Baby, I spent your money: ODB's preeminent baby mama sold rights to his last album for $10K

By Erika H on Jul 19 2010

There’s nothing better than having your name on something in big letters. Papa John felt it when he franchised his pizza; dumb kids feel it when they write their name in wet concrete for future generations of dumb kids. Laetitia Sadier hasn’t really had that privilege, except in the details on Stereolab liner notes or behind “Featuring…” (Atlas Sound’s “Quick Canal,” for example, or Mice Parade’s 2007 self-titled). The last time she tried to break free from Stereolab (if only superficially), the rupture was half-assed. The resulting band, Monade, was hardly a solo endeavor, as evinced by the fact that Sadier wasn’t exactly alone (hence the word “band”).

Now that Stereolab is on hiatus, Laetitia is going all the way and releasing her first truly solo album, The Trip, under her own name (that’s when you know it’s legit). Okay, so on this debut album, Laetitia’s not entirely alone – she worked with a few guests (Richard Swift, April March, Julien Gasc, and Emmanuel Mario) – but it seems a little cheap to nitpick. She wrote all but three songs on the album (two are covers of “By the Sea and “Un Soir, Un Chien,” by Wendy & Bonnie and Les Rita Mitsouko, respectively), and with that voice, how can you go wrong?

The Trip is out on September 21 from Drag City.

Tracklist:

01. One Million Year Trip
02. Fluid Sand
03. Our Interest Are the Same
04. The Natural Child
05. Statues Can Bend
06. By the Sea
07. Unfasten
08. Un Soir, Un Chien
09. Another Monster
10. Ceci Est le Coeur
11. Summertime
12. Release, Open Your Little Earthling Hands

• Laetitia Sadier: http://www.myspace.com/laetitiasadier
• Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com

By E. Nagurney on Jul 19 2010

Back in the sweet summer of 2009, it was like everybody had a new carefree pop obsession every day. If you weren’t surfing the chillwaves with Neon Indian’s “Deadbeat Summer,” you were living some sort of super-smooth John Hughes fantasy with Phoenix’s “1901.” But those days are over, over I say! Being way into Neon Indian and Phoenix is so 2009; being into Ariel Pink is so 2010. If you want to return to the glory days of last year, there is only one real plan: go see Neon Indian open for Phoenix on a handful of tourdates this September. For added 2009 flavor, I recommend listening to “My Girls” on a loop during the drive to the show.

If you can’t make those five dates in which Neon Indian and Phoenix join forces, you may still be able to get the Neon Indian part of the bargain. Alan Palomo and crew will be going on tour for a few weeks in the fall, giving you plenty of opportunities to relive “The Year Chillwave Broke.” During some of those dates, they’ll be joined by either Chromeo or Dam-Funk, two fine purveyors of 80s-inflected synth funk.

Dates:

07.25.10 - San Francisco, CA - All Shook Down Festival
07.30.10 - Boston, MA - House of Blues !
07.31.10 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis !
08.14.10 - New York, NY - The Beach @ Governor’s Island
09.19.10 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl *
09.21.10 - San Diego, CA - SDSU Open Air Theatre *
09.22.10 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl Concert Theater *
09.23.10 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Rail Event Center *
09.26.10 - Vancouver, BC - PNE Forum *
09.27.10 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
09.29.10 - San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
10.01.10 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda
10.02.10 - Tucscon, AZ - Club Congress
10.05.10 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
10.09.10 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt
10.11.10 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10.12.10 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace
10.14.10 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues !

* Phoenix
! Chromeo
# Dam-Funk

• Neon Indian: http://www.myspace.com/neonindian
• Phoenix: http://wearephoenix.com