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Radiohead: Kid A Book

October 4th, 2010 | No Comments

LATEST ENTRY IN 33 1/3 BOOK SERIES OUT IN DECEMBER

Radiohead

Ten years ago, Radiohead
released their fourth full-length album, Kid A. While the album received mixed reactions upon its initial
release, it is now being cited as one of the most influential albums of the last decade.

For the latest book in the acclaimed 33 1/3 series, author Marvin Lin attempts to unpack
Kid A by
examining closely its music, artwork, critical reception, promotion, and more. From discussions about Napster and
WTO protests to Marcel Duchamp and Marshall McLuhan, the book is as much about debunking myths as celebrating
the listening experience as a site of socio-political importance.

Marvin Lin’s Kid A is now available for pre-order through Amazon and Continuum. It will be released
around December 2010.

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Saturday Eye Candy Radiohead’s Phil Selway

May 22nd, 2010 | No Comments

GIVING THE DRUMMER SOME

Though critical and fan accolades usually land on guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien and the lazy-eyed genius out front, Radiohead‘s sound, especially as it’s evolved from OK Computer onward, owes just as much to drummer Phil Selway. A dead brilliant trap drummer, Selway has also explored the outer reaches of drum machine potential and carried the classlic Krautrock percussion sound into the 21st century. Tomorrow is Phil Selway’s 43rd birthday. In appreciation of his contribution to the drumming arts and modern rock in general, we offer up a smattering of prime Selway, both with Radiohead and in occasional side project 7 Worlds Collide.

We begin our natal day shout-out with Radiohead at their simmering best.

There are but a handful of drummers that could pull off the twists and turns of this one, all the while making it swing.

Selway’s a pretty fine singer-songwriter, too, as evidenced by this lovely Selway penned number, which finds him out front on guitar and vocals.

As one astute YouTube commenter put it, “That’s serious fucking drumming.” Indeed.

Selway’s drumming will often bring heft and solidity into band’s pretty, drifting numbers; a lovely juxtaposition against the ache and fragility in Thom Yorke’s voice.

Though if the Selway had wanted to be a crushing great straight rock drummer, he sure as hell had the chops and muscle right out of the gate.

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Conan O’Brien Covers Radiohead

April 14th, 2010 | No Comments

HE’S NOT REALLY A CREEP

As late night show host Conan O’Brien embarks on his “The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour,” a recent sound check found Coco performing Radiohead‘s “Creep.” It’s just plain odd but kinda fun. O’Brien returns to the airwaves later this year with a new TBS basic cable late night show airing at 11 pm, Monday-Thursday.

Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous Commits Suicide

March 8th, 2010 | No Comments

Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous Commits Suicide

Mark Linkous

Mark Linkous, best known as the driving force behind Sparklehorse, committed suicide on Saturday March 6.

A note on Sparklehorse.com reads:

From the Linkous Family: “It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today. We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There’s a heaven and there’s a star for you.” – March 6, 2010

In addition to his work as Sparklehorse, the Virginia-based musician collaborated with Radiohead, R.E.M., Tom Waits, and recently recorded the wonderful Dark Night Of The Soul with Danger Mouse.

Though there is some confusion over Linkous’ exact age, he was in his 40s when he died.

Radiohead Benefit Concert Raises $500K For Haiti Earthquake Victims

January 26th, 2010 | No Comments

Radiohead have performed at a special concert organized to raise funds for Haiti earthquake victims. The band performed for more than two hours at the Henry Fonda Theatre on Sunday.

The benefit show drew a star-studded crowd that included Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, Charlize Theron, Anna Paquin, and Daniel Craig. Prices went as high as $4,000 [...]

Radiohead Raise 500K For Haiti Relief w/ L.A. Concert

January 25th, 2010 | No Comments

Radiohead Raise 500K For Haiti Relief with L.A. Benefit Show

Last night (Sunday January, 24), Radiohead raised over $500,000 for Haiti at a benefit show at Los Angeles’ Music Box Theatre at The Fonda. Tickets were only available by auction with all proceeds going to the Oxfam Haiti relief fund. Tickets were auctioned off for as much as $2,000, and the lowest lucky winner got a ticket for $475.00.

