The limited numbered edition of I and I’s new EP “Weird Animals” is out now! You can order a copy from I and I’s store here. As a free preview we’re offering the title track “Weird Animal” here for you:
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Well, the I and I Norway 09 tour has come to an end and I must say that all in all it was an amazing adventure! The shows went pretty well and for the most part Norwegians are very attentive listeners and appreciators of music. The shows in Kristiansand and Bergen were particularly good due to the nice community feeling made by the promoter, venue and audience.
Through the process it occurred to me that a good show is sort of an alchemical process. You need all of the right ingredients to come together in a particular space and time for it to be something really memorable. It requires a part on the audience of moving beyond their normal ways of receiving information/communicating and opening up to a transmission from the performer. It also requires the performer to read the room and try to grab the attention of it. If there is too many people of a certain kind or too few it won’t work. The weather, the seasons, and even the health of the participants can all be crucial to creating the special mood necessary for a good time. It’s especially important for all of the pieces to be in the right place if some or most of the audience has never heard the music before (as was somewhat the case with this tour). I guess it makes it all the more special when everyone does connect and something magical happens. As musicians and artists we spend much of our time chasing that next fleeting moment of the unexpected and exhilarating. When your traveling I suppose you become more aware of how much of life is an alchemical process. From eating, sleeping, relationships, creativity, on up to governance and cooperation there are intricate balances of ingredients that need to be transmuted into something else to achieve the balance that makes it all go round.
Here are some photos from the trip (make sure to click the full screen option for best effect) and good luck with the alchemy in your life.
- Adam/I and I 10/09
Music can have interesting synesthetic qualities. Certain songs can seem to reflect and even shape your experiences and the world around you. The way we feel, the thoughts we have and the events that happen can all have interesting relationships with the songs that seem to be fitting accompaniments. A song you hear today you may love but tomorrow may not be that intriguing or appropriate for your mood. Sometimes you can’t stop wanting to hear a song because it fits so well with the season and the mood you’re in. Two such songs that I’ve been really hooked on lately have been Eric’s forthcoming single “Strange Power/So She Says”. Something about these two songs seems to codify the falling leaves, cool breezes and confusing changes that Autumn always brings with it. They speak of relationships and strange powers that affect us in ways we can’t explain and can’t ignore. They convey a mood, much like Autumn, which is invigorating like the first cold winds that blow but that has an element of sadness and the poignant fleeting nature of life.
In a way, this new single evokes a similar feeling and kinship with one of my favorite records (and one that was influential in getting me back into music after a hiatus) The Pistol Arrows ‘Look’. That being said these new songs are definitely fresh and new and unlike anything that Eric has previously recorded. I guess it would be appropriate to call this single a true double A sided single. Neither song is a B side or lesser accomplishment. ‘Strange Power’ the lead off, starts off with ominous piano and drums not unlike the children’s song ‘Halloween’s Coming’ and from there it maintains this thumping pensive groove under lyrics of the Strange Power of attraction. There is a full sparseness here that feels like nothing extraneous is present and all the parts are working synergistically together. The song does away with the traditional A, B type structure as it enters an upbeat outro section that nicely segues into the feeling of the second song. The outro lyrics evoke the poignant feeling I mentioned earlier and there is a sense of resolve about the fact that many things in life are never resolved. ‘So She Says’ starts off with a mysterious upbeat modern New Wave type vibe and progresses along that line interweaving synths, drums, guitars and vocals in ways not often heard this side of something great like Modern English’s ‘Melt With You’. “It’s too dark in this house” nicely encapsulates the sentiment of a lot of the lyrics which explore parting and relationships and the “houses” where such things take place.
In short, this has been an attempt to describe how much I love these songs and to preview what you will soon be hearing when they are released early next month. We have a lot of other good releases on the way which we’ll be mentioning in future postings. I will soon be heading over to Norway to play some I and I shows. You can read more details on that on my iandimusic.com site and I hope to post some stuff here and there on the trip. For now I’ll leave you with the cover of Eric’s new single below. Appropriately it’s a photo of Eric’s friend trying to catch the setting sun.
Adam
Many thanks to everyone who came out to the show at Sullivan Hall last month and made it such a wonderful evening. The Able Birds are a fantastic band and such kind people, too. Hopefully that night was the first of many times I get to share a bill with them. Later in the evening, it was a real pleasure to be joined on stage by my comrade Alli Smith! As captured in one of these great photos taken by my friend Kristen Reed — thanks, K! Thanks, too, to the very patient and chilled out bartender at V-bar who humored me after the show. Oh, and if you’re looking for a nice late night place to grab a bite to eat around there, Raoul’s makes an amazing roasted beet and goat cheese salad.
In other news, I’ve been working on finishing up two songs that will be released as an e-single in the next month or so (if all goes smoothly). One’s about how one space can be many different places, and features dogs of darkness and dubious theories of the universe. The other is about the intriguing fact that, even before we try to (or try not to), we connect with some people more than others, and when those connections are strong enough, they call into being a different world right where you are, amidst the one that you were living in before…but then there are always circumstances to contend with. And there’s the fact that, to paraphrase one of my idols, when we act/choose, many other people and things are acting/choosing with us. Which raises the question, does the collection of agencies that come together in any given choice limit or multiply the possibilities?
More to come, friends….
ers
full suncrush for sweethearts cover by Matt Shell 1997
Welcome to the new and improved Alchemist Records website. We’ve integrated a more full featured blog into the homepage of the site and we’ll soon be featuring posts from all of the Alchemist artists. A huge shout out to Aja Walker and Danny Macdonald for extensive help, advice, and tweaking on the W.P. theme code. Enjoy the fruits of our labor and feel free to drop comments.
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