Les Claypool/Oddity Faire Live at Terminal 5 (3/28/09)
Les Claypool (ex-Primus) has played a lot of festivals in his time; Lollapalooza, Woodstock, Bonneroo, ect. So he decided it was his turn to host. The Oddity Faire was his recent tour that he tried to jam in a slew of fringey type bands in what he descibes as a “mini-fest.” It ended last Saturday in NYC.
The first band of the night was Trey Spruance’s (ex-Mr. Bungle) Secret Chiefs 3. They play an instumental kind of Eastern/heavy metal/Ennio Morricone sounding kind of a thing while dressing in black hooded robes. They played a really good set complete with a rock arrangement of John Carpenter’s Halloween. Spruance even played his Strat a lot which I’ve never seen much of. It was cool to see him shred.
Interspersed between bands were some members of the Coney Island Sideshow which was pretty cool because I’ve never actually been in there even though I’ve wanted to and don’t know what it’s status will be in the new Coney Island. i saw a guy drive a nail through his nose and a girl swallow two swords. Good times all around.
Next was hometown band O’death playing their brand of Appalacian sounding rock music, complete with banjoes, fiddles, and steel drums. After that came Saul Williams, a slam poet with a noisy rock band accompaning him.
At the end of the night came our headliner with a four piece band that included a drummer, percussionist, and upright bassist, and our man Les on lead playing bass, which is a pretty interesting ensemble not usually seen at a rock and/or roll show. As someone who absolutely loves Primus, I’ve never been super-impressed by a lot of Claypool’s solo outings. This show proved to be no exception, but there were some highlights.
The biggest surprise of the night came when Claypool returned on stage for the encore by himself with a banjo bass, and played American Life. I hear that he never plays any Primus songs at solo shows anymore. He also played Fisticuffs and a Southbound Pachyderm tease at one point in the night. Another highlight was Spruance joining the band on stage to play guitar for a song. All in all, it was a good night, with a lot of good bands.
By Henry Krinkle
Vessels announce Retreat
Retreat is a collection of songs including a single, some remixes and an unreleased track by Leeds five-piece Vessels. ‘Walking Through Walls’ is taken from the band’s acclaimed debut White Fields and Open Devices (released August 2008), and originated as an acoustic riff that developed into a delicate glitchy song that was completed live in the studio at the album recording sessions in Minnesota, December 2007.
he EP concludes with a bonus track in the form of the remaining unreleased track from the album recording sessions, ‘Knee Jerk’. This playful instrumental tune exemplifies the band’s eclectic influences.
Vessels have a tour planned for April/May 2009, which will see the band’s first shows in mainland Europe. The highlight of this tour will be the appearance at fuseleeds09 in support to The Wedding Present’s David Gedge and the BBC Big Band at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. All dates are below.
Tracklisting:
1. Walking Through Walls
2. Fully Altered Beast (Lee J. Malcolm remix)
3. Descent
4. Pea Jerk (Peatronica remix)
5. Walking Through Walls (Bracken remix)
6. Remain (Brendon Anderegg remix)
7. Wave Those Arms, Airmen (Little Evil remix)
8. An Idle Brain and the Devil’s Workshop (Errors remix)
Bonus track:
9. Knee Jerk
Crypatacize annouce new tour dates
Cryptacize are hitting the road in support of their sophomore release, Mythomania (out 4/21 on Asthmatic Kitty!). In advance of their May UK tour and June/July North America tour they’ll be playing some last minute shows this week with Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Vivian Girls and more. A full list of dates is below.
All Upcoming Cryptacize Tour Dates (Including UK):
Tue. Mar. 31: Philadelphia, PA @ Saint March Collective
Wed. Apr. 1: Cambridge, MA @ TT the Bear’s Place w/ Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Bobb Trimble
Thu. Apr. 2: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Vivian Girls
Fri. Apr. 24: San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord w/ Finches, Papercuts
Wed. May 20: Berlin (DE) @ Privatclub w/ Jamie Stewart
Thu. May 21: Leipzig (DE) @ UT Connewitz w/ Mirah
Fri. May 22: Utrecht (NL) @ dBs
Sun. May 24: Brighton (UK) @ Freebutt w/ Jamie Stewart
Mon. May 25: London (UK) @ Cargo w/ Jamie Stewart
Tue. May 26: London (UK) @ Windmill Brixton
Wed. May 27: Exeter (UK) @ The Cavern
Thu. May 28: London (UK) @ Union Chapel w/ Final Fantasy
Fri. May 29: Dublin (IE) @ Whelans w/ Final Fantasy
Sat. May 30: Glasgow (UK) @ Captain’s Rest
Sun. May 31: Edinburgh (UK) @ Sneaky Pete’s
Mon. June 01: Manchester (UK) @ Deaf Institute
Tue. June 02: Cardiff (UK) @ Buffalo Bar
Thu. June 04: Paris (FR) @ Cafe De La Danse
Fri. June 05: Bethune (FR) @ Qulit Quilit
Sat. June 06: Cherbourg (FR) @ Terra Trema Festival
Mon. June 08: Rotterdam (NL) @ Worm (supporting Ariel Pink)
Tue. June 09: Siegen (DE) @ Vortex
Wed. June 10: Cologne (DE) @ King Georg
Thu. June 11: Duisburg (DE) @ Steinbruch
Fri. June 12: Offenbach (DE) @ Hafen 2
Tue. June 23: Los Angeles, CA @ Echo Curio
Wed. June 24: Phoenix AZ @ Modified Arts
Fri. June 26: Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
Tue. June 30: Atlanta, GA @ 529 w/ Casiotone for The Painfully Alone
Wed. July 1: Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 w/ Caisotone for the Painfully Alone
Thu. July 2: Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Chapel w/ Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
Fri. July 3: Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel w/ Caisotone for the Painfully Alone
Sun. July 5: Keane, NH @ Starving Artist Collective w/ Caisotone for the Painfully Alone
Mon. July 6: Cambridge, MA @ T.T. the Bears w/ Caisotone for the Painfully Alone
Tue. July 7: Montreal, QC @ Il Motore w/ Caisotone for the Painfully Alone
Thu. July 9: Grand Rapids, MI @ the DAAC w/ Caisotone for the Painfully Alone
Fri. July 10: Chicago, IL @ The Hideout w/ Caisotone for the Painfully Alone
Tue. July 14: Seattle, WA @ Healthy Times Fun Club w/ Ribbons, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Wed. July 15: Portland, OR @ The Artistsery w/ Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Thu. July 16: Vancouver, BC @ The Bilmore Cabaret w/ Caisotone for the Painfully Alone
Fri. July 17 – Sun. July 19: Anacortes, WA @ What The Heck Fest 2009
Faraway Places – The Sun Goes West
Faraway Places set to release new album “Out of the Rain, the Thunder & the Lightning” on May 12th.