On The Day The Dark Was Falling

Today's the day, it's finally here! I was in Seattle at midnight last night to be one of the first to purchase Sleater-Kinney's new album, The Woods. Personally, the wait has never felt longer for any other album than it has for The Woods, but I'm proud of myself for making it to the release day without giving in and listening to the album, which has been readily available for at least a month. Hell, I didn't even listen to the single, "Entertain", when it was offered as a free download on their website. I wanted it to be a completely fresh, immediate, intoxicating experience when I finally ripped the plastic off and popped the album in. Thus far, I've been too busy to listen to it with complete and undivided attention. In fact, I've only made it all the way through once, but I'm working on my second time as I write this. I'm not going to share any initial impressions, just because I don't want to have anything to retract later, but I will say that I continue to believe that Sleater-Kinney are the single greatest band making music in the world today.

I've no mp3s from The Woods to share, in part because I've already posted "Entertain" (scroll down!) and in other part because you need to buy the album! Still, I wanted to commemorate the day The Woods was born. Now I'll turn the mic over to the ever commanding Janet Weiss. These are her words from her gracious last post to Sleater-Kinney's blog:

This is the last half hour the world turns without The Woods precariously in it. The wait for May 24th, the release date of our psychedelic love child, has seemed longer than usual. We've done too much talking about this record. I could go crazy trying to explain how songs fall from the sky into our laps. Sure, we work hard, but ultimately, we are lucky for our chemistry, for the love we have for eachother, for our differences. We definitely tried to break free this time, to shake our heads wildly with our eyes closed. And when it's raining and I'm sitting on the porch with my headphones on, it seems like we did. Welcome to The Woods, dearest listeners. I'm proud you want to come in and hear what we made. xojanet

Furthermore, here be some tour dates. Sleater-Kinney put on one of the best shows imaginable, so if you've never seen them before and you're even remotely curious, do check them out.

5.24.2005 Music Millenium (In-Store) - Portland, OR
5.31.2005 Sonic Boom (In-Store) - Seattle, WA
5.31.2005 Moore Theatre - Seattle, WA*
6.01.2005 Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR*
6.02.2005 Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR*
6.04.2005 Warfield - San Francisco, CA*
6.06.2005 The Catalyst - Santa Cruz, CA
6.07.2005 Glass House - Pomona, CA*
6.08.2005 Henry Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA*
6.09.2005 Henry Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA*
6.10.2005 Shoreline Amphitheater - San Francisco, CA
6.15.2005 First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN^
6.16.2005 Riviera Theater - Chicago, IL^
6.17.2005 Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH^
6.18.2005 Phoenix - Toronto, ON^
6.19.2005 La Tulipe - Montreal, QC^
6.21.2005 Higher Ground - Burlington, VT
6.22.2005 Avalon - Boston, MA^
6.23.2005 Roseland - New York City, NY^
6.24.2005 Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA^
6.25.2005 930 Club - Washington, DC^
6.27.2005 The Late Show with David Letterman - New York City, NY
6.29.2005 Millenium Center - Winston-Salem, NC
6.30.2005 Sundown In The City Series - Knoxville, TN
7.01.2005 Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA

As if that weren't enough, I think more tour dates are on the way. The first two in-stores, as I understand it, are record signings only, S-K won't be brandishing their instruments. The dates with a * next to them are with the wonderful Mary Timony opening, whereas the dates with a ^ find Dead Meadow starting things off. I'll be at the Portland shows. I'd like to add that one of the best S-K shows I ever saw was at the Glass House in Pomona. It was such a great venue and the kids there were really into it, so if you can make it to that show you're probably in for something special.

On an unrelated, but equally important (to me, anyway) note, today happens to be the birthday of the greatest songwriter who ever did walk in chains, by which of course I mean lived. Happy Birthday Bob Dylan! May you stay forever awesome, and keep kicking out the jams! I know your tour with Willie Nelson begins tomorrow, so have fun and stay out of trouble.