Grimes releases new album, spreads her magical pegasus wings on headlining North American tour

By Liz Louche on

Grimes releases new album, spreads her magical pegasus wings on headlining North American tour

What would it sound like if mystical unicorns cranked up the ethereal knob on their synthesizers and acted out select scenes from The X-Files while high on ecstasy? It would probably sound a lot like what The Guardian calls Montreal-based artist Grimes’ “outer-limits pop.” The lady behind the jams is Canadian Claire Boucher, a shining light of the DIY loft scene based around Lab Synthèse, a huge former textile factory where punk rock attitude and atmospheric R&B get down and make beautiful little textured electronica babies. Grimes’ last release, a split album with fellow Canadian D’Eon, has been racking up accolades, and now she’s got yet another album, Visions, coming out January 31 on Arbutus. Grand total: four albums, two years. (There MUST be unicorns involved. There’s no other possible explanation.)

Anyway, Ms. Boucher and her merry band of magical creatures will be heading out on the road this winter along with pals Born Gold. This isn’t Grimes’ first time on the road — she opened for Lykke Li on her 2011 fall tour — but this could be the first time audiences get to bathe in her hazy occult soundscapes before she blows up into the big time. Check your Chinese Astrological calendars and tell me I’m wrong! It’s on there. 2012: Year of the Grimes.

Visions tracklisting:

01. Infinite ♡ Without Fulfillment
02. Genesis
03. Oblivion
04. Eight
05. Circumambient
06. Vowels = Space and Time
07. Visiting Statue
08. Be a Body (侘寂)
09. Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus) (feat. Doldrums)
10. Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U)
11. Nightmusic (feat. Majical Cloudz)
12. Skin
13. Know the Way (Outro)

Dates:

02.18.12 - Vancouver, BC - Fortune Sound Club
02.20.12 - Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
02.21.12 - Portland, OR - Holocene
02.24.12 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo
02.25.12 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
02.27.12 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
02.29.12 - Austin, TX - Lambert’s
03.01.12 - Denton, TX - Dan’s Silverleaf
03.02.12 - New Orleans, LA - LBC Quad at Tulane University
03.03.12 - Oxford, MS - Cats Purring
03.05.12 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
03.06.12 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
03.07.12 - Orlando, FL - Backbooth
03.08.12 - Miami, FL - Bardot Miami
03.13.12 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
03.14.12 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03.19.12 - Toronto, ON - Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
03.20.12 - Pittsburgh, PA - Brillobox
03.21.12 - Baltimore, MD - Str8 Cavin
03.22.12 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie
03.23.12 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
03.24.12 - Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands
03.26.12 - Allston, MA - Great Scott
03.31.12 - Montreal, QC - Cabaret Mile End

• Grimes: http://www.myspace.com/boucherville
• Arbutus: http://www.arbutusrecords.com

Balam Acab forces you to acknowledge his presence on December tour

By E. Nagurney on Nov 28 2011

Balam Acab can hear you. He can hear you compiling your year-end lists. And he can hear that his debut full-length Wander/Wonder (TMT Review) isn’t on there, even though you did like it a lot. Oh, don’t worry, Mr. Acab doesn’t take much offense: he knows he did a good job. He understands that you just forgot about him. That’s cool, you’ll remember him soon. You’ll remember him… when he comes to your town.

Over the month of December, Balam Acab will be touring the United States, forcing people to acknowledge his presence. Mainly, he’ll be doing this by playing live shows. I don’t… I don’t know if you thought maybe this was going to be something more sinister? No, he’ll just be playing shows and making sure that people know that he and his ghostly productions exist. Of course, he’ll mainly be making himself known to people who bought tickets and attended these shows, the majority of which are probably already very familiar with his music. Balam Acab, I have found a flaw in your plan! Plan B: pound on some windows.

Balam Acab dates:

12.03.11 - New York, NY - Diana Event Oval
12.09.11 - Haverford, PA - Haverford College
12.10.11 - Miami, FL - Bardot Miami
12.15.11 - Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom
12.16.11 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex #
12.17.11 - San Francisco, CA - The Public Works

# James Ferraro, Killing Spree DJs

• Balam Acab: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Balam-Acab/321654552079

Pixies side project The Everybody release ultra fancy split 7-inch

By Liz Louche on Nov 28 2011

Have you ever been listening to the Pixies and found yourself thinking, “Hmm, there’s too many words in here!” I KNOW, ALL THE TIME, RIGHT? Well don’t turn off your stereo just yet, college rock fans, because the Pixies’ Joey Santiago and David Lovering have joined forces to create experimental instrumental rock band The Everybody. And they’ve got a split 7-inch coming atcha faster than you can say “colored vinyl!” Or at least by December 20.

