Pre-Order WILDERNESS’ New Album (k)no(w)here And THE DEAD C Reissues

With the upcoming release of (k)no(w)here, the third full-length from WILDERNESS, Jagjaguwar continues to be profoundly inspired. The unconventional band from Baltimore, Maryland have seemed to eschew the more standard paths to releasing and promoting music, but their focus has always been on the creation and performance of their musical works. More than most, Wilderness hold true to the idealistic notion that sometimes music and art can stand for itself.

New Zealand’s THE DEAD C (Michael Morley, Bruce Russell and Robbie Yeats) have continually made the most crushing, expansive and intelligent rock noise ever to be heard. Just a glance at their peers who are fans (Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Comets On Fire, Black Dice) shows the league in which they play. Jagjaguwar and Ba Da Bing Records are proud to be reissuing DR503 and The Sunstabbed EP together as one double LP, as well as Eusa Kills and Helen Said This as one double LP. Both double LPs are packaged in a gorgeous, litho-wrapped gatefold jacket.

These new releases are due out on 11/04, but you can pre-order them now HERE

WILDERNESS To Tour U.S., Release Free MP3 From Upcoming (k)no(w)here CD/LP

WILDERNESS, the unconventional rock band from Baltimore, Maryland, will embark on a tour of the U.S. in November, in support of the release of their third full-length album “(k)no(w)here” (out on Jagjaguwar in the CD, LP and digital formats in the U.S. and throughout the world on Nov. 4.; UK release date of Nov. 3).

The music of Wilderness was acclaimed from the start. Their debut self-titled album (released July 5, 2005) garnered wide and special praise. Pitchfork called Wilderness “a shift back to the cerebral end of the rock spectrum”, and designated their debut record with the prestigious Best New Music tag. Skyscraper sagely remarked on how the band’s relatively low profile since then is actually a special boon: “Wilderness is creating their own music, taking advantage of their relative isolation to create a Walden in the wilds of today’s music.” Following up with an equally impressive second album called “Vessel States” (April 11, 2006) and shortly thereafter with the “Living Through / Part Ways” 7-inch (August 22, 2006), Wilderness have been consistent and prolific creators of music that is every bit for the soul as it is for the body and the mind.

Almost two years after their previous works, their newest album “(k)no(w)here” was inspired from a collaboration with renowned visual artist Charles Long, which was exhibited at the Whitney Museum’s Biennial celebration earlier this year. The individual parts of “(k)no(w)here” weave in and out of each other, showing how the album was originally conceived as one large piece.

All dates on the upcoming tour will be supported by Boston’s San Serac.

TOUR DATES:

11/19 New York, NY @ Cake Shop
11/23 Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox
11/24 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
11/25 Chicago, IL @ Schubas
11/26 Bloomington, IN @ Jake’s
11/29 Asheville, NC @ Harvest Records
11/30 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
12/1 Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree
12/3 Houston, TX @ The Mink
12/4 Austin, TX @ Emo’s

More dates to come. An up-to-date tour listing is HERE.

WILDERNESS Return With Third Album, “(k)no(w)here” CD/LP

It has been more than two years since Wilderness’s last album, and until just recently, the ground-breaking band from Baltimore, Maryland, has been largely inactive on the live scene as well. All that is about to change, as Jagjaguwar is proud to announce that the Wilderness cycle begins anew with the release of “(k)no(w)here”, Wilderness’s third full-length album, on November 4. Championed in the press as fertile traversers of “the more cerebral end of the rock spectrum” (by Pitchfork) and more simply as “just short of invincible” (by The Village Voice), Wilderness will also be touring North America in November and December. A more comprehensive announcement of tour dates will be made soon.

Wilderness’s third full-length album entitled “(k)no(w)here” was conceived as one musical piece, and the impetus for this composition came from an invitation to collaborate with renowned visual artist Charles Long at Long’s exhibit at the Whitney Biennial in Spring of 2008. The eight identifiable parts of “(k)no(w)here” are not readily separated from each other, such is the flow from and into each part. Created in ways different than the previous Wilderness self-titled album (2005) and the Wilderness “Vessel States” album (2006), “(k)no(w)here” still retains the Wilderness sound, with some evolution. On the new album, James Johnson is sometimes joined vocally by Colin McCann (aka THE LORD DOG BIRD, whose self-titled debut was released by Jagjaguwar in the Summer of 2008). And, as on previous albums, McCann performs on guitar, Brian Gossman on bass, and William Goode on drums, but the resulting community of all these parts comes across as more dynamic, and the perceived space they inhabit seems more vast.

Please check out a clip of Wilderness’ collaboration with Charles Long at the Whitney Biennial here:

Stay tuned for more Wilderness news, and the announcement of a tour this fall.

ALBUM TRACK LISTING:
1. High Nero
2. Strand the Test of Time
3. (p)ablum
4. Silver Gene
5. Own Anything
6. Chinese Whisperers
7. Soft Cage
8. <….^….>

WILDERNESS Transmission Received, Collaboration With Charles Long at Whitney Biennial 2008

Jagjaguwar’s received this transmission from WILDERNESS:

the gorge collapses as circled bells remain, a sweetest name carried upon a golden tendril of smoke teeth shines as paranoia bathes in a dimly lit shadow mask of lip husks and asps. people mistakingly taking credit further obscuring the obscured as handfuls of writs writhe and twist spitting fulcrum programs into the thoughts {dearly beguiled history is grinding}. Random: rAndom; place!ment in the yonder. FIGURE IT OUT. novelty skins. sky born clad shelled.

After sending over to our team of gnostic cave-dwellers to translate, this is what Jagjaguwar gleaned: following a hiatus, WILDERNESS are again playing live shows (complete list of which is HERE), and the band just recently collaborated with artist Charles Long at the Whitney Biennial 2008. An amazing snippet of their performance at the Whitney can be seen here:
http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_long

Also, a NEW WILDERNESS full-length is in the works, to be completed this spring/summer. As soon as we have more information on a potential release date, album title, track-listing, etc., we’ll convey that. All good things to those who wait. In the meantime, you can revisit “Emergency” from their most recent opus “Vessel States” here: http://www.scjag.com/mp3/jag/emergency.mp3