The Dismemberment Plan — mostly known for being Travis Morrison’s early band before making waves with Travistan — are back in a MEDIUM way. Not a BIG way (new songs) or a SMALL way (reunion tour) but a MEDIUM way: they’ve decided to release a live album. Back in the early months of 2011, a time so much less cynical than today, The Dismemberment Plan reunited for a handful of shows throughout the US and Japan to celebrate the re-release (and debut vinyl version) of their 1999 smash Emergency & I, an album some people love so much they’ve gone through endless court battles to try and marry it. At each of those reunion shows, The DP let some other band (too lowly to mention) warm up the crowd, but they reserved one special date in Tokyo all for themselves so they could tear through 23 songs and still have time for an X-rated afterparty.
If you didn’t have enough money to travel to Japan to see your favorite band in February, your devotion to them is highly questionable, but you’re off the hook this time because that’s the one show they’ve decided to make timeless. Live in Japan 2011 was recorded at Shibuya O-nest on February 9 and will be released June 1 by Japanese label Bad News Records. And let me tell you, they played Dismemberment Plan songs. Not just Emergency & I songs, but stuff from !, …Is Terrified, I mean you name it! Well, there’s only one other album, so I’ll go ahead and name that too: Change. Look out, Change fans, you’re about to hear that shit echo.
Finally, because the band is a super-hot stud convention, the album will also include a digital booklet of live photos and video footage of “Back and Forth” being performed with the audience singing along. That’s cute because I wasn’t there.
Live in Japan 2011 tracklisting:
01. Spider in the Snow
02. A Life of Possibilities
03. The Face of the Earth
04. Sentimental Man
05. You Are Invited
06. Bra
07. What Do You Want Me to Say
08. Pay for the Piano
09. Memory Machine
10. Time Bomb
11. If I Don’t Write
12. Following Through
13. The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich
14. Do the Standing Still
15. Girl O’Clock
16. The City
17. I Love a Magician
18. Ok Jokes Over
19. Ellen and Ben
20. Gyroscope
21. The Ice of Boston
22. That’s When the Party Started
23. Back and Forth
Couple more live shows:
06.04.11 - Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier (The Roots Picnic)
07.16.11 - Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Festival)
• The Dismemberment Plan: http://www.dismembermentplan.com
• Bad News: http://www.badnews.co.jp
