Talibam! to release conceptual opera Discover AtlantASS album with Sam Kulik
By Jared Micah on Jan 23 2012
Freak-jazz duo Talibam! and multi-instrumentalist Sam Kulik (Nervous Cabaret) have joined forces to create a “new underwater thriller fairytale” album Discover AtlantASS through UK publishers Belly Kids. The album consists of 19 tracks and an accompanying 25-page comic (drawn by London artist James Clapham) that illustrates this epic psychedelic opera, due out February 25 (advance order here).
According to the press release, Discover AtlantASS tells the elaborate story of a young teenager named Franklin, who gets abducted to the undersea world of Atlantis by a laid-back “jazz fish” revolutionary named Stinge. Together, they attempt to combat a disastrous oil spill that has nearly eradicated the underwater community of poets, musicians, artists, and fornicators. The story is said to be based on strange experiences the trio shared on a 2008 tour of Finland and recent geopolitical events, such as the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the controversy surrounding the “Ground Zero Mosque” in Manhattan.
Belly Kids informs us that the overall aesthetic of the opera is “like a radio play for the post-television era” and makes ample use of Talibam!’s signature genre-riddled style, featuring synthesizers, trombones, voices, guitars, banjos, and homespun sound effects in an Ethiopian-jazz-meets-Balkan-folk rhythmic style.
Talibam! and Sam Kulik will be touring Europe in support of the release from February 27 - March 25. The trio will perform tracks from the album in full costume, with puppets and video accompaniment. After returning to New York, they will showcase the work in an eight-night festival at St. Mark’s Church, presented by Incubator Arts Project. The CD and comic book will be sold at all performances this year and will be available from retailers in New York, London, and wider Europe.
Tourdates:
02.28.12 - Italy - TBA
02.29.12 - Italy - TBA
03.01.12 - Torino, Italy - TBA
03.02.12 - TBA
03.03.12 - Straubing, Germany - Raven
03.04.12 - Munich, Germany - TBA
03.05.12 - Germany -TBA
03.06.12 - Hannover, Germany - Cafe Glocksee
03.08.12 - Bremen, Germany - Lagerhalle
03.09.12 - Germany/Netherlands - TBA
03.10.12 - Germany/Netherlands - TBA
03.11.12 - Kiel, Germany - TBA
03.12.12 - Berlin, Germany - Schokoladen
03.12.12 - Cologne, Germany - TBA
03.14.12 - Antwerp, Belgium - TRIX
03.16.12 - Ebensee, Austria - Kino Ebensee
03.17.12 - Basel, Switzerland - Hirscheneck
03.18.12 - Besançon, France - La-cour-des-miracles
03.12.12 - Paris, France - TBA
03.20.12 - Tours, France - Le Temps Machine
03.21.12 - UK - TBA
03.22.12 - London, UK - Cafe OTO
03.23.12 - Dublin, Ireland - Whelan’s
03.24.12 - Cork, Ireland - Triskel Arts Center
03.25.12 - Dublin, Ireland - Whelan’s
• Talibam!: http://talibam.bandcamp.com
• Sam Kulik: http://www.myspace.com/samkulik
• Belly Kids: http://www.bellykids.co.uk
Disappears add more dates… the prophecies are all coming true! 2012 is real!
By Nobodaddy on Jan 23 2012
Ha. See? I TOLD YOU Disappears would be touring shitlessly in support of their new album Pre Language on Kranky that is due March 1 soon enough! SHA-BOOZ-BAZ!
Seriously though. I totally said that last Friday, like exactly. I also unloaded a bunch of A-list material about the band and about Steve Shelley and Sonic Youth and Joan of Arc… last Friday was a wild scene, man. Bottom line, the story was all hilarious and evocative and and still applicable here, and I’m not going to blow any more of my creativity on those assholes. Just go click on that link and read it. Then come back here and read this story again (being sure to let its latent brilliance wash over you) and check out the revised list of dates. There’s some European ones and a new batch of North American ones with Lotus Plaza, and even a couple with Lee Ranaldo milling around the stage. “Who the fuck’s that old man?!?” the kids will whisper to each other. It’ll be great.