01.25.10 :: Music Box at the Fonda :: Los Angeles, CA (from www.setlist.fm)

Faust Arp, Fake Plastic Trees, Arpeggi, National Anthem, Nude, Karma Police, Kid A, Morning Bell, How To Disappear Completely, Wolf at the Door, The Bends, Reckoner, Lucky, Body Snatchers, Dollars & Cents, Airbag, Exit Music (For a Film)

Encore: Everything In Its Right Place, You and Whose Army?, Pyramid Song, All I Need

Encore #2: Lotus Flower, Paranoid Android, Street Spirit

Radiohead To Play Show Sunday! Haiti Benefit Set for L.A.

January 22nd, 2010 | No Comments

Radiohead To Play Haiti Benefit Show This Sunday Jan. 24 in L.A.

Radiohead

Radiohead has announced a Haiti Benefit show for this Sunday January, 24 at Los Angeles’ Music Box Theatre at The Fonda. Tickets are only available by auction at www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004434FC1C86A. The auction starts Thursday January, 21 at 8.00 p.m. PST and ends Saturday January, 23 at 11.00 a.m. PST.

The following note was recently posted on the band’s website radiohead.com/deadairspace:

Radiohead for Haiti

We’re doing a show this Sunday (24th January) to raise funds for the relief effort in Haiti. The venue is The Music Box Theatre at The Fonda in Los Angeles, doors at 7pm. All proceeds are going to the Oxfam Haiti relief fund. We’re trying to raise as much money as possible, so tickets will be sold by auction at this site from 8pm tonight until 11am Saturday (PST):

We’re in the middle of recording at the moment, so you’ll be catching us on the fly…. but if you’re up for it, then we are too.

See you then

x

Philip

Good luck people, bid big!

Radiohead: Kid A/Amnesiac/Hail: CollectorÂ’s Editions

November 13th, 2009 | No Comments

By: Ron Hart

When you talk to anyone who is big into Radiohead and ask them what their three favorite Radiohead albums are, chances are you’ll get something along the lines of The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A, or perhaps OK Computer, Kid A, and In Rainbows; or you might even have the rare Pablo Honey, The Bends and OK Computer combo plate – rare because most fans of Radiohead today hardly acknowledge the Oxford progressives’ 1993 rote stutter step of a debut album. In any case, many would consider it nothing short of sin incarnate not to include OK Computer when talking about the three best Radiohead albums, regardless of the other two picks.

However, while it is readily established that OK Computer is indeed the band’s best album of the 1990s and one of the five best recordings of that decade overall, there are a select few who do harbor the belief that Computer was merely a launchpad for what would be the group’s true trilogy of creative genius: 2000′s Kid A, 2001′s Amnesiac, and 2003′s Hail to the Thief. And similar to the treatment given to their first three albums earlier this year, the bottom half of the group’s six-album major label run have been repackaged as 2-CD/1-DVD deluxe editions from Radiohead’s former label, Capitol-EMI, in their attempt to squeeze every last dime from their successful catalog act as the band continues to shed the old skin of a creaky, outdated music industry with each download they make available on their digital store, W.A.S.T.E..

