Entries tagged with: Dan Bejar
photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Bill Pearis

Destroyer's new album, Kaputt, is Dan Bejar's grandest musical statement to date, resplendent with horns and bubbling sequencers, bringing to mind Roxy Music, The Blue Nile and even Steely Dan. In order to replicate Kaputt's lush sound, Bejar put together the "Destroyer Orchestra," an eight member band more than up to the task, as heard last night (4/3) at Webster Hall.
Much credit for this should be given to saxophonist/flautist Joseph Shabason and, in particular, trumpet player J.P. Carter who is like the Kevin Shields of trumpet players. Carter ran his instrument through a couple delay/loop pedals, making it sound epic and weird and amazing. It mixed with the sax and lead guitar to form this sonic swarm that hovered around the songs all night. It was rather magical, so much so that Bejar spent much of the time not singing crouched down, swigging his drink and quietly digging this world of sound he helped orchestrate.
The rest of the band brought the laid back groove, so prevalent on Kaputt of which we got all but two songs (No "Savage Night at the Opera" or "Poor in Love.") "Suicide Demo for Kara Walker" and Kaputt's title track were especially good. The expanded line-up also elevated older songs in the set like "Painter in Your Pocket" that was transformed into a lost Al Stewart single from 1978. (Dan Bejar has always kinda been the indie Al Stewart.) The only thing missing was Sibel Thrasher, whose vocals are such a big part of Kaputt. Keyboardist Larrisa Loyva sang her parts ably, but lacked Thrasher's gravitas and soul.
The night's showstopper came with the encore -- the nearly 15 minute "Bay of Pigs" which was released as a single in 2009 and closes the album. Bejar needed a lyrics sheet, but much of the crowd didn't. A group of girls next to me shouted out the lyrics with the kind of enthusiasm you half expect the taciturn Bejar to display. I'm pretty sure it was that group of girls who launched a pair of undies onto the stage. Bejar smiled, and gave them to the saxophonist who proceeded to throw them back into the crowd. He's just not that kind of frontman.
The War on Drugs opened, but I missed them entirely. We have pictures of them though, More pictures from the whole night, Destroyer's setlist and video of "Painter in Your Pocket", below....
Continue reading " Destroyer played Webster Hall w/ War on Drugs (pics, setlist)"
by BBG
New Pornographer... thats kinda metal right? Destroyer vs Destroyer 666

With New Pornographer Dan Bejar's ninth Destroyer LP Kaputt due at the end of this month, he has announced a show at Webster Hall on April 3rd as part of what looks like a North American tour with The War on Drugs. Tickets go on AMEX presale Wednesday (1/5) at noon and go on regular sale at noon on Friday (1/7). The War on Drugs have not been confirmed for Webster Hall, but we'll let you know if that changes.
Meanwhile catch The War on Drugs when they open for Sharon Van Etten at Bowery Ballroom this Saturday night.
Destroyer is NOT confirmed for Maryland Death Fest, nor is he going on tour with Destruction. That's Destroyer 666, and as previously discussed, Destruction and Destroyer 666 will play B B King's on May 11th. Tickets also go on sale Wednesday (1/5) at noon.
All known Destroyer and Destroyer 666 dates, as well as some video illustrating their similarities/differences, are below.
Continue reading "Destroyer vs Destroyer 666 (tour dates, War on Drugs & stuff) "
DOWNLOAD: Destroyer - Chinatown (MP3)

On January 25, Destroyer will release their ninth LP, Kaputt on Merge records.Listening to the sweet first track, "Chinatown", from Destroyer's new album (download it above), makes me sad that Dan Bejar (aka Destroyer) won't be in the house as a member of the New Pornographers at Terminal 5 on December 6th, but Neko Case will be there, and Ted Leo is opening, so you know, it will still be great. Tickets are still on sale. And I have a pair you can win. Contest details and the new Destroyer tracklist below....These are some of the themes alluded to or avoided in the album Kaputt - and here are 22 things you might want to know about it. Straight from Dan Bejar himself, in absolutely no linear order.
Kaputt by Malaparte, which Bejar has never read- Kara Walker, specifically the lyrics she contributed to the song "Suicide Demo for Kara Walker"- Chinatown, the neighborhood bordering on Bejar's- Baby blue eyes - 80s Miles Davis- 90s Gil Evans- Last Tango in Paris- Nic Bragg, who played lead guitar on every song, again- Fretless bass- The hopelessness of the future of music- The pointlessness of writing songs for today- V-Drums- The superiority of poetry and plays- And what's to become of film?- The Cocaine Addict- American Communism - Downtown, the neighborhood bordering on Bejar's - The LinnDrum - Avalon and, more specifically, Boys and Girls - The devastated mind of JC/DC, who recorded, produced and mixed this record from fall of 2008 to spring of 2010 - The back-up vocals of certain Roy Ayers and Long John Baldry tours - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence -
photos by Greg Cristman, words by Rachel Kowal

