102.3 BXR Presents:
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Nurses
Sat, February 18, 2012
Doors: 8:30 pm / Show: 9:30 pm
The Blue Note (MO)$15.00
Tickets Available at the Door
This event is all ages
A limited quantity of reserved balcony tables are available by request at our box office or by calling (573) 874 1944. Please note that you must purchase all four tickets at the table for a reservation. IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE 21, please be prepared to pay a $2 cash minor surcharge at the door in addition to purchasing a ticket.
http://www.thebluenote.com/event/89059/Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
"I caught you streaking in your Birkenstocks, scary thought, in the 2Ks"
Mirror Traffic is the new Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks album, recorded at LA's Sunset Sound Studios and at the home of the album's producer, Beck. With the question of a Pavement reunion having been triumphantly answered last year with an Ono-esque "YES", Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks return with their most energized set to date. These 15 songs range from hard-rocking political commentary ("Senator"), to touching, winsome folk ("No One Is"), to virtuosic but melancholy and contrite kiwi pop ("Stick Figures In Love"). The lyrics are as curious as ever but more meaningful than they have been since Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. "This record," concedes Malkmus dryly, "is relatively approachable."
As the first producer to work with Malkmus since Pavement, Beck has drawn out a set of performances that ring with clarity and inventiveness. Gone are the long guitar workouts and jams that marked the last couple Jicks albums, replaced with a sharply defined focus and more colorful depth of field. With nearly half the tracks clocking in under three minutes, Mirror Traffic flashes by with a lightness of touch; a decision that band and producer found easy to take: "Beck & I were both burned out on the heavy rocking style," says Malkmus, "and playing to the strengths of a melody felt like the way to go."
Our first two responses from bigshot journalists who got early copies were, word for word:
1) "I'm so psyched, this is the most Malk thing in years"
2) "I respect his right to make any record he wants, but this is the album that me and a lot of other people have waited 10 years for."
For someone who has occasionally enjoyed a reputation for throwing ideas into the air and seeing where they land, Mirror Traffic is a confident, heartfelt, direct record. Ease into the seat and enjoy the ride.
Mirror Traffic is the new Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks album, recorded at LA's Sunset Sound Studios and at the home of the album's producer, Beck. With the question of a Pavement reunion having been triumphantly answered last year with an Ono-esque "YES", Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks return with their most energized set to date. These 15 songs range from hard-rocking political commentary ("Senator"), to touching, winsome folk ("No One Is"), to virtuosic but melancholy and contrite kiwi pop ("Stick Figures In Love"). The lyrics are as curious as ever but more meaningful than they have been since Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. "This record," concedes Malkmus dryly, "is relatively approachable."
As the first producer to work with Malkmus since Pavement, Beck has drawn out a set of performances that ring with clarity and inventiveness. Gone are the long guitar workouts and jams that marked the last couple Jicks albums, replaced with a sharply defined focus and more colorful depth of field. With nearly half the tracks clocking in under three minutes, Mirror Traffic flashes by with a lightness of touch; a decision that band and producer found easy to take: "Beck & I were both burned out on the heavy rocking style," says Malkmus, "and playing to the strengths of a melody felt like the way to go."
Our first two responses from bigshot journalists who got early copies were, word for word:
1) "I'm so psyched, this is the most Malk thing in years"
2) "I respect his right to make any record he wants, but this is the album that me and a lot of other people have waited 10 years for."
For someone who has occasionally enjoyed a reputation for throwing ideas into the air and seeing where they land, Mirror Traffic is a confident, heartfelt, direct record. Ease into the seat and enjoy the ride.
Nurses
Nurses return with Dracula, the follow-up to their 2009 homemade psych gem Apple's Acre. Dracula is steeped in the strange pop brew that bore Apple's Acre, with the band's unmistakable elastic melodies, heady pop hooks and unconventional knack for catchy songwriting that gets under your skin. But where Apple's Acre was an insular album, recorded primarily in an attic in Idaho using just an internal Macbook microphone and primitive recording software, Dracula is bursting. It's bolder, heavier, with deep grooves, dubby basslines and a focus on rhythm. It's an album with pure physical qualities. Apple's Acre was an album made for headphones; Dracula needs a sound system. What has not changed is the undeniable constant in Nurses' body of work: their immediate and catchy pop songs. The band embraces hooks and melodies--yes, they turn them upside down and inside out--but at their core, the band (and Dracula) are defined by pop songwriting.
Nurses retreated to the Oregon coast to record the album, spending winter months in a cabin together, where they set up a recording studio away from the distraction of their hometown of Portland, OR. They were completely immersed in the process, the three members of the band (Aaron Chapman, James Mitchell, John Bowers) deep in collaboration. They did not embrace typical roles--no guitarist, no keyboardist--instead collaborating as a trio of producers, adding one idea on top of another until the sounds became songs. This isolation, the early winter darkness, the misty, moody walks on rocky beaches all creep into Dracula.
Nurses retreated to the Oregon coast to record the album, spending winter months in a cabin together, where they set up a recording studio away from the distraction of their hometown of Portland, OR. They were completely immersed in the process, the three members of the band (Aaron Chapman, James Mitchell, John Bowers) deep in collaboration. They did not embrace typical roles--no guitarist, no keyboardist--instead collaborating as a trio of producers, adding one idea on top of another until the sounds became songs. This isolation, the early winter darkness, the misty, moody walks on rocky beaches all creep into Dracula.
Sponsored by: 102.3 BXR!
