Mega-bummer on the Wet Hair tour front. Seems that front man/Night People curator/cool dude Shawn Reed has wrecked his knee up somethin’ fierce. Since getting around for the guy is basically not an option and some surgery is in the works, the band is gonna have to cancel that West Coast tour with Rene Hell that all you kids were wetting your britches over.
Sucks, I know, but according to a statement from Shawn, the shows that were scheduled with Broken Water are still going to happen, just minus Wet Hair. Any shows involving Wet Hair and Rene Hell are nada. If you’re unfortunate enough to live in the Midwest, the band is still set to play their record release show in their homestead of Iowa City, which I’m pretty sure is happening this weekend. Also, that psychic gem of a new album of theirs, In Vogue Spirit, is still being released on De Stijl. Hear a track from it over at the Chocolate Grinder and read our review here. Hopefully with some proper recovery the band will make up for the lost tourdates sometime toward the end of the summer. Best of luck to ya, bro.
Some artistic collaborations are so wondrous, so meant to be, that the mere limits of space and time cannot hobble them with their silly constraints and rules and the fact that one-half of the team is dead. Like that old commercial where the late Fred Astaire dances with a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner, for instance. That commercial is kinda unsettling and inappropriate, you say? BAH. That’s what makes it ART. Or, say, how North Korea is still building sculptures of Kim Il-Sung (1912-1994), the country’s “Eternal President.” WHAT? You say that’s propaganda? Okay, okay, yes, that’s 100% true. Well, how about musical genius Scott Walker composing tracks for Jean Cocteau’s play-turned-dance-piece “Duet for One Voice?” Yes, FINALLY. THAT is ART. A-R-T.
This isn’t the first time Walker has done the high culture dance thing. In 2007, he composed And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball?, a 24-minute instrumental piece performed by the London Sinfonietta Orchestra and commissioned by CandoCo, a contemporary dance company made up of disabled and non-disabled dancers. The Cocteau piece debuts as part of the Royal Opera House’s Cocteau Voices nights in London. “Duet for One Voice” will feature choreography by ROH Associate Artist Aletta Collins and a score by Walker. Another piece, Poulenc’s opera “La Voix Humaine” will appear alongside the Walker/Cocteau performance.
Last November, David Lynch’s electronic single hit iTunes and the internet for streaming, and “Good Day Today” immediately became the #1 song in the US, up there on Billboard next to Nelly and Rihanna (if David Lynch were truly the purveyor of alternate realities). Early this year, Sunday Best unleashed a physical package of the single, backed with a second Lynch track, “I Know,” and a handful of sweet remixes (available online here). You can see the trend: time passes, more is available. If you were excited by those little tidbits, hold on to your socks: David Lynch’s whole electronic album is finished.
Unfortunately, we don’t have too many more details, because David Lynch is saving them for a talk at the International Music Summit in Ibiza on May 26 (for those of you not up on your geography, Ibiza is a small island off the coast of Spain). As is Lynch’s style, he’s not physically going to be in Ibiza, but will give the keynote speech by projecting his handsome visage across the sea via Skype. (The future is here: an enlarged face looming on a screen over hundreds of adoring followers, hanging on his every word. Just think about it!)
Here’s Lynch’s official statement:
I’m excited to talk to those attending the International Music Summit in Ibiza… Twelve months ago Jason Bentley from KCRW gave a track I made with my engineer Big Dean Hurley to Ben Turner and Rob da Bank of Sunday Best Recordings, and we return this year to chat about the full-length album we have just completed. I look forward to chatting with them and everyone else in attendance on May 26th live from my own studio in Los Angeles. We’ll talk about the music and how it came to be and exist. We had such a blast making it and I am honored to be a part of the International Music Summit.
