I’m not sure if the Slint/Tortoise/Shipping News supergroup The For Carnation ever officially broke up. Hence, we can’t call their return a “reunion” necessarily. So we’ll referred to this event as their triumphant return. While we haven’t heard new material since 2000’s eponymous record (not counting the 2007 Touch and Go reissue of Promised Works) and there are no rumors that they may be recording again soon, it does seem The For Carnation has been officially reignited when they agreed to make their first public appearance in years at All Tomorrows Parties’ Ten Years of ATP festival this December in the UK. That is, until last week… when it was quietly, almost nonchalantly announced that The For Carnation will be playing Art After Dark at the University of Louisville’s Speed Art Museum on October 23. Like out of nowhere. I just silently mouthed “holy shit” reading that.
The skinny:
Art After Dark: Remix (the first of three museum-wide events held throughout the year, each with a different theme) will tie together a lineup of music, visual spectacle, creating art, and fun. Remix will feature the premiere of a multimedia art collaboration between classically trained American cellist Ben Sollee (an NPR Top 10 Unknown Artist of the Year) and multimedia Louisville artist, Valerie Sullivan Fuchs. Also featured will be the uniquely dynamic, minimalist-informed, yet R&B inspired music of “The For Carnation,” a post rock band from Louisville formed by Brian McMahan (formerly of the legendary band “Slint”), as well as theatrical interpretations of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies created by the wacky minds of LePetomane Theatre Ensemble, and fire dancing performances from The Phoenix Collective on the museum’s front lawn. Visitors will also want to keep an eye out for break dancers, a critic at large, “un-tours” of the collection and films from Louisville Film Society.
The For Carnation is R&B inspired? Eh, I buy that. They’re dynamic dudes. I’m totally there, brah.
The For Carnation @ Art After Dark
Friday, October 23 @ 7 p.m.
The Speed Art Museum
2035 S. 2nd St., Louisville (map that shizz)
All Ages
No need for any commentary here – behold three choice tracks from last weekend’s My Bloody Valentine concert / religious sermon in Chicago. The audio quality is outstanding, so I assume this recording is directly from the soundboard. I plan to have the entire set up soon (probably Monday or Tuesday), so look out for that. That reminds me… yeah, why don’t you subscribe to the Decibel Tolls RSS feed, so you’re the first to know when I unload shipments of awesome on this blog? Continue reading ‘A Few Tracks From My Bloody Valentine in Chicago’
I’m not going to review the My Bloody Valentine show, at least in the traditional sense. Any show review more than a couple of paragraphs long while taking itself very seriously is innately stupid. At that juncture, such writing is fodder-saturated music critic masturbation, an attempt at trying to connect multiple points together and relate them to a particular concert or band when all you’re really doing is trying to show the world how smart you are. Fuck that. Unless it’s the Concert for Bangledesh, a live show is nothing more than a band who wants to rock it out in front of other people besides themselves and their recording engineer. It’s as simple as that. A long review also, statistically speaking, permits the phrase “rocked the [insert venue name]” to rear its ugly dome at some point, which I will not stand for.
So instead, I’d like to stave off the pretense and simply construct a grocery list of thoughts, then provide you with a couple of videos to czech out. First, I want to talk about my day today. How was yours? Well, great, that’s good to hear. Well, mine’s been busy. Besides uploading videos and returning missed calls, I’ve been taking time to learn American Sign Language. Continue reading ‘My Bloody Valentine – 9.27.08 – The Aragon, Chicago – Videos and Setlist’
As promised earlier this week, here are two classic My Bloody Valentine shows conveniently ZIP archived. These were sent to me by a DT reader and fellow shoegaze ripper. For the sake of comparison, listen to these recordings, then play a track or two from the MBV v2.0 London bootlegs, found here. Virtually no difference, as a “reunion” tour should be (but usually isn’t).
Recorded just two nights ago in Manchester, this is the first video I’ve seen of the reunion tour that features fairly decent sound quality – discernible notes and everything. I mean, that’s a very good thing in a way – knowing that MBV is so loud that most people cannot record them with simple civilian technology. But it really puts a damper on everyone outside the UK trying to get a sneak peak of the destruction to come. September 27th cannot come soon enough!
07/02 Glasgow, Scotland @ Barrowland
07/03 Glasgow, Scotland @ Barrowland
07/03-06 Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival
07/09 Paris, France @ Zenith
07/18 Benicàssim, Spain @ Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
07/19 Madrid, Spain @ Saturday Night FIBER
07/25 Naeba, Japan @ Fuji Rock Festival
08/08 Oslo, Norway @ Øya Festival
09/05 Isle of Wight, England @ Bestival
09/19-21 Monticello, NY @ Kutshers Country Club (ATP New York)
09/22 New York, NY @ Roseland
09/23 New York, NY @ Roseland
09/25 Toronto, Ontario @ Ricoh
09/27 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
09/30 San Francisco, CA @ The Concourse
10/01 Los Angeles, CA @ Santa Monica Civic
10/02 Los Angeles, CA @ Santa Monica Civic