The New Pornographers may be considered to be hopelessly passé by some, but for better or worse, they got a fair amount of play during my college radio days, so they are one of those bands that that I look back at fondly - even if their last two or three albums left me feeling somewhat ambivalent.
Founded in 1997, they're veterans of the Canadian indie rock movement. They've seen the industry evolve and shift to accommodate one fad or another, and through it all, they held their ground and continued to churn out expansive power pop medleys year after year. With Carl Newman (A.C. Newman), Neko Case and Dan Bejar (Destroyer) in the mix, The New Pornographers also served as something of a prototype for the modern supergroup.
For Saturday night's show at Terminal 5 (one night after the CD throwing incident in Boston), The New Pornographers focused heavily on their newest album, Together, playing all but three songs from it. But in addition to showcasing the new material, they dipped deeper into their discography and pulled out songs like: "Sing Me Spanish Techno," "Mass Romantic," and "The Electric Version." Their set list for the evening was expansive, but the band talked little between songs and sometimes powered into the next with no more than a brief break for applause. One of the show's major highlights came during the final song of their encore, "Testament to Youth in Verse," when Newman engaged the audience with a slowly building sing-along.
The sound throughout the evening definitely seemed to be too loud - especially with the Dodos. The levels were fine for build-ups and breakdowns, but everything in between suffered. Whenever a song picked up the tempo and increased in volume, the sound started to blend together to create one inchoate mass of energy. Individual guitar riffs became muddled and vocals, indecipherable.
Luckily for Terminal 5, the additional New Pornographers show at the Bell House on Sunday night wasn't announced until after Saturday night's show had already sold out. Given the vastly improved sound quality at the Bell House and its more intimate size and layout, couldn't help but wonder what Sunday night's show (where they promised to do at least ten different songs) was going to be like in comparison (pictures from that one coming soon).
I got to the venue too late to see The Dutchess and the Duke, who like the Dodos, are still on tour with The New Pornographers. More pictures (of all three bands) from the T5 show, and the headliner's setlist, below...
DOWNLOAD: The New Pornographers - Your Hands Together (MP3)

The New Pornographers are gearing up for their album-supporting shows this summer in Europe and North America.
The new disc, Together, comes out May 4th, and their first show after its release (which comes more than a month before their other North American shows) will happen on May 6th at Woodstock, NY's 250-seat Bearsville Theater (about 2 hour drive north of NYC). Tickets are on sale now.
That show and the others on their tour will feature the band's full eight-member lineup: A.C. Newman, Blaine Thurier (keys), John Collins (bass, etc.), Todd Fancey (guitar), Kurt Dahle (drums), Kathryn Calder (vox, keys), Neko Case (vox) and Dan Bejar (vox, guitar, et).
Their full tour comes to NYC directly on June 19th for a show at Terminal 5 with tourmates The Dodos and The Dutchess and the Duke. Tickets are still on sale.
Neko Case is currently touring as part of Jakob Dylan's band, and they play two nights in NYC starting tonight (4/21). You can catch them on Letterman tonight too.
Together's first single is posted again above. The second, "The Crash Years," is available on iTunes. There's also a series of listening parties in various cities (NYC TBA) for the record coming up. More info on those, all tour dates and a new video with actor Adam Goldberg interviewing members of the band (and album guests Zach Condon, Will Sheff and Daptone's Neal Sugarman) are below...

