Tonight : Algiers On CBS' "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert"
Tonight (Friday, January 30), Algiers are appearing on CBS' "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert". Barring a(nother) national emergency , the telecast begins at 11:35 pm eastern / 10:35 central time.
stream/purchase 'There Is No Year'
(limited edition cloudy clear LP available from the Matador Store and select independent retailers)
Algiers on tour :
Monday, February 3 The Haunt, Brighton UK
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UKThursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
Algiers Online :
There Is No Year
Website
Desert Sessions - "Easier Said Than Done" Video + The Bizarre Bazaar Premiere
Joshua Homme’s collaborative motley crew Desert Sessions return with the music video to "Easier Said Than Done”, from Vols. 11 & 12 (aka respectively Arrivederci Despair and Tightwads & Nitwits & Critics & Heels). Directed by photographer-director Chapman Baehler, this nightmare vision contains fascist-humiliating watersports, pig-men ejaculating glitter, a little defenestration, some light immolation… and Joshua Homme on roller skates.
For further edification, just watch the video over and over until the next one.
STREAM/PURCHASE DESERT SESSIONS VOLS. 11 & 12 HERE
Joshua Homme's Team of Crazed Collaborators Announce "The Bizarre Bazaar”, a Bi-Weekly Series of Desert Sessions Inspired Artwork Auctions for Charity with Limited Edition Quilt by Ben Venom.
The unique delight of Desert Sessions lies in unexpected collaborations between musicians who might otherwise never work together, and alongside the new video, Desert Sessions have teamed up with artists in other media including palm-painting, sculpture, jewelry, film-making, and, in this instance, quilting, to create one-of-a-kind pieces of art inspired by, and indelibly connected to — the music, for a series of charity auctions benefiting The Sweet Stuff Foundation. For the inaugural auction in this "Bizarre Bazaar," hosted on a dedicated eBay page, acclaimed textile artist Ben Venom has created a 3' X 3' quilt expressing the sounds of Desert Sessions in fabric and thread:
"I describe my art as a collision between fine art, craft, and the fringes of society. Working with textiles, I contrast the often menacing and aggressive counterculture components of gangs, punk/metal music, and the occult with the comforts of domesticity. For the Crawling Death quilt, the fragility of the materials and their assaulting imagery are brought together in the form of a functional piece of art. This piece was made in collaboration with the Desert Sessions and it has been an honor to participate in the project."
Find more information on the Sweet Stuff Foundation HERE.
Desert Sessions Online
desertsessions
Coming March 6: Stephen Malkmus - "Traditional Techniques" + "Xian Man" Premiere + US/CA Spring 2020 Tour
(L to R: Stephen Malkmus, Chris Funk, Matt Sweeney. Photo by Samuel Gehrke and Chris Shonting.)
(Album artwork by Jan Lankisch)
Stephen Malkmus has announced his new album, Traditional Techniques, out March 6th via Matador, lead single “Xian Man,” and a North American tour. Traditional Techniques, Malkmus’ third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement), is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. It’s packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed in his singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove Denied (2019). Taken together, these three very different full-lengths in three years highlight an ever-curious songwriter committed to finding untouched territory.
Pre-order/Pre-save Traditional Techniques
Stream/Download "Xian Man"
Traditional Techniques
01 ACC Kirtan
02 Xian Man
03 The Greatest Own in Legal History
04 Cash Up
05 Shadowbanned
06 What Kind Of Person
07 Flowin’ Robes
08 Brainwashed
09 Signal Western
10 Amberjack
Traditional Techniques will be available in a standard CD/black LP format, and as a red vinyl stamp-numbered edition limited to 500 with risographed red, white, and black alternate cover.
Malkmus will embark on a North American tour this spring with an entirely new band (more shows will be announced in the weeks to come). The Traditional Techniques live band is Malkmus (vocals, guitar), Funk (pedal steel, keys), Sweeney (guitar), Brad Truax (bass), and Jake Morris (drums), joined at times by Qais Essar (rabab) and Eric Zang (kaval, udu, daf). A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale Friday, January 24th at 10am local time.
