John Vanderslice: Emerald City
John Vanderslice is preparing to release Emerald City through Barsuk Records on July 24. The title of the album, Emerald City, is in reference to Baghdad’s Green Zone. “White phospher rain, and blackout bombs are falling out of the sky tonight,” sings John in the opening track, Kookaburra.
“The songs and themes in Emerald City are fueled by an era of deep insecurity and paranoia; they develop in front of a backdrop of ritualized and mythologized current events. Lyrically, JV’s characters and storytellers track Manifest Destiny from burning wagon wheels to two-bedroom homes with full amenities in Bakersfield, California. Along that rough road, there are bewildered commemorations, peace-lovers and revenge-lusters, psychotic reactions to unnamed episodes, and the grief-stricken and the vengeance-hungry wrapped up in the same skin. Weaving throughout the entire album is the ever present danger of opposition.” (Barsuk Records)
To promote the album Vanderslice is turning to nine of his favorite blogs. “The reason people go to the blogs is that they get to know the individual voice of the writer, and they respect that person’s aesthetic leanings. There are no other mediators: no editors or designers, no lead time, no ad or marketing departments, no overhead and no deadlines. That’s why they seemed like a perfect venue to debut the album.”
John Vanderslice and band will be touring North America, playing nearly every night from September 6 to October 20. After this Vanderslice will be touring Australia and Europe.
Recorded in John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone recording studio, and produced by Scott Solter, Emerald City finds Vanderslice stepping away from track overdubs and sole control of his music. Instead, he recorded the songs in a live setup with his band. His band includes David Broecker, Dave Douglas, Ian Bjornstad, and Scott Solter.
Tiny Telephone is Vanderslice’s recording studio in San Francisco, California. Clients include the record labels 4AD, Barsuk, Sub Pop, Jade Tree, Saddle Creek, Matador, Secretly Canadian and Wichita. It boasts of a beautiful Neve console, recording the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, Nada Surf, Okkervil River, Deerhoof, Panda, Mountain Goats, and Mates of State. The analog-based studio involved fourteen house engineers, including Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie.
UPDATE:
John Vanderslice and his band have performed and taped each song from his forthcoming Barsuk Records release Emerald City from his San Francisco based Tiny Telephone studio. These fine videos are to be enjoyed by the world via the magic of the interwebs. Video for each track will be posted semi-daily over the coming weeks on some of JV’s favorite blogs, starting today, Monday July 23rd. The nerve center of this epic virtual journey will be http://www.barsuk.com/EmeraldCity.html, where new online tour dates will be announced as they go live. No tickets to buy! No waiting in line! Just B.Y.O.B. (to your monitor) JV action.
List of blogs include: (check the splash page above for up to date information)
Stereogum: http://www.stereogum.com (started today 7/23 with Kookabura)
Brooklyn Vegan: http://www.brooklynvegan.com
Gorilla vs Bear: http://gorillavsbear.blogspot.com
You Ain’t No Picasso http://www.youaintnopicasso.com
My Old Kentucky Blog: http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com
An Aquarium Drunkard: http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com
Chromewaves: http://www.chromewaves.net
Six Eyes: http://sixeyes.blogspot.com
The Catebird Seat: http://www.catbirdseat.org
John Vanderslice on:
iTunes | Emusic | Insound | Amazon | Hype Machine | Elbo.ws | MySpace | Last.fm | YouTube | Flickr
July 16 | Los Angeles, CA | Little Radio w/ Spoon
July 25 | Palo Alto CA | Live on KZSU | 6pm
July 28 | Seattle, WA | Capitol Hill Block Party | w Spoon, Aesop Rock, Mirah | 5pm set
July 30 | Seattle WA | Live on KEXP | 9am
August 3 | Long Beach CA | Fingerprints in-store | 7pm
August 4 | San Diego CA | M-Theory in-store | 3pm
August 11 | San Francisco CA | Amoeba in-store | 2pm
August 17 | Brooklyn NY | Soundfix in-store | 7pm
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Emerald City Fall Us Tour
feat. David Douglas, Ian Bjornstad, Daniel Hart, and Dave Willingham
September 6 | Los Angeles CA | Troubadour
September 7 | San Diego CA | The Casbah
September 8 | Phoenix AZ | Modified
September 9 | Tucson AZ | Plush
September 11 | Austin TX | The Parish
September 12 | Norman OK | The Opolis
September 14 | Dallas TX | The Loft
September 15 | Baton Rouge LA | Spanish Moon
September 17 | Orlando FL | The Social
September 18 | St. Augustine FL | Café Eleven
September 19 | Tallahassee FL | Club Downunder
September 20 | Atlanta GA | The Earl
September 21 | Durham NC | Duke Coffeehouse
September 22 | Washington DC | Rock and Roll Hotel
September 24 | Philadelphia PA | Johnny Brenda’s
September 26 | New York NY | Bowery Ballroom
September 27 | Cambridge MA | The Middle East
September 28 | Cambridge MA | The Middle East
September 29 | Buffalo NY | Buffalo Icon
October 1 | Toronto ON | Horseshoe Tavern
October 2 | Ann Arbor MI | The Blind Pig
October 3 | Cleveland OH | The Grog Shop
October 4 | Athens OH | Ohio University, Baker Theatre
October 5 | Bloomington IN | The John Waldron Art’s Center
October 6 | Chicago IL | The Empty Bottle
October 8 | Minneapolis, MN | 7th St Entry
October 9 | Omaha NE | The Waiting Room
October 11 | Denver CO | The Hi-Dive
October 12 | Provo UT | Velour
October 13 | Salt Lake City UT | Kilby Court
October 15 | Vancouver BC | The Red Room
October 18 | Portland OR | The Doug Fir
October 20 | San Francisco CA | The Independent
October 26 | San Francisco CA | Guest DJ on KUSF