Lee Ranaldo

New Video: New Thing

LEE RANALDO has unveiled the video for ‘New Thing’, the second track to be taken from his brand new album Electric Trim, out on 15 September 2017, and announced details of a North American tour later this year.

Directed by Naomi Yang (founding member of Galaxie 500, Yang has directed videos for Richard Youngs and Julia Holter, amongst others), it sees Lee Ranaldo travelling through New York City and holds a mirror to our current all-consuming obsession with smart phones and small screens.

Talking about the track and video, Lee Ranaldo “I’ve described New Thing as ‘my song about the internet’ – about our thousands of ‘friends’ and the obsession with accumulating ‘likes’. When Naomi and I began discussing ideas for the video we knew we wanted to reference that subject matter but didn’t want to do so in any heavy-handed way. I told her I’d like to be a character of some sort rather than ‘guy singing w guitar’ and she found ‘Buster,’ as we dubbed the JVC 3100R “Television/Radio Pyramid Capsule Unit” on eBay. You wouldn’t believe what a cool old useless piece of outdated technology like that sells for these days!”

Naomi Yang goes on to explain, “We didn’t have to do anything more than hit the streets of New York to find the familiar scenario of everyone out and about glued to their screens. And so Lee, although he was carrying around a cumbersome vintage screen, was not so out of place. Some people noticed him, many did not at all. The idea of a “New Thing” has another association for me. Lee and I actually first met all the way back in 1989 when I was in Galaxie 500 and he was in Sonic Youth – and I wanted to capture the personal nature and energy of his new projects while giving a nod to the past. In the video you can catch a glimpse of Lee’s paintings in his studio, of the Sonic Youth tape archive…and you can dive deep into the hypnotic sounds of his ‘New Thing’.”

Electric Trim was recorded in New York City and Barcelona in collaboration with producer Raül ‘Refree’ Fernandez and extends the work of Ranaldo’s solo canon, the most recent being his 2013 album, Last Night On Earth.

Through his collaboration with Fernandez, Ranaldo moves into some rich new sonic territories and production techniques, experimenting with electronic beats and samples alongside live players.

Ranaldo is a co-founder of Sonic Youth, a visual artist, producer and writer. In addition to Fernandez, he worked with several special guests on Electric Trim, including Sharon Van Etten who sings on six of the tracks and duets on ‘Last Looks’ and Kid Millions (aka Man Forever) as well as longtime friend and collaborator Nels Cline (Wilco). In addition, the album features Ranaldo’s band The Dust (fellow Sonic Youth member Steve Shelley, guitarist Alan Licht, and bassist Tim Luntzel).

Ranaldo collaborated with award winning New York author Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn / The Fortress of Solitude) for lyrics on six of the songs and the American artist, Richard Prince, who previously painted the sleeve for Sonic Youth’s 2004 album Sonic Nurse, created the artwork for the album.

ELECTRIC TRIM TRACKLISTING:

Moroccan Mountains

Uncle Skeleton

Let’s Start Again

Last Looks (with Sharon Van Etten)

Circular (Right As Rain)

Electric Trim

Purloined

Thrown Over The Wall

New Thing

PLAYERS

Lee Ranaldo – vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards, electronics, drums, marimba

Raül Refree – acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards, electronics and programming, bass, drums, backing vocals

Sharon Van Etten – vocals

Alan Licht – electric guitar

Tim Luntzel – bajo

Nels Cline – electric guitar

Steve Shelley – drums

Kid Millions – drums

Xavi de la Salud – trumpets and flugelhorns

Cody Ranaldo – electronics

Mar Girona – backing vocals

LEE RANALDO NORTH AMERICAN TOUR:

24 Oct – Los Angeles, CA / Zebulon

25 Oct – San Francisco, CA / The Chapel

27 Oct – Portland, OR / Bunk Bar

28 Oct – Seattle, WA / Barboza

29 Oct – Vancouver, BC / The Cobalt

1 Nov – Burlington, VT / ArtsRiot

2 Nov – Montreal, QUE / La Sala Rossa

3 Nov – Toronto, ONT / Great Hall

4 Nov – Detroit, MI / El Club

5 Nov – Chicago, IL / Subterranean

8 Nov – Boston, MA / ONCE Ballroom

9 Nov – Brooklyn, NY / Bell House

10 Nov – Philadelphia, PA / Johnny Brenda’s

11 Nov – Washington, DC / Black Cat

Further dates to be announced, for full details and ticket links, go to http://po.st/LRWebsite

A feature length documentary, HELLO HELLO HELLO : LEE RANALDO : ELECTRIC TRIM, on the year-long making of the album by filmmakers Fred Riedel and Jerry Fried will be touring select film festivals in Europe and the US in 2017. Confirmed festivals include the New Jersey Film Festival on album release day, 15 September, Fonomo Music and Film Festival in Poland and Gig Harbor Film Festival in Seattle in October and London Doc ‘n Roll festival in Nov. Further details to follow.

Watch the trailer for Hello Hello Hello here: http://po.st/LRHelloTrailer

PRE ORDER ELECTRIC TRIM: http://po.st/LRET

‘New Thing’ will be available via streaming services from 19 July

‘New Thing’ YouTube: https://youtu.be/V2HWSUaqPd4

Listen to ‘Circular (Right As Rain)’ here: http://po.st/LRCircularVideo

RECENT DISCOGRAPHY:

Acoustic Dust • Lee Ranaldo & The Dust [El Segell, 2014]

Last Night on Earth • Lee Ranaldo & The Dust [Matador, 2013]

Between The Times and The Tides • Lee Ranaldo [Matador, 2012]

http://www.leeranaldo.com/        https://www.facebook.com/leeranaldoofficial/

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