Cloud Nothings
photo by Daniel Topete

Cloud Nothings' Dylan Baldi discusses what he's been listening to ahead of tour

Cloud Nothingsanticipated new album Last Building Burning, which is shaping up to be their noisiest and most abrasive album since 2012’s Attack On Memory, finally drops this Friday (10/19) via Carpark, and CN will begin their tour the following Monday (10/22) in Lexington, KY.

Ahead of the tour and new album, we asked frontman Dylan Baldi about the music he’s been listening to lately, and he sent over an eclectic list of five songs with intriguing commentary, including psych-folk singer Itasca, former Guided by Voices member Tobin Sprout, two meditative synth projects (Imaginary Softwoods and Radio People), and cult Japanese noise rock/shoegaze band Xinlisupreme who Dylan calls “what I always wanted My Bloody Valentine to sound like, but maybe even better.” Check out his list and commentary below (with streams if available).

Cloud Nothings’ tour includes a run with The Courtneys that hits Brooklyn’s Warsaw on December 1 (tickets). All dates are listed, along with streams of the pre-release singles from Last Building Burning, below.

WHAT DYLAN BADLI IS LISTENING TO

Itasca – “Morning Flower”

This is our friend Kayla. She is a genius of the highest order. Incredible guitar player and singer, I’ve been lucky enough to see her play a bunch of times and it’s always transcendent. This is her newest hit tune, from a tape on our friend Sophie’s amazing label Dove Cove. She and her band stayed at our house once and immediately disappeared into a room to watch Gilmore Girls together very quietly. No one knew where they went. I feel like similar secret hiding places are where beautiful songs like this get written.

Imaginary Softwoods – “Remission Ache”

Our friend John [Elliott] has been making music for a long time, with Emeralds, Imaginary Softwoods, Mist, and now Organic Dial. But this Softwoods track is the one that’s been on my mind lately. It’s a short, dark, beautiful trip, like that Willy Wonka boat tunnel scene if Broadcast was doing the soundtrack. John’s been in our orbit for a while now, as a roommate, bandmate, gig-goer, etc etc. More knowledgeable about records than most people on earth, and this jam manages to make that fact known without dipping into “name the influence” territory. Do check out the new Organic Dial record too. Cool stuff all around.

Radio People – “Fall On Mars”

This is our dude Sam Goldberg and Adam Miller. Genuinely unsure where Adam is (hello? Adam?) but Sam is in a great new dad zone and living life to the fullest. This Radio People track is capable of stopping time. Layer upon layer of beautiful purple and blue synth tones. Something I could listen to all day if I’m not careful. If you hear this with your eyes closed it feels like watching the most peaceful, calming sunset in the world. A real gift of a song.

Tobin Sprout – “Cryptic Shapes”

Tobin’s got tunes on Guided by Voices’ best albums, but this could be my favorite track of his. Heard it on a 1998 Columbus, Ohio compilation CD I picked up from Simon Joyner in Cleveland a few months back. There’s also a great Bill Fox track on that comp called “Electrocution,” which apparently Nada Surf covered and made more popular. I wouldn’t know. [It’s on Nada Surf’s 2010 covers album – Ed.] But this track is the best. It’s Tobin Sprout. Wistful little guitar jam that I listened to 20 times on the first day of fall this year.

Xinlisupreme – “Fatal Sisters Opened Umbrella”

A few days ago this band sent me the most amazing email I’ve ever received. It was about how they tried to create the supreme song, a song that would take the same amount of effort to create as an album. The song in question took them 3.5 years and is called “Seaside Voice Guitar.” This is not that song. This song, though, is a ripper from their 2002 record Tomorrow Never Comes. It’s what I always wanted My Bloody Valentine to sound like, but maybe even better. 12 minutes of punishing cycles of distortion and melody. The Hospitals meets High Rise meets a cheap synth playing A Flock of Seagulls choruses. Crucial!

Cloud Nothings — 2018/2019 Tour Dates
10/22 – Lexington, KY @ The Burl
10/23 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell Stage)
10/24 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
10/25 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
10/26 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs)
10/27 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda
10/28 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
10/30 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
11/1 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
11/2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
11/3 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
11/5 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
11/6 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial
11/7 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
11/9 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
11/10 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
11/11 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
11/13 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
11/14 – St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
11/15 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi
11/16 – Columbus, OH @ The A&R Music Bar
11/17 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
11/26 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
11/27 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House
11/30 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
12/1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
12/4 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
12/5 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Club at Stage AE
12/6 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
12/8 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
12/9 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
12/11 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
12/14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
1/25 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
1/26 – Birmingham, UK @ The Castle & Falcon
1/27 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
1/28 – Glasgow, UK @ St Lukes
1/30 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
1/31 – London, UK @ EartH
2/1 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephémère
2/3 – Brussels, BE @ Rotonde – Botanique
2/4 – Cologne, DE @ Luxor
2/5 – Tilburg, NL @ 013
2/6 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
2/7 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
2/8 – Berlin, DE @ Musik & Frieden
2/9 – Warsaw, PL @ Poglos
2/11 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs
2/12 – Vienna, AT @ Chelsea
2/13 – Zagreb, HR @ Tvornica Kulture
2/14 – Milan, IT @ Ohibò
2/15 – Rome, IT @ Monk
2/16 – Bologna, IT @ Covo Club
2/18 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
2/19 – Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie Rock Club
2/21 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba Club
2/22 – Madrid, ES @ Sala Q
2/23 – Valencia, ES @ La Marina
2/24 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2
3/11 – Tokyo, JP @ Shibuya Tsutaya O-East
3/12 – Nagoya, JP @ Nagoya Club Quattro
3/13 – Osaka, JP @ umeda TRAD