watch Martin Bisi's new video ++ solo album & tour on the way
Legendary NYC producer Martin Bisi recently released the BC35: Volume Two compilation, featuring current and former members of Sonic Youth, Swans, Live Skull, Cop Shoot Cop, and more, and now we’re premiering the video for Martin Bisi and Nowhere Near’s “Save Sludgie The Whale of Gowanus” from that compilation. The song is cut from the same creepy noise rock cloth that Bisi is often most associated with, and the Ego Sensation-directed video features Bisi and his band hanging out in graffiti-covered Gowanus, paying tribute to a real-life whale that died in the Gowanus Canal. The whole thing feels very old school NYC, like Bisi himself. Check it out below.
Bisi is also releasing his first new solo album in five years, Solstice, on November 8 via Bronson Recordings (pre-order). “Most of the music was born out of improvisation, then developed from there,” Bisi says. We haven’t heard it yet, but a press release calls it “something like early Sonic Youth crossed with Bitches Brew.” Sounds promising! Bisi also explains the solstice theme, and how the album is split into two halves, “Summer Solstice” and “Winter Solstice.” “I started thinking about solstices, visiting Norway in the early summer, where the power of the summer solstice is more pronounced than in New York,” he says. “The solstices seemed the most dichotomous of the big, captivating, celestial events. It seemed well suited to the LP format of two sides, including the shape of the disc which is like the Sun or Earth.” Tracklist and credits below.
Last but not least, Bisi has tour dates coming up, including LA on Halloween and other West Coast dates around then, followed by a Europe tour. All dates are listed below.
Martin Bisi – Solstice Tracklist and Credits
Summer Solstice Side:
1) Let It Fall
2) You’re Sun
3) Ode to Freddie Gray
4) Waves on My Mind
Winter Solstice Side:
5) Unbirth
Summer Solstice lineup:
Martin Bisi – vocals, guitar
Amanda White – soprano vocals
Diego Ferri – baritone guitar
Oliver Rivera-Drew – drums
Genevieve Fernworthy – keys, electric viola, vocals
Billy Atwell – drums, percussion
Winter Solstice lineup:
Martin Bisi – vocals, guitar, synth
Amanda White – vocals
Joan Hacker – flute
Sheila Bosco – drums
Mark E. Miller – drums
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Martin Bisi — 2019 Tour Dates
Oct 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Redwood Bar
Nov 1 – San Fransisco, CA @ Little Box Theater w/ Scot Jenerik
Nov 3 – Portland, OR @ Black Water w/ Scot Jenerik
Nov 5 – Seattle, WA @ LoFi w/ 2 Libras
Nov 13 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs
Nov 14 – Zurich, CH @ Kontiki
Nov 15 – Busto Arsizio, IT @ Circolo Gagarin w/ White Hills
Nov 16 – Geneva, CH @ Lex Madone
Nov 17 – Ancona, IT @ Circolo Reasonanz w/ White Hills
Nov 21-22 – Ravenna, IT – Transmissions Festival (curated by Bisi)
Nov 26 – Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree w/ White Hills, Live Skull
Nov 28 – Hamburg, DE @ Schute
Nov 29 – Leipzig, DE @ Zoro
Nov 30 – Rotterdam NL @ Roodkapje
Dec 2 – Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4 w/ White Hills
