Portland’s psych rock trio Unknown Mortal Orchestra recently released a video for “Thought Ballune”, co-directed by Jordan Blady and Ryan Knowles. This laid-back dance track gets a creepy house party treatment, which brings an added element to the song amidst a dingy setting. The song off a self-titled debut may have been created by New Zealand native Ruban Nielson’s home studio, but he told Rolling Stone that he didn’t want to go out on the road with a “totally substandard” live show. “I wanted people to be surprised at how good we were, not how bad we were.”
Nielson begins a tour next month with local producer Jake Portrait on bass and drummer Julien Ehrich. They will be headlining at a few venues before joining in support of Girls through the month of March. Plans also include the requisite stop at SXSW for any buzz-worthy band.
TOUR DATES
FRI 2/24 San Francisco CA Clift Hotel
SAT 2/25 Los Angeles CA Echoplex *
SUN 2/26 Santa Monica CA The Central
MON 2/27 San Luis Obispo CA SLO Brew
TUE 2/28 Visalia CA Cellar Door
THR 3/1 Santa Cruz CA Coconut Grove Ballroom#
FRI 3/2 San Diego CA Birch North Park Theatre#
SUN 3/4 Vail CO Snowball Music Festival
MON 3/5 Albuquerque NM Launchpad #
WED 3/7 San Antonio TX White Rabbit #
THR 3/8 Austin TX La Zona Rosa #
FRI 3/9 Dallas TX Granada Theatre #
MON 3/12 New Orleans LA One Eyed Jack’s #
TUE 3/13 Houston TX Fitzgerald’s #
WED 3/14 Austin TX Red 7
FRI 3/16 Denver CO Gothic Theatre #
SAT 3/17 Salt Lake City UT In The Venue #
SUN 3/18 Reno NV Cargo #
* = w/ White Arrows
# = w/ Girls