Asobi Seksu played Bowery w/ Loney Dear & Anna Ternheim (pics) ++ Purchase tonight & DJ set @ Polyvinyl CMJ

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Posted in music | pictures | tour dates on October 19, 2009

Asobi Seksu played Bowery w/ Loney Dear & Anna Ternheim (pics) ++ Purchase tonight & DJ set @ Polyvinyl CMJ

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

DOWNLOAD: Asobi Seksu - Suzanne (Hope Sandoval cover) (MP3)

Loney Dear @ Bowery Ballroom

As the night progressed, lyrics and meaning gradually ceded to pure melody and sound. [Anna] Ternheim's careful precision led to Loney Dear's contrapuntal harmonies, which led to Asobi Seksu's waves of distortion, and voices soared higher as words grew less distinct.

Like Suzanne Vega, Ternheim sings in a vibratoless alto; her cool restraint and clarity contrast with the emotional turmoil coursing through the lyrics.

Drawn mostly from the new album Leaving on a Mayday, her songs told of wrenching partings (of lovers, of kidnapped children) and rainy days. As an end-of-tour treat, Loney Dear leader Emil Svanängen sat in on guitar for part of her set, joining his bandmates, who had backed her throughout the tour, and she returned the favor for his set.

On his Loney Dear albums, Svanängen is basically a one-man band, and his densely layered chamber pop has an appealing remoteness and subtlety. Joined by his four-piece band plus vocalist [Anna] Ternheim, however, the songs become propulsive exercises in textures and voices. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

The Anna Ternheim, Loney Dear, Asobi Seksu tour hit its last show in Philadelphia on October 17th (recounted above). The tour's second and third to last shows happened in NYC. The trio of acts played Maxwell's on Thursday, Oct. 15th. Then, on October 16th they played Bowery Ballroom (which is where the pictures here are from).

Asobi Seksu's new acoustic album Rewolf (a re-release of their Acoustic at Olympic Studios) includes their cover of Hope Sandoval's "Suzanne." It's re-posted above. The album will be released November 10th through Polyvinyl.

Asobi Seksu, who are playing Purchase tonight (10/19), have another show on October 23rd, though they'll only be DJing. It's the Polyvinyl CMJ showcase, and the bill includes Japandroids, Cale Parks, Headlights, Owen, James Husband, Motel Motel and Common Loon. Tickets are on sale.

Asobi Seksu's new video for "Transparence", and rest of the pictures from Bowery Ballroom, below...

Anna Ternheim

Loney Dear

Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu - Transparence

Asobi Seksu - 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 19 SUNY Purchase Campus Center Purchase, NY
Oct 28 Delirio Alternativo Club Bogotá, Colombia
Oct 29 Teatro Julieta Lima, Peru
Oct 31 Insomnia Lima, Peru
Nov 18 Bournemouth Academy Bournemouth, UK
Nov 19 Brixton Academy London, UK
Nov 20 Brixton Academy London, UK
Nov 22 Leeds Academy Leeds, UK
Nov 23 UEA Norwich, UK
Nov 24 Sheffield Academy Sheffield, UK
Nov 25 Rock City Nottingham, UK
Nov 27 Apollo Manchester, UK
Nov 28 Glasgow Academy Glasgow, UK
Nov 29 Newcastle Academy Newcastle, UK
Dec 01 Guildhall Portsmouth, UK
Dec 02 Bristol Academy Bristol, UK
Dec 04 Cardiff University Cardiff, UK
Dec 05 Birmingham Academy Birmingham, UK