News

March 29, 2004

BD on XFM, Maldoror and The Mountain Goats

We've just learned that Baby Dayliner has been invited by John Kennedy to do a session on X-Posure, XFM's prestigious "you've heard it here first" program. It will be broadcast around 10:30pm London time on Wednesday March, 31st. Listen to the webcast here.

Thanks also to John Darnielle (aka The Mountain Goats) for posting this nice review of Erik Friedlander's Maldoror on his webzine Last Plane to Jakarta.

Thank you, John & John. Web surfers, we promise not to keep bludgeoning you with all our good news.


March 23, 2004

Brassland's Friedlander and The National at SXSW

We'd like to take a moment to thank the people of Austin for the excellent reception for Brassland artists at SXSW.

Erik Friedlander's blistering solo cello set last Wednesday was the highlight of the festival for the large crowd that bore witness. You can read the Austin-American Statesman's take on the show here, or some blogger feedback here and here. (Read entries for 3/18/04.) These reviews alone should convince you to show up for his April solo tour.

The National also played two very compelling sets of slow burning rock'n'roll. Billboard made note of their performance here. You still have a chance to see them finish off their March tour.


March 1, 2004

Clogs On Break With Other Projects, Tour August 2004

Clogs are planning two or three months of US and European touring, to start in August 2004. This will be in support of their third record, Stick Music, which be released this summer. In the interim, they are pursuing other pursuits. Bryce Dessner has been doing guitar duties with The National. Thom Kozumplik recently embarked on a mid-western tour with his percussion ensemble, Loop 2.4.3. Rachael Elliott is holding down the fort in Brooklyn, and recently performed in a master class for Pascal Gallois at Columbia University's Miller Theatre. She continues to put the "ooooh!" in "bassoon." Padma Newsome is spending the next few months in the southeastern coastal town of Mallacoota, Austral...


March 1, 2004

The National, Erik Friedlander, and BD Hit the Road

Again, we must apologize for the dearth of updates. Take a gander at our tour page, and you'll understand. Three of Brassland's artists are touring extensively in March and April, and we are busy. Here is "the good news" on all of them...

The National -- known around Brassland HQ as "the franchise" -- have announced a March tour to support their stunningly received sophomore album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers. It will include high-profile appearances at SXSW, two support dates with The Walkmen in Georgia, some midwest dates with the Pernice Brothers, and a handful of headlining shows in hospitable cities like Chicago, Columbus, and their hometown, Cincinnati. There, they will...


January 1, 2004

The National Taking Over

Excuse us for being newsless the last month of 2003. We've had lots of news actually, but little time to post about it. Most notably, The National's Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers continues to collect accolades. Critics at The Chicago Tribune, UNCUT (UK), Liberation (France), LA Weekly and PopMatters.com have all placed it on their "album of the year" lists. Magnet has called it a "hidden gem" of 2003. Bernard Lenoir at the radio station France Inter has put it at the top of his chart! The group recently completed a triumphant European tour, and already have some great opening slots lined up for the new year, including dates with Pernice Brothers, The Walkmen, and Elefant. We expect the...


January 1, 2004

Baby Dayliner Prepares Delivery of Debut

We've seen copies of Baby Dayliner's debut album, High Heart and Low Estate, and boy are they cute. We'll be announcing a street date ASAP, but for fanatics that can't wait for it to show up in stores, he'll have copies available at his upcoming shows in New York and Chicago. They'll be at CDBaby.com soon after that. Finally, they'll show up in your favorite local indie record shop, and if we're lucky maybe even your favorite local mega-chain.


January 1, 2004

Friedlander Unveils Maldoror

Maldoror has been making serious waves at press. The Wire ran a full page feature in their November issue, and the record made it into their 2003 writer's poll as a "best of" in the Modern Composition catagory. JazzReview.com calls it "an album of stark beauty and haunting poignancy," while AllMusic.com was even more gushing. "His approach is avant-garde to be sure, but far from atonal... For all its intensity, Maldoror is nearly shockingly accessible, even with its far-flung and dramatic sense of dynamics. This is an album created to be listened to as one work, the individual selections all contribute to a haunting, hunted whole...this is a brilliantly conceived and executed recording,...


January 1, 2004

Clogs Rest Their Feet

Padma Newsome has returned to Australia after accompanying The National on their Nov/Dec European tour. As he plots out his musical future, 3/4 of the group remain Stateside. They have begun planning Clogs' tours for for September 2004 (United States) and October 2004 (Europe). (For booking inquiries, contact rachael@clogsmusic.com.) Before that, expect to see Bryce Dessner playing a bunch of dates Bang on a Can are doing with Terry Riley and Philip Glass. Bryce is filling in for regular guitarist Mark Stewart, who is busy playing with the reunited Simon & Garfunkel. Clogs have also completed a new album, Stick Music, which features the playing of Erik Friedlander. Release date TBA.


