Dark Dark Dark are prepping for their first tour in support of the S&D release “The Snow Magic“! This two week tour takes them from the midwest to the east coast and back in 12 days, and is capped with an appearance at Dosh’s annual “World Of Dosh” holiday show. West coast tour dates will follow in the late winter, to be announced soon.

Dec 10 2008 – The Frequency, Madison, WI
Dec 11 2008 – Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
Dec 12 2008 – The Elbow Room, Ypsilanti, MI
Dec 13 2008 – Visible Voice Books, Cleveland, OH
Dec 14 2008 – Morning Glory Coffeehouse, Pittsburgh, PA
Dec 15 2008 – Frisby House, Baltimore, MD
Dec 16 2008 – The Cake Shop, Manhattan, NY
Dec 17 2008 – The Whitehaus, Jamaica Plain, MA
Dec 18 2008 – AS220, Providence, RI
Dec 19 2008 – Union Pool, Brooklyn, NY
Dec 21 2008 – Skull Alley, Louisville, KY
Dec 22 2008 – The Cinemat, Bloomington, IN
Dec 27 2008 – Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis, MN (with Dosh)

originally printed in Flagpole Magazine, Athens, GA: http://flagpole.com/Music/RecRev/DarkDarkDark/2008-11-12/

The Snow Magic captured me immediately and has been twisting my mind for the last couple of hours, through two listens to the disc and a page of publicity information.

It seems the band formed out of life’s great plan for travelers: chance meeting. Accordionist/vocalist Nona Marie Invie met runaway banjo-playing raftsman Marshall LaCount sometime in 2006, and they began playing music as a way of “earning passage to New Orleans.” Eventually they met the cellist and upright bass player, and they played around the country for about two years, then went into the studio with Andrew Bird’s live drummer and musician/producer Robert Skoro.

The result of these studio sessions is an elegant, honest and captivating blend of Eastern European- and Appalachian-influenced folk with a touch of the cabaret: it swings as well as it broods. And if you even think a group of vagabond gypsies would dare begin a story without intending to add a piece of your soul to its folklore by the time of their closing remarks, then you, my friend, are crazier than I.

http://obscuresound.com/?p=2320

Within the packaging of their debut album, the Minneapolis-based Dark Dark Dark opted to include an eight-page booklet of photographs that featured a few pictures of the group in settings that proved more reminiscent of the late 19th century than the present, a stark contrast from the technologically dependent promo shots that most bands utilize today. Courtesy of photographer Timothy G. Piotrowski, the style most often indicated a nostalgic feel that was primarily attributed to his fascinating use of blended monochromatic and yellow shades. It also helped that the individuals featured in the photos usually had no visible expression on their faces whatsoever, alluding to the stereotypically deadpan stares that were so typical of the preceding eras. As evidenced by the sample exhibitions on Piotrowski’s site and this freely distributed shot of Dark Dark Dark, the photographer utilizes contemporary photography techniques to put a new spin on styles that may be deemed outdated. But this big question will likely loom in the minds of first-time listeners: What exactly prompted Dark Dark Dark to feature this photographic style so vividly in their first full-length release? When listening to their music, it should make sense. Like Piotrowski’s photography, the group takes advantage of all the resources that modern music technology has to offer them to create a stirringly nostalgic sound that becomes all their own.

A four-piece at its heart, Dark Dark Dark consists of an instrumental arsenal that is not typical of most indie-rock favorites. In addition to the rhythm section of bassist Todd Chandler and drummer Martin Dosh, the group maintains a heavy focus on cello, banjo, accordion, and piano. Jonathan Kaiser takes control of the cello, Marshall Lacount strums the banjo, and Nona Marie Invie makes use of her skills at piano and accordion. LaCount and Invie prove to be unconventionally resounding vocalists, serving as a double-edged sword with overlapping melodies that capitalize on an appealing formula that blends irresistible vocal harmonies with instrumentation that ranges anywhere in the mood palette from ominous to optimistic. In addition to Chandler, these three are the constant members, though Dosh contributed some excellent drumming to the entirety of the group’s engrossing debut, The Snow Magic. The name Martin Dosh may sound familiar to fans of percussively-based electronica; the Minnesota native has been regarded as a “superstar” prodigy for his innovative fusion of post-rock, electronica, and a consistently emphasized form of percussive involvement. Signed to the Anticon label in 2003, he has released four impressive solo albums, the most recent of which – Wolves and Wishes – was released in May of this year.

In addition to the collaborations from Dosh, the steady members of Dark Dark Dark remain just as interesting. Bassist Todd Chandler is directing and writing a film project by the name of “Flood”, featuring an accompanied score by his very own band. Subsequent to his work in another locally esteemed Minneapolis-based band by the name of Woodcat, LaCount worked on Dosh’s Wolves and Wishes on a handful of tracks, one being “Kit and Pearle” with Andrew Bird. Invie contributed vocals on that very same track, already acquainted with LaCount after the duo had formed Dark Dark Dark in 2006. Dark Dark Dark’s debut, Love You, Bye was an EP that was released in October 2007 and recorded by now-cellist Jonathan Kaiser. After Kaiser pushed his production duties aside to focus entirely on cello, the group handed the role of producer to Robert Skoro for their debut full-length, The Snow Magic. A new staple of the Minneapolis music scene due to his intuitive mixing abilities, Skoro also is an aspiring solo songwriter whose material can be checked out here. To map out an ambitiously stylistic album like The Snow Magic, I imagine that it may have looked initially intimidating to the young producer. Looking at the final result though, I may not have given him enough credit; Skoro did a fantastic job. The atmosphere that he and the band have instilled into this memorable debut is extremely commendable with a consistent vision that goes hand-in-hand with a batch of great songs.

As evidenced by their name alone, the fact that Dark Dark Dark’s stylistic territory treads on the gloomy side of things should not be surprising. Any other conceptual focus would be a mistake though, as the instrumentation glides cohesively with the content at hand. “Dig a Grave” features a gradually expanded melody that is accentuated by the simultaneous sounds of an accordion and cello. “Your ghost can stop and stay for a round, I would truly be living it up,“ LaCount sings, adding a bit of ironic humor to a song centered on the question of whether being haunted by a loved one is so bad after all. “Junk Bones” is a more melodically exuberant track that, once again, centers on the topics of ghostly spirits and death. Led by Invie’s creakily enjoyable vocals, it features an excellent chorus that sees a simultaneous collision of an accordion and reverbed keys. “All that rope you hang your neck with,” she repeats after the chorus, an effective measure of words considering these preceding lyrics: “Now you’re a ghost, you can find a home away from here; I’ve always wanted to find a home away from here.” The fact that the narrator expresses jealousy for the deceased because of her miserable state of existence is tragic, but the somewhat jovial melody makes the track fulfilling and undeniably interesting.

“Ashes”, the opening track on The Snow Magic, also serves as one of the most captivating efforts on the album. Dark Dark Dark once again takes a look at the effects of death – this time at the spreading of ashes – over a swirling instrumental accompaniment and pair of dual vocals that attribute nicely to the vigorous tenacity of the track with the ardent deliveries of LaCount and Invie. “I know you want to scatter my ashes, I know you want to spread them far and wide,” Invie sings. “Don’t scatter my ashes; I want to run by the seaside.” The content, of course, may be too dark and topically repetitive for some, but the musical style fits it well and anything else may have come across as pure desperation. In terms of dual harmonies, it would be difficult to argue against “The Benefit of the Doubt” to be one of the most impressive efforts in that regard. The instrumentation, led by a cello-accordion combo similar to “Dig a Grave”, is bare compared to some others, but it proves wildly effective as it places an emphasis on the vocal harmonies of LaCount and Invie. To be warned, The Snow Magic is not the most accessible or instantaneously gripping album out there, but successive listens will undoubtedly reward listeners in a way that few debuts will this year.

click here to listen to the S&D Mixtape, updated monthly with what S&D is listening to!

here’s the tracklist for this month’s tape:
Dark Dark Dark – The Benefit Of The Doubt
David Bowie – Always Crashing In The Same Car
I’m From Barcelona – Music Killed Me (Tom Inhaler Remix)
M.I.A – 20 Dollar
Buck 65 – Out Of Focus
Between The Pine – Enjoy Yourself
Why? – Fatalist Palmistry
These United States – First Sight (live from Daytrotter)
David Byrne – The Great Intoxication
Many Mansions – The Light Inside

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/64345/dark-dark-dark-the-snow-magic/

Dark Dark Dark is one of those band names that reviewers will take as a challenge. I can just imagine a guy at Rolling Stone getting an LP of Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All to review and going, “Metallica, eh? With a name like that, these guys better be pretty damn metal.” Similar scenarios play out in my head for groups like N.W.A., Fear, and Lightning Bolt. Dark Dark Dark’s debut album is titled The Snow Magic, which either tempers their band name or leads one to think, “They have to be talking about really evil snow magic, right?”

