Rumour yesterday…fact today. Ryan Adams has announced his Australian tour with The Cardinals:
Thursday 16 August: Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland
Saturday 18th August: The Tivoli, Brisbane
Monday 20th August: Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Wednesday 22nd August: Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide
Thursday 23rd August: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Apparently the Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland gigs are all ages too. Not bad. Tickets go on sale for all dates July 6. Sydney tickets will be available through Ticketek.
It appears that MAYBE Ryan Adams just MIGHT be playing the Enmore on August 23. I’m seeing him on July 28 in Vancouver already so I’m kinda wishing this date was a bit later. This summer Ryan has been touring his “Blue Cave” set-up which consists of The Cardinals (plus Easy Tiger producer Jamie Candiloro on keyboards) and Ryan seated on a chair without a guitar (he’s done some damage to his tendons recently on a skateboard).
The shows have been acoustic-based, shortish (by Ryan standards) and incredibly focused (much like the record I guess?). Lighting has been DARK and it has left a few people a tad bewildered. You can download a recent Blue Cave show at The Archive:
But later on this year, once Ryan has healed, the band well be playing “Red Cave” shows where he and The Cardinals will tear it up with a full on electric tour. In fact, I think I read shows might be half Blue Cave and half Red Cave. Regardless, I have a suspicion that if this Sydney date turns out to be true, it will be the acoustic show rather than the electric. But with Ryan Adams you really never know. I’m out of town from Friday but I shall do my best to keep my ears open regarding Ryan Adams’ Australian tour.
Here’s a live clip of Easy Tiger’s These Girls done in more of the Red Cave style:
Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew will be the first of BSS’s members to release an album in the Broken Social Scene Presents series from Arts & Crafts. Spirit If… will be released on September 18 with Brendan Canning’s album in the series to follow in 2008. I can’t honestly say the first taste of the album is SUPER amazing, but I’m confident Kevin will put out a solid album. What say you?
Fellow Broken Social Scenster and Kevin Drew’s current better half, Feist, recently performed a set for KCRW. During the set Feist and Kevin performed another of the tracks from the upcoming Spirit If… called Safety Bricks.
Farewell To The Pressure Kids
Tbtf
F-ked Up Kid
Safety Bricks
Lucky Ones
Broke Me Up
Gang Bang Suicide
Frightening Lives
Underneath The Skin
Big Love
Backed Out On The…
Aging Faces / Losing Places
Bodhi Sappy Weekend
When It Begins
Today marks the 10th anniversary of Radiohead’sOK Computer and I can’t let it go past unmentioned; the record is far too important to me. When the album came out I was definitely a Radiohead fan, but it wasn’t until OK Computer and the ensuing tour that I became a HUGE fan. I remain one today (in case this is your first visit to this site).
I remember listening to OK Computer a lot in the summer of 1997. It was a summer of transition for me and the record, with its themes of movement and modernity, certainly soundtracked those few months of my life. However, unlike a lot of records that scored a particular time in my life, when I listen to the album now I am not instantly reminded of that summer. I’m not sure why, but the record has a timeless quality: it’s not OF any time in my life. In fact, it sounds as fresh to me ten years later as it did the day I bought it back in 1997. Even now I still find some new sound on the record, whether it be a twitter in Let Down or a distorted guitar in Climbing Up the Walls. No other record has ever constantly evolved like this one.
The music itself is just perfect. Two of my favourite songs of all time are on the album (Exit Music (for a film) and Let Down). Paranoid Android remains an ambitious piece of music that seems to inspire many imitators today. The seldom performed Electioneering remains a vicious tirade against…well a lot of things. And Climbing Up the Walls, which was my least favourite song when I got the record (I was 17 after all), is so incredibly dark and terrifying. In fact, it’s one of favourite tracks on the album today. It’s funny how a brilliant record can grow and mature along with you. I think this is one of the reasons why OK Computer is not stuck in any nostalgic moment for me.
Beyond the music, the album is also responsible for a lot of who I am today. I remember asking my dad when I was 17 and listening to Electioneering what IMF stood for. Maybe the record just arrived at a time in my life when I was becoming more aware of social justice, corporate power, and politics, but I really do think the album, and the band themselves, are largely responsible for shaping my ideas about the world. That doesn’t mean I walk around parroting Thom Yorke’s views on everything, but all of a sudden I was exposed to a record full of ideas that I wanted to pursue on my own. The views I hold today about the environment, US foreign policy, and the situation in Tibet can all be traced back to OK Computer.
I’ve made friends because of the record. I’ve traveled to various parts of the world to see the band because of the record. In fact, there’s a decent chance I wouldn’t be sitting here in Sydney today if it wasn’t for OK Computer. It has been an unbelievably powerful record in my life and I can’t believe it’s been ten years since I first put it on and heard that opening abusive guitar line in Airbag and that final, pitch perfect *ting* on the triangle that closes the record.
After all that noise, all that confusion, all that anger and passion…that *ting* remains the most perfect ending to any album ever.
Last night the boys in Dappled Cities Fly bid adieu to Sydney with a co-headlining show at a very sold out Metro. The show featured the regular Granddance songs they’ve been playing this year as well as Cream and Peach off A Smile, Outposts and even a brand new song. The new one would have fit nicely on Granddance…if that tells you anything about the sound (and it was a Tim song). Their set ended with a fantastic version of Colour Coding, complete with a new extended ending.
Red Riders then took the stage…and they impressed me actually. I’m not sure I’ll be running out to buy the album but their show was tight and they definitely had the crowd in palm of their hand.
The highlight of the night, however, was when both bands took the stage for a joint encore. Ad what did they bust out?
