The Dodos
Tomorrow morning, Rockfeedback opens its office doors to The Dodos, who'll be stopping by our north London home to perform a session exclusively for the Rockfeedback TV cameras (much like this one we did with Fleet Foxes' J. Tillman a few months back). It'll be available to stream exclusively on Rockfeedback.com very shortly, but in the meantime, we thought we'd explain to you why it is we're so excited...
BIOGRAPHY:
Originally working in 2006 under the name Dodobird as a one man acoustic act, Meric Long gigged around San Fransisco playing folky guitar combined with a team of loops and ambient keyboards to his hearts content.
Having already studied West African Ewe drumming (what on Earth is West African Ewe Drumming?), Meric began to experiment with country blues fingerpicking techniques and eventually sought to create a band where the drumming would be central to helping bring out the rhythms of the acoustic guitar.
Meric then met Logan Kroeber, who had also been experimenting with drumming, but in the area of progressive metal. The band was formed.
Changing their name to The Dodos as a result of constant harrowing from first tour-mates Peter and the Wolf, Meric and Logan then went on to spend long hours improvising the music that would become their first album; Beware of the Maniacs.
The band quit their jobs and hit the road in October 2006.
The main concept behind second album Visiter was to capture the energy and intensity of their live show on record; they returned to Type Foundry Studio where Beware of the Maniacs had been recorded; experimenting further upon the lessons learned from the previous record and their back catalogue of live shows.
At one point during recording, the sounds of a thunderstorm inspired an impromptu horn session between Meric and guest trumpeter, Cory Gray; a small section of which can be heard on tracks ‘Fools’ and ‘Joe's Waltz’.
Visiter was named the third best album of 2008 by Under The Radar Magazine behind only Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend. The Dodos were also named 2nd best new(ish) act of 2008 by a Pitchfork readers’ poll, behind only Fleet Foxes.
Keaton Snyder joined the band in 2009 adding vibraphone to the mix. Their third album, Time To Die, is currently available for streaming in its entirety a week ahead of its release on this specially designed site.
NEWS:
The Dodos visit the UK for a five date tour in September. Here’s where, and more importantly when, you’ll be able to catch them:
September
1st – Glee Club, Birmingham
2nd – Thekla, Bristol
3rd – Bush Hall, London
4th – King Tut’s, Glasgow
5th – Ruby Lounge, Manchester
LINKS:
dodosmusic.net – The band’s official site offers pre-order details for the forthcoming album Time To Die
myspace.com/thedodos Seven tracks to stream, a whole loada tour dates, and the band’s blog are here.
timetodie.net – As a response to finding out their forthcoming album Time To Die had been leaked, the band decided to stream the entire thing in high quality mp3s from this specially created site. More than worth a listen.
VIDEOS:
FOOLS:
RED AND PURPLE:
FULL LIVE SET @ THE BOTTOM LOUNGE