Coming on May 4: the new album from The New Pornographers, entitled Together. Their fifth full-length was produced by the band and Phil Palazzolo, and recorded in Vancouver, Brooklyn, Woodstock, and Catskill, NY. The album is comprised of 9 A.C. Newman songs and 3 Dan Bejar numbers, and features the full eight-person lineup of Carl, Dan, John Collins, Neko Case, Kurt Dahle, Kathryn Calder, Todd Fancey and Blaine Thurier. Additional musicians include Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Zach Condon (Beirut), Will Sheff (Okkervil River), and the Dap-Kings Horns, among other talents.The artwork for the new album is posted above. There are no sounds from it available yet, but the band has posted pictures from its recording on New Pornographers' site
Lead pornographer A.C. Newman appears at The Bell House's Haiti benefit on Wednesday, January 27th. Also at the even will be The Walkmen (they replaced Cold War Kids who had to drop off), Ted Leo, The Wrens, Sondre Lerche, Eugene Mirman, Rhett Miller and Nicole Atkins. Tickets are still on sale.
DOWNLOAD: Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart (MP3)
'This is the best band retreat yet...'

"By no means am I a poet or a great lyricist, I just like to include some sort of beauty in the lyrics," [Sunset Rubdown's Spencer Krug] says. "Sometimes I'm trying to make them more straight-forward, but it's still in me to return to the metaphor and I'm not very good at it. My friend Dan [Bejar - aka Canadian solo artist Destroyer] is one of the few people who can pull off poetry and music at the same time. The imagery isn't anything complex. I'd like to get to the point where I could create something like that, without hiding behind metaphors. I'm my own worst critic, right?"Spencer and Sunset Rubdown kick off a month-long tour of Europe on September 2nd. When they return, they'll be playing shows across North America through October. That tour comes to NYC for an October 16th show at Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom. Tickets go on sale Saturday, August 8th at noon. After missing the show at Studio B during the Northside Festival (which apparently was a disaster anyway), I can't wait for this one."[With the new record] it's turned very much into a collaborative band - they're not just hired guns," explains Krug with a hint of relief. "I'm still the principal songwriter. I bring my ideas to them and then they add their own colours and flavours to them and it becomes Sunset Rubdown. If I was to sit down and record with just a piano and a guitar it sounds all right but it makes me miss the band."
[Spins and Needles]
The group's great new record, Dragonslayer, came out on June 23rd on Jagjaguwar. "Idiot Heart" from that album is above.
Dan Bejar, Krug's Swan Lake collaborator shouted out above, just finished a short solo Destroyer tour. He played XX Merge in North Carolina, and a July 30th NYC show at Bowery Ballroom...
"Last night I had the privilege to see my favorite band/singer Destroyer at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. I've been to countless shows over the past 18yrs or so and I've even seen Destroyer a number of times, but last night was special. He played material off of each of his EIGHT albums and even a song from a side project called Swan Lake, AND he did it all solo with an acoustic guitar. I've always been partial to a sripped down lo-fi sound anyway, so in my opinion, it was best like that. Not to take away from what the band contributes, but it really was amazing this way. So luckily I brought a pad to do a few quick drawings (in the dark) as I always think it would be great to reportage these events and then some how I never seem to. Glad I did last night." [Greg Betza]Destroyer is releasing a new 12-inch vinyl EP, titled Bay of Pigs, on August 18th via Merge. Bejar will be back in the fall for a Wordless Music show at the Miller Theatre on September 12th, as well as an appearance at Pop Montreal. All tour dates below.
EP art, tracklist, the setlist from Destroyer's XX Merge show, and Sunset Rubdown live videos and tour dates, are below...
Doveman @ LPR in June (more by Fresh Bread)

Miller Theatre joins forces with the Wordless Music series to present a week of specially curated concerts highlighting the best of each organization's aesthetic and mission. For five nights, indie-rock and electronic-music performers share the stage with artists from the classical- and new-music world, for a week of unorthodox and unconventional musical meetings.Of those five nights, four lineups at Columbia University's Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street) have been confirmed. Those will take place as follows...
Wednesday, September 9, 2009Ticket information HERE.
The 802 Tour:
Nico Muhly + Sam Amidon + DovemanThursday, September 10, 2009
Do Make Say Think
Charles Spearin's "The Happiness Project"Friday, September 11, 2009
Tim Hecker
Grouper
Julianna BarwickSaturday, September 12, 2009
Dan Bejar (Destroyer)
Loscil
JACK Quartet
Those concerts are an addition to Wordless's upcoming schedule, which currently includes the Alarm Will Sound show tonight (July 22nd) at LPR, the Liquid Liquid & Rhys Chatham "200 Electric Guitars" performance on August 8th at Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center, and the Warp20 NYC series in early September.
The original "802 Tour" (the Doveman date above) took place in 2008. No word on whether they are actually going on tour again, or if this is just a one-off date with the same name.
Do Make Say Think and The Happiness Project also have a bunch of other tour dates scheduled, including two other NYC shows. Grouper is also playing ATP NY. Destroyer is going on a very short tour at the end of July that brings Dan Bejar to Bowery Ballroom on the 30th. All dates and a video from Doveman's June 18th show at LPR, below...
DOWNLOAD: Elfin Saddle - Temple Daughter (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swan Lake - Spanish Gold 2044 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swan Lake - A Hand At Dusk (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swan Lake - Spider (MP3)
Swan Lake

