The End of an Era

2009-07-12T13:29:00.003-04:00

After having my Best of 2009 post deleted for the second time, despite it only containing links to buy the records themselves, I've decided to bite the bullet and move over to Wordpress. I don't want this broken record to destroy this blog I've worked so hard on in the last few years.

So I hope you'll join me over at.
www.linesthroughlines.wordpress.com

www.linesthroughlines.com will also forward you there. It's easier to remember.

Thanks, everyone.

7.8.09 Listening Assignments

2009-07-08T13:31:00.003-04:00

It's not Monday. And I started this @ 3:38 in the morning. Screw it, anyway. I'm jumping back in headlong...

1. Discovery - So Insane - Someone said this reminded them of the Postal Service and I fought the urge to reenact what the five fingers said to the face. Yes, it's electronic. Yes, it's over-hyped to such great heights (which tends to happen if you're the musical offspring of two legit powerhouses: Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot). But this is not in the same stratosphere as TPS. Anyhow, they decided they didn't care about meter and tempo in this one, and it suits them well. This LP is growing on me, despite my initial best efforts to loathe it. [from s/t|buy]

2. Slaraffenland - Away - If you've been following my twitter feed during the blog's hiatus, you heard this yesterday. It begins like any song could, but ends like few songs can. Looping arpeggiation deployed to the utmost effect, building for the song's entirety. It feels imperfectly perfect, which I've determined to be exactly what the doctor ordered. [from Here All Beautiful Collides: A Sampler|site]

3. Kurt Vile - My Sympathy - Fingerpicked on strings bent to death, this song is a gasp of evaporated air in a solitary cell. The last breath of a man whose days are written, stone-carved, in the virtual tombstone of an almost-wasted life. I only wish it could be longer than 2:31. It might make more sense if it were 3:48. [from Overnite KV!!!|myspace]

4. George Benson - This Masquerade - If you're under 30, you'd swear it was Stevie singing this beautiful sauntering melody, but you'd be wrong. It's George Benson, full of soul and moxy. And you've learned something new today. [from The Greatest Hits of All|buy]

Broken Record

2009-04-15T15:17:00.002-04:00

As you may have noticed, yet another post has been removed by Blogger due to yet another unsubstantiated anonymous DMCA takedown request. The post in question, on the particularly awesome Patrick Watson, was posted by permission using approved promotional songs. If that's not ok, then what is the damn point? I'm supposed to risk my entire blog to post songs that are APPROVED by a band, their label, and their publicist? E-mails to Google go unanswered, even though the DMCA e-mail says to respond w/ any questions. Watson's promo guy is out of town.

So here we are again. Time does not heal all wounds. It only makes the kick in the teeth more soul-crushing.

Telekinesis!

2009-04-06T15:52:00.004-04:00

I've been roused from my slumber by kinetic energy, radiating from the gooey brain mass of one Seattle young man named Michael Benjamin Lerner. His project, Telekinesis, is set to drop its first record April 7th, aptly titled Telekinesis!

There's something old school to this indie-pop, one of those timeless things. It's forthright and dependable, sunny and deep, and owing to talented producer Chris Walla, tasteful and unique. Interesting guitars and melody will simply never go out of style, nor will boatloads of heart.

As it turns out the name is fitting...You're going to feel something move in your chest and the only explanation is magic.

Listen:
Coast of Carolina
I Saw Lightning
[from Telekinesis!|buy]

Linesthroughlines goes Twittering

2009-01-22T21:00:00.003-05:00

www.twitter.com/lineslineslines

I finally got a twitter account and I think it'll fill this void I've been feeling since my faith in Blogger began to sink. I'll be posting songs there (and I'm fairly sure I can pull it off since it's not a searchable database), along with some terse prose about the mentioned songs (140 character max, including the web address). But you'll be able to hear what I'm listening to, to download it, to follow the progress of the blog, and to read other random tidbits that come to mind.

Let's have some fun with this.

www.twitter.com/lineslineslines

bookmark it (or follow it if you're a member yourself.)

Still over it...

2009-01-22T20:48:00.004-05:00

You may not have noticed, but my top 60 songs of 2008 post was reinstated following my successful appeal of the DMCA takedown notice Blogger received. There never was anything illegal about it in the first place, so it's not a surprise, but the ordeal provided the crux for the motivation to make a change in how I'm doing things around here. But still, I won, and it sure felt good. And I don't have "the solution" yet, so I was prepared to ease back into some music writing here while all the pieces fell into place...

...and then I got an e-mail two days ago informing me that yet another post had received a notice and been taken down. This particular post was from November...0f 2007. Well over a year old, the original post for my first all-covers mixtape Blankets V.1. Every link on the post had long-since expired, making absolutely nothing about the post even potentially copyright-infringing. And yet it's gone anyway. So we're back at square one. Blogger is dead to me.

But there is new life ahead...

America the Beautiful

2009-01-08T04:42:00.000-05:00

This.

School of Language, Now Enrolling K-12

2008-12-31T13:07:00.001-05:00

I mentioned School of Language last week and I thought it fitting to do a little followup. This is one band/album that somehow never breached my ears in 2008, despite being the logical progression of one of my favorite bands of 2007 (Field Music) and coming out in early February. SoL is basically FM's leader David Brewis' solo incarnation, launched after he felt Field Music had come to its fitting conclusion. This could have been a sad thing.

The fortunate thing is that Sea from Shore could have been a side-step (or even a step back) from '07s Tones of the Town, and instead is a leap forwards. This attempt is weirder, in best ways, spinning off-kilter like a juggled saucer while somehow maintaining the stranglehold on impeccable pop taste at which Brewis has always excelled. Where linesthroughlines' fave Aloha has fallen off, SoL has happily donned the indestructible cape of melodic (and, in this case, meticulously arranged) odd-rock. It's bookended with four masterful "Rockist" tracks, the final reprise of which attains the heights only hinted at in the first. It feels like summiting K2 at daybreak, the world unfolded like a magazine under a glowing, gauzy haze of clouds. Like the most beautiful morning of your life.

Sometimes a sad thing turns into a happy thing. Sometimes something strange hits your ears and you just want to forget everything you knew previous to that moment. And if I could re-do my Best Albums of 2008 list, this would be top 5 with ease.

Listen:
Marine Life
Extended Holiday
[from Sea From Shore|buy]

Ho Ho Ho

2008-12-30T12:55:00.002-05:00

Zer are two orders of business on zis fine day. Ze first one is slightly overdue because I, for one, am over listening to Christmas music for another 10 months owing to basic holiday exhaustion and ze fact zat it's been 60 frickin' degrees outside since ze 26th.

But ze short of it is zat a friend (Lindsay Anderson aka: Said the Lion) and I sat down a few times before Christmas and hammered out a small Christmas EP to give away to friends and family. Oddly enough, we didn't end up with any of ze songs we'd originally discussed and/or started tracking (Christmastime Is Here, Last Christmas, Baby (It's Cold Out Side)), and instead were simply led to learn and record zese three songs in three seperate sessions.

So I'm giving it to you, ze faithful few who still check ze site occasionally in zis time of transition.

Silent Night [mp3]
White Christmas [mp3]
Santa Baby [mp3]

Hope your Christmas/Hannakuh/Kwanzaa/Festivus was rollicking!

-drew

Listening Assignments 12.26.08

2008-12-26T12:07:00.004-05:00

It's an odd thing, not doing the thing you've always done. Due to the timing of this instance, it's been nice to spend time doing all the things everyone else is doing. The hustle and the bustle, the joy and the aftermath. I'm cleaning up shreds of paper and tape, putting things back together again, and listening to these songs. I thought it was fitting to share them in the interim between here and there, wherever "there" may be. Consider no post "the last post" until I say it is. Take that, winter!

1. School of Language - Rockist Pt. 1 - Let's practice our vowels. A. E. I. O. U. Repeat. Y gets no mention and I never considered it a vowel either, so screw it. Now stomp your feet and stand up in your chair and raise your hands above your head and chant and chant like some spirit-filled evangelist and break your face with the force of your smile. There's a reason I'm excited. This is what Field Music has become. [from Sea From Shore|buy]

2. Kyte - Eyes Lose Their Fire - I want something to build inside of me. I want that thing to matter and resonate outwardly like shrapnel. I want to fly, to fall, to sink, to swim, to drown, to be reborn. I'd like this song to manifest itself. [from Two Sparks, Two Stars|buy]

3. Arizona - The Glowing Bird - There is nothing weird about this song, except perhaps that it is awesome, while myriad other songs are not. The dynamics and pacing are inspiring, the song itself beautiful. And when the guitars come in, glowing like phosphorus, at 2:48...wow. [from Glowing Bird|buy]

4. White Denim - Sitting - This song is more than a little like love. Immediate chemistry, inseperability (what a word!), welcome weirdness, bouncy rubber roses and chocolates, and saxophone. But then it starts to fade, often at the least expected time. And you think it's done for good, and you wonder why it's come to this, so soon. And then it starts to come back into view, just around the corner. You're like magnets, pulling closer together, tearing through the walls between you. And now you're back, baby, and it made sense all along. [from Eleven Songs (Explosion)|buy]

Over It.

2008-12-17T14:26:00.002-05:00

Well, everyone, I'm over it.

I'm writing this now because I've reached critical mass in my frustration with Blogger (specifically) and the music business (more generally). If you've been paying attention, below this post you'll find a 3rd (and final) reposting of my top 60 songs of 2008. It was first posted a few days ago, then mysteriously deleted without notice or explanation by Blogger. I re-posted the list, removing nearly every mp3 preview on it (leaving only two songs that I had express permission to use), but today the post was deleted again, this time with an e-mail notifying me that a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notice had been issued for the new post in question. I was informed that I had the option to file a counter-notice, by fax or snail-mail only, which I proceded to file. In doing so, I've opened myself up to potential legal ramifications for the post, but I am so sure that I'm in the legal right that I submitted it anyway. So Blogger may be forced to re-post the entry, but not before the damage has been done.

It's a sad state of affairs when I can't even post a list of my favorite songs of the year and include a scant few tracks that have already been posted here and elsewhere numerous times in promotion and to the advantage of the musical acts involved. It's even sadder that a post that took me two days to complete and is effectively one of the most important of the entire calendar year could be deleted without notice or legal backing and potentially lost forever. Sad for the bands on the list that need every ounce of exposure possible, bands that deserve that mention and submitted music to me for sharing.

It's obvious that things have changed in the blogosphere. Maybe it's Blogger, bloated with Google-fied omnipotence, but I have a feeling that it's a lot bigger than that. It's unfortunate that music lawyers and executives can't make the simple distinction between a music-minded blogger like myself (trying to help bands, most who appreciate every mention) and some entire album/catalog posting blogger giving away entire collections of pirated and leaked material. I simply can't spend the exorbitant amounts of time required to make this site work and know that at any point, the entire thing could be deleted without notice. This is a reality.

Therefore, I'll be taking a short break and exploring a new destination. I can't not write about bands I love. I can't not share them to listeners with desperate ears. But Blogger has become the very thing I stand against and I can't afford to pin my efforts on a sinking ship.

I'll keep you posted. Regardless of where it is, linesthroughlines.com will still forward you there and the blog name will not change. I'll be sacrificing a lot of what I've worked for 2.5 year to achieve, but I see no other recourse. I hope you follow me into the unknown. Thank you for the passion you've shown for music and the support you've given me for as long as I've been doing this.

I'll be back...

