Merge Records

Crooked Fingers – “Breaks in the Armor” in stores now!

October 11, 2011 – 11:31 am

We’re happy to welcome Crooked Fingers back to the Merge family with the release of Breaks in the Armor, available today on CD, LP, and digital download.

To celebrate the release, The AV Club has posted live video of Eric Bachmann and Liz Durrett playing “Bad Blood” and “Your Apocalypse” on the top of the Chicago Tribune building.

SPIN writes:

Crooked Fingers has been Eric Bachmann’s primary band for the past decade, but before that, he fronted Archers of Loaf, the seminal college rock act that sprung from Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s vaunted ’90s indie rock scene. And while Bachmann made news this year by reuniting Archers in January, then taking them out on the road at festivals like Sasquatch, he was holding an ace the whole time: Breaks in the Armor, a new, superb Crooked Fingers album.

Bachmann, who writes, records, and performs songs mainly under the name Crooked Fingers, lives in Athens, Georgia, these days, where he recorded at The Bakery with Matt Yelton (live sound engineer for the Pixies) throughout the winter of 2010/2011, enlisting the help of Liz Durrett on backing vocals. It’s a cohesive and diverse set of songs with less adorned and more direct and affecting arrangements. Beautifully understated, artfully phrased, and ultimately a paean to perseverance, the album seems to suggest that the breaks in the armor are more important than the armor itself.

Over the course of the coming year, Bachmann will alternate between touring as Crooked Fingers and with Archers of Loaf, making the most of two distinct and rewarding modes of expression and performance. All of which seems to be exactly where he should be again.

Order your copy of Crooked Fingers’ Breaks in the Armor on CD, LP, and digital download in the Merge store today.

Crooked Fingers on tour:
Oct 15 Carrboro NC – Cat’s Cradle – OCSC 10-Year Anniversary
Oct 27 Asheville NC – Grey Eagle
Oct 28 Knoxville TN – Pilot Light
Oct 29 Charlotte NC – The Evening Muse
Oct 30 Richmond VA – The Camel
Nov 01 Washington DC – IOTA
Nov 02 Philadelphia PA – Johnny Brenda’s
Nov 03 Hoboken NJ – Maxwells
Nov 04 New York NY – Mercury Lounge
Nov 05 Brooklyn NY – Cameo Gallery
Nov 06 Boston MA – TT the Bear’s
Nov 07 Montreal QC – Casa Del Popolo
Nov 08 Toronto ON – Drake
Nov 09 Detroit MI – Magic Stick
Nov 10 Cincinnati OH – MOTR Pub
Nov 11 Chicago IL – Schubas
Nov 12 Milwaukee WI – Cactus Club
Nov 13 Minneapolis MN – Triple Rock Social Club
Nov 14 Omaha NE – Waiting Room
Nov 15 Denver CO – Larimer Lounge
Nov 19 Portland OR – Mississippi studios
Nov 20 Seattle WA – The Crocodile
Nov 22 Santa Cruz CA – The Crepe Place
Nov 23 San Francisco CA – Bottom of the Hill
Nov 25 Los Angeles CA – The Echo
Nov 26 San Diego CA – Casbah
Nov 28 Tempe AZ – Club Red
Dec 01 Austin TX – Mohawk
Dec 02 Houston TX – Fitzgerald’s Downstairs
Dec 03 New Orleans LA – One Eyed Jacks
Dec 04 Atlanta GA – The Earl

Also posted in Archers of Loaf, Crooked Fingers, News, Stream, Tour | Comments (0)

Be Sociable, Share!

Tweet

Crooked Fingers announces “Breaks in the Armor” pre-order bonus, download “Typhoon” now!

August 23, 2011 – 2:36 pm

Eric Bachmann’s sixth full-length album as Crooked Fingers, Breaks in the Armor, will be in stores on October 11, 2011. Pre-orders of Breaks in the Armor through the Merge website will include acoustic demo versions of all eleven album tracks. The bonus material will be available for download on the day of release.

Download “Typhoon” from the Merge SoundCloud page now!

Bachmann, who writes, records, and performs songs mainly under the name Crooked Fingers, lives in Athens, Georgia, these days, where he recorded at The Bakery with Matt Yelton (live sound engineer for the Pixies) throughout the winter of 2010/2011, enlisting the help of Liz Durrett on backing vocals. It’s a cohesive and diverse set of songs with less adorned and more direct and affecting arrangements. Beautifully understated, artfully phrased, and ultimately a paean to perseverance, the album seems to suggest that the breaks in the armor are more important than the armor itself.

Over the course of the coming year, Bachmann will alternate between touring as Crooked Fingers and with Archers of Loaf, making the most of two distinct and rewarding modes of expression and performance. All of which seems to be exactly where he should be again.

