One of the entertaining things about taking an interest in an up-and-coming band like Darker My Love is the variety of places you can get to see them play. Last night for example was their chance to shine at the 'Winterfest' at UCSD. This is an event which is free to students (and people like me who can blag their way onto the guest list) and had what you may call, an eclectic line up. DML were 2nd on the bill followed by some unspeakably awful rap unit (alright, I'm just too old; The Kids seemed to like it, the floor was bouncing several inches as I was making for the exit) and rounded off with the innoffensive and reasonably inventive power-pop of Cursive, who were actually considerably better live than on disc and even managed to generate a mosh-pit of sorts. So, our heroes got to play to a decent sized crowd (did I mention it was free?) but most of them talked all the way through. Bloody nippers eh? Deliberately going out to enjoy themselves without even a passing thought for others. I don't know. And not a single alcoholic beverage within miles. The venue was a soundman's nightmare too. There didn't seem to be any decent spot to stand to get a good mix.

Anyway, to continue the original theme, next venue for the lads is Safari Sam's in Hollywood, where hopefully they will attract a more appreciative group of onlookers, followed by a gig at the Orange County Museum of Art, in Newport Beach on Thursday. This I feel is an event not to be missed, so I will report back next week as to how our lads get on. If I get a chance, I try to enquire as to their availability for the coming engagements in Spain and the UK. I will also mention to Rob that he was robbed in the Beard of the Year competition. Monty Panesar? Don't make me laugh.

Well, a much better evening all round (particularly for us grumpy old bastards). The Orange County Museum of Art turned out to be a very cool venue in a laid back LA/Newport Beach kind of way. The evening started well when I found it was free to get in and improved further when it turned out to have a bar. There was a fashion show that did not interest me (not only because it was outside and it is far too cold in So Cal at the moment) and DML were on at 8 pm sharp. A significantly better performance than last Friday, I'd say, but a lot of that could be put down to having adequate amplification for the venue which was not the case at UCSD. I forgot to mention last time that they have been joined by a new member on 'organ' according to their myspace page. This does not really do the machine justice as it looks like a genuine 60's maybe early '70's vintage synth which fits their sound well and fleshes out the psychedelic sound even more. A one word summary of the show? Loud.

Good things they have learned from the Fall....
1) More then half the set still with no studio recorded version
2) No hanging around between songs
3) Good (subtle) student baiting at UCSD
4) Live mixing from Rob (restricted to his own amp though!)

Bad things
Short sets (but what the hell, they were both free shows)

I managed to speak with Rob before the show and he and Tim will be on the plane to Spain tomorrow. He is less sure about their participation in the UK tour though. They want to do it, but DML may be recording a new album then so it's still up in the air. He did say that they were definitely up for the US tour which he thought could be as early as April. Available if selected I suppose you'd have to say. A really nice guy with only pleasant things to say about everyone and some interesting comments about the new album, which they just got today.

I've been listening to their album over the last few days and it's a cracker.

Thanks for the DML update! Much appreciated. Mmmm...Orange County. Wish I was there right now. :) Interesting about the US tour. And the fact that they only now got the album. Care to share any of Tim or Rob's comments about it? (Did they like it? Anything on it they'd never heard before?)

I don't really want to write about what he said to me in a private conversation, but regarding the album; yes, he liked it. He and Tim were not involved in the producing so when he got the finished version, it was the first time he had heard any of it (except, presumably when they were playing it).
I'm going to put my recordings of the 2 DML shows described above up on Dime over the weekend. The 1st is just OK due to the high level of chatter but the 2nd one sounds really top notch.


Now up....
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=130985

wonder if it was the first time they had heard the 'bunch of twats' line.

Mods, feel free to put this in another section, but DML are kind of Fall related.

From their MySpace Blog

So.....

In 2007 this body is going to look like heaven. Right now we are locked up in a little room in trucker town LA living on fritos and country time lemonade writing songs for a new record. We already have a boat load but we are writing more for the sake of the drill. I think we're playing a show in LA for the LA Record re-launch party in mid-FEB. and that is the last time you will see us for a while. Then we're going to record. Be very excited....we're going to post some demos from time to time so keep a look out....Also/and/or stay fly.

Love,

Darker my dudes


The gig they are referring to is on Friday Feb 16th at the 6th Street Gallery in downtown LA. It may be a bit of a trek for some of you, but it is only $5 to get in and there are several other bands playing. 8pm kick off.

