Camera Obscura have announced their first ever shows in Japan for early 2010. The band will play 2 nights at Fever in Tokyo after a short tour of Australia and New Zealand. Ticket details for all shows and a review of their recent Brooklyn gig below:

The influential New York music blog Brooklyn Vegan have been supporters of the band for many years and Dominick Mastrangelo attended their recent gig in Williamsburg:

A small group huddled around Kenny McKeeve and Gavin Dunbar not long after Camera Obscura’s sold-out show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday night (11/22). One globe-trotting fan from Toronto had recently seen and met the band in Barcelona and Glasgow on their recent tour across Europe prompting McKeeve to quip, “You’ve clocked a lot of miles, haven’t you?”

Yet, the same could be said for Camera Obscura. It’s hard to think of 2009 as a breakthrough year for a band that’s been around in some form since 1996 with several critically-hailed records under its belt. But that’s precisely what it was. They produced one of the finest records in 2009 – My Maudlin Career (4AD) – crossing the globe almost non-stop in support. They sold out four shows in New York City in venues of various sizes, made their US late-night television debut, turned out three smartly done videos and still have more touring lined up at the start of next year.

The band showed no effects of their exhaustive schedule on Sunday. And there were several stretches where leadsinger Tracyanne Campbell could have not sung at all such was the crowd’s voice on several of the songs, most notably, “French Navy”. “Good singing,” said Campbell after the song.

The crowd, which spanned from scenesters to indie pop kids and beyond, shook off pretensions and danced to all the upbeat numbers like “Honey In The Sun” and “Let’s Get Out of This Country” while couples swayed and held onto each other during slower songs like “James” and “Pen and Notebook.” It was timeless pop executed in winning fashion by a band performing at the top of their game.

From Brooklyn Vegan, November 25, 2009

Camera Obscura’s Christmas single, a cover of the Jim Reeves song ‘The Blizzard’, is out now and available from the band’s online shop here. The single is a double a-side with ‘Swans’.

Video of the band’s first performance of ‘The Blizzard’ at Other Music in New York below along with ‘Swans’ and one of the songs of the year, their cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Tougher Than The Rest’ on KCRW.

www.myspace.com/cameraobscuraband

The Blizzard

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV5QgX0bDig

Swans

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsgXeQGs-SY

Tougher than the Rest

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dovEn1qjLHw

Photo Credit: Dominick Mastrangelo