Mike Bloom is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose solo debut King of Circles hits stores today. As he prepares to hit the road with The Elected, he announced that he'll do double duty in select cities, performing the songs from the album in an opening slot. Bloom is a current member of Julian Casablancas band, a co-founder of The Elected and a contributor to the work of Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis, Harper Simon, Rachael Yamagata, Jonathan Rice and many others. After years of recording with his friends, his new album appears on Little Record Company, the label founded by Pierre de Reeder ofRilo Kiley. With The Elected going on tour in support of their latest album Bury Me in My Rings, Bloom announces shows in Dallas, Austin, Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, Chicago and San Francisco. He'll also join his labelmates for a Little Record Company July residency at the Satellite in Los Angeles, performing on the 19th and 26th with Nik Freitas, JJAMZ and other friends. The album is available at all major outlets, or from the label at a very reasonable price. http://littlerecordcompany.com/store.html
King of Circles was originally funded by friend and fan Toby Maguire before landing at de Reeder's new label. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Bloom wrote, produced and played on the majority of the songs, enlisting a few friends along the way. His songwriting is at once uniquely his own, and curiously familiar. The warm, bedroom intimacy draws listeners in - there is a wealth of instrumentation and sonic detail augmenting the vocal/acoustic guitar centerpiece.
Songs with more than a little in common with the canon of Carson McCullers abound onKing of Circles. The scornful woman in "Floataway Sinner" extracts revenge on her hapless victim, saying "Hold on baby, don't you float away sinner, gonna pay for your acts, and that's all" – her closing shot reveals a moral compass off course when she explains, "…us long shots ain't supposed to win clean". "Butcher Paper" started life as a guitar piece he recorded – when Jenny Lewis heard it she whipped out a set of lyrics and recorded it over Mike's playing and sent it back to him. An evocative love song with starkly vivid lyrics resulted with this refrain, "Wrapped in twine, the butcher's paper, my bloody heart inside". Longtime friend/bandmate Blake Sennett (Rilo Kiley, The Elected) contributes vocals on "Til It's Over" The title track addresses emotional ambiguity as a form of revenge; "Dry Land" paints the picture of a long marriage at its expiration date with gentle acoustic guitar and Bloom's lyric, "…this is the empty glass at the party's end." "Devil's Island" can be heard in the new Sony Pictures thriller, The Roommate.
Mike's exceptional guitar playing has packed his tour schedule, leaving the songs to be written and recorded over a period of years. "Some came directly from my bedroom demos and landed on the record almost untouched," he explains "Some are much older than others, but they still felt like they belonged here." Touring the in US and Europe, he honed the songs the old fashioned way, in front of live audiences.
Mike Bloom King of Circles Show Schedule
June 16 Dallas, TX Club Dada
June 17 Austin, TX Emo's
June 24 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brendas
June 25 Brooklyn, NY Knitting Factory
July 1 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
July 2 Chicago, IL Schubas
July 13 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment