8 – Seattle, Wash. @ The Paramount Theater
9 – Portland/Troutdale, Ore. @ Edgefield Amphitheater
12 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Tickets willing, I’ll be at the Portland date!  Go sign up on sigur-ros.co.uk to find out when tickets go onsale.

~Dan – np: Tyler Fortier – Bang On Time

The last time I saw Radiohead was in a large outdoor amphitheatre (White River, Aug 2008), and I’ll say the move to indoors was much appreciated.  This was my first time to Key Arena.  Pretty basic arena… stage set up at end.  I arrived just as the opening band was wrapping up… the TicketMaster/Radiohead paperless ticketing was great from a no-scalpers perspective, but it took a bit longer to file everyone in timely.

Radiohead started off the set with “Bloom,” featuring the double drum set-up with both Phil Selway and touring member Clive Deamer (from Portishead) in addition to Jonny Greenwood on a small drum kit.  Jonny hit the mini-kit again (along with Ed O’Brien) for “There There” later in the set.

The light show was a LED wall behind the band with moving, suspended video screens (see photo above and slideshow below).  The moving video screens had been slowly coming down on the band until they were under an archway of lights by the time “Airbag” came around.  Ed make a half-hearted leap to hit the screen above him with his hand.

The band stuck to a lot of new stuff for this show, only digging into the first half of their catalogue a handful of times during their 23-song set.  Some highlights were the wall of Thom eyes during Thom’s piano close-up on “You And Whose Army?,” the grandeur of “Lucky,” the wild strobe and raucous “Idioteque,” the subtler / gentler piano-driven “Daily Mail,” and Jonny’s bowed guitar combined with the piano intro to “Pyramid Song.”  I’m still getting used to The King of Limbs, and while I don’t think the rockier songs worked (for me) live, the gentler stuff really hit the mark, especially “Give Up the Ghost” and the aforementioned “Daily Mail.”  “Little by Little” seemed a little off at the beginning, but other than that, no major disappointments…

Setlist: about 2 hours

• Bloom
• 15 Step
• Airbag
• Little by Little
• Myxomatosis
• The Gloaming
• Morning Mr. Magpie
• Pyramid Song
• The Daily Mail
• These Are My Twisted Words
• Nude
• Identikit
• Lotus Flower
• There There
• Feral
• Idioteque
• Encore 1: How to Disappear Completely
• Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
• You and Whose Army?
• Lucky
• Encore 2: Give Up the Ghost
• Reckoner
• Everything In Its Right Place

Soundcheck songs were Supercollider, 15 Step, Identikit and Meeting in the Aisle, but I was not in attendance for those…

A few iPhone shots from
Radiohead Seattle 4/9/12:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Matthew Lamb’s Pro-shot concert photos here on Key Arena’s FB page.:

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Radiohead’s Site
• Radiohead’s Social Media Links (see below)
  
• My Other Radiohead-related Posts~
  • The Universal Sigh (RSD 2011, PDF download)
  • White River Amphitheatre (Seattle-area – Aug 2008)
• Key Arena’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Check out more RH tour dates below.

Next show for me… Glen Phillips (of Toad the Wet Sprocket) in Portland 4/12.

~Dan – np: Tyler Fortier – Bang On Time

Radiohead North American Tour 2012

February 2012

Mon 27 American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL, USA

Wed 29 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL, USA

March 2012

Thu 1 Philips Arena Atlanta, GA, USA

Sat 3 Toyota Center Houston, TX, USA

Mon 5 American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX, USA

Wed 7 Frank Irwin Center Austin, TX USA

Fri 9 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO USA

Sun 11 Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO USA

Tue 13 1st Bank Center, Broomfield, CO USA

Thu 15 Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, AZ USA

April 2012

Mon 9, Key Arena, Seattle, WA – USA

Wed 11, HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA – USA

Thu 12, Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA – USA

Sat 14 Coachella – Indio, CA – USA

Tue 17 Foro Sol, Mexico City, Mexico

Wed 18 Foro Sol, Mexico City, Mexico

Sat 21 Coachella – Indio, CA – USA

One of mellow tracks from O.S.I.’s latest album, Fire Make Thunder, now has a video…

“For Nothing“

Directed by Jimmy Ahlander

Threatening smoke, odd beings and glorified body parts, create dark poetry in this twisted, visual representation of OSI’s melancholic tune.

~Dan – np: O.S.I. – Fire Make Thunder

Fiona Apple has a new album coming out - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw, And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do on June 26th.  She also just announced a summer tour…

Fiona Apple — 2012 Tour Dates
6/19 – Ithaca, NY – State Theatre
6/20 – Baltimore, MD – Lyric Opera House
6/22 – Mashantucket, CT – MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods
6/23 – Holyoke, MA – Mountain Park
6/24 – New York, NY – Governors Ball at Randall’s Island
6/26 – Washington DC – Warner Theatre
6/27 – Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre
6/29 – Danbury, CT – Ives Concert Park
6/30 – Boston, MA – Citi Performing Arts Center
7/1 – Portland, ME – State Theatre
7/3 – Montreal, QC – Olympia Theatre
7/4 – Toronto, Ontario – The Sound Academy
7/6 – Cleveland Heights, OH – Cain Park
7/7 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
7/10 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre
7/11 – Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre
7/13 – Nashville, TN – The Ryman Auditorium
7/14 – St. Louis, MO – Peabody Opera House
7/16 – Minneapolis, MN – Orpheum Theatre
7/17 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland by AMC
7/20 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre
7/21 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kingsbury Hall at University of Utah
7/24 – Vancouver, BC – Orpheum
7/25 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
7/26 – Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
7/28 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
7/29 – Hollywood, CA – Hollywood Palladium

