Hi Friends,

Clem Snide (http://www.clemsnide.com) NY's favorite urban
art-country moodswingers, released their fourth record "Soft
Spot" last week.

They perform next week with special Guest Lisa Germano, who
also has a splendid new record. This is a really special cahnce
to see these performers together, don't miss it.

Wed 06/25/03 Tin Angel Philadelphia, PA
Thu 06/26/03 Tin Angel Philadelphia, PA
Fri 06/27/03 The Paradise Boston, MA
Sat 06/28/03 The Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
Sun 06/29/03 The Bowery Ballroom New York, NY

Here's what the San Francisco Weekly said about "Soft Spot":

Clem Snide
Soft Spot

After a couple of listens to its newest record, Soft Spot, Clem
Snide (named after a character in William Burroughs' Naked
Lunch) sounds as if it must be from England -- its immaculate,
literate, and evocatively orchestrated country-shaded pop/rock
resembles the decidedly British sophisto-pop of the
Tindersticks, the Divine Comedy, and the Lilac Time. But nope,
it's one of "ours," based in the NYC/Brooklyn area, a sphere
typically not associated with pensive sophistry (at least since the
glory days of Cole Porter and Lou Reed). And yet, despite its
less-than-bucolic environs, Clem Snide at times even
approaches the earthy-elegant majesty of hipsters' Patron Saint
of Downhearted Melodramatic Pop, Oklahoma-born Lee
Hazlewood.

Vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Eef Barzelay's tunes are like little
soundtracks for very personal indie films, yet he sidesteps the
stilted, artsy-fartsy aspects that frequently plague such movies
(and a lot of indie rock, for that matter). His songs are rich with
detailed, reflective melancholy, but that feeling is
counterbalanced with compassion and kindhearted humor. In
"Happy Birthday," a spaghetti western-sounding, twang-laden
tribute to a friend, he sings in a hospitable, parched near-drawl
not unlike Son Volt's Jay Farrar's (though not as world-weary), "I
hope that your friends are true and funny/ And your girlfriends are
sweet, and wear tight pants/ And after your heart is gently broken/
I hope that you get a second chance." Barzelay's movies for the
ear are scored with organs, violin, cello, banjo, chimes, and
vibraphone, along with the usual guitar-bass-drums;
arrangements are winsome and intricate but never fussy or
precious. What's more, there's a lot of variety to be had: an
acoustic meditation ("Find Love") follows a booming, Phil
Spector- shaded epic ("Action"). The lush, poetic "All Green"
might well be what iconic songster Gram Parsons had in mind
when he said he was aiming for a sound called "cosmic
American music." Clem Snide's latest is proof positive (for those
who need it) that immaculately crafted, literate rock/pop is not
only the province of Steely Dan and our well-read Brit cousins.
This one gets that elusive three-thumbs-way-up rating. -- Mark
Keresman

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009ATKV/ref=pd_
sxp_elt_l1/104-1040377-8283100

Thanks for reading!