Fatigued and disillusioned by the voracious lionization bestowed upon them following the release of OK Computer (brilliantly documented in director Grant Gee’s 1998 film meditation Meeting People Is Easy), the band journeyed inward for OK Computer‘s follow-up, Kid A, the album some arguably consider to be Radiohead’s true singular masterpiece. It has been said that much of the material from Kid A stemmed from a collective bout of writer’s block the band experienced upon trying to work up material that would meet the expectations of both industry brass and their fans following the release of OK Computer. And, rather than kowtowing to critics hailing them as the new Pink Floyd, the band opted to become the new Soft Machine instead, creating an album brimming with improvisational adventurousness and dynamic explorations into their own love of the music emanating from their private stereos back in 1999-2000. Boards of Canada, Autechre, Aphex Twin, Charles Mingus, electric Miles Davis, Brian Eno’s late ’70s collaborations with German experimentalists Cluster, Scott Walker, soundtrack music for Disney nature films, minimalist classical, and mid-20th century computer music were all obvious touchstones that fade in and out across these 10 tracks, signified in the IDM rock of the album’s title cut, the analog Arthur Kreiger samples that flutter and bleep across “Idioteque,” or the free jazz “traffic jam” that kicks in at the height of “The National Anthem.” According to a 2001 article in Wire by noted music journalist Simon Reynolds, Thom Yorke admitted to reading Ian MacDonald’s Revolution in the head, which chronicles The Beatles’ recording sessions with George Martin during their Sgt. Pepper/White Album period, and it certainly shows the daring moves Radiohead made while creating what still remains arguably their sonic Sistine Chapel.

2001′s Amnesiac, meanwhile, consisted of material recorded during the Kid A sessions, which had initially given the album the stigma of being a Kid A outtakes compilation (or “Kid B”, as many wannabe comedians moonlighting as music critics hailed it upon its release).

“In some weird way, I think Amnesiac gives another take on Kid A, a form of explanation,” offered Yorke with regards to Amnesiac in a 2001 post on the now-defunct website Spin With A Grin.

And while Amnesiac might not have been as warmly received in the summer of 2001 by those very critics who hailed its predecessor, time has indeed been kind to the album. Many of the songs have since become live staples, such as “I Might Be Wrong”, “Dollars and Cents” and the simply gorgeous “Pyramid Song,” which seems to have helped the plight of what is definitely the band’s mellowest and most nuanced album to date. In listening to Amnesiac again, it most definitely deserves a space in the Top 3, if only for its soulful closing number “Life in a Glass House,” pretty much the finest New Orleans funeral march ever crafted by English blokes. If any album served as the proper precursor to Yorke’s solo album, The Eraser, it’s Amnesiac.

2003′s Hail to the Thief, Radiohead’s sixth album whose title was widely rumored to be a thinly-veiled swipe at George W. Bush, was released with the promise of a return to the guitar rock of their ’90s era. What we wound up getting instead was a brilliant fusion of The Bends and Kid A eras, where the group ventures into territories that makes the Krautrock sound anthemic, as on the album’s great initial single “There, There.” Elsewhere they explore elements of jungle on the kinetic “Sit Down, Stand Up,” do some Warp Records raiding on “Backdrifts” and “The Gloaming,” and yes, a return to good, old fashioned guitar rock on songs like “2 + 2 = 5″ and “A Punch Up at a Wedding.” If Radiohead recorded The Bends after OK Computer it could have sounded like Hail to the Thief.

Like the deluxe editions of their first three albums, these versions of Kid A, Amnesiac and Thief all come doubled up with a bonus disc loaded with all sorts of rare treats. Most of the stuff on here many serious Radiohead fans already have in terms of b-sides from each album, but also featured is some great, previously unreleased live material, especially on Kid A and Amnesiac, both of which include a particularly amazing performance at Canal+ Studios from April of 2001 spread equally across both second discs, not to mention a great BBC Radio One session featured on Kid A. Sadly, Hail to the Thief has a bit of a deficit in live material, save for a version of “Sail to the Moon” from a May 2003 edition of the Jo Whiley Show on the BBC and a wonderful take on “Go To Sleep” from DJ Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show. If you shell out the extra dollars, there are special collector’s editions of all three of these albums that come with a DVD filled with the promotional videos that accompanied each release and some pretty great performances from their three separate appearances on the beloved BBC talk show LaterÂ…With Jools Holland promoting each album. Hopefully the next Radiohead-related project EMI rolls out is a complete Radiohead live album from this era (a 2-CD version of I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, perhaps?).

Now we can argue over which three Radiohead albums are their trilogy of greatness until the cows come home, but a strong case can be made for Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief marking the most significant arc of creativity and artistic expression in this band’s career, particularly when you consider the stuff these guys are doing beyond the realms of the group: Thom Yorke’s freshly recruited, as-yet-unnamed band featuring Flea on bass, master session drummer and music industry progeny Joey Waronker on drums, and longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich; Jonny Greenwood‘s soundtrack work on Paul Thomas Anderson’s oil baron drama There Will Be Blood and the 2003 biological documentary Bodysong; and guitarist Ed O’Brien and drummer Phil Selway‘s recent collaboration with the Finn Brothers as 7 Worlds Collide. And when you look at these three LPs in such a context, it’s hard not to consider Kid, Amnesiac, and Thief anything BUT their most prized trifecta of greatness.

JamBase | Heady
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Peter Gabriel Covers Radiohead Young, Bowie, Heads, Bon Iver

November 12th, 2009 | No Comments

Peter Gabriel Covers Radiohead, Neil Young, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Bon Iver
And More On New Album, Scratch My Back, Due January 25

Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel has announced the track list for his new album, Scratch My Back, due January 25, 2010. This is the first album in a series that will find Gabriel and various other musicians covering each others’ material.

Gabriel is working with John Metcalfe to re-imagine the compositions. Metcalfe had this to say:

“I have been busy working closely with Peter Gabriel on his Scratch My Back project. This is a song swap with some of the world’s most legendary artists and is due for release in the Spring. My role has been to re-interpret the music of the song’s he has chosen to cover – quite honerous as some of the songs are among the best known in the last 40 years. The album will be acoustic, using only orchestral instruments (no guitars, drums or world instruments) and range in size from sparse chamber music to a much fuller orchestral sounds. We recently recorded the orchestra at Air Lyndhurst studios (George Martin’s studio) in London which was an enormous thrill hearing my arrangements performed by some of the best performers in the U.K. The producer of the album is Canadian legend Bob Ezrin who has recorded dozens of classic albums including Pink Floyd’s The Wall. We performed one of the songs, Paul Simon’s ‘Boy In The Bubble’ at Womad back in July. I have been working a lot down at Real World studios editing and mixing and will be continuing with that in the Autumn and it’s been a huge privilege to work with the great man.”

Scratch My Back Track List

Heroes (David Bowie)

The Boy In The Bubble (Paul Simon)

Mirrorball (Elbow)

Flume (Bon Iver)

Listening Wind (Talking Heads)

The Power Of The Heart (Lou Reed)

My Body Is A Cage (Arcade Fire)

The Book Of Love (The Magnetic Fields)

I Think It’s Going To Rain Today (Randy Newman)

Apres Moi (Regina Spektor)

Philadelphia (Neil Young)

Street Spirit (Radiohead)

Radiohead, Wilco, Crowded House:
Collaborate for Charity Album

July 30th, 2009 | No Comments

7 WORLDS COLLIDE’S THE SUN CAME OUT TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 29 VIA SONY MUSIC

BAND FEATURES MEMBERS OF RADIOHEAD, WILCO, CROWDED HOUSE, THE SMITHS, TUNSTALL & MORE

The first 7 Worlds Collide album (you can hear samples at myspace.com/7worldscollide), a collection of amazing musical talents from across the globe in aid of Medecins Sans FrontiÃ¨res, was a unique live performance experience, fusing the varied talents of a stellar cast across a range of cover versions to create a series of shows that culminated in the live album of the same name. Seven years after that project, instigator Neil Finn has upped the ante with the new 7 Worlds Collide project, The Sun Came Out, a double album of original songs created and recorded by many of the original cast alongside notable new additions in an intense three weeks in his native New Zealand. This time the beneficiaries of this album will be Oxfam, as well as music lovers worldwide.

Familiar faces from the original album abound, Johnny Marr, Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway of Radiohead but this album, first and foremost presents the listener with new songs rather than interpretations of old favourites. The Sun Came Out also features a whole host of new guest talents such as KT Tunstall and Wilco and heart stopping firsts, including Phil Selway’s songwriting and vocal debut as well as dream collaborations such as those between Johnny Marr and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy; and KT Tunstall and Neil Finn.

At the heart of the record is Neil Finn. His enthusiasm and drive persuaded the likes of celebrated producer Jim Scott, Lisa Germano, Johnny Marr and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Pat Sansone, John Stirratt and Glenn Kotche (amongst others) to spend their Christmas holiday in New Zealand and even interrupted KT Tunstall’s honeymoon in the process.

With families welcome, the studio became a constant whirl of creativity and energy throughout the three weeks allocated to create the record. Johnny Marr returned from a run on the beach with the basis of “Too Blue,” where Jeff Tweedy was waiting to add his talents; KT Tunstall stopped Neil retiring to his bed to complete “Hazel Black;” a wandering Johnny Marr added a chorus melody to Liam Finn’s “Red Wine Bottle;” Ed O’Brien fashioned “Bodhisattva Blues” from a Tibetan chant. In this atmosphere, anything was possible and Neil’s wife Sharon found herself laying down her debut vocal on “Little By Little” whilst Phil Selway also took his vocal bow and unveiled a hitherto unknown songwriting talent with his solo turn “The Ties That Bind Us” in one take.

Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International said: “7 Worlds Collide is a great project. I hope The Sun Came Out is a huge success. Not just because it’s a unique musical experience but because each CD sold will make a difference – raising money to fund Oxfam’s work to fight poverty.”

The complete track listing and credits for the 2-CD set is below:

Disc 1

1. Too Blue – (Johnny Marr/Jeff Tweedy) – Johnny Marr and Neil Finn vocals
Elroy Finn & Glenn Kotche (drums), Phil Selway (percussion), John Stirratt (stand-up bass), Johnny Marr & Ed O’Brien (guitars), Pat Sansone (piano), Nile Marr & Neil Finn (acoustic guitars), and Lisa Germano (violins)

2. You Never Know – (Jeff Tweedy) – Jeff vocals
Jeff Tweedy (acoustic & electric guitars), Glenn Kotche (drums), Pat Sansone (acoustic 12 string guitar & piano), John Stirratt (bass), Neil Finn (Wurlitzer piano, fuzz guitar), Liam Finn (additional fuzz guitar), Nels Cline (electric/slide guitar), and Mikael Jorgensen (organ/synth)

3. Little By Little – (Sharon Finn/Neil Finn) – Neil and Sharon vocals
Glenn Kotche (drums & percussion), Liam Finn (additional drums), Sharon Finn (bass), and Neil Finn (guitars, Chamberlin, Jupiter 8, marimba)

4. Learn To Crawl – (Ed O’Brien/Johnny Marr/Liam Finn/Neil Finn) – Neil and Liam vocals
Glenn Kotche (drums), Ed O’Brien, Johnny Marr, Pat Sansone (acoustic guitar arpeggio), Neil Finn (bass), Pat Sansone (background harmonies), Jeff Tweedy (disembodied voice), and Lisa Germano (violin)

5. Black Silk Ribbon – (KT Tunstall/Bic Runga) – KT and Bic vocals
Luke Bullen (drums, thigh slap), KT Tunstall & Bic Runga (acoustic guitars), Sebastian Steinberg (stand up & bowed bass), and Lisa Germano (violin)

6. Girl, Make Your Own Mind Up – (Don McGlashan) – Don vocals
Don McGlashan (guitar), Glenn Kotche (drums), Ed O’Brien (electric guitar atmosphere), John Stirratt (bass), Ivy Rossiter (backing vocal), and Jeff Tweedy (electric guitar solo)

7. Run In The Dust – (Johnny Marr) – Johnny vocals
Phil Selway (drums), Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Johnny Marr (guitar), Ed O’Brien (electric guitar), Pat Sansone (Hammond organ), Jeff Tweedy (harmonica), Neil Finn, Lisa Germano, and Pat Sansone (harmonies)