Pre-order Breaks in the Armor through the Merge website now on CD or LP, and receive the bonus acoustic album download on the October 11th release day!

Crooked Fingers on tour:
Sep 07 Portland OR – Music Fest NW
Oct 15 Carrboro NC – Cat’s Cradle
Oct 27 Asheville NC – Grey Eagle
Oct 28 Knoxville TN – Pilot Light
Oct 29 Charlotte NC – The Evening Muse
Nov 01 Washington DC – IOTA
Nov 02 Philadelphia PA – Johnny Brenda’s
Nov 03 Hoboken NJ – Maxwells
Nov 04 New York NY – Mercury Lounge
Nov 05 Brooklyn NY – Cameo Gallery
Nov 06 Boston MA – TT the Bear’s
Nov 07 Montreal QC – Casa Del Popolo
Nov 08 Toronto ON – Drake
Nov 09 Detroit MI – Magic Stick
Nov 10 Cincinnati OH – MOTR Pub
Nov 11 Chicago IL – Schubas
Nov 12 Milwaukee WI – Cactus Club
Nov 13 Minneapolis MN – Triple Rock Social Club
Nov 14 Omaha NE – Waiting Room
Nov 15 Denver CO – Larimer Lounge
Nov 23 San Francisco CA – Bottom of the Hill
Nov 25 Los Angeles CA – The Echo
Nov 26 San Diego CA – Casbah
Dec 01 Austin TX – Mohawk
Dec 02 Houston TX – Fitzgerald’s Downstairs
Dec 03 New Orleans LA – One Eyed Jacks
Dec 04 Atlanta GA – The Earl

Also posted in Archers of Loaf, Crooked Fingers, News, Tour | Comments (0)

Be Sociable, Share!

Tweet

Crooked Fingers return with “Breaks in the Armor” out October 11!

July 11, 2011 – 2:32 pm

On October 11, 2011, Crooked Fingers will return to Merge with the release of Breaks in the Armor, available for preorder now on CD and LP in the Merge store. Preorders will ship to arrive on or around the release date. Each preorder will ship with a Breaks in the Armor poster while supplies last, and the first 100 posters will be signed!

<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/26066044">http://www.vimeo.com/26066044</a>

Eric Bachmann, who writes, records, and performs songs mainly under the name Crooked Fingers, lives in Athens, Georgia, these days, where he recorded Breaks in the Armor at The Bakery with Matt Yelton (live sound engineer for the Pixies) throughout the winter of 2010/2011, enlisting the help of Liz Durrett on backing vocals. It’s a cohesive and diverse set of songs with less adorned and more direct and affecting arrangements. Beautifully understated, artfully phrased, and ultimately a paean to perseverance, the album seems to suggest that the breaks in the armor are more important than the armor itself.

There’s an undeniable sense of community Bachmann has regained in returning to writing and performing as Crooked Fingers, working with Archers of Loaf and Merge Records again, and moving back to the southeast. In 2011, Archers of Loaf reunited, toured the US, and played on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and with the August 2011 reissue of their debut album Icky Mettle, Merge began a series of expanded re-mastered reissues of the band’s four studio albums. Over the course of the coming year, Bachmann will alternate between touring as Crooked Fingers and with Archers of Loaf, making the most of two distinct and rewarding modes of expression and performance. All of which seems to be exactly where he should be again.

Preorder Breaks in the Armor on CD or LP in the Merge Store now.

Track Listing:

1. Typhoon

2. Bad Blood

3. The Hatchet

4. The Counterfeiter

5. Heavy Hours

6. Black Candles

7. Went to the City

8. Your Apocalypse

9. War Horses

10. She Tows the Line

11. Our New Favorite

Also posted in Archers of Loaf, Crooked Fingers, News | Comments (0)

Be Sociable, Share!

Tweet

Archers of Loaf make a playlist for Spin!

July 6, 2011 – 2:18 pm

Eric Bachmann recently made a playlist of his new favorite artists for Spin Magazine. You can read about his picks here. And if you missed the band’s amazing performance on Jimmy Fallon, both videos are on our blog now!

Prefix Magazine argues that Icky Mettle is the Perfect ’90s Rock Record in this piece written by Matthew Fiander:

This is about representing a time and place, capturing just what made this sound and this period in a particular subset of rock music so damn compelling. Icky Mettle does all that not by sounding like every other record from the time, but by establishing its own unique, blaring fuzz that hits not just with volume, but with a rare force.

Re-mastered by Bob Weston and featuring new liner notes by Robert Christgau, Icky Mettle will come with bonus material including the entire Archers of Loaf vs. The Greatest of All Time EP as well as singles and b-sides from the Icky Mettle era. It will be available in stores beginning August 2 on CD, limited-edition blue vinyl and digital download. Reissues of Vee Vee, All the Nation’s Airports and White Trash Heroes will follow next year.