Stephen Malkmus on Tour
Tuesday, March 31 First Avenue, Minneapolis MN
Wednesday, April 1 Turner Hall, Milwaukee WI
Thursday, April 2 Thalia Hall, Chicago IL
Friday, April 3 Headliners, Louisville KY
Saturday, April 4 Cannery Ballroom, Nashville TN
Sunday, April 5 Terminal West, Atlanta GA
Tuesday, April 7 Orange Peel, Asheville NC
Wednesday, April 8 Cat's Cradle, Carrboro NC
Thursday, April 9 The National, Richmond VA
Friday, April 10 Black Cat, Washington DC
Saturday, April 11 Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA
Monday, April 13 Webster Hall, New York NY
Wednesday, April 15 Royale, Boston MA
Thursday, April 16 L'Astral, Montreal QC
Friday, April 17 Danforth Music Hall, Toronto ON
Saturday, April 18 Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland OH
Sunday, April 19 St. Andrew's Hall, Detroit MI
Is that a goddamn bouzouki? you may ask. A pedal steel guitar? What kind of Stephen Malkmus album is this, anyway?
It’s called folk music, and it’s taking the country by storm. Stephen Malkmus is only the latest popular artist to apply this old new approach to their rock and roll sounds.
Take the name Traditional Techniques with as much salt as you’d like or dig the Adorno reference, Malkmus’s third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement) is as organic as they come. It’s packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed in Malkmus’s singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (Matador, 2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove Denied (Matador, 2019). Taken together, these three very different full-lengths in three years highlight an ever-curious songwriter committed to finding untouched territory. Perhaps some of these “folk” musicians could take a lesson or two.
Created in the spontaneous west coast style adopted so infectiously by young American musicians in this time of global turmoil, Malkmus took on Traditional Techniques as a kind of self-dare. Conceived while recording Sparkle Hard with the Jicks at Portland’s Halfling Studio, Malkmus had observed the variety of acoustic instruments available for use. The idea escalated within a matter of weeks into a full set of songs and shortly thereafter into a realized and fully committed album. When he returned to Halfling, Malkmus drew from a whole new musical palette--including a variety of Afghani instruments--to support an ache both quizzical and contemporary. Stephen Malkmus isn’t one of those “hung up” musicians one reads about so frequently these days, sequestered in a jungle room of the heart. The jukebox in Malkmus’s private grotto remains fully updated. Not only is the artist present, but he’s on Twitter.
Traditional Techniques is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. Instead of roses, briars, and long black veils, prepare for owns, cracked emojis, and shadowbans. Centered around the songwriter’s 12-string acoustic guitar, and informed by a half-century of folk-rock reference points, Traditional Techniques is the product of Malkmus and Halfling engineer/arranger-in-residence Chris Funk (The Decemberists). Playing guitar is friend-to-all-heads Matt Sweeney (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Chavez, and too many other to count), who’d previously crossed paths with Malkmus on the opposite end of the longhairs’ map of the world, most lately gnarling out together back east in the jam conglomerate Endless Boogie.
But, buyer beware, no matter how these recordings might be tagged by your nearest algorithm, the expansive and thrilling folk-rock sounds of Traditional Techniques aren’t SM Unplugged. One might even question his commitment to acoustic instruments, but we’ll leave that for somebody else’s hot take. All we’re saying is watch your head. Because alongside all that gorgeous folk music (“The Greatest Own in Legal History,” “Cash Up”), there are also occasional bursts of flute-laced swagger (“Shadowbanned”), straight-up commune rock (“Xian Man”), and mind-bending fuzz in places you least expect it (“Brainwashed”).
It’s hard to call Traditional Techniques “long awaited,” because Stephen Malkmus just put out an album last year, but it’s also exactly that. While he may have taken his sweet time in jumping on the folk music boom, surely there are those among us who have fantasized about how lovely it might sound if SM would just get with the times. And it sounds like all that and beyond. Set a day or two aside to transcribe the lyrics like the Dylanlogists of yore (though please keep your garbology to yourself) and vibe on the shape of folk to come with Stephen Malkmus.
