All about the Benjamins

Benjamin Gibbard's debut solo album Former Lives just came out on Barsuk Records. Gibbard will be hitting the road in November in support of his album. I get the feeling that it will be pretty low-key with just Gibbard and his guitar (as seen on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon).

Of course, I've been following Gibbard's band, Death Cab for Cutie since the early 2000, having seen them at the tiny 7th Street Entry to the 5000-capacity Roy Wilkins Auditorium.

Although the band can easily sell out any venues, I think part of their problem is their band name. As Lara pointed out in her …And You Will Know Us by the Ridiculously Long Band Name and Other Obnoxious Idiosyncratic Moniker article: "I know, I know, Death Cab is a serious, important band. Forgive me."

I think as simply "Benjamin Gibbard", people will accept his music as "serious". It should be interesting to see the fans at his upcoming shows:

11/01 Minneapolis MN @ Assembly Hall* 11/02 Chicago, IL @ Athenaeum Theatre * 11/04 Somerville, MA @ Somerville Theater * 11/05 New York, NY @ Town Hall * 11/07 Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre * 11/08 Washington, DC @ Sixth & I * 11/10 Saxapahaw, NC @ The Haw River Ballroom * 11/11 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse * 11/13 San Francisco, CA @ Palace of Fine Arts+ 11/14 Los Angeles, CA @ Wilshire Ebell +

11/16 Seattle, WA @ The Showbox+ 11/17 Seattle, WA @ Washington Hall 11/18 Portland, OR @ The Crystal Ballroom+ 11/29 Hamburg, Germany @ Kulurkirche Köln 11/30 Berlin, Germany @ Passionskirche 12/03 London, UK @ Union Chapel 12/04 Brussels, Belgium @ ORANGERIE 12/05 Paris, France @ Café de la Danse * w/ Advance Base, + w/ Damien Jurado

You know that front man for Band of Horses, Benjamin Bridwell called his original band Horses? They changed their name, probably because they needed a more unique name, or possibly because of other bands called Horses. Plus, I always think of Patti Smith, in terms of music.

Anyway, Band of Horses are currently on tour in support of their album, Mirage Rock, which came out last month (September 18th), via Columbia Records.

If the new album had a feel of classic Americana rock (Neil Young, Tom Petty), it could possibly have something to do with producer Glyn Johns, who has worked with Led Zeppelin, Joe Cocker, Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Clapton, among others. Critics generally loved it, but Pitchfork didn't love it, calling it, "Americana-flavored junk food devoid of substance."

Tour dates below:

10/23/12 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom 10/24/12 Houston, TX House Of Blues 10/26/12 Tempe, AZ The Marquee 10/27/12 San Pedro, CA Warner Grand Theatre 10/28/12 Oakland, CA Fox Theater 11/15/12 Birmingham, HMV 11/16/12 Glasgow, O2 Academy Glasgow 11/17/12 Dublin, Ireland Olympia Theatre 11/19/12 Manchester, Manchester Academy 11/20/12 London, HMV Hammersmith Apollo 12/01/12 Madison, WI Barrymore Theatre 12/03/12 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan Theater 12/05/12 Toronto, ON Massey Hall

12/06/12 Montreal, QC Metropolis 12/09/12 Boston, MA House Of Blues Boston 12/11/12 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom 12/14/12 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory 12/15/12 Richmond, VA The National 01/15/13 Wellington Wellington Town Hall 01/16/13 Auckland Auckland Town Hall 01/18/13 Sydney, Australia Sydney Showgrounds 01/20/13 Gold Coast, Australia Parklands 01/22/13 Newtown, Australia Enmore Theatre 01/23/13 St. Kilda, Australia Palais Theatre 01/25/13 Adelaide, Australia RA&HS Showgrounds 01/26/13 Melbourne Flemington Racecourse 01/28/13 Perth, Australia Claremont Oval

IO Echo is a Los Angeles duo (Ioanna Gika and Leopold Ross) and their self-titled debut EP came out in the US prior to CMJ. UK fans will need to wait until November 26th to get the record via LuvLuvLuv Records.

You can stream it on Pure Volume with commentaries.

IO Echo's music was recently used as the soundtrack to a short film by dancer, choreographer and director Benjamin Millepied (best known for his choreography and starring role in Darren Aronofsky's feature Black Swan and also Natalie Portman's husband.)

The video is available on Nowness.

The band is currently in the UK: