Though it’s been seven years since the last Cake studio LP, you can understand why it took the eclectic Sacramento, Calif., rockers so long to finish album number six. Like its predecessors, Showroom Of Compassion was self-produced, but for the new LP, the band members engineered it themselves in their solar-powered studio and released it on their self-run Upbeat label. And aside from gigging relentlessly, the group also organized the multi-genre Unlimited Sunshine Tours (which have featured bands as diverse as the Flaming Lips, De La Soul and Cheap Trick) and is currently in the planning stages for a 2011 UST. Cake—vocalist/pianist John McCrea, multi-instrumentalists Vincent DiFiore, Xan McCurdy and Gabriel Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi—is taking to the road this week in support of Showroom Of Compassion, playing multiple nights in numerous cities. The band will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with DiFiore.
Gabriel Nelson: This easy-to-watch movie did a nice job explaining the money and the politics behind our current water system, shedding light on the global activities of the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the Quad and a few more. It features interviews with Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, authors of Blue Gold: The Fight To Stop The Corporate Theft Of The World’s Water, and Vandana Shiva, the author of Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, And Profit. Expert testimonials on the hydrological cycle and how it has been altered by human interference lead us to questions of what to expect in the not-so-distant future. Things are looking pretty dire, indeed, but the movie does offer up some suggestions on what each person might do to ensure not going thirsty.
Video after the jump.