- Jesse Jarnow
Stephen Malkmus Online
StephenMalkmus.com
Algiers - 'Dispossession' Stripped Down: Live In Conklin Metals
(Photo by Christian Högstedt)
This past Friday, Algiers released their already acclaimed third LP There Is No Year. Today the band premieres a stripped down live rendition of "Dispossession," performed at Conklin Metals in Atlanta GA.
Purchase/Stream There Is No Year
Algiers have embarked on touring in support of There Is No Year, wrapping up an East Coast in-store performance/signing tour at Repo Records in Philadelphia PA tonight and at Rough Trade NYC in Brooklyn NY tomorrow evening. Info for those performances along with extensive European/North American routing is below.
Algiers On Tour
Tuesday, January 21 Repo Records, Philadelphia PA
Wednesday, January 22 Rough Trade NYC, Brooklyn NY
Monday, February 3 The Haunt, Brighton UK
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UK
Thursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
Algiers Online :
There Is No Year
Website
Out Today : Algiers - 'There Is No Year'
Algiers' eagerly anticipated 3rd full-length and an early contender for album-of-2020 status, 'There Is No Year' is available today via all streaming platforms along with the surviving LP and compact disc formats. LP version includes the bonus track, "Void" on flexi-disc.
("There Is No Year", courtesy Adult Swim, Fish Center Live)
Prior to kicking off today's US tour of record shops at Atlanta's Criminal Records this afternoon, Algiers' Lee Tesche and Matt Tong will participate in an Reddit AMA at 1pm eastern.
stream/purchase 'There Is No Year'
(limited edition cloudy clear LP available from the Matador Store and select independent retailers)
Algiers on tour :
Friday, January 17 Criminal Records, Atlanta GA
Saturday, January 18 Schoolkids Records, Raliegh NC
Monday, January 20 The Sound Garden, Baltimore MD
Tuesday, January 21 Repo Records, Philadelphia PA
Wednesday, January 22 Rough Trade NYC, Brooklyn NY
Monday, February 3 The Haunt, Brighton UK
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UKThursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
Algiers Online :
There Is No Year
Website
Snail Mail - Spring 2020 U.S.Dates
(poster : Jesse Feinman )
Snail Mail On Tour, New Dates in Bold on Sale Tomorrow (Thursday, January 16) at 10am PST
Thursday, April 9 SOhO, Santa Barbara CA
Saturday, April 11 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Indio CA
Tuesday, April 14 The UC Theatre, Berkeley CA
Thursday, April 16 Capitol Theater, Olympia WA
Saturday, April 18 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Indio CA
Saturday, May 2 Shaky Knees Festival, Atlanta GA
Sunday, May 3 Haw River Ballroom, Saxapahaw NC *
* w/ Hotline TNT
stream / purchase 'Lush'
stream / purchase 'Habit'
Snail Mail Online
Website
Coming February 21: King Krule - "Man Alive!"
(King Krule photographed by Charlotte Patmore)
Following last year's Hey World! video in which Archy Marshall performed acoustic versions of four new songs, King Krule has announced his third studio album titled Man Alive! will be released on February 21, 2020 via Matador/True Panther. Alongside the announcement King Krule has shared his first ever self-directed music video along with the new track "(Don't Let The Dragon) Draag On."
Pre-order / Pre-save Man Alive! HERE
Stream/Watch (Don't Let The Dragon) Draag On HERE
Man Alive! Tracklist
01. Cellular
02. Supermarché
03. Stoned Again
04. Comet Face
05. The Dream
06. Perfecto Miserable
07. Alone, Omen 3
08. Slinky
09. Airport Antenatal Airplane
10. (Don't Let The Dragon) Draag On
11. Theme For The Cross
12. Underclass
13. Energy Fleets
14. Please Complete Thee
Man Alive! will be available on standard vinyl, CD, and as a North American webstore exclusive on limited white vinyl with a bonus flexi disc featuring the Hey World! version of "Perfecto Miserable," while supplies last. An exclusive red vinyl edition will be available at independent record stores as well.
Archy Marshall's longstanding love of cinema seeps out in his first foray into directing, with a video for "(Don't Let The Dragon) Draag On" that pulls influences from Carl Theodor Dreyer's classic The Passion Of Joan Of Arc while still creating a typically wry King Krule visual.
King Krule will tour in support of the new album throughout Europe and North America this Spring. Tickets for all dates below are on sale now.
