Lee Ranaldo Releases New Video For "Uncle Skeleton"; North American Tour Begins Tonight

LEE RANALDO RELEASES NEW VIDEO FOR “UNCLE SKELETON” NORTH AMERICAN TOUR BEGINS TONIGHT NEW ALBUM ELECTRIC TRIM OUT NOW

Photo: Anna Bogaciova

"[Ranaldo's] finest post-Sonic Youth solo effort...a sumptuous, shape-shifting headphone record that proves there’s still plenty of gas left in the tank." – PITCHFORK “…some of the darkest, trippiest songs of Lee’s career…Lee’s is letting us see a very strong side of him that was never fully explored in his iconic band." – BROOKLYN VEGAN "A true punk poet and guitar scientist....Virtually everything here, in its own edgy manner, points to light, hope and the endless possibility of the human spirit." – EXCLAIM Just in time for Halloween, Lee Ranaldo has released the brand new video for “Uncle Skeleton,” a track taken from his latest album, Electric Trim, which is out now on Mute. Watch the video here. Ranaldo explains, “The tune for ‘Uncle Skeleton’ put me in mind of those dusty old cowboy ballads that ‘60s bands often psychedelicized. In particular I had Papa John Phillips’s ‘Me and My Uncle’ in my head, a track that was covered by the Grateful Dead and others. An early video of Joni Mitchell (then still Joni Anderson) performing the song on some old Canadian TV show stuck with me and informed the tune as I worked on it. The verses were mostly written with Jonathan Lethem, my collaborator throughout the Electric Trim album. At first his sheet of lyrics didn’t make any sense to me, but they seem to drop into the tune like they were designed exactly for it. Only later did I learn that his lyrics about stripping the flesh off the bones came directly out of the pages of his most recent book, A Gambler’s Anatomy. The video was created by Elisa Ambrogio, visionary singer/guitarist of the band Magik Markers.” This week, Lee Ranaldo begins his tour across North America with dates into November before embarking on a European tour starting on February 16 in Barcelona – full details below. The feature length documentary, HELLO HELLO HELLO : LEE RANALDO : ELECTRIC TRIM tracks the making of the album by filmmakers Fred Riedel and Jerry Fried. The documentary is currently touring select film festivals in Europe and the US. Screenings include the New York premiere at the NYC Doc festival on November 12 and the UK premiere at Doc’n Roll Festival in London on November 14 (full details below). Watch the trailer for HELLO HELLO HELLO here. Electric Trim was recorded in New York City and Barcelona in collaboration with producer Raül “Refree” Fernandez and extends the work of Ranaldo's solo canon, the most recent being his 2013 album, Last Night On Earth. Through his collaboration with Fernandez, Ranaldo moves into some rich new sonic territories and production techniques, experimenting with electronic beats and samples alongside live players. Ranaldo is a co-founder of Sonic Youth, a visual artist, producer and writer. In addition to Fernandez, he worked with several special guests on Electric Trim, including Sharon Van Etten who sings on six of the tracks and duets on “Last Looks” and Kid Millions (aka Man Forever) as well as longtime friend and collaborator Nels Cline (Wilco). In addition, the album features Ranaldo’s band The Dust (fellow Sonic Youth member Steve Shelley, guitarist Alan Licht, and bassist Tim Luntzel). Ranaldo collaborated with award winning New York author Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn / The Fortress of Solitude) for lyrics on six of the songs, including “Thrown Over The Wall." American artist, Richard Prince, who previously painted the sleeve for Sonic Youth’s 2004 album Sonic Nurse, created the artwork for the album. LEE RANALDO 2018 TOUR: October 24 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon October 25 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel October 27 – Portland, OR – Bunk Bar October 28 – Seattle, WA – Barboza October 29 – Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt November 1 – Burlington, VT – ArtsRiot November 2 – Montreal, QC – La Sala Rossa November 3 – Toronto, ON – Great Hall November 4 – Detroit, MI – El Club November 5 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean November 6 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups November 8 – Boston, MA – ONCE Ballroom November 9 – Brooklyn, NY – Bell House November 10 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda's November 11 – Washington, DC – Black Cat December 16 – Santiago, Chile – En Orbita Festival February 16 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Apolo February 17 – Madrid, Spain – Moby Dick February 20 – La Rochelle, France – La Sirene February 21 ­– Nantes, France ­– Stereolux February 22 – Rennes, France – Route Du Rock D’hiver at Antipode February 23 – Paris, France – La Maroquinerie / Honzai Night February 24 – Tourcoing, France – Le Grand Mix February 28 – Gent, Belgium – Vooruit March 1 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Bitterzoet March 2 – Hamburg, Germany – Kampnagel March 3 – Berlin, Germany – Roter Salon Am Volksbühne March 4 – Heidelberg, Germany – Karlstorbahnhof March 6 – Trento, Italy – Teatro Sanbapolis March 7 – Milan, Italy – Magnola March 8 – Winterthur, Czech Republic – Salzhaus March 9 – Metz, France – Les Trinitaires March 10 – Lyon, France – Epicerie Moderne Further dates to be announced, for full details and ticket links, go to http://po.st/LRWebsite HELLO HELLO HELLO : LEE RANALDO : ELECTRIC TRIM SCREENINGS October 26 – Portland, OR – The Clinton Street Theater October 28 – Seattle, WA – Gig Harbor Film Festival November 1 – Burlington, VT – Arts Riot November 10 – Chicago, IL – Chicago International Movies & Music Festival November 12 – New York, NY – DOC NYC November 14 – London, UK – Doc 'n Roll Film and Music Festival