NATCH series from Black Dirt

Jason at Black Dirt Studios has recently launched a new collab series called NATCH, which (naturally) finds two bands or groups of musicians collaborating in his studio. The second of these meetings features Pigeons working with Dave Shuford and Margot Bianca of D. Charles Speer & The Helix. Here's a few words from Jason on this NATCH session --

Dave Shuford / Margot Bianca / Wednesday Knudsen / Clark Griffin

There is an aspect of music that creates an invisible map, plotting points along the vapors we make tangible as memory. Where the moments which we can recall intersect there are revelatory connections. More often than not, time spent exploring shared sonic remembrances is fleeting. The capture of a capture… the reinvention of a capture in a communal setting… and the creation of something totally new from nothing more than an unspoken understanding of a path shared are things to behold… The music in these recordings touches on all of these possibilities.

The four tracks from the session are streaming at SoundCloud now; a free download is here.

And there's also a teaser vid for the session...

Pigeons support Cate Le Bon this week

Our beloved Pigeons have been hand-picked by the psych-fuzz chanteuse Cate Le Bon to open a few of her gigs this week in the NYC zone, here's the details -

02/09 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge (with Cate Le Bon) [tickets]
02/10 - Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's (with Cate Le Bon) [tickets]

Word from the band points to a US tour in May -- more details on this front as soon as they materialize.

Don't forget, They Sweetheartstammers is out now on LP / DL!

2011 favorites at Soft Abuse HQ

Just like every year, 2011 saw a heap good records trickle out... In compiling this list of favorites I'm surely forgetting a few things that I really loved, but below is what I can recall at this moment, listed in no particular order.



Full-lengths

The UV Race - Homo (In the Red)
Blackout Beach - Fuck Death (Dead Oceans)
Stare Case - Lose Today (DeStijl)
Bill Callahan - Apocalypse (Drag City)
Cass McCombs - Wit's End (Domino)
Cass McCombs - Humor Risk (Domino)
Condominium - Warm Home (Condominium)
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)
Zomes - Earth Grid (Thrill Jockey)
Stan Hubbs - Crystal (re, Companion)
Martin Newell - Songs for a Fallow Land (re, Fixed Identity)
Destroyer - Kaputt (Merge)
Juma Sultan's Aboriginal Music Society - Father of Origin (re, Eremite)
Various - Still Going in Offices (Savoury Days)
Der Teenage Panzerkorps - German Reggae (Holidays)
Horrid Red - Celestial Joy (Holidays/Brave Mysteries)
Angus Maclise / Tony Conrad - Dreamweapon III (re, Boo-Hooray)
Vernon Wray - Wasted (re, Sebastian Speaks)
Sic Alps - Napa Asylum (Drag City)
Jerusalem & the Starbaskets - Dost (DeStijl)
Grouper - A I A (Yellow Electric)
Jakob Olausson - Morning & Sunrise (DeStijl)
Matthew De Gennaro - Adversaria (TU-134)
The Axemen - Three Virgins, Three Versions, Three Visions (Siltbreeze)
Ryan Garbes - Sweet Hassle (Hello Sunshine)
Lighted - Queendom (Lighten-Up Sounds)
Papercuts - Fading Parade (Sub Pop)
Six Organs of Admittance - Asleep on the Floodplain (Drag City)
Total Control - Henge Beat (Iron Lung)
Kitchen's Floor - Look Forward to Nothing (Siltbreeze)
Various - Krypton Ten (Unwucht)
Belong - Common Era (Kranky)
KWJAZ - KWJAZ (Not Not Fun)
The Garbage & The Flowers - Stoned Rehearsal (re, Quemada)
Steven R. Smith - Old Skete (Worstward)
Myrrh - Myrrh (Self-Released)
Tinariwen - Tassili (Anti/V2)
Larry Marshall - Queer & Wonder (re, Rare Youth)
Bobb Trimble - Crippled Dog Band (re, Yoga)
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador)
Pigeons - No Shore (Sixteen Tambourines)
Slugfuckers - Three Feet Behind Glass / Instant Classic (re, Insolito)
Suspensers - FMLOL (Self-Released)
Peaking Lights - 936 (Not Not Fun)