King Krule On Tour
Tuesday, March 3rd A.B, Brussels BE
Wednesday, March 4th L’Olympia, Paris FR
Friday, March 6th Melkweg, Amsterdam, NL
Saturday, March 7th K.B Hall, Copenhagen, DK
Sunday, March 8th Columbiahalle, Berlin DE
Thursday, March 19th Olympia, Dublin IE
Saturday, March 21st Barrowland, Glasgow UK
Sunday, March 22nd Albert Hall, Manchester UK
Tuesday, March 24th Brixton Academy, London UK
Wednesday, March 25th Brixton Academy, London UK
Thursday, April 2nd House of Blues, Dallas TX
Friday, April 3rd White Oak Music Hall, Houston TX
Saturday, April 4th Stubbs Waller Creek, Austin TX
Tuesday, April 7th Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, April 8th Fox Theatre, Oakland CA
Friday, April 10th Showbox Sodo, Seattle WA
Saturday, April 11th Roseland Theatre, Portland OR
Tuesday, April 14th First Avenue, Minneapolis MN
Wednesday, April 15th Riviera Theatre, Chicago IL
Friday, April 17th Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto ON
Saturday, April 18th Mtelus, Montreal QC
Sunday, April 19th House of Blues, Boston MA
Tuesday, April 21st Union Transfer, Philadelphia PA
Wednesday, April 22nd 9.30 Club, Washington DC
Friday, April 24th Kings Theatre, Brooklyn NY
Saturday, April 25th Webster Hall, New York NY
Archy Ivan Marshall has the world at his feet. After two feverishly received albums as King Krule, plus another low-key outing under his own name, this extraordinarily gifted 25-year-old from Peckham in South London adds further depth and substance to his oeuvre with another wondrous long-player called ‘Man Alive!’. It arrives packed full of his trademark sonic ambition and compositional skill, as well as the now-familiar corrosive lyricism and lurid social observation. Marshall has emerged as a pack leader amongst his peers, leading the charge in a fearless blurring of genre divisions, one minute seeming to drag the listener through the trashiest punk experience, the next ushering in a soundworld that’s apparently hi-tech and forward-looking.
Like any great artist on the rise, Archy’s life is moving fast. There’s a lot to catch up on, after 2017’s sprawling masterpiece, ‘The Ooz’, broke through amid Mercury Prize nominations and minds-blown media plaudits. Unlike that record, ‘Man Alive!’ doesn’t aim to present any kind of narrative thread, or Brexit-era state-of-the-nation address, just a collection of snapshots and stories, artfully sequenced into a dazzlingly coherent whole.
This third King Krule album was written as a direct reaction to the non-stop energy of touring ‘The Ooz’, and then partly recorded at Shrunken Heads in Marshall’s native stamping ground of Nunhead, with ‘Ooz’ co-producer Dilip Harris. Increasingly self-sufficient in the studio, he manned most of the instruments himself, except for the saxophone, which was played by his trusty Argentinian amigo, Ignacio Salvadores.
Midway through those sessions, however, Archy found out he was going to become a dad for the first time, and he decided to move up to the North West to be near the mother’s family, ready for the baby’s arrival.
“I should’ve had it all wrapped up before my daughter was born,” says Marshall today with a sheepish grin, during a return visit to his favourite public house in Nunhead, right across the street from Shrunken Heads. Impending parenthood came at a felicitous moment for him, as he was beginning to feel trapped in South London’s suburban lifestyle of all-eclipsing drunkenness and depression, which existing fans will know was a recurring theme in his earlier music.
“It was just the easiness of it,” he reflects today. “There really is nothing else to do here, especially when it turns to winter. Everyone I know has jobs, whereas I’d sit on my arse all day sometimes not doing anything, then I’d go to the pub with them when they finished work. It became a bit habitual. Then, right in the middle of the record, this big change came in my life that I didn't really comprehend initially. It was like, ‘Oh, I’d better get my shit together!’ To be honest, I was really glad to get away from all that so I could focus on more pressing matters – like keeping a child alive and stuff.”
