look at this boulder
Precious Bane, tricycle honk, Pelly's book
Hello. We’re still alive, can you believe it? This (the world) is still going! How?!
There’s so much wild flailing out there in the fires and genocides and authoritarians and David Lynch deaths. Every time I sit down to compose one of these dinky newsletters I have to blaze a trail through a thick growth of inhibiting thoughts like ugh, read the room, guy, now’s not the moment to prod these poor people about buying tickets to your band’s show or whatever. But it’s probably never the moment, is the truth. We do our little projects alongside the catastrophes and just try to keep attentive, bear witness, don’t squelch the spirit too bad, don’t numb out. Look at a boulder.
And then, not-numb, I come at you with my little promotional updates:
tickets updates:
Some of the tickets for the upcoming Mount Eerie tours are getting low and selling out. This is your warning. Here are those shows with links again:
Thurs. Feb. 13th, 2025 - Vancouver, B.C. - Rickshaw Theatre (with Ragana) LOW TICKETS!
Fri. Feb. 14th, 2025 - Seattle, Wash. - Neptune Theatre (with Ragana)
Sat. Feb. 15th, 2025 - Portland, Ore. - Aladdin Theater (with Ragana) SOLD OUT
Mon. Feb. 17th, 2025 - San Francisco, Cal. - Great American Music Hall (with Ragana) LOW TICKETS!
Tues. Feb. 18th, 2025 - Ojai, Cal. - Ojai Valley Women's Club (with Ragana)
Weds. Feb. 19th, 2025 - San Diego, Cal. - Music Box (with Ragana)
Thurs. Feb. 20th, 2025 - Tucson, Ariz. - 191 Toole (with Ragana)
Fri. Feb. 21st, 2025 - Santa Fe, N.M. - Meow Wolf (with Ragana)
Sat. Feb. 22nd, 2025 - Boulder, Colo. - Fox Theatre (with Ragana)
Sun. Feb. 23rd, 2025 - Salt Lake City, UT - Soundwell (with Ragana)
Mon. Feb. 24th, 2025 - Boise, Ida. - Shrine Social Club (with Ragana)
...................
Thurs. Apr. 10th, 2025 - Minneapolis, Minn. - First Avenue (with Alan Sparhawk)
Fri. Apr. 11th, 2025 - Milwaukee, Wisc. - Turner Hall (with Alan Sparhawk)
Sun. Apr. 13th, 2025 - Chicago, Ill. - Thalia Hall (with Hana Stretton and Precious Bane) LOW TICKETS!
Mon. Apr. 14th, 2025 - Detroit, Mich. - El Club (with Hana Stretton and Precious Bane)
Tues. Apr. 15th, 2025 - Toronto, Ont. - The Concert Hall (with Hana Stretton and Precious Bane)
Weds. Apr. 16th, 2025 - Montréal, Que. - Théâtre Fairmount (with Hana Strettonand Precious Bane) LOW TICKETS!
Thurs. Apr. 17th, 2025 - Portland, Maine - SPACE // EARLY SHOW, 4:30 doors, TICKETS HERE // LATE SHOW, 8:00 doors, SOLD OUT (both with Hana Stretton)
Fri. Apr. 18th, 2025 - Cambridge, Mass. - The Sinclair (with Hana Stretton and Precious Bane) SOLD OUT
Sat. Apr. 19th, 2025 - Philadelphia, Penn. - Union Transfer (with Hana Stretton and Precious Bane)
Sun. Apr. 20th, 2025 - Washington D.C. - the Atlantis (with Hana Stretton and Precious Bane) SOLD OUT
Precious Bane
Notice that Precious Bane has been added as an opener on most of the April shows (as well as Hana Stretton in her first ever North American tour!) Precious Bane is n.k.d.g. from Ragana and it’s SO good. These are going to be excellent shows. We are all very lucky this has come together.
more honking
I was going to add more to the list of favorable year end coverage that Night Palace received, all very kind and good. Lots of it was placement on peoples’ year end lists with a number next to it. It was all over the place. I’m glad people listened and liked it.