I have not heard any Darker My Love.

The band has the sort of name that I really hate. When I see that a band has a crummy name like that I just pass it right on by. A predjudice of mine. Why must so-called "up and coming bands" choose ridiculous names?

Similar crummy names: (these are real band names)

Panic At The Disco
Jimmy Eat World
My Chemical Romance
Thirty Seconds To Mars
Taking Back Sunday
Bullets For My Valentine
Black Stone Cherry
System Of A Down
Theory Of A Deadman
3 Doors Down
A Perfect Circle
Story Of A Year
Smile Empty Soul
Our Lady Peace
Dark New Day
Thousand Foot Krutch
Fountains of Wayne
Better Than Ezra
People In Planes
Breaking Benjamin
By Divine Right

When I see names like this, (and "Darker My Love" is a name I would certainly put in this catagory,) I am immediately turned off. I cannot picture myself in a band with a name like that. I don't know where this trend of really crappy names came from but I wish it would go away. These don't sound like rock bands, they sound like the names of impossibly pretentious paperback novels that you might read the first few pages of before you toss them away in disgust.

:o "Oh. I tried to read "Darker My Love" but I only got to page 25. Then I picked up "Smile Empty Soul" and couldn't get past page 7."

I've heard some of those bands and their music is as sucky as their names. Darker My Love, however, are actually really good.

New split 12" from our erstwhile American Fall friends is now available. My one word review. Tidy.

Get it here psych kids....

http://ihaterocknroll.com/

Tim missed their gig in LA at the weekend due to a spider bite but hopefully it will not delay their forthcoming album unduly. Not sure MES would have taken that as a good enough excuse, even though he was on a drip in hospital.

Thanks for the news.
Spider bites can be frickin' nasty! :o

The sample sounds like Ride.

great stuff.

Brown Recluse?

http://www.brownreclusespider.org/brown-re...er-location.htm

Not in California ?

DML are going out on tour with fellow LA residents The Warlocks (see the DML blogspace)

Oct 30 2007 8:00p Ray’s Bar, Marfa, Texas
Oct 31 2007 8:00p The Mohawk, Austin, Texas
Nov 2 2007 8:00p The Nick, Birmingham, Alabama
Nov 3 2007 8:00p Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 4 2007 8:00p Local 506, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nov 5 2007 8:00p Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
Nov 6 2007 8:00p The Knitting Factory, New York, New York
Nov 7 2007 8:00p Johnny Brenda’s, Philladelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 9 2007 8:00p Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois
Nov 10 2007 8:00p 400 Bar, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov 13 2007 8:00p Chop suey, Seattle, Washington
Nov 14 2007 8:00p Doug Fir, Portland, Oregon
Nov 16 2007 8:00p Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, California
Nov 17 2007 8:00p Troubadour, Los Angeles, California

The new record will be out next year on Dangerbird.......

Split 12", still available and pretty splendid it is too. I fear they may be going down the Brian Wilson path to madness though with the cut up techniques they are using. Hopefully for the album, they just went in the studio and played.

DML have added 3 shows in support of the Jesus and Marychain! Also their debut album can be downloaded for free at the Dangerbird website.

http://www.dangerbirdrecords.com/


w/ The Jesus and Marychain

Oct 26 2007 8:00p Fillmore, San Francisco, California
Oct 27 2007 8:00p Fillmore, San Francisco, California
Oct 28 2007 8:00p Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Colorado

Shame they will not be with JAMC in San Diego too, I already have tickets for that show (and we're stuck with Evan Dando 'solo acoustic'. Ugh.)

Just listened to this, cant say I noticed any fall influence. bit boring imo,
still I listened to all of it and didnt turn it off. Flesheaters have got 2/3 tracks on seeqpod, not bad at all.
Thanks for the Link, (I should,ve said before,edited)

mp3 encoded recording of the Knitting Factory (New York) show is available for download here (not mine, I hasten to add. I will be at the LA show).

http://sharebee.com/302eb174

Good show at the Troubadour last night. Not quite as high energy as I have seen them in the past, partly due to it being the end of a tour and from the band driving down from San Francisco overnight the night before.
If anything Rob's beard is getting even longer and bushier, but he told me the new DML album should be out in the spring. Several new songs in the set last night that bode well for that. The first one sounded (at least in the drum part) like Bo Doodak so maybe the time in the Fall was not all lost!

