UPCOMING LIVE PERFORMANCES:

A couple of Swallows' shows are coming up quickly: 

Tuesday, May 5 

Acadia Cafe

Cedar and Riverside Ave.

Minneapolis, MN 

8:30 PM, No Cover

This should be an excellent show. Go Kart Mozart, a touring act from the Bay Area in California, are coming through MN on Cinco de Mayo. Go Kart Mozart live up to their Violent Femmes meets Weezer description. They also spice their sets up with some flavorful rockabilly rave-ups. 

The Sleeper Pins will open the night at 8:30 PM and will be bringing their excellently penned and arranged indie-pop and rock tunes with them. Look for some highlights from 2008's "Keep It Coming Like a Miracle" and some fantastic new tracks, including "Winter is a Vampire," a personal favorite of mine from their live set.

Swallows will be throwing down some tunes from two albums, including some of the upbeat Americana and and downbeat, blues-laced tunes from our upcoming Covert Transmissions CD and a complementary selection of tunes from the Songs for Strippers collection.

Saturday, May 9

Dunn Bros. - Citywalk

Woodbury Drive and Hudson Rd.

Woodbury, MN

8 PM, No Cover 

This will be a more low-key affair with Jeff and Tyson sharing the mic and supporting each other in a couple of acoustic, singer-songwriter oriented sets. If you want to hear Swallows' and Sleeper Pins' songs in an intimate setting, this would be a great show to catch. Frank might make it out, too... and probably would if we'd remember to ask him.

CD REVIEW:

We picked up a new review for Songs for Strippers (and other professions) in Zeitgeist, a cool music blog from the UK (Edinburgh). Kudos to reviewer Stuart Hamilton for catching the artistic intent of the song order/story arc on the CD (as well as the sarcasm evident in our early marketing materials for the CD release). 

SWALLOWS - Songs for Strippers (And Other Professions)



Hailing from Minneapolis/St. Paul in Minnesota, Swallows have a surprisingly filthy name and an album of songs which, in the words of cellist and composer Aaron Kerr is “a collection of inspirational songs honoring strippers and burlesque dancers everywhere.” Which seems like an absolutely tremendous idea. With added cowbell.

Naturally, it doesn't quite live up to the level of expectation, but anything short of a multi-sensory, 3D lotion fest was always going to fall a wee bit short of the mark. However, there is enough here to keep me happy including the riffy 'Not Your Kind Of Man', the ballad 'Come To Me' and the almost Blues-like 'Days Like This', which are the highlights on this eleven track set.

I'm not overly happy with the running order, although I suspect the slow descent into the darker songs is completely deliberate, and it's the kind of album that Bad Seeds / Grinderman fans would warm to, when Nick Cave is away doing his arty farty stuff. The whole band show themselves to be instrumentally adept, and it's an album well worth checking out.

http://swallowthemusic.com

NEW VIDEOS FOR DISSONANT CREATURES:

We have posted a handful of new videos from the Dissonant Creatures CD (Aaron Kerr and Swallows) on YouTube. These are conceptual videos featuring great, share-and-share alike work by talented animators and filmmakers that express some of the moods evoked by this ambient, instrumental collection. We are hoping that someone will catch on to the fact that this collection of songs makes for excellent soundtrack material. We've now created videos for four tracks from the CD, including Doctor Phibes, Jesus Built My Pedicab, Dissonant Creatures and Prime Numbers. 

You can check them out on the Swallow the Music channel on YouTube: 

http://www.youtube.com/swallowthemusic

TWITTER:

Hey, its social media. Yay. Well, you can follow us and we can follow you for what its worth. However, keep in mind that at least two of us in the band are certifiable stalkers, so buyer beware. I'm attempting to figure out what a long-winded bastard like me can say in 140 characters other than a series of expletives. 

Here is our Twitter address: http://twitter.com/swallowthemusic

FACEBOOK:

We now have a Facebook group that is pretty serviceable for organizing local gigs and events. Feel free to join us there, too. It might work as an organizing space for short tours as well.... Anyway, it is a slightly different angle on the interactive social media thing and it is, perhaps, more intimate for actual fans, potential fans, fans of fans, and potential fans of fans. We figure that it might double as a unique dating service for the musically inclined. Hey, there's a better than even chance you all might see each other at a show.

Join the Swallows Music Club on Facebook

Cheers!

Jeff