Pitchfork: Spoon To Unveil New Material at Local Shows, Skip SXSW

Spoon To Unveil New Material at Local Shows, Skip SXSW
Ricky Schroeder assumes band's finances while group take turns riding electric train around Jim Eno's toy-filled mansion

As I'm sure you're aware, loose lips do, in fact, sink ships. Britt Daniel of Spoon has been hewing closely to this adage, as it's been about as easy to get information about the upcoming Spoon album as it is to get George W. Bush to pronounce "nuclear" correctly. Unfortunately, this hasn't changed-- the word from Martin Hall at Merge Records is that though recording is proceeding apace, there is still no firm release date, tracklist, title, or tour plans. Daniel and the boys have chosen to remain pretty tight lipped about the new recordings, which are progressing nicely at Jim Eno's Austin studio.

However, you can get a look at the sessions thanks to a slideshow of pictures taken by John Vanderslice in December of last year. We see Daniel, wearing headphones-- his expression plainly wondering if the camera shutter has ruined the last guitar take; Eno simultaneous brandishing a mallet and threatening to karate-chop a kick drum; a half-eaten barbecue platter. An ordinary closet serves as an isolation chamber; a pipe-smoking alien and lovable mutt exchange nonverbal commentary on the racket as bassist Josh Zarbo concentrates on new song "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentin." Vanderslice and engineer Scott Solter (The Court & Spark, Howard Hello) appear on the sidelines. It's a hell of a better ride than those slides Aunt Gladys brought back from Carlsbad Caverns that one time.

What with being cooped up in the studio and all, Spoon have all but foregone touring as of late, and will continue to lay low until the album comes out in the fall. That being said, the boys will be taking some of their new material for a trial run at a couple of hometown shows in Austin this weekend. And though they'll regrettably be absent from SXSW for the first time in many many years, Daniel will be performing a solo set at the 12XU Records showcase on March 20th, should you be inclined to muscle past all the damn label scouts. Spoon shows:

03-05 Austin, TX - The Parish (w/ Pack of Lies, Western Keys)
03-06 Austin, TX - The Parish (w/ The Bulemics, This Microwave World)

Britt Daniel solo show for SXSW:

03-20 Austin, TX - Red Eyed Fly (w/ Chris Brokaw, Silkworm, Thalia Zedek)