Doldrums: The Air Conditioned Nightmare
Thanks in part to his father’s career within the Canadian folk scene, Doldrums’ Airick Woodhead grew up surrounded by all things musical. After his first successful band Spiral Beach which spawned the likes of members of Austra and Moon King, Airick moved from Toronto to Montreal to found Doldrums. His first release under this guise was an official remix for Portishead, which led to his first album Lesser Evil, a beautiful musical montage of electronic chaos. Now signed to legendary record label Sub Pop, Doldrums’ second album The Air Conditioned Nightmare continues where Lesser Evil left off.
Whereas Lesser Evil was sprawling, entrancing and dreamlike, The Air Conditioned Nightmare is cleaner, sophisticated, complex and stunning. In one word, Doldrums’ new album is ‘polished’. Airick’s vocal lead is much more pronounced on this album, bearing a strong resemblance to Thom Yorke, a comparison which dawned on me while listening to track Funeral for Lightning. The instrumentation itself is still reminiscent of Doldrums’ first album, but is in a fresher and more cohesive state. There is still brash sounds and moments of intentional atonality, but each song has a life of its own rather than merely existing as part of a grander soundtrack.
The first time I heard Doldrums, my immediate thought was, “this is the music of the future!” Well, the future is here and I for one am living in the moment.
Doldrums Tour Dates:
Apr. 09 – Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz*
Apr. 15 – Boston, MA – Great Scott*
Apr. 17 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge*
Apr. 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right*
Apr. 19 – Washington, DC – DC9*
Apr. 21 – Atlanta, GA – Aisle 5*
Apr. 24 – Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s*
Apr. 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Echo*
May 02 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop*
May 04 – Seattle, WA – The Sunset*
May 05 – Portland, OR – Holocene*
May 08 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry*
May 09 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle*
May 15 – Copenhagen, DK – Pop Revo Festival, Atlas
May 16 – Rome, IT – Spring Attitude Festival
May 19 – Lile, FR – La Peniche
May 20 – London, UK – Electrowerkz
May 21 – Dublin, IE – Hidden Agenda @ Whelans
May 22 – Bristol, UK – The Louisiana
May 23 – Manchester, UK – Soup Kitchen
May 24 – Glasgow, UK – Stereo
May 26 – Brighton, UK – The Hope
May 27 – Bruges, BE Cactus
May 28 – Amsterdam, NL – OT301
May 29 – Paris, FR – Le Pop Up du Label
May 30 – Bordeaux, FR – Iboat
Jun. 02 – Cologne, DE – Studio 672
Jun. 03 – Hamburg, DE – Volt
Jun. 04 – Berlin, DE – Privatclub
Jul. 11 – Antigonish, NS – Evolve Fest
Jul. 24 – Guelph, ON – Hillside Fest
Jul. 31 – Aug 2 – Sackville, NB – Sappyfest
* w/ Moon King
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Our interview with Woodhead brothers Airick (Doldrums) & Daniel (Moon King) as part of Spiral Beach.
