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Fol Chen – 200 Words
Definitely a different vibe than their “Cable TV” or “In Ruins” videos, but Fol Chen is still making some excellent electronic-pop. Here’s “200 Words” from their upcoming album, The False Alarms:
The False Alarms comes out on March 19th on Asthmatic Kitty… CD and vinyl:
~Dan – np: Ben Goldberg – Subatomic Particle Homesick Blues
Get your own Fol Chen song…
Fol Chen makes some pretty fun, electronic indie rock (check the videos at the bottom). They are also about to venture into the realm of making some impromptu music with a “Verbal Algorithm Composer-Free Song Generator.”
Walker Art Center – Open Field
Minneapolis, MN
Thursday, July 28th, 2-7pmSamuel Bing and Sinosa Loa of the band Fol Chen (Asthmatic Kitty) will produce a customized, one-of-a-kind song for each person who participates in the Fol Chen Verbal Algorithm Composer-Free Song Generator. This is a one-day event only!
Come fill out a survey about your experience at the Walker, turn your survey in to Bing and Sinosa Loa, and receive a CD of your very own custom song minutes later. At the end of Summer Jubilee, they will release the songs as a digital download Open Field EP.
Samuel Bing is a songwriter and co-producer for Fol Chen, whose two albums of danceable, art-pop have garnered praise from the likes of The New York Times, NME and Pitchfork. They have remixed and/or been remixed by David Bowie, Liars, Baths, and legendary club producer Junior Vasquez. They also covered Prince for SPIN’s “Purplish Rain” compilation. Their song “In Ruins” was featured on Showtime’s Weeds and an episode of CSI: NY in which a victim is murdered over Chat Roulette.
artwork and survey
If you live in Minneapolis, go! It’s FREE.
http://calendar.walkerart.org/event.wac?id=6385
~Dan – np: The Spanish Donkey – XYX
Fol Chen youtube…
“Cable TV”
“In Ruins”
Fol Chen is “In Ruins”
Fol Chen sent director Chris Wilcha (This American Life Showtime series / The Target Shoots First) to Iceland to film amidst the volcanic dust from the erupting Eyjafjallajökull for their new music video, “In Ruins.”
Two Icelandic youth wander through an apocalyptic wasteland wearing masks just to breathe and see amidst the dust. “In Ruins” is from Fol Chen’s Part II: The New December. Director: Chris Wilcha // Producer: Petur Sigurdsson // Director of Photography: Tómas Örn Tómasson //Editor: Catherine Bull // Featuring: Gudfinnur Sveinsson & Elìn Elisabet Einarsdóttir
~Dan – np: Weird Al‘s NPR Tiny Desk Concert 
the carpet’s filthy, but the ice is free
Fol Chen‘s “Cable TV” from Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made
(available on Asthmatic Kitty Records)
Video directed by Chris Wilcha, the only living person to have directed both Ira Glass and Mr. T. :) The Fol Chen record is really fun… it’s a great start for 2009.
~Dan – np: MSNBC Countdown with Keith Olbermann 2/20/09
Yann Tiersen, SXSW, Nellie McKay
Well… triple threat news again. This time it’s all about a touring Tiersen, a festival in Austin that every-indie-body loves, and my favorite Nellie (rhymes with McPie). In order of recency…
OK… so 3 hours ago I found out that French musician Yann Tiersen was touring. Touring the U.S. Touring through Portland… holy crap. For those who don’t know Yann Tiersen, click his name above or know that he makes great French music that got a lot more prominence with the Jean-Pierre Jeunet movie Amélie. I never thought he’d play any semblance of a decent North American tour… Anyway, here are the tour dates:
Apr 15 – Maison Française WASHINGTON
Apr 16 – Irving Plaza NEW YORK
Apr 17 – Club Soda MONTREAL
Apr 18 – Club Soda MONTREAL
Apr 19 – Mod Club Theatre TORONTO
Apr 21 – Logan Theatre CHICAGO
Apr 22 – Triple Rock Social MINNEAPOLIS
Apr 24 – Blue Bird DENVER
Apr 25 – Urban Lounge SALT LAKE CITY
Apr 27 – Richards VANCOUVER
Apr 28 – Neumo’s SEATTLE
Apr 29 – Wonder Ballroom PORTLAND
May 1 – Great American SAN FRANCISCO
May 2 – El Rey LOS ANGELES
May 8 – Queens Hall EDINBURG
May 9 – ABC 1 GLASGOW
May 10 – Duchess YORK
May 11 – Academy II BIRMINGHAM
May 13 – Junction CAMBRIDGE
May 14 – Electric Ballroom LONDON
May 15 – ATP fest “The Breeders” MINEHEAD
May 17 – Pheonix EXETER
May 18 – Komedia BATH
May 19 – Concorde II BRIGHTON
Jul 4 – Centro de artes e do espectaculos FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
Jul 5 – Casa das artes VILA NOVA DE FAMALICAO
Jul 6 – Centro cultural de Belem LISBOA
I just got my tickets (the Portland show is available from TicketBastard). I’m. so. excited.
