Visiter, by San Francisco band The Dodos, is their second full length and first for Frenchkiss. Originally formed in 2006 under the moniker Dodobird as a one man acoustic act, Meric Long would gig around SF playing folky guitar with a combination of loops and ambient keyboards. Having already studied West African Ewe drumming, Meric got turned onto country blues fingerpicking and sought to create a band where the drumming could be a center role and help bring out the syncopated rhythms coming out of the acoustic guitar. Through a chance introduction by a roommate, Meric met Santa Cruz transplant Logan Kroeber, who had also been experimenting with drumming, but in the area of progressive metal. Eventually the band changed their name to the Dodos, through constant harrowing from first tourmates Peter and the Wolf, and got a rehearsal studio where they'd spend long hours improvising the music that would become their first record& nbsp; Beware of the Maniacs. The band quit their day jobs as a line cook and a printer and hit the road in Oct. 2006.The Dodos' principal concept behind Visiter was to reconnect with the energy and intensity of their live show. They decided to return to Type Foundry Studio where Beware of the Maniacs had been recorded. With producer/engineer John Askew back at the helm, they began expounding upon what they had learned since the previous record. The basic drum and guitar takes were recorded live simultaneously with very minimal post production. Type Foundry's warehouse-sized live room led to experimentation with mic placement, capturing a variety of ambient & natural sounds. At one point during tracking, the audible din of a thunderstorm inspired an impromptu horn session between Meric and guest trumpeter, Cory Gray. A small section of this can be heard between the songs "Fools" and "Joe's Waltz" on the record.
Visiter was completely written while on the road from the fall of 2006 to the summer of 2007.
The name of the record came from a drawing a kid did for them when they played for his special education class at Dorsey High in South Central on a road trip down to LA. With all of their time being spent on the road, Meric's lyrics drew heavily from his experiences while touring. They would come home for days at a time, and then leave for a month, always coming and going, which pretty much shaped every relationship the band had during that year.
The Dodos toured in 2007 with Les Savy Fav, Akron/Family, Jennifer Gentle, Wovenhand and Peter and the Wolf. 2008 will bring even more touring for them with stops at the Noise Pop, SXSW and Culture Shock festivals.
NPR’s All Songs Considered Best Of 2008 List (So Far) http://www.indierockcafe.com/2008/06/npr-best-albums-of-2008-poll-features.html
NPR Bryant Park Project http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2008/04/the_dodos_perform_at_the_bpp.html
NPR Second Stage : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89159938
Pitchfork Media Today! [8.5/ Best New Music] : " Visiter ends up being one of the most welcoming (and welcome) records of 2008 so far."
Fall European & US Tour
Fri 8/7/08 Oya Festival NOR
Fri 8/8/08 Way Out West Festival Gothenburg SWE
Sun 8/9/08 Haldern Festival Haldern GER
Aug 10 2008 Zomerpark Festival/Venlo Netherlands
Aug 12 2008 100 Club/London London
Aug 14 2008 Route Du Rock Festival/Saint Malo, France Saint Malo
Aug 15 2008 Pukkelpop/Hasselt, Belgium Hasselt
Aug 16 2008 V Festival/Stafford Stafford
Aug 17 2008 V Festival/Chelmsford Chelmsford
Aug 29 2008 Nooderzon/Groningen Gronigen
Aug 30 2008 Festival De Beschaving/Utrecht Utrecht
Aug 31 2008 Electric Picnic Festival/Stradbally Hall, Ireland Laois
Sep 1 2008 Black Box/Belfast, Ireland Belfast
Sep 2 2008 Doghouse/Dundee Dundee
Sep 3 2008 King Tuts/Glasgow Glasgow
Sep 4 2008 The Cluny/Newcastle Newcastle
Sep 5 2008 The Duchesss/York York
Sep 6 2008 Faversham/Leeds Leeds
Sep 7 2008 Roadhouse/Manchester Manchester
Sep 8 2008 Fusion/Sheffield Sheffield
Sep 10 2008 Bar Academy/Birmingham Birmingham
Sep 11 2008 Moles/Bath Bath
Sep 12 2008 Coalition/Brighton Brighton
Sep 13 2008 Academy 2/Oxford Oxford
Sep 14 2008 Bodega/Nottingham Nottingham
Sep 15 2008 Thekla/Bristol Bristol
Sep 16 2008 ULU/London London
Sun 9/21/08 Treasure Island Music Festival San Francisco CA
Sun 9/28/08 Sonar Baltimore MD
Mon 9/29/08 Spiegeltent New York NY
Thu 10/2/08 Museum of Fine Arts Boston MA
Fri 10/3/08 Dartmouth College Hanover NH
Sat 10/4/08 La Sala Rossa Montreal QC (Pop Montreal)
Mon 10/6/08 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto ON
Tue 10/7/08 Magic Stick Detroit Mi
Wed 10/8/08 Bottom Lounge Chicago IL
Thu 10/9/08 Rhino’s Bloomington IN
Fri 10/10/08 Earlham University Richmond IN
Sat 10/11/08 Milo Columbus OH
Fri 10/17/08 Dickenson College Carlisle PA
Nov 8 2008 Echoplex/Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles
Nov 12 2008 Grand Mix/Tourcoing France w/The Ruby Suns Tourcoing
Nov 13 2008 Poudriere/Belfort, France Belfort
Nov 14 2008 Point Ephemere/Paris w/The Ruby Suns Paris
Nov 15 2008 Cabaret Electric/Le Havre, France w/The Ruby Suns Le Havre
Nov 17 2008 Nachtleben/Frankfurt w/The Ruby Suns Frankfurt
Nov 18 2008 Headcrash/Hamburg w/The Ruby Suns Hamburg
Nov 19 2008 Voxhall/Aarhus w/The Ruby Suns Aarhus
Nov 20 2008 Loppen/Copenhagen w/The Ruby Suns Copenhagen
Nov 21 2008 Knaack/Berlin w/The Ruby Suns Berlin
Nov 22 2008 Akropolis/Prague w/The Ruby Suns Prague
Nov 23 2008 59-1/Munich w/The Ruby Suns Munich
Nov 24 2008 Chelsea/Vienna w/The Ruby Suns Vienna
Nov 25 2008 Stalker/Padova w/The Ruby Suns Padova
Nov 26 2008 Casa 139/Milan w/The Ruby Suns Milan
Nov 27 2008 ISC/Bern Bern
Nov 28 2008 Le Romandie/Lausanne Lausanne
Nov 29 2008 Luxor/Cologne Cologne
Nov 30 2008 Vera/Groningen Groningen
Dec 2 2008 Melkweg/Amsterdam Amsterdam
Dec 3 2008 Belle Vue/Brussels Brussels
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