Vancouver accordion troubadour Geoff Berner has been releasing albums for a decade, earning a following with his dark, sardonic blend of folk, punk and klezmer. He has now inked a deal with Mint Records and on March 8 will release his fifth full-length, Victory Party.
The album was produced by Socalled (aka Josh Dolgin). In a press release, Berner said, "I wanted to make an album that sounded bigger, more 'klezmer-ey,' and more transgressive, all at the same time. And I knew I couldn't do it alone. In fact, I knew that I couldn't do it without Josh."
For the record, the songwriter recruited a host of backing musicians who specialize in authentic klezmer music. While the majority of modern klezmer is filtered through different forms of Western music, Berner hopes to find a more traditional sound. He said, "We're all trying to put out a vision of Jewish culture that's the opposite of the conservative, knee-jerk pro-Israel, judgmental bullshit that's emerged in recent decades."
See the tracklist below. If you go to Mint's website, you can read Berner's notes on each song.
Scroll past the tracklist to see the dates for the songwriter's epic 2011 world tour, which contains a cross-Canada jaunt.
Victory Party:
1. "Victory Party"
2. "Laughing Jackie the Pimp"
3. "Wealthy Poet"
4. "Mayn Rue Platz"
5. "Dalloy Polezei"
6. "I Am Going to Jail"
7. "Rabbi Berner Finally Reveals His True Religious Agenda"
8. "Oh My Golem"
Tour dates:
1/22 Golden, BC - Bacchus Books
1/23 Penticton, BC - Penticton Art Gallery
2/8 Dawson City, YK - The Legion, with Spring Breakup
2/10 Whitehorse, YK - Yukon Arts Centre *
3/3 Edmonton, AB - The Artery ^
3/4 Calgary, AB - The Marquee ^
3/5 Lethbridge, AB - The Slice ^
3/12 Vancouver, BC - The WISE Hall #
3/18 Berlin, Germany - Supamolli
3/19 Bremerhaven, Germany - Pferdestall
3/20 Bremen, Germany - TBA
3/21 Mainz, Germany - Hafeneck
3/22 Nuremberg, Germany - Gallerie Bernsteinzimmer
3/24 Hannover, Germany - Feinkost Lampe
3/25 Neuss, Germany - Jüdische Kulturtage NRW
3/26 Düsseldorf, Germany - Jüdische Kulturtage NRW
3/27 Bochum, Germany - Jüdische Kulturtage NRW
3/29 Darmstadt, Germany - Schlosskeller
3/30 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Cafe Pakhuis Wilhelmina
3/31 Utrecht, Netherlands - Merkaz, Magdalenastraat 1a
4/1 Liege, Belgium - La Zone
4/2 Brussels, Belgium - Musiek Publiek
4/3 Bielefeld, Germany - Jüdische Kulturtage NRW
4/4 Zurich, Switzerland - El Lokal
4/7 Montreal, QC - Bobards &
4/8 Wakefield, QC - The Black Sheep &%
4/9 Toronto, ON %
4/10 Waterloo, ON - TBA %
4/11 Peterborough, ON - The Spill %
4/12 Kingston, ON - TBA %
4/14 Sackville, NB - Struts Gallery %
4/15 St. John, NB - The Pirate's House %
416 Halifax, NS - The Company House %
4/22 Victoria, BC - TBA ~
4/23 Courtenay, BC - Joe's Garage ~
4/28 Saskatoon, SK - Free Flow Dance Studio ~
4/29 Regina, SK - The Exchange ~
4/30 Winnipeg, MB - WECC ~
* with Bidiniband, Sarah Harmer, John K. Samson, Kim Barlow, C.R. Avery
^ with Kris Demeanor
# with Orkestar Slivovika
& with Briga
% with Rae Spoon
~ with Jason Webley
The album was produced by Socalled (aka Josh Dolgin). In a press release, Berner said, "I wanted to make an album that sounded bigger, more 'klezmer-ey,' and more transgressive, all at the same time. And I knew I couldn't do it alone. In fact, I knew that I couldn't do it without Josh."
For the record, the songwriter recruited a host of backing musicians who specialize in authentic klezmer music. While the majority of modern klezmer is filtered through different forms of Western music, Berner hopes to find a more traditional sound. He said, "We're all trying to put out a vision of Jewish culture that's the opposite of the conservative, knee-jerk pro-Israel, judgmental bullshit that's emerged in recent decades."
See the tracklist below. If you go to Mint's website, you can read Berner's notes on each song.
Scroll past the tracklist to see the dates for the songwriter's epic 2011 world tour, which contains a cross-Canada jaunt.
Victory Party:
1. "Victory Party"
2. "Laughing Jackie the Pimp"
3. "Wealthy Poet"
4. "Mayn Rue Platz"
5. "Dalloy Polezei"
6. "I Am Going to Jail"
7. "Rabbi Berner Finally Reveals His True Religious Agenda"
8. "Oh My Golem"
Tour dates:
1/22 Golden, BC - Bacchus Books
1/23 Penticton, BC - Penticton Art Gallery
2/8 Dawson City, YK - The Legion, with Spring Breakup
2/10 Whitehorse, YK - Yukon Arts Centre *
3/3 Edmonton, AB - The Artery ^
3/4 Calgary, AB - The Marquee ^
3/5 Lethbridge, AB - The Slice ^
3/12 Vancouver, BC - The WISE Hall #
3/18 Berlin, Germany - Supamolli
3/19 Bremerhaven, Germany - Pferdestall
3/20 Bremen, Germany - TBA
3/21 Mainz, Germany - Hafeneck
3/22 Nuremberg, Germany - Gallerie Bernsteinzimmer
3/24 Hannover, Germany - Feinkost Lampe
3/25 Neuss, Germany - Jüdische Kulturtage NRW
3/26 Düsseldorf, Germany - Jüdische Kulturtage NRW
3/27 Bochum, Germany - Jüdische Kulturtage NRW
3/29 Darmstadt, Germany - Schlosskeller
3/30 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Cafe Pakhuis Wilhelmina
3/31 Utrecht, Netherlands - Merkaz, Magdalenastraat 1a
4/1 Liege, Belgium - La Zone
4/2 Brussels, Belgium - Musiek Publiek
4/3 Bielefeld, Germany - Jüdische Kulturtage NRW
4/4 Zurich, Switzerland - El Lokal
4/7 Montreal, QC - Bobards &
4/8 Wakefield, QC - The Black Sheep &%
4/9 Toronto, ON %
4/10 Waterloo, ON - TBA %
4/11 Peterborough, ON - The Spill %
4/12 Kingston, ON - TBA %
4/14 Sackville, NB - Struts Gallery %
4/15 St. John, NB - The Pirate's House %
416 Halifax, NS - The Company House %
4/22 Victoria, BC - TBA ~
4/23 Courtenay, BC - Joe's Garage ~
4/28 Saskatoon, SK - Free Flow Dance Studio ~
4/29 Regina, SK - The Exchange ~
4/30 Winnipeg, MB - WECC ~
* with Bidiniband, Sarah Harmer, John K. Samson, Kim Barlow, C.R. Avery
^ with Kris Demeanor
# with Orkestar Slivovika
& with Briga
% with Rae Spoon
~ with Jason Webley
