Pitchfork

[Posted Thursday, October 2nd, 2003 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Mark Mallman's official website reports that the perpetually road-weary troubadour will be on the road all this month, presumably to gather inspiration for more songs about how tiring and romantically soul-sucking touring is. That snake, people; it eats its own tail. Mallman's '70s-redolent music could be huge right now, if he had picked Bad Company and Thin Lizzy to revive (hiya, Datsuns) instead of Billy Joel and Elton John.

But we love him anyway. Even the most stalwart indie snob's bosom conceals a hole, however well concealed by black hoodie or ironic Tang T-shirt, which can only be filled by smoldering piano ballads garnished with arena-rock guitar licks and earnest, heartfelt lyrics that engage in tired wanderlust and tales of artistic penury and squalor. Check him out at any of the following dates, but please don't yell out for "Rocket Man" or "The Stranger." That would just be rude:

10-03 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
10-04 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
10-07 Ft. Collins, CO - Surfside 7
10-08 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
10-09 Spokane, WA - The Detour
10-10 Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern (w/ Life in a Blender)
10-12 San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
10-13 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland (w/ Lake Trout and On the Speakers)
10-14 San Diego, CA - Scolari's Office
10-17 Albuquerque, NM - Atomic Cantina
10-18 Denver, CO - Climax Lounge
10-20 St. Paul, MN - University of St. Thomas

Mallman, formerly of rock band The Odd, began his solo career in the late '90s. His third and most recent solo album, The Red Bedroom, was released in 2002 on Guilt Ridden Pop Records, and featured backing help from members of The Promise Ring and former Replacements bassist Slim Dunlap.

Mallman's website reports that this fall, he will release a live album entitled Live at First Avenue, an eleven-song collection culled from three live performances at the eponymous First Avenue. The record will feature two previously unrecorded songs as well as covers of Moby's "Natural Blues" and Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street." Closing the record will be "Mother Made Me Do It," which also closed The Red Bedroom and features Mallman singing alongside his mother. This is incredibly cute. Mallman plans to begin recording his next studio album this winter, which he says will be "real bass and piano oriented" and lean more toward Motown soul than his previous work.