Radiohead's In Rainbows Confirmed For Release on XL

By Petya Romanov on Oct 31 2007

Remember high school? Remember spring break? All the cool kids were setting up condos and hotels in Florida, and we (the ones wearing oversized Smashing Pumpkins shirts) were stuck at home where it would inevitably rain for seven days straight. While the jocks were fashioning four-story beer bongs and catching Chlamydia, we were thinking about Canada and purchasing beer legally. There was some town that started with a 'w' -- Windemere or some shit -- that always rose to the top of conversation like the head of a good beer. All it took was six hours of driving and we could gamble, drink, rent prostitutes, and get free health care. It never happened.

One summer we went so far as to write out an actual itinerary. It was written in pencil, smeared from passing it around at the lunch table, and it probably overstressed the importance of purchasing beer. Nonetheless, for the last two years of high school, Canada was seen as our Eden, a much more tangible Red Light district.

What does this have to do with current music news? Well, if you've read any of my other stories, you'll realize I haven't the slightest idea what I'm doing writing for this first-tier publication. But now, as I empty my eighth bottle of Labatt Blue and smoke my decriminalized Canadian weed, I realize I was supposed to tell my brothers up north that the good lord Method (Mefud) Man will be making a few stops in your area come November. Why he's skipping over his home country is no mystery, for I'm sure he, like I, remembers the days when Canada was like that uncle who sneaks you beers at family reunions, while America is that aunt who threatens to tell your parents about your bloodshot eyes. Wait, what's the point again? That America isn't the land of opportunity? That ain't patriotic. I don't even know anymore.

Tourdates:

By Liz Louche on Oct 31 2007

Are you one of those people who stresses about their birthday? It comes once a year; you want it to be super fun and amazing, but there are so many things that could go wrong! Like, what if you pick an inconvenient time for the birthday dinner, and nobody comes except for your annoyingly perfect sister and her fiancé Kevin, the amateur inventor? What if your birthday coincides with a fun national holiday and everybody would rather be trick-or-treating/watching football/decking the halls? What if you show up at the bar thinking it’s punk rock karaoke night, but instead it turns out to be a Best of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movie retrospective? These are all valid concerns.

But not for much longer! Experimental music magazine The Wire has found a solution to those once-a-year birthday blues. You see, the clever people over at The Wire have decided that the best way to celebrate the magazine’s 25th birthday is not to try and squeeze everything into one short night, but to keep the party going through a month-long series of special events. Over the next few weeks, a variety of venues throughout London will host concerts, workshops, exhibitions, and films related to avant-garde music. You could attend a gig in an art gallery, a church, or even a town hall! It’s that experimental!!!

Last weekend, former Swans frontman Michael Gira and Boredoms got the party started with a special performance at Shoreditch Town Hall. Soon after, The Wire received a healthy round of birthday spankings from Matmos and the Soft Pink Truth. So who else is scheduled to help blow out the birthday candles?

All events are in London, UK:
11.01.07 – Lydia Lunch - St Giles-in-the-Fields Church
11.03.07 - Charles Linehan Dance Company and Harlassen + John Wall and L Gamble + Unknown Devices – Finsbury Town Hall
11.04.07 - Pymathon + Tomutonttu + Lau Nau + Kuupuu – Bush Hall
11.05.07 – Resonance Radio Orchestra – London Theatre Arts Basement
11.09.07-11.11.07 – Atlantic Waves – Institute of Contemporary Arts
11.12.07 - Sunny Murray + John Tchicai + Han Bennink + Spring Heel Jack + John Edwards + Orphy Robinson – Conway Hall
11.13.07 – The Road to Who Knows Where (film night) – Roxy Bar and Screen
11.15.07 - Metadub Special: Kode9 and Spaceape + The Bug with Flow Dan, Warrior Queen and Ricky Ranking + Shackleton + Appleblim – Plastic People
11.17.07 - Rafael Toral's Space Project with Roger Turner + Trapist + Klangstaub + Bo Wiget and Luigi Archetti – Bush Hall
11.18.07 - Jackie-O Motherfucker + Polly Shang Kuan Band + Axolotl + The Sound Of The Exquisite Corpse + Pumajaw + Birds Of Delay + Weyes Bluhd - Cargo
11.19.07 - Sonny Simmons with Tight Meat + Jooklo Duo – Red Rose
11.20.07 – Extraordinary Lives (film night) – Roxy Bar and Screen
11.22.07 – Christian Marclay (pictured) – Bush Hall

Ongoing events:
11.04.07 - 11.18.07 (Sundays)–Drop-in workshop: the Sound of the Exquisite Corpse - Toynbee Studios
11.10.07- 12.09.07 – Savage Pencil: New drawings, sculpture, primer illustrations (art exhibition) – 96 Gillespie Gallery