Finally, I’ll be able to check her off my “to see” list…

~Dan – np: Tyler Fortier – Bang On Time

Downtown Express is a new film by David Grubin.  Check out the trailer below:

Set in the world of Russian immigrants living in New York City, Downtown Express uses music to explore the clash of old world values against the lure and excitement of a new country. Under the watch of his loving but overbearing father, virtuoso violinist and Juilliard student Sasha (Grammy nominee Philippe Quint) prepares for a critical recital meant to launch his career.

Yet, he is increasingly drawn to the rhythms of the streets of New York, and when he meets singer-songwriter Ramona (acclaimed recording artist Nellie McKay), he joins her band, falls in love, and begins to lead a double life, careening frantically between two worlds. As his classical debut nears, Sasha must decide whether or not to break with his father, forging his own destiny.

And, per the film’s webpage…

[Nellie McKay's] fifth album is due this September.

Downtown Express opens April 20th 2012 at the Quad Cinema in New York City.

http://downtownexpressfilm.com/

~Dan – np: Radiohead – The King of Limbs

As previously reported, Fiona Apple’s upcoming album The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw, And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do is due out in late June.  The official release date is now June 26, 2012.  We now have the album art and tracklist…

TRACKLIST:
01″Every Single Night”
02 “Daredevil”
03 “Valentine”
04 “Jonathan”
05 “Left Alone”
06 “Werewolf”
07 “Periphery”
08 “Regret”
09 “Anything We Want”
10 “Hot Knife”
(via Fiona’s FB page)

~Dan – np: Radiohead - OK Computer

Piano pop-songstress Regina Spektor has a new album (out May 29, 2012), a new video (“All the Rowboats“), and an opening slot for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!  Everything’s coming up Milhouse!

What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
1. Small Town Moon
2. Oh Marcello
3. Don’t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)
4. Firewood
5. Patron Saint
6. How
7. All The Rowboats
8. Ballad of a Politician
9. Open
10. The Party
11. Jessica

Regina Spektor and Tom Petty Tour Dates
April 2012
18/19 – Broomfield, Colo. @ 1 Bank Center
21 – Little Rock, Ark. @ Verizon Arena
24 – Albuquerque, N.M. @ Tingley Coliseum
26 – Wichita, Kan. @ Intrust Bank Arena
29 – Alpharetta, Ga. @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Encore Park

May 2012
1 – Estero, Fla. @ Germain Arena
3 – Orlando, Fla. @ Amway Center
5 – Austin, Texas @ Frank Erwin Center

The Atlanta (Alpharetta) date is convenient for a work trip of mine… yay!

~Dan – np: Ani DiFranco – Which Side Are You On?

Updated with official notice, sample tune (Ekki Múkk) that you can buy/download & video trailer from Sigur Rós (below).

Update 4/4/12 with cover art done by Jónsi’s sisters, Lilja and Inga Birgisdóttir (incidentally, Inga was the baby on the band’s first album cover, Von.)

As reported by Q, 24bit and Paste, Sigur Rós’ new album is called Valtari and due out on May 28th (Europe) or May 29th, 2012 (US).  At first, this looked like an elaborate pre-April Fool’s Day joke to me, simply based on this call out quote.  I bounced an email off of Peter at 24Bit, and he seemed to have vetted it a bit.

Simply based on the fact that I know Sigur Rós was in the studio working on new material, I’ll give my skepticism kudos but I’ll also give this news the benefit of the doubt.  Here’s what was reported on 24bit…

Following up a stunning solo LP and film score, Jónsi is back with the great Icelandic quartet Sigur Rós for a full-length successor to 2008′s Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. Due out on May 28th and titled Valtari, the 7-track effort features “more electronic stuff than before,” bassist Georg Hólm told Q Magazine (via). “But don’t worry,” he added, “we haven’t made a dance record.”

Aside from track titles, the release date, and a few non-specific adjectives (“beautiful,” “dreamy,” “introverted,” etc.), Hólm and Jónsi offered their own differing images of what to expect:

Hólm: “…this I’d compare to looking at an old landscape painting.”

 Birgisson: “…like an avalanche in slow motion.”

It sounds like — as with most of the Sigur Rós oeuvre — we’ll have another cinematic set left gloriously open to interpretation. While we wait, the pair shared these track titles for cuts recently mixed with co-producer Alex Somers below:

Valtari Tracklist

• Ég Anda
• Ekki Múkk
• Varúð
• Rembihnútur
• Dauðalogn
• Varðeldur
• Valtari
• Flogur Piaro (?)

No official word on the Sigur Rós news page, but I imagine it’ll be forthcoming soon if true.

Nevermind… it’s legit!

introducing valtari, our new album sigur-ros.co.uk #sigurrosvaltari

—
sigur rós (@sigurros) March 26, 2012

Pre-order featuring exclusive merchandise coming soon!

~Dan – np: Skeleton Key – Gravity is the Enemy