Ain’t no party like a dabke party: Mark Gergis’ Sham Palace releases Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran comp
Dance music today. KIDS today. It’s all Skrillex [wub wub wub]. Or it’s that awful song about the guy who “w-w-w-w-work[s] OUT” that’s supposed to sound “tongue-in-cheek” but is just an endless blitz of douchebombs. People, we all know this schlock isn’t the future of dance music. So, what is? Could it be… new wave electronic dabke?
What’s a new wave electronic dabke, you ask? Well, envision Omar Souleyman locked in a recording studio with Duran Duran. Nah, scratch that. Just imagine Omar Souleyman-style jams, as he’s the maestro with whom most Westerners are probably familiar. And if that’s not working for you, imagine this: a synth-infused take on the hypnotic, special-occasion party music (think weddings, etc.) traditional to the Levantine Middle East. Dabke is characterized by the use of the mejwiz (a double-reed bamboo flute), hand percussion, and vocal chants, and it’s the jam du jour of for Syrians, Bedouins, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Druze in the Houran region in the south of Syria and the northwest of Jordan. And now the good people at Sham Palace have compiled their favorite dabke tracks culled from cassettes and discs recorded during the 90s-00s and sold throughout the Houran region, putting them all onto a nice, shiny new LP called Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran that’s sure to rock your socks off and tie up your dancin’ shoes.
Dabke is the second release (after a Souleyman 2xLP) for Sham Palace, the label run by Mark Gergis, the man behind several Middle Eastern/Southeast Asian collections for the always amazing Sublime Frequencies label. Fun fact: Gergis is the man who introduced the much-ballyhooed Omar Souleyman to the West after seeing him perform in Syria in 1997. He arranged/produced Souleyman’s collabos with Icelandic pixie genius Björk last year. Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran hits stores on June 19 and is limited to a pressing of 1,000 copies.
Dabke tracklisting:
A1. Ahmad Al Kosem, “Love Is Not a Joke”
A2. Mohamed Al Ali, “Mili Alay (Sway to Me)”
A3. Abu Sultan, “Your Love Made My Head Hurt”
B1. Ahmad Al Kosem, “Ma Dal Anouh (I Will Grieve Until I See Her Again)”
B2. Abu Wafsi, “Deg Deg Dagdeglo”
B3. Obeid Al Jum’aa, ” Instrumental Mejwiz”
B4. Faraj Kadah/Ashraf Abu Leil, “Afrah Houran (Houran Weddings)”
• Sham Palace: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sham-Palace/108672552579925
Eternal Summers announce Correct Behavior LP for summer release, go on summer tour, cryogenically freeze themselves from September to June
Summer can’t last forever. Everybody with any sense of time or seasons understands this. Roanoke-based trio Eternal Summers do not understand time or seasons because, well, I don’t think I need to spell this out for you. It’s not their fault, though. You see, Eternal Summers are part of an ongoing experiment by a kooky yet charismatic scientist. It was his idea to put the three Eternal Summers members into cryogenic sleep for the periods of the year that are not summer. Hence, the trio named their band Eternal Summers, as that is their reality. Furthermore, the band is making the best of their three months of consciousness by releasing a new record, Correct Behavior, through Kanine Records on July 24.
Careful planning on their part, releasing their new record right in the very middle of summer. With such a release date, they can spend the time before the record’s release touring America. In fact, they are doing exactly that, with a short string of East Coast dates in June. Once they’ve done that, they can enjoy the release of their new album. Once they’re doing enjoying their album’s release, they go back in that cold, cold tube. And the process beings anew. Isn’t weird, experimental life a beautiful thing?
Correct Behavior tracklist:
01. Millions
02. Wonder
03. You Kill
04. I Love You
05. It’s Easy
06. Girls in the City
07. Heaven and Hell
08. Good As You
09. Disappear
10. Summerset
Eternal Summers dates:
06.08.12 - Columbus, OH - Cafe Bourbon St.
