untitled by 美撒郭 on Flickr.

“I’ve finally (finally) compiled a mix tape for 20JFG. And it is a mixtape in the most literal sense of the word. From my Technics 1200 to my Nakamichi deck to Audacity (for the digital transfer, of course) to you. So, no crossfades or beat matching, but plenty of strange cassette malfunction. It’s called Static Gravity for the Chrome track that starts the mix. Hope you find something you like in it.”

IGETRVNG Static Gravity Mixtape

Basketball by Michael Meinhardt on Flickr.

NEW ALBUM – WIXIW – 4 JUNE 2012
AVAILABLE ON CD, VINYL & LTD EDITION WAX DIPPED VINYL

LIVE DATES INCLUDING FIELD DAY: 2 JUNE – XOYO, LONDON: 12 JUNE – RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER: 15 JUNE

NME Track Of The Week – “… a very different kind of comeback… it beguiles, subtly shifting in mood and texture… Their cabin fever leads to our delirious dream, as the track flows smoothly to a climax of odd beauty”

Liars – Angus Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross – release the video for the first single from their eagerly awaited new album, WIXIW, No. 1 Against The Rush.

The eerie video, which sees each member of the band abducted by a shadowy figure in downtown LA, was made by Todd Cole, the director and photographer best known for his films for Rodarte.

No. 1 Against The Rush is released on 12” and digital download on 28 May, and precedes the 11-track album, WIXIW (pronounced “wish you”), out 4 June 2012.

The single will feature remixes of the title track from Vince Clarke (Erasure / VCMG / Yazoo) and Matmos plus exclusive b-side, We’ll Never Learn.

WIXIW is Liars’ sixth studio album and the follow up to 2010’s critically lauded Sisterworld (The Quietus’ Album of the Year, #9 in the NME’s Albums of the Year who said of the album “…this incredible album is your passport to a better place.”).

The album, with artwork designed by John Weise, will be available on CD, deluxe vinyl (with CD) and limited edition vinyl with silk-screened embossed covers hand dipped in black wax by the band. Pre-order is available from http://liars.sandbag.uk.com where you can see images of the limited edition run being produced.

Aaron Hemphill here discusses the video, “Beginning with Patrick Daughters’ video for Plaster Casts Of Everything, we’ve really enjoyed giving directors complete freedom in executing a visual interpretation of a Liars song entirely based on their own reaction to the song, free from any factual references or creative input from us. We were really won over by Todd Cole’s enthusiasm for No. 1 Against The Rush, as well as his very musical and rhythmic pacing in his treatment. Despite being wrapped head to toe in plastic, being dragged through broken glass, and being strangled to the ground, we had the easiest job to do on the set and we eagerly look forward to any new forms of punishment that can be inflicted upon us in making the next video.”

The title, WIXIW, is explained by Angus Andrew, “’wish you’ is a familiar and universal sentiment of longing and hope, but when misspelt becomes uniquely shrouded and difficult to interpret, which in many ways is representative of our music and the songs we wrote for this album”.

Recorded in LA, self-produced by the band with additional production from Daniel Miller and mixed by Tom Biller, the album, is hard to shake, tough to pin down, and impossible to get out of one’s head even after an initial listen. Simultaneously the most accessible and most challenging release from these iconoclasts, it is both a summation of Liars’ work up to now, and a complete break from anything you’d ever heard the band do previously.

“If we aren’t confusing people, it’s not us,” Andrew laughs. “If we aren’t confusing ourselves with what we do, then we’ve failed.”

Liars will return to Europe for live dates including Field Day – 2 June, and a series of intimate shows, including London’s XOYO – 12 June and Manchester’s Ruby Lounge – 15 June (full list below).

NO. 1 AGAINST THE RUSH TRACKLISTING
No. 1 Against The Rush
No. 1 Against The Rush – Vince Clarke Remix
No. 1 Against The Rush – Matmos Remix
We’ll Never Learn

LIVE DATES
2 June – Field Day, London
4 June – Forbidden Fruits Festival, Dublin
7 June – Nouveau Casino, Paris
8 June – Tivoli De Helling, Utrecht
9 June – AB Club, Brussels
10 June – Roter Salon der Volksbühne, Berlin
12 June – XOYO, London
15 June – Ruby Lounge, Manchester

Watch a series of video teasers created by the band on their Tumblr, which have given rise to much speculation on where this ever evolving, ever influential band are headed: http://amateurgore.tumblr.com/

West by Craig Birmingham

The Cobb by Craig Birmingham

Today sees the release of a brand new EP of collected works by 130701 (FatCat’s “post-classical” imprint) artists Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka and Jóhann Jóhannsson. Titled Transcendentalism, the EP accompanies the triple-headline Transcendentalism Tour that sees the three artists hit the road for the first time together in venues across Europe.

The EP will be available as a highly limited, hand-signed and numbered white-label 12” sold only on Transcendentalists tour dates, with this digital release being the only full-scale publication of the same.

Featuring brand new, exclusive works from all three artists, backed with specially-selected live recordings of special versions and new arrangements of existing pieces, Transcendentalism represents a musical snapshot of Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka and Jóhann Jóhannssonas the tour approaches: Hauschka performs with touring partner Samuli Kosminen (aka múm’s masterful, Finnish-Icelandic percussionist), O’Halloran and Jóhannsson both realign previously-recorded material to string quartet arrangements in keeping with their respective live sets for the tour.

O’Halloran donates us ‘An Ending, A Beginning’ and a stunning new version of his 2006 piece ‘Opus 28’ (originally found on his second Piano Solos LP) featuring New York’s ACME String Quartet. Hauschka’s contributions – a skipping and melodious new composition entitled ‘Spark’ and an improvised live piece taken from 2011’s Brighton Festival 130701 showcase – demonstrate the breadth and colour with which he collaborates with guest percussionists. Jóhann Jóhannsson is represented by a recent re-write of film-score piece ‘Glíma’ (taken from 2007’s Icelandic feature Bræðrabylta) and a jaw-dropping, KCRW-recorded live interpretation of a second soundtrack composition that sees LA’s Formalist String Quartet perform parts originally written for brass, with breathtaking results.

http://www.130701.com/

Bangkok XXV by Reena Mahtani on Flickr.

the road not taken [explored] by juℓie8 on Flickr.