Pitchfork chatted with s Brian DeGraw, he was filling us in on how his Gang s powers transcend those of a mere band-- and mulling over some appropriately ambitious extra-musical activities for the bunch: plays, restaurants, automobile design, and a freaking gorilla sanctuary, to name a few.
DeGraw and company haven t ruled anything out yet, but from the sound of it, the Gang is going to stick to a certain tried-and-true pursuit for the time being, one popularized by more conventional bands. They re going to release some records.
We re just too busy right now, DeGraw told Pitchfork last week. We re really still working on the record.
That record, the follow-up to 2005 s , won t reach completion for a little while though, as GGD have about six hours worth of material to sort through.
We record all our practices, said DeGraw. [We] then go back and listen to the tapes, pick out some parts, and then compose new songs using all these different parts stuck together. So when we re recording we ll do the same thing: we ll roll tape for a few hours and just improvise, then pick out all these really sweet spots and try to make them into something.
This reductive approach of course leaves many enticing musical paths untrodden, but Gang Gang Dance hope to try a few of them on an as-yet-untitled EP that will proceed the album. We have all this extra stuff..
.so we figured we d just take some of the stuff we knew we weren t going to use on the album and just put it out. will deliver that EP Stateside, while will serve it up in the UK.
Sound-wise, offered DeGraw, the album is going to sound like a Gang Gang record. I think it s maybe just a lot tighter, [with] less improvisation and more composed songs.
The percussion-heavy band has a new weapon in its arsenal now too: a sequencer.
Recently in practices, said DeGraw, I ll just throw some drum pattern on for fun; then we start realizing that we re really into it. Tim [Dewitt] started stepping out from behind the kit and just grabbing a mic, and it s sounding pretty interesting. I think it might become a big thing in the future for us, using less drums and more drum machines.
BrakesBrakesBrakes Hit the Gas for U.S./Canada Tour Looks like the men of (simply Brakes in their native UK) will put the other pedal to the metal this spring.
The -signed quartet shifts gears toward North American s highways and biways May 30, pushing the red across a string of Stateside and Canadian dates. They ll surely stock the trunk full of freshly-pressed copies of , out May 8 in the land of Freedom and fuel emissions.
This tourtourtour culminates with a pair of shows at New York s Mercury Lounge.
Brooklyn act sit shotgun for most of the epic road-trip. Stop me if you think you ve heard this one before, but have added more tour dates. As reported by and confirmed by the band s publicist, they ll head to the UK in late May.
Then in June it s off to Europe. Fingers crossed that is Johnny Marr s haircut.
Speaking of Marr, the former Smith and current Mouse recently unveiled a limited-edition that features his signature etched on the tongue of the dark blue leather shoe.
216 pairs of the shoe will be available July 10, 108 pairs in the U.S. and the other 108 in the UK.
All proceeds from the U.S. shoe sales will benefit , and all proceeds from the UK sales will benefit the Pictor School for children with special needs in Marr s hometown of Manchester.
(Via .) That s right you hyper-literate slackers: put down the Pynchon and the peace pipe for a moment, and bask in the good news for people who love Pavement: is putting together a new album (with his trusty Jicks, one assumes), and according to his and confirmed by , he s just narrowly more than two-thirds done with it!
Spake the scribe at Malkmus web-home, basic trax for album committed to tape.
..67.
4685% completed...
Looks to be done sometime in Late June. Pessimists take note: the new Malkmus album is 32.5315% not completed.
Apparently, the songs are so BIG that Matador is pushing for an early 2008 release.
So there you have it! Mr.
Stephen Malkmus, fresh off a solo appearance at this summer s , should have a new artifact out early next year.
Steve-o s also teamed with T.J.
Doherty, perhaps the only living human being cool enough to have worked with both Steely Dan and the Rapture. T.J.
kept an eye on the meters, which leads us to believe he assisted in some sort of production capacity. As for , Malkmus interweb doppelg a nger had a few words on that as well: [ ] Janet Weiss is busy this summer pushing tempo for Bright Eyes, so Chicago gets just one Jick. I ve seen him do the solo thing, and i hate to say its .
...
..not.
...
...
. exactly..
...
.. Genius.
Still, you get the dude and his voice and some strumming; I say check it out.
If you won t settle for anything less than Genius, then you probably shouldn t .
Malkmus and his Jicks also play the , from August 17-19 at Wales Brecon Beacons National Park.
Check out the Malkmus statement/update-- a good read-- in full, just beyond the pale...
er, the jump.
The geographically-misled Aussies of now have a new home in the northern hemisphere, as has signed AIH for all their North American concerns. Concerns that ll soon include a pair of remix-and-cover-laden singles for the new track Heart it Races and, not long after, ten knotty pop tunes united as the third AIH full-length Places Like This, yours to keep August 7.