Singles / EPs

Real Numbers - Tear it in Two (Florida's Dying)
Lower Dens - Deer Knives (Sub Pop)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Walking in Unison (Captcha)
Mad Nanna - Mad Nanna (Eggy)
Mad Nanna - I've Been Talking (Albert's Basement)
Jonathan Halper - Puce Moment (Bootleg)
Art Museums - S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G. (Dulcitone)
Grudge - When Christine Comes Around (re, Mighty Mouth)
The UV Race - Acid Trip (Sweet Rot)
The Mantles - Raspberry Thighs (SDZ)
Muura - Untitled (Albert's Basement)
Scrotum Poles- Revelation (re, Ducitone)
Just Urbain - Everybody Loves (re, 540)
Three Legged Race - Raining Order (NNA Tapes)
Cuffs - Privilege (Ride the Snake)
Lures - New Boy (Salvaged)
The Moondogs - Heads I Win (re, Sing Sing)
Gold-Bears - Something to Think About (Cloudberry)


Last but not least, a recap of all things Soft Abuse from 2011, listed chronologically --

Horrid Red - Pink Flowers EP
Primitive Motion - Certain Materials EP
Brute Heart - Lonely Hunter
Horrid Red - Silent Party EP
Julian Lynch - Music for How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body
Pumice - Pebbles (remastered LP)
Primitive Motion - By Arc or Chord
Pigeons - They Sweetheartstammers
Ulaan Khol - La Catacomb

& the above list, in playlist form -

Soft Abuse 2011 by Soft Abuse

Pigeons "The Welcome" video directed by Camilla Padgitt-Coles

We've got another Pigeons video to share with you all, this one's the second from their latest LP, They Sweetheartstammers. "The Welcome" was directed by video artist Camilla Padgitt-Coles, and as Wednesday from Pigeons pointed out, it's got a heavy Loie Fuller vibe.

Pigeons live at CMJ 2011

Brilliant footage has surfaced of Pigeons' performance at yesterday's Chouette Promotion / DeStijl Records / Soft Abuse soiree at Bruar Falls for CMJ 2011. Here the band performed as a duo line-up of Wednesday Knudsen and Clark Griffin, amidst sets by Jerusalem & the Starbaskets, Forest Fire and Amen Dunes.

Pigeons share live studio session & tour, too!

The wonderful Bronx-based Pigeons are set to unleash their latest (and greatest) album, They Sweetheartstammers, via Soft Abuse on 8 November. In the meantime, the foursome (Wednesday Knudsen, Clark Griffin, Jason Meagher and Nathan Bowles) have hopped the pond for a few shows in the UK and Belgium. Pester your friends over there to check 'em out!

06 October - London - St Giles In The Fields (with Grouper, Chris Forsyth)
07 October - Newcastle - Tusk Festival (with Grouper, Bill Orcutt)
12 October - Brussels - Micro Marche


To satiate the hearts & minds of those that can't catch them in the coming days, we've got a special offering -- four live tracks the band laid down at Black Dirt Studios in late August (complete with ad hoc accompanying artwork by yours truly). Freshly uploaded to our SoundCloud page, here's all four songs for your enjoyment --

Pigeons - Live at Black Dirt by Soft Abuse

New Pigeons video "Tournoi" from upcoming album

This week Bronx duo Pigeons unleashed their first video from their upcoming album They Sweetheartstammers, due 8 November via Soft Abuse. Our pal Amy Ruhl directed / created the animated clip, about which Altered Zones' Jenn Pelly said --

Pigeons' recent releases for Soft Abuse, Curatorial Club, and Olde English Spelling Bee highlighted the Bronx duo's noir-ish breed of slow, psychedelic pop. But on "Tourni," from their forthcoming The Sweetheartstammers LP, guitarists Wednesday Knudsen and Clark Griffin carry their sonic vision to a new level of clarity, with higher-fidelity production values and help from two new members: bassist Jason Meagher and drummer Nathan Bowles. The result is a fuller-sounding Pigeons that still maintains their brooding beauty, but with pronounced hints of Hope Sandoval and brighter guitars that meander densely. In the video above, Brooklyn-based filmmaker/visual artist/recent Julian Lynch collaborator, Amy Ruhl layers chroma-keyed footage atop digitally animated archival photos. And like Pigeons, the result has an eery gracefulness that feels vintage and secret.

Be sure to check out "Tournoi" and "Dead Echo," also from They Sweetheartstammers, via Soundcloud below. The LP / ltd CS release features lettering by Keith Connolly of NNCK and artwork (inside & out) by Yugi Agematsu.

Pigeons "Dead Echo" by Soft Abuse

Pigeons "Tournoi" by Soft Abuse

Pigeons CS coming soon from Sixteen Tambourines

Our pals Pigeons have a new cassette-only release, No Shore, due in the coming months, courtesy of the excellent Japanese label Sixteen Tambourines. The limited tape (edition of 100!) is set to drop just before their EU/UK tour begins in the fall, & features artwork from Blaise Parmentier. No Fear of Pop has a preview of the song Both Youths from No Shore. Sixteen Tambourines is currently taking pre-orders.