Download “What Did You Expect” from an out-of-print Merge 7-inch included on the Icky Mettle reissue

Archers of Loaf on tour:
July 08 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
July 09 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
July 22 Atlanta, GA The Earl
July 23 Atlanta, GA The Earl
July 24 Atlanta, GA The Earl
Aug 05 Washington, DC Black Cat
Aug 06 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Theatre
Aug 19 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Aug 20 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Sept 02 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
Sept 03 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
Sept 08 Portland, OR Musicfest NW – Crystal Ballroom
Sept 09 Seattle, WA Neumo’s
Dec 09 Minehead, UK Butlin’s Holiday Center – ATP’s Nightmare Before Christmas

Also posted in Archers of Loaf | Comments (0)

Be Sociable, Share!

Tweet

Saturday Night at the Cat’s Cradle: Archers of Loaf – “Audiowhore”

January 17, 2011 – 12:15 pm

| Comments (1)

Be Sociable, Share!

Tweet

An Evening to Remember

September 22, 2006 – 4:57 pm

Ok. Yes. I should have posted this sooner. But to be honest I’ve been having trouble putting it all into words.

On Tuesday night we, along with 600 hundred or so of our closest friends, were treated to an evening of music that holds no equal in recent memory. The Cat’s Cradle was packed to the gills for a mini-Mergefest: Portastatic; Lambchop and M. Ward. I doubt I could ever muster the words to aptly describe the awe, excitement and pride I felt as I watched these three bands put on performances that simply had my mind, my body, my heart and my soul reeling. It was one of those nights you never forget. One of those nights that helps remind me why I do what I do.

Portastatic kicked things off in high form with Mac and Margaret doing stripped down versions of songs old and new alike. But soon they were joined onstage by a revolving cast of musicians that seemed to turn each successive song into it’s own little universe. M. Ward finished the night off with an incredibly rocking set that had my jaw on the floor. I had the same reaction the first time I saw Matt onstage, alone with his guitar, 4 years ago. This time the tenor and energy was completely different, but no less engaging, as he and his stunning band ripped and roared through a set that seemed to leave the crowd exhausted but elated, wringing every ounce of energy from the room.

Both Portastatic and M. Ward were stunning and either set on their own would have been in the top 5 shows I’ve seen all year. But the main purpose of my post here today is to try to tell you about Lambchop, whose performance on this night was so powerful that I almost found myself moved to tears…

(CONTINUED: Click on jump to permalink below to read more)

You almost never know what you are going to get in a Lambchop performance. How many people are going to be onstage? (I’ve seen performances with anywhere from 5 to 18 band members) Will it swing you like an R&B revival, or sooth you like a lullaby? Will Kurt Wagner actually stand up at some point (I’ve seen this happen exactly twice in 13 years)? The one constant always seems to be the quality of the performance. On this cool September evening in Carrboro, NC they managed to exceed already high expectations.

Tuesday’s performance featured 8 Choppers, with the Tosca String Quartet bringing the total number of musicians on the crowded Cat’s Cradle stage to 12. The thing that always amazes about Lambchop is that all those people can blend so seamlessly together, presenting layer upon layer of sound that draws you in as you try to enjoy every intricate nuance, every flourish. Playing a healthy dose of songs from Damaged, as well as digging into the treasure chest for a few golden nuggets, the band was tight and on point all night long. The Tosca String Quartet added a dimension that we don’t always get here in the States but that European audiences have probably grown spoiled by. I know I could get spoiled by it in a hurry.

All in all I can’t recall a more powerful night of live music in my recent experience.

Lambchop is heading through the northeast this weekend with shows tonight in Boston (Paradise Club), tomorrow night in Montreal (Le National) and Sunday night in Toronto (Mod Club).

Portastatic ends their stint opening for M. Ward with shows tonight in Denton, TX (Haileys) and tomorrow night in Austin (The Parrish), while M. Ward heads westward on the final leg his tour.

Me? I’m off to see Richard Buckner / Eric Bachmann tonight, and will probably get blown away all over again.

If you have the chance to check out any of these shows in the next week or so, I couldn’t recommend them more.

Lambchop tour dates HERE.

M. Ward tour dates HERE.

Portastatic tour dates HERE

Richard Buckner tour dates HERE.

White Whale tour dates HERE.

-martin

(photo courtesy of Enid Valu)

Also posted in Lambchop, M. Ward, Portastatic, Richard Buckner, White Whale | Comments (1)

Be Sociable, Share!

Tweet

More Buckner

September 21, 2006 – 3:02 pm

Casey Burns did this poster for the Buckner/Bachmann show at Local 506 on Friday night. Considering the grizzly tales in the tour diary, I thought it was perfect!