Ms. Lauryn Hill continued her triumphant comeback last night with a special performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as part of the show’s week-long Bob Marley tribute. Hill and her band performed two classic Marley tracks, “Chances Are” and “Could You Be Loved,” in memory of the 30th anniversary of the reggae legend’s final performance and death. This was Ms. Hill’s first televised appearance in several years. The Grammy-collecting R&B/soul diva recently wowed audiences at Coachella and is in the midst of a tour, the kinda creepily named “Moving Target: Extended Intimate Playdate Series.”
And now some new playdates (shudder) have been added, including an encore performance at San Francisco’s Mezzanine. The Fallon appearance seems to have been a bit of a teaser for fans, as this show — and perhaps others — will feature classic Bob Marley & The Wailers material, plus a condensed set of Hill tunes. Appearing alongside Ms. Hill on all dates is New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band. And for fans in Detroit, Q-Tip has been added to the bill! The inimitable Ms. Hill also recently announced that she’ll be making an appearance at L.A. Rising, performing with the likes of Rage Against the Machine, Muse, and Immortal Technique.
Dates:
05.13.11 - Las Vegas, NV - The Boulevard Pool
05.14.11 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl
05.17.11 - Pomona, CA - The Fox Theatre
05.18.11 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
05.20.11 - Eugene, OR - Cuthbert Ampitheatre
05.22.11 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
05.24.11 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
05.25.11 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
05.27.11 - Calgary, AB - Flames Central
05.28.11 - Edmonton, AB - Edmonton Event Centre
05.30.11 - Winnipeg, MB - Centennial Concert Hall
06.03.11 - Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
06.04.11 - Detroit, MI - Chene Park
07.30.11 - Los Angeles, CA - L.A. Rising *
* Rage Against the Machine, Muse, Rise Against, Immortal Technique, & El Gran Silencio
It’s so cute when nice bands try to act all tough-like. Remember when ol’ Blitzen Trapper, those scraggly folk rock fellows, called their last record Destroyer of the Void (TMT Review)? That was uh-dore-uh-bull! You guys aren’t destroying anything, except maybe the daily blues! But, you know, we can’t blame them for trying. We all want to go around destroying voids from time to time.
That said, maybe Blitzen Trapper would be a little happier if they spent less time trying to destroy voids and more time going on US tours. I’m not their dad, but I just think that would be best for them. Why am I worrying about this, those Trapper boys know what’s best for them, hence why they are going on tour this summer. God help ‘em if they try to pull that void-destroying stuff again, though. It was cute before. It’s not now.
Blitzen Trapper dates:
07.19.11 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
07.20.11 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
07.22.11 - Kansas City, MO - The Riot Room
07.23.11 - Saint Louis, MO - Firebird
07.24.11 - Chicago, IL - Wicker Park Fest
07.25.11 - Iowa City, IA - Blue Moose Taphouse
07.26.11 - Omaha, NE - Slowdown
07.28.11 - Bozeman, MT - Filling Station
07.29.11 - Spokane, WA - A Club
07.30.11 - Yakima, WA - Seasons Performance Hall
For any deviants out there who’ve ever thought “gosh, it’s pretty hot that The Magnetic Fields constantly insult their audiences on tour and all, but if only Stephin Merritt would walk into my living room and be a huge dick to me in the comfort of my own home, that’d really be the ultimate turn-on,” your weirdo pop-masochist fantasy is about to come true.
As Pitchfork reports, Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields, the 2010 documentary about top-drawer songwriter/bottom-drawer people person Stephen Merritt and his TMT-appeasing band The Magnetic Fields that really lit up the box offices last fall is now coming to HD-DVD (remember those?) on May 23 directly though the film’s website.
Directed by Kerthy Fix and Gail O’Hara, the movie basically follows Merritt around as he insults everyone he meets in a sultry, husky, provocative baritone. It also comes with Special Features, including a most-assuredly grouse-y commentary track by Merritt and longtime manager/pianist Claudia Gonson and two Gonson-directed music videos for Magnetic Fields songs “Strange Powers” and “Born on a Train.” There are also a few deleted scenes, possibly including all the scenes where he was nice to people. Anyway, check out the trailer:
