The 18th annual Noise Pop Festival will take place February 23rd through March 1, 2009 at venues throughout San Francisco, CA. Event Producers, Noise Pop Industries have announced many more artists set to play the festival.
Artist confirmations now include Magnetic Fields, YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND (with Cornelius, Yuka Honda, Sean Lennon), The Dodos & Magik Magik Orchestra collaborative performance, !!!, Harlem, Deerhoof, Mark Kozelek, Rogue Wave, Atlas Sound, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Four Tet, John Vanderslice, We Were Promised Jet Packs, Wallpaper, Zee Avi, Memory Tapes, The Fresh and Onlys, Scout Niblett, Far (Reunion Show), The Mumlers, P.E.E (Reunion Show), Mirah, Laura Gibson, Nico Vega, Japanese Motors, Princeton, Free Energy, The Growlers, Nurses, Magic Wands, The Lonely Forest, The Hot Toddies, Tempo No Tempo, Judgement Day, The Limousines & Foreign Born. More shows will be announced in the coming weeks along with films, art shows and more.
On Tuesday, February 23, Yoko Ono will perform her first Bay Area concert of the 21st Century! Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band will include the prodigious artists Cornelius, Yuka Honda and Sean Lennon. They will be performing songs from The Plastic Ono Band's critically acclaimed new LP "Between My Head And The Sky" (Chimera Records), as well as songs spanning Ms. Ono's 40 year career. Very special guest, Deerhoof will also be performing on the bill.
The Dodos & Magik Magik Orchestra Collaborative Performance will be a one of a kind exclusive performance. The Magik Magik Orchestra will be composing 10 arrangements of Dodos songs all featuring the band and various members of the orchestra. The orchestra is a 26-piece formation that includes a small women's choir, strings, winds, brass and percussion.
Industry Noise will take place on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco featuring Claudia Gonson of Magnetic Fields. Claudia Gonson met Stephin Merritt in high school in the early 80's, and the pair have worked together ever since. Gonson has been Merritt's longtime manager since the beginning, a job involving all aspects of music management including licensing songs to films, ads and TV, creating theater shows, and all aspects of album production and touring. In addition, she performs on many of Merritt's albums, including the critically-acclaimed 1999 album 69 Love Songs, and frequently appears with him live as part of the usual quartet that comprises The Magnetic Fields.
Noise Pop's mini-conference discusses independent music, technology, and the changing industry. Attendees can meet industry pros, listen to influential speakers, and learn more about current possibilities and opportunities. In addition to panels and speakers, there are small discussion groups and individual mentoring. Panelists will be announced soon. Industry Noise Badges are now onsale on for $65 or $50 along with the purchase of a full festival badge.
Noise Pop Festival Badges are onsale NOW for $150. A limited number of badges include access to the Magnetic Fields show at the Fox Theater on Saturday February 27th, or the Herbst Theater on Monday March 1, 2010. Tickets to individual shows are also onsale NOW. YOKO ONO AND PLASTIC ONO BAND and Dodos & Magik Magik Orchestra shows go onsale on Sunday January 10, 2010.
The album opens with “Strawmen,” a lush arrangement that evokes feelings of peace and clarity. The playful “Six Foot Solemn Oath” immediately launches into a duet lead by intertwining piano and strings. “Carnival” lifts the tempo with a powerful folk-rock hook and lyrics that tell the tale of a magical love. Sorrowful lead single “The Artist Type” boasts an irresistible melody, expertly uniting gentle string arrangements and booming piano.
Recorded at the late Jay Bennett's Pieholden Studios, where the band found its niche among the studio's forbearers of psychedelic Americana, "White Noise Bed" has a yin and yang aesthetic: sometimes sunny and sometimes stormy, but always running on audible elation. The band takes its cues from the power pop greats of the 70's such as The Raspberries and The Cars, and dresses them in a twangy haze, full of clever, lyrical nooks and crannies ala Wilco and Whiskeytown.
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