Pigeons / D Charles Speer live in New Orleans

Yours truly had the distinct pleasure of catching two Pigeons gigs last week, in Pensacola and New Orleans. Now a quartet with Jeason Meagher on bass and Nathaniel Bowles on drums, the band has never sounded better. I managed to snap a few photos in New Orleans of both Pigeons and D. Charles Speer ("solo trio"), who were touring behind the release of the new LP, Arghiledes, on Thrill Jockey.

Pigeons live at The Empty Bottle, via Acid Marshmallow

Pigeons
November 2nd, 2010
at Empty Bottle in Chicago

More from our pal Acid Marshmallow, this time we've got video from their gig at The Empty Bottle on election night.
More videos and photos from the just-finished Pigeons tour are forthcoming...

Tonight in SF: Pigeons / Fabulous Diamonds / DQ13

Pigeons, Fabulous Diamonds and Donovan Quinn & the 13th Month are all playing tonight at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, preceded by an in-store at Aquarius Records. Thanks to Alice Cohen for the killer flier...

Pigeons live at Permanent Records, via Acid Marshmallow

Pigeons
November 2nd, 2010
at Permanent Records in Chicago

Thanks to our pals at Acid Marshmallow for sharing this video !

Pigeons US tour underway, new album Liasons due 16 November

Bronx sweetheart duo Pigeons are out on tour right now with Fabulous Diamonds, in support of their forthcoming third album, Liasons, due on Soft Abuse as CD/ LP / DL on 16 November. Here's their complete list of confirmed dates --

10/31 - Boston, MA - Spectacle
11/02 - Chicago, IL - Permanent Records in-store
11/02 - Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle (with Wet Hair, Running)
11/03 - Oberlin, OH - Oberlin College
11/04 - Iowa City, IA - White Lightning (with Wet Hair)
11/05 - Minneapolis, MN - Club Med (with Wet Hair, Shahs, Robust Worlds)
11/06 - Minneapolis, MN - Hexagon Bar (with Brute Heart, Leisure Birds)
11/07 - Omaha, NE - The Manor (with Wet Hair)
11/11 - Anacortes, WA - The Business Records in-store
11/11 - Bellingham, WA - NoHouse (with Jazz Magazine)
11/12 - Seattle, WA - Josephine
11/13 - Portland, OR - East End (with Monopoly Child Star Searchers)
11/16 - Sacramento, CA - The Hub
11/17 - San Francisco, CA - Aquarius Records in-store
11/17 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (with Donovan Quinn & the 13th Month)
11/18 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo Curio (with Donovan Quinn)
11/19 - Irvine, CA - UC Irvine
11/20 - Phoenix, AZ - The Dressing Room (with Eddy Detroit)
11/23 - Houston, TX - Notsuoh
11/24 - New Orleans, LA - The Circle Bar (with Hosanna)
11/26 - Pensacola, FL - The Handlebar
11/27 - St. Augustine, FL - TBA
11/28 - Tallahassee, FL - The Farside (with Langtry)
11/29 - Atlanta, GA - Wonder Root
11/30 - Chapel Hill, NC - Nightlight (with Dan Melchior und Das Menace)

More dates may be confirmed, for the latest, check out Pigeons homepage here.

Liasons is the third Pigeons full-length, following on the heels of Si Faustine (released by Olde English Spelling Bee earlier this year), and 2008's Virgin Spectacle (on Black Dirt). Liasons finds the band in the midst of an enormous creative leap; the psychedelic chanson moves of previous releases now cohabit with spacious westcoast art-blues & wistful cosmic folk tunes, casually invoking Catherine Ribeiro, Brigitte Fontaine, Grim and Opal. Pigeons’ singular approach to structure, arrangements & production techniques - mirrored by the disruptive spelling of Liasons – culminate with Wednesday Knudsen and Clark Griffin lacing their songs with flute, saxophone, echo, drum machines and languid guitar lines. Liasons also includes two songs in French, one of which is a brilliant a take on Laisse Tomber les Filles (by Serge Gainsbourg). Artwork from Mary Nicholson appears throughout. We're now taking pre-orders for Liasons, all of which will ship to arrive before the release date...

Also in time for the tour, we've released a 7" single (Visions of the Valley), pressed in an edition of 200, and have printed up some Pigeons shirts as well. Click here to preview or purchase the single, and click here for shirt info. The band will have plenty of each to sell at their gigs as well...