Have Swan Lake (the supergroup composed of Spencer Krug, Dan Bejar and Carey Mercer) ever played a live show? I don't think so. While we wait for that to happen, we at least have shows by some of the members' individual projects -- the projects that made Swan Lake interesting enough to care about in the first place.
Spencer Krug's band Sunset Rubdown plays Studio B in Brooklyn on June 12th (no general admission ticket info yet). The show is part of the Northside Festival, and part of a much larger tour with fellow Canadians Elfin Saddle.
Since arriving in Montreal in 2006, Elfin Saddle has been steadily gaining audience and acclaim for their original and emotive live performances. Having released Gigantic Mother/Wounded Child on Kill Devil Hills Records in early 2008, they are proud to be releasing their follow-up, Ringing For The Begin Again, on Constellation. A recent addition to their recordings and live performances is Nathan Gage (Shapes and Sizes, owner of Phonopolis record store in Montreal), rounding out their sound with thick drones and subtle bursts on double-bass and tuba. [Core band members] Emi and Jordan are currently working on an extensive stop-motion/time-lapse film, featuring the growth of plants and the animation of a large collection of scavenged objects. [PR]The MP3 on the top of this post is from Elfin Saddle's new Constellation album. All Elfin/Rubdown tour dates below.
Dan Bejar will be playing as Destroyer (solo) on a few May dates with Azita. He'll also be visiting NYC this summer for a solo show at Bowery Balllroom on July 30th with Iran. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale Friday at noon. All dates below..

To Whom it May ConcernA petition was put together recently in order to persuade Canadian super group Swan Lake into touring. Most of you have posted on your sites about their forthcoming second record, Enemy Mine, which is due out March 24th on Jagjaguwar. In regards to touring, Jagjaguwar posted that "Swan Lake does not currently have any tour plans but is easily swayed by gold doubloons and/or enthusiastic mobs". Upon reading this, we the fans have come together to prove to the band that they definitely need to tour to support their new record.
We are urging all of you to help us in our quest. If you would post a link to this petition along with any upcoming posts about Swan Lake, we'd greatly appreciate it. Once we hit our target goal of 1000 signatures, we'll send the petition to Swan Lake's booking agent at Billions who will present the petition to the band. After being overwhelmed by the shear number of signatures, we're sure the band will want to hit the road.
http://www.petitiononline.com/swanlake/petition.html
Thanks for all your help.
Maria Carullo
http://wolfparade.nonstuff.com
DOWNLOAD: Handsome Furs - What We Had (old MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Handsome Furs - Cannot Get, Started (old MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swan Lake - All Fires (old MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swan Lake - The Freedom (old MP3)

FACE CONTROL is the second album by Montreal's Handsome Furs, 2007's Plague Park was their first. Alexei Perry and Dan Boeckner wrote the songs on FACE CONTROL together. The album was recorded and mixed by Arlen Thompson at Mount Zoomer. It was mastered by Harris Newman at Hotel2Tango. It will be released on March 10th, 2009 [by Sub Pop].
That makes two-upcoming Wolf Parade-related albums in March....
The release of SWAN LAKE's new album is imminent! It is called "Enemy Mine", to be released on Jagjaguwar on March 24th, 2009 (March 23rd in the UK).Both new album tracklistings, and Handsome Furs tour dates (including SXSW), below...
For those unfamiliar, SWAN LAKE is the musical group featuring celebrated songwriter-mystics Daniel Bejar (of Destroyer and New Pornographers), Spencer Krug (of Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade) and Carey Mercer (of Frog Eyes and Blackout Beach).
Together they recorded Enemy Mine, their nine-song second album, in Victoria, British Columbia, in early 2008, a little more than a year after the release of their well-received debut collaboration, "Beast Moans", also on Jagjaguwar.
While their debut album was a beautifully-weaved mash-up of their disparate song-writing styles, often with layer upon layer of various melodies and stylistics thrown into a collaborative cauldron to magical, and at times discordant effect, their second album "Enemy Mine" reflects a more stripped-down, more deliberate approach to collaboration. It's as if they really tried to just make nice songs together. To quote Krug, "There's architecture here." Not that the lyric is about collaboration--it fits nicely though.
It is the band's contention that this is the first known use of a "court painting" as a record cover used in popular music. As a result of this enthusiasm, the band had planned on calling the album "Before the Law", a beloved Kafka parable and a reference to this court painting. However, the band is tired of being tagged as "literary", so they dubbed the record "Enemy Mine", a beloved movie from Bejar's youth, and a good metaphor for collaboration.
Continue reading "new Handsome Furs & Swan Lake albums, MP3 & tour dates"
Destroyer @ MHOW, Brooklyn, NY - April 22, 2008 (Eduardo)

