Posts Tagged ‘Big Thief’

BIG THIEF – ” Breathe in My Lungs “

Posted: June 10, 2017 in MUSIC
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The trails that Brooklyn’s Big Thief — Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums) — take us down on “Capacity”, the band’s highly anticipated second record out on Saddle Creek Records, are overgrown with the wilderness of pumping souls.

After last year’s stunning Masterpiece, Capacity was recorded in a snowy winter nest in upstate New York at Outlier Studio with producer Andrew Sarlo. The album jumps right into lives marked up and nipped in surprisingly swift fashion. They are peopled and unpeopled, spooked and soothed, regenerating back into a state where they can once again be vulnerable. Lenker’s songs introduce us to a gallery of multi-facted women and deal with the complicated matters of identity — at once dangerous and curious, though never unbelievable. Lenker shows us the gentle side of being ripped open. Tricked into love, done in and then witnessing the second act of pulling oneself back together to prepare for it to all happen again, but this time to a sturdier soul, one who is going to take the punches better than ever before and deal some jabs and roundhouses of their own.

The album is thick with raw, un-doctored beauty: most of the songs on Capacity were played for the first time in the studio and were recorded the same day. “There is a darker darkness and a lighter light on this album,” Lenker explains. “The songs search for a deeper level of self-acceptance, to embrace the world within and without. I think Masterpiece began that process, as a reaction from inside the pain, whereas I feel Capacity examines the pain from the outside.”

The b-side to Big Thief’s  7-inch, “Mythological Beauty,” “Breathe In My Lungs” is a sparse one-off that slowly but surely expands from a fireside strum to a lush almost-anthem.

“Big Thief’s quiet power propels songs of the flesh and soul. These are timeless songs, memorable and momentous.” – NPR Music’s Bob Boilen

Big Thief’s sophomore album beautifully excavates family history and trauma into a delicate, intricately built folk rock record, showcasing the gorgeous style of singer Adrianne Lenker. – Pitchfork

“their new album is a huge leap forward in just about every possible way, a record made with enormous confidence and intuition and empathy.” – Stereogum

Big Thief – Breathe In My Lungs
From the Mythological Beauty 7″ – Out Now!

BIG THIEF – ” Mary “

Posted: June 6, 2017 in MUSIC
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It would have been natural for Big Thief’s second album,“Capacity” to expand on the richness of the previous collection “Masterpiece” by bathing the band’s new songs in lavish production. But if anything, Capacity takes Lenker to quieter and more private places, with an inward-facing sound to match her ever richer, altogether more intimate storytelling.

These are songs lush with detail, dotted with matter-of-factly dispensed places and proper names (Evelyn, Andrew, Mary, Haley), and yet they’re also abstract enough to retain an undercurrent of mystery. “Shark Smile” paints a vivid picture of a doomed drive, but instead of indulging in road-song clichés, Lenker prefers to linger on illuminative details  “the money pile on the dashboard, fluttering”  en route to a trip’s bad end. In “Watering,” “Mythological Beauty” and elsewhere, “Capacity’s” flashes of violence are rendered in bloody poetry, leaving the album’s back half to do the business of healing and adjusting.

There, “Capacity” takes several stunningly warm turns most notably in the song “Mary,” a love song to an enduring friendship. At five and a half minutes, it unfolds deliberately until a dense cluster of evocative words comes spilling out:

“What did you tell me, Mary / When you were there, so sweet and very / Full of field and stars you carried, all of time / Oh, and heavens, when you looked at me / Your eyes were like machinery / Your hands were making artifacts in the corner of my mind.”

Capacity spends a lot of time ruminating on scars — how they’re made, how they fade, how we learn to wear them comfortably. Which in turn makes “Mary,” and by extension the album, all the more cathartic in its soft celebration.

Big Thief – Mary
From the upcoming album “Capacity” – Out June 9th, 2017!

