http://virb.com/johnvanderslice You can pre-order Emerald City CD/180g LP direct from Barsuk or iTunes. Mp3s, lyrics, photographs, b-sides, and links galore at johnvanderslice.com John Vanderslice wrote the bulk of his new album while knee-deep in legal limbo after a visa application for his girlfriend, a French national he met in Paris, was rejected by US Immigration. The songs and themes in Emerald City are fueled by an era of deep insecurity and paranoia; they develop in front of a backdrop of ritualized and mythologized current events. Lyrically, JV's characters and storytellers track Manifest Destiny from burning wagon wheels to two-bedroom homes with full amenities in Bakersfield, California. Along that rough road, there are bewildered commemorations, peace-lovers and revenge-lusters, psychotic reactions to unnamed episodes, and the grief-stricken and the vengence-hungry wrapped up in the same skin. Weaving throughout the entire album is the ever-present danger of opposition. But at it's simplest, and captured with straight auto-biography in album closer "Central Booking", Emerald City is made up of JV's love songs - confused and angy, afraid and defeated. The red-tape tie-up for JV and his girl remains unresolved. Emerald City was tracked quickly and mostly live at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco. The album was performed by David Broecker, Dave Douglas, Ian Bjornstad, Scott Solter, and JV. The record's title refers to the Green Zone in Baghdad.]]> Virb 2.0 (@johnvanderslice) en http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133700 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:30:43 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133698 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:23:19 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133698 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133694 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:15:25 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133694 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133693 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:09:40 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133693 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133687 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 13:52:21 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133687 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133668 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 13:40:39 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133668 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133660 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 13:28:59 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133660 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133649 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 13:25:10 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133649 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133285 Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:21:25 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/audio/133285 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/videos/1739171 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 13:46:25 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/videos/1739171 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/photos/1357534 ]]> Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:14:34 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/photos/1357534 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/photos/1357523 ]]> Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:56:28 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/photos/1357523 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/photos/1357522 ]]> Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:55:30 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/photos/1357522 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/photos/1357519 ]]> Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:49:38 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/photos/1357519 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/1059782 Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:27:59 -0800 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/1059782 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/1054873 Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:56:56 -0800 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/1054873 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/959414 Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:59:53 -0800 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/959414 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/862274 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:57:23 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/862274 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/835387 Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:34:20 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/835387 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/649083 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:15:21 -0700 http://virb.com/johnvanderslice/posts/text/649083