Get it here

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=171200

Thanks for that BCB :D

So you confirmed that they are no longer involved with The Fall? Did you get any explanation as to what happened?

No explanation, our discussion was focused on DML.
I would not totally rule out a comeback at some time. Even Brix came back, and Karl Burns did so several times. I don't think it would neccesarily be for the best though. Let The Fall move on.

Hmmm. So the mystery continues. :huh:

For me, tho, if there was a return it would definitely be for the better. In the words of MES, these guys are fantastic musicians. I just can't get excited about a new LP featuring the guitar stylings of P. Greenway. :(

Not really DML news but, erm, just saw a Cass McCombs radio session from today posted on Dime. Band includes Rob on bass and Orpheo on drums.

I didn't know that Rob and Orpheo were in Cass McCombs. I just heard one their songs on woxy.com and thought it was pretty good..........

Well Rob could have done that in his sleep! Nice to hear Orphy drumming again (he had a bit more work to do) but I don't feel as though I need to hear any more from Cass McCombs. Rob plays theremin on the album. An instrument designed to be played without being touched.

According to the Dangerbird website....

Darker My Love
2
CD, LP
You turn it on. Turn it up. And the feedback-filled guitars of “Northern Soul” instantly wash over you like an old friend. The pounding rhythms get down into your bones, making it impossible to sit still. And those melodies…they stick with you for days. “Baby, you’ve got me talking words…” There’s a new sheen at play here, courtesy of studio guru, Dave Cooley (Silversun Pickups, J Dilla), allowing the sunburnt harmonies to part through the sonic squall like an indie rock Moses. A sophomore record in every sense of the word, 2, will be released August 5, 2008.

Produced by Dave Cooley. Mixed by Tony Hoffer.


Tracklisting

1. Northern Soul
2. Blue Day
3. Two Ways Out
4. Pale Sun
5. White Composition
6. Add One To The Other One
7. Even In Your Lightest Day
8. All The Hurry And Wait
9. Waves
10. Talking Words
11. Immediate Undertaking

You can hear 'Blue day' on their myspace page and very nice it sounds too. This and a couple of others were played live recently on their last tour. I unfortunately missed their show in LA this week but hope to catch up with the lads soon for some top quality rocking out. Not sure about that 'sunburnt harmonies....' bit.

Excellent news. The first album was one of my faves of 2006 so I'm looking forwad to this one.

Have they changed much since being 'The Fall'??

I'm looking forward to this one too. Their first LP (and e.p.) were absolutely great. Though that reference to a "new sheen" gives me a little trepidation. Not that some sheen is necessarily a bad thing, but I hope it doesn't sound "glossy".

They would want too, big time, after the last CD they produced, they were only fill in's in any case, this Line up is a cut above

Jeez August is a long way off. Hopefully it'll leak long before then.

May be some singles and shows before August......

According to the band the album will be available in multiple formats. Quote... http://darkermydudes.blogspot.com/

There will be a compact disc pressing, complete with artwork and songs, that you can buy, and/or if you’re so inclined, there will also be a really really nice 18,546-gram vinyl pressing, double-LP-style, with a sick-ass bonus track. And then there are also some 7”’s in the works. So there.

(First one should be "Two Ways Out" from the album)

Shows upcoming Quoting again.....

Thursday June 5. Troubadour. West Hollywood. with the Black Angels.
Saturday July 26. Capitol Hill Block Party, at Neumo’s. Seattle.
and then...
Saturday September 13. Monolith Festival. Red Rocks. That’s in Colorado.

Look out for a flurry of shows preceding and surrounding the release. In other words, keep your Julys and Augusts open.

I'm going to try and make it to the Troubadour. See you there West Coast psych fans.

Nothing like Ref TLC then

Looking forward to this one very much. Thanks for the news.

Oh, and Hex...RPTLC kicks IWS's sorry ass all over the block. This lineup is crap. (and if your such a big fan, how is the Motherjohn record?) ;)

Got this via e-mail...


ECHO, DANGERBIRD & CLUB UNDERGROUND PRESENT


Darker My Love is taking over Los Angeles and San Francisco with a series of free shows where they will pull back the curtain and reveal their material from their polychromatic, forthcoming record, "2". Each fan attending these free shows will receive a limited edition 7-inch as well as the opportunity to pre-order the band's sophomore LP for a special, discounted price at these performances. This dual-city onslaught will culminate with two back-to-back album-release shows at San Francisco's The Independent on August 5 and the Troubadour in Los Angeles on August 7, where fans will receive a copy of the album when they purchase a ticket to the show for $9.99.


