Playing Piano for the Children of the King

Nobody does a Beatles cover better than World Party. Check out Cry Baby Cry from Arkeology here. Of course World Party had to tease their Facebook fans with this news...

World Party will be touring America in Sept. Check your local listings for shows

Uh, details please.

Official Site | iTunes | Amazon MP3

How Can I Say No?

Still some life to World Party? I'll believe it when I touch it with my own two hands.

Arkeology is a (so far) mythical 5-disc box-set by World Party allegedly being released April 10. The official World Party site says, "New Songs, Live Recordings, Cover Versions, Lots of Pictures and The Amazing Any-Year Diary." No doubt I'm intrigued, but we've heard grand and not-so-grand announcements from the genius Karl Wallinger only to ultimately be disappointed. I recognize he's had health issues and he really owes us nothing (Goodbye Jumbo completes me), but please make this happen - whatever it really is.

More here.

Can You Hear the Music?

World Party emerges!

2011 marks @worldparty 25th Anniversary. And in celebration #WorldPArty will be performing at SXSW, Boston and NYC in March. via Twitter

Plus a new tune, a new compilation of rarities, and a full-blown US tour! More details soon!

Where You're Meant To Be

World Party is touring!

September
9/5/09 Sat Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival
9/6/09 Sun Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
9/9/09 Wed Aspen, CO Belly Up
9/10/09 Thu Denver, CO Bluebird Theatre
9/12/09 Sat Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theatre
9/13/09 Sun Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
9/14/09 Mon Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
9/16/09 Wed Alexandria, VA Birchmere
9/17/09 Thu Annapolis, MD Rams Head Tavern
9/18/09 Fri Amagansett, NY Stephen's Talkhouse
9/19/09 Sat Philadelphia, PA World Café
9/22/09 Tue New York, NY City Winery
9/23/09 Wed New York, NY City Winery

October
10/1/09 Thu San Diego, CA Anthology
10/2/09 Fri Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
10/3/09 Sat San Francisco, CA Hardly Strictly Bluegrass or
10/4/09 Sun OR San Francisco Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

Joe Pernice is touring!

Wednesday, August 5, 7 and 9:30 p.m. (two shows)
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA
Tickets: www.WorldMusic.org, (617) 876-4275

Friday, August 7, 9 p.m.
Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
Tickets: www.boweryballroom.com

Saturday August 8, 7:30 p.m.
Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: www.comcasttix.com, (215) 928-0978

Sunday, August 9, time TBA
Iota Club, Arlington, VA
Info: (703) 522-8340 (they don’t do advance tickets)

Tuesday, August 25, 9 p.m.
Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA
Tickets: www.tractortavern.com, (206) 789-3599

Wednesday, August 26, 9 p.m.
Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
Tickets: www.dougfirlounge.com

Friday, August 28, 7:30 p.m.
Café du Nord, San Francisco, CA
Tickets: www.cafedunord.com

Saturday, August 29, 8 p.m.
McCabe’s, Los Angeles, CA
Tickets: www.mccabes.com

Friday, September 11, 7 p.m.
Schuba’s, Chicago, IL
Tickets: www.schubas.com

Saturday, September 12, 9 p.m.
400 Bar, Minneapolis, MN
Tickets: www.400bar.com

Midwesterners, notice a common denominator? Schubas! Might as well just camp out there in September (FYI, David Mead and Bryan Scary are also playing there that month). I'd love not to miss World Party again.

The Other Side of Maybe

Download the absolutely lovely tune from/called Big Blue Ball featuring Karl Wallinger of World Party fame and Peter Gabriel of early Genesis fame at World Party Live's MySpace.

More.

Please.

Now.

Exit Through You

We're about a month away from Big Blue Ball (less than a week if you're picking up the limited edition vinyl.) This project features Peter Gabriel, Karl Wallinger of World Party, Joseph Arthur, and many more. Thanks to Gabriel's Real World for giving us all an opportunity to remix one of the tunes:

Exit Through You opens with the distinctive vocal of Joseph Arthur with Peter joining at the chorus for a funky spiky pop tune accompanied by Karl and Justin Adams on guitars. The song was originally put together in a fast and furious live session in just over one hour back in 1995.

Go here to sign up, download, and remix your little red heart away!

Previously...

Sometimes I Can't Remember

Wow. This one has slipped by me for over 15 years. In the early 90s, Peter Gabriel convened a varied group of musicians to record a truly global musical effort. It appears Big Blue Ball will finally see the light of day on 5/24 for vinyl and 6/27 on CD. I'm hoping for a digital release as well, but I can't seem to find anything on that. The first single is on iTunes so that's a good sign.

I learned about this from World Party. Karl Wallinger was involved in this project, along with other greats like Tim Finn, Joseph Arthur, Sinead O'Connor, and Vernon Reid. Holy crap, this should be cool.

Learn more here and here
Download Whole Thing here
Pre-order vinyl and CD here

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lyric source

Drawn by the Promise of the Women and the Lace

I realize some people are big fans of greatest hits collection, and for some artists, that's all I might need. But World Party?!?

World Party has released Best in Show today, their first compilation of "hits." Now, really, if you want an introduction to World Party, you better buy Goodbye Jumbo, which has been one of my two or three favorite albums for over 15 years now! But if you just want Ship of Fools, Is It Like Today?, a couple tracks from recent albums, and over half of Goodbye Jumbo (I told you it was good), then Best in Show, I guess, is for you. I have to admit, this would make a great holiday present for the uninitiated.

Still, if that's all you know of World Party, you're missing everything!

Review
Download

Just to Please My Aching Heart

World Party is releasing their first greatest hits compilation on 10/9 (evidently already out in Australia and available via import on 9/10 - hey, i like the symmetry). It will include 13 of his best, which is better than most others' best, as well as links to hundreds of online live and demo versions of the song. Of course, you could always just pick up Goodbye Jumbo and that will keep you occupied for a decade and a half like it has me.

Also of note, a new studio album will be release hopefully sooner than later (late 07, early 08).

Is That Love in the Air?

Meet the Missus The Heartbreak Kid is Ben Stiller's new movie about getting hitched and realizing the proverbial ol' ball and chain is even worse than that. Yeah, I won't see it either, but the soundtrack is not half bad. Two new Flaming Lips tunes, a Matthew Sweet appearance, World Party's classic Put the Message in the Box (!!), and a few other decent tunes (tracklist below).

01 The Flaming Lips: "The Horny Frog"
02 David Bowie: "Ashes to Ashes"
03 Buva: "She Makes Me Fall Down"
04 World Party: "Put the Message in the Box"
05 John Alagia: "Honey Come Home"
06 The Weepies: "Painting by Chagall"
07 Brian Hyland: "Gypsy Woman"
08 Amy LeVere: "Take Em or Leave Em"
09 Buva: "First Cut Is the Deepest"
10 Julieta Venegas: "Canciones de Amor"
11 The Flaming Lips: "Maybe I'm Not the One"
12 Ozomatli: "After Party"
13 Mathew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs: "Different Drum"
14 David Bowie: "Suffragette City"

Soundtrack is out 10/2 right before the movie hits theaters for its inexplicably bloated $40MM+ opening weekend on 10/5. Watch the trailer here for all the slapshit action.

I Can't Take It Anymore

Irked I tell you.

Yet again another third-rate artist takes a first-rate artist's tune and does something with it the original artist couldn't do: make it a huge hit. Robbie Williams cheezed up the excellent World Party tune She's the One. Stereo Fuse massacred Material Issue's classic Everything. And now? UK boyband McFly has virtually copied Jellyfish's Baby's Coming Back to achieve a number one single!

IRKED!