Sleater-Kinney announce first new album in a decade, No Cities to Love

[bananas]

Source: Guardian

Released on 19 January via Sub Pop Records, Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss recorded their eighth studio album secretly at Tiny Telephone Recordings in San Francisco at the start of the year, with some extra sessions taking place at Kung Fu Bakery Recording Studios in Portland, and Electrokitty Recording in Seattle. It is produced by John Goodmanson, who worked on four previous Sleater-Kinney albums.

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The new album also comes backed by a tour of north America and Europe, which begins in February 2015 and includes four UK dates, stopping by at London’s Forum in March.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/20/sleater-kinney-announce-first-new-album-decade-no-cities-to-love

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleater-Kinney

Sleater-Kinney is a American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington in 1994. ... They were a key part of the riot grrrl and indie rock scenes in the Pacific Northwest.[2] The band was known for its feminist and left-leaning politics.[3]

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On the topic of the band's involvement in political movements, Carrie Brownstein was quoted, "Sleater-Kinney are brave enough and strong enough to make a difference and get the word out.” [1] The band's musical style went along with the liberal and feminist ideas heard in their lyrics.

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Corin Tucker's emotional vocals[7] and the band's lyrics alternate between personal and political topics, rebelling against war, traditionalism, gender roles and consumerism from feminist and progressive perspectives.[3] Sleater-Kinney contributed the protest song "Off With Your Head" to NOFX leader Fat Mike's Rock Against Bush compilation.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_grrrl

Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk rock movement that originally started in the early 1990s ... It is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as its starting point. ... a musical movement in which women could express themselves in the same way men had been doing for the past several years.[1]

Riot grrrl bands often address issues such as rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, racism, patriarchy, and female empowerment. ... In addition to a music scene and genre, riot grrrl is a subculture involving a DIY ethic, zines, art, political action, and activism.[4] Riot grrrls are known to hold meetings, start chapters, and support and organize women in music.[5]

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[bananas]

1. Sleater-Kinney Reunites for New Album 'No Cities to Love,' Plus Tour

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/10/20/sleater-kinney-reunion-no-cities-to-love/

Sleater-Kinney Reunites for New Album ‘No Cities to Love,’ Plus Tour
Oct 20, 2014 10:00 am ET

Influential punk-rock trio Sleater-Kinney have officially reunited for a new album called “No Cities to Love,” due out Jan. 20, 2015 on Sub Pop. It’ll be the first since 2005’s “The Woods,” which was billed as the band’s final album. Not much is known about the 10-song set, but fans can get the first single, “Bury Our Friends,” in exchange for signing up on the band’s email list (and hear it below).

Along with the new album news, they’ve announced a slew of tour dates in in North America and Europe, kicking off on February 8 at the Spokane Opera House in Spokane, Wash., and running through the end of March.

Throughout their 12-year career, Sleater-Kinney came to define ‘90s “riot-grrrl” punk with a sharp DIY sensibility in their music and work ethic. Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam were huge supporters and had them open for the band on several occasions, propelling them from the dirty clubs to arenas. While they weren’t commercial titans, they developed a strong following in the 2000s until they broke up.

Since then, they’ve been recording solo projects – guitarist Corin Tucker started the Corin Tucker Band, while drummer Janet Weiss primarily played and recorded with Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus in his band the Jicks. Guitarist Carrie Brownstein has remained in music, too – she started a one-off band Wild Flag (also with Weiss) but more notably, created and stars in IFC’s hit sketch show “Portlandia,” alongside “Saturday Night Live” alumni Fred Armisen.

Check out the video for “Bury Our Friends,” which features author Miranda July, here:

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[Action_Patrol]

3. Great news!

[bananas]

2. Sleater-Kinney Reunites, Announces New Album

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/10/20/357434514/sleater-kinney-reunite-announce-new-album

Sleater-Kinney Reunites, Announces New Album
by Robin Hilton
October 20, 2014 9:00 AM ET

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Carrie Brownstein tells us via email that the time felt right for the band to reunite, and that they took a more deliberate approach to working on the new record:

"I feel like creativity is about where you want your blood to flow. Because in order to do something meaningful and powerful there has to be life inside of it. Maybe after The Woods that blood had thinned; we felt enervated, the focus had become disparate and diffuse. We drifted apart in order to concentrate on other elements of our lives and careers. Sleater-Kinney isn't something you can do half-assed or half-heartedly. We have to really want it. And you have to feed that hunger and have the energy to. I'm not saying we need to be in a dark place to be in Sleater-Kinney. In fact, we could be in the best places in our lives. But we have to be willing to push, because the entity that is this band will push right back.

"We had no desire to revisit sounds and styles and paths we had treaded before. But in order to move forward, Corin and I worked together in a way that was more reminiscent of earlier albums like Dig Me Out. Meaning that we would write just the two of us and then bring songs to Janet later on in the process. I think we had to go back to an earlier model of writing in order to reacquaint ourselves with the language of the band. It's a sonic vernacular that isn't easily translated into other contexts in which we've played. This was a very deliberate writing process, there were many edits and iterations of the songs. We thought a lot about melody and structure.

"I spent a lot of time writing choruses for this record. Melody is what I was most picky about. I really drove Corin crazy sometimes. We would have choruses that we would work on for hours, days, maybe on and off over a matter of weeks. And we'd think we had solved it, but then I would listen to it later on and decide to discard it, that it wasn't good enough. I did that with my guitar parts too. In the end we were all more scrutinizing with our own parts than we ever have been. I think we didn't want to take any second of the song for granted, everything had to have an intention and earn its place."

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In 2007 Brownstein created and wrote for the NPR Music blog Monitor Mix. In 2010 Brownstein ended the blog and began work on the Portlandia television show. She also formed the band Wild Flag with Weiss and guitarist Mary Timony (Helium, Ex Hex), while Corin Tucker released a solo album as The Corin Tucker Band.

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[shenmue]

4. Thanks

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Excellent news, I'm so glad....

nt

[aikoaiko]

6. Good stuff, but it makes me pine for 1990s PJ Harvey.

[PasadenaTrudy]

8. +1 n/t

[freeplessinseattle]

7. Woohoo! Can't wait for the tour! eom

[AngryAmish]

9. This makes me a bit sad.

Now, I'm sure S/K will make another great record. They are one of my favorite all time bands.

But as they say you can never go home again. S/k was of a time and a place, a time and a place from which I am removed.

In the last two years two other of my favorite bands from my youth reunited and had concert tours. I skipped.

I am sure there will be several thoughtful Terry Gross interviews. But when counter culture becomes mainstream is when I pass.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

10. New song picks up right where they left off

It's not like they were split up all that long, anyway. This is really more of a return from a hiatus, from which they always left open the possibility of a return.