8. Red Wine Bottle – (Liam Finn/Chris Garland/Johnny Marr) – Liam vocals
Glenn Kotche (drums), John Stirratt (bass), Liam Finn (acoustic guitars, guitar loops and solo, Hammond mash), Neil Finn (Hammond flourish), Johnny Marr (electric guitar), Eliza Jane Barnes & Cecilia Herbert (harmonies)

9. The Ties That Bind Us – (Phil Selway) – Phil vocals
Phil Selway (acoustic guitar), Glenn Kotche (drums, percussion), Pat Sansone (acoustic guitar, celeste), Sebastian Steinberg (standup & bowed bass), Lisa Germano (violin & whisper), Don McGlashan (euphium, flugelhorn), and Jeff Tweedy (additional arrangement)

10. Reptile – (Lisa Germano) – Lisa vocals
Lisa Germano (electric guitar, Theremin), Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Spencer Tweedy (drums), Glenn Kotche (toys and robots drumming), Pat Sansone (12 string guitar), Neil Finn (xylophone), Sonny Marr, Nile Marr, Sam Tweedy, Jeff Tweedy, Louise Callaghan, Emma Scott, Pearl McGlashan, mae Moreno, Sharon Finn, Julia Connolly, Sebastian Steinberg, and Milla (humans & dogs singing background vocals)

11. Bodhisattva Blues – (Ed O’Brien/Liam Finn) – Ed and Neil Finn vocals
Ed O’Brien (electric guitar), Elroy Finn (drums), Liam Finn (guitar), Neil Finn (Wurlizer piano, bass), Jeff Tweedy (guitar solo, vocal response & scream), and Johnny Marr (guitar solo)

12. What Could Have Been – (Jeff Tweedy) – Jeff vocals
Glenn Kotche (drums, percussion), Jeff Tweedy (acoustic guitar), John Stirratt (bass), Neil Finn (vibes, electric guitar, harmony), and Pat Sansone (piano, Wurlitzer organ)

Disc 2

1. All Comedians Suffer – (Neil Finn) – Neil vocals
Glenn Kotche (drums), Neil Finn (electric guitar), Pat Sansone (acoustic guitar), Liam Finn (bass, electric guitar, harmonies), and Jeff Tweedy (chorus fuzz, electric guitar solo)

2. Duxton Blues – (Glenn Richards) – Glenn vocals
Glenn Richards (guitar), Liam Finn (drums, guitar & vocal loops), Johnny Marr (electric guitar), Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Bic Runga & Neil Finn (background vocals)

3. Hazel Black – (KT Tunstall/Neil Finn) – KT and Neil vocals
KT Tunstall (acoustic guitar, handclaps, background vocals), Luke Bullen (drums, handclaps), John Stirratt (bass), Johnny Marr & Pat Sansone (electric guitars), Neil Finn (piano, harmony), Glenn Kotche (handclaps), Sonny Marr & Bic Runga (back-
ground vocals)

4. Riding The Wave – (Tim Finn) – Tim vocals
Tim Finn (piano), Elroy Finn (drums), Neil Finn (acoustic guitar, slide guitar, harmony), Liam Finn (harmonies), Sebastian Steinberg (bass), Johnny Marr (electric guitar), and Pat Sansone (Hammond organ)

5. The Witching Hour – (Phil Selway) – Phil vocals
Phil Selway (acoustic guitar), Bic Runga & KT Tunstall (background vocals), Lisa Germano (violin), and Jeff Tweedy (Optigan organ, piano)

6. Over And Done – (John Stirratt) – John vocals
John Stirratt (guitar), Glenn Kotche (drums), Pat Sansone (bass, piano), Don McGlashan (Euphonium, Flugelhorn), and Neil Finn & Pat Sansone (harmonies)

7. A Change Of Heart – (Bic Runga/Dan Wilson) – Bic vocals
Bic Runga (acoustic guitar), Glenn Kotche (drums), John Stirratt (bass), Neil Finn (piano), Pat Sansone (Hammond organ), and Don McGlashan (humming)

8. Don’t Forget Me – (Pat Sansone) – Pat vocals
Pat Sansone (guitar), Glenn Kotche (drums), John Stirratt (bass), and Johnny Marr (electric guitar)

