Pitchfork

[Posted Tuesday, November 11th, 2003 05:45:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

German electro-pop duo Ms. John Soda will tour North America for the first time during November and December. It's been a busy first year for this supposed side-project of the Notwist (and Couch), beginning with release of their full-length debut No P. or D., which came out in late 2002 and inaugurated our Best New Music section back in January. Last month saw the release of their EP While Talking. Though it didn't get treated particularly kindly by our Nick Sylvester, its lead track "No. One" is perhaps the group's first real rock song to date, and could prove to be a concert highlight in the vein of "One With the Freaks" from the Notwist's Neon Golden.

Ms. John Soda and the Notwist are relatives in the Sodaland of Weilheim, Germany, with Ms. John Soda playing the tranquilly fetching kid sister to the Notwist's Soda Pop Family patriarch. The Morr Music label boasts many other of their laptop pop kin, who run around making beautifully textured electro-pop and chugging cans of grape and spaetzle-flavored soda at every opportunity. Ms. John Soda is composed of Micah Acher, who also plays bass for the Notwist, and Couch singer/keyboardist Stefanie Bohm.

Morr labelmate B. Fleischmann will support Ms. John Soda for the length of the tour. Another Morr artist, Christian Klein, is also on the bill for all dates in the East and Midwest, while recently-panned garage act Jet will replace him in that capacity for the West Coast shows. The California shows will also include DJ work by Thomas Morr, and the tour's final stop in L.A. will tip the scales with a notable fifth act-- Jimmy Tamborello's Dntel will guest DJ that night. Dates:

11-14 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
11-15 Brooklyn, NY - Luxx *
11-16 New York, NY - Knitting Factory *
11-17 Cambridge, MA - T.T. the Bears *
11-18 Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret Music Hall *
11-19 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace *
11-20 Buffalo, NY - Soundlab *
11-21 Detroit, MI - Shelter *
11-22 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
11-23 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry *
11-26 Seattle, WA - Graceland +
11-27 Vancouver, British Columbia - Picadilly Pub +
11-28 Portland, OR - Holocene +
11-30 San Francisco, CA - CafŽ du Nord + (w/ DJ Thomas Morr)
12-02 Los Angeles, CA - TBA + (w/ Dntel, DJ Thomas Morr)

* with B. Fleischmann, Christian Klein
+ with B. Fleischmann, Jel

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