Apparently only it was only rehearsed once, but the gloriously sloppy version was a great way to end the night. Tell you what…after only one rehearsal of a rather ambitious song I was impressed with the way they pulled it off. The crowd ate it up – they sang along and provided backing vocals…despite the fact that many in the crowd were 1 or 2 years old when that song was released. I managed to get video of nearly the entire performance in three parts. The Bride and Groom in the final clip are Yumi and Andrew G….random (but not as random as seeing them running in the rain for a bus after the gig).
It’s been an interesting/exciting week in Radioheadland. After receiving VERY little word for ages from the studio the band finally spoke out about the progress of LP7. Posting on Dead Air Space, Ed had this to say:
Yes I know its been a while ….. but we’ve been working on this album for a while …… BUT WE ARE NEARLY THERE …..
Then today, Nigel Godrich posted a short compilation of clips of songs that he’s edited out in the mixing process:
I keep bits of tape which have been chopped out of the mixes when they were edited .. stick em on a reel.. when you play it back it sounds like.. this
Many people are having issues playing the little video on Dead Air Space so you can watch it on YouTube or download an mp3 of the track below.
You can hear clips of some unknown stuff as well as All I Need, Open Pick, Bangers ‘n’ Mash and a couple others. All I Need has a very full, lush sound. Rumours are that the record might FINALLY drop in October/November. Fingers crossed.
And as always, you can keep up with the daily artwork postings on the Hodiau Direkton blog if you miss them on the official site (as they’re only up for a day). Things are finally starting to come together.
Just about to head out the door to see Dappled Cities Fly and Pitchfork have just put up their review (done by Joe Tangari who was in town in March) of Granddance. A 7.8!
Busy weekend. Tomorrow night the Break Your Necks tour rolls into town featuring two of Sydney’s best young bands co-headlining the Metro. It’s been a couple months since I last saw Dappled Cities Fly (which seems like ages at the rate I see them live) so I’m really stoked for the gig. It also marks the last time (I believe) that Dappled will be playing Sydney before moving to New York in a few weeks. So be sure to say goodbye!
I’m not as big on Red Riders but maybe they’ll convert me tomorrow night. To make the gig all the better Belles Will Ring are opening. The show is completely sold out so I hope you got your tickets. Should be a great show…and it’s all ages too which means the enthusiasm level should be high. I’ll be standing near the back feeling old. Come say hi.
If you can’t make it out to the Metro you should head to the Hoey and check out Dead Letter Chorus launch their EP. I saw them last month at the Itty Bitty Festival and I’m keen to check them out again. Great support acts too with Cloud Control and Johnny Vance warming up the crowd.
Saturday night Young & Restless and Cut Off Your Hands will be redefining “on stage energy” at Spectrum. Soft Tigers will be supporting. That’s a lot of great young bands in Sydney this weekend now that I see it all written out. If you can’t make it out to Spectrum the same bands (minus Soft Tigers) will be playing FOR FREE at the Beach Road Hotel in Bondi on Sunday evening. Not a bad way to end a weekend.
I recently blabbed about Young & Restless to Blog Fresh Radio. Check out the show here.
***
The Cure announced their Australian tour today. I quite like The Cure and saw them live at Coachella in 2004 but I think I’ll give this one a miss considering the amount of gigs I will be attending around that time (both here and in the PNW). Rumours are that The Cure will be releasing a new album in October. According to FasterLouder there will be no support acts, just a, presumably, marathon Cure gig. The band hits the stage at 7:45pm each night.
AUGUST 4: PERTH, CHALLENGE STADIUM
AUGUST 6: ADELAIDE, ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
AUGUST 8: BRISBANE, ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE AUGUST 10: SYDNEY, ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
AUGUST 12: MELBOURNE, ROD LAVER ARENA
All tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster on June 22. I’d bet on a presale.
And I mentioned yesterday that Ryan Adams may be playing Vancouver while I’m home for a visit next month…well I also read today that a New Zealand newspaper is reporting that he is rumoured to be planning an Australian / New Zealand tour soonish. I’ll keep you posted.
The Other Sean has mentioned that Feist could be coming Australia-way for Splendour. I reallllly hope any Sydney sideshow is on or after August 5. She’s currently scheduled for a festival in Japan at the end of July so my fingers are crossed.
Totally unrelated sidenote: Now that Feist and Kevin Drew are dating, does anyone else worry about the future of Feist with Broken Social Scene if they break up? Or is that just me?
Apparently there’s also a rumour going around that Bjork will be touring Australia in October. Yes please. Check out this performance of Declare Independence on Jools Holland.
And thanks to Quinn I now know I may have a chance to see Ryan Adams in Vancouver in July 28 if those rumours are true.
I was pretty stoked when I read on FasterLouder today that Jose Gonzalez would be returning to Sydney. I missed him last year when I was back in Canada and the time before that the tickets sold out before I bought any. So hopefully I’m not that lame this time. The tour is a promo tour in the lead up to the release of Jose’s upcoming record In Our Nature which means his trip to Australia will be brief (sandwiched between gigs in Japan and New York) and at a teeny venue (The Factory). In other words, get on tickets fast.
Jose Gonzalez
The Factory Theatre, Enmore
August 16 (aka The Day After Dylan)
Tickets are $45 and will go on sale via Moshtix on June 22.
The tracklisting for In Our Nature, to be released September 26(ish):
01 How Low
02 Down the Line
03 Killing for Love
04 In Our Nature
05 Teardrop (Massive Attack cover I’m assuming)
06 Abram
07 Time to Send Someone Away
08 The Nest
09 Fold
10 Cycling Trivialities
