Over the years the band has undergone an extensive evolution from a purely atmospheric jazz fusion band to what Glide has referred to in the past as a, “power rock trio that has only begun to scratch the surface of potential.”
Their most melodic and accessible album since 1998’s Stunt, which featured hits like “Call and Answer,” “It’s All Been Done” and Billboard chart-topper “One Week,” Barenaked Ladies Are Me will be released in multi-platform versions. While the physical 13-song CD will be in stores September 12, the band will also offer the album digitally to fans in two different packages that same day. One of these will feature the 13 songs from the physical album plus two bonus tracks, while the other will be a 27-song digital package called Barenaked Ladies Are Me: Deluxe Edition. These will be offered on digital service providers as well as the bandÂ’s website (www.bnlmusic.com).
In addition to the 27-song digital package, Barenaked Ladies Are Me: Deluxe Edition will be made available on a physical USB flash memory stick, which will also include bonus materials.
“The music industry is in a state of reinventing itself,” adds vocalist/keyboardist Kevin Hearn. “We are very fortunate to be able to create and sell our music as we see fit.”
Self-produced by BNL (with some engineering help from Stunt producer/engineer Susan Rogers), the band teamed up for the first time with renowned engineer Bob Clearmountain (Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Rolling Stones) to mix the album. The finished product is their most cohesive and holistic set of songs to date. More than ever, the Barenaked Ladies wrote together, jammed together and lived together, raising each other’s standards and blurring the lines of who wrote what. As a result, Barenaked Ladies Are Me more accurately represents a group dynamic where everyone work shopped each other’s ideas into full Barenaked Ladies songs.
pitchfork reports that Mat Brooke has left Band of Horses, and “it doesn’t look as if he has plans to hop back on. The group’s co-founder (along with fellow ex-Carissa’s Wierd member Ben Bridwell) hasn’t been touring with the band, although he played an integral part in the creation of Horses’ debut album, Everything All the Time.”
An official statement from the band reads, “Mat was originally in the band to help with songwriting, and that due to his other projects taking off, he is no longer in the band.”
For more info see: pitchfork
Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet have announced West Coast tour dates in August 2006 to support their new album, Husky, on Hyena Records. The seven-piece unit, who hail from Seattle, claim a five-front horn line featuring Skerik on tenor saxophone, Craig Flory on baritone saxophone and clarinet, Dave Carter on trumpet, Hans Teuber on alto saxophone and flute and Steve Moore on trombone and Wurlitzer electric piano. The septet is rounded out by the keenly perceptive rhythm section of Joe Doria on Hammond B-3 organ and John Wicks on drums. As is always the case with ST7, they could easily be dubbed ST8 for the invisible eighth member behind the soundboard.
Skerik formed the Syncopated Taint Septet in 2002, recruiting some of Seattle’s finest musicians for the group. He named the band “Syncopated Taint,” borrowing a term used by America’s first ever drug czar Harry J. Anslinger to describe the nation’s moral decay in the 1930s and ’40s as caused by the combination of jazz and marijuana. Skerik, himself, helped launch the acclaimed underground experimental noise unit, Critters Buggin (who were ultimately signed to Stone Gossard’s Loose Groove record label) and the widely popular soul jazz quartet, Garage A Trois, featuring Stanton Moore, Charlie Hunter and Mike Dillon. In a support role, Skerik has served as a saxophonist with the likes of Roger Waters, Mark Eitzel, Tuatara and Ivan Neville’sDumpstaphunk among numerous others. To this day, he remains a key member of Les Claypool’s various working and recording bands.
The first leg of West Coast dates are as follows:
August 23 / Easy Street Records / Seattle, WA (Free In-store Performance)
August 24 / The Tractor Tavern / Seattle, WA
August 25 / The Nightlight Lounge / Bellingham, WA
August 26 / Music Millennium / Portland, OR (Free In-store Performance)
August 26 / Goodfoot Lounge / Portland, OR
August 27 / CD World / Eugene, OR (Free In-Store Performance)
August 27 / WOW Hall / Eugene, OR
August 28 / Six Rivers Brewery / McKinleyville, CA
August 29 / Harlows / Sacramento (with Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey)
August 30 / 12 Galaxies / San Francisco, CA
August 31 / Moe’s Alley / Santa Cruz, CA
September 1 / 14 Below / Santa Monica, CA