06.09.12 - Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog
06.10.12 - Detroit, MI - Garden Bowl
06.12.12 - Toledo, OH - Mickey Finn’s Pub
06.13.12 - Toronto, CA - NXNE @ The Drake Hotel
06.14.12 - New York, NY - Knitting Factory
06.15.12 - Philadelphia, PA - Milkboy Philly
06.16.12 - Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong
• Eternal Summers: http://www.facebook.com/eternalsummers
• Kanine: http://kaninerecords.com
Björk turns New York Public Library and Manhattan Children’s Museum into giant blobs of educationalism even tho we’re all plenty smart as is
Dear room-parents,
Have you hears about this? I guess some hippie, liberal, “bras are optional” feminist who calls herself “Björk” is going around trying to educate our kids about these supposed connections between music, nature, and technology. Yeah, she’s teaming up with something called “The New York Public Library” and something else called “The Children’s Museum of Manhattan” this summer to launch a series of programs based around, get this, an “interactive album and accompanying suite of iPad apps” that she released last year called Biophilia (TMT Review). I just listened to the first 30 seconds of one of those songs, and my first thought was “I am in Hell.” My second thought was that this must be what it’s like to be on drugs. Watch the video below. This is what society today passes off as an “artist.”
The NYPL programs reflect the random, “anything-goes” nature of those stupid apps and specifically target middle schoolers with cool lights and sounds and whatnot. They begin in July and run through the fall. The CMOM ones offer daily “drop-in programming” (my pastor says this may well be an LCD reference???) to school groups, summer camps, and families with children ages 3-11. They start July 6 and running and will last through December 30. I know I don’t need to remind you all that Revelation says that during the end times of this Earth age (yes, there are more than one, little miss Björk) before Christ’s return, Satan returns first, pretending to be Christ, promising peace, harmony, and universal love. Don’t be fooled. He is using many of today’s popular entertainers and social leaders to set the stage for him. I know you are teaching this to your children and grandchildren so that they can hopefully set a good example for future generations, unlike this Björk, or whatever her real name is.
• Björk: http://bjork.com
• One Little Indian: http://www.indian.co.uk
• Children’s Museum of Manhattan: http://www.cmom.org
• New York Public Library: http://www.nypl.org
Dominick Fernow starts up new label Bed of Nails in order to get another Vatican Shadow 12-inch out there
It’s not really news when you say that Dominick Fernow is doing shit. That’s kind of like announcing that Bushwick smells like cat litter, that Bradford Cox likes reverb, or that I have a chip on my shoulder. It’s pretty much common knowledge. But get this, Fernow isn’t just making a tape or a collage ‘zine, he’s starting a whole new imprint!
That’s right, the man behind Prurient, Vatican Shadow, and everyone’s favorite record label Hospital Productions, is beginning a new imprint called Bed of Nails. According to FACT, June 18 will mark the label’s first release with a new 12-inch by Vatican Shadow entitled September Cell (and limited to 700 copies). If the new record is any indication of the new imprint’s focus, then you should expect some rhythmic grooves beating out of the ol’ Bed of Nails. But let’s not make assumptions.
September Cell EP tracklisting:
A1. September Cell (The Storm)
A2. September Cell (The Punishment)
B1. Cairo Is a Haunted City
B2. One Day He Heard the Call
• Hospital Productions: http://hospitalproductions.net
Awesome band returns after lengthy hiatus with new album, world tour: Dead Can Dance edition
Fantastic news, everyone! Medieval gothic tomb sprites Dead Can Dance are back! The original worldbeat/goth 4AD flava etherealists have returned from their lengthy slumber and they’re bearing spoOoOoky beautiful gifts, in the form of their first album of new material in a sweet 16 years. So, that’s it. All you swoopy-haired Renaissance Festival minstrels armed with cardboard swords, cheesy harmonies, and sad 15th-century imagery can just CAN it. Because Dead Can Dance are the original purveyors of “hey, a Gregorian chant would sound cool with this swirling art rock,” and they can do it a hell of a lot better than anybody else.
