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2009 Damon & Naomi's MySpace page
More Sad Hits
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October 2008 It's a beautiful autumn in New England, but evidently musicians should steer clear of harvest activities -- the season started with Damon attempting to cut an apple, and instead cutting off the tip of his finger. A lot of blood and a long emergency room visit later, he is fine. . . but playing guitar is another matter! Nevertheless, we'll be performing a free instore show in London on Sunday, October 12 at the Rough Trade shop in Brick Lane at 7 pm. (WRISTBAND COLLECTION 1 HOUR PRIOR TO GIG, FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVED BASIS- ONE PER PERSON.) How will Damon pull off this Django Reinhardt-like trick? We're all wondering. But coming to the rescue, fretwise, will be Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele -- he has graciously agreed to fill in for any missing fingers. Maybe the nasty accident will turn into something to celebrate? For sale at the instore will be a limited edition CD-R single of our version of "White Christmas." The song was recorded for the soundtrack of the forthcoming film, "Lovely, Still" , and features Naomi on piano, Damon on nylon-string guitar (back when he had use of five fingers on each hand), Michio Kurihara on electric guitar, Bhob Rainey on soprano sax, and Greg Kelley on trumpet. The package will include individually hand-drawn labels by Naomi. + + + September 2008 - The vinyl reissue of More Sad Hits is here! Long live vinyl -- this album really looks and sounds the way it was intended on LP. But the truth is, back in 1992, it could only sound this good in the studio. The remastering by Alan Douches, and LP cutting by Kevin Gray, do an amazing job of translating the original master tape to both CD and vinyl. Some technological advances you can't argue with! Thanks to everyone involved -- at West West Side Music, at AcousTech and RTI, at BaDaBing, and at Revolver -- for breathing life into this album again. It was a lazy August here, but we did take time out from both summer and vacation to record a version of "White Christmas" for the movie "Lovely, Still" which premiers at this month's Toronto Film Festival. That's right: White Christmas, the hoariest of hoary holiday clichés. But that Irving Berlin can pack a punch, once you tear those chord changes away from the sleigh bells. Slow it down, and it's a sad hit! And director Nik Fackler tells us that Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn will soon be slow-dancing to it, at (we hope) a theater near you . . . + + + August 2008 - This month's issue of Uncut magazine is devoted to George Harrison, and the cover mount CD features our performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from The Earth Is Blue. Says the ed.: "This 2005 version serenely sails George's flagship song into uncharted waters via Naomi Yang's ethereal vocal, an extra verse only found on the demo from The Beatles Anthology and some dreamy lead guitar by Ghost's Michio Kurihara." Also on the CD: Galaxie 500's take on "Isn't It a Pity," from all those years ago. You said it, George. Speaking of, old friend Kramer checked in, after listening to the new pressing of More Sad Hits: "Galaxie 500 was like counting to three. More Sad Hits went up to ten and beyond." He gives it an 11! + + + July 2008 – We're back home from summer touring -- this set of shows included debuts in Dublin, Galway, Belfast, Toulouse, and... Louisville. How did we manage to miss Louisville all this time? To celebrate, we ate a hot brown sandwich (see Jane & Michael Stern) and -- in an ode to our own dressing room rider -- visited the Maker's Mark factory. That invitation on the side of the bottle is for real! Meanwhile, other factory wheels turned and our More Sad Hits reissue is now ready to ship. Well, the CD is -- for the LP, we'll have to wait a bit longer. It seems that everyone suddenly wants to make LPs again, which means the few remaining pressing plants are completely overwhelmed. So our promised June delivery date has been rescheduled for . . . September? Let's hope! The good news is that the CD package turned out beautifully. It's made to look like a mini-gatefold LP, on heavy shiny card stock, and there's really no better way to describe it than, "cute." Admitedly, we have a weakness for mini-LP-style packages on heavy shiny card stock -- witness the many, many Korean psychedelic reissues in our CD collection. But could we dream for more, than to have our own CD stand alongside Shin Joong-Hyun and the Men? Yes: we could dream that Robert Wyatt blurbed our album. Thank you Robert! In other merch news, our summer tour t-shirts, tote bags, and posters are now available from the website. To avoid disappointment, order soon because once these are gone, they will not be reprinted. Finally, we should mention that Cedrick Eymenier's lovely video for Within These Walls is now up on pitchfork.tv -- and the video quality there is much better than on youtube. + + + May 2008 – There's lots of graphic excitement around D&N headquarters these days. For the upcoming summer tour, Iker Spozio has made a limited edition poster (only 100 copies, order now), and fashion designer Gary Graham has created limited edition t-shirts and tote bags (as well as Naomi's wardrobe). In addition, French photographer Cedrick Eymenier has made a beautiful video for the title track to Within These Walls; click the YouTube link below to watch it. Later this summer, the debut D&N album, More Sad Hits (1992), will be reissued by 20/20/20, on remastered LP and CD. We just heard the test pressing, and the new vinyl is the best this record ever sounded. We hope to have copies in time for all upcoming shows as well. Also later this summer, Damon's book of poems The Memory Theater Burned will be published in French, under the title "Lisez-moi," by Editions de l'Attente in Bordeaux. Since D&N will be in France to play some duo shows, there will likely be a bilingual reading or two to celebrate. And for those fans of mainstream TV -- yes that was D&N's "Stars Never Fade" you heard near the beginning of the latest episode of "Shark" on CBS. The song was used to segue from a party scene in the Playboy mansion, to a murder scene in the Hollywood hills. Not exactly what usually comes to mind for our music; but the synopsis explains that the victim is a singer, and the murderer either her producer or A&R person. No wonder! (Wait till they hear More Sad Hits . . .) + + + April 2008 – Dates are now confirmed for the upcoming tour with Masaki Batoh and Helena Espvall. Immediately following that tour, Damon & Naomi will travel to Ireland, England, and France for a series of duo shows. See the tour dates page for more info. The poetry website hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, PennSound, has added an author page for Damon, and posted mp3s of a reading he gave at the Drawing Center in New York. + + + March 2008 – Naomi has a portfolio of recent photos from Japan and Morocco and also a selection of her paintings on French website Coriolislab (check under the "Eye" section for her work). And the new issue of Giant Robot (#52) features Naomi's photos and tour diary documenting a recent show on the "Asian side" of Istanbul. A string of US dates with Masaki Batoh (Ghost) and Helena Espvall (Espers) is being planned for June, when Batoh and Helena will have a new album out on Drag City. The two duos will tour from Boston to Chicago, with a stop in Louisville for the Terrastock festival. Also in June, Damon & Naomi will play their first ever shows in Ireland, en route to a festival appearance in Toulouse, France. A couple more European shows may be added to that trip, sign up on the mailing list to be notified as info becomes available. + + + February 2008 – Thank you to everyone who made our recent tour of Japan such a pleasure. Opening sets by Shinji Shibayama (of Nagisa-Nite), Ghost improvising with Hideki Ishima (of Flower Travellin' Band), and the new duo collaboration of Ghost's Masaki Batoh with cellist Helena Espvall (featuring Batoh singing in Swedish!), were all amazing. Our own sets in Japan were -- from the band's point of view -- among the most exciting of the long tour just completed behind Within These Walls. Thank you again to the wonderful musicians who joined us on stage, and in the van, over these last several months: Bhob Rainey, the album's arranger, on soprano sax; Helena Espvall on cello; and of course Michio Kurihara on electric guitar. (It was great to see Kurihara play for the hometown crowd in Tokyo -- with Boris, and Stars, and Ghost all in attendance, cheering him on!) We're now back home, taking a breather from travel. Damon is teaching this spring at Harvard University, where he is a Visiting Lecturer in Visual and Environmental Studies -- he has a class in "Noisy Art," and another in "Word Play." Naomi is up to her usual design, painting and photography projects. Damon has been writing a "Sound" column for ArtForum lately; you can find entries in the November, December, and January issues. Naomi and Damon also contributed the "Inner Sleeve" column to this month's Wire magazine; check out the February issue for a her-and-his take on album covers by Frank Sinatra and Sandy Denny. Please sign up on the mailing list to be notified of upcoming performances -- although there are no long tours in the immediate future, there will be shows here and there. And rumor has it that it's nearly time for another Terrastock . . . + + + January 2008 – The last leg of our tour for Within These Walls takes us to Japan this month -- we will be joined for our shows there by Michio Kurihara (electric guitar), Bhob Rainey (soprano sax), and Helena Espvall (cello). Since there are two nights booked in Tokyo, we've decided to play two different sets: the first will present the new album, and the second will take a look back at songs from all our recordings. P-Vine records have released the album in Japan and arranged this tour for us, and our friends Masaki Batoh and Ghost will be playing on the bills with us in Tokyo. Yoroshiku onigaishimasu! The website has now been updated with some of the press connected to Within These Walls -- there are new album reviews, and live reviews. You can also listen to an NPR radio interview. And a portfolio of Naomi's tour photos will be posted online this month by