The first surprise when receiving the disc was looking at the band’s lineup. There’s Nona Marie Invie on accordion, piano, and vocals, Marshall Lacount on banjo and vocals, Jonathan Kaiser on cello and backing vocals, and Todd Chandler on bass. It turns out Dark Dark Dark is not a doom metal band or an especially depressed emo group, but an old-time string band. But unlike their brethren in Old Crow Medicine Show, Railroad Earth, and Yonder Mountain String Band, Dark Dark Dark does indeed explore the more, well, dark sounds of their instruments. The album’s opener, “Ashes”, effectively announces what the band is about. As swirling minor-key accordion and banjo evoke an early 20th-century circus setting, Invie theatrically tells the story of a lover’s rendezvous which ends in the woman accidentally falling into a river and drowning. That leads to the chorus, “I know you want to scatter my ashes / I know you want to scatter them far and wide.” The second song, “The Benefit of the Doubt” is a love song mostly sung by Lacount that begins with the lines “On your final day, did you think of me / And did I get the benefit of the doubt? / On my dying day, I will change my ways / And I’ll stop all this wandering around, dear.” The music starts off sparsely, with lightly strummed banjo chords and plucked cello, but shifts into a surprisingly jaunty, yet still minor-key, tune.

“A Cloud Story” is much more ethereal sounding song at first, as Invie sings about a dream she had against soft, reverby backing vocals and arco cello and bass. Then Lacount takes over the singing and the banjo and accordion come in, and the band immediately sounds old-timey again. Oh, and the dream that Lacount and Invie are singing about involves the clouds falling from the sky and the people on the ground patiently waiting to die. At this point, it’s clear that Dark Dark Dark are going to come very close to living up to their name, not an easy thing to do when your band includes full-time accordion and banjo players. But Invie and Lacount do an admirable job of bringing out different aspects of instruments that are best recognized for their upbeat sounds.

For all its dour subject matter, The Snow Magic is an entertaining album. The instrumental arrangements are a high point, and Invie’s accordion playing in particular is top-notch. Many of the songs here are uptempo and even approach being bouncy, such as the sea chanty-like “Ferment in Dm” (sample lyric: “And when I hold you underwater / count which breath will be your last”) and the piano-driven “That Light” (“Where’s that light you’re looking for / you can’t see it with your head underground / So just dig yourself out”). “New York Song” concerns moving to the city and has many complaints about it, but the chorus concludes that, “Being here is better than wishing we’d stayed.” Because Dark Dark Dark use their instruments in a variety of ways, even the slow songs manage to avoid sounding repetitive. Invie’s accordion usually drives the music with complicated and catchy minor-key melodies, but the band is equally effective when they hold back and let the vocals take center stage. The dirge-like “Dig a Grave” is probably the album’s best example. The accordion and cello play long chords under a simple banjo line and Lacount’s mournful lead vocal really sells the song, a lament to a dead relative.

Dark Dark Dark have a curious approach to harmony. Often Lacount and Invie will be singing the same lyrics, in harmony, yet they don’t quite line up. It’s an interesting technique that makes it sound like they were recorded separately, to the same music but without listening to the other’s performance. It gives the band’s vocals a slightly off-balance, disorienting feel which works quite well with the somewhat stranded-in-time vibe of the music. In addition, Minneapolis musician and Andrew Bird drummer Martin Dosh pops up throughout the album to add touches of percussion, from drums on the opener “Ashes” to xylophones elsewhere. He does an excellent job of accentuating the music without taking the focus off of the main band.

Dark Dark Dark certainly work hard to live up to their name. There is very little cheer to be found in the lyrics, but they’re far from the first musicians to specialize in the morbid and depressing. I would say that they warrant two Darks in their name, but don’t quite hit three Darks’ worth of bleakness. However, “Dark Dark Dark” has a much better ring to it than “Dark Dark”, so they probably made the right call. Regardless, The Snow Magic is a strong debut that evokes dark times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It also evoked in me memories of the HBO series Deadwood, which featured a lot of dark times itself in the late 19th century, and often played downbeat period songs over its closing credits.

from http://thephoenix.com/Providence/Picks/

INDIE RAP, INDIE FOLK
“Even though I haven’t seen you in years/yours is a funeral I’d fly to from anywhere,” sings WHY? on the new Alopecia (Anticon). The Cincinnati MC and his crew fly left of rap a la Buck 65, and make the keenly visual rhymes-songs resound with a short story writer’s poetic sense of narrative: “I feel like a loop of the last eight frames of film/before a slow-motion Lee Harvey Oswald gets shot in the gut and killed.” I’d previously only glossed by their stuff, but the new disc stops you dead in your tracks every once in a while — call it a mix of Soul Coughing and Flobots. They’ll do it live at Club Hell, 73 Richmond Street, Providence. Sharing the bill is DARK, DARK, DARK, a Minneapolis indie outfit that manages to conflate the Balkans and Americana (thanks accordion! thanks banjo!) to concoct a roughhouse version of pomo-folk that has a certain swagger. Nona Marie Invie was hopping trains and Marshall LaCount was floating down the Mississippi right before they connected. En route to New Orleans, they got serious about making songs together. The result is The Snow Magic (Blood Onion/SAD Music). It’s worth a spin or two.

