Do Make Say Think & Charles Spearin's 'The Happiness Project' played Miller Theatre (pics) ++ MP3 & more dates...
DOWNLOAD: Do Make Say Think – Other Truths album sampler (MP3)
photos by Chris La Putt
Do Make Say Think
The term “wordless” was perhaps misleading, because the Broken Social Scene founding member’s [Happiness] Project was rooted in language, words, and conversation. A year ago, [Charles] Spearin began inviting neighbors from his downtown Toronto neighborhood over for a series of casual interviews in which he asked them questions about happiness and its meaning.
Listening to the recordings, Spearin noticed the musicality of his subjects’ voices, as well as their varied and diverse responses. He set about trying to create melodies from the responses, and enlisted his musical friends to help, ultimately arranging the melodies as songs.
[On September 10th], Spearin and other musicians (including some members of DMST) performed these songs, along with the interviews that inspired them. Beginning with bare musical imitations of the voices, the melodies grew and developed into full-fledged songs, featuring repeated sound clips from the interviews. The use of the recordings, a sort of motif in post-rock music, was developed in a truly inspired way.
Following the performance of the Happiness Project, Spearin rejoined Do Make Say Think for a set in which they performed songs from their older albums, as well as new songs from the forthcoming album Other Truths.
During this second half of the evening, the volume went way up, as did the banter, swearing, and on-stage beer drinking. The band’s signature distorted guitars, spacey electronic effects, and loud bass was a major shift from the comparatively subdued Happiness Project.
Though the set was at times repetitive, it was more often powerful, intense, and surprising. The songs built up beautifully, and the audience members, restricted by their seats, bobbed their heads in satisfied unison. [Columbia Spectator]
Thursday’s show (described above) was just one of the four recent “Wordless Music” shows that happened at Miller Theatre. Destroyer, Grouper, and Doveman were among those who played the other three.
Do Make Say Think and The Happiness Project hit Europe this fall, then return to North America for a series of shows in late November and December. Joining on the tour will be Years, a project of DMST guitarist Ohad Benchetrit. All three play November 28th at Music Hall of Williamsburg and November 29th at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets (finally) go on AmEx presale Wednesday, September 16th at noon. General sale starts Friday, September 18th at noon.
DMST’s new record Other Truths is set to come out October 20th on Constellation. A preview of that record is posted above. Artwork and tracklist are below with the rest of the pictures from the Miller Theatre show…
Charles Spearin – The Happiness Project
Do Make Say Think
Other Truths Tracklist
1. Do
2. Make
3. Say
4. Think
Personnel
Ohad Benchetrit
David Mitchell
James Payment
Justin Small
Charles Spearin
Guests
Michael Barth: trumpet
Leon Kingstone: Saxophone
Julie Penner: violin
Vocals by The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra
Do Make Say Think – 2009 Tour Dates
Thursday October 22nd, 2009 • London, England – SCALA
Friday October 23rd, 2009 • Thessaloniki, Greece – PRINCIPAL
Saturday October 24th, 2009 • Athens, Greece – RODEO
Sunday October 25th, 2009 • Athens, Greece – RODEO
Monday October 26th, 2009 • Leipzig, Germany – CONNE ISLAND
Tuesday October 27th, 2009 • Munich, Germany – FEIERWERK
Wednesday October 28th, 2009 • Schorndorf, Germany – MANUFAKTUR
Thursday October 29th, 2009 • Duedingen, Switzerland – BAD BONN
Friday October 30th, 2009 • Dijon, France – NOVOSONIC FESTIVAL @ L’ATHENEUM
Saturday October 31st, 2009 • Paris, France – LE MAROQUINERIE
Sunday November 1st, 2009 • Nantes, France – SOY FESTIVAL @ THEATRE PAUL FORT
Monday November 2nd, 2009 • Toulouse, France – KLEO
Tuesday November 3rd, 2009 • Barcelona, Spain – SALA APOLO
Wednesday November 4th, 2009 • Bilbao, Spain – KAFE ANTZOKIA
Thursday November 5th, 2009 • Marseille, France – MONTEVIDEO
Friday November 6th, 2009 • Nancy, France – L’AUTRE CANAL
Saturday November 7th, 2009 • Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg – KULTURFABRIK
Sunday November 8th, 2009 • Kortrijk, Belgium – DE KREUJN
Monday November 9th, 2009 • Nijmegen, Netherlands – DOORNROOSJE
Tuesday November 10th, 2009 • Hamburg, Germany – MOLOTOV
Wednesday November 11th, 2009 • Malmo, Sweden – DEBASER
Thursday November 12th, 2009 • Linkoping, Sweden – HERRGARN
Friday November 13th, 2009 • Oslo, Norway – JOHN DEE
Saturday November 14th, 2009 • Aarhus, Denmark – VOXHALL
Sunday November 15th, 2009 • Bielefeld, Germany – FORUM
Monday November 16th, 2009 • Berlin, Germany – MAGNET
Wednesday November 25th, 2009 • Montreal, QC – La Sala Rossa
Thursday November 26th, 2009 • Montreal, QC – La Sala Rossa
Friday November 27th, 2009 • Cambridge, MA – Middle East Club
Saturday November 28th, 2009 • Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Sunday November 29th, 2009 • New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Monday November 30th, 2009 • Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
Tuesday December 1st, 2009 • Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel
Wednesday December 2nd, 2009 • Pittsburgh, PA – Brillobox
Thursday December 3rd, 2009 • Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot
Friday December 4th, 2009 • Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
Saturday December 5th, 2009 • Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