The Top 30 (or 41) Albums of 2008

2008-12-15T20:46:00.000-05:00

#31-41 in random order: The New Frontiers - Mending, The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride, Lovedrug - The Sucker Punch Show, Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge, The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead, Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping, The Dodos - Visiter, The Dears - Missiles, Coldplay - Viva La Vida..., Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts, Brooke Waggoner - Heal for the Honey

30. Nada Surf - Lucky
29. Elbow - The Seldom-Seen Kid
28. Domingo - s/t
27. Ben Sollee - Learning to Bend
26. Mark Kozalek - Finally
25. Annuals - Fun
24. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
23. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
22. Sam Sparro - s/t
21. +/- - Xs On Your Eyes
20. French Kicks - Swimming
19. The Hush Sound - Goodbye Blues
18. Beck - Modern Guilt
17. Fleet Foxes - s/t
16. Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain
15. Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
14. Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Animal!/Not Animal
13. Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
12. Flight of the Conchords - s/t
11. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
10. The Streets - Everything Is Borrowed

[buy]
"It's as if all of life has become new again...beautiful enough to bring tears, if you're in the right place, and it might just be enough to save us all." [10.7]
(best tracks: On the Edge of a Cliff, On the Flip of a Coin, Everything is Borrowed [mp3])
9. Chris Merritt - Pixie and the Bear

[buy]
"making a double-album takes balls. A double-album is an auditory finger to anyone who was even thinking about taking just a cursory listen. At the same time, it's an artistic risk on par with the dreaded "concept album". If you can't deliver the goods, you're going down like the Hindenburg. Chris Merritt knows these things and he probably doesn't care. He knows he's got it. He knows he's going to lead off both discs with five-fingered-fists-of-melodic-fury and you'll be on the ropes. TKO, baby." [6.21]
(best tracks: The Long Road, Show Me What You're Made Of, Dr. Jerk)
8. Kings of Leon - Only By the Night

[buy]
"...absolute mastery of the mid-tempo emotional rock song" [9.23]
(best tracks: Manhatten, Use Somebody, Notion)
7. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line

[buy]
"Not that The Rhumb Line is another tired '80s rehash. Nay, this record is hip enough for the hipsters, but fresher than a head of lettuce. This is a band unspoiled by lavishing blogs and music mags, young and full of rosy-cheeked optimism." [11.7]
(best tracks: Too Too Fast, Run My Mouth, Can You Tell)
6. Copeland - You Are My Sunshine

[buy]
..."as uplifting as a fizzy lifting drink, a needed shot of warmth in this early Fall season when the chill sometimes whisps in through the cracks in the windows and floors." [10.15]
(best tracks: Should You Return, The Day I Lost My Voice (Suitcase Song), Chin Up [mp3])
5. Empire of the Sun - s/t

[buy]
"...make the '80s sound new again, despite the era being walked on by countless bands for the last 10 years. This is infinitely cooler than the Madonna-on-acid album the Killers just made. It's synthy without being annoying. The basslines are alive. They dress up like Michael Jackson and Snarf from Thundercats. The first five tracks are going to knock you on your ass." [11.23]
(best tracks: Walking on a Dream, We Are The People, Half Mast)
4. Q-Tip - the Renaissance

[buy]
"...notice served on a genre that loses more luster every year removed from the golden days of old-school. With Kanye pursuing his auto-tune dreams, Kamaal the Abstract (a.k.a. Q-Tip) is dropping piano hooks like they are steaming hot, laying beats like asphalt, and bringing the old-school back to the new-school. Class is now in session. There will be a test." [11.7]
(best tracks: Gettin' Up, Johnny Is Dead, Official)
3. Jamie Lidell - Jim

[buy]
"Soul is back, baby, but it ain't nothin' like it used to be...the ultimate example of blending the old with the new. Twisting staleness into freshy-freshness. Jamie owes a lot to Stevie, Al, Sam, and Marvin for this record, but I'm guessing they're just happy to be in the conversation again. In this one, your feet will do all the talking." [4.30]
(best tracks: Wait For Me, Green Light, Figured Me Out)
2. Shearwater - Rook

[buy]
"Both band and album named after different birds, this recording has wings like few could ever hope to possess. It glides along on the updrafts effortlessly before diving thousands of feet towards earth, cutting off at the last moment, just because." [6.5]
(best tracks: Leviathan Bound, Rooks, The Snow Leopard)
1. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

[buy]

"This is a record for the lost, the found, the dead, and the born again. The broken, the lonely, the human, the thirsty, the tired and trampled. This is your golden crown." [5.18]
(best tracks: The Modern Leper, Heads Roll Off, Keep Yourself Warm [mp3])

See Also:
Top Songs of 2008, 2007 and 2006.
Top Albums of 2007 and 2006

The Top 50 (or 60) Songs of 2008

2008-12-15T20:09:00.006-05:00

I like to make lists. I wouldn't say I'm a compulsive list-maker, but I do enjoy the feeling of putting down a litany of items onto a piece of paper, physical or virtual. I like to look at my lists and hold them in my thoughts, much like I might hold an after-dinner mint in my mouth, letting the particles slowly dissolve to mush in order to more greatly appreciate the sum of their parts. As a sports-fan, I live for a few times of the year (CFB Bowl Season (Hokies in the Orange Bowl!), March Madness, Super Bowl weekend), but as a music-lover, I live for December when I finally get to sit down with this elephant that's been hiding in the corner for all of 2008 and systematically begin to pick his brain. It's always fun, always difficult (like picking a favorite child) and rarely a unanimous decision between the hemispheres of my head, but this list will always remain intact as a snapshot of 2008, seen through my eyes this day, the 12th of December. I hope you enjoyed 2008 and its bounty of music as much as I did. Thanks for reading...

Disclaimer #1: I don't like having multiple songs on the list by the same band, there's just too much great music out there to recognize and it's so obviously biased towards favorite bands to pick multiples of their songs. Therefore, I just pick my favorite song off the album and toss it in here.

Disclaimer #2: As stated previous years, the "calendar year" release structure is a sometimes-fuzzy concept. Often records are independently released one year, then picked up for national (or international) release the next year. I'm honestly fine with counting the album amongst either year, but never on both years. Thusly, Bon Iver (a near universal top 10 pick of magazines and bloggers everywhere this year) will not appear here because he was in my top picks of 2007 (God, what an amazing album though). Also, MGMT's "Kids" was released first on Jan 1, 2005, then again digitally last October and then finally on physical CD this January. It's amazing how old "one of 2008's best songs" is, isn't it? But I digress...

These 10 songs just missed the cut and I thought you might be curious who was on the bubble...
60. The Helio Sequence - Can't Say No
59. Ida - Lover's Prayer
58. Mas y Mas - Hi - [mp3]
57. These United States - First Sight
56. Elbow - The Bones of You
55. Ben Sollee - Change is Gonna Come
54. Ben Folds - Effington - *
53. The Virgins - Rich Girls
52. Inara George & Van Dyke Parks - Duet
51. Annuals - Confessor

The Top 50
50. Winterpills - Beesting
49. Y'all Is Fantasy Island - With Handclaps
48. The Rosebuds - Life Like
47. Young Coyotes - When I Was In the Fire
46. Flight of the Conchords - Ladies of the World
45. Surrounded - Safe Tomorrow Sun
44. Sunny Day Sets Fire - Smallest Heart on Earth
43. Samamidon - Sugar Baby
42. Kaki King - Life Being What it Is
41. The Do - Stay (Just a Little Bit More)
40. Death Cab for Cutie - Grapevine Fires - *
39. The Broken West - Perfect Games
38. David Karsten Daniels - That Knot Unties?
37. Port O'Brien - I Woke Up Today
36. Supergrass - When I Needed You
35. Francis and the Lights - A Modern Promise
34. Tingsek - Let It Shine
33. Chris Bathgate - Yes, I'm Cold
32. Chris Walla - Sing Again
31. Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains
30. Kings of Leon - Manhatten
29. Chris Merritt - The Long Road - [mp3]
28. The Weepies - Can't Go Back Now
27. Vetiver - The Swimming Song
26. What Made Milwaukee Famous - Sultan
25. Colour Revolt - What Will Become of Us? - Georgia rockers got mad love from the Paste Top 50 (#35)
24. The Dodos - Fools
23. Vampire Weekend - Bryn - Hype can be a dangerous thing, as these hipsters can attest. They dial down the afro-pop to acceptable (and downright enjoyable) levels for this one track.
22. Guillemots - Get Over It
21. Tokyo Police Club - In a Cave
20. The Streets - On the Edge of a Cliff - * - the "profoundly simple story of your seredipitous existence" [10.7]
19. The Morning Benders - Patient Patient
18. Thao Nguyen & the Get Down Stay Down - Swimming Pools - "disarming, adorably fragile" [1.11]
17. Margot & the Nuclear So-and-So's - As Tall As Cliffs
16. Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin - Modern Mystery - * - immaculately crafted indie-pop.
15. Mates of State - Get Better
14. Nada Surf - I Like What You Say
13. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
12. Adele - Hometown Glory
11. Ra Ra Riot - Too Too Fast - *
10. Copeland - Should You Return
9. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
8. Ray LaMontagne - Let It Be Me - With a deep sigh at the outset, Ray LaMontagne is again the voice of longing and timeless love.
7. Frightened Rabbit - Heads Roll Off
6. MGMT - Electric Feel - "hip-stuttering synth-glam gem" [4.14]
5. Sam Sparro - Too Many Questions - * - Help, somebody, the dance floor is on fire.
4. Q-Tip - Gettin' Up - The former Tribe Called Quest frontman picks up sticks like it's still 1988.
3. Jamie Lidell - Wait For Me - * - Mr. Lidell is not getting the cred he deserves elsewhere, but I'll make up for it here. This kind of soul is in short supply.
2. Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream - "infinitely cool" [9.15]
1. Shearwater - Leviathan Bound - * - Everything about this song, from the tack-struck piano wires to Jonathan Meiburg's floating falsetto, has reverent weight. The pacing is impeccable, the restraint impressive, and the result palpable. Feel the texture of an angel's sleeve, people.

See Also:
The Top Albums of 2008, 2007 and 2006
The Top Songs of 2007 and 2006

*Since Blogger decided to delete the first posting of this list, without reason or announcement, I removed almost all of the mp3s (all of which had been posted here before and can be found on a number of other blogs whose posts are not deleted). And if you happen to work for Blogger and are reading these words: Go f*ck yourself. Thank you for stealing all the joy out of something I've worked so hard on for the last 2.5 years.

Listening Assignments 12.8.08

2008-12-09T13:59:00.005-05:00

1. Friendly Fires - Paris - "Best of" lists are a lot of fun around this time of year, though by January they'll all blend together. E-mag lists are pretty predictable, almost like a template: Whatever the blogs loved this year, a few mainstream tracks (hip-hop/rap if at all possible), and a random song or two no one heard this year because "Europe is eating this up right now" and it hasn't yet reached our shores. This song by Friendly Fires is one of the latter, found on the first top 50 list I read this year, and it's a gorgeous and frenetic dream overdose. [from Friendly Fires|buy]

2. John Davis - Lamentation vs. Laughter - The former Superdrag frontman has gone solo and picked up a bible to thump, but he's still cranking out jet-fueled guitar riffs and driving power pop like he's sleepwalking. Stop-and-go rockers are always something I can get behind, especially when they evoke The Grays and Foo Fighters. [from Arigato!|buy]

3. Bon Iver - Beach Baby - Justin Vernon's project has gotten a lot of pub this year, and deservedly so. For Emma, Forever Ago was a tweener, self-released last year and re-released this year, allowing for "Best of" entries on both calendars. He was on my '07 list, so I couldn't mention him again without newness, found here in the form of a much-anticipated EP that does nothing but continue to build up the aura of impeccable, beautiful emotion Justin has perfected at every step. [from Blood Bank EP out 1.20|pre-order]

4. Matt Pond PA - Hearts and Minds - Somehow, for some reason, Matt Pond stopped being cool or something. I saw him play at the NorVA to 800 people on the Several Arrows Later tour, then two years later he played to 200 (maybe less). Pond will always remind me of a time where I was young and green and desperate to hear something real, which he readily provided. This EP is free, hence the name, and is better than last year's Last Light, in my opinion. Two damn good reasons to get clicking. [from the freeep|download free]

12.1.08 Listening Assignments

2008-12-02T13:25:00.004-05:00

1. Mae - This Time Is the Last Time - In honor of the 5-year anniversary of Mae's first record (one of the albums that changed my life), they just put out a choose-your-own-adventure-style DVD packed full of song-by-song commentary. It occasionally edges on self-serving, but the majority is a fascinating look on how the songs were written and recorded and a few charming vignettes on how the band came to be. It's a must have if you're a fan. [from Destination:Beautiful|buy|buy DVD]

2. Prabir & The Substitutes - The Kiss - Took in this unassuming and completely cool band @ the Taphouse in Norfolk last Saturday. 5-part harmonies, dueling hollowbodies, and tambourine tossing ruled the night. Very Elvis Costello, very garage-pop savvy. [from Five Little Pieces|buy]

3. Emil & Friends - Fire Flower - I got an e-mail the other day from the "Emile Hirsch", moviestar extraordinaire and apparent karaoke enthusiast. I was directed to this EP and myspace, which I clicked with equal parts curiosity and fear. And I was rewarded for my efforts with an out-of-nowhere thoroughly impressive lo-fi collection of beautiful weirdpop. It's clearly not the real Emile, but the PR tactic was one of the more clever I've encountered and managed to fool at least one other blogger. I could have posted 4 of the 5 songs here, it's that good. [from Downed Economy EP|myspace|e-mail him for a free copy]

4.Rubies - The Truth and the Lies - There are days where this song is all I need. This song is swaddled in silk, it coos in ears, soft and warm as baby's breath. [from Explode from the Center|buy]

Contemplating the Physics of Meaning

2008-11-26T13:30:00.004-05:00

Let's face it, Chapel Hill's the Physics of Meaning is pretty radical. Their leader (Daniel Hart) is in John Vanderslice's band, St. Vincent, and contributes to the Polyphonic Spree. He plays classical violin and has quite the talent for arranging. He knows how to rock and also how to roll. He's got approachable indie rock down to a science (I hear the Grays, Deathcab, Aloha, Some by Sea), but between engaging uptempo songs he's quick to remind you and I of the beautiful sounds that come from strings and horns when played in unison. This 12-song LP is a really nice balance of moods, both light and heavy, sometimes in the same song. It's book-ended by two flowing instrumentals, punches guts in the middle, and just might put Mr. Hart and Co. onto the map as their own entity instead of talented mercenaries-for-hire. If that's not rad, I'm not sure what is.

Listen:
Like White Blood Filling a Black Heart
Airplanes and Hurricanes
[from Snake Charmer and Destiny at the Stroke of Midnight|buy]

Listening Assignments 11.25.08

2008-11-24T13:49:00.007-05:00

1. Ben Kweller - Somehow (Singlemalt Version) - Awww, little Ben is all growed up. This tour-only EP is an appetizer for his upcoming February long-player. And yes, it's apparently heavily country-influenced. Despite the acoustic and steel-guitars, this closer has a great melody you'd expect from Kweller while the first few songs just...don't. Fingers crossed for February. [from How ya lookin' Southbound? Come In... EP|buy]

2. Ohbijou - Darcy - Let's face it, I'd have no problem writing about the Acorn every week. Instead, I'll just write about one of my favorite songs by them, beautifully covered by another band. Two birds, one listening assignment. [from The Acorn/Ohbijou 12"|buy]

3. Kompis & Erlend Oye - Untitled - It's been over four years since Kings of Convenience dropped Riot on an Empty Street and I'm desperate for anything new I can find. This is coming from one half of that duo. It doesn't really go much of anywhere, but I'm not sure it needs to. That voice is all it needs to take me back. [from All Ears]

4. Nick "Pogo" Bertke - Alice - So this is what it feels like to descend into a bottomless rabbit hole. Made entirely from samples from Alice and Wonderland, "Alice" has dream-like flow, palpitating with trance-like regularity. Piecing together this unique melody is a feat in itself, and he does it in all four songs on this free EP. [from Wonderland|download]

Empire of the Cool

2008-11-23T15:16:00.007-05:00

Empire of the Sun's Walking on a Dream is an easy sell. They make the '80s sound new again, despite the era being walked on by countless bands for the last 10 years. This is infinitely cooler than the Madonna-on-acid album the Killers just made. It's synthy without being annoying. The basslines are alive. They dress up like Michael Jackson and Snarf from Thundercats. The first five tracks are going to knock you on your ass. This will be the perfect road-trip record in 2050, when you're humming along the surface of the moon at 300mph, the windows cracked, driving scarf streaming in the wind.

Walking on a Dream vid:

Listen:
Standing on the Shore
Half Mast
[from Walking on a Dream|buy]

The Book of Margot

2008-11-20T15:41:00.004-05:00

As mentioned here before, releasing a double album is more often than not a bad idea. It either takes some serious stones or inflated ego to want to put so much of yourself out there for criticism when it could easily float awry. Well another linesthroughlines fave (Margot & the Nuclear So-and-So's) has slid their chips to the center of the table and are awaiting the flop with bated breath...

Animal!/Not Animal began as a mildly humorous, urban-myth-strewn idea with potential for greatness. Margot had significant buzz following 2006's long-playing The Dust of Retreat which got them signed to Epic Records. Ringleader Richard Edwards' prolific pen created a bigger problem than you'd think: the label liked one set of 12 songs, Edwards liked another. As rumor has it, Edwards flew to the label's headquarters with an ultimatum. If the label didn't let him release the songs he wanted, he was going to intentionally leak the album to the internet (gasp!). While I'm sure that would have gotten him sued penniless, it apparently worked. The compromise was Animal! (the band's choice, released on vinyl) and Not Animal (Epic's, on CD), which originally were slated to be released as two separate entities a week apart. At some point someone realized the folly of that idea and the two released simultaneously, though the records have 5 songs common between them. At this point, there could be no other way...

While Not Animal begins (and for the most part continues) on the right path with the moody "A Children's Crusade on Acid", Animal! begins with the 6-minute "At the Carnival", hinting at a more arduous journey ahead. Almost sadly, I think the "big-bad-record-label" got their half right. It flows and has legitimate commercial appeal (which I'm sure Epic is hoping for). Animal! is true to the band's desires and has similar moments of moxy (closing with "As Tall As Cliffs" was brilliant), but ends up being the snoozer of the two.

Unfortunately, the double-album concept ends up distracting each from the other. I find myself having to choose between one or the other, a move that effectively cuts my ears off from worthy tracks exclusive to only one of the albums ("O' What a Nightmare", "My Baby (Shoots Her Mouth Off)", "Papers Written On a Wall", and "Holy Cow!"). "As Tall As Cliffs" is one of the year's best songs and thankfully appears on both, as do solid tracks like "Hello Vagina" and "A Children's Crusade on Acid." There are some nice mood songs that flow seamlessly in context and sound odd on their own (The Dust of Retreat was chock-full of them). There are some definite misses.

Despite (and because of) all of the above, I highly recommend both of these records. I recommend ripping both and making your own 12-song album, in tribute of Richard Edwards' idea. There's something for everyone inside, even if it takes a little time to dig up. With a band this beautifully weird, it's a risk well worth taking.

**Check out the topical and fabulous video for "As Tall As Cliffs" here.

Listen:
As Tall As Cliffs
[from Not Animal|buy]
There's Talk of Mine Shafts
[from Animal!|buy]

Listening Assignments 11.17.08

2008-11-18T15:14:00.005-05:00

1. The Acorn - Glory (original version) - The Acorn has been one of my favorite bands since the moment I first heard the Tin Fist EP and the first impression has just strengthened over time. They have an uncanny sense of melody and balance emotion and dynamics so well it's scary. This song, about singer Rolf Klausener's grandmother, is the ultimate moving tribute. [from Heron Act|buy]

2. The Sea and Cake - New Schools - One of those bands I never dove into, but everything I heard was always enjoyable. This one is breathy and cool, shuffling like a straw broom over '80s linoleum. [from Car Alarm|buy]

3. Portastatic - I Wanna Know Girls - I like power-pop as much as the next fellow, but true power-pop fans are shameless and completely obsessed with bands like Superchunk, the breakthrough band helmed by Portastatic's Mac McCaughan. Under this other moniker, Mac is more free to follow the muse. This particular song is straight up late-'90s pop (one of my favorite eras) despite being released in 2005. And I have to nod in agreement when he's crooning statements like "I wanna know girls, they give me hope, they float by through the air." [from Bright Ideas|buy]

4. Joose Keskitalo - Saimaan Ranalla - Good luck finding any information on Joose in English. That's because he's like a Finnish Nick Drake. It's tough to use one guitar and one voice and remain beautiful and interesting, but this gentleman manages to do so with arresting aplomb. [from MAAILMANPALO|myspace/buy]

FAIL!

2008-11-17T10:11:00.002-05:00

In case you were curious, my fantasy football players are a bunch of overrated, underperforming ninnies. I should just cut them all let them think about it for awhile. UNEMPLOYED!!!!

Also, we're heading up to DC for the day, putting assignments on hold. I've got the songs picked so hopefully I'll crank them out tonight when I get back.

One love.

Chilly Winterpills

2008-11-16T15:04:00.004-05:00

Considering the season and the aforementioned weather, it seems the perfect time to mention Winterpills. They are an intriguing band out of Massachusetts who manage to stumble onto truly ascendant moments in two of every three songs rendering the curious decisions between these moments much more bearable, if not moot. There is adorable fragility below the surface, heightened by the occasionally lo-fi recording and the male/female interplay that always adds an extra layer. It's the best without the Bowie-esque vocal reverb ("Wire") and best when the mood is meloncholy and near-frigid ("What Makes Me Blind"). It's best with a steaming cup of cocoa and even better as a complete album runthrough where its flaws are smoothed by flow and overshadowed by the times where angels descended on shoulders and helped create a sound so true.

Listen:
Beesting
Everything
[from Central Chambers|buy]

Novemberists?

2008-11-14T15:24:00.003-05:00

No one sings about "pantaloons" and "marionettes" and "oligarchs" quite like The Decemberists' Colin Meloy, but this is commonly known. So with the 3rd and final (and best) installment of Always a Bridesmaid: A Singles Series, he takes on a more everyday subject: rain. This is particularly relevant because it's been ugly as a bruise outside of my apartment for a few days now. These two songs represent two different moods, both compelling and beautifully drab.

"Record Year" languishes along like an overflowing street drain sliding down the curb seeking the lowest point of the earth. Cello highlights the almost dissonant progression like low thunder in the distance, bellowing damnation. All the while, a bright banjo plays stuccato raindrops, keeping meter and tapping the windows insistently.

"Raincoat Song" is the B-side of both a rainstorm and this particular 12" record. This is the shower for contemplation on the balcony. This is like inspecting the leaves on the trees as they are pummeled by a hum of droplets, almost dancing. Like watching from above as the water hits the grass on the lawn below, moving like invisible feet waltzing lightly atop the blades. This is whimsical observation of the drone of tones from the tin rooves across the street, the smiling stabs of sun through far-off cloud cover, reminding you somehow of a love you can't quite begin to grasp.

Listen:
Record Year
Raincoat Song
[from Always a Bridesmaid: Vol. III 12" (out 12.2)|pre-order]

Laying it on Thicke

2008-11-14T13:37:00.004-05:00

*Whelp, I guess I'll stick to supporting acts that support my support of them instead of "big names" that kill my posts. I got numerous e-mails from people thanking me for introducing them to Robin Thicke, and in return his label asked Blogger to zap the whole post a la q-Tip's last week. My middle finger's getting a little worn out these days. oh well...