This special split goes by the name of “Marooned” b/w “Demon Oar.” It’s a collaboration between The Everybody and legendary studio wizard Eddie Kramer (Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Curtis Mayfield) on “Marooned” and the anagram-loving Indiana alt-rockers Stationary Odyssey on “Demon Oar.” (Stationary Odyssey’s contribution is a reworked version of Side A.) Pixies superfans and weirdo collectors of limited-run releases, take note! Because this baby’s limited to a run of 300 and it comes on delicate white vinyl, nestled snugly into a screen-printed wooden case by Ryan Grisham of the band Mock Orange. There’s even a Kickstarter page for those that want to give/get more. Lyrics schyrics. The sounds of a million Pixies fans drooling should be more than enough.

• The Everybody: https://www.facebook.com/everybodytheband
• Stationary Odyssey: http://stationaryodyssey.com

Broadcast to release new album using previously recorded Trish Keenan vocals; also, maybe not

By Mike Reid on Nov 28 2011

Consider this preaching to the choir, but thank God (or whomever) for the ability to record and reproduce. Just as the Ancient Egyptians creatively revealed the obscure fashion choices of 2500 BC through their paintings and sculptures, analog and digital recording have continually demonstrated their value by allowing musical expression to live on perpetually (or until the medium degrades or is destroyed, or files are deleted). Serving as yet another testament to the benefit of this immutability, Under the Radar reports, in an interview with bass guitarist James Cargill, that he’s been sifting through vocal recordings from the late Trish Keenan, in preparation for an entirely new Broadcast album.

Well, maybe. Upon closer inspection, it appears as though such an album isn’t entirely set in stone. Here’s presumably the whole of what Cargill had to say on the subject: “Trish left a lot of tapes, four-tracks and stuff, and I’ve been going through those. It’s difficult, and I’m connected to it at the same time. It’s wonderful, but I’m also feeling a sense of loss.” With regard to the prospect of using these prior recordings on a future album, he equivocally states, “I think that would be a wonderful thing.” So, technically, this apparitional album barely qualifies as being in the works.

More definitively, however, Cargill states how he is also planning to complete the soundtrack for the 2013 film Berberian Sound Studio, which he and Keenan both initially worked together on. There’s no word on what Keenan’s contributions actually consisted of, but no matter; I think the majority of us are more than grateful for the seductively lackadaisical nature of her previous recordings.

• Broadcast: http://futurecrayon.blogspot.com
• Warp: http://warp.net

Wilco announces EP for Record Store Day; Jeff Tweedy muses that, boy, seems like Record Store Day comes later and later every year

By E. Nagurney on Nov 23 2011

Jeff Tweedy sat on his porch, admiring the Chicago skyline from afar. To his left was Nels Cline. To his right, Glenn Kotche. He looked at Cline and told him about his dream last night, in which he met Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but it wasn’t really Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because he was of average height and possessed a high, shrill voice. It felt alright to him. Kotche felt a little left out, like he was listening to something that he had the right to hear, yet he felt he wasn’t supposed to hear it.

Cline admitted that the dream seemed pretty freaky, but that his mind was more on their Record Store Day release. Hearing that, Tweedy only looked out into the distance, musing that, huh, Record Store Day just comes later and later each year. Even in his bitterness, Kotche couldn’t bear to correct him that it was Black Friday Record Store Day, the iteration of the event taking place on November 25.

Still, Tweedy knew that they were putting out a new EP titled Speak Into The Rose on Record Store Day. After all, Consequence of Sound reported it. He knew that it had the title track and “Message From Mid-Bar” and that these were previously only available on the deluxe CD of their most recent record, The Whole Love. He knew that it also contained a demo of “I Might” and an alternate version of “Art of Almost.” Most of all, he knew that it would all be out on 10-inch translucent red vinyl and that 30 copies would include a poster signed by him. He knew it all, and it was killing him.

• Wilco: http://wilcoworld.net

RIP: Hans Reichel, avant-garde guitarist and inventor

By Shane Mack on Nov 23 2011

From East Village Radio:

Hans Reichel—the criminally under-appreciated German experimental guitarist—passed away in his hometown of Wuppertal yesterday at the age of 62, according to a West German newspaper. Virtually unknown on this side of the Atlantic, Reichel was a self-taught guitarist who may be best remembered for his radical homemade guitars and his invented instrument, the Daxophone.

Picking up music at an early age by teaching himself violin, Reichel (like just about everybody else) became enamored with rock music in the ‘60s, picked up a guitar and played in various blues-based groups before all but abandoning music to study graphic design (Reichel would go on to be a fairly well known typesetter). Reichel returned to music in the early ‘70s with his folky and unpretentious improvisational approach to the guitar differentiating him from the field of European improvisers at the time. His idiosyncratic take on the guitar drew the attention of legendary German avant-garde label, FMP, who would go on to release the majority of his work—much of which has never seen proper North American distribution. Reichel collaborated with a wide range of like-minded players, including cellist Tom Cora and guitarist Fred Frith.

Though he will never be a household name, Reichel’s contributions to the avant-garde are considerable and will be sorely missed by fans of forward-thinking music. Fare thee well, Hans.

• Hans Reichel: http://www.daxo.de

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