HUGE thanks to Sarahana at Hooves On The Turf for shooting this video of Dark Dark Dark last week!

Trouble No More:

Dark Dark Dark / Secret Garden #1 from hoovesontheturf on Vimeo.

A Spell For Letting Go:

Dark Dark Dark / Secret Garden #2 from hoovesontheturf on Vimeo.

http://www.sad-music.net/darkdarkdark_newyorksong.mp3

enjoy! please share this link with your friends. Dark Dark Dark’s “The Snow Magic” is in stores October 28th.

The Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea project set sail from Troy, NY, last Friday! 7 rafts will sail down the Hudson River, ending up in New York City. The New York Times did a nice profile which you can read here. For now, here’s a small clip from the article.

“It is because of Swoon that this collection of artists, carpenters, musicians, filmmakers, seafarers and hangers-on was here. For the past year she has been preparing for this project, a floating trip that will take the group down the Hudson, from Troy through the harbor of New York to Long Island City, Queens, where the fleet will dock at the Deitch Studios and remain stationed as part of an exhibition beginning Sept. 7.

The project, “Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea,” Swoon’s latest large-scale work, is part floating artwork, part performance, part mobile utopia and seemingly part summer camp for grown-up artsy kids. For the work Swoon, 30, collaborated with musicians from the Minneapolis band Dark Dark Dark; the writer Lisa D’Amour, who contributed a play to be performed at stops along the way; the musician Sxip Shirey; and a host of others.

In the summers of 2006 and ’07 Swoon, known primarily as a street artist, did a similar project, “Miss Rockaway Armada,” in which she and a group of artists boated down the Mississippi on a large flotilla. It was essentially an experiment in communal life, and while many who took part are involved in “Swimming Cities,” the new work is more focused on the aesthetic aspect of the vessels.

Swoon said she began thinking about this voyage while working on the Mississippi trip. “From the first piece of plywood that we collected for the Rockaway, I knew that I would do this,” she said a week before the launching, sitting on the dock near the Deitch outpost in Long Island City. Her red hair was pulled back from her face, and she was wearing a tank top, with black paint splattered across her shoulders, sea gulls squawking in the background. “The ‘Rockaway’ was this kind of experiment in all kinds of ideals,” she said. “And working collectively has its own beauties and nightmares, and so does working by yourself. I just thought I wanted a chance to take some of the same kinds of language of the ‘Rockaway’ and make it more of a guided artistic experience rather then a collective living experiment. I wanted to make something which really had the freedom of artistic expression, sculptural and aesthetic and all that stuff.”

Supply and Demand Music is a new record label based in Providence, RI, started by Tom Inhaler.

Why call it Supply and Demand? Well, I don’t know if it’s okay to call yourself tongue-in-cheek, but suddenly it’s harder than ever to differentiate between “mainstream” and “independent” music – indie label artists are soundtracking sneaker and fast food commercials, bands on indie labels are snatched up quickly by majors, and a majority of indie labels are distributed by companies with ties to the majors. I make no judgments on these examples, but I do think it’s important to question ourselves and our intent constantly, both in the music we create and the business decisions we make. Calling my label Supply and Demand is my send up and rejection of a music-by-spreadsheet mentality. Let’s not be afraid to sell a lot of records, for sure. Let’s also not be afraid to maintain what it is that excited us all about independent music in the first place: new, challenging sounds that are removed from (and occasionally influence) the popular culture that surrounds us. Let’s not let “indie” become the new status quo.

The first two artists I’ve signed are Minneapolis’s Dark Dark Dark, and Providence, RI’s Between the Pine. Dark Dark Dark have a beautiful, haunting sound, heavily influenced by Eastern European music, and instantly caught my attention when they first performed in Providence back in 2007. Between the Pine is a local artist, a fantastic songwriter with ear-catching arrangements, and I’m happy to be one of the first to share his music with the world.

Dark Dark Dark’s “The Snow Magic” will be the first full length release from Supply and Demand Music, debuting on October 28th, 2008. It will be followed by Between the Pine’s “Friends, Foe, Kith and Kin” in December 2008. There are a few other releases in the works, and the details of which will be announced soon. Until then, you can check out Between the Pine’s self-released debut album, which was criminally slept on when it was released in 2005.

More to come soon.. Check out the site, and check back often for news on new releases, tour dates, MP3’s and videos!

-Tom Inhaler
July 21st, 2008