Oh, and there s still the matter of AIH s world tour, popping off next month.
Though the full lineup of New York City s , held in summertime at Manhattan s South Street Seaport on the beauteous banks of the East River, hasn t been announced yet, a few stellar acts have been confirmed.
June 1 sees a double dose from the cup of cultishness in the form of and .
July 6 snags loop-lovers , while July 13 gets (both of which, we re pleased to gloat, will be playing our own later in the month). And the last day of August finds math blasters (also playing our fest) adding up the awesomeness.
More to come, of course.
It seems just can t get enough of each other recently. turns into and then . And now, the band have announced even more shows together.
Aside from the pre-Coachella date in Pomona, California, all of the new dates are at festivals. But given the choice between a huge outdoor venue and listening to Just Like Honey on your bedroom stereo for the millionth time, which would you..
. actually, wait, that s sort of a tough one. The winners of the were announced yesterday, and among the ranks of journalists, authors, and critics are two jazz giants.
Free jazz pioneer won the Music Pulitzer for his most recent full-length, last year s Sound Grammar, and (maybe you ve heard of him?) was awarded a Pulitzer Special Citation for his masterful improvisation, supreme musicianship, and iconic centrality to the history of jazz, according to the Pulitzer website. Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury was the other Special Citation recipient.
We re still waiting for Coleman s foray into investigative reporting. Then it s really on. Coleman also has a couple handfuls of mostly TBA dates this summer, but his appearances at Bonnaroo, London s Royal Festival Hall, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam are all confirmed.
My first show with them was the Daytona 500. A nice intimate little show to get my feet wet. Pinch him all you want: this is no mere dream.
Chris Deaner, kit-man for Versus-derived electro-acoustic indie-poppers , really is playing drums for one of the world s biggest pop acts.
, Deaner follows in as the latest indie rocker chosen to help remain hipster-friendly. Once just another guy in a band, Deaner will now get to stare at Kelly Clarkson s ass for 90 consecutive minutes, several days a week, before crowds in the tens and hundreds of thousands.
Determined to find out just what that s going to be like, Pitchfork e-mailed Deaner for a quick chat.
Pitchfork: How did you hook up with Kelly Clarkson?
Chris Deaner: Her current guitarist, and co-producer on [Clarkson s forthcoming] My December album, , is an old friend of mine.
We were roomates in college actually. Kelly s band needed a drummer, one that was used to playing with and triggring samples live, so he gave me a call.
Pitchfork: How long have you been in her band?
CD: Not very long. My first show with them was the Daytona 500 [on February 18, 2007]. A nice intimate little show to get my feet wet.
Pitchfork: Did you play on the new record?
CD: I did not. It was already finished when they called me.
Pitchfork: Are you going to tour with Kelly?
CD: That s the plan, I ll be touring and playing all TV performances.
Pitchfork: Are you playing ?
!
CD: I hope so! What an amazing opportunity.
It s a dream come true to be able to be playing music on something as historic as Live Earth. It gives me chills just thinking about it..
.
Pitchfork: Is your being in Kelly Clarkson s band going to affect your role in +/- at all?
CD: Unfortunately, yes.
I am going to try to play all the shows I possibly can with +/-, but there is no guarantee that I ll be able to do all of them. In the event that I might miss any +/- shows (the European tour is an example), my friend Karl Lundin is going to fill in for me. He s a super great drummer and the other half of a two drumset band we have called .
(shameless plug)
Pitchfork: Is Kelly Clarkson as awesome in person as she seems to be on record/video?
CD: Yup. Maybe a little awesomer?
She s exactly as you would think she is: grounded, funny, and very very very talented. Every time we rehearse with her I m struck by how amazing her voice is.
Pitchfork: You mention that you re shooting a video right now.
What s the deal with that?
This time I won t be behind the camera at all, but instead in front of it. We are filming the video for Kelly s single, Never Again .
Should be exciting! I plan on geeking out quite a bit while on set.
In addition to keeping time for Kelly, Deaner has also been helping his ex-roomie Messer record some demos in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, +/- themselves recently remixed a track off the Rosebuds latest, Night of the Furies. They have a DVD, collecting 12 videos and some bonus goodies and titled Self-Titled Long-Playing Debut DVD, out soon via original home .
Finally, the +/- European tour Deaner mentions-- in further support of 2006 s LP -- kicks off (plus or minus Deaner) May 15 in Cologne; the band also hopes to swing through the U.
S. East Coast in September with Japan s Moools.
Do you have a news tip for us?
Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered?
You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.
News RSS