Pere Ubu to tour US West Coast!
Tour kicks off in Portland, OR - December 12
Stream/Embed/Download: Pere Ubu - "414 Seconds" via Pitchfork
Photo: Alexandre Horn
"If Pere Ubu's '414 Seconds' were only an instrumental, it would be plenty terrifying: During these slinking seven minutes, drum hits trigger guitar cries that sound like death moans in the distance, while reeds of electronic noise slither like snakes through the din. But it's not instrumental, and both the curdled voice and the oneirological torment of frontman David Thomas only exacerbate the music's hall of horrors."
- Grayson Currin, Pitchfork__________________________________________________
Pere Ubu returned with their first new studio album in over three years with the January release of Lady From Shanghai on Fire Records (home to Guided by Voices, Mission of Burma, Giant Sand, Bailterspace, Josephine Foster and many others). The album ushers in a new era in the history of Pere Ubu, with David Thomas and band continuing to provoke and shock listeners, further establishing them as one of the most innovative, progressive and important bands of all time.
The Pere Ubu project was supposed to be an end, not a beginning. Assembled in August 1975 to be the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young of the Cleveland music underground, the plan was to record one, maybe two singles and exist no more. Within months, however, those first self-produced records were being snapped up in London, Paris, Manchester, New York and Minneapolis. Pere Ubu was changing the face of rock music. Over the next 34 years they defined the art of cult; refined the voice of the outsider; and inspired the likes of Joy Division, Pixies, Husker Du, Henry Rollins, REM, Sisters of Mercy, Thomas Dolby, Bauhaus, Julian Cope and countless others.
Pere Ubu make a music that is a disorienting mix of midwestern groove rock, “found” sound, analog synthesizers, falling-apart song structures and careening vocals. It is a mix that has mesmerized critics, musicians and fans for decades.
For music, previews, interview requests and guest list requests, please reach out to Bill Benson at 906-543-9455.
For music, previews, interview requests and guest list requests, please reach out to Bill Benson at 906-543-9455.
Pere Ubu Winter Tour:
12.12 • Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR)
12.13 • Neumo's (Seattle, WA)
12.14 • The Biltmore Caberet (Vancouver, BC)
12.17 • Slim's (San Francisco, CA)
12.18 • The Echo (Los Angeles, CA)
12.19 • The Casbah (San Diego, CA)
Press for Lady From Shanghai:
"Pere Ubu made some of the darkest and most creative music of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Thirty five years after its release, The Modern Dance would easily make my top 10 of all time. We hear the word "industrial" bandied about to describe music — The Modern Dance exemplified that genre. Wordsmith and singer David Thomas and his ever-changing band members have made more than a dozen albums worth hearing since then. And now they're back with a new song, "Free White," from a new album, Lady From Shanghai, due in January. It's good to know that singular, defining sound still haunts this band." Bob Boilen - NPR
“Ubu are generally regarded as the missing link between the Velvets and punk. From the beginning they obviously understood the nuts and bolts of popular music, and then loosened them.” Joe Cushley – Mojo
“They’re the greatest out-rock ‘n’ roll group of this millennium, and probably the next.”Edwin Pouncey – The Wire
Production Notes:
Produced by David Thomas.
Engineered by Paul Hamann.
Recorded at Suma (Painesville OH) and also at Nuke India Now (Hove) and Urban Iguana (NYC) studios.
Produced by David Thomas.
Engineered by Paul Hamann.
Recorded at Suma (Painesville OH) and also at Nuke India Now (Hove) and Urban Iguana (NYC) studios.
Band:
David Thomas
Keith Moliné – guitar
Robert Wheeler – synthesizer
Gagarin – synthesizer
Michele Temple – bass
Steve Mehlman – drums
David Thomas
Keith Moliné – guitar
Robert Wheeler – synthesizer
Gagarin – synthesizer
Michele Temple – bass
Steve Mehlman – drums
Anna von Hausswolff hails from Sweden, the land of midnight sun, black metal and Ingmar Bergman. Ceremony is primarily inspired by the death of her grandfather three years ago, and is informed by Anna’s childhood, when she and her sister sang in choirs and spent much time around their father, the renowned avant-garde artist and composer Carl Michael von Hausswolff, as he worked with artists ranging from William S. Burroughs to Union Carbide Productions. To record this tribute to her grandfather, Anna, a unique and powerful singer, accompanies herself on that most sacred of instruments, the church organ. The result is a work that combines intimacy and majestic grandeur.