BIG THIEF – ” Live At SXSW Stubbs Austin Texas BBQ 2017 “

Posted: April 7, 2017 in MUSIC
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For Big Thief, fragility and power come inextricably intertwined. Singer and guitarist Adrianne Lenker may let her songs sit and seethe for long stretches, but those slow builds only maximize the catharsis of the big, loud, high-volume bursts of force that follow.
Onstage at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Texas — recorded live Wednesday as part of NPR Music’s SXSW showcase — Adrianne Lenker brought a mix of new material and songs from last year’s terrific “Masterpiece”. Throughout the set, Big Thief’s sound billowed out in grand waves, matching the large stage and open-air setting, and by the end of “Masterpiece” (the band’s signature song so far), Lenker was on her back, lost in the intensity of the moment. It felt like just the beginning for a band with a big, bright future.  a contrast to her 2013 solo LP, Hours Were The Birds, and her 2014 duo EPs with Buck Meek, a-sides and b-sides. Now, with Meek on guitar, Max Oleartchik on bass, and James Krivchenia on drums,

Set List
“Orange”
“Real Love”
“Vegas”
“Shoulders”
“Paul”
“Shark Smile”
“Parallels”
“Masterpiece”
“Mary”

BIG THIEF – ” Mythological Beauty ” Record Store Day Release 2017

Posted: April 6, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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We are excited to announce Big Thief’s highly anticipated second album,“Capacity”, will be out June 9th. The trails that the band takes us down on Capacity are overgrown with a wilderness of souls. These are carnivorous stories, with pangs of sadness and joy. Songwriter Adrianne Lenker shows us the gentle side of being ripped open, and then recounts the second act of pulling oneself back together to prepare for it all to happen again.

The first song to be shared (which will also be available on Record Store Day as a 7″ Vinyl single b/w non-album track “Breathe in My Lungs”) is the utterly captivating and semi-autobiographical “Mythological Beauty” (learn more about the song via her interview with NPR Music’s Bob Boilen on All Songs Considered.

The video for “Mythological Beauty” features a cameo by Lenker’s mother (who also graced the cover of Masterpiece). The gorgeous video, directed by Vanessa Haddad and Adam Gundersheimer, leaves itself open to interpretation as it follows a resolute woman played by Adrianne carrying a stricken man played by Buck Meek through the woods.

Big Thief – Mythological Beauty
From the upcoming album Capacity – Out 6/9/17!

BIG THIEF – ” Late Night Show With Seth Meyers “

Posted: April 5, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Brooklyn-based indie-rock outfit Big Thief made the trip to the Late Night Show With Seth Meyers to perform the title song from their aptly named album “Masterpiece“. The band seemed at home on set, with frontwoman Adrianne Lenker even busting a few moves on stage. Even more exciting, however, is Seth Meyers promise at the end of the show that the band has a new album in the works, to be released this comimg summer.

2017 is off to a busy start for Big Thief ! Last night they performed the title track from last year’s beloved album “Masterpiece” on Late Night with Seth Meyers. 

They also captivated a massive crowd at NPR’s SXSW 2017 showcase earlier this month. You can now watch the entire set recorded at Stubbs BBQ..

For Big Thief, fragility and power come inextricably intertwined. Singer and guitarist Adrianne Lenker may let her songs sit and seethe for long stretches, but those slow builds only maximize the catharsis of the big, loud, high-volume bursts of force that follow.
Onstage at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Texas — recorded live Wednesday as part of NPR Music’s SXSW showcase — Lenker brought a mix of new material and songs from last year’s terrific Masterpiece. Throughout the set, Big Thief’s sound billowed out in grand waves, matching the large stage and open-air setting, and by the end of “Masterpiece” (the band’s signature song so far), Lenker was on her back, lost in the intensity of the moment. It felt like just the beginning for a band with a big, bright future.

Set List
“Orange”
“Real Love”
“Vegas”
“Shoulders”
“Paul”
“Shark Smile”
“Parallels”
“Masterpiece”
“Mary”

Now we’re excited to announce their first release of 2017, the “Mythological Beauty” , which will hit store shelves this Record Store Day (April 22nd). The RSD Exclusive version of the 7” is limited to 700 copies on opaque yellow vinyl and features the tracks “Mythological Beauty” and “Breathe in My Lungs.” Be sure to head out to your favorite local record store on April 22nd to pick up your copy!

Big Thief also have a long list of tour dates in the coming months. 