the Wire. Not online, but well worth checking out, is the latest issue of Giant Robot (GR51), which features Martin Wong's tour diary from his travels in our van while we were on the West Coast. Martin saw us through hot water (a natural spring in Weed CA on our day off) and cold (a miserable hotel in Portland OR). He was a great travel companion, and turns out to be a very funny observer as well! It's also illustrated with lots of photos. + + + December 2007 - Home after traveling 9000 miles in the US, 6000 kilometers in Europe, 1000 miles in the UK -- thank you to all our friends, old and new, who made these tours possible! On to Japan in January -- details on the tour dates page. + + + September 2007 - The new Damon & Naomi album, "Within These Walls," is now shipping. Catch us on tour this fall. The band will include Michio Kurihara (electric guitar), Bhob Rainey (soprano sax), and Helena Espvall (cello). And there's more to see as well as hear -- Naomi has been dressed for this tour by designer Gary Graham. You'll have to follow the band to see all the outfits! + + + August 2007 - The new album is finished! It is called "Within These Walls," and it will be out September 25 on 20/20/20. It features contributions by Michio Kurihara (Ghost), the string players from Espers, and the avant-garde horns of nmperign. Preview (or download for free) a sample track. A US tour with Boris (with Kurihara playing both sets!) is being scheduled for October, and a UK /European one for November. Tour dates posted here. And recently, Damon dj'd an hour of sad hits for the Spanish radio show, La Noche Inventada. You can listen to it online, or download it as a podcast, from their website. + + + June 2007 - Recently posted on French video site "Take Away Shows" Damon & Naomi performing in a cozy Paris apartment last January after a party that went on very late. Those with sharp eyes will spot drawing on the windows and mirrors by Marc Boutavant and Iker Spozio -- that's D&N's kind of wild party antics. . . Meanwhile, Kurihara's "Sunset Notes" is garnering high praise -- we have posted some of the published interviews with Mr. Kurihara, as well as the reviews. + + + May 2007 - As previously announced, the first 100 web orders for Kurihara's solo album Sunset Notes will receive a guitar pick with a design chosen by the fuzz maestro himself . What we didn't know, is how cute that design would be! Act fast, if you want an electric mole pick to call your own. We are very excited about this imminent solo release by our friend, and so are a number of critics who have previewed it. The Wire is first out of the box, as usual, so you can read an illuminating interview with Kurihara by Alan Cummings in this month's issue, and visit their website to hear a selection of tracks from throughout Kurihara's career. + + + March 2007 - Thank you to everyone who came to our recent shows in Vienna, Mallorca & Barcelona! We are back home -- mending our equipment and planning a fall release of our new album with Kurihara. + + + February 2007 - We're back from pilgrimages to the Acropolis and the Pantheon -- in Athens, we played to a rock and roll crowd in an elegant club in Metz, and in Paris, to an art crowd gathered in a gritty corner of the 11th . . . Great combinations, both! And we came home with some new sad hit discoveries, as well -- Rebetika and Rimitti, anyone? Thank you to our friends, old and new, in both locales, for an excellent time. + + + January 2007: In a recent holiday CD roundup, The New York Times' Ben Ratliff recommended giving International Sad Hits to all the depressives in your life. He also came up with a succinct way to describe what it is we do, exactly: "Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang - musicians, book publishers, connoisseurs of international gloom." Other news: Damon has edited a "soundtrack" for a visual art show at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. The show is called Super Vision, and the audio accompaniment is called "Music Overheard." It's 2 CDs of experimental sounds and sound art: no sweet sad songs here! "Music Overheard" is available on CD from the ICA store, or you can listen to it online at the great website Ubu.com. And in January, Damon & Naomi will be travelling to Europe for shows in Athens and Paris -- see the tour dates page for details. Kali xronia and Bonne année, everyone! + + + November 2006: International Sad Hits, Volume One is out now, and it's garnering some enthusiastic reviews. The emerging single seems to be Kim Doo Soo's "Bohemian," which reputedly caused one suicide, and prevented another, on first release. Which effect will it have on you? Buy a copy and find out! Also newly released: Damon contributed and edited texts to accompany a book of photographs by Marc Joseph, called New and Used (Steidl). It's photographs of -- what else? -- books and records, and book and record stores. Other contributors include Damon's fellow musician/writers Ian Svenonius, Thurston Moore, as well as a host of literary non-singers. And as Simon Reynolds points out in his review in the Voice, Galaxie 500 makes a cameo appearance . . . + + + September/October 2006: Announcing a 20-20-20 release, International Sad Hits, Volume