It's been raining here nonstop, so summer's been nothing but work so far. But that means lots of announcements this month!

Most timely, for the Fourth of July: the three original Galaxie 500 albums have been repressed on vinyl for the first time in nearly 20 years, and are available now from our label 20/20/20. You can now order LPs direct from our website, or, starting today, you can order LPs bundled together with high-quality downloads from the fancy new Galaxie 500 online store. You can even add a replica 1988 t-shirt to your download order. To start the fun, download a free 320k mp3 of "Fourth of July".



We're also very happy to announce two new Damon & Naomi releases for September: THE SUB POP YEARS, a 74-minute CD compilation of tracks drawn from our four albums for Sub Pop Records,1995-2002; and 1001 NIGHTS, a 172-minute DVD compilation featuring two tour films by Naomi, three music videos by French filmmaker Cedrick Eymenier, and selections from our two limited edition DVDs (now sold out) of recent live performances in Japan. A limited-edition of "1001 Nights" will also come with the very first vinyl pressing of our trio album with Kurihara, LIVE IN SAN SEBASTIAN.

The Sub Pop Years will be released September 8 on 20/20/20. 1001 Nights will be released September 29 as part of the initial lanuch for an exciting new DVD label from New York, Factory 25.

As a preview, you can download a free music video of "Song to the Siren".



Whew! We need a vacation!

-- D&N

We're back home from summer touring -- after all these years, it's surprising how many places we still haven't played. This set of shows included debuts in Dublin, Galway, Belfast, Toulouse, and... Louisville. How did we manage to miss Louisville? To celebrate, we ate a hot brown sandwich (see Jane & Michael Stern) and -- in an ode to our own dressing room rider -- visited the Maker's Mark factory. That invitation on the side of the bottle is for real!

Meanwhile, other factory wheels turned and our More Sad Hits reissue is now ready to ship. Well, the CD is -- for the LP, we'll have to wait a bit longer. It seems that everyone suddenly wants to make LPs again, which means the few remaining pressing plants are completely overwhelmed. So our promised June delivery date has been rescheduled for . . . September? Let's hope!

The good news is that the CD package turned out beautifully. It's made to look like a mini-gatefold LP, on heavy shiny card stock, and there's really no better way to describe it than, "cute." Admitedly, we have a weakness for mini-LP-style packages on heavy shiny card stock -- witness the many, many Korean psychedelic reissues in our CD collection. But could we dream for more, than to have our own CD stand alongside Shin Joong-Hyun and the Men?
Yes: we could dream that Robert Wyatt blurbed our album. Thank you Robert!

In other merch news, our summer tour t-shirts, tote bags, and posters are now available from the website. To avoid disappointment, order soon because once these are gone, they will not be reprinted.

Finally, we should mention that Cedrick Eymenier's lovely video for Within These Walls is now up on pitchfork.tv -- and the video quality there is much better than on youtube.

Yes, back on tour! Hope to see you at one of these dates. Signed copies of this limited edition poster by Iker Spozio (100 copies) available from www.damonandnaomi.com

Damon & Naomi Summer 2008 Tour Dates

May 31 - Peterborough, NH - The Thing in the Spring Festival

The following US shows are with Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh:
June 12 – Cambridge, MA, TT the Bear's Place
June 13 – Portland, ME, Space Gallery
June 14 – Brooklyn, NY, Southpaw
June 15 – New York, NY, Le Poisson Rouge
June 16 – Philadelphia, PA, Johnny Brenda's
June 17 – Washington, DC, Black Cat
June 18 – Pittsburgh, PA, Garfield Artworks
June 20 – Louisville, KY - Terrastock Festival
June 21 – Chicago, IL , Empty Bottle

June 25 – Dublin, Ireland, Whelans (Upstairs)
June 26 – Galway, Ireland, Roisin Dubh
June 27 – Belfast, Ireland, Black Box
June 28 – London, England - TBA
June 29 – Toulouse, France, Les Siestes Electroniques Festival
June 30 – Bordeaux, France, CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art in Bordeaux, 6pm
July 2 – Paris, France, La Mecanique Ondulatoire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qc_2DeWjwM

video by Cedrick Eymenier

Damon & Naomi with Michio Kurihara, Bhob Rainey and Helena Espvall.

