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 John wrote the bulk of his new album, emerald city, while knee-deep in legal limbo after a visa application for his girlfriend, a French national he met in Paris, was rejected by US Immigration. The songs and themes are fueled by an era of deep insecurity and paranoia; they develop in front of a backdrop of ritualized and mythologized current events. Lyrically, JV's characters and storytellers track Manifest Destiny from burning wagon wheels to two-bedroom homes with full amenities in Bakersfield, California. Along that rough road, there are bewildered commemorations, peace-lovers and revenge-lusters, psychotic reactions to unnamed episodes, and the grief-stricken and the vengeance-hungry wrapped up in the same skin. Weaving throughout the entire album is the ever present danger of opposition. But at its simplest, emerald city is made up of JV's love songs — confused and angry, afraid and defeated. The red tape tie-up for JV and his girl remains unresolved.
As the Best of the Year lists come in (check out ours here), two Barsuk albums from 2007 are being recognized for their greatness. John Vanderslice's emerald city and Menomena's friend and foe are on the list of nominations for NPR's Year's Best Music (be sure to vote!), and the Grammy Foundation has nominated Menomena's album for Best Recording Package (for the awesomely-executed design by graphic novelist Craig Thompson). Congratulations to all!
JUST IN: Speaking of the phenomenal packaging for friend and foe, check out this article (with lots of cool pictures) on website Sleevage.com. |
John Vanderslice played at New York's Sound Fix record store recently, and the performance was captured on video. Several different videos are available on YouTube — be sure to watch the first one, in which JV insists on buying beer for the entire crowd, but they're all great recordings. (You may also notice Ira from Nada Surf up on stage with JV singing and hitting on a box. What a swell guy.) |
 JV recently did a session on WXPN's World Cafe. Listen as John talks about his new album, emerald city, along with several in-studio performances, available on NPR's website.
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Wonderful website Three Imaginary Girls has just posted an exclusive video of John playing on the Fremont Bridge in Seattle, just as the bridge is about to go up. Check out the footage here. |
This past weekend, John Vanderslice stopped by radio station WEEM in Pendleton, IN, and did an amazing in-studio performance and interview. The session will be played on the My Old Kentucky Blog Sirius Satellite show, but you can listen now on the MOKB's website here. |
David Dye, host of NPR's World Cafe, did a nice piece about JV's emerald city this week — you can listen to the entire story here. |
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John Vanderslice is one of the nicest people around, and works with a variety of musicians and studio wizards. |
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