Oh, the weather outside is… surprisingly mild and free of disastrous winter storms, so why the hell aren’t more American artists choosing to tour their homeland around this time of year? As previously reported, Mount Eerie and Earth just announced a joint European tour that inspires renditions of a certain trademark Al Michaels line, and now, another native of Cascadia, Grouper, a.k.a. Liz Harris, has just announced that she’ll be touring Europe around the same time, in support of a special, non-song-based live performance, Violet Replacement. I’m not sure what it is about the Pacific Northwest during the winter/spring that apparently compels residents (or at least musicians) to journey across oceans, but let’s just be glad they’re choosing life, instead of assisted suicide.
According to FACT, Grouper has been preoccupied with her work on Violet Replacement since the release of her tremendous two-part album A I A (TMT Review) last April. For those fortunate enough to live in the path of her projected daze on this upcoming tour, expect even more ambient submersion than usual; the performance is said to consist of “tape loops, field recordings and submerged atmospherics presented in a set of naturally resonant and specially customised locations…Field recordings, Wurlitzer loops and vocal tracks from her archives are mixed, spliced and processed live from an array of dictaphones and tape player.”
There’s good news for those unfortunate enough to live everywhere else: Violet Replacement is due to be released on CD “early this year,” presumably just prior, or during the tour itself. Ah, sustenance.
Dates:
02.04.12 - Berlin, Germany - CTM Festival ‘Circular Veil’ *
02.07.12 - Cologne, Germany - Alte Feuerwache ‘Circular Veil’ *
03.02.12 - London, UK - 79 Endell Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9DY
03.03.12 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Mayhem
03.04.12 - Aarhus, Denmark - Spanien 19c
03.06.12 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Gardaskolen
03.07.12 - Stockholm, Sweden - Kagalbanan
03.08.12 - Malmo, Sweden - Inkonst
03.10.12 - Moscow, Russia - Aktoviy Zal
03.11.12 - St. Petersburg, Russia - Taiga
03.13.12 - Riga, Latvia - Anglican Church
03.14.12 - Helsinki, Finland - Kuudes Linka %
03.15.12 - Tampere, Finland - Telakka %
03.16.12 - Turku, Finland - Dynamo %
03.17.12 - Ravenna, Italy - Transmissions Festival
03.19.12 - Milan, Italy - Spazio O
03.20.12 - Torino, Italy - Blah Blah
03.22.12 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Rumor Festival
03.23.12 - Paris, France - Gaité Lyrique
03.24.12 - Brussels, Belgium - Recyclart
03.25.12 - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg - Exit 07
03.27.12 - Dublin, Ireland - Unitarian Church
03.28.12 - Reading, UK - South St. Arts #
03.29.12 - Bristol, UK - St. Steven’s Church #
03.30.12 - Birmingham, UK - Vivid
03.31.12 - Nottingham, UK - Nottingham Contemporary #
04.01.12 - Manchester, UK - Islington Mill #
* Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
% Tuunsanuuskat
# Diamond Catalog
• Grouper: https://sites.google.com/site/yellowelectric