Japanese Damon & Naomi website

January 19 - Osaka, Knave
opening band: opening band: Shinji Shibayama (Nagisa-Nite) and Kanako Kato
door 18:00, start 19:00

January 21 - Tokyo, Shibuya, O-Nest
This evening D&N will feature songs from their new album, "Within These Walls"
opening band: Ghost + Hideki Ishima (ex. Flower Travellin' Band)
door 18:00, start 19:00

January 22 - Tokyo, Shibuya, O-Nest
This evening D&N will play favorite songs from their whole career
opening band: Masaki Batoh & Helena Espvall Duo
door 18:00, start 19:00

Dear Friends,

Writing you from Belgrade...

Wireless connections have been hard to come by on this tour but we have one for the moment and are taking the time to update the tour schedule.

I had considered writing a blog/tour diary on this long, long tour we've been on -- first the whole USA in 29 days with Boris with Kurihara playing both shows and now to all sorts of places we have never been before in Europe. . . but it hasn't happened. For someone else's blog on the West Coast portion of the USA tour I recommend Martin Wong's blog which can be found on the Giant Robot site (giantrobot.com) -- he travelled with us for those dates and was a very responsible blogger! I don't have a laptop of my own and I think keeping a blog must require not having to constantly borrow someone else's computer!

If you are in these corners of the world, please come see us in Italy, France, the UK and Turkey! Istanbul venue to be posted soon, or please write the good people at Bant Dergi for more information.

For those of you who have come out to the shows, thank you!

Back in the van for us now!

xx

Naomi

We're happy to announce that our new album is finished! It is called "Within These Walls" and it will be released September 25 on 20/20/20. It features contributions by Michio Kurihara (Ghost), the string players from Espers, and the avant-garde horns of nmperign. Which means it's the most elaborately orchestrated record -- and also the darkest -- we've ever made.

You can preview (or download for free) a sample track, called "Cruel Queen."

On our website (www.damonandnaomi.com) you can also pre-order the CD at a special price -- $10 until August 31st. (It will be $12 after that.)

A US tour with the Japanese band Boris (Kurihara playing both sets!) is being scheduled for October, and a UK /European one for November. Confirmed tour dates will be posted soon.

-- Damon & Naomi

International Sad Hits | Volume One: Altaic Language Group
fikret kizilok (turkey) / kim doo soo (korea) / tomokawa kazuki (japan) / mikami kan (japan)
CD (202020.03) - $12.98

International Sad Hits, Volume One presents four singer-songwriters from Asia. All four of these artists are veterans in their respective music scenes, with decades-long careers, large discographies, and devoted followings. These are not pop or rock stars, or world- or traditional folk-music artists, but singer-songwriters in the poetic manner of Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, or Tim Buckley; and for the most part, their music has never left their national or linguistic cultures. This compilation, accompanied by a 20-page full-color booklet with biographical notes on each artist, and translations of all song lyrics into English, is intended to help take this music across those borders.

The selection has been made by Damon & Naomi, whose enthusiasm for this music begins with their own international tours .. always interested in other people..s sad songs, they seek out recommendations wherever they travel. These four singers are among the discoveries closest to their hearts. Because while the subtitle of this compilation points out that they are linked by a linguistic family (Altaic), what truly links them is a love of melancholy.

click here to watch "The Robot Speaks" from Damon & Naomi O-Nest DVD (limited release, sold out)

Damon & Naomi with Michio Kurihara, Masaki Batoh and Bhob Rainey
Shibuya O-Nest, Tokyo Japan, June 24, 2005
(4:23; 7.7mb)
Filmed by Hiroo Ishihara