I know you ladies see Robin Thicke and feel the earth sway beneath your toes. I know the wind begins to caress your hips, pushing them left, then right, slow and sensual-like. I know you close your eyes because I close mine too. I swear his whispy Color-Me-Badd facial hair gives me nightmares.

Ok, the guy's made of silk. Ok, he's a poor-man's Justin Timberlake. Ok, you hated Growing Pains. Liar! That show rocked. Robin's making daddy proud, parting legs like the Red Sea, and bringing the soul like it's 1972. Daps to that, young'n.

Listen:
The Sweetest Love*
Tie My Hands (feat. Lil Wayne)*
[from Something Else|buy]
*links removed at label's request

Are you from Tennessee?

2008-11-12T13:47:00.001-05:00

Pickup Lines to Use
While Moving.

BY ALISON ROSEN

"Nice shoes. Wanna put them in that box over there?"

"Is that a mirror in your pocket? Because the movers are going to be here soon, so we should put it in bubble wrap."

"Your father must have been a thief, because I can't find the duct tape."

"The word of the day is 'tarp.' What do you say we go back to my place and spread the word?"

"Mind if I put my junk in your box?"

"If this bed's a-rockin' ... maybe it's not worth taking to the new place?"

More Lists

McSweeney's

An Afternoon Attack

2008-11-11T14:35:00.004-05:00

Just in case you're curious why the assignments didn't happen yesterday, it's because my neighbor got robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight about 200 feet from where my friend and I were sitting on my balcony. The actual robbery was just out of view because Lindsay and I thought they were just a couple arguing. Turns out he had a gun and he pistol whipped her in the head, splitting it open, took her purse/phone/keys. We caught a glimpse of him as he ran away, but dammit if I feel like we could have done more. We took the neighbor in and got her paper towels and called the police. When she went out to the ambulance, she accidentally left a gift bag she'd been carrying. Inside was a stuffed bear, presumably a gift for someone, but the outside of the bag and the top of the tissue paper inside was streaked with her blood, which faded bright red to dull black in a matter of hours. I find myself shaken.

I live in a little neighborhood in Norfolk called Ghent. It's about 1.5 square miles of old houses and cute little eateries and a restored movie theater, reminiscent of some of my favorite cities like Seattle and Portland. My street has a wide mall between the two one-way roads, and it's grassy and has great climbing trees. People walk everywhere around here, to the park down the street, to school, to their jobs on Colley Avenue. This woman was just walking home from work at a local salon, in the middle of a sunny November afternoon, and she could have been killed. What the hell, people? What. the hell.

We elect the first black president in our history one week and an innocent woman gets attacked in broad daylight the next week. I just don't understand how people like this can live with themselves. The bastard got away. I don't know if my neighbor (or myself, for that matter) will ever feel safe again.

Please be careful out there, people.

Listening Assignments 11.10.08

2008-11-10T11:12:00.004-05:00

1. Pixies - Hey - You know a soundtrack is pretty cool when it's got Amity's favorite Pixies song in addition to one of my favorite songs by the Dears ("You and I Are A Gang of Losers") during the turning point. And the movie was pretty money as well. [from Zach and Miri Make a Porno OST|buy]

2. What Made Milwaukee Famous - Sweet Lady - This was the song that got me started on WMMF so it's only fitting to make a reprise in its live acoustic form. It's surprisingly lively. [from The Sugarhill Sessions EP|free @ barsuk]

3. The Mountain Goats & Kaki King - Roger Patterson Van - King is immediately noticeable on lead guitar, fingers strumming akimbo. It's unbelievably refreshing to hear Mr. Darnielle singing over something other than straight acoustic chords, something playful and dynamic. [from Black Pear Tree EP|best catch them on tour!]

4. Stateless - Down Here - This is large, reverberating darkness. It's addiction, withdrawal, redemption. [from Stateless|buy]

Ra Ra Rawsome

2008-11-07T08:50:00.004-05:00

Hey I have no problem admitting that I've been thrown off the scent of many an amazing band by an odd choice in name. Grizzly Bear is probably the most regretful oversight, but this kind of thing happens when you have hundreds of new records a month flooding your inbox and the music world in general. I think the important part of this is admitting where I've made the wrong call. What's in a name anyway?

Ra Ra Riot, you deserve my humblest apologies. I would have put money on you being some kind of post-punk, possibly even synthcore, grouping of black-outfitted ruffians. I see now, two and half months after the release of your full length debut The Rhumb Line (Barsuk), how silly I was. Better late than never.

It'd be easy for violins to feel forced and contrived alongside the intelligent pop Ra Ra Riot is spinning. It'd be easy for a band to be swallowed up by expectations after being labeled as the next "it" band by Spin after their debut at CMJ in 2006. Instead, this fivesome from Syracuse makes it look easy. This record is simply cool. This is like being 17 when "Take On Me" came out. I feel like tossing on the stonewashed jeans, feathering my hair, and partying like its 1984. Not that The Rhumb Line is another tired '80s rehash. Nay, this record is hip enough for the hipsters, but fresher than a head of lettuce. This is a band unspoiled by lavishing blogs and music mags, young and full of rosy-cheeked optimism.

I took a chance on a band called Ra Ra Riot and I'm a happy man, indeed.

Listen:
Too Too Fast
Run My Mouth
[from The Rhumb Line|buy]

Q-Tip the Deleted

2008-11-07T08:48:00.002-05:00

*Yes, there used to be a pretty sweet post about Q-Tip in this space. His label didn't want you to know about or hear anything from the record without purchasing it for yourself. Sad, really.

here's what it said...

If you're cool, you know A Tribe Called Quest was the bees knees back in the day. But I won't blame you if you didn't know Tribe's frontman Q-Tip was set to drop a bomb on hip-hop the same day America elected its first black president. Q has been out of the public eye for almost 10 years, though he re-united Tribe in '06, but The Renaissance is notice served on a genre that loses more luster every year removed from the golden days of old-school. With Kanye pursuing his auto-tune dreams, Kamaal the Abstract (a.k.a. Q-Tip) is dropping piano hooks like they are steaming hot, laying beats like asphalt, and bringing the old-school back to the new-school. Class is now in session. There will be a test.

Listen:
Gettin' Up*
Johnny is Dead*
[from The Renaissance|buy]
*links removed at label's request

Vote 08

2008-11-04T12:23:00.004-05:00

"Today is the day to act like today is your day and you will be surprised that it is, that it is." - Apollo Sunshine

The way I see it, a change is going to come either way. I'm not about to get political on this music blog but I will say this: I truly believe both candidates desire the best for this country. That and I'm incredibly enthused to not have to listen to any more of this B.S. for another few months. I'm tired of slur campaigns, demonizing, subversive political organizations, and muckraking. Tired of age jokes and hunting jokes and black jokes. I'm glad it's all about to be over.

Listen:
The Postal Service - Suddenly Everything Has Changed
[from The District Sleeps Alone Tonight EP|buy]
Number One Fan - Nothing Will Change
[from Compromises|buy]

Listening Assignments 11.3.08

2008-11-03T13:49:00.003-05:00

1. School of Seven Bells - Conjurr - At the special request of one Jacob Bock, I've pursued the noteworthy bounty of SoSB for your listening pleasure. It's no wonder that Jake likes this, as they are the reason Ben Curtis left Secret Machines and, it turns out, a completely valid one. It's dreamier. Less Pink Floyd, more Willy Wonka. [from Alpinisms|buy]

2. Kanye West - Heartless - After this post, Kanye will be taking a hiatus from linesthroughlines. I support his artistic muse, his need to do what he needs to do. But 808s and Heartbreak, after hearing numerous tracks Kanye has put out there himself, is destined for my trash bin. I'm told West has a hip-hop record due early next year, a return to the Kanye we all know and love, that 808s is just an itch he had to scratch. Commercially, however, it just seems a transparent attempt to squeeze the last drops of public interest out of the whole "voice mod/autotune" movement. To strike when the iron is hot. One can only hope that this is "the iron's" swan song. [from 808s and Heartbreak (out 11.25)|buy]

3. Vetiver - Miles Apart - Andy Cabic's outfit is fond of covering artists they revere, as evidenced by Thing of the Past and its EP followup More of the Past, but it works especially well when no one knows the songs your covering. They end up sounding like really good originals and, some would argue, a better album than you were probably capable of on your own. Not that it's a bad thing. When you've got in-the-pocket folk chops like this, you could make Sloop John B sound pretty. [from More of the Past EP (out 11.11)|buy]

4. Ingrid Michaelson - Oh What a Day - Silky ukulele, sweet songbird soul, simplicity. [from Be OK|buy]

Shearwater's Snow Leopard Salvation

2008-10-30T13:37:00.003-04:00

There's something spiritual in snow. Something about that stark whiteness, the way it tucks the world into bed, the whispery softness of it all. Mostly, it's about the solitude. You're in a field surrounded by falling snow, words die away on your lips and fall useless to the ground. You're isolated from everything. It's just you and the snow and you're the much-smaller of the two.

I feel similarly about Shearwater, a band that has taken a staggering step forward this year, first with the release of Rook (LP) and now with the supplement Snow Leopard EP. Jonathan Meiburg's vocals take on melodies that resound like hymns, the instrumentation building from literally nothing into something bigger than just a crescendo. It feels like a confession, an exorcism, and a salvation happening simultaneously. It's just me and the music and I'm the much-smaller of the two.

Listen:
North Col
Henry Lee
[from The Snow Leopard EP|buy]

A Party We Can Trust

2008-10-28T13:25:00.004-04:00

An odd thing is happening in this volatile music industry, thanks to an endless string of who-dun-it's dating back through "pay-for-play", Metallica killing Napster, and the commercialization of music in general: more and more artists (and not just your budding college solo artists) are simply giving their music away. Strangely, the internet has hurt bands almost as much as it has helped them. For every preview blog like mine, there are 10 blogs giving full albums away with nary a review or glance in the rearview. These sites, bit-torrents and peer-to-peer have effectively killed the "release date" as an ever-decreasing number of album sales (physical and digital) attest. Labels find themselves in their most precarious position ever, partly their own fault, but (in all honesty) partly ours. Pretty soon, labels won't be able to afford to pay up front for bands to record albums and get merchandise made for their tours.

But I digress. Perhaps the "label" is truly going the way of VHS and rabbit ear TV tuners. Perhaps we're just returning the model to where it should have stayed: in the hands of the artists, delivering sounds directly to the ears of the fan. Perhaps storefronts (as far as music is concerned) are floating down a similar path. Perhaps in the future all music will be free, and it'll be up to people like me to make sure you know about it. The playing field between have's and have-not's would be leveled.

It's election season and I've decided that CHANGE is, indeed, what I need. But instead of voting Democrat or Republican, I think I'll cast my vote for Conversion Party. I've been listening to McCain and Obama talk for almost two years and I've only been listening to Conversion Party for 3 days, but I've heard all I need to hear. More No More has come out of nowhere to be the dark horse candidate for album of the year. Why?

Because it has cajones. Because their myspace says "I choose neither" and only has 771 plays. Because this puzzle was not made with a jigsaw, but with the sun and a magnifying glass and the edges do not fit perfectly. Because it is a ray of light that has pierced the tree canopy. Because there are numerous eff-you moments, including (but not limited to) the band's name itself (A conversion party is a gathering where people have sex with people with HIV/AIDS on purpose). Because Conversion Party is way cooler than Vampire Weekend and they know it.

Yes, I've done it before, but I haven't really thought about the implications of this until now: I'm pushing an album that is free. I guess my goal with this blog has always been to show you some new music, but also to perhaps goade you into actually supporting these deserving bands financially if you feel so inclined. Conversion Party has made it impossible for me to fulfill the latter. So we're stripped down to the roots here. This record is really good, it's really free, and you should really tell other people about it.

Listen:
East River
Diamond
[from More No More|download free]

Listening Assignments 10.27.08

2008-10-27T13:05:00.004-04:00

1. Sebastien Grainger - American Names - This track is immediately anthemic and driving and it only increases over the duration. . Grainger is solo now, blazing a trail as far away from former band Death From Above 1979 as possible. Whatever direction that is, it is the right one. [from Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains|buy]

2. Rooney - Sleep Song - If you've seen the Chumscrubber (and if you haven't, do so immediately), you know this Rooney B-side is an integral part of the soundtrack. Specifically, two huge turning points involving suicide. It's a beautiful and dark song, but one I hope eventually separates itself from my memory of it in the movie (a la Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay"). I do wish the guitars were heavier in this mix like they were in the film... [watch the trailer]

3. Apes & Androids - Nights of the Week - I laugh every time this song plays, but I'm pretty sure it's not meant to be funny. Yet, it's here on the assignments because it's got long and sexy legs and it knows how to walk. The vocals border on sophomoric (emotive goth moaning?) before settling in somewhere around coyly confident. We've got numerous '80s throwbacks competing for time here: synth, 8-bit samples, digital-delayed lead guitar, and a smart little dance beat. Somehow, it works. [from Blood Moon|buy]

4. Styx Tyger - String Strikes - And here's the atmospheric sendoff. This voice comes from across an expanse of sky, over sunset-lit clouds to your clifftop dream-bed. Everything about it is soft and flowing and pastel. Fuzzy edges, slightly out of focus, impossible to grab. This song is smoke. [from Styx Tyger EP|myspace]

Bi-Annually Awesome

2008-10-23T12:14:00.002-04:00

I must say three things:

1. With every dying breath of the playful and/or breathy indie-folk of 2005-2006, my heart gets a little smaller in size. It seems more and more bands like Annuals are moving on from that era, when sparsely laid tracks dominated my playlists. '06's Be He Me was a welcome addition to that canon, sounding like a violin-overdosed jog through a summer field with just enough lo-fi exuberance to carry the day.

2. Thankfully, there are still a few acts today carrying the banner of yesterday. Fleet Foxes, Department of Eagles/Grizzly Bear, and Ida come to mind. Many more if I spent some time scanning my stacks, but the genre is no longer the "it" genre it was a few years ago.

3. Getting back to Annuals and despite the small death they are causing me via the winds of change, they are simultaneously planting new hope. Growth spurts like these I have no problem with. Tight, focused, melodic. Sweeping, confident, beautiful. Stabs of electric guitar have ignited a firestorm of criticism on indie message-boards comparing them to "intellectual" shrug-offs like Anberlin and Mae (if you flip to page 239 in your too-cool-for-school manual, you're not supposed to enjoy bands like Anberlin). I tore that page out.

In conclusion, here is my ruling. Thou shalt not mourn change for change itself. Give Annuals a shot and they may reward you...bi-annually?

Listen:
Springtime
Always Do
[from Such Fun|buy]

Middle Finger

2008-10-20T09:36:00.003-04:00

I'd also like to go on record and say thanks to Fileden for unceremoniously (and without justification or inquiry) deleting my account. I'm sure my $40 a month for the last two years were only a drop in the bucket, not nearly enough to make me a valued customer deserving of an explanation. It's kind of funny in a way how back asswards this whole system is because I've had my account suspended before, due to a record company e-mailing Fileden a takedown request over songs they had sent me to review (in addition to posting some Mariah Carey track, which never happened). Maybe that occurred again, but I'll likely never know. Hey guys! Free publicity here! If you're a record company and don't want people to like your music, you should try every way possible to prevent word-of-mouth promotion. This is a very bad thing, often resulting in things like "buzz", which in turn results in unpleasant things like "ticket sales" and "brand equity", the brand being the band of course.

This blog is about pushing things I enjoy, not putting down things I don't. I'm not besmirching your releases here. So have a little faith, make a little love, and step off your pedestal once in a while. I'm just a little guy trying to make a big difference.

Listening Assignments 10.20.08

2008-10-20T08:42:00.005-04:00

1. Sloan - Cheap Champagne - I'm not ashamed to say that I heard this song in the Gap while in Portland, OR. I jotted down some of the lyrics on the back of a concert ticket and brought it back to VA to discover that the song was by Nova Scotia's finest power-pop outfit. This one is less power, more pop. Think Squeeze, not Spears. [from Parallel Play|buy]

2. Lymbyc Systym - Narita - I could listen to Lymbyc Systym until my skin melts off and probably will. Something about bombastic drums, Fender Rhodes and a crescendo of melodic distortion will always get to me. [from Field Studies|buy]

3. Minus the Bear - Pachuca Sunrise - For a band known for glitchy synth/drum machine-aided indie rock, an acoustic EP of this quality is an unexpected and pleasant surprise. [from Acoustics|buy]

4. Marit Larsen - Steal My Heart - Something about Marit is irresistably adorable despite my testes protesting heatedly in defense of their honor. Whatever part of my body sings louder usually wins out. And I will say that I'd rather be castrated than have my heart excised, a fact confirmed by this lovely Norwegian. [from the Chase|buy]

Sweet Baby Ray Ray

2008-10-17T13:32:00.005-04:00

There are timeless voices and then there's Ray LaMontagne's voice. I have no doubt that if it were 1972, our grandchildren in 2008 would still be spinning Ray-Ray's vinyl like it was hot off the press. This voice is like a fine gravel, practically sand, practically ash it's so smooth. This voice lays down like steaming asphalt, making the imperfections in this world into perfections. It is renewal and hope and revival.

Ray LaMontagne remains a fringe star despite his incredible chops, finding his home in the excited whispers of word-of-mouth, soundtracks and mix-tapes. For now. With every album like Gossip in the Grain and song like "Let It Be Me", Ray is threatening to kick that door wide open. His voice is a time-traveller from a borrowed era, here to educate your ears on the meaning of heart and soul. It's a lesson that'll have your grandchildren swaying in their chairs 30 years down the road.

Listen:
Sarah
You Are the Best Thing
[from Gossip in the Grain|buy]
*links fixed

Copeland Equals Sunshine

2008-10-15T14:47:00.005-04:00

There was a severe pang of heartwarming nostalgia when the opening notes of Copeland's new melodic masterpiece You Are My Sunshine came across the airwaves. It's been two years since a full LP of new stuff was released (Eat, Sleep, Repeat: 2006). While 2007 saw the release of a closet-full of b-sides and demos in Dressed Up & In Line and full-on speculation as to the demise of the band, 2008 holds a bevy of newness for this Lakeland, Florida outfit. A new label (Tooth & Nail after 3 albums with the Militia Group), a new outlook on the future, and most importantly a new album.

And what an album it is. Immediately captivating (see album opener "Should You Return"), Sunshine grabs hold song after song, including a perfect re-hash of "Chin Up" in the 3rd slot, and with much thanks to little-known guest vocalist Rae Cassidy who lends an angelic light to three tracks. Steadily, while under the scrutinizing microscope of longtime fans, Copeland has built up quite an impressive ever-maturing body of work, delving deep into the heart of what makes us all feel. Sunshine is as uplifting as a fizzy lifting drink, a needed shot of warmth in this early Fall season when the chill sometimes whisps in through the cracks in the windows and floors.

Here's a link to a clever youtube vid the band made to announce the name of the album. It's pretty beautiful, even if it sounds Icelandic.

Listen:
Should You Return
The Day I Lost My Voice (the Suitcase Song)
[from You Are My Sunshine|buy for 7.99 at Best Buy w/ free shipping]
*links fixed

Listening Assignments 10.14.07

2008-10-14T13:18:00.002-04:00

So it's been a complete struggle to write lately because of a strange problem: I actually have TOO much music to write about. Seriously, there are about 30 albums that I'm either listening to or are in the queue and it's pretty overwhelming and hard to make decisions about. Thus, I'm throwing some bigger names on the assignments today to make up some ground.

1. Ben Folds - Kylie from Connecticut - Hey, if you haven't figured this out by now I'm a fan of Ben Folds. I want the best for him (and in effect for all of us) and I do miss certain things he used to do an awful lot. That said, the backlash this CD is producing is pretty overboard in my opinion. There are some really great tracks on this album [from Way to Normal|buy]

2. Jenny Lewis - Pretty Bird - If it weren't decent-to-great, this song would not appear here at all, but I've said this before and I'll say it again: I still don't get Jenny Lewis. I just don't get what the big deal is. Someone send me a song that I have no choice but to love, please? Because I feel like I'm listening to her and trying so hard to find undeniably good to justify the fawning she receives and I'm just not finding it. Prove me wrong, anyone out there, I'd appreciate it. [from Acid Tongue|buy]

3. Mt. Eerie - Voice in Headphones - Julie Doiron is no stranger to my love. She's back, joining Phil Elverum of The Microphones on his new project. It's dark and you can hear the squeaks of mice in the corners, gnawing the edges of tattered old newspapers. It's a sealed bedroom, a prayer circle, a rising and falling chant for forgiveness. [from Lost Wisdom|buy]

4. Ida - My Fair, My Dark - With respect to Ms. Doiron and Mr. Elverum above, there are very few male/female tandems that can hold a candle to the two that comprise Ida. Daniel Littleton taking the low, Elizabeth Mitchell taking the high, their voices meld into a singular melody that slices through fog, shoes and butter with the greatest of ease. [from My Fair, My Dark EP|buy]

Antony

2008-10-11T12:22:00.003-04:00

Warble, swoop, dive and duck. A floating fleet of feathers and feet, turning in unison, fleeing the sunset. I can't help but imagine a swan when I hear Antony sing, a real-life ugly duckling. His words always sound cloaked in darkness like a somber weight of sadness is sitting heavy on his head. This new EP is Antony at his finest.

Listen:
Sing for Me
Another World
[from Another World|buy]

Listening Assignments 10.8.08

2008-10-08T13:11:00.004-04:00

1. Brian Wilson - Live Let Live - Do you realize BW is 66 years old? I think it's amazing that there are any good tracks on his follow-up to Smile, which took him almost 40 years to complete. But here he is, that old lucky sun-toasted sumbitch, raising another icy glass to the bright-colored sky. Here's to you buddy. [from That Lucky Old Sun|buy]

2. Final Fantasy - Cockatrice - Shimmy and shake. Plucked violin strings, bumping understated bass, ethereal-voiced Owen Pallett operating the curtains. When the strings start swinging in, this really feels like fiction, a fantasy in which you are enrobed. [from Spectrum, 14th Century|buy]

3. Deas Vail - White Lights - I don't even know what to call this kind of music anymore. I used to, before what used to be "indie" became "mainstream" and the term began to apply elsewhere. I'll call it energetic, uplifting rock that'll probably never be on the radio. Which is perfectly ok with me. [from White Lights EP|buy]

4. My Brightest Diamond - Adieu Mon Coeur (acoustic) - If you think this song is heart-rendingly sad, that's because it is. "Goodbye, My Heart. As I throw you into misfortune...I cannot bear to watch you die." There is so much beauty in heartbreak. [from The Gum Drop (Stereogum's e-mail list)|sign up]

Same Streets, New World

2008-10-07T00:10:00.003-04:00

Mike Skinner is a new hero of mine, not that he's new to my life in any way. With Original Pirate Material, he carved out an unexpected niche in the world of hip-hop/rap with his heavily accented conversational rhymes. Rappers like Dizzee Rascal and eventually current pop-tarts like Lily Allen, Kate Nash, and Adele followed thereafter, soaking up the new interest in the same-ol-genres, now injected with a UK flair. It's now becoming a cliche, as these kinds of things often do, and the thick accent appeal could wane at anytime. That is, except for Mr. Skinner, or the Streets, or whatever name you prefer.

This is because his new album Everything is Borrowed, is a flushed face of positive energy when stood side-by-side with his previous offering The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, the title track of which is essentially about all the ways Mike's life is f*cked up. This title track, however, is immediately soaring, it's chorus repeating "I came to this world with nothing, and I'll leave with nothing but love. Everything else is just borrowed..." It's as if all of life has become new again, the kind of message I could listen to on repeat...and have. The album's head-and-shoulders standout is "On the Edge of A Cliff", a profoundly simple story of your seredipitous existence, is artfully hung over a perfect bed of Rhodes, horns, and a smart beat. It's beautiful enough to bring tears, if you're in the right place, and it might just be enough to save us all.

A bird? A plane? No, it's The Streets.

Listen:
On the Edge of a Cliff
On the Flip of a Coin
[from Everything is Borrowed|buy]

A New Hope

2008-10-07T00:03:00.003-04:00

It is with great regret that I address you today, after a week of near solitude. It has been an amazing 10 days for me and mine and perhaps this time away from the blog was as necessary as the time away from "life" a vacation implies. Since there is no rewinding anyway, this will be the lens through which I view this short moratorium from writing. I sit here tonight, not 45 minutes off the plane, with renewed vigor and a stack of new music to bestow upon your face. Believe me children: in this, there is hope abounding.

Let's do this...

Go to Hell

2008-10-01T13:56:00.001-04:00

This song is contagious...

[buy]

Turn on the Lights

2008-09-30T13:09:00.004-04:00

If you haven't already heard, Muxtape as we knew it is no more. It plans to re-launch as a service for bands using the simple interface we've all come to love. If you click that link, you can read an incredibly detailed and interesting history on the demise and re-birth of Muxtape. Also if you click that link, you'll immediately be treated to a preview of what the new site will offer, in the form of the fantastic 2008 EP by Francis and the Lights. Wait, you don't know Francis and the Lights? Well neither did I until I fatefully stumbled upon the Muxtape announcement. A little sleuthing unearthed a band that is criminally unknown, a fact it appears Muxtape's creator Justin has tried to remedy.

If you don't fall in love after one listen to "Striking", I pity you. It begins with a few blips of instruments, like a high school band shedding nervous energy before the first note of the first song. And then they start playing and...holy guacamole. I've raved about Tigercity before, but this has more soul. It's less Hall and Oates and tons more Prince. They've only got 9k listens on their myspace page over the course of a year! I can't believe you're not listening to Francis and the Lights right now! They're so unknown that they want you to have both of their records for free on their website. They want you to tell people, as I am doing right now. I don't think you'll have a problem doing so.

Download your heart out.

Listen:
Striking
[from Striking]
Night Watchman
[from A Modern Promise]

Update from the road...

2008-09-30T13:01:00.002-04:00

As my previous post suggested, via only blog-title, I'm on vacation. First to Idaho, now Portland for the duration. I'd planned an entire calendar of posts during the trip and I'd planned to upload the tracks I was going to feature onto my webhost prior to leaving (as I'd have no access to the files once I was away from my computer). Alas, as early-morning flights usually go, things did not proceed quite as planned. I got off work at 3am and the cab showed up 10 mins early at 4:20am and I was unable to get many of the little things done. On top of that, my iPod touch refused to let me edit the body of any blog post (hence the extra long title that explained my predicament) while I was in Boise. SO, in short, I'm on a real computer in Oregon, without the songs I'd planned to write about. But fear not, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. And Portland is a gold-mine for finding some CD's to upload in the meantime. Stay tuned.

I'm in Boise and my iPod isn't letting me post text in the body of this blog. Keep your eyes peeled, I'll be in Ptown on Mon night and we'll catch up!

2008-09-28T13:05:00.002-04:00

Mitch Gets the Last Laugh

2008-09-25T14:26:00.008-04:00

Anytime you're writing about someone posthumously, you brings a tinge of melancholy along for the ride. It's especially ironic when you're writing about Mitch Hedberg, one of the funniest men ever to hold a microphone. He was a stranger to me when he passed, though he'd played Virginia Tech while I was a student there. I have listened to his albums with many a special person, an act that has sealed those moments in memory like a lick-closed envelope, and there aren't a lot of artists I can say that about. I was thrilled to find out that "he" was set to release an album's-worth of new jokes, recorded mere weeks before his overdose, but even that news was dulled by the knowledge that Do You Believe in Gosh? really is the last of it. I teared up some during the first listen because, unlike Strategic Grill Locations (where he sounded high) and Mitch All Together (where he sounded coked up), here he just sounds happy. Like he's laughing at these particular jokes for the first time. Like he's genuinely enjoying himself and ecstatic to be breathing the air in that particular place at that particular time. And I wonder how these people in the audience reacted when they'd heard that Mitch died just shortly after being so tickled by him in person, and how their laughs are captured here like auditory fossils telling the tale of a sunnier time.

Listen:
Door Deal
Restaurants
[from Do You Believe In Gosh?|buy]

It's Good to be King

2008-09-23T13:02:00.005-04:00

You've gotta admit, Kings of Leon have it pretty sweet. Somehow they've managed to steadily gain both critical and popular acclaim, building both indie cred and mainstream love simultaneously. This is because I believe Kings of Leon have stumbled upon the golden mean* of the music industry. Three brothers and first cousin Followill, all from Tennessee, becoming ambassadors for their family namesake (The bros' father and grandfather named Leon) make for a pretty adorable backstory. But more importantly, the Kings are blessed with a specialness that manifests itself most obviously in the fire-and-honey voice of Caleb Followill and his ridiculous sense of melody. While his blazing vocals clear a trail, the talented band falls in behind. Matthew draping signature reverb-drenched guitar licks, Nathan displaying impreccable taste behind the drums, Jared's basslines becoming dynamic solos to themselves.

Only By the Night represents the pinnacle of the Kings' songwriting experience to this point, an album chock-full of digestible morsels under 4 minutes (though none under 3). This mostly is absolute mastery of the mid-tempo emotional rock song, though stabs are taken into the faster-paced rock of Aha Shake Heartbreak ("Sex on Fire") while the fuzzy-distortion-soaked anthem of "Crawl" feels out of place by comparison. Despite that, over the entire running length of Night, it becomes apparent that Kings of Leon are a band embracing their hype with confidence and aplomb.

Together, this true American family band crafts genre-spanning gems that contain plenty of hooks to snag radio play, plenty of depth to satisfy the snobs, and enough moxy to grab even the most skeptical outsider.

It's good to be King.

Listen:
Manhatten
Notion
[from Only By the Night|buy]

*Aristotle's theory on the desirable middle ground between excess and deficiency.

Thou Shalt Not Kill Amanda Palmer

2008-09-20T13:02:00.002-04:00

In the "women who sound like men" category, Amanda Palmer takes the cake, primarily because the sample size is fairly small. Methinks it's a lot easier for a dude to sound like a girl, than vice versa. Palmer, of course, is the singer for The Dresden Dolls, the oft-praised indie-cabaret-punk outfit from Boston. Unsurprisingly, her new record Who Killed Amanda Palmer? (Twin Peaks, anyone?) sounds pretty much like a Dresden Dolls release, which means that it's dark, theatrical, uber-emotional, and lyrically quite literal ("who needs love when there's Dukes of Hazzard?"). She mashes the piano keys, squeals and grunts her way to the desired emotional payoff, then suddenly backs off to a beautiful counterpoint. Ben Folds pulled the strings behind the scenes, lending his musical talents both in front of and behind the microphone.

And as a result I dig this, consistently, more than a typical Dolls record. It means something and it's wonderfully hairy and real. And I'm thinking if someone actually did kill Amanda Palmer, I might have to take justice into my own hands.

Listen:
Astronaut (A Short History of Nearly Nothing) [feat. Zoe Keating]
Leeds United
[from Who Killed Amanda Palmer?|buy]

The Wolf in David Condos

2008-09-18T14:48:00.004-04:00

It has been nearly two years since the promising sounds of David Condos first appeared here. In the meantime, the mop-topped young'n from Nashville has continued to mature nicely, showing artistic restraint and displaying an even more unique take on the modern pop song. There's a little more edge, a little less sun, a few more teeth in this newness, alongside the feeling that David is spreading himself to the wind, opening up his openings and recording the resulting chords of the whistling air past as opposed to fashioning a credible copy of something that already existed. The falsetto is still spot-on, but more sparingly used, while sprawling cello and the broken distortion of guitars fill out the spaces between jogging snare beats. This is a very Autumnal offering, a sprint through the woods at dusk, like wolves. Oh yes, Like Wolves.

Listen:
Like Wolves
Finding Yourself There Now
[from Like Wolves EP|download free (limited time)]

Boy Wonder: Anthony da Costa

2008-09-16T14:14:00.004-04:00

With many apologies and much respect to Abbie Gardner, it is the young Anthony da Costa who propels this album of duets to greatness, despite only leading on half the songs. I considered not telling you da Costa's age because it doesn't make a damn bit of difference once play has been pressed, but the fact that he's only 17 makes it only that much more compelling. His voice easily recalls Damien Rice, Ryan Adams and myriad other folk legends, displaying all the dirt and beaten-down love that should take a lifetime to cultivate. Gardner plays the perfect counterbalance of harmonies and emotion, the Gillian Welch to his Dave Rawlings (roles reversed, of course). These songs thin your skin, make you feel everything around you. You're like a blind wanderer, soaking up the world like chamois, tasting life and love for the very first time. And it's devastating.

Listen:
On My Knees
Let Me Die in Your Arms
[from Bad Days/Better Nights|buy]

Listening Assignments 9.15.08

2008-09-15T11:30:00.006-04:00

1. Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream - My first bike with gears was a Huffy called "White Heat". It's mostly-white frame was flecked with neon glow-in-the-dark paint spatters and it had Mad Max-esque black and neon yellow gnarly guards (their words, not mine) to protect your knuckles in the case of a crash. Alongside my acid-washed jean jacket (which I hated) and the unfortunate rat-tail my parents inflicted on me, that bike was the most '80s thing I've ever been associated with. This song is like that. Except it's 2008. If this song was a bike, you'd totally be finding anything you could use as a ramp. [from Walking on a Dream (out 10.4)|amazing video|info]

2. Fredrik - Alina's Place -Alina's place exists behind closed eyelids. In this dream bottles will be tapped with spoons, spices will be shaken, and paper rubbed together. Guitars will be less played than caressed. You will speak through a tiny radio held in front of your mouth, converting your voice to AM, able to carry great distances over land and sea. [from Na Na Ni (out 10.28)|stream/pre-order]

3. Jolie Holland - Mexico City - Jolie's voice is so expressive, shaking like a leaf, brittle and brown. She's caught between dimensions, stranded betwixt '80s, '60s and '00s, and I'm not sure where she'll ultimately get off. This is a lovely place, however. [from Living & The Dead (out 10.7)|pre-order]

4. Joe Pug - Hymn #101 - I've come to have great love for folk songs such as this. Something about the feeling that writers like Joe (and Josh Ritter and hundreds before them) are tapping into this common song that's running through the heart of every living thing. Something about the verses and hypnotic circling pick patterns and the singular voice spewing poetry that feels like rain soaking a dry desert riverbed for the first time in years. "Before we met, I knew we'd meet." [from Nation of Heat|buy]

Hotel Lights Flicker

2008-09-13T14:17:00.003-04:00

I'm sure it is a minor annoyance to always be mentioned alongside a band member's former band, but with Hotel Lights' Darren Jessee (of Ben Folds Five), it's also inevitable. The Five still hold an impressive stranglehold on the nostalgic tweener years of an entire generation of nerds and piano-pop aficionados, as evidenced by the recent 30-minute sellout of their one-and-only reunion show in Chapel Hill, NC, and tickets now being scalped for almost $1,000.

