Stephen Malkmus shares new single and video for "Shadowbanned"
27th February 2020
Stephen Malkmus releases a new single/video, “Shadowbanned”, from his new album, Traditional Techniques, out March 6th on Domino. Following lead single “Xian Man”, “Shadowbanned” bursts with flute-laced swagger and Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream as he sings of “Amazon wheatfields and rivers of Red Bull//drip gush drip//data driven skip//to the part where the left bros parody TED talks.” Its video, directed by Jan Lankisch, features friends and fans of Malkmus, such as Kim Gordon, Mac DeMarco, Sharon Van Etten and Jason Schwartzman, performing “Shadowbanned” as a cartoon version of Malkmus (find a full list of appearances below). Their footage is interwoven with clips from older videos by Malkmus and Pavement in which the singer has been blurred, pixelated algorithmically replaced in order to render him invisible.
"The video was inspired by reading about female singers and musicians who were photoshopped from their album covers by an Iranian music streaming site,” says Lankisch who realized "Shadowbanned“ with the help of Janosch Pugnaghi, Gesa Gadow, Lina Sieckmann and Miri Gossing The video represents two polar opposites: the involuntary erasure of a person in visual imagery and one's desire to perform as a persona, thereby leaving the constraints of one's everyday identity behind. "Identity is a matter of design. People like to play with characters and pretend to be someone else.” For this reason, Lankisch and Pugnaghi developed a filter for Instagram called "Being Stephen Malkmus,” which operates via face detection. The face of the user is overlaid with a stylized version of Malkmus’ face. The “Being Stephen Malkmus” Instagram filter is available today.
The video for “Shadowbanned” stars: Mac DeMarco, Jason Schwartzman, Kim Gordon, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Conor Oberst, Orono Noguchi , Eric Koston, Mary Lattimore, Joe Beddia, Matt Korvette, Jake Morris, Polly Roche, Keshav Purushotham, Sharmila Banerjee, Lucía Castellanos, Charlotte Gfeller, Qais Essar, Maple Judd, Lia Wang, Lara Vinciguerra, Pernille Krogvig and Frederike Wetzels.
Traditional Techniques, Malkmus’ third solo LP without the Jicks (or Pavement), is new phase folk music for new phase folks, centred around Malkmus’ 12-string acoustic guitar. It’s the product of Malkmus and Chris Funk (The Decemberists) with Matt Sweeney (Chavez, Superwolf) playing guitar throughout. The album creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove Denied (2019). These three very different full-lengths in three years highlight an ever-curious songwriter committed to finding untouched territory. Informed by a half-century of folk-rock reference points, Malkmus drew from a whole new musical palette - including a variety of Afghani instruments - to support an ache both quizzical and contemporary.
Stephen Malkmus live dates
Tue. March 31 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave
Wed. April 1 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
Thu. April 2 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Fri. April 3 - Louisville, KY @ Headliners
Sat. April 4 - Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom
Sun. April 5 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Tue. April 7 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
Wed. April 8 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Thu. April 9 - Richmond, VA @ The National
Fri. April 10 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Sat. April 11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Mon. April 13 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Wed. April 15 - Boston, MA @ Royale
Thu. April 16 - Montreal, QC @ L’Astral
Fri. April 17 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
Sat. April 18 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
Sun. April 19 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall
Fri. June 26 - Vancouver, BC @ Imperial
Sat. June 27 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
Sun. June 28 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Tue. June 30 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Wed. July 1 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
Thu. July 2 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
Fri. July 3 - Santa Fe, NM @ TBD
Sat. July 4 - El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
Mon. July 6 - Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
Tue. July 7 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
Wed. July 8 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre
Thu. July 9 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater
Sat. July 11 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
Stephen Malkmus Traditional Techniques
Album | 6th March 2020
Traditional Techniques, Malkmus’ third solo LP without the Jicks (or
Pavement), is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned
as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. It’s packed
with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed
in his singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional
Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the
Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove
Denied (2019).
Stephen Malkmus Traditional Techniques
Album | 6th March 2020
Traditional Techniques, Malkmus’ third solo LP without the Jicks (or
Pavement), is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Malkmus as attuned
as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. It’s packed
with handmade arrangements, modern folklore, and 10 songs written and performed
in his singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional
Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the
Jicks’ Sparkle Hard (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of Groove
Denied (2019).
