Daniel Knox is currently working on new material as an artist in residence at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center in Watermill, NY. Keep tabs on his progress over at Tumblr.
The Watermill Center has a rich collection of cultural artifacts and fine art on hand at the facility, some of which can be seen in Daniel’s workspace.
The shoes in the beginning of the video were worn by Marlene Dietrich in 1975 on the night she fell and broke her ankle in Australia, marking the end of her performing career. Daniel requested the pair of heels be brought to his room and placed at his work desk.
Tickets are now on sale for Daniel Knox’s premiere performance of John Atwood: Black & Whites taking place on Jan. 25 at 92YTribeca in NYC. See the venue’s site for additional details.
Follow Daniel Knox’s Activity At Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center
Rising Chicago Artists Daniel Knox and John Atwood Receive Prestigious Watermill Residency, Explore Dark Matters, Present Mixed Media Event In January 2012
DANIEL KNOX: JOHN ATWOOD BLACK & WHITES from Daniel Knox on Vimeo.
As an artist in residence at Robert Wilson’s esteemed Watermill Center in Water Mill, NY, Nov 29 – Jan 22, Daniel Knox will create a long-form composition and song cycle based on the photographs of John Atwood. The pieces, titled John Atwood: Black & Whites, will premiere live at 92YTribeca in New York City on January 25, 2012 along with an exhibition of Atwood’s photos.
Knox is a songwriter and composer from Springfield, IL, living and working in Chicago. His most recent album, Evryman For Himself, was released in 2011 on the American independent label La Société Expéditionnaire. He has performed throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland with artists such as Jarvis Cocker, David Lynch, and Rufus Wainwright.
Knox trades on the tension created when alluring melodies and his rich tenor are mixed with bone-dry tales and his biting, sardonic wit. Similarly, Atwood has a knack for drawing beauty out of dark corners and attracting and repelling in equal measure. His portraits of disenchantment, drunkenness, detritus, exposure, exhaustion, and delusion, whether damning or celebrating, are striking and resonant.
Knox’s central long-form work, along with affiliated shorter pieces, will be performed by piano, voice, bass, horns, strings, accordion and percussion. The music will dwell at the intersection of serious composition and popular song in much the same way as the works of Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Irving Berlin – and more recently – Gavin Bryars, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Hynrick Gorecki, and David Byrne.
This collaboration is a chance for two distinctive artists from the same Heartland hometown to explore the similar veins running through their work. You should expect their combined voices to express nothing less than a new American Gothic.
MORE:
Daniel Knox Website | http://www.danielknox.com/
John Atwood Website: http://www.johnatwoodphotography.com/
92YTribeca | www.92YTribeca.org
Watermill Center | http://www.watermillcenter.org/residency/knox
Coliseum “Parasites” EP Released 11/15/11
The bulk of Parasites was produced and recorded by J. Robbins (JAWBOX, BURNING AIRLINES, etc.) at Washington, DC’s legendary Inner Ear Studios, the site of classic recordings from BAD BRAINS, FUGAZI, LUNGFISH, RITES OF SPRING and countless others. The sessions were much like a pilgrimage for the members of Coliseum; many of the albums that shaped their music and their lives were recorded at Inner Ear, the master tapes still lining the shelves. The EP is rounded out by three outtakes from the House With A Curse sessions (recorded by MY MORNING JACKET and YOUNG WIDOWS producer Kevin Ratterman) and an eighth song recorded at new Louisville studio Treehouse Audio, all of which where mixed by Robbins at his Magpie Cage studio in Baltimore, forming a cohesive whole.
Stylistically, the Parasites EP shows that COLISEUM continues to refuse to be pigeonholed by genre or expectation. The EP opens with the one-two punch of “One Last Night” and “Waiting (Too Late),” which sees the band first giving a nod to their d-beat roots while taking unexpected twists and turns, then exploding into one of their catchiest anti-anthems yet. From there they wind through six more songs including blazing hardcore tirades and dark melodic territory that’s entirely new for the band, wrapping it all up with a new version of “Give Up And Drive,” a road worn anthem originally included on their long out of print debut LP from 2004.
For the cover art, the band enlisted illustrator Rick Froberg, singer and guitarist from HOT SNAKES, DRIVE LIKE JEHU, and currently OBITS, known for his fine art work and unique album covers for his own bands. Froberg’s art rarely graces other bands’ releases and his singular style gives Parasites not only a great record cover, but also a very different change of pace for COLISEUM.
New Treefight For Sunlight Video & MP3 premieres for “What Became Of You And I?”
MOJO – 4 stars ****
“They sound huge, muscular and thoroughly orchestral, with Brian Wilson-ish vocal harmonies and nods to Steve Reich’s piano minimalism”
Uncut – 4 stars ****
“Their harmony-drenched debut exudes joyfulness and owes much to The Beach Boys and The Turtles… Stunning”
Q – 4 stars ***
New Son Lux Track Premiere & New Release
We Are Rising by Son Lux is officially out today, June 14th on Anticon. Listen to the new track “All The Right Things” over at Prefix.
Daniel Knox Daytrotter Session
Some time ago, Chicago songwriter Daniel Knox made a stop at the Rock Island, Ill. Daytrotter studio, and the five-song session is available now for streaming and download on the Daytrotter website. The session features several songs you probably haven’t heard yet, a Fred Rogers cover, and as usual, a great, insightful write-up!
Daniel Knox Bits
Daniel Knox performed live on the WBEZ’s Eight Forty Eight program today. Watch him play here.
Thursday, May 26th, Daniel Knox plays a record release show at The Hideout with label mates Judson Claiborne.
Time Out Chicago chimes in here.
East Coast US dates with Judson Claiborne:
May 28 – Grand Rapids, MI – Soil & the Sun Loft
May 29 – Pittsburgh, PA – Garfield Artworks
May 30 – Washington, DC – The Looking Glass Lounge
June 1 – Philadelphia, PA – Kung-Fu Necktie
June 2 – Brooklyn, NY – the Rock Shop
June 3 – Cincinatti, OH – Northside Tavern
June 5 – Chicago, IL – Do Division Festival
w/ Big Freedia, Bonobo, Dengue Fever, Fujiya & Miyagi, Javelin, Omar Souleyman, Mirah & Thao, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Royal Bangs, Tristen
Introducing… Daniel Knox
March 1st Releases
Today, TWO PMA PR artists release their new albums: Toronto-based The Two Koreas are releasing Science Island (Randy Vicar/Last Gang Records), and Portland, OR-based Strangled Darlings are releasing The Devil in Outer Space: An Operetta (Mudfarm Records).
Always genre-bending, The Two Koreas’ Science Island finds the band performing what they call “glacial garage.” Glacial garage is, as its very name attests, garage rock encased in ice. A frozen tableaux of ray-gunned punk and strobe-lit psychedelia, captured in a state of permanent combustion, floating for all eternity. The Two Koreas will showcase their “glacial garage” at the release show for Science Island, March 25, in Toronto, ON, at The Shop. Science Island, can currently be streamed in its entirety HERE.
Born of self imposed lock-down recording sessions in the harsh Vermont winter, Strangled Darlings risk-taking pushes new boundries with The Devil in Outer Space, as the group’s operetta explores answers to the inspired question, what would happen if God commandeered the Devil’s spaceship? Vocalist George Veech’s lyrical answers plumb the depths of gentle tragedy, abject bleakness, and William Blake-esque apostasy. His recorded mandolin, guitar and tenor banjo create dark and brooding atmospheres, that compliment and swell over cellist and general rhythm princess Jessica Anderly’s playing. Her unorthodox style of playing a five string cello as a bass displays an intuitive sense of knowing which beats to drop as much as which ones to add.
Strangled Darlings are embarking on a 10 date, mostly local, tour in support of the new album:
March 5th- Portland, OR @ Alberta Street
March 17th- Arcata, CA @ 6 Rivers Brewery
March 18th- Berkley, CA @ Starry Plough
March 24th- Pendleton, OR @ The Great Pacific
March 26th- Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur
April 8th- Eugene, OR @ Axe and Fiddle
April 9th- Salem, OR @ Boon’s
June 11th- Portland, OR @ White Eagle