“Architecture In Helsinki will free pop music!” A French journalist recently proclaimed. Clearly the band takes its job seriously because the Melbourne, Australia-based octet is taking to the road once again starting on April 19th with a month-long encore visit to Europe, which it took by storm last fall, followed by a week of North American dates in late May that will culminate in an appearance at the Seattle’s Sasquatch Festival on May 27th. Coming to your favorite digital music purveyor at the same time is a brand new, dance floor-ready remix of AIH’s “Do The Whirlwind” by rising U.K. electro-pop stars and Astralwerks recording artists Hot Chip.
AIH’s second Bar/None disc, In Case We Die…, was released in spring ’05 to all-around acclaim. They arrived in the U,S.A, for their first, large-scale headlining tour just in time for a massive country-wide heat wave. Highlights included a packed-in-tight gig at the Knitting Factory with the air-conditioning konked out and a show at San Diego’s Casbah that ended in a major flood, courtesy of the bathroom plumbing. Unnatural disasters notwithstanding, the shows turned into celebratory, wave-your-hands in the air events. After their sold-out night at Northsix in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Spin declared, “All the theatrics — the coordinated dance moves, the calls for conga lines — were executed with the genuine excitement of a band on the brink of something big.”
By the time, Architecture in Helsinki returned to the states in September, they were indeed something big. In addition to the guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, synthesizers, trumpets, trombones, flutes, clarinets, tubas and glockenspiel, they had taken to stringing “found” percussion across the stage clothes-line style at every venue. Bar/None staffers helped them by scouring the recycling bins of Hoboken, NJ. They had also added a joyful rendition of the Bar-Kays’ “Soul Finger” as an encore surprise, having already tackled Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug” plus Go-Betweens and Randy Newman numbers.
AIH supported the European release of their album last Autumn with sold-out dates in London and a headlining slot at the Icelandic Airwaves Festival in Rekijivak. NME called them “daft and delightful,” the Irish Times praised the album’s “breathtaking scope,” Ian Parton of The Go! Team named them his pick to click in ’06 for London’s The Guardian and Liberation in Paris called In Case We Die… “A speed Dada manifest.” But, of course!
04-05 Melbourne, Australia – Northcote Social Club
04-12 Melbourne, Australia – Northcote Social Club
04-19 Tourcoing, France – Le Grand Mix *
04-20 Paris, France – Maroquinerie *
04-21 Nantes, France – L’Olympic *
04-22 Angoulemes, France – Ubu *
04-23 Mayenne, France – 6×4
04-25 Annency, France – Brise Glace
04-26 Bologna, Italy – Covo #
04-27 Milano, Italy – Transilvania Live #
04-28 Strasbourg, France – Festival Artefact +
04-30 Bourges, France – Le Printemps De Bourges %
05-01 Diksmuide, Belgium – 4AD
05-02 Luxenbourg, Luxenbourg – Kulturfabrik &
05-03 Brussels, Belgium – Le Nuits de Botanique !
05-04 Korneuburg, Austria – Danube Festival @
05-05 Cologne, Germany – Haldern Festival !
05-06 Heidelberg, Germany – Haldern Festival !
05-07 Munich, Germany – Haldern Festival !
05-08 Berlin, Germany – Maria Am Uffer =
05-09 Hamburg, Germany – Uebel @ Gefaehrlich =
05-10 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso =
05-11 Rotterdam, Netherlands – Rotown =
05-12 Utrecht, Netherlands – Ekko =
05-13 London, England – ULU ^
05-14 Dublin, Ireland – The Village ^
05-18 New York, NY – Avalon NYC )(
05-19 Montreal, Quebec – La Salla Rossa
05-20 Toronto, Ontario – Horseshoe Tavern
05-22 Los Angeles, CA – The Troubador >> )(
05-23 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall >> )(
05-25 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge >> )(
05-26 Vancouver, British Columbia – Richard’s on Richards
05-27 George, WA – The Gorge (Sasquatch!) $
* with Field Music, Vanessa & the Os
# with Jennifer Gentle
+ with TV on the Radio, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Yann Tiersen, more
% with the Flaming Lips, CocoRosie
& with A Silver Mt. Zion
! with Jose Gonzalez
@ with Wolf Eyes, Battles, Peaches, Gang Gang Dance
= with Tilly and the Wall
^ with Semi-Finalists
>> with Tussle
)( with Clue to Kalo
$ with Sam Roberts, Constantines, Band of Horses, Bedouin Soundclash, Matt Costa