Tracks on ‘Man Alive!’ like ‘Stoned Again’, ‘Comet Face’ and ‘(Don’t Let The Dragon) Draag On’ soberingly document the final throes of Archy’s dissolute times, but once he had relocated, he cracked on with recording at Eve Studios in Stockport.
So, after his daughter, Marina, arrived on 14 March 2019, Marshall took a few weeks off, then returned to finish off his album. “I was still adding tracks until she was about six months old (i.e mid-September),” he says. Still, the songs are very much a document of pre-fatherhood, and the need for change, rather than the new life that ensued.
The new album’s title, he explains, “is an exclamation, about the times we live in. Like, ‘Fucking hell, man!’” He stole the title from a CD that his uncle gave him back in 2013 with some of his uncle’s own music on it, and originally planned to use it for his last album. “But ‘The Ooz’ really summed up that record,” he reasons, “just this splurge of everything I love – messy and with no direction. I thought, anyway, ‘Nah, I can’t steal it off him’, but now I'm like, ‘Fuck it, I'm gonna use it!’ I haven't really spoken to him about it actually. I just liked the idea of it as an exclamation. It's kind of like, ‘Oh shit!’, but I didn't wanna call it that, I wanted it to be ‘Man Alive!’ – super-Americanized, like a saying from Adam West as Batman.”
This time, however, he says he felt a strong aversion towards politicizing any of his observations, so there’s little explanation, just the relaying of potent images, such as the fancy cars on ‘Stoned Again’ which signify the gentrification – or what he calls the ‘woo-woo’ – of Peckham, or the vile Brexit-era prejudice he overhears on ‘Supermarché.
“More and more,” he explains, “I've been put off by the intention of speaking about what's going on in society as a black-and-white thing, or trying to get to the bottom of why we’re in this position. So the album is mostly made up of snapshots and observations. There are a lot of real-time-and-place moments, songs talking about walking through the park just over there and getting a head injury [don’t ask! – Ed.], then there are other tracks which are just simplicity, looking at one particular situation and reflecting on it as somehow being super-profound.”
Just as the lyrics are diverse in theme and purpose, so is the music: ‘Comet Face’ lopes along with irresistible unease like a wonky New Wave hit, and ‘Stoned Again’ packs all the inspired beatmongery of ’90s hip hop, while much of the record’s sparser second half recalls the lo-fi intimacy of Robert Wyatt’s ’80s solo work, or indeed the recordings of mass-murderer Charles Manson.
“I’ve been listening to a lot of weird stuff, I guess. There was some Argentinian music, some Brazilian Bossa Nova – I love the way they sing, how soft they are. I also listened to the radio, which I never did until recently. I don't like it but I suppose it might influence me a bit.”
Archy laughs at mention of the word ‘lo-fi’, and gives a characteristically self-effacing insight into his unique methods of production: “Ever since I began, people have said, ‘You’re like a lo-fi artist, you do this bedroom thing,’ when really I was trying to make really hi-fi, top-of-the-range recordings – I just didn't have the equipment! All the equipment I have could possibly make a hi-fi product, but I suppose what I do is start with something that’s basic, like a demo, then I coat things in effects and run things through amps and back out through tiny speakers. I end up making it sound like it's coming out of a fucking telephone in the end! One time I remember feeling convinced I was making music like Flying Lotus, this super hi-fi hip-hop production, but actually when I listened back in the morning, it was more like Daniel Johnston, like it was recorded on a Dictaphone, and played on some old broken keyboard.”
But he was determined to fashion a more concise album this time: “There was a lot that didn't make it onto this record, because it didn't seem to fit with the shell of it. In the end it's only 40 minutes, and I was quite happy about that because I didn't go over the top, like I did with ‘The Ooz’ [running time: 67 minutes]. This one makes more sense if you listen in total, because you start quite fast-paced and aggressive, then it takes more of a back seat for the rest, and gets heart-warming towards the end. Happy endings!”
As the concluding ‘Please Complete Thee’ sails out on upliftingly twangsome slide guitar, you’d be forgiven for imagining that some of the more agonizing preceding numbers have served as a kind of therapy for their creator. “Oh yeah,” he freely admits, “once you’re able to discuss things and talk honestly, there is no better way than just shouting it out at a bunch of people. I was always empowered by lyricism and getting my aggression out in some way, or any kind of emotion. That has always been a process for me. This time I felt like I had gotten out of a dark place, and I was on a high. I appreciated the depression, and the low times I’d been through, but I also liked how I felt better in the here and now. So it was about reaching that new plateau.”
