You guys are never gonna believe this, but: in advance of his newest and 12th-est album under the Destroyer moniker — which, last time I checked, was still entitled Ken and was still due October 20 on Merge (and could still be pre-ordered thusly) — Dan “Curly” Bejar has just un-the-fuck-leashed a new video for the album’s second single “Tinseltown Swimming in Blood.” What a totally kooky and impetuous thing to do, right?
I said: “RIGHT?!?”
Seriously though: the clip for this groovy, new wave-inspired jam was directed by “KC” (a.k.a. Karen Zolo) and configured as “an adaptation of the much-revered classic film La Jetée, which addresses contemporary issues of identity, borders, and race.” Or, in slightly more words than that:
I’d just had a conversation about artist Chris Marker with a friend when I was approached to make a music video for the upcoming Destroyer album. “You have a month.” Okay… I had no idea what the song even sounded like, but the only idea I had was to remake Chris Marker’s La Jetée as faithfully as possible. It’s not just an homage to the great cine-poet; it’s also about the medium of film, about still photography. It would have been a billion times easier and less stressful to shoot it digitally, but it was worth it.
COMPLETELY COINCIDENTALLY, the unveiling of this latest audio/visual gesamptkuntzwerk also coincides seamlessly with Bejar’s announcement of a whole slew-y slew of North American tour dates (and this is on top of the equally slew-y slew of European dates he’d already conjured up for this fall) which are scheduled for early 2018 — provided this crumby continent makes it that far into the future. But don’t take my word for it; check out the insane string of numbers and place names for yourself down below…after you watch the video, of course.
Are you watching it?
Are you??
Dan Bejar’s Path of Ultimate Destroyction:
11.12.17 - Hamburg, DE - Kampnagel
11.13.17 - Aarhus, DK - Voxhall
11.14.17 - Oslo, NO - John Dee
11.15.17 - Stockholm, SE - Fasching
11.16.17 - Copenhagen, DN - Vega
11.16.17 - Berlin, DE - Festsaal Kreuzberg
11.19.17 - Dusseldorf, DE - New Fall Festival
11.21.17 - Zurich, CH - Rote Fabrik
11.22.17 - Montpellier, FR - Le Rockstore
11.23.17 - San Sebastian, ES - Teatro Victoria Eugenia
11.24.17 - Lisbon, PR - Mexefest
11.25.17 - Madrid, ES - Teatro Barcelo
11.26.17 - Valencia, ES - La Rambleta
11.27.17 - Barcelona, ES - Sala Bikini
11.29.17 - Lille, FR - L’ Aeronef
11.30.17 - Brighton, UK - Patterns
12.01.17 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
12.03.17 - Dublin, IE - Button Factory
12.05.17 - Glasgow, UK - CCA (270)
12.06.17 - Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
12.07.17 - London, UK - Scala
12.08.17 - Paris, FR - Petit Bain
12.09.17 - Amsterdam, NE - Paradiso Noord
12.10.17 - Brussels, BE - Botanique Brussels
01.10.18 - Portland, OR - The Wonder Ballroom
01.11.18 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
01.12.18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Regent Theater
01.13.18 - Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom
01.15.18 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk
01.16.18 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada
01.17.18 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
01.18.18 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
01.19.18 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
01.20.18 - Chicago, IL - Metro
01.21.18 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
01.22.18 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
01.23.18 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount
01.24.18 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
01.26.18 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
01.27.18 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel
01.28.18 - Washington, DC – Black Cat
01.29.18 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle
01.30.18 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
01. 31.18 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
02.01.18 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
02.02.18 - St. Louis, MO -Blueberry Hill
02.03.18 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room
02.05.18 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
02.06.18 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
02.07.18 - Boise, ID - Olympic Venue
02.08.18 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre
02.09.18 - Vancouver, BC - The Commodore Ballroom