Founding duo Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry started working on this baby, entitled Anastatis, back in fall 2011. The album was recorded at Quivy Studios in Ireland in the early months of 2012. Of working with Gerrard again, Perry said, “It will be a spring album to coincide with both natures awakening and the groups subsequent rebirth.” The band will set sail on a world tour for eight months this summer — their first dates since DCD’s sold out 2005 tour. (Live recordings from this tour are available as free digital downloads for a limited time via the band’s website. Each digital EP is part of the Live Happenings series, and are replaced every few months.) Fans can expect a mix of new tracks and classics on Dead Can Dance’s 2012 world tour. Just keep the velvet leggings at home, people, okay?
Dates:
08.09.12 - Vancouver, BC - Orpheum
08.10.12 - Seattle, WA - Maymoor Amphitheater
08.12.12 - Berkley, CA - Greek Theater
08.14.12 - Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheater
08.15.12 - San Diego, CA - Humphreys
08.17.12 - Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden
08.19.12 - Denver, CO - Temple Hoyle Buell Theater
08.21.12 - Chicago, IL - Pritzer Pavilion at Millennium Park
08.23.12 - Toronto, ON - Sony Center for the Performing Arts
08.24.12 - Montreal, QE - Bell Centre
08.26.12 - Philadelphia, PA - Verizon Hall
08.27.12 - Vienna, VA - Filene Center/Wolftap
08.29-30.12 - New York, NY - Beacon Theater
09.04.12 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
09.05.12 - Atlanta, GA - Cobb Performing Arts
09.07.12 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits (Moody Theater)
• Dead Can Dance: http://deadcandance.com
Neneh Cherry & The Thing tour as a bright spot in the shadow of impending European meltdown
The odd couple pairing of free jazz maestros The Thing (Mats Gustafsson on saxophone, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on double bass, Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, percussion, and sampler) and dance pop maven Neneh Cherry is hitting the road to promote their forthcoming LP, The Cherry Thing, out June 18 on Smalltown Supersound! After two initial shows in Stockholm on May 17, the collaborative foursome are set to take a host of club spaces and festivals by storm. Given the band’s limited time spent together rehearsing, let alone playing together at all, they should make for pretty interesting engagements.
So how did these crazy kids hook up? The Thing is named after a track by Neneh’s father, Don Cherry, and Neneh has a pretty robust history of collaboration, so when Neneh found herself frequenting the young jazz scene in Stockholm, her current residence, Things just kind of clicked into place. An interest in a diverse swath of music outside of the genres each is generally associated with laid the groundwork for finding tracks they could tackle anew. After sending songs back and forth, they recorded a set of tracks (including a few originals), eight of which have made it onto their upcoming album, including covers of MF Doom, Suicide, Ornette Colman, and even Don Cherry himself.
If you haven’t heard any of the tracks released thus far, you should do so, because they’re awesome and we should all be happy Neneh is back front and center. If you’re lucky enough to be spending your summer in Europe, do yourself a favor and get thyself to one of these shows!
Tourdates:
06.30.12 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Ljubjana Jazz Festival
07.01.12 - Stadt, Austria - Porgy & Bess Bezirk Innere
07.02.12 - Prague, Czech Republic - Lucerna Music bar
07.05.12 - Træna, Norway - Traena Festival
07.10.12 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhagen Jazz Festival
07.15.12 - London, UK - Village Underground
07.16.12 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Mlekweg
07.18.12 - Berlin, Germany - Radialsystem
07.20.12 - Molde, Norway - Teatret Vårt
07.23.12 - San Sebastian, Spain - San Sebastian Jazz Festival Donostia
• Neneh Cherry: https://www.facebook.com/nenehcherryofficial
• Smalltown Supersound: http://www.smalltownsupersound.com
Planes Mistaken for Stars announce summer reunion tour, now feel your face and realize you’ve grown a beard
When post-hardcore outfit Planes Mistaken for Stars broke up in 2008, it marked the moment when a thousand beards receded back inside the heads of their hosts. It was a phenomenon unexplained by science, religion, or basic logic. Such was the primal connection between Planes Mistaken for Stars and certain people’s beards; this horrible event had no choice but to occur.