Understandably so, there is a tendency to conflate Destroyer and Dan Bejar, but in concert there is no question that they are a band, and not simply a solo act in disguise. Indeed, Bejar has an extremely commanding presence on stage with his floppy mop of hair, carefully crafted persona, and distinct vocal styling, but last night, he was frequently upstaged by Nicolas Bragg's gorgeous renderings of his songs' achingly romantic lead guitar parts, and Fisher Rose's jaw-dropping performance on the drums. Rose is a monster behind the kit; equally adept at creating a light atmosphere with sleigh bells as he is pounding out a propulsive beat for "Dark Leaves From A Thread," or providing the vertiginous, lopsided gait of "The State." Collectively, Destroyer is exceptionally gifted at nailing the chiaroscuro tones of Bejar's compositions, while also pumping up their most dramatic turns for the stage. With just a slight shift in emphasis, the lovely "Leopard Of Honor" became something of a somnambulist showstopper, and "Foam Hands," a gentle anthem. In lesser hands, much of Bejar's work could collapse into self-parody and pastiche, but his bandmates hold it together, resulting in deliberately pretentious romantic pop ballads of uncommon grace. [Fluxblog]Destroyer plays again tonight @ Bowery Ballroom (April 23), and then his tour continues.
photos by Leia Jospe
Destroyer's Dan Bejar (also of the New Pornographers and Swan Lake) is the more high-profile member of Vancouver's Hello, Blue Roses, but the duo's work actually hinges on the pristine crooning of Sydney Vermont. [Time Out]Hello, Blue Roses played their first NYC show (probably their first U.S. show even) at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn last night (Feb 16, 2008). It was also their first live performance together in 18 months. For more on HBR, see also....
I couldn't make it, but 'klk' said, "this show was ......interesting". More of Leia's photos, and a video by Sound Bites, below...
Continue reading "Hello Blue Roses @ Glasslands, Brooklyn, NYC - pics & video"
DOWNLOAD: New Pornographers w/ Neko Case on AOL (MP3)
Dan Bejar & Sydney Vermont are Hello Blue Roses (Catbird Art)

Don't forget Dan will be here with Hello, Blue Roses on Saturday. Check out The New Pornographer's 'Myriad Harbour' video if you haven't already, and the recent New Porn AOL MP3 (above) and video (below) podcast....
Continue reading "New Porn on AOL, Dan Bejar in Brooklyn, tour dates"

Destroyer's new album Trouble in Dreams is out March 18th - a few days after Dan plays SXSW which is a month before he kicks off a big tour that includes April 22nd at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and April 23rd at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets go on sale Saturday. All dates below...
Continue reading "Destroyer - 2008 Tour Dates (Bowery, Music Hall)"



"We are going to play a few shows in February-March, here, and a couple in New York." [Sydney Vermont]Hello, Blue Roses will play Glasslands in Brooklyn on Saturday February 16th with their Locust Music labelmates Begushkin.
by BrooklynVegan Mike
DOWNLOAD: Hello, Blue Roses - Shadow Falls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hello, Blue Roses - Sunny Skies (MP3)