One: Altaic Language Group — a compilation by Damon & Naomi of singer-songwriters they admire from Turkey, Korea, and Japan: Fikret Kizilok, Kim Doo Soo, Tomokawa Kazuki, and Mikami Kan. The package includes biographical information on each artist, and translation of all lyrics into English. More information is available on the 20-20-20 website. Order here. And for those of you in the Boston area, this fall Damon is teaching a poetry writing workshop at the Harvard Extension School; more details here. + + + July/August 2006: Here is a short interview with Damon in Erasing Clouds, and a description of a reading Damon gave in NYC, from ArtForum.com. + + + May/June 2006: Thanks to everyone who came out to our shows last month — While Kurihara was here, we took the opportunity to tape demos for an album's worth of new songs, which we'll be working on further over the summer. New 20-20-20 releases are in the works as well, sign up on the mailing list for updates as they happen. Also, several of Damon's poems are included in the first issue of a new literary journal, Soft Targets. + + + April 2006: Michio Kurihara will play three shows with Damon & Naomi this month -- as a quintet with Bhob Rainey and Greg Kelley in Amherst, MA, on April 20; as an even larger group, with additional contributions from other members of Ghost, at the Terrastock Festival in Providence, RI, on April 22; and as a quartet with Smokey Hormel at elegant Joe's Pub in New York City, on April 27. The Joe's Pub show will also feature a solo set by the great folksinger Bridget St. John. (If you don't already know Bridget's albums, check out this description from Other Music: "The reemergence of these three long out-of-print albums by Bridget St. John is truly special. This trio of records ranks right up there with Sandy Denny's and Nick Drake's best work, not to mention Linda Perhac's Parallelograms and the seminal Just Another Diamond Day by Vashti Bunyan.") See the tour dates page for further information, including links to purchase tickets. + + + Damon & Naomi now are on MySpace -- come be their "friends" as they try and figure out how it works! + + + January 2006: "Sometimes the right thing comes along . . . " Damon & Naomi's song "Sometimes," from the album The Earth Is Blue, materialized in the January 6th episode of the CBS TV show "Ghost Whisperer" (Episode 13: "Friendly Neighborhood Ghost a.k.a. Ghost Next Door"). According to the New York Times, 11.35 million people tuned in. . . That same night, an audience approximately 1/100,000 of that size were at Tonic in New York City, where Damon & Naomi enjoyed an evening on stage together with friends Greg Kelley and Bhob Rainey. (Before the show, the band discovered the amazing Doughnut Plant on Norfolk Street —though it seems the nation of Japan got there first. . .) + + + December 2005: Announcing a new, limited edition DVD release. (Now SOLD OUT). Filmed in Tokyo, Japan on June 24, 2005, it features a very special line-up: Damon & Naomi with Michio Kurihara, Masaki Batoh, Bhob Rainey, and the legendary Kan Mikami. For more details click here. The DVD is available from this website only. Orders will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. + + + November 2005: Available November 14th on Damon & Naomi's label 20-20-20: the Galaxie 500 Peel Sessions. This is the first official release of these oft-bootlegged, but now properly mastered recordings by Galaxie 500. Features covers of the Sex Pistols and the Young Marble Giants, as well as a clutch of the band's favorite originals. Also, for all your back-to-school needs, a nifty new tote-bag printed in copper ink with the popular Damon & Naomi with Kurihara illustration by Nick Pimentel. It fits LPs! + + + July 2005: We're back home after a long series of tours that took us to a lot of exciting new places (Lisbon, Istanbul, Seoul . . . ), as well as many of our favorite haunts around the world (Tokyo, Paris, Barcelona . . . ). Thank you to everyone who came to our shows, and to the many friends — new and old — who made us feel welcome in so many corners of the blue earth. + + + May 2005: The May 2005 issue of Harp magazine names Damon & Naomi's first album as a duo, "More Sad Hits," one of the "20 Most Overlooked Psychedelic Albums." Is that good? Anyway, the company is excellent - with Pearls Before Swine, the 13th Floor Elevators, Linda Perhacs, Skip Spence, Spacemen 3, Hawkwind (Lemmy-era, of course) . . . it's an honor to be so neglected! + + + February 2005: Damon & Naomi's new album, The Earth Is Blue, was released February 14, 2005, on the band's own 20/20/20 label. "The Earth is Blue" features Michio Kurihara on electric guitar, with guest appearances by nmperign (trumpet player Greg Kelley and soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey), and Dana Kletter (piano). 20/20/20 is distributed by Revolver (USA), Forte (UK), and Stomp (Australia). In addition, "The Earth is Blue" is licensed to the following labels: Sonic Unyon (Canada); P-Vine (Japan); Pastel Music (Korea); Acuarela (Spain, Portugal, France); and Avant Garden (Taiwan). + + + October 2004: Damon's first book of poetry, The Memory Theater Burned, was published October 5 by Turtle Point Press, NYC. |
