(Matmos and So Percussion at the Whitney, 2006, pic taken from maggiemoo1‘s flickr feed)
We were fortunate enough to receive the following communication from Matmos earlier this week ;
We (Matmos) are playing quite an unusual show this weekend in the extremely important city of New York at a venue called the Kitchen. We are playing with the So Percussion Quartet and the Princeton Laptop Orchestra-at the same time…it’s really quite an extravaganza of sound, both timbre-wise and spacially. Fans of the Acousmonium take note, this sort of thing doesn’t happen often in the United States.
All the information you might need (except plane tickets and stuff, if you don’t live in New York) is here:
http://www.thekitchen.org/
Thank you for reading my spam,
love,
M.C. Schmidt
Matmos
p.s. If you are REALLY in this for the spacial thing, we’re doing this evening again in Princeton itself (considered possibly more pleasant than New York by some) with 25 laptoppists! Count ‘em TWENTY FIVE! A month later on May 16th. Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium.
When’s the last time you went to your local multiplex and every film on offer had a score by Yo La Tengo? Such an occasion will occur this Monday, April 6 when roughly the same time Austin’s Alamo Ritz theatre screens Greg Mottola’s “Adventureland”, an adjoining room will be showing Emily Hubley’s “The Toe Tactic” at 7pm.
“The Toe Tactic” is Hubley’s first full-length feature combines animation and live action, and includes performances from David Cross, Eli Wallach, Andrea Martin and Marion Seides…along with the previously mentioned Yo La Tengo music. Later that evening, the Ritz will present “Hubley Films”, a collection of Faith & John Hubley‘s animated works, as curated by Emily Hubley.
There’s a screening of “The Toe Tactic” on Sunday, as well.
• Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch presents his new musical project ‘God Help The Girl’, self titled debut (LP/CD/digital available June 23 on Matador Records in North America, the previous day in Europe on Rough Trade), preceded by a single ‘Come Monday Night’ (May 11, via Rough Trade)
“Come Monday Night” -
• Features an array of singers, including Stuart’s discovery Catherine Ireton, Asya of Smoosh, Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy, the other members of Belle and Sebastian and a 45 piece orchestra conducted by ‘Withnail & I’ composer Rick Wentworth.
‘God Help The Girl’ is a story set to music, which Stuart Murdoch has been working on intermittently for the last five years, its origin in some songs that were written while Belle and Sebastian were touring ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ in 2004. Stuart explains:
“I was out for a run and I got this tune in my head and it occurred to me that it wasn’t a Belle & Sebastian song. I could hear female voices and strings, I could hear the whole thing, but I just couldn’t envisage myself singing it with the group.”
As more songs emerged, a shape and theme began to develop, before the music was actually recorded, or the vocalists found to take on the parts.
“All the time I was touring with Belle and Sebastian, I was putting aside songs for certain characters,” he says, “and at one point I realised, that it would make sense to string them together to form the backbone of a musical narrative.”
The hunt was then on to find some great new voices to put to use during the recordings. A competition where singers could add their vocals to the demo recordings of ‘Funny Little Frog’ and ‘The Psychiatrist Is In’ was posted on the iMeem social networking site and attracted around 400 entries. From these, Brittany Stallings (Olympia, Washington) and Dina Bankole (Jackson, Michigan) came to Glasgow in February 2008 to rehearse and record some parts, Brittany making the lead vocal part on ‘Funny Little Frog’ her own.
Among those who auditioned early in the process was Catherine Ireton (above), who had moved from Limerick to Glasgow, a friend of a friend, who had previously appeared on the sleeve of Belle and Sebastian’s last single, ‘The White Collar Boy.’ She took on the lead vocals for the majority of the songs on the record.
The recording continued during 2008, with a total of nine different singers (including Neil Hannon from the Divine Comedy and Asya from American teen trio, Smoosh) joining the members of Belle and Sebastian over the course of a few months. During this, Mick Cooke’s orchestral arrangements were recorded in London with the orchestra before the finishing touches were applied in Glasgow.