9. Long Time Gone – (Don McGlashan) – Don vocals
Don McGlashan (guitar), Phil Selway (drums), Pat Sansone (bass), Ed O’Brien (electric guitar), and Johnny Marr (12 string & 6 string acoustic guitars, backing vocals)

10. The Cobbler – (Elroy Finn) – Elroy vocals
Elroy Finn (guitar), Lisa Germano (violin), and Sebastian Steinberg (bowed bass)

11. 3 Worlds Collide – (Glenn Kotche/Phil Selway/Neil Baldock)
Glenn Kotche & Phil Selway (drums, percussion)

12. The Water – (Sebastian Steinberg) – Sebastian vocals
Sebastian Steinberg (guitars, bass), Neil Finn (piano), Glenn Kotche (drums), and Johnny Marr (ghost guitar)

Produced by Jim Scott and Neil Finn, additional production Neil Baldock

The New Up: Summer Tour

July 20th, 2009 | No Comments

REST OF COUNTRY GETS CHANCE TO ENJOY SAN FRAN TREAT

The New Up by Josh Miller

Wrapped in effusive female fronted melodies, darkened by whirling guitars while juxtaposing hard-hitting 00s alternative with psychedelic overtones, The New Up announces summer tour dates in August and September, including Austin, Houston, Cleveland and Portland, in support of the August 18th release of the Better Off EP.

Having played with such artists as The Burning Brides, Jon Langford and Mike Watt, the first EP of the series, Broken Machine, received national recognition where it charted on the CMJ Top 200. Music critic Dennis Cook (Pitchfork, Signal to Noise, JamBase) deemed them “a post-Radiohead group, full of mutated pop hooks, absinthe guitars, smartly wrangled chaos and undisguised beauty and feeling. But, there’s little in the way of influences, even Radiohead’s, that you can pin down exactly… What they’ve made is their own.”

Backed by sincere musicianship inspired by Chicago roots and San Francisco surroundings, The New Up’s influential evasiveness illustrates a dichotomy of urban darkness and Midwestern sincerity, highlighting their equal fascination with nature and urban chaos. Headquartered at their San Francisco home, endearingly named The Pleasure Pad (where the band rehearses and records), members ES Pitcher (vocals, guitar), Noah Reid (guitar, vocals), Hawk West (flute and automation), Dain Dizazzo (bass) and Drew Bertrand (drums) began recording a series of three EPs in the spring of 2008. After lying down the basic tracks at Hyde Street Studios with Jaimeson Durr (Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Handsome Boy Modeling School), they began layering additional tracks at The Pleasure Pad, where they could explore by recording flute lines in bathrooms and trying odd mic placements in closets – without the pressure and financial constraints of a traditional studio.

For more on The New Up check out this recent show review.

Tour Dates

8/21/2009-Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco
8/22/2009-Cellar Door, Visalia, CA
8/23/2009-Viper Room, Los Angeles
8/24/2009-Soda Bar, San Diego, CA
8/26/2009-Red Eyed Fly, Austin, TX
8/27/2009-Rudyard’s, Houston, TX
8/28/2009-Vinos, Little Rock
8/29/2009-Preservation Pub, Knoxville, TN
8/31/2009-Caledonia Lounge, Athens, GA
9/1/2009-Somewhere Else Tavern, Greensboro, NC
9/2/2009-Alley Katz, Richmond, VA
9/3/2009-Outback Lodge, Charlottesville, VA
9/4/2009-The Red and the Black, Washington DC
9/5/2009-Trash Bar, Brooklyn
9/6/2009-Cedar’s Lounge, Youngstown, OH
9/7/2009-Now That’s Class, Cleveland, OH
9/8/2009-The Robin Hood, Kent, OH
9/9/2009-Carabar, Columbus, OH
9/11/2009-The Dark Room, Chicago
9/12/2009-Cactus Club, Milwaukee
9/17/2009-Zebra Lounge, Bozeman, MT
9/19/2009-Tonic Lounge, Portland OR