Saturday 9 July 2011

Elephant Stone UK Tour October 2011

Canadian band Elephant Stone, featuring ex-Datson 4 and High Dials sitarist/bassist Rishi Dhir, have just announced a U.K. tour in October. They will also make an apperance at Iceland's Airwaves Festival, with dates in Sweden and other destinations yet to be confirmed.


10/13-10/15 Iceland Airwaves
10/18 London @ The Lexington w/ Koolaid, Hall of Mirrors and the See See
10/20 Cardiff (SWN Fest) @ Clwb Ifor Bach w/ Herman Dune
10/21 Carlisle @ The Brickyard w/ Kontiki Suite
10/22 Edinburgh @ The Bongo Club w/ Delta Mainline
10/25 Nottingham @ Chameleon Arts Cafe w/ Cult of Dom Keller
10/26 Liverpool @ The Kazimier w/ By The Sea
10/27 York @ Stereo

I am really excited by this news, I'm yet to see Elephant Stone but saw The High Dials a couple of times when they came to London and to witness Rishi's sitar playing live was a wonderful experience. Their debut album "The Seven Seas" and "Glass Box" E.P. haven't been off the digital "turntable" for weeks since I was reminded of the band after their recent support slots with The Soundtrack of Our Lives in New York. I have also discovered, in their beautiful track "How Long", as close to pop perfection as I think I'm ever going to find!

Elephant Stone is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Rishi Dhir, a founding member of Montreal pop/psych veterans The High Dials, and sitar player for basically every outlaw psych band out there (Black Angels, The Earlies, Hopewell, Brian Jonestown Massacre…). They have supported the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Teenage Fanclub, and toured throughout North America and Europe.

 

In 2009 Elephant Stone released their debut album, The Seven Seas. Expertly melding Rishi’s obsession with the perfect pop song and the trippiest raga, The Seven Seas, was warmly embraced by the global indie-scene and long-listed for the coveted 2009 Polaris Music Prize. 2010 saw the release of The Glass Box EP, a 5-song suite of inspired power-pop/psych classics, a support slot on the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s North American tour, an inaugural tour of Europe with sold-out dates in London and Berlin, and showcases at both CMJ and M for Montreal.

2011 is shaping to be an even busier year as they prepare for an upcoming US tour, showcases at CMW/SXSW, a new record, and their return to UK soil.


Elephant Stone is:
Rishi Dhir: vocals, bass, sitar, guitar
Bobby Fraser: keyboards
Gab Lambert: guitar, bass, backing vocals
Chris McCarron: guitar, bass, backing vocals
Jules Pampena: drums, backing vocals

The band have been recording a new E.P. with Jace Lasek (Besnard Lakes and The Seven Seas producer) at his Breakglass Studios in Montreal. The songs were recorded live to 2" tape with a lot of sitars, tablas, backwards guitars and drones. Hopefully it will be available as a digital download to coincide with the U.K./Euro tour.

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