Dates galore:
02.18.11 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
02.19.11 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
02.20.11 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
02.22.11 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill [Noise Pop Festival]
02.23.11 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
02.24.11 - Pioneertown, CA - Pappy and Harriets
02.25.11 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
03.26.12 - Colmar, Fance - Supersounds Festival
03.27.12 - Paris, France - Bonnes Mani Glaz’art
03.28.12 - Tourcoing, France - Le Grand Mix
03.29.12 - London, UK - Corsica Studios
03.30.12 - Brussels, Belgium - Ateliers Claus
03.31.12 - Hasselt, Belgium - Kunstencentrum Belgie
04.01.12 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Paradiso
04.13.12 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall *
04.14.12 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Yellow Barn *
04.15.12 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison *
04.16.12 - Montreal, QC - Casa del Popolo *
04.17.12 - Ithica, NY - The Haunt *^
04.18.12 - Albany, NY - Valentine’s *^
04.19.12 - Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands Gallery *
04.20.12 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s *
04.21.12 - Raleigh, NC - King’s Barcade *
04.22.12 - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light *
04.24.12 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
04.25.12 - Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree *
04.27.12 - Austin, TX - Austin Psych Festival
04.28.12 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada *
04.29.12 - Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone Café *
* Lotus Plaza
^ Lee Ranaldo
• Disappears: http://www.myspace.com/disappearsmusic
• Kranky: http://www.kranky.net
[Photo: Drew Reynolds]
Elfin Saddle have a new LP on Constellation! Saddle up your foxes, gentlefolk!
By Liz Louche on Jan 23 2012
Elfin Saddle’s music is exactly what its name sounds like. Singing saws? Check. Accordion? Check. Non-obnoxious xylophone? Tiny charming Japanese woman? BUT OF COURSE! This Montreal-based four-piece is an enchanted fox ride through a forest of dandelions, fireflies, and tweed-clad wee folk. It’s like late-80s kids series David the Gnome tunneled its way out of the past and into a Québécois art school.
And now the group wants to take you on a whole new fox journey with their latest album, Devastates. Multi-instrumentalists/vocalists Emi Honda and Jordan McKenzie, cellist Kristina Koropecki, and upright bass-slapper Nathan Gage have crafted a lovely little “soundworld” on this one, as their label (Constellation) puts it. It’s art folk for a new millennium, and the band pulls from that whole sea chanty/European vagabond school of indie rock while still sounding super fresh, urgent, and innovative. Entrance to elfland is open to mortals come March 6, when the album hits stores.
Devastates tracklisting:
01. The Changing Wind
02. Kiboho
03. Boats
04. The Power & The Wake
05. Chaos Hands
06. Invocation
07. In a Blanket of Leaves
08. The Wind Come Carry
• Elfin Saddle: http://elfinsaddle.com
• Constellation: http://cstrecords.com
Jim O’Rourke will curate, perform for ATP Japan; Tiny Mix Tapes editors’ heads collectively implode then explode
By Paulb on Jan 23 2012
Today just got a little lot brighter.
ATP announced this morning that Jim O’Rourke has been selected to curate this spring’s I’ll Be Your Mirror. The event, named after the brief Velvet Underground B-side, had its inaugural run last summer with headliner Godspeed You! Black Emperor and was so successful they’ve decided to give it another go.
While the initial line-up has yet to be announced officially, ATP did share that O’Rourke is scheduled to perform at the event — and that’s enough info for us. O’Rourke moved to Japan several years ago and has continued to regularly perform, record, and release music while living overseas. O’Rourke’s last LP of new material in his own name was 2009’s stellar The Visitor (TMT Review), though he’s unloaded a plethora of material — archival, sorta-new, and collabs aplenty in the last couple years.
I’ll Be Your Mirror is scheduled for April 14 and 15 at Studio Coast in Shin Kiba, Tokyo, Japan.
• Jim O’Rourke: http://tisue.net/orourke
• ATP: http://www.atpfestival.com