But behold! Planes Mistaken for Stars have returned and with them, the beards have returned as well. Feel your face. Does it feel fuzzy? Or, if you had a beard before, does it feel fuzzier? You can thank (blame?) Planes Mistaken for Stars for that, specifically their summer reunion dates. Throughout August, the Peoria, Illinois-based group will be reliving the glory days of 1997-2008. All days were glory days for them. If only we could all be so lucky. Well, at least, we’ve got these cool beards.
Planes Mistaken for Stars dates:
08.04.12 - Chicago, IL - The Ultra Lounge *^
08.05.12 - Lansing, MI - Macs Bar *%
08.07.12 - Boston, MA - Great Scott
08.08.12 - Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus ~&
08.09.12 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwells ~
08.10.12 - Blacksburg, VA - We Got Brains! Fest #
08.11.12 - Washington, DC - Red Room #
08.12.12 - Richmond, VA - Strange Matter #
08.14.12 - Cincinnati, OH - TBA
08.15.12 - Peoria, IL - Brass Rail /
* Worn in Red
^ Angry Gods
% FenceMen
~ The Sun, The Moon, The Stars
& Model Home
# Regents
/ The Forecast, Lark’s Tounge, Angry Gods
• Planes Mistaken for Stars: http://www.myspace.com/pmfs
Konx-om-Pax to release an album on Planet Mu, and if you look through a telescope, you might be able to see him ice-skating on the rings of Saturn.
Konx-om-Pax knows how to build scenes from different galaxies, where maybe it’s normal and casual for jets of rainbow flames to shoot through tribal festivals and for pinwheels to have heartbeats and for jellyfish to be covered in jewels. Maybe he even hangs out in those galaxies, getting there by way of a rocket made of Silly-Putty or a chrome chariot pulled by anthropomorphic geometric shapes.
You might even know him, or at least know of him,. The Glasgow-based artist, whose real name is Tom Scholefield, has made videos for the likes of Hudson Mowhawke, Mogwai, Martyn, Jamie Lidell, Kudeo, and Lone, and he’s done sleeve art for Oneohtrix Point Never, Rustie, and King Midas Sound. His work has been featured in festivals and publications all over the world, and most recently, the digital arts organization Onedotzero toured his “Advanced Beauty” piece as an HD screening.
When Konx-om-Pax isn’t down to don his astronaut suit and collect treasures from the psychedelic corners of space, he makes music. He’s been making tracks since he was a teenager, and not only has he toured with Mogwai as a DJ, but he also runs an experimental studio/label project called Display Copy. Recently, he recorded the sounds of elephants walking across glass ponds on stilts and of monsters in lo-fi kids’ computer games from the 90s, and he sped up the theme song to Fraggle Rock, then made a record that can produce holographic images in the air when spun at the right time of day.
Or, maybe that’s what his space soundtrack is like. According to Planet Mu, “Tom explains that he makes music to chill out, a form of creative self medication.” So, more accurately, he crafted tracks consisting of “tape-hiss and unsettling spoken word” and “musique concrete space and drops” and “slow-motion nostalgia” and made an album called Regional Surrealism, which will be out on July 23 via Planet Mu.
