Kimya Dawson and The Shins Effect
According to Popfrenzy, a tour by Kimya Dawson is on the way soon. I'd consider going but I'm also curious as to how many other people will be going as well as what types of people. After the popularity of Juno (and its soundtrack after reading that it's topped the music charts here as well as overseas) I have the feeling that there will be the case of "The Shins effect".
I've dubbed it "The Shins effect" based on the example of Garden State which significantly boosted the Shins' fan base outside the usual crowd of indie kids. Something similar could probably be said about Feist (especially after what people tell me about the audience at her Metro show). There was also Gary Jules with his cover of 'Mad World' topping the charts in the UK thanks to Donnie Darko.
This is no way disparaging about people who get into bands through movies and soundtracks as I got into the Velvet Underground as a result of the High Fidelity soundtrack. It's just funny how a placement in other forms of media can sometimes lead to a groundswell of popularity for an artist. It makes you realise that more often than not, the way music is distributed is as important as how good an artist is and it stops many good artists from having mainstream success.
UPDATE: Pitchfork has posted Kimya's Australian tour dates. Looks like she's playing the East Coast with Angelo Spencer as support. It looks like Manning Bar is continuing as the venue of choice for overseas indie acts for 2008.
June 17th - Northcote Uniting Church Hall, MelbourneI'm sure once word filters out about this that a fair few tickets will be snapped up quickly especially as the shows would be all ages.
June 20th - Manning Bar, Sydney
June 21st - Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane
Kimya Dawson - 12/26 (from Remember That I Love You LP)
Buy Remember That I Love You
1:18 PM
Ah good post.
It reminded me of this blog that I was linked to recently, "band shirts that would never sell" I just LOVED the "My favourite band is Garden State"
http://bygonebureau.com/2007/08/20/indie-rock-shirts-that-would-never-sell/
http://www.bygonebureau.com/2007/10/19/more-indie-rock-shirts-that-wouldnt-sell/
(fingers crossed they don't screw with the page margins)
It's funny, I knew about The Shins and had an album before I saw Garden State, but they are ultimately what got me into them. I liked Kimya Dawson before I saw Juno, but now I'm like "well I don't want to look like I'm jumping on THAT bandwagon" and shunning her. Maybe now I'm just showing my wannabe indie snob.