European Adventures To Come

An exciting little announcement... we are now represented by Felix at Tout Par Tout booking in Europe. This is a very exciting for us, as they work with tons of our favorite artists. Looks like we'll be heading over for a full European escapade in late Summer/early Fall. Simply can't wait.

In other news - we're in Long Island at the Lacey abode. We watched this movie last night. Have you seen it? Woah. I found out (through the Donkey Kong community) that I am entitled to live in whatever mental universe that I choose. Isn't that great news? Have a happy meta-day.

Anathallo Presents: A live 'Encyclopedia Asthmatica' Collaboration

ATTN Chicago and surrounding areas: Anathallo is presenting a very special performance on Thursday April 24th.

Perhaps you are familiar with Asthmatic Kitty's new DVD-compilation, 'Encyclopedia Asthmatic,' and if so, you may be aware of a group called think/dance or its movement-based performances in response to the music of John Ringhofer (aka Half-Handed Cloud). Why were those women wearing shoes made of bread? You wonder, don't you? Why the brightly pill-colored sweat-suits? Why the log-pyramid, intense juice boxes slurping, and playful interpretation and re-possession of "Blame it on the Rain"-era dance movement? The matter clearly deserves further investigation. To further this end - Think/Dance and Half-Handed Cloud will perform together for the first time ever. To make the consistency of this already-syrupy sweetness even thicker, joining the two will be Olympia Washington's general merrymakers, Lake! Here's the info, hope you can make it!

Thursday April 24th @ 8 PM - 7 dollars
Lincoln Square Theatre, Berry UMC - 4754 N. Leavitt St., Chicago IL 60640
For more information - 989.330.3215

SOMETIMES YOU WONDER

"Tear into a can of the meanest energy supplement on the planet.
MONSTER energy. We went down to the lab and cooked up a double shot of
our killer energy brew. It's a wicked mega hit that delivers twice the
buzz of a regular energy drink. MONSTER packs a vicious punch but has
a smooth flavor you can really pound. Unleash the Beast!"

Like, really.

I KISSED DATING GOODBYE

Aka "Canopy Glow Part 3."

There's a natural question to all of our announcements from this past
week. In fact, you've probably asked it yourself;

"So... umm... you guys do have a release date, right?"

And the answer! Well, the answer is an unfortunate "no" at this point.
We're still - STILL! - looking for a new label home. A place to plant
our ten songs. I understand it's a long process... let alone a new
process for seven musicians accustomed to self-releases. We just -
okay, here's the thought - if we do go through with this process, if
we're dilligent with finding the right record company... we really
believe that our tours could be significantly better in the upcoming
year. It's worth trying for, I believe. And not just better tours for
us (wait for it! here comes the sell!) but also more enjoyable shows
for you. Bands that are - perhaps - cut from a slightly similar cloth.
I can't tell you how incredible... how just startling it is to play
with a band like Aloha. The musicianship, of course. But also the
feeling that what you started out with your set is being carried
forward to a higher degree by the following band. We've felt that way
playing with our friends before... but to have it occur with semi-
strangers is new. If we're coming to a city near you in the next two
weeks, I really do think there's the opportunity for some pretty
special nights.

So yes. If it helps to hear, I have been crafting intelligent and
engaging (oh yes) e-mails all morning trying to see what label doors
we can crack open. Matt is writing our friends in high places, our
lawyer (is that a double "oh yes?") is calling around the clock. We'll
work this thing out.

What I tell myself in the van (currently in Kansas): this whole
process is like looking for a parking spot in a too-crowded city. It
might not be fun. It might be discouraging at times. But all it takes
is one spot. It only takes one. And who knows if what we're looking
for is right around the corner??

Coincidentally, that's also what I tell myself when I'm parking the
van in a too-crowded city.

Yup.

Love to all!

CANOPY GLOW PT 2

Hey all! We're back in the van - currently traversing the barren
Wyoming plains - and are on our way to meeting the fine gentlemen of
Aloha tonight. Salt Lake City, here we come.

That also means we spent 14 Easter hours in the van yesterday. Ha! A
slightly bizarre celebration, for sure, but I'd put up my
microwaveable bean burrito and Tiger Woods Gatorade alongside any of
your Easter hams.

An addendum to this weekend's "Canopy Glow" announcement... I thought
I'd throw out the record's tracklisting for your reading enjoyment.
And not at all as a precursor for when the thing leaks and you're left
wondering what to call each song.

Just joking. It will NEVER leak! And I'm sure the 30 copies we passed
out at SXSW will never see the light of day. Keep your fingers crossed
for our rent paying abilities. Ha ha and ha.

Without further ado:

1. Noni's Field
2. Italo
3. Northern Lights
4. The River
5. Cafetorium
6. Sleeping Torpor
7. All the First Pages
8. John J. Audubon
9. Bells
10. Tower of Babel

Well, how about that? Ten tracks and not a "hanasakajiiji" among them.
Have a good week everyone! And maybe we'll be seeing you from the
Great Salt Lake to New York City.

Take care.

CANOPY GLOW

The record has it's name!
And if you'd care to hear a song, we've posted Noni's Field to the
myspace.

Thanks for your patience.
Hello second day of Spring.
And Happy Good Friday.

Celebrating a Ponytail with Lucky Dragons on Good Friday

First off - Anyone who attended the show last night at MSU, thank you! There were some amazing vibes in the Union Ballroom. Due to the exceptionally long amount of time that it's taking to get this new record out... we sort of expected the show to be kind of small. But friends - you came! Lots of you! What a strange and awesome surprise. Shows like that feel sort of transcendent... they are a reminder that something else is going on besides people jammin' out while people watch. The "set" sort of seems to disappear, and (quite possibly) becomes the least important part of the night. Or maybe nothing is going on, choose your own adventure. I choose something. Speaking of that something... while at SXSW, 2 performances magnified that something to an almost unbearably incredible degree.

Ponytail: these friends have a new record coming out in June called "Ice Cream Spiritual" and it captures something wholly other. The aesthetic is great fun, but there is something going on with this music. I was so insanely tired at their show... almost to a hallucinatory degree, but the spiritual radiance was indescribable. It's the same kind of wonder/knowledge that children seem to possess. We sort of seem to lose it as we get older, right? Not on Ponytail's clock! Call me new age, I don't mind. If that's what this was, sign me up, I'll buy the healing crystals... ok, maybe not, but still.





Mhmm... and now, Lucky Dragons. No one is an observer at a Lucky Dragons show. We're all same-level participants. Nothing on youtube really does justice to being a part of his "Touching" piece, but I think that is meant to be... you just have to be a part of it in person, e-documentation is a little useless since it's all about presence and connection between people. Oh, and most of his music (extremely prolific) is available for free download on his site... amazing. Here are some snipz until you can make it to a performance:









ps- our new record is titled "Canopy Glow." Ok bye.

DINNER

"Rice with love," my waiter announced last night.

I looked around and Elijah was nowhere to be seen.

(JOKE!)

It's supposed to reach 92 this afternoon.

Degrees.

Maybe passing out on stage this afternoon will help us get signed.
We'll see.

And if you want to feel like you're here in the city (but are
disinclined to stick your head in a sauna for eight hours), there's a
pretty great review of last night's show from the Village Voice. They
have a running festival commentary and if you scroll through to
Thursday night, you ought to find us: blogs.villagevoice.com/music

Have a great day!

LUNCH

We also saw Elijah Wood yesterday. If I was a creep, it'd be his
picture posted instead.