On June 14th, Neumos in Seattle will be hosting a memorial for Darius Minwalla. Ken Stringfellow, Jon Auer, Matt Harris, and Joe Skyward will be present, though we don’t yet know who will be performing and when. All proceeds will benefit the Minwalla family.
Also, Hugh Cornwell was interviewed by Sean Nelson last week about Darius, who played drums in Hugh’s band for the past few years. You can read that interview here on The Stranger.
A cause of death has still not been determined.
Tickets are available now.
Image via Jon’s supporting act Henrik, who had some nice things to say on his blog.
Ken Stringfellow was interviewed by Sydney Unleashed ahead of his Australian tour next month, and had news regarding the first 4 Posies records:
For news, we will see over the next year the re-issue of the Posies first four albums with expanded content, quite a bit never before heard and that’s *after* we released a 4-CD box set of outtakes in 2000. We found even *more* stuff. Plus the albums will get remastered, pressed on vinyl, etc.
If you follow Ken’s blog, you already know that he and Jon Auer are recording new Posies songs.
Dates for Ken’s Australian tour:
April 11 – KS solo, Petersham Bowling Club, Sydney AUSTRALIA
April 13 — KS solo, Grace Darling Hotel, Melbourne AUSTRALIA
April 16 — Coronet Blue (KS on keyboards), the Vanguard, Sydney AUSTRALIA
The Posies will be playing “Frosting on the Beater” with the original line-up (Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow, Dave Fox, and Mike Musburger) as part of the Moe 20 Neumos 10th Anniversary Shows on January 10th in Seattle.
Tickets are on sale now.
Following the success of their take on both Funeral by the Arcade Fire and the music of David Bowie, The Seattle Rock Orchestra turns its attention to Radiohead, performing The Bends and OK Computer at The Moore Theater in Seattle, Saturday Feb. 19 @ 8pm. Jon will sing “Fake Plastic Trees” “Bones” and “Nice Dream” and perhaps a surprise number at the end of the evening. Rachel Flotard of Visqueen, Joshua Morrison, and John Van Deusen of The Lonely Forest are among the other guest singers. More info here.
The Posies appeared on Seattle’s 107.7 The End last week – check out their session here, with performances of “The Glitter Prize” and “Licenses To Hide.”
The Line of Best Fit asks Ken & Jon the same questions in separate interviews, for an interesting take.
Extensive interview with UberRock.
Jon talked to MTV music book club Jerzy Kosinski’s “Being There”
Jon shares the inspiration for the title of BLOOD/CANDY with Stereo Subversion:
It’s actually kind of from a poem by this guy named Thax Douglas. He’s this kind of local poet in the Chicago area that would come to rock shows and he would write poems for the bands about the bands at their performances. One of the phrases he used to describe us was something about blood candy. I think he was talking about how there is this totally sweet, harmonious side to what we do, but also there’s a lot of passion. There’s also more of a darker undercurrent than just maybe what the melodic, harmonious side might imply.
Spinner covers what to expect on the upcoming tour, and the Philadelphia Examiner asks about influences behind the new album.
Spanish-language interview from the Heineken’s website.
Gail Worley reviews BLOOD/CANDY as her ‘Rad CD of the Week’, and UK Music Review gives it 9/10
Stereogum premieres the first single “The Glitter Prize,” and it’s also featured on Spin’s October playlist.
Read all about the Posies new album ‘Blood/Candy’ in this exclusive interview on Huffington Post, by Tony Sachs.
The idea for a new album came about during the Frosting On The Beater anniversary tour in 2008, and according to Stringfellow, a meeting with Rykodisc in ’09 really set the wheels in motion. “They were enthusiastic enough to say, ‘Hey, we should really make this happen, and soon.’ And we were like, ‘Sounds like a great idea.’ Starting last year, we had the idea to start recording by this spring, knowing that we had to write some songs.”
Blood/Candy is the first Posies album for which Auer and Stringfellow actually wrote material in advance of the recording sessions since Amazing Disgrace in 1996. “One of the things I was hoping to do on this record,” says Auer, “was go back to the idea of Ken and me writing most of the songs, versus the last recording we did, where we kind of cobbled things together in the studio with everyone. I just felt like we needed to have that time to prepare and actually sit down and write.” As a result, Stringfellow says, “I would say that I feel the songs on this one a bit deeper… there’s stuff from way down in there that I think gives it a little more soul.”
Click here to read the entire interview.
‘Blood/Candy’ tracklist:
1. Plastic Paperbacks
2. The Glitter Prize
3. Licenses To Hide
4. So Caroline
5. Take Care Of Yourself
6. Cleopatra Street
7. For The Ashes
8. Accidental Architecture
9. She’s Coming Down Again!
10. Notion 99
11. Holiday Hours
12. Enewetak
Jon shares the news on Facebook…
pleased to announce: 1) The Posies will play “Frosting On The Beater” in its’ entirety on 4/17/10 @ The Crocodile in Seattle, WA 2) A handful of hours after said Crocodile show, freshly rocked Posies will leave Seattle for the south of Spain to begin recording a new album for release in 2010, and 3) The Posies will also play all new material for said new album @ The Crocodile on 4/17/10 as well. For rizzle! Tickets go on sale online 2/6/10 @ TheCrocodile.com
For the most up-to-date information, follow @theposies on Twitter!
Jon performs solo this week in NYC, opening for Bob Mould at City Winery. Click on the dates below for more info:
Jon will also appear on Tom Scharpling’s epic “Best Show on WFMU “Tuesday night 1.19.10 from 8 -11pm EST. Go here to stream the show live.