The result is a breathtaking record from one of pop’s most singular voices, combining the strengths and feel of the early Belle and Sebastian records in a broader musical palette, which draws equally on musicals, sixties’ girl groups, eighties’ indie and, most of all, classic pop records. And, in Catherine, Stuart has found a rare talent – her clear, lilting vocals bringing to life the characters in Stuart’s imagination and making for an ambitious and engrossing musical journey
Tracklisting / Vocalist
01.Act of the Apostle – Catherine Ireton
02.God Help The Girl – Catherine
03.Pretty Eve In The Tub – Stuart, Catherine
04.A Unified Theory – Instrumental
05.Hiding Neath My Umbrella – Catherine, Stuart
06.Funny Little Frog – Brittany Stallings
07.If You Could Speak – Catherine, Anna Miles
08.Musician Please Take Heed – Catherine
09.Perfection as a Hipster – Neil Hannon, Catherine
10.Come Monday Night – Catherine
11.Music Room Window – instrumental
12.I Just Want His Jeans – Asya
13.Iʼll Have To Dance With Cassie – Catherine
14.A Down and Dusky Blonde – Dina Bankole, Catherine, Celia Garcia, Brittany, Asya
Preorder information for the Matador edition(s) of ‘God Help The Girl’ is forthcoming in this space very soon.
So Jay’s got his own website. Ordinarily, I’d say that’s about as interesting as telling you Chan Marshall has a new cell phone (perhaps less interesting if Chan’s cellphone has GPS and video capabilities). However, jayreatard.com features a) a free download of a new song, “You’re Gonna Lose”, b) details about the Shattered Singles Series and Shattered Subscription Club, c) an awesome digital storefront including the new 14 song collection ‘Greatest Messes’ ($7.99). There could be no better time to max out your credit card or that of a loved one.
We got pretty excited about the upcoming Mogwai tour so we created a special bundle for those of you who haven’t picked up The Hawk Is Howling yet.
Click HERE or on the Ticket Hawk (scalper?) above to purchase the bundle. You will receive a ticket for the Mogwai show of your choice and receive the deluxe CD/DVD version of The Hawk Is Howling in your mailbox. You get the ticket you want for the regular price and the album you need with a generous discount. Make sure to print out your order confirmation and bring it with you to the show, you’ll be on the Matador guest list for the night!
April
Monday 20 Houston, TX Numbers
Tuesday 21 New Orleans, LA Republic
Wednesday 22 Birmingham, AL Workplay
Thursday 23 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
Friday 24 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Saturday 25 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Theater
Monday 27 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Tuesday 28 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Wednesday 29 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg May
Friday 01 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre
Saturday 02 Northampton, MA Pearl Street
Sunday 03 Montreal, QC Metropolis
Monday 04 Toronto, ON The Phoenix
Tuesday 05 Buffalo, NY The Tralf Music Hall
Wednesday 06 Pontiac, MI Crofoot Ballroom
Friday 08 Chicago, IL Congress Theater
Saturday 09 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
Sunday 10 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Monday 11 Omaha, NE Slowdown
Tuesday 12 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
Wednesday 13 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
Friday 15 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
Saturday 16 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theatre
Sunday 17 San Francisco, CA Grand Ballroom
‘The Matador Records Songbook’ is on one hand, a nod to the old Warner Bros. “loss-leader” compilation LP’s that used to bring Van Dyke Parks or Randy Newman to your attention for a couple of bucks. On the other hand, it’s also a new iTunes 15 song digital comp. for a mere $7.99.
And to get totally freakish, if one could have THREE HANDS, the third would consist of previously released, ultra-classic material from Interpol, Belle & Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, Mission Of Burma, A.C. Newman, Mogwai, Pavement, Cat Power, Shearwater, Fucked Up, the Cave Singers, Stephen Malkmus, , Matmos, Jay Reatard and Guided By Voices. You can order and/or peruse the contents here.
