It’s a story as beautiful as any in “Modern Love” (the New York Times column no one ever actually reads but which everyone either complains about or posts endlessly on Facebook): Scandinavian songwriter with the voice of a pornographic angel and haunting songs about internet porn meets legendary New York band with a reputation for equal parts beauty and brutality and at least a couple songs about debasement and sex work. Together the two sail forth on a lengthy tour of much of Western Civilization, leaving a plague of intelligent, challenging music in their wake.
And so, once upon a time, a really fucked-up fairytale began. Jenny Hval joined hands with Mark McGuire for a blissful month of touring the US behind 2013’s Innocence Is Kinky (TMT Review), her most recent release for Rune Grammofon and our 40th-favorite album of that year. Then in May, Hval meets up with Swans in their spiritual homeland, the center of all depravity, Washington, DC, for an idyllic visionquest through the rugged moors and rolling hills of the United Kingdom. You can check out Jenny Hval performing her song “Why This and Not That?” at a night session in Oslo’s botanical gardens via Yours Truly here:
Dates:
03.28.14 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
03.29-30.14 - Knoxville, TN - Big Ears Festival
04.01.14 - Iowa City, IA - Mission Creek Festival
04.02.14 - St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway *
04.03.14 - Kansas, City, MO - TBD *
04.04.14 - Omaha, NE - Barley St. Tavern *
04.05.14 - Denver, CO - Moe’s *
04.07.14 - Phoenix, AZ - The Western *
04.08.14 - Los Angeles, CA - The Church *
04.09.14 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel *
04.10.14 - Santa Cruz, CA - Crepe Place *
04.12.14 - Portland, OR - Bunk Bar *
04.13.14 - Seattle, WA - Barboza *
04.14.14 - Vancouver, BC - TBD *
04.17.14 - Minneapolis, MN - Turf Club *
04.18.14 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
05.14.14 - Washington, DC - Black Cat %
05.15.14 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer %
05.17.14 - Boston, MA - Royale Nightclub %
05.18.14 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom %
05.19.14 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg %
05.22.14 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Academy 2 %
05.23.14 - Newcastle, UK - Hoults Yard %
05.24.14 - Glasgow, UK - The Arches %
05.25.14 - Aberdeen, UK - The Lemon Tree %
05.27.14 - London, UK - Brixton Electric %
05.28.14 - Bristol, UK - Trinity Community Arts %
05.29.14 - Reading, UK - Sub89 %
05.31.14 - Birmingham, UK - Supersonic Festival
06.01.14 - Leeds, UK - Cockpit %
06.02.14 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2 %
* Mark McGuire
% Swans
• Jenny Hval: http://jennyhval.com
• Rune Grammofon: http://www.runegrammofon.com