The love child of two multi-talented, multi-tasking eclectics, Hello, Blue Roses pairs visual artist/vocalist/flautist Sydney Vermont with her scraggly-haired sweetheart, artsy singer/songwriter Dan Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornographers, Swan Lake), to make up this charming duo. Their intimacy beget a distinctive and engrossing debut album, complete with the awww-inspiring title, The Portrait Is Finished And I Have Failed to Capture Your Beauty...Mike: Hellodueout Jan. 22 via the Locust label. [SPIN]
Dan: Hi Michael
Sydney: Nice to meet you!
Mike: How/When was the decision made between you guys to make a proper album? I read that your first performance as a duo was in 2001.
Sydney: 2001...oh that was an impromptu performance at our goodbye Montreal "Snowball". Our friend Gordon B Isnor had turned everyone on to Judee Sill that summer when he found a record of hers at a garage sale. Him and Goody played an evening of her songs with Shary Boyle performing Sharyoke in Halifax, and their beautiful poster was hanging on our Montreal walls. So I pretty much copied them by singing a Judee Sill song and a Kate Bush number with Dan on guitar and our friend Terry on cardboard box drums. It lasted thee minutes or so. I guess that was our first performance.
We didn't think about an album until 2006. We had started to play just the two of us when my other band, Bonaparte, went on hiatus. I guess we had about five songs at one point and our friends asked us to play a Valentine's Day show. So we had to write a few more. By the time we got to Spain, we had eleven or twelve songs and just decided we would record them there and see what happened. Those turned out to be demos, as maybe Dan's vision for arrangement outgrew our equipment and engineering capabilities. So then to JC/DC studios in Vancouver in the Spring.
Was there ever an idea or a concept that you guys wanted to approach musically or did the sound just come about organically? There is a weightlessness to the album, but not in a contemporary sense.
Continue reading "an interview with Hello, Blue Roses (Dan Bejar & Sydney Vermont)"
(CRED)

Cadence Weapon was just on tour with Final Fantasy. They played Bowery Ballroom in NYC last night....
Candence & Owen @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - Nov 11, 2007 (CRED)

Owen was good as usual. The opening act was weird, weird, weird. The second act was Cadence Weapon, a rapper, but he was actually pretty enjoyable. Owen came out and did one song with him and it was really good. Then Cadence Weapon came out for one song of Owen's set and that was ok.One of the songs they do together is a Destroyer cover, but at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin earlier this month, it became more like a collaboration....Owen finished with the Mariah Carrey Cover, as usual.
[Jeepers Tseepers]
Fun Fun Fun Fun Fest, Nov 3, 2007 (CRED)

Videos - with and without Destroyer in attendance, below....
Continue reading "Cadence Weapon, Final Fantasy, Bowery Ballroom..... Destroyer"
DOWNLOAD: Hello, Blue Roses - Shadow Falls (MP3)

The romantically entwined duo of Dan Bejar (Destoyer, Swan Lake, New Pornographers) and Sydney Vermont (visual artist, Bonaparte vocalist, former Toronto Children’s Choir kid singer) performing under the moniker Hello, Blue Roses have announced the release of their first album. The 13-track debut will be released by Chicago-based label Locust Music. The self-titled disc draws on everything from an unabashed love of 80’s AOR ala Prefab Sprout and Kate Bush to prime Aquarian-age femme folk of the 60’s and 70’s to create an infectious, readymade classic.Despite plenty of chances, I somehow didn't realize Dan was doing this until now. Definitely a nice surprise.
Dan was just in NYC for a couple of shows with the New Pornographers. More of the Hello, Blue Roses press release, below....
Continue reading "Hello, Blue Roses = Dan Bejar & Sydney Vermont (MP3)"
DOWNLOAD: The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour (MP3)
Dan (CRED)

But Neko is to the New Pornographers' array of harmonizing vocalists what a good concertmaster is to an orchestral string section, or a good lead trumpet player is to a big band -- she is the point, the focus of the sound; she sets the time and the phrasing and the rest of it by being so strong up top that everyone else can't help but fall into place. And she does this even when things get totally fucked up........The other highlight was the appearance of part-time Pornographer Dan Bejar, who usually contributes three or four tunes to each record but almost never tours with them. The indie rock blogosphere clearly favors Bejar -- who plays the charismatic, idiosyncratic louche -- over Carl Newman, the dependable, somewhat dorky pop craftsman. As an unreconstructed dork, I know where my allegiances lie, but I also really like the contrast between the impeccable Newman songs and the looser, weirder Bejar songs..... [Darcy James Argue's Secret Society]Neko (CRED)
The New Pornographers play Webster Hall again tonight (Oct 25, 2007). The new "Challengers" video is below...
Continue reading "the New Pornographers played Webster Hall (2007)"
For those unfamiliar, SWAN LAKE is the musical group featuring celebrated songwriter-mystics Daniel Bejar (of Destroyer and New Pornographers), Spencer Krug (of Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade) and Carey Mercer (of Frog Eyes and Blackout Beach).