Instead of listing all those lists, I’ll just include a few coverage highlights:
Tricycle Magazine interview with Annie Howard
Tricycle is a (the?) magazine of Buddhism. I used to subscribe. It was so nice to speak with someone outside the usual music world, talking about the deeper ideas. I’m interested in Buddhist stuff and I have my own practice about it, and sometimes this practice comes out as these songs. All of a sudden I find myself on stage or on a website spouting off about these ideas I just read about in a book about Dōgen or whatever, as if I’m some kind of abbot or scholar. Oops, I forgot I’m just a little mouse. So, I was nervous for this interview, being revealed to be just a confused dabbler, but no, I think it went really well. Thanks Annie!
the Atlantic Magazine put Night Palace at #1 album of the year for 2024
My parents used to subscribe to the Atlantic. It’s very normie. They have it at the dentist’s office. Will people waiting for surgery read the words “With forthrightness and flashes of humor, Elverum memorializes his individual life in the context of the land he occupies, the matter that he’s made of, and the void beyond all of that”?
the Fader said it was #6
They said “On the back half, he goes places he’s never gone before in his music, writing explicitly about the ethical and moral concerns that have clearly lived between the lines of his lyrics from the beginning".
Kıyı Müzik published an interview in Turkish!
which I don’t think has ever happened before for me.
and this one isn’t about Night Palace, it’s a huge academic paper about the work of Geneviève Castrée, a closely beloved artist
Chanson Cachée: The Music-comic albums of Geneviève Castrée by Damon Herd
reading Pelly
I’m reading this excellent book Mood Machine by Liz Pelly, a deep look at the implications of the music streaming economy in general and Spotify specifically. Duh, of course I’m going to read it. I’m already radicalized, I already think the situation is dire. What else is new? But only a few pages into the intro I realized how much deeper the damage is. I’ve been all amped up about the money part, about the widespread acceptance of the fucked up idea that artists don’t deserve to be paid, that the convenience that these streamers offer is worth living in that short sighted blindspot and keeping on clicking. But I hadn’t thought very hard about the psychological effects that occurs in all these people (everyone) now used to passively listening to whatever the company’s advertising/addiction oriented AI algorithms feed through. It’s mindfulness vs. mindlessness, and humans are losing bad.
I thought I might go on and on about this book, about Spotify, about streaming mentality, about passivity and disengagement in our anxious times, but I don’t think I will. There are many other voices writing about these things with way more knowledge and eloquence. Just know that if you like my music, or anyone else’s music (providing you can name who the artist is, not just what playlist might contain them), please please listen intentionally.
And give them money. You DO NOT want to live in a world without the freakish weirdos who make the music that is the most alive, the art that’s the least profitable. The assholes and billionaires want you to live in that world and they can make it happen, so please give your little tithe to the poor punk nerds and fend off the bots.
speaking of unprofitable music,
I’m excited to tell you soon about an upcoming new release I’m finishing up. It’s weird as hell. I’ll tell you later. Stay tuned.
thanks everyone!
Phil
Good to hear from you Phil- I saw David Lynch died and was like, uh oh. Hope Phil's ok.
Guys, im pretty sure I saw the weird music stuff Phil is up to at a kind of secret show and it's cool af. We need to go to his shows and buy his stuff so he can afford giant gongs and subwoofers to experiment with in the woods. This is important work.
The streaming situation is really dire. It's gotten so bad that sleeping bag, the most underrated indie pop band in the country- has started writing and recording songs about people's pets on comission just to get by. I mean, yeah they're adorable, make great gifts and anyone can and should go get one right now by going to their Instagram, but, you know, also kind of messed up.
Seriously though I asked my little cousins what bands they're into and one literally said the "lofi beats to study/relax to plalist." The rich one couldn't name a single band, he just listens to classical.