(4/27/07 - Varsity Theater - Mpls, MN - courtesy of Sacred Roots)
Joseph Arthur – and his new band, The Lonely Astronauts – have been on a joyride since late last Summer that can conservatively be described as a “wild one.” In fact, since then Arthur has practically been creatively reborn, undergoing one of the most dramatic artistic reinventions in recent memory. He’s certainly been a busy little bee. He toured for 3 months last fall with the just launched Astronauts, recorded an ungodly number of songs (70 or 80? many written or co-written by Kraig Johnson) in the studio during recent months, and just released Let’s Just Be, a scant 7 months after the last one, the waycool Nuclear Daydream. And, reportedly, there's another new album coming before the end of the year. And the Lonely Astronauts just started a 30 date North American tour, right after kicking he sh*t out of the Conan O’Brien show, evoking fond memories of a couple of similarly startling late-nite TV appearances last fall (after the Lonely Astronauts played his show last October, David Letterman was moved to say: "I want to go with those people -- I would like to be with them"). Plus Joseph compulsively blogs, writes poetry, paints, goes to Africa to help orphans, gets rave reviews for playing Bruce Springsteen tributes at Carnegie Hall (like the one he did a few weeks ago), provided the namesake song for the Michael Stipe Inthesun.org Katrina relief project, is opening an art studio in DUMBO, Brooklyn (possible name: Museum of Modern A-Rthur -- MOMAR, heh heh) and...god knows what else. Maybe he's working on a cure for cancer. Or really bad music on the radio.
For those that don't know, Joseph has been around for a decade as a (mostly) solo artist -- and a pretty damn compelling one at that. Now, after a series of distinctive albums and many well-regarded solo and one-man "folktronica" tours, this prolific vagabond troubadour has decided that the time is right to do "the band thing," "the rock thing," "the front guy thing" and even the "head of a record label thing" – all at the same time. He's assembled an extremely potent lineup of guys and gals, featuring not only Kraig Johnson but the guitar magic of the amazing Jenn Turner, plus a rhythm section (Sibyl Buck & G. Wiz) that sing as well as they play. Some long time Arthur fans aren't too wild about his new "direction" -- indeed, the sense of shock/anger/betrayal has reached almost Dylan-goes-electric proportions with some of the devout -- but I've been totally smitten with these cats since i saw them last fall at the Fine Line in Mpls where they played the entire Nuclear Daydream album in sequence (interspersed, of course, with even newer material). Although Joseph didn't record ND with the Lonely Astronauts, their live take on it immediately proved to be viscerally powerful, if not definitive.
Joe's new trip ain't for everyone, especially those with low tolerances for raw power and the occasional detour down some fairly extreme side roads; it's a risky creative high-wire act where warning signs and boundless possibilities are all seemingly part of the plan. But, at his core, he's an incredibly talented songwriter and the journey he takes you on with his crazysexycool partners is a thrilling one.
I've been spinning the "teaser" version of Arthur’s new "Let's Just Be" album non-stop since it was offered up for download in December. Of course, the version of Let’s Just Be that’s in the stores now has been tweaked and updated from the electronic version; time definitely isn’t standing still for Arthur these days. I’m also feeding my Arthur fix with a sizable collection of superfresh Myspace and website odds & ends that he generously provides for us junkies, as well as a boatload of Lonely Astronauts live recordings (he records most of his concerts and offers them for sale, usually right after the show). So it's no big shock that i'm stoked about the release of the real "Let's Just Be" as well as the upcoming shows in Mpls at the Varsity on the 27th and Madison the night before. Can you say road trip?
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