November 17, 2003

Baby Dayliner on WFMU

This past Tuesday, Baby Dayliner appeared on the tri-state area's finest free form radio station, 91.1 WFMU with host Dan Mackta. Baby D previewed three tracks from his upcoming Brassland release, High Heart & Low Estate; played a new joint called "The Way You Look Tonight"; discussed the meaning of his name; and dodged questions about "where the songs come from." It's a good introduction to Baby D.


November 17, 2003

Clogs' Lullabye For Sue Looking Good

The sleeve for Clogs' second album, Lullaby for Sue, appears in Area, a book published by Phaidon Press, and described as "an up-to-the-minute, global overview of graphic design...selected by a distinguished group of 10 curators from around the world." Our friends at the Chicago design firm, Field Study, created the record's artwork. Their inclusion in Area recognizes the studio as one of "100 of the world's most innovate emerging graphic designers." Congrats for making the cut Field Study, and thanks for considering your work for Brassland some of the best of the best. The publisher has set-up a mini-site about the book.


November 17, 2003

The National Look Good in Black Sessions

Today, The National will make an appearance on France Inter radio's Black Sessions. Host Bernard Lenoir has been described to us as France's answer to John Peel and recent guests include Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Rapture, and Interpol. The latter group released the results of their session on a special EP, and there's already been talk of doing the same for our five Ohio boys. We can't wait to hear the results! The National are on tour in Europe until December 6th.


October 17, 2003

Faders, Rolling Stones, and Pitchforks

The National's Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is shaping up to be one of 2003's most talked about indie records, an underground hit. Rolling Stone, Fader, PitchforkMedia.com, Magnet, CMJ, AP, ToNY, and some newspaper from France all had nice things to say.

The band is embarking on a short west coast tour next week. They play Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles (x3), and sunny San Diego. This will be followed by a month-long European tour. Lookie here for tour dates.


October 17, 2003

Padma Joins The National

Prior to spending some quality time back in Australia, Clogs' Padma Newsome has decided to accompany The National on their entire European tour. He'll be adding violin, keyboards, and personality. He and Bryce Dessner, guitarist for Clogs and The National, plan to open each of these shows with a short set of Clogs' duets, but you can click here for the official dates.


September 30, 2003

Clogs Say Goodbye for Awhile

Clogs' lead composer and violist, Padma Newsome, is going back to Australia for a few months. Clogs are playing their last US shows for awhile to mark this temporary farewell. Padma has a big show in New Haven, CT on Oct 16th; the group will appear at Tonic on Monday, Oct 20th; and they will be doing a live session on WNYC radio, although we don't have a date yet. See our tour page for details. The group is currently planning a European tour for March 2004.

A belated thanks also to WNYC's John Schaefer for being so supportive of Brassland. Recently he hosted Bryce Dessner (Clogs/The National) for a half-hour in-studio appearance on his Soundcheck program.


September 19, 2003

New Record by The National, Buzz Building

The National's new album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers was released but a few weeks ago and is slowly but surely making it onto record store shelves. We've heard some impressive reports, like the one San Francisco shop that breezed through three dozen copies in a single week.

Tomorrow the band complete their first US tour in support of Sad Songs with a homecoming gig at Brooklyn's Luxx. The tour was quite successful with especially notable shows to be had in Chicago and cities beginning with the letter "C" located in their home state of Ohio (thank you Cinci, Columbus, and Cleveland). To quote one source "Everyone who saw the band freaked the fuck out." Most nights ended w...


September 13, 2003

BD, Friedlander, Clogs Keep At It

It's a busy fall for the rest of Brassland's very deeeeeep bullpen. Baby Dayliner is continuing to gig regularly in New York. (Check our tour page for details.) Erik Friedlander is just wrapping up a busy month of Tonic shows celebrating John Zorn's 50th birthday. He'll play select dates all over Europe and America this fall with various groups. (His solo debut, Maldoror, comes out in Europe in late October and early November in the States.) Meanwhile, Clogs are getting all educational on us. (In addition to some New York live dates, they are doing a series of workshops with young musicians in Connecticut and Padma Newsome is finishing up his doctorate in music.)


August 13, 2003

Clogs New Record

Did you know that yesterday was the official US release date for Clogs' new album, Lullaby for Sue? Now that you know, don't you want to buy a copy or see them play in California. The LA Weekly's Alan Rich had this nice thing to say about the group, "Okay, so here is a quartet of excellently proficient, classical-trained musicians who create a repertory not quite like anything already out there... Anyhow, I love this new disc of theirs, most of all for its still, nicely controlled sensibility -- even if I don't quite know where it goes on my shelves."


August 13, 2003

The National Tour Many Nations

The National have just announced the dates for their September US tour. We've also posted a month of tentative European dates for November. That tour is slated to take them to France, England, Scotland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Benelux. They'll be playing with everyone from Calla and Songs:Ohia to Lake Trout and the colorfully named Fuck. F**k yeah.


July 27, 2003

Clogs Plan NYC, SF, and LA Tour Dates

Clogs have scheduled dates in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to celebrate the US release of their new album, Lullaby for Sue. Mia Doi Todd will accompany them on the west coast dates. Details are available on our tour page. Clogs also hope to schedule some radio appearances and in-stores around these shows.


