Last year, Brooklyn lo-fi folkies Woods put out the refreshingly brief, refreshingly awesome At Echo Lake (TMT Review). Normal folks would have taken a bit of a break and given the public time to prep themselves for some more crisp, Neil Young-ish folk rock, but Woods — evil geniuses that they are — have no regard for the public’s needs relating to their music. As they see it, the world needs more Woods records (and I’m not inclined to say they’re wrong), so they’ve got another one, Sun & Shade, coming out via their own Woodsist label on June 14.
Strange things are afoot at that very Woodsist label, though. Strange things that aren’t actually that strange, namely the creation of a Woodsist Headquarters in the small town of Warwick, NY. To christen their sturdy ship, the folks at Woodsist went and recorded an album. That album? Sun & Shade. See, it all comes back around. Did you think I was getting off track, telling you a tangential anecdote about Woodsist Headquarters? Well, I wasn’t.
More tales from Woodsist HQ: Woods had some help making Sun & Shade. That help came in the form of Glenn Donaldson, who you may know from his work with The Skygreen Leopards and The Art Museums. What exactly was the help that Donaldson provided? Production work? Extra instrumentation? Catering? Could be anything, as the press release doesn’t say. Donaldson, however, had some fine words of his own about Woods on this new record: “These guys veer into West Coast & Kraut explorations when they get bored of structure, but you won’t mind indulging them.” Oh man, just like me! I’m always eschewing the structure of my office job for krautrock indulgences. My co-workers aren’t that permissive, though.
Before letting the world into all that Sun & Shade, Woods will be taking a trip to Europe. That’s where they’ll play their live dates! I mean, they’ll probably play more after that in other places. But right now, they’re playing shows in Europe. That’s the Woods way.
Dates:
03.14.11 - Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds
03.15.11 - Manchester, UK - The Deaf Institute
03.16.11 - London, UK - Bush Hall
03.17.11 - Brussels, Belgium - La Maison des Musiques
03.18.11 - Paris, France - Cafe de la Danse
03.19.11 - Utrecht, Netherlands - Klub Radar @ Tivoli
03.20.11 - Groningen, Netherlands - Vera
03.21.11 - Berlin, Germany - Comet Club
03.22.11 - Hamburg, Germany - Molotow
03.23.11 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Loppen
03.24.11 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Pusterviksbaren
03.25.11 - Oslo, Norway - Revolver
03.26.11 - Stockholm, Sweden - Club What We Do Is Secret @ Strand
03.27.11 - Helsinki, Finland - Kuudes Linja
• Woods: http://www.myspace.com/woodsfamilyband
• Woodsist: http://www.woodsist.com