Pitchfork

Since 2003's Let's Get Ready to Crumble, Matthew Adam Hart finally got around to assembling people other than himself into the hitherto bedroom-bound one man show The Russian Futurists. And though he toured large portions of North America and Spain with that new band, Hart instinctively went back to seclusion to record his next album, Our Thickness. In fact, according to his website, he admitted that he "rented a cabin up north for a portion of the making of the album. I was alone with no phone or anything, and was forced to work on the record most of the day. I spent the rest of the time eating catfish and drinking whisky like Huck Finn of something." Now we know where the thickness comes from. The album will be released on May 3 on Upper Class Recordings, and includes 10 of Hart's patented lo-fi love songs. There's probably some heartbreak in here somewhere too:

01 Paul Simon
02 Sentiments vs. Syllables
03 Our Pen's Out of Ink
04 Still Life
05 Hurtin 4 Certain
06 Why You Gotta Do That Thang?
07 It's Over, It's Nothing
08 Incandescent Hearts
09 These Seven Notes
10 2 Dots on a Map

And this time around, there's no assembly required for Hart as far as band members go. The Russian Futurists are already on the road, in Italy, and will also stop by Spain before beginning an massive tour of North America. That portion will included a CD release party in Toronto on April 23 and 40 shows with Caribou and Junior Boys, which was an already enticing bill in itself:

03-24 Vittoria, Italy - Piazza G. Bruno
03-25 Palermo, Italy - Ask 191
03-26 Catania, Italy - Mercati Generali
03-27 Reggio C., Italy - Prima Rosa
03-28 Siderno, Italy - Mister Orange
03-31 Monsano, Italy - Blaster
04-01 Bussolengo, Italy - Gate 52
04-02 S. Valentino, Italy - Sans Papiers
04-03 Shiavo di Marsciano, Italy - Red House
04-06 Marina di Massa, Italy - Baraonda
04-07 Fano, Italy - Sonic Lab
04-08 Milano, Italy - Cox 18
04-09 Livorno, Italy - The Cage
04-10 Bari, Italy - La Taverna
04-13 Madrid, Spain - Moby Dick
04-14 Oviedo, Spain - Centro Cultural
04-16 Barcelona, Spain - Apolo's
04-23 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo (w/ The Cansecos)
04-26 Kingston, Ontario - Elixir Night Club #
04-27 Ottawa, Ontario - Babylon #
04-29 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret #
04-30 Ithaca, NY - Noyes Community Center #
05-01 Annandale On Hudson, NY - Bard College #
05-02 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse #
05-03 Cambridge, MA - Middle East #
05-04 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #
05-05 Brooklyn, NY - Northsix #
05-06 Providence, RI - The Living Room #
05-07 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero Theatre #
05-08 Charlotteville, VA - Satellite Ballroom #
05-09 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 #
05-10 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn #
05-11 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues Parish #
05-12 Houston, TX - Mary Janes Fat Cat #
05-13 Austin, TX - The Parish #
05-14 Denton, TX - Haileys #
05-15 Lawrence, KS - Jackpot Saloon #
05-17 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre #
05-18 Salt Lake City, UT - Egos #
05-20 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress #
05-21 Phoenix, AZ - Modified Arts #
05-22 San Diego, CA - Casbah #
05-24 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland #
05-25 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill #
05-27 Portland, OR - Berbatis Pan #
05-28 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey #
05-29 Victoria, British Columbia - Lucky Bar #
05-30 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richards on Richards #
06-01 Calgary, Alberta - Broken City #
06-02 Edmonton, Alberta - New City Liqwid Lounge & Suburbs #
06-03 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Amigos #
06-04 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabaret #
06-05 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar #
06-06 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews #
06-07 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle #
06-08 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop #
06-09 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick #
06-10 Hamilton, Ontario - The Casbah #

# with Caribou, Junior Boys

* Pitchfork Review: The Russian Futurists: Let's Get Ready to Crumble
* The Russian Futurists: