Andy Shauf Debuts Video Via Stereogum
Stereogum is premiering a new video for Andy Shauf’s song “The Magician.”
The track is from the Saskatchewan-based singer-songwriter’s forthcoming album The Party which arrives this May 20th. Watch the video here http://www.stereogum.com/1865273/andy-shauf-the-magician-video-stereogum-premiere/video/
The video for “The Magician,” like the track, is an intensely evocative affair that’s warmly familiar, like a cherished classic from some non-existent past. Several early reviews have referenced Elliott Smith and Harry Nilsson, both artists that reside in Shauf’s record collection. The video, directed by Winston Hacking, mirrors this innovative and timeless feel perfectly with a collage of animated imagery that move around an artistically rendered Shauf who stares directly ahead as he sings.
Shauf talks about his new video, “I’ve kind of realized over the past little while that when you are working with someone else you have to let them realize their own artistic vision and work within their own tastes. I’m really glad that we gave Winston free reign over the video because he used such beautiful imagery and striking colors to create this collage that I’m proud to have been a part of.”
The clip’s talented director explains the genesis and execution of the concept, “My mom gave me a bunch of old postcards from my grandparents' collection - they were the starting point for the idea and became the backdrop to the video. I live in Montreal but the performance shoot had to happen in Toronto so I directed it over Skype. My photographer friend Geoff Fitzgerald shot Andy singing and then sent it to me. I printed out a still frame of Andy's face and cut out the eyes and mouth. I put the performance video on an IPad and taped the still frame print of Andy overtop. I then shot the IPad with the photo overtop - I wanted him to blend into the "paperteered" collage world seamlessly.”
Early praise for Andy Shauf:
“Though it goes down easily, “The Magician” is a sophisticated piece of high-class pop reminiscent of Lee Hazlewood and Harry Nilsson.” - Floodmagazine.com
“it basically sounds like Elliott Smith come back to life. In the 70's. It's... incredible. - Indieshuffle.com
“The Magician” is a triumphant first taste of The Party, and sees Shauf masterfully puppet wind instrumentals to dance hauntingly in tandem with eerie violin sections, all the while deploying his understated vocals which effortlessly detail the ill-fitted attempts of a lacklustre magician. Inherently magical and unquantifiably engaging, Andy Shauf’s ‘The Party’ is officially one of our most anticipated albums of the year. - Bestbefore.co
“On his terrific new album, The Party, he handled all instrumental duties with the exception of the strings, which heighten the sense of melancholy melodrama. Shauf’s writing has been described as cinematic... It features a cast of dismal walk-on parts such as the fool “in the kitchen, stressing out the host” on Early to the Party, “the halfwit spilling his guts out” on Begin Again, or the self-serving type slagging his best friend as a way of endearing himself to his freshly dumped ex on Quite Like You. As concept albums about a party and the after-party go, think the Weeknd’s House of Balloons, only instead of glamorous debauchees it’s stoner losers. But it’s so tightly narrated and beautifully observed that you warm to them all. The wonkily resonant piano, pattering drums, fuzzed-out and acoustic guitars, clarinets and swelling strings seem to pursue each character from room to room, mocking their pathetic situations. At times the budget grandeur posits Shauf as a sort of indie Burt Bacharach: don’t be fooled by the chintzy synths and general thrift-store appearance. He can go either way, though. One track, Martha Sways, injects notes of dissonance – off-kilter violins, random stabs of piano – that will be familiar to fans of Big Star’s Sister Lovers. Then again, a lot of these songs have the warm, easy-listening appeal of the hippest mainstream 70s songwriters, up to and including Nilsson, while reclaiming aspects of the cheesiest.” – The Guardian
Andy Shauf Live Dates:
APR 14 - BRISTOL, UK (Academy) w/ Lumineers
APR 15 - GLASGOW, UK (Barrowlands) w/ Lumineers
APR 16 – EDINBURGH, UK (Mash House)
APR 17 – DUBLIN, IE (Olympia) w/ Lumineers
APR 18 – DUBLIN, IE (Olympia) w/ Lumineers
APR 19 – MANCHESTER, UK (Albert Hall) w/ Lumineers
APR 20 – LIVERPOOL, UK – Studio 2
APR 21 – LEEDS, UK – Brudenell Social Club
APR 24 – LONDON, UK – Brixton Academy w/ Lumineers
APR 25 – SOUTHAMPTON, UK - Joiners Arms w/ Lumineers
APR 27 – PARIS, FR – Trianon w/ Lumineers
APR 28 – BRUSSELS, BE – AB w/ Lumineers
APR 29 – AMSTERDAM, NL – Melkweg w/ Lumineers
APR 30 – ROTTERDAM, NL – Paradijskerk
MAY 1 – GRONINGEN, NL – Grand Theatre Up
MAY 2 – COLOGNE, DE – E-Werk w/ Lumineers
MAY 4 – HAMBURG, DE – Grosse Freiheit 36 w/ Lumineers
MAY 6 – BERLIN, DE – Admiralspalast w/ Lumineers
MAY 8 – STOCKHOLM, SE – Berns w/ Lumineers
MAY 9 – OSLO, NO - Rockefeller w/ Lumineers
MAY 10 – COPENHAGEN, DK – Vega w/ Lumineers
MAY 11 – MALMO, SE – Grand
MAY 12 – GOTHENBURG, SE – Oceanen
MAY 16 – VIENNA, AT – B72
MAY 17 – ZURICH, CH – Exil
MAY 18 – GENEVA, CH – Kalvingrad
MAY 19 – BRUSSELS, BE – Les Nuits Botanique: Grand Salon de Concert
MAY 20 – COLOGNE, DE – Gebaude 9
MAY 21 – HAMBURG, DE – Molotow
MAY 23 – AMSTERDAM, NL – Paradiso
MAY 25 – LONDON, UK – Bush Hall w/ Evening Hymns
MAY 26 – BRIGHTON, UK – The Hope and Ruin w/ Evening Hymns
MAY 30 – LILLE, FR – La Peniche
MAY 31 – PARIS, FR – Mecanique Ondulatoire
JUN 2 – BARCELONA, ES – Primavera
JUN 3 – BARCELONA, ES – Primavera
JUN 9 - NEW YORK, NY - Bowery Ballroom w/ Son Little
JUN 22 - SAN DIEGO, CA - Humphrey’s w/ case/lang/veirs
JUN 23 - LOS ANGELES, CA - Greek Theatre w/ case/lang/veirs
JUN 25 - SARATOGA, CA - The Mountain Winery w/ case/lang/veirs
JUN 28 - VICTORIA, BC - Royal Theatre w/ case/lang/veirs
JUN 29 - VANCOUVER, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theatre w/ case/lang/veirs
JUN 30 - SEATTLE, WA - Woodland Park Amphitheatre w/ case/lang/veirs
JUL 2 - PORTLAND, OR - Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre w/ case/lang/veirs
JUL 5 - BEND, OR - Athletic Club of Bend w/ case/lang/veirs
JUL 9 - WINNIPEG, MB - Winnipeg Folk Festival
JUL 26 - BROOKLYN, NY - BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! w/ case/lang/veirs
JUL 27 - WASHINGTON, DC - Lincoln Theatre w/ case/lang/veirs
JUL 29 - ATLANTA, GA - Atlanta Botanical Garden w/ case/lang/veirs
AUG 2 - SAN ANTONIO, TX - Tobin Center for the Performing Arts w/ case/lang/veirs
AUG 3 - AUSTIN, TX - Long Center for the Performing Arts w/ case/lang/veirs
AUG 9 - BAYFIELD, WIA - Big Top Chautauqua