July 27, 2003

Erik Friedlander Speaks and Plays

New on our music/video page, is a Real Audio segment from PRI's Next Big Thing about the making of Maldoror. We've also posted an MPEG video of Erik playing an extended solo cover of Carlos Santana's "Golden Dawn." Yes, that Carlos Santana. The segment is from Erik's Skin DVD.


July 27, 2003

New Photographs Posted

We've just posted a bunch of new artist pictures to our media page.


July 9, 2003

The French and Greg Kot Dig The National

The National's new album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, won't be released in America until September 2nd but it's already causing a stir in some quarters.

We just returned from a trip to France where we caught the end of the band's second European tour. It seems they are the joie de vivre for a lot of people over there, especially in Paris, where The National played three shows, selling out 300 seat venues and making French people swoon to the tunes as they sang along with Matt Berninger's lyrics.

The French, however, are not alone.

Even though it won't be released in the US for two months, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers has already been touted as...


July 9, 2003

Clogs Plan West Coast Tour

Clogs are planning a west coast tour with Mia Doi Todd. We expect it will occur between August 23rd and 31st; that it will visit cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco and Seattle; and that some good people will attend the shows. We're booking this baby in-house, so that means Glenn would appreciate any advice you have to offer. Email Glenn at glenn@brassland.org. Thanks.


June 16, 2003

Brassland Signs US Distribution Deal with Southern

We're happy to announce that on the strength of our latest records, Brassland has been asked to pitch its tent in the United States with the renowned distributor Southern. We've gladly accepted. Southern's long-standing independent distribution network will allow our records to be available in more stores, at better prices, and more readily than ever before. Peep the announcement on their homepage. Southern is an organization responsible for incubating bedrock independent labels like Saddle Creek (Bright Eyes, The Faint), Dischord (Fugazi, Jawbox), and Constellation (Godspeed You! Black Emperor).


June 5, 2003

The National Invade Europe

The National kick off their second European tour on Thursday, June 5th in Germany. They'll be playing about nineteen shows in Germany, France, Austria, and Slovenia. [LINK TO COME]Check out the dates.

The band's new record, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, was released one week ago in continental Europe via our friends at Talitres (European home of The Walkmen, Destroyer, and Calla, among others). The record is already having some notable success on French radio, where it has been played on Bernard Lenoir's program, thereby charting in ways we can't describe because charts and graphs confuse us so. The band's tour is being sponsored by a French radio network, Férarock...


May 22, 2003

New Media Page

In the interest of cross-fertilization, we've just unveiled a new media page compiling all the [LINK TO COME]free music and video we've made available over the past few years. In addition, we've posted sample MP3s from all the new records we're releasing through the end of 2003, and new videos for The National's "Sugar Wife" and Baby Dayliner's "Raid!" The videos prominently feature multiplying humans, bathtub nudity, and tooth care. Ohh-la-la!


May 12, 2003

The National Announce European Tour

In less than a month, The National will embark on their second European tour. They'll mostly be playing in Germany and France, though there is one date in Austria, and a couple UK dates may be added. Keep an eye on our [LINK TO COME]tour page for current routing, and updates.

We are also proud to announce that the band has hooked-up with Chicago's Billions Corporation for US booking. You can find the announcement on their website here. The band is proud to join Billions' diverse roster of artists that includes old standbys like Nick Cave, Aphex Twin, and Steven Malkmus as well as hot young things such as Godspeed You Black Emperor!, The Frames, and Clinic. Expect the ban...


May 8, 2003

Clogs

Clogs are flying across the Atlantic tomorrow for their second European tour, in advance of the May 26th European release date of their second album, Lullaby for Sue. (The first was a brief, four date swing through Germany last May.) A full list of dates is on our [LINK TO COME]tour page.

There are a few open dates which Clogs would love to fill-in with in-store performances, radio gigs, or even a last minute show if there's an attractive opportunity. Clogs hate sightseeing.

Those dates are May 19th-21st (when they'll be in Amsterdam, for a show on Dutch public radio) and Friday, May 23rd, on their way from Paris, France to Oxford, England. The new record is getting...


April 7, 2003

Clogs

A whole mess of European live dates for Clogs have just been posted to our [LINK TO COME] tour page, including shows in Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and France; five UK dates; and two radio performances on Holland's VPRO. Their new album, Lullaby for Sue (pictured at left), will be released in Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden on May 12th. It will be released in the rest of Europe on May 26th. We'll have info on the American release date very very soon.


April 7, 2003

Other Stuff

In other news, Brassland will release [LINK TO COME]The National's new album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (pictured at left), on vinyl only in Europe on April 28th. In late May, Talitres are set to release the CD version in mainland Europe. Click here to visit a web page the label has set up for the European release. Talitres may also release their record in the UK, but we're not sure yet. Details on the US release of the record will be announced when we're good and ready. The band is doing a European tour in June. See our [LINK TO COME]tour page for a rough idea of the routing.

Expect an overhaul of The National's webpage at Brassland, as well as the pages for [LINK...