When David Karsten Daniels last came to my town, he was opening for Tom Brousseau and Mice Parade. I went to the show alone (never a good start for a planned night of teetotaling), showed up very early (again...), and quickly found the venue changed to a club nearby, where I happened to know one of the bartenders quite well. After downing umpteen pints of beer and Jägermeister, I proceeded to talk the ear off of both Brousseau and Daniels (both of whom couldn't have been classier cats, for the record). Shotgunned notes cobbled together the next afternoon -- “...the sound of oompah band Card Sharks freckled-face Mona Lisa trumpet Judas Kiss forever spoken in native Tlingit wonder drug munchables...?!?!” -- proved a trifle inappropriate for a live review, especially for a review submitted to Tiny Mix Tapes (Have you read the live reviews on this site? They are positively spellbinding!). I am glad but embarrassed that I managed to remember everything about the night, from the downright inspirational sets to the pants-down passing-out in my apartment building's corridor with a 7-11 smoked turkey sub splayed out on my chest.
But I digress. Daniels' show was a blinder, as you would expect from such a down-to-earth but heaven-gazing songwriter. The three-piece, as opposed the dozen-and-a-half found on his Sharp Teeth (TMT Review) album, was astounding and quickly won over the few early worms in attendance with epic-sounding gems. Daniels' Sharp Teeth follow-up is entitled Fear of Flying, and it will be released by FatCat April 29. A digital download single, “Martha Ann” (b/w “Sharks”), was released March 10.
Fear of Flying tracklist:
1. Wheelchairs
2. That Knot Unties?
3. Martha Ann
4. Falling Down
5. A Myoclonic Jerk
6. A New Garment
7. Every Time a Baby Is Born
8. The Caretaker
9. Oh, Heaven Isn't Real
10. In My Child Mind You Were a Lion
11. Evensong
FatCat says of the single, “Martha Ann is a fine starting point; a harbinger of the change in tone, and redolent of what David does so well, melding bittersweet yearning to pop hooks, with a keen eye for compositional detail.” And who are you or I to argue with that (although I thought the statement had too many commas...)? It will certainly be a compelling listen; Daniels has that whole adorably beautiful/disturbing dichotomous thing down pat. Having just played some gigs at SXSW, Daniels will soon start two overlapping monthly residencies in Portland and Seattle and has three shows lined up with FatCat labelmate Nina Nastasia. A full U.S./Canadian tour has not yet been announced but is expected soon. If he decides to skip a certain Eastern Ontario town this time around, I'll know why... and I won't blame him one bit
04.07.08 - Seattle, WA - Nectar #
04.08.08 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios &
04.14.08 - Seattle, WA - Nectar $
04.15.08 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios *
04.21.08 - Seattle, WA - Nectar %
04.22.08 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
04.28.08 - Seattle, WA - Nectar (CD release show) ^
04.29.08 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios (CD release show) +
05.01.08 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern +
05.02.08 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Attic +
# PWRFL Power
& Matt Sheehy
$ Grand Hallway
* Tim Perry (of Pseudosix)
% The Moondoggies
^ Welcome
+ Nina Nastasia
! SXSW showcase w/Ola Podrida, Bowerbirds, Peter and the Wolf, Zookeeper, Brenden Jenkins
@ Porchlight Pop Festival w/Zykos, Peel, Joan of Arc, Headlights, The Little Ones, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Zookeeper
