Best Shows of 2013: The Dandy Warhols at the Commodore Ballroom, June 22

13th anniversary of Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, the Dandy Warhols’ best album by far. One of my favourites of all time. Played the album in its entirety. Front and centre. My birthday. Hardly gets bigger - hardly gets better - than that. Full review at Van Weekly.

Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia 13th Anniversary Tour

Last year, I saw the Mountain Goats and met John Darnielle, my favourite lyricist, on my birthday. On August 1, the Dandy Warhols' breakthrough third album Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia turns thirteen-years-old. They're touring in celebration, playing the entire album, and come to Vancouver on my birthday. Will I once again spend my birthday seeing one of my favourite bands of all time and meet Courtney Taylor-Taylor this year?:

Mousse T. vs. The Dandy Warhols - "Horny As a Dandy"

I don't know who Mousse T. is, and I think this song is kind of old, so I'm surprised I haven't heard it until now, especially given my love of mash-ups. The vocals and music mix perfectly:

Heroin Is So Passé, But Dandies Rule Forever OK?

 June 15, 2012
Commodore Ballroom
Vancouver, British Columbia

Last Friday, the Dandy Warhols, one of my favourite bands since eighth grade, returned to the Commodore Ballroom in support of their newest album This Machine. Even though I wasn't able to see them with my best friend who loves them as much as I do this time, unlike when they played the Commodore two Decembers ago, it was still one of the best times of my life, let alone one of the most fun shows I've seen.

San Fran psych-rockers Sleepy Sun opened the night. Despite their generic psychedelia, they had a few impressive moments which was more than I'd expected based on their latest album Spine Hits (ATP Recordings, 2012). Lead-singer Bret Constantino's electronic harmonica-type thing, which was shaped like a fist-sized box, sounded pretty cool, too.

As the mediocre portion of the night drew to a close, it was time for what everyone in the building was chomping at the bit to see. The Dandy Warhols emerged with keyboardist Zia McCabe and guitarist Pete Holmström in particular looking as fashionable as ever. Pete also looked as disengaged from the rest of the band as ever, even physically as he stood the furthest away from everyone else; I often wonder how much he enjoys being in the Dandies, especially considering his outspokenness against the band's creative process.

With the crowd still roaring, the Dandies began not with a bang with one of their big pop hits but by drawing out the audience's anticipation with the hazy, rush-building "Be In." It didn't take long for the Dandies to bust out their myriad pop-hits, though, and when they did, they pulled out pretty much all the stops: the breathtaking one-two combo of "Horse Pills" and "Bohemian Like You" (literally breathtaking: try singing these songs back-to-back at the top of your lungs with my recent respiratory problems amidst a blanket of pot smoke), "Get Off," "Last Junkie," "We Used To Be Friends," "Boys Better," "Minnesoter," the most surprisingly good song of the night for me (I love the song, but it was even better live than I'd expected) ... Then, there were the other best songs of the night: the sultry "I Love You," "You Come in Burned" which sounds so much more exotic live with Courtney playing the clacky percussion that while not terribly audible on record rang throughout the venue, and the washboard, ranch-clopper "Country Leaver."

Of course, the Dandies couldn't cram all of their most popular songs into their set. In fact, I don't think they played any songs from either Odditorium or Earth To the Dandy Warhols ... which was too bad mainly because I'd really looked forward to hearing the slow version of "New Country" again; their twangy, countrified version of "New Country" was amazing and one of the top highlights of the last time I saw them. Lead-Dandy Courtney Taylor-Taylor played a slow, solo version of "Every Day Should Be a Holiday" on electric guitar, though. That was a pretty acceptable trade-up.

Also different this time around was an awesome keyboard freestyle by Zia that was full of fat, warpy, spaceship tones and which Brent DeBoer and Courtney joined (Brent of course on drums and Courtney with a lot of palm-mutes and random noises with his mouth).

Unfortunately, a few more songs after that groovy freestyle (maybe even just a couple), the Dandies wrapped up their show. They didn't play an encore, but unlike probably a lot of people, I actually didn't mind: not only did the Dandy Warhols play long enough that I didn't feel cheated without more music, but the entire encore process is pretty hokey and feels so canned/phoned in. Also, Zia was "drunk enough" to sing a cute little unaccompanied ditty at the end of the night, so that was enough of a bonus for me.

Click here for photos from the show.

FULL STREAM: The Dandy Warhols - This Machine (The End Records, 2012)

For a presumably limited time on their website at http://thismachine.dandywarhols.com/. This Machine hit stores yesterday.

Free Download: New Dandy Warhols Song: "Well They're Gone"

From their upcoming seventh full-length album This Machine, due April 24 via the End Records (the same day Jack White's debut solo album Blunderbuss comes out. DAMN, that is going to be a good day!). Just click the top left of the Dandies' website to download.