Hotel Lights, however, is nothing like the Five, and it's probably a good thing. Who knew Darren Jessee would have the songwriting chops (and voice, for that matter) to lead an act of such restrained potency? I guess "Magic" wasn't a fluke after all. This album is as listenable as La Fin Du Monde is drinkable, an album for sipping slowly, for rain-gazing, for dandelion-blowing, for thoughtful reflection. The patience is palpable and it flows lazily, like a brook winding through woods, into your backyard. It's just there at the fenceline, old as your great grandaddy, gushing on by, just there for you to listen to and lose yourself in.

Listen:
Dream State Flying
Wedding Day
[from Firecracker People|buy]

The Freak Flag of Chad VanG

2008-09-12T12:50:00.006-04:00

It does get weirder than Chad VanGaalen, really it does. This is mostly because Chad is inherently capable of striking the perfect dissonant chord for any occasion, making him adorable and essential all at the same time. There is a flaw somewhere herein, but this flaw floats atop the sound, like oil over water, and says, "I don't care what you think about me." He is certainly his own, and is critically revered as a result. Soft Airplane plays mostly like an acid trip, awash in reverb and loosely strung guitar strings. A few of the songs somehow fall bland, or perhaps I'm not toking the correct carcinogen, but the few that hit the aforementioned chord are exactly the reasons why Mr. VanGaalen remains a hot button in the freak-folk indie community and on this very blog.

Listen:
Molten Light
Rabid Bits of Time
[from Soft Airplane|buy]

When Fantasy becomes Nightmare

2008-09-10T13:03:00.004-04:00

Well, I did it. I drafted Tom Brady with the #5 pick of my fantasy football draft. He apparently screamed like a little girl when his ACL was ripped to shreds 8 minutes into the first game of the season on Sunday (see above). I also drafted Nate Burleson of the Seahawks (out for the season/knee), Marques Colston of the Saints (out 4-6 weeks/finger), and the Chargers Defense (best player Shawne Merriman now out for the season/knee). Out of 10 starters on my roster last weekend, 6 of them scored 3 or fewer fantasy points, helping me destroy my personal record for all-time-worst-fantasy-football-score-EVER. (72% of all owners starting Brady last week lost their matchups)

Apparently the bad karma from coming 4 points from winning my league last year and never losing a player to season-ending injury just caught up with me, big-time. At least there's room for improvement.

The short of all this nonsense is that I'm a sports addict and I probably have an inflated sense of importance because I doubt you care about any of this in the first place. But I want you to know that being a music freak and being a sports addict are not mutually exclusive hobbies and I want to nurture the fantasy-loving fan in all of you to feel sympathy for me. I just want your pity!

If you're the praying type, please make note of the following, on my behalf:
- That Brett Favre eventually throws to Laveranues Coles.
- That I land Eddie Royal (Go Hokies!) AND Jon Kitna off the waivers wire tomorrow.
- That my starting defense actually puts up positive fantasy points this week.
- That the Bengals remember how to run their usually potent offense.
- That Big Ben Roethlisburger remembers his tight end this week.
- That Brandon Marshall comes back from suspension, like whoa.
- That the Cowboys keep giving rookie Felix Jones 15 touches a game.

Thank you and g'day.

Listen:
Final Fantasy - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
[from Stars: Do You Trust Your Friends?|buy]

Swinging from the Rafter

2008-09-09T13:24:00.003-04:00

I wanted to write about Rafter immediately upon listening to his new Sweaty Magic EP, but it wasn't released until today. Instead, I played it through the big speakers at work, where it was met with a bevy of "who is this? it's awesome!" responses. I responded like only Rob from High Fidelity would: "I know."

I will now sell 5 copies of Rafter's Sweaty Magic EP.

This music is probably not what you're expecting. Unless you're expecting the world's strangest (and somehow resoundingly successful) blend of whale noises, blips, jangling guitars, horns, kazoos, kitchen sinks and synth bends, all forming the bed over which some of this year's best melodies lay. This is an odd marriage of The Flaming Lips and Girl Talk, the ceremony taking place in a dream sequence from The Science of Sleep.

Rafter's recipe for Sweaty Magic is as follows:
2 gallons Magic 92.5 San Diego's Old School
4 packages of dancing w/my hot girl @ the nightclub
Sprinkle of math metal

And to wrap it up:
"They always seemed what? They always seemed really great, is what they always seemed. They picked up where your precious Echo left off and you're sitting here complaining about no more Echo albums. I can't believe you don't own that record. That's insane."

Listen:
Juicy
Salt
[from Sweaty Magic EP|buy]

Listening Assignments 9.8.08

2008-09-08T15:00:00.005-04:00

1. Annuals - Confessor - Consider me wowed. In 2006, Be He Me was a better-than-average example of the typical downtempo indie folk. Listening to the first track from Such Fun is turning my spirits around in a hurry. With an album cover made from a Bob Ross original, how could it not be fun? [from Such Fun (out 10.7)|info]

2. Jason Falkner - Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell) - This is one of my favorite old-school songs, written by Joni Mitchell but actually first recorded by Judy Collins. Both versions are amazing. I wouldn't call this one amazing, per se, but it's certainly bright and stuffed so full of guitars, it might burst. Falkner knows his way around some power-pop. [from Follow Me single|buy]

3. B.B. King - Tomorrow Night - It's hard to beat the blues, even after 83 years. The love long gone usually stays gone and songs don't usually win them back. Tears and broken hearts will always be universal. I'll miss this man when he goes. The fabulous fingers of BB King are absent on this piano-driven classic, but at the 2:25 mark you're in for a saxophone treat. [from One Kind Favor|buy]

4. The House Floor - My Little Wooden Room (LOL) - I know there is a full-band version of this forthcoming and I can't wait, but for now I can't shake this lo-fi heart-rattler practically buried amidst furiously strummed guitars. Notsomuch a wall of sound as it is a room full of drapes, criss-crossing and bunching at the floor. A bright sun burning in the middle of a maze of softness you can almost see through. [demo for War Ship|info]

Incoming...

2008-09-05T13:29:00.002-04:00

I do my best to respect the integrity of release dates unless a single or track has been released as a teaser, but it is especially hard with amazing releases such as these in the pipeline for the next month and a half. Arguably the most potent period of the year. Salivation is acceptable.

Rafter - Sweaty Magic (9.9)
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane (9.9)
Blitzen Trapper - Furr (9.23)
Final Fantasy (w/ Beirut)- Spectrum, 14th Century (9.30)
-Listen: ["The Butcher"|mp3 (via Stereogum)]
Final Fantasy - Pays to Please (10.21)
Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling (9.22)
Department of Eagles - In Ear Park (10.7)
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (10.7)
Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain (9.30)
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Animal!/Not Animal (9.30/10.7)
Mount Eerie (w/ Julie Doiron) - Lost Wisdom (10.7)
Ben Folds - Way to Normal (9.30)
The Sea and Cake - Car Alarm (10.21)
Amanda Palmer -Who Killed Amanda Palmer? (9.16)
Annuals - Such Fun (10.7)
Talkdemonic - Eyes at Half Mast (9.16)
Astronautalis - Pomegranate (9.22)

Stars and Sad Robots

2008-09-04T13:19:00.003-04:00

Stars are a pretty easy sell here. Though singers Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell have both tried their hand at solo and side work, it is only in Stars that they find the golden mean of melody and songwriting. Additionally, it's nice to be surprised. On September 27th, the band released a new blog containing only website address (sadrobots.ca), which led to a beautiful flash site announcing impending release of the Sad Robots EP only one week away. That week has passed and we are left with 6 new songs and a listen I prefer to most of last years In the Bedroom Before the War. Stars isn't messing around with what's made them loved here, but everything still sounds so fresh and so clean. It just goes to show that all these genre reinventions everyone else undergoes are superfluous. Maybe those bands just weren't good enough to continue doing what they used to be good at. Maybe only a few bands are.

Listen:
Undertow
Going, Going Gone
[from Sad Robots EP|buy]

Old World Maps + Atlases

2008-09-02T15:16:00.004-04:00

Maps and Atlases are generally predictable. Not the band, the navigation tools. Maps rarely change (too much, at least) and Atlases are typically dependable. Boring would be a word. The band, however, is anything but ordinary. A listen to the first 20 seconds of "Witch" should be enough to convince you of that. They are weird enough for the weirdos with more than enough melody to please the pop-nazis. Stuccato rhythms bind together this loose framework of solid riffs and chiming odds and ends while the vocals literally dance around and throughout. A unique marriage of Santa's workshop and wherever it is in heaven that they make up names for angels. Forget the mundanities you associate with Maps and Atlases of old. It's a whole new world out there.

Listen:
Witch
Ted Zancha
[from You and Me and the Mountain EP|buy]

Listening Assignments 9.1.08

2008-09-01T12:58:00.005-04:00

1. The Virgins - Rich Girls - There's just something about this track I can't shake. Perhaps it's the smart little rattle of hi-hats, the playful twang of a sweet bassline. It's a bit of MGMT, while a bit more understated and British-sounding. I just keep pressing play. [from The Virgins|buy]

2. Parenthetical Girls - Four Words - Symphonic, warbling drama is unfolding here. It's overtly theatrical, but unfailingly beautiful at the same time. The horns have a life of their own. Jon Brion would love this record. [from Entanglements (out 9.9)|buy]

3. Mason Proper - Lock and Key - It's ironic that I was just mentioning (lamenting?) the hiatus of Crystal Skulls two days ago, but old friends Mason Proper are swooping in to carry the banner of hip '60s-influenced pop. [from Olly Oxen Free|buy]

4. Going Gone - Salty Teeth - Sometimes the most beautiful thing is also the most simple. This is as gentle as morning dew. With velvety guitar strings and a voice adorably normal, this duo of female songwriters is about as diy as they come. Which means a little love goes a long way. [info]

Where are they now? Part 2

2008-08-31T14:30:00.002-04:00

Continued from yesterday...

6. +/- - Fear not, little fans. +/- will be back in fashion with the October 21st release of X's on Your Eyes via Absolutely Kosher. No preview tracks yet, though.

7. Copeland - 2007's Dressed Up and In Line wasn't a proper release (though "Chin Up" was an amazing new track). October 14th will see the release of You Are My Sunshine, which features some pretty sweet subtle album art. Unfortunately, no new songs available on their myspace or website (which still doesn't even mention the record...). And if you've got some time to kill and like mazes, you can play the viral marketing game they developed for the release here.

Part-Time Lover (Stevie Wonder)
[from Know Nothing Stays the Same|buy]

8. So Many Dynamos - This St. Louis fearsome foursome is cocked, locked, and ready to rock and have been for quite some time. It's definitely good to count Chris Walla among your friends, and even better to have him produce your record and put his efforts behind it to get labels interested. Well the album, started over a year ago, is now done and you can hear a great track from it here. The record is called The Loud Wars. Fingers crossed for new new news soon.

9. Ben Folds - Oh Ben, what am I going to do with you? It's been sooooo long since Whatever & Ever Amen and we've had some good times along the way. But I'm frankly terrified of your upcoming record Way To Normal (out Sept. 30th). I'm hoping that the tracks (aside from the lead single, a cute bouncy pop attempt that will probably get you some airplay) I've heard from it are just a joke you're playing on me or are just really early demos or something. I still believe in you...

You Don't Know Me (w/ Regina Spektor)
[from Way To Normal (out 9.30)|buy]

10. The Format - Nate Ruess' sunpop band is no more, but good news is around the corner. He's got a new bag, called "fun". It's fledgeling and lo-fi, but the first song sounds promising. It's...fun!

Benson Hedges
[demo]

11. Lovedrug - Ummm, Lovedrug is another hallowed band whose upcoming release scares me. 2005's Pretend You're Alive is #10 in my Desert Island collection, but its follow-up was a small step back. Now, they're poised to release The Sucker Punch Show (Oct. 28), complete with very odd artwork. The first song they posted on myspace was panned by fans on their comment wall, but the second is quite good. So they're batting .500 at the moment...

Let me know if there's any other linesthroughlines band that you're curious about and I'll try to dig up that dirt.

Where are they now? Part 1

2008-08-29T14:33:00.005-04:00

I got to thinking recently about wtf was going on with some of my favorite artists who should be about due (or are overdue) for some kind of release. And then I thought it'd be fun and informative if we found out together...

1. Crystal Skulls - Oddly enough, the answer was right in front of me, quite literally. The main peeps in this hip Seattle outfit are now integral to the lineup of Fleet Foxes along with another linesthroughlines favorite J. Tillman. Golly gee, I hope both release their own material again! Jeepers!

Beat Me To It
[from Blocked Numbers|buy]

2. Wesafari - The lack of attention this band got for 2005's Alaska is absolutely criminal. And it's been over a year since the Moss Green EP was thrown to the wind [still downloadable]. Time for an update...and it's fairly sketchy. An e-mail blast from the band back in June indicates the record is moving on to post-production and "sounding so great." No word on release. I can always hope.

Shooting Stars
[from Alaska|buy]

3. The Long Winters - Hey, let's make this a Seattle trifecta, shall we? John Roderick's masterful indie-pop outfit went back in the studio in July to record the follow-up to 2006's Putting the Days to Bed. No word on release date, but in the meantime, you can read his fascinating blog at Seattle Weekly.

4. Some By Sea/Ghosts & Liars - Yet another Washington band/s. Sadly, both of these promising bands have fallen by the wayside. I learned last week that G&L had called it quits (happened back in March), after about a year of not really doing anything other than some stellar demos. Methinks the talented Chris DuBray will not be idle for long. I'll keep you posted.

5. The Slip - This Boston threesome is famous for a fabulous live show and probably also for being featured in a Guitar Hero game ("Even Rats") and Grey's Anatomy. But it's been over two years since the tightness of Eisenhower made ripples across the blogosphere. Now, the band is performing a few dates as Surprise Me Mr. Davis with the addition of merch-guy-turned-singer/songwriter Nathan Moore. But they, too, haven't released an album since 2005. Hmmm....

Airplane/Primitive
[from Eisenhower|buy]

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow...Ben Folds, +/-, Lovedrug, Copeland, So Many Dynamos, The Format, and Lymbyc Systym.

Shhh, Top Secret Octopus Project

2008-08-28T12:07:00.005-04:00

Now that I think about it, an eight-armed cephalopod would probably make a pretty efficient musician. Suction cups, ambidexterity, black ink pyrotechnics, curved beak for tearing flesh...oh wait. But still. What if the Octopus Project is a secret government entity's attempt to train said octopi in the magical ways of rock? I like to imagine that scenario when I listen to this band. I like to picture four of the creatures, 32 arms akimbo, a frenzy of pink, rubbery skin. A few arms are playing glockenspiel, different parts of course. Four more on drums, while another one loops beats on a laptop in real time. 6 guitars, 3 basses, a mini-moog, a fender rhodes, 4 88-key Korgs, and a grand piano. A lone arm is in the back corner playing theramin. The remaining 6 arms just churn a froth in the water as means of applause.

Or you could just picture the four stiffs you see up there, foolishly playing at the feet of a huge polar bear. Whichever you prefer.

Listen:
Wet Gold
[from Wet Gold 7"|buy]
I Saw the Bright Shinies
[from Hello, Avalanche|buy]

Sweet-ish Convoj

2008-08-26T14:17:00.004-04:00

The first rule of Convoj is don't talk about Convoj. Being a sweet-ass band from Sweden has its minuses, the first of which is that you'll have to dig to find any information on them that isn't in a foreign language. Thankfully, they are part of two fantastic organizations, spanning half the globe between them. Sound/Friends has been mentioned here before, a Brooklyn-based superteam of artists/music-addicts/friends. They bear Convoj's banner stateside while youareawesome!! provides similar sweetness for Swedish artists/musicians. Thankfully YAA!!'s website is in English, so you can read Convoj's humorous bio in its pseudo(or intentionally)-pretentious glory. Basically, they're totally awesome at garnering internet buzz, they think really hard about their music, and their record is brilliant. But in all seriousness, they've got some moxy. Angular indie rock with decidedly American/UK influences (the Killers, Hot Hot Heat, Interpol, pre-electronica Bloc Party), this Swedish import is coming at you pre-hype, pre-fame. And I've just broken the first rule of Convoj. I doubt they'll mind.

Listen:
A Swedish Mile
[from Wrapped in Coffee Filters|download]
Cultural Legacy
[from Sound/Friends 001|buy]

Listening Assignments 8.25.08

2008-08-25T10:22:00.003-04:00

1. The Broken West - Perfect Games - This is what a good single sounds like. When you press play and just say yes over and over. It's feel-good, four-on-the-floor. A refined indie sound with a resilient little melody. Nice. [from Now or Heaven (out 9.9)|buy]

2. The Whigs - Violet Furs - Certainly a straight-up down-stroking guitar song, clean-toned and slightly jangly. Sounds like something from the '90s, in a good way. [from Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip|buy]

3. Rodriguez - Sugar Man - I've been reading about this record for awhile because of its backstory. (Released almost 40 years ago, fell flat in the US, eventually going multi-platinum in South Africa unbeknownst to the artist, re-issued this year). This sounds like one of those songs that would pop up on a movie about Vietnam during a chopper ride, a little (ranging to a lot) psychedelic, that reverby vocal, the buzzing acoustic guitars. This is like opening a time capsule, forgotten and finally remembered. [from Cold Fact|buy]

4. Horse Feathers - Curs in the Weeds - Stark and open, violin and guitar, guy and girl. Trembling vocals, breathed with determination that sounds familiar. Forlorn and longing for human contact at any price. [from House with No Home (out 9.9)|buy]

A Swift Recommendation

2008-08-23T11:59:00.004-04:00

"Hey buddy...I saw you from inside...leaning on my car. What the fuck is up with that, huh? Do you see me...leaning on your car? huh? No. No. I'm gonna give you a couple minutes to think about it. I'm gonna sing this verse and then you can apologize to me right after I'm done. You got that?

Hey buddy...nice jacket. Nice fucking curly hair, too. That's great. Are you gonna say you're sorry yet for leaning on my car? Huh? Are you gonna say you're sorry? Hold on. Hold on, here's another verse. One second...

Yeah, nice ending. Jack. Jackass..."

I have no qualms with posting 3 of the 5 songs from Richard Swift's amazing EP because it's a free download anyway and that's the whole point. The other point is that you should have all five songs, fool. He treads some hallowed ground here, from Grease to James Brown to the Beatles, melding those sounds with tongue-in-cheek skills. Swift is an aural time machine and he's doing it better than anyone. Seriously dig into this fellow's catalog, if you fancy yourself a music lover.

Listen:
The Bully
The Song for Milton Feher
[from Ground Trouble Jaw|download it for free, limited time]

Animal/Not Animal

2008-08-21T15:02:00.003-04:00

It's been over two years in the making, more if you count how long some of the songs from the upcoming Margot & the Nuclear So and Sos' have been bouncing around the pipes. The time between 2005's still-amazing Dust of Retreat and now has been punctuated by a major label signing (Epic), subsequent dispute and finally, compromise. To the benefit of all parties involved, most of all the listener, Margot will release two LP's this year. Animal! (Sept 30)and Not Animal (Oct 7) will contain 12 tracks, though only 5 will be common to both, for a total of 17 new songs. The former is the album the band demanded be released while the latter is the album Epic insisted on. Consequently, Animal! is seeing only vinyl and digital release, while Not Animal will get digital and CD.

Phew, now that all that technical jargon is out of the way, I'll say this. I'm probably more psyched about Animal!/Not Animal than anything else coming out this year, which includes Copeland's You Are My Sunshine, which drops October 14th. The three teaser tracks on their myspace cause me to salivate. The chorus for "As Tall As Cliffs" is going to haunt me all night.
"Darlin' I'm tired, but I should be leavin'..."

Listen:
As Tall As Cliffs
A Children's Crusade on Acid
[from Animal/Not Animal (out 9.30/10.7)|pre-order]
*you can also buy their amazing Daytrotter EP on iTunes.

Positive Reinforcement : The Hold Steady

2008-08-20T11:39:00.004-04:00

I'll start by telling you that I'm by no means an expert on The Hold Steady. I never owned their first 7" EP from back in '04 (or their first two full-lengths, for that matter). I don't have their cute little logo tattooed anywhere on my body, nor have I fist-pumped along with them from the front section between the stage and the drunken mosh pit. Other than singer Craig Finn (who's mentioned in just about every music publication known to man), I couldn't name another band member. I'd be lying if I told you that this public obsession with The Hold Steady didn't piss me off just a little.

Have you heard? The Hold Steady is the greatest and best band in the world. Because being uncool is the new cool. Also, 8 years ago, you might get ridiculed if you sounded like the second coming of Bruce Springsteen. Today, you're idolized (read also: the Killers, The National). Being drunk is cool. Rhyming lyrics are occasionally cool, but more often uncool. Matching tailored grayscale suits on stage is so 2 years ago. Now, the jacket should be off, the tie loosened, the shirttails untucked.

Craig Finn is a master writer of prose. I will not argue with this fact. I will also not argue that there are more than a few moments on Stay Positive that my head jerked up from whatever I was doing and I said aloud, "iiinnnteresting." (Often because of the balls-out guitar solos or hookish riffs, which are plentiful.) Certainly I can relate to Craig writing about struggling with faith (or any of myriad religious imagery), girls with daddy issues, physically abused friends, hometowns and old pals, or irony in the "scene". I can enjoy the piano in "Yeah, Sapphire" and the Bon Jovi-esque 12-string on "Both Crosses". I really can be engaged in this record, but more often than not I find myself straying. Lyrically very good. But aside from a few bright spots ("Joke About Jamaica"), it's vocally very poor, despite Finn's apparently taking vocal lessons prior to recording. And I just can't get behind that. I find myself really enjoying on ly small portions of individual songs (the second half of "Slapped Actress"), and not the entire thing.

But I do digress. Somehow, this record is important to me. The hype is irritating, but The Hold Steady are impossible to write off like that. If music was 100% about sweat-slicked guitar riffs, passion and raw lyrics, I'd be the first in line. They are certainly America's biggest and best bar band for intelligent geeks and reformed punks. I just need a little bit more than that.

Listen:
Magazines
Lord, I'm Discouraged
[from Stay Positive|buy]

The Redemption of a Sea Wolf

2008-08-19T13:21:00.004-04:00

Maybe it was serendipity that I neglected to mention Sea Wolf as "just another animal band" in my inaugural Grizzly Bear post almost two year ago. More likely, I just forgot about him, but maybe he just wasn't meant to be haphazardly categorized simply by a poor choice of name. Heck, from all I can tell, Sea Wolf was one of the first to be so-named, a leader not a follower. Thus, I will give him a pass.

This song is beautifully languid, constantly building from nothing to something. It slowly adds subtle bass and drums, glockenspiel and violins, both vibrating and flowing like silken waves, atop a dark and distant melody. This sounds like a forgotten b-side from the National, but somehow more human. When Sea Wolf's namesake Alex Brown Church sings "I forgive you" nineteen times over the symphonic last 1:20, you get the sense that he's waited a long time to say it. That it's finally possible to move on.

Listen:
Song for the Magpie
[from A Wolf at the Table*|buy]

*It's part of the audio portion for A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs' new memoir about his father, alongside other artists like Ingrid Michaelson, Patti Smith, and the Tegan half of Tegan