The Tupolev Ghost sign to Big Scary Monsters

New Maserati LP Preview

Anna Paz of Temporary Residence Limited was kind enough to send my way a little tease of what is to become the Maserati portion of their split with Zombi which hits records stores in just a few short weeks.

Concieved as a joint effort, the opening song and the track that follows is a beauty of a start. Join Us, Mystic Sister leads things off with a spiritual chant which seems like a perfect link to the lovemaking explosion of musicial symmetry that is to follow. No More Sages, track numbero two, flawlessly combines the confident sounds of drumming mastermind Jerry Fuchs with the time signature switchfest we have grown to love from the boys of Athens, Georgia.

There is no God.

This really, really makes me want to puke. If any of the above cover Pink Moon I will literally lose it.

Miroir Noir

And while that fact is still readily apparent, the best thing about the yet to be released Miroir Noir is the curtain being pulled back ever so slightly so we can catch a glimpse of the band behind. What starts off as a grainy hypnosis session bleeds into tiny peeks of the band composing and recording their songs, with the translation between incompletion and the stage.

Most songs are introduced by only their string section, (and generally a narrator babbling nonsense, taken from the band's 1-800 number. Nearly all the messages were goofy or self aware, but when one man begins shouting about religion, the effect is chilling) which gives the whole affair a feeling of dread that was not always readily apparent in their music until now.

But the real knockout is the seemingly coincidental footage that Vincent Morriset (the director) and Vincent Moon (the cinematographer) capture, snapshots that fit perfectly with each individual song. Like Win delivering vocals for Windowsill while driving through New York, hitting the chorus when the car stops right in front of a Best Buy and right next to a stretch limo. What he does next is so hilarious and Dylan-esque, it's massively endearing. Or Regine staring at a thunderstorm through huge glass windows while Ocean of Noise bleats in the background.

The whole movie is full of such small documented miracles, but the one that takes the cake is the first Windowsill sequence. What with Win and Regine playing in an glass elevator, so we can catch small glances of what's decorating the passing floors; and then the scene shifts to a wide shot of three other band members running across three separate floors.

Give most of the credit to cinematographer Vincent Moon, who already had a wide library of such spontaneous beauty, thanks to his incredible La Blogotheque and Take Away Shows. The man knows how to catch lightning in a bottle nearly every time. Still, not enough can be said about Vincent Morriset's influence and superb editing style.

In the end though, Miroir Noir reveals nothing new about the band but peels away layers upon layers of their music, reveling in the magic each note contains. The most telling shot is the band celebrating post-show, pre-encore, using a shutting and opening door for percussion. This is the closest we can come, a door being (gently) slammed in our face, an invitation to join along in celebration but also a reminder that magic does still exist, and we wouldn't really understand it even if we saw it with our own eyes. When it comes to Arcade Fire would you really expect anything different?

Frightened Rabbit add acoustic NYC show to US tour

Those crazy Scots, Frightened Rabbit, have added a soon to be legendary all-request acoustic show to their US Winter tour. Tickets for the show, which takes place at the (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City on February 2nd, can currently be purchase here.

Below are the remaining stops on the tour which already contains sold out shows:

Jan 17 2009 8:00P  Bowery Ballroom - New York SOLD OUT 
Jan 18 2009 9:00P  Great Scott -  Allston, MA SOLD OUT
Jan 19 2009 8:30P  The Rock And Roll Hotel - Washington DC SOLD OUT
Jan 20 2009 8:00P  Talking Head - Baltimore, MD
Jan 22 2009 8:00P  Courtyard Cafe - Urbana, IL
Jan 23 2009 8:00P  Maintenance Shop - Ames, IA
Jan 24 2009 6:30P  Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL SOLD OUT
Jan 24 2009 10:00P  Empty Bottle - Chicago IL SOLD OUT
Jan 25 2009 8:00P  Blind Pig - Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 26 2009 8:00P  Rangos Ballroom - Carnegie Mellon University - Pittsburgh, PA
Jan 27 2009 8:00P  Abbey Pub at Appalachian Brewing Company - Harrisburg, PA FREE
Jan 28 2009 8:00P  Is Venue - Charlottesville, VA
Jan 29 2009 8:00P  Reward Boutique - Philadelphia, PA FREE acoustic show!  
Feb 2 2009 8:00P  Le Poisson Rouge - NY all request acoustic show!