As he prepares for his latest campaign with ‘Man Alive!’, Archy says, “I feel better in life. I don’t drink or smoke when I’m in the North West, so I’m pretty clean. It's made me kind of bored of what a lot of the album’s talking about! It’s hard to know where it’s going now I’ve done it, and what I’ll do next, because of my new-found role and responsibility in the world. It'll be good to play live, I'm looking forward to that. The tour is coming up in March, so, yeah, I need to get onto that!” He laughs at his own lack of forward planning, then concludes with hard-won assurance. “I might get a pint in a bit, but I’ll still take it easy.”
Praise for his latest, deftly sculpted King Krule meisterwerk, though, is likely to be a good deal wilder.
King Krule Online
Website
Kurt Vile announces new solo European dates
It's been six years since Kurt Vile played a solo show in Europe. That's soon to change as the Philadelphian songsmith announced this morning a run of 9 dates to take place across May & June of this year.
Tickets go on sale at 10:00 CET on Wednesday, January 15th
Saturday, January 18 Empire Grand Oasis, Thermal CA ^
Wednesday, April 8 Thalia Hall, Chicago IL *
Thursday, April 9 MOCAD, Detroit MI *
Friday, April 10 The Warhol at Carnegie Lecture Hall, Pittsburgh PA *
Saturday, April 11 Stuart’s Opera House, Nelsonville OH *
Monday, April 13 Levon Helm Studios, Woodstock NY *
Tuesday, April 14 Somerville Theater, Somerville MA *
Wednesday, April 15 Lebanon Opera House, Lebanon NH *
Thursday, April 16 Town Hall, New York NY *
Monday, April 20 World Cafe Live, Philadelphia PA *
Tuesday, April 21 World Cafe Live, Philadelphia PA *
Thursday, April 23 White Eagle Hall, Jersey City NJ *
Friday, April 24 Lincoln Theatre, Washington DC *
Thursday, April 30 Neptune Theatre, Seattle WA *
Friday, May 1 Aladdin Theatre, Portland OR *
Saturday, May 2 Aladdin Theatre, Portland OR *
Monday, May 4 Mystic Theater, Petaluma CA *
Tuesday, May 5 Castro Theatre, San Francisco CA *
Wednesday, May 6 Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz CA *
Thursday, May 7 Fremont Theater, San Luis Obispo CA *
Friday, May 8 Theatre at the Ace Hotel, Los Angeles CA *
Saturday, May 9 Pappy & Harriets, Pioneertown CA *
Friday, May 15 Paramount Theatre, Austin TX *
Friday, May 29th, Heimathafen – Berlin, DE
Saturday, May 30th, Fabrik – Hamburg, DE
Sunday, May 31st, Heartland festival – Kværndrup, DK
Tuesday, June 2nd, Islington Assembly Hall – London, UK
Sunday, June 7th, Muziekgieterij – Maastricht, NL
Monday, June 8th, TivoliVredenburg – Utrecht, NL
Tuesday, June 9th, Kulturkirche – Köln, DE
Wednesday, June 10th, De Roma – Antwerp, BE
Friday, June 12th, Vicar Street – Dublin, IE
^ with The Violators
* with Cate Le Bon
Kurt Vile Online
Website
VIDEO : Algiers - "We Can't Be Found"
(photo : Christian Högstedt)
Algiers have debuted a new track and video ‘We Can’t Be Found’, taken from the London/NYC quartet’s highly anticipated third album, the Ben Greenberg/Randall Dunn-produced 'There Is No Year', out January 17.