One word: Wow. For the first time since Welcome To the Monkey House (Capital, 2003), the Dandy Warhols sound like they're trying something new - and pulling it off. Moreover, they sound like they actually give a crap about what they're doing; "Well They're Gone" is deliberate - meticulous - a clear change of pace from the Dandies' recent habit of of banging out mediocre pop-rock or cobbling together failed aimless, droning, ambient experiments.

"Well They're Gone" falls somewhere between the farmer's tan complexion of Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (Capital, 2000) and the light, dreamy electronic swirls of Welcome To the Monkey House, specifically "Insincere Because I" blended with the melody and rhythm of "I Am Sound" sedated by horse pills. "Well They're Gone" also exudes a bit of a haunting Gorillaz gloam as well, perfectly conjuring an image of a dead Western town - tumbleweeds and saloon doors gently blowing open and closed at sunset. Even This Machine's cover art and promo shots imply an earthy, pastoral, slightly deathly mood.

Considering folky, whimsical songs like "Big Indian" and "The Gospel" from Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia rank as some of the Dandy Warhols' finest work (their finest examples of song-writing for sure, excluding "Genius"), if "Well They're Gone" faithfully represents the album to come, This Machine will definitely be the Dandies' best album in nearly a decade. And long-time Dandies fans won't have to breathe yet another sigh of disappointment.

Oh, and there's this. BOOYAH!!! Dandy Warhols round 2! Happy Almost-Birthday to myself:

The Dandy Warhols - "Genius"

My favourite Dandy Warhols song. "Genius," from their first album Dandys Rule OK? (Tim/Kerr Records, 1995), showcases the band at its song-writing best: perfect pace, depressingly self-effacing lyrics which Courtney Taylor-Taylor sings with just the right amount of emotion, all topped with a heart-wrenching climax. Every note is where it should be. "Genius" is definitely the most underrated Dandys song, at least amongst my friends.

I sometimes get frustrated that the Dandy Warhols haven't written a song nearly as good as "Genius" since "Big Indian" (my second favourite Dandy Warhols song) which came out eleven years ago. But "Genius" alone pretty much makes up for all of the Dandy's missteps.

I know to say
Things I never meant to
To seem a little more sane
'Cause that's what it takes

I can jive with that.

The Dandy Warhols - The Dandy Warhols Are Sound (Beat the World Records, 2009)

Here's the backstory on The Dandy Warhols Are Sound: Between September 11th, 2001 and December 2nd, 2002, The Dandy Warhols were busy recording their fourth album for Capitol Records. With help from Grammy Award-winning soul mixing engineer Russell Elavedo, whose credits include albums by The Roots, Common and Alicia Keys, The Dandy Warhols created The Dandy Warhols Are Sound. However, Capitol rejected the album in favor of a repackaged version with spiffier production, a re-arranged tracklist, slightly altered titles and a sparse, lethargic intro track instead of an extensive ambient outro track. The Capitol-approved version of Are Sound was subsequently released as Welcome to the Monkey House, as Dandys fans came to know and love. Over the next seven years, while Are Sound became a favorite for private Dandys parties, it also floated around the Internet as the colloquially-dubbed Welcome to the Monkey House: The Director's Cut. Finally though, with The Dandy Warhols at the helm of their own label Beat the World Records, they've been able to release Monkey House the way they intended the record to be heard.

Admittedly, on first impression, tampering with the track order and song titles seem like the only things Capitol did, but that's only because Are Sound opens with "Burned" which doesn't sound very different from the Monkey House version "You Come In Burned." As soon as the slowburning, throbbing temple-like "Burned" began, I already kind of wished The Dandy Warhols were allowed to release the original mix, despite how much I love Monkey House. I never thought "You Come In Burned" would make such a good opener. Like frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor said, Are Sound is way more lo-fi and less polished and slick, although the drums and bass are far more pronounced (not a surprise, given its producer's style). This is immediately apparent as soon as the second track, simply titled "Scientist" rather than "I Am a Scientist," begins. The differences become increasingly apparent with the next track, party-favorite "We Used to Be Friends," and so on for the rest of the album.

Whereas Monkey House is a record you can put on with friends or blast through your car stereo while blasting down the open road, Are Sound is a quiet, chill night in with dim lights, some green and aromatic candles. Actually, Are Sound is more like Welcome to the Monkey House on sedatives or listening to Monkey House on shuffle with cotton stuffed in your ears. Hear the difference between the albums' versions of "The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone" and "Over It," the latter in which the sounds of a lighter, bong hit and exhalation seem more appropriate on the original mix.

Besides all of the aforementioned, there's not much else to say about The Dandy Warhols Are Sound that can't be said about Welcome to the Monkey House. The only reason why I'm even really talking about Are Sound is because the only real news of it came very suddenly through The Dandy Warhols' newsletter and website. Some Dandys fans (including some diehards I know) probably haven't even heard about it. Hell, The Dandy Warhols have been one of my favorite bands since I started listening to them eight years ago, and I didn't even know about The Director's Cut until I got the e-mail which said, "Hey, this is out!"

Are Sound is available in its entirety at The Dandy Warhols' site here. No idea how long these full length, good quality "previews" will be available.