And The Wiremen at Troost, 20th April 2012, 9 PM
AND THE WIREMEN at Small Beast #150
One last time…
Small Beast reaches its sesquicentennial! It may be small, but it lasts longer. 2-for-1 well drink specials. FREE
168 Delancey Street, NYC between Clinton & Attorney
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And The Wiremen w/ Bee and Flower in Richmond
And The Wiremen w/ Special Guests Bee and Flower
March 18, 2012, 9 PM
Balliceaux
203 N. Lombardy Street, Richmond, VA.
AND THE WIREMEN is a Brooklyn-based ensemble led by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lynn Wright. As the primary songwriter and lyricist, he specifically works and collaborates with core members Paul Watson (Sparklehorse) on trumpet, Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu) on bass, and longtime partner in crime Jon Petrow (Cloudroom) on guitar (with whom Wright also shares time in another laudable Brooklyn-based outfit, Bee and Flower). The experience, ingenuity, and craft this collection of musicians brings to the table is further enhanced by their collective willingness to defy genre. They are improvisatory, whimsical, and pleasurably good at leaving a listener playing a song-to-song guessing game. At times heavily Latin-influenced—with strokes of cumbia and an underpinning of Colombian and Brazilian percussion—these songs comfortably move into jazz, avant-pop, or blues—sometimes within the same number—despite a deceptive minimalist approach to song structures. Lyrically, Wright is cogent, funny, and literate; a virtuoso, really. He has a knack for catchy one-liners (hardly throwaways) and passages that sound indebted to some wily trident of Faulkner, South American Surrealism and film noir—aspects which combine to push both the music and Wright’s smooth, cool-as-a-cucumber delivery into the lofty realms of fable.
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http://andthewiremen.bandcamp.com/album/and-the-wiremen
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BEE AND FLOWER was founded in New York City in 2000 by Dana Schechter. Dana formed the band with Roderick Miller (keyboards), Lynn Wright (guitar), Ani Cordero (drums), and Jon Petrow (violin), while she was a member of Michael Gira’s post-Swans project, Angels of Light.
What’s Mine is Yours (Neurot Recordings, 2003), the band’s first full- length release, is a sparse and brooding record whose tempos were often slow enough to stop the heart. Recorded directly after 9/11 by veteran NYC engineer, Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Brian Eno, Jim Jarmusch), What’s Mine is Yours was Schechter’s debut as the primary writer and producer of a studio album.
Posing universal questions about hope and loss, the record’s intensity also contained an undeniably pivotal voice and scope, which ultimately reflected the tumultuous mindset surrounding NYC at that time. A worldwide release via Neurot Recordings, combined with regional US touring and a stunning music video directed by Josh Graham, established Bee and Flower on an international level.
In 2004 the core members of the group, Schechter and Miller, along
with producer Toby Dammit (aka Larry Mullins; Swans, Iggy Pop, Rufus Wainwright), left NYC for Berlin to begin production on Last Sight of Land (tuition music, 2007). Feeling dissatisfied with NYC and ready for a significant change, they departed with a plan to record then return in 3 months. But having found Berlin to be an inspiring and
fitting place, they decided to relocate and thrive on a new, evolving band line-up there.
Last Sight of Land took a very different creative direction due in large part to the vision of producer Toby Dammit, who employed elements of traditional film scoring with an emphasis on strings, choirs, and a giant ‘bass section’ to further express Schechter’s moody, cinematic songwriting. Lyrical themes of withdrawal, separation, and the dream of a better life punctuate Schechter’s motivation for leaving the US and living abroad. Recorded and mixed by Ingo Krauss (Conny Plank Studios, Candy Bomber Studios) at the legendary GDR Funkhaus Nalepastrasse, Last Sight of Land featured such prominent guest musicians as Thomas Wydler (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) on drums, Kristof Hahn (Swans) on guitar, and solo artist Peter Von Poehl on additional guitars. Bolstered by a new, Berlin-based lineup, the record’s release saw the band through extensive tours of Europe and the UK.
In 2008 Schechter moved back to NYC. Roderick Miller, along with current members Jonathan Heine (guitar) and Thomas Fietz (drums), remain in Berlin. The inherent logistical difficulty in Schechter’s decision to leave Berlin was eased by the return of two original, NYC- based members: Lynn Wright (guitar) and Jon Petrow (violin). Recording again with Ingo Krauss in Berlin and Martin Bisi in Brooklyn, Suspension describes a valuable return to a ‘band’ feel, thanks to the concentrated efforts of each members’ involvement in the writing and recording process. The songs are accentuated by focused and determined arrangements. Lyrically, the songs are defined by delicate then resolutely fierce aspects of Schechter’s continuing exploration of personal wonder and intrigue. Suspension is a combination of all the tension and mystery of the band’s earlier sound, and harnesses a renewed energy for the sublime instrumentation and production techniques of these latest recordings. Suspension is poised to be Bee and Flower’s most well-rounded, and best, album to date.
http://beeandflower.com/
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New And The Wiremen single “Send Me Low” is available as a free download on bandcamp until 26 January 2012. Official vinyl and digital release with B sides 1 March 2012.
And The Wiremen (NYC) + Squid Libets (Bln)
Thursday, 19 January at 7:00 PM
Schokoladen-Mitte
Ackerstrasse 169
Berlin, Berlin 10115 Germany
Deep Noir at the Delancey
A lot of what And the Wiremen play is southwestern gothic, all eerie desert atmospherics and images of death and disillusion, but they put their own spin on the style, sometimes minimalist, sometimes thrashing it a little. They’re sort of a darker, more raw, masculine counterpart to Las Rubias del Norte… like Tom Waits without the cliches. Honest artistry, plain and simple. CLICK TITLE FOR FULL REVIEW.