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The SXSW music festival is a’going on again. I don’t really have a desire (or time off during busy season) to go to it this year. If I had time off in March, I’d be in San Francisco anyway. This year’s SXSW schedule is out (http://www.sxsw.com/).
If I went, I’d totally check out Peter Mulvey (he’s awesome) on the Signature Sounds stage, and Fol Chen on the Asthmatic Kitty stage… OK, and maybe Tori Amos, but she’s far from indie (she’s got a new one coming out in the spring, titled Abnormally Attracted to Sin).
Oh, and I’d probably also check out Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head on whatever stage they’re playing at SXSW… as you can’t argue with a band name like that (though I will say I’ve never ever heard the band). Hot!
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The live taping of Nellie McKay and Mia Doi Todd on Mountain Stage was recently posted. It was taped March 2008 but recently posted on NPR.org on January 27, 2009. Go here for the streaming link hook-up. Nellie played: Real Life, Long and Lazy River, Mother of Pearl, Testify, Buttons & Bows, and Zombie; and Mia Doi Todd played: River of Life and Esperar Es Caro.
~Dan – np: The Rutles – Archaelogy
SC3 @ the Great American Music Hall
Well, I was proven wrong for my naysaying only a week later, the Secret Chiefs 3 have followed up on their promise, and the live DVD is officially set and ready to go. This was posted to the Web of Mimicry store on Friday:
Live at the Great American Music Hall captures Secret Chiefs 3 in concert with what many consider to be the best of their many line-ups in 14 years of playing.
Shot in 2007 at one of the band’s favorite haunts, in San Francisco, this DVD does justice to a group whose live energy usually exceeds the recorded medium. Renowned for their ultra-elaborate CD productions, Secret Chiefs 3 has also garnered a reputation for the power and immediacy of their live shows. Their fanbase has swelled in recent years and grown accustomed to this live incarnation (the Secret Chiefs 3 bootleg scene is thriving), and they demand an official release! Not just some audience-hand-cam and stereo-mic-job thing, this DVD boasts a pro six-camera shoot with live sound mixed by Billy Anderson, with the multi-channel outs mixed for DVD by Trey Spruance and Randall Dunn (producer of Earth, SUNN O))), Kinski, Wolves in the Throne Room, etc). And it comes with a really nice six-panel gatefold digi-pack with original artwork. At the show, Secret Chiefs 3 performs a set of both familiar and as-yet-unreleased music. The line-up includes Ches Smith (Xiu Xiu, Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog), Shahzad Ismaili (who also plays with Graham Haynes, Laurie Anderson, and Tom Waits), Timb Harris (Estradasphere), Rich Doucette, Peijman Kouretchian, and Jai Young Kim.
Live at the Great American Music Hall DVD also includes an award-winning and seriously dimensionally altered 80-minute stop-motion animation feature film directed by Tawd Dorenfeld that uses Secret Chiefs 3’s live show as a soundtrack.
It’s a pre-order for a March 3rd release. Mine’s on order… yay…
Oh, and a side note… the Fol Chen CD out on Asthmatic Kitty (entitled Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made) is really really fun and rad. It’s poppy-electronic-indie rock goodness. Quirky, yet melodic. Totally a gem in 2009, if you ask me.
~Dan – np: Jamie Saft – Black Shabbis
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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