BIG THIEF – ” Live at SXSW Austin Texas ” 15th March 2017

Posted: March 21, 2017 in MUSIC
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For Big Thief, fragility and power come inextricably intertwined. Singer and guitarist Adrianne Lenker may let her songs sit and seethe for long stretches, but those slow builds only maximize the catharsis of the big, loud, high-volume bursts of force that follow.
Onstage at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Texas — recorded live Wednesday as part of NPR Music’s SXSW showcase  Lenker brought a mix of new material and songs from last year’s terrific album “Masterpiece”. Throughout the set, Big Thief’s sound billowed out in grand waves, matching the large stage and open-air setting, and by the end of “Masterpiece” (the band’s signature song so far), Lenker was on her back, lost in the intensity of the moment. It felt like just the beginning for a band with a big, bright future.

Set List
“Orange”
“Real Love”
“Vegas”
“Shoulders”
“Paul”
“Shark Smile”
“Parallels”
“Masterpiece”
“Mary”

BIG THIEF – ” Dandelion “

Posted: December 17, 2016 in MUSIC
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2016 was quite the year for Big Thief. Their debut album, “Masterpiece” (now available on cassette for the first time), was released to universal acclaim , NPR listeners voted them the No1 bandof 2016, The Guardian named them one of the 50 most exciting independent artists in the world, they performed on NPR’s World Cafe and the Tiny Desk Concert, played Central Park’s Summerstage, toured the world,  Those are just Some of their highlights.

New 7″ Containing Solo Versions Of ‘MASTERPIECE’ And New Track ‘DANDELION’ 

First pressing limited to 500 copies, Big Thief are proud to unveil a 7″ containing solo acoustic performances from frontwoman Adrianne Lenker, here recorded by Luke Temple of Here We Go Magic, all adorned with a cover painting by Temple.

Put to tape one wintry day in early 2016, the recordings find Temple capturing Lenker in a searching, intimate performance. They offer a first public hearing for ‘Dandelion’, a beguiling new song from Lenker’s visionary pen; while the version of ‘Masterpiece contained here casts a new light on the title track of their acclaimed debut LP.

Explaining how the recordings came about, Lenker says: “On tour with Here We Go Magic, our van, Bonnie, broke down in the Rocky Mountains. We really didn’t want to miss any shows. Fortunately, Here We Go kindly offered me the empty seat in their truck, and I went ahead to play two solo shows while the rest of the band fixed Bonnie.

“After Luke saw the show, he had an idea to capture the simple raw form of the songs played solo. Several months later, I went out to Hudson, NY, and we filled eight cassette tapes, with one song played through a few times per 15-minute tape. It was a really relaxing way of recording. I thought we might just stuff the tapes in a shoebox in a closet and find them years later. It’s nice to record without the intention of releasing the thing you’re making.”

There are more big things in store for Big Thief in 2017. For starters, they’re hitting the road with fellow Saddle Creek artist Sam Evian in January and then touring throughout the spring. Here’s where you can catch them…

Fri-Feb-03, Bristol, UK, Louisiana
Sat-Feb-04, Sheffield, UK, Leadmill
Sun-Feb-05, Edinburgh, UK, Mash House
Tue-Feb-07, Manchester, UK, Soup Kitchen
Wed-Feb-08, Nottingham, UK, Bodega
Thu-Feb-09, London, UK, Lexington
Fri-Feb-10, Brighton, UK, The Hope

“Among the group’s many recently converted fans is Jeff Tweedy, of Wilco fame, who tweeted: ‘Great guitars, great lyrics, great melodies…. What more could you possibly want?’ It’s just that simple.”

BIG THIEF – ” Masterpiece ” Best Albums Of 2016

Posted: December 8, 2016 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Big Thief

It takes nerve to title your debut album “Masterpiece”. As we noted on the midyear list, the Brooklyn band Big Thief has an awful lot of nerve. What is more important is that the group has excellent songs, which run on smoky, vulnerable vocals and superb melodies. Led by the midnight twang of Adrianne Lenker’s voice, Big Thief’s songs capture the rural desperation of a freight trainyard romance (“Paul”), a motel-screen movie marathon (“Vegas”) or an abusive family (“Real Love”). It is a taut, emotionally resonant collection of songs with a killer climax in “Parallels.” And among the group’s many recently converted fans is Jeff Tweedy, of Wilco fame, who tweeted: “Great guitars, great lyrics, great melodies…. What more could you possibly want?” It’s just that simple.