....and from the DML web-blog thing...


After what seems like years of being bound by a non-disclosure agreement, the veil has been lifted, and boy, we do we have some shows for yez!

We're calling it a West Coast Residency, which means we're doing simultaneous weekly LA-and-SF shows. All this leading up to/surrounding the release of 2 on August 5. It's a fine record, and this'll be your first chance (assuming you haven't seen us in, like, the last 2 years) to hear these (to borrow some adjectives from our label) swirling, polychromatic, reverb-drenched, pounding, stratosphere-scraping new jams. Huzzah!

The best part, as far as you're concerned, is this: Each fan/companion/rote concertgoer will receive a limited edition 7-inch - different one each week! collect em all! - as well as the opportunity to pre-order the LP for a rad discounted price. The dual-city onslaught will culminate with back-to-back album release shows at SF's The Independent on August 5th and LA's Troubadour on the 7th, where said attendees will receive a copy of the album just for buying a cheap-ass $9.99 ticket!

So we're real excited bout all this. In fact, the wait is killing us. Literally. I think they call this lead-in time or something in the biz, but to us it's more like detention. House arrest.

Thursday June 5. LA. Troubadour.
with the Black Angels.
Thursday July 17. SF. Popscene
Friday July 18. LA. The Echo.
with Crystal Antlers. FREE!
Thursday July 24. SF. Rickshaw Stop. FREE!
with Mammatus, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound. FREE!
Friday July 25. LA. The Echo.
with Fool's Gold. FREE!
Saturday July 26. Seattle. Capitol Hill Block Party, at Neumo’s
Tuesday August 5. SF. The Independent.
with The Lumerians, Eulogies
Thursday August 7. LA. Troubadour.
with Eulogies, Amnion, John Webster Johns
Saturday September 13. Red Rocks. Monolith Festival

More tour dates for DML. Sadly for you citizens of Europa, it's US & Canada only but it should be quite high profile

From their blogspot:-

DANDY WARHOLS TOUR!
Great news. This band called The Dandy Warhols has bestowed upon us the distinct honor of hitting the road with them this fall. This rules. And it means there will be way more seats in the venues we're playing than we're accustomed to, so, y'know, chill, alla yez'll be gettin' in. The Upsidedown play first on all these dates, then us, then Those Dandys (or is it Dandies?). So, the dates:

Sept. 9 . Minneapolis . First Avenue . 9 pm
Sept. 10 . Madison, WI . Barrymore Theatre . 8 pm
Sept. 12 . Chicago . Vic Theatre . 8 pm
Sept. 13 . Toronto . Kool Haus . 9 pm
Sept. 14 . Montreal . Club Soda . 8 pm
Sept. 16 . Boston . Wilbur Theatre . 7:30 pm
Sept. 17 . NYC . Terminal 5 . 8 pm
Sept. 19 . Brooklyn . Music Hall of Williamsburg . 9 pm
Sept. 20 . Philadelphia . Theater of Living Arts . 9 pm
Sept. 22 . Washington, DC . 9:30 Club . 8 pm
Sept. 23 . Atlanta . Center Stage Atlanta . 8 pm
Sept. 26 . Lawrence, KS . Liberty Hall . 8 pm
Sept. 27 . Denver . Gothic Theatre . 9 pm
Sept. 28 . Aspen, CO . Belly Up Aspen . 9 pm

Tickets go on sale June 21!


In addition, there is another new tune from the new album, which is out on Aug 5th in US, up on their myspace page. Very good it is too.
I'll be treating the wife by taking her to the album release show at the Troub on Aug 7th. She deserves a night out, bless her.

New video for 'Two Ways Out' on the Dangerbird website featuring our former Fall heroes (well, mainly Rob).....

http://www.dangerbirdrecords.com/news/entry/2-ways-out-mtvu

Still a quality beard.

Now on You-tube.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIOXdiyjnRo

I'll be seeing them in Seattle simply because they're Fall alum. Though I might check out their music in the mean time.

http://www.latimes.com/theguide/music/la-g...0,3616005.story

See you all on the 7th at The Troubadour. (Well, maybe not all of you, but you know what I mean)