The mesmerising visual for the sinuous, dub-inflected song, which builds to a soaring, cascading chorus, propelled by the powerhouse vocals of Franklin James Fisher, was directed by Ian Cone. “I always feel the most successful music videos are the ones that are reflective and convey the mood of the song to the listener over everything else,” says guitarist Lee Tesche. “In this instance, we collaborated with the artist Lloyd Benjamin, trying to frame some of his sculpture work in a more abstracted way, referencing the urban dystopian cityscapes found in the German expressionist films of the 1930s. The result aspires to be somewhere in between the unsettling work of Darius Khondji and the set design of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or Fritz Lang's Metropolis.”
stream/download "We Can Be Found"
preorder 'There Is No Year'
Algiers on tour :
Friday, January 17 Criminal Records, Atlanta GA
Saturday, January 18 Schoolkids Records, Raliegh NC
Monday, January 20 The Sound Garden, Baltimore MD
Tuesday, January 21 Repo Records, Philadelphia PA
Wednesday, January 22 Rough Trade NYC, Brooklyn NY
Monday, February 3 The Haunt, Brighton UK
Wednesday, February 5 Village Underground, London UKThursday, February 6 YES, Manchester UK
Friday, February 7 Stereo, Glasgow UK
Saturday, February 8 Whelans, Dublin IE
Monday, February 10 Brudenell, Leeds UK
Wednesday, February 12 Botanique Rotonde, Brussels BE
Thursday, February 13 Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam NE
Friday, February 14 Club Volta, Cologne DE
Saturday, February 15 Manufaktur, Schorndorf DE
Monday, February 17 Zoom, Frankfurt DE
Tuesday, February 18 Beatpol, Dresden DE
Thursday, February 20 Hybrydy, Warsaw PO
Friday, February 21 Lucerna Music Bar, Prague CZ
Saturday, February 22 Flex, Vienna AU
Monday, February 24 Strom, Munich DE
Wednesday, February 26 Monk, Rome IT
Thursday, February 27 Ohibo, Milan IT
Saturday, February 29 La 3 Razzmatazz, Barcelona ES
Sunday, March 1 Cafe Berlin, Madrid ES
Tuesday, March 3 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux FR
Wednesday, March 4 Stereolux, Nantes FR
Thursday, March 5 La Maroquinerie, Paris FR
Wednesday, March 11 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Thursday, March 12 Black Cat, Washington DC
Friday, March 13 Mothlight, Asheville NC
Saturday, March 14 529, Atlanta GA
Friday, March 20 Club Congress, Tucson AZ
Saturday, March 21 Casbah, San Diego CA
Tuesday, March 24 The Echo, Los Angeles CA
Wednesday, March 25 Slim’s, San Francisco CA
Saturday, March 28 Polaris Hall, Portland OR
Sunday, March 29 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Wednesday, April 1 Turf Club, St. Paul MN
Thursday, April 2 Cactus Club, Milwaukee WI
Friday, April 3 Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday, April 4 Rumba Club, Columbus OH
Sunday, April 5 Deluxx Fluxx, Detroit MI
Monday, April 6 The Baby G, Toronto ON
Tuesday, April 7 Bar Le Ritz, Montreal QC
Thursday, April 9 Saint Vitus, Brooklyn NY
Tuesday, April 21 Knust, Hamburg DE
Friday, April 24 Nalen Klubb, Stockholm SE
Saturday, April 25 Mejeriet, Lund SE
Monday, April 27 Lido, Berlin DE
Wednesday, April 29 Morze, St. Petersberg RU
Thursday, April 30 Aglomerat, Moscow RU
Sunday, May 3rd ISC, Bern CH
Monday, May 4th Bogen F, Zurich CH
Algiers Online :
There Is No Year
Website
Saturday Night : Lucy Dacus on PBS' "Austin City Limits"
(photo by Scott Newton, courtesy Austin PBS/Austin City Limits)
Tune in tomorrow, Saturday January 4 or set your DVRs for the premiere of Lucy Dacus’s hourlong debut episode of Austin City Limits with Sharon Van Etten at 8 pm CT/9pm ET on PBS. Check local PBS listings for times here The episode will be available to stream online beginning Sunday, January 5 @ 10am ET.
stream/purchase '2019'
stream / order 'Historian' on clear vinyl
Lucy Dacus on tour :
January 17-19 , Songwriters Festival, South Walton FL
March 5-8 Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival, Okeechobee FL
Friday, March 6 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville TN ^
Saturday, April 4 Mission Creek Festival, Iowa City IA
^ w/ Ruston Kelly
Lucy Dacus Online
Website