Regional Surrealism tracklist:
01. Intro
02. Isotonic Pool
03. At Home with Mum and Dad
04. Twin Portal Redux
05. Sura-Tura-Gnosi-Cosi (ft. Steven Retchard)
06. Zang-Tumb (ft. Stuart Braithwaite)
07. Glacier Mountain Descent
08. Pillars of Creation
09. Slootering
10. Lagoon Leisure
11. Hurt Face
12. Chambers
13. Silent Reading
14. Let’s Go Swimming
• Konx-om-Pax Visual Work: http://displaycopy.net
• Konx-om-Pax Video Work: http://vimeo.com/konxompax
• Planet Mu: http://planet.mu
Mark Fell and DJ Sprinkles get their collaborative groove on with Complete Spiral EP
Surprise! Unexpected (though certainly not unwelcome) collaboration alert! Last week, Tokyo-based producer DJ Sprinkles a.k.a. Terre Thaemlitz, and Mark Fell, one-half of the influential glitch/programming duo SND, released Complete Spiral EP, a joint vinyl EP on Thaemlitz’s Comatonse Recordings. The release is said to be “an homage to the sounds of the late ’80s and early ’90s house music that had such a heavy impact on the both of them,” which is a more than satisfying explanation of their decision to work together. In reality, they could be collaborating over a shared appreciation for cheesesteak sandwiches, and this would still be something worth noting. God I’m so hungry right now.
Back in 2009, DJ Sprinkles received due attention for his groundbreaking rhythmic commentary on house music Midtown 120 Blues, inarguably one of the best albums released that year. Until very recently, when he began releasing work under his Sensate Focus moniker, Mark Fell’s practical appreciation for house music has been far more subtle, with the vague danceability of his tracks (both solo and as a member of SND) compromised by the cold machinery explicit in so many Raster-Noton and Editions Mego releases. Still, Fell maintains, the influence is there: “All of the music that I make is without a doubt grounded in house music and techno music from that period, to some extent. Certainly the things I’ve done over the past three or four years, even though they’ve been kind of unusual rhythmically, I think they still kind of have their origins in that period.” With Complete Spiral EP, Fell and Thaemlitz make their loyalties clear, and it would be an irredeemable affront to the club-lingering musical deities if they didn’t explore this collaboration further. Seriously, a full-length album please.
• Mark Fell: http://www.markfell.com
• Terre Thaemlitz: http://www.comatonse.com/thaemlitz
• Comatonse: http://www.comatonse.com
[Photo: Matteo Ruzzon]
Husky announce Sub Pop debut Forever So, tour with Sub Pop bands, catch terminal Sub Pop fever, die
There’s a band out in Melbourne named Husky. Here’s what they do: play some smooth, rootsy indie-folk. When you do such things, clearly you’re going to have some Sub Pop dreams. But what happens when Sub Pop dreams… become Sub Pop realities!? What happens is that you put out a record called Forever So through Sub Pop and give it a US release on July 10. You also let your buddies in the UK and Europe have that record a little earlier, namely May 28. And you let them have it in digital, CD, and vinyl formats, because you are incredibly nice! You are nice guys, Husky!
In living the Sub Pop dream, Husky are going on tour with some of their like-minded Sub Pop labelmates. So go see them this summer with Wolf Eyes, THEESatisfaction, and Eugene Mirman! I’m just kidding, Wolf Eyes aren’t on Sub Pop anymore. I’m also just kidding with the rest of that information, because that information was primarily constructed out of lies. In reality, they’re going on tour with Shearwater and The Head and the Heart. They’re also playing a show with Felice Brothers, but they’re not on Sub Pop SO WHO CARES.
Sad news to close this story. Due to their massive exposure to Sub Pop, Husky have contracted terminal Sub Pop disease. They have roughly two years to live, in which they will spend most of their time putting out Mudhoney albums.
Husky dates:
05.21.12 - Koln, Germany - Blue Shell
05.23.12 - Munster, German - Gleiss 22
05.31.12 - Reno, NV - Knitting Factory *
06.01.12 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore *
06.02.12 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore *
06.05.12 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom *
06.08.12 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
06.09.12 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Waller Creek *
06.10.12 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Waller Creek *
06.12.12 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
06.15.12 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl ^
06.17.12 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill &
06.19.12 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios &
06.20.12 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile &
06.21.12 - Vancouver, BC - Media Club &
* The Head and the Heart
& Shearwater
^ Felice Brothers
• Husky: http://www.huskysongs.com
• Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com
