Cory Graves
Midlake Announces New Album, The Morning News Loses Its Music Critic And Sarah Jaffe Calls A Doctor.
When we posted our list of our most anticipated local releases still to come in the second half of 2013, we had the following to say about the prospects of getting a new Midlake album by the year's end: “These days, waiting three-plus years between albums is more the norm than the exception for a band such as Midlake. But the profound perfectionists in this soft-rockin' outfit have certainly proved at least this much over the course of their catalog: Whether you actually enjoy the band's aesthetic doesn't matter; musically, pretty much everything this group does is flawless.”
At that point, though, we'd heard nothing from the band's camp regarding an upcoming release. To a certain extent, our hopes for a follow-up to 2010's The Courage of Others being released sometime this year were an exercise in optimism. Earlier this week the band finally confirmed what many music fans from North Texas and beyond have suspected all along when they announced a new album called Antiphon would, in fact, be released this fall. And while we somewhat expected the band to release an album at some point this year, the news that lead vocalist/songwriter Tim Smith had left the band came as a pretty big shocker.
A statement on the band's website reads: “We are beyond excited to share this new record with everyone. Since the departure of Tim Smith from Midlake in November of last year, we've worked days and nights in the studio to write and record this album. We've pushed ourselves and challenged ourselves and feel that Antiphon represents an ultimate genesis both musically and spiritually. We have so many great announcements and plans developing, but more than anything, we are excited to perform these new songs along with our past favorites live for you. We look forward to seeing some of you in August, and if we miss you then, we will see you in the months following.” You can find the full statement here.
We assume that Midlake's soon-to-be beefed up tour schedule will also mean that drummer McKenzie Smith won't have quite as much free time on his hands in the immediate future to continue working with Sarah Jaffe, whom he has been producing new material for as of late. We don't necessarily expect that it will put a damper on Ms. Jaffe's future output, however. Jaffe and Kanye West producer Symbolyc One — who have recently been working on a collaborative project they're calling The Dividends — posted a photo of themselves on the web this week in a Los Angeles studio meeting with legendary producer Dr. Dre. On his Facebook page S1 had the following to say regarding the experience: “We having dinner with my mentor/legend Dr Dre right now. Incredible person! And hearing him keep telling me about how much of a fan he's been of mines is sooo humblin.”
S1 wasn't the only notable Dallas figure to make a big announcement via the social network this week: longtime local DJ, and onetime program director at KDGE 102.1-FM The Edge, Josh Venable made public his plans to move to Tulsa to take over the program director/afternoon DJ duties at Z-104.5-FM The Edge. Lest you worry about the future of Venable's A Wide Open Space blog and/or his Smiths cover band, he says both will continue in some form or another. Writes Venable: “I am happy to say that not only do I like the town, but I love the people I'll be working with. I'm going to work for a much smaller company in Tulsa where I won't have a multitude of bosses (who all say different things) or have to be worried about the annual layoffs. The Edge in Tulsa is a heritage alternative station with a fantastic staff and I really couldn't be happier. It's only four hours from Dallas, I'll be doing afternoons, have a specialty show again and be the program director. You can listen in [here]. That being said, yes my band Panic will continue on (show announcement in the next week). A Wide Open Space will also continue, I think, but maybe in a slightly different form. We shall see I guess.”
Changes are afoot for another tenured member of the local music media as well. Late last week Dallas Morning News music critic Mario Tarradell announced his resignation from the paper where he'd worked for nearly 20 years. “PR is the plan,” Tarradell tells White Noise. “Working on that now.”
Those aren't the only new beginnings we've learned about this week, though. After numerous flirtations with opening over the last several years, Fort Worth's Ridglea Theater finally seems poised to rise to prominence in a city that's desperately been yearning for a Granada-sized venue as of late. According to the theater's owner Jerry Shults — who also owns the Gas Pipe chain of head shops — the Ridglea's grand re-opening will happen sometime in September. Still, there have yet to be any indications/announcements of bands Shults plans to book for the venue yet.
Also this week? Wanz Dover debuted yet another new project last week at The Crown and Harp. This one, a no-wave project called Silver Saint also features the work of drummer Gerard Bendiks who has previously played with Zanzibar Snails, among others.
Elsewhere, New Fumes got added to this month's My Bloody Valentine show, Polyphonic Spree member Buffi Jacobs will perform with her Rockestra side project to the House of Blues as part of a David Tutera-hosted speaking engagement, and the locally-produced Descendents doc, Filmage, will be shown at a handful of festivals over the next month, including dates in Sweden, California, and Canada. A full list of dates can be found here.
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