Big Thief’s Masterpiece is a shared experience. It was an album I’d put on riding in a car with friends, travelling to festivals and gigs . For their album debut, Big Thief added heft to these whispery tales. And that often comes in the form of Buck Meek’s guitar, as he underpins Adrianne Lenker’s chilling voice. I’ve listened to this album more than any other in 2016. It’s just about perfect. Calling your album “Masterpiece” is a bold statement, but Big Thief get closer than you’d think on the title track to their debut for Saddle Creek Records. Against a backdrop of beautifully ragged guitars, frontwoman Adrianne Lenker describes what sounds like a late-night bar crawl, always one drink ahead of loss and grief: “There’s only so much letting go you can ask someone to do.”

BIG THIEF – ” Masterpiece “

Posted: July 21, 2016 in MUSIC
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Big Thief - Masterpiece

Big Thief is muscular and frail. Its songs revolve around singer and guitarist Adrianne Lenker and her musical partner, guitarist Buck Meek. They’re storytellers as much as song makers and their distorted guitar-based music is a powerful underpinning to vivid and stark imagery:

“I’ll be your morning bright goodnight shadow machine.
I’ll be your record player baby if you know what I mean.
I’ll be your real tough cookie with the whiskey breath.
I’ll be a killer and a thriller and the cause of our death”
Masterpiece is one of the strongest debut albums of 2016. It’s an album on being human, finding compassion, being a lover or just a friend.

“Cry like a bird, fly like a baby
Mama got drunk and daddy went crazy.
If your speech slurs, if you feel shaky
meet me out back, I’ll be there waiting.”
Masterpiece shakes off the trite relationship cliches that are trappings of so much rock music. It’s a special world they’ve created and it lives in my head on repeat.

Sometimes the most revealing lyrics for a song can come from deep within one’s subconscious. For Adrianne Lenker of Brooklyn-based band Big Thief, that statement would likely ring true more times than not. Lenker feels that much of the lyrical content on Big Thief’s debut album Masterpiece—which came out in late May on Saddle Creek Records—spilled out from her subconscious. It’s like a volcano that had built up so much pressure that it erupted.

For example, on the album’s title track she sings, “Old stars / Filling up my throat / You gave ‘em to me when I was born / Now they’re coming out.” She says she was at songwriting festival, and that “there was a lot of stuff happening with friends and family and teachers.”

“I got my guitar and walked up to the top of hill and wrote the song and just sang it. I didn’t have anything with me to record it or write it down,” Lenker says. “All the verses came out at once. I guess it was just in the air.”

She’s joined by members Buck Meek, James Krivchenia and Max Oleartchik. The seeds for the band were planted several years ago when Lenker moved from Minnesota to New York and met Meek at a New York marketplace.

Lenker didn’t know anyone in the area, and he had been living in the city for awhile, so he offered to be her tour guide. That led to them playing songs together and going on tour They become as dynamic as tenacious as the old Dragnet episode that their band was named after. The band recorded Masterpiece over a 12-day period at a friend’s family’s old lake house with producer Andrew Sarlo. They worked in the makeshift studio they had built and used their own gear to record.r as a duo in a 1987 Conversion van. It became evident right away that Meek was someone that she wanted to work with.

Big Thief :: The Best of What's Next

BIG THIEF – ” Real Love “

Posted: March 4, 2016 in MUSIC
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Only a few weeks after the announcement of their deal with Saddle Creek, Big Thief have revealed a release date for their debut album Masterpiece – the eagerly awaited LP drops May 27th.

Big Thief is the product of Brooklyn-based musicians Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik and James Krivchenia. Lenker, who began her career as a solo artist, met Meek in New York a few years ago, where the two quickly formed a musical partnership. While performing in dive bars and in basements, they recorded new music, including Lenker’s solo album, Hours Were The Birds. Lenker and Meek then joined forces with the other half of Big Thief and spent last July recording Masterpiece in a Lake Champlain, New York, studio with producer Andrew Sarlo.

“Struggle is inherent in love. Without consciousness, human or animal, would love exist?,” Lenker said of their new track, “Real Love.” “We make love, and love makes us. Maybe that’s why it is so hard for us when we feel that we’ve lost it, as if we’ve disappeared.”

Big Thief is set to perform several showcases at SXSW this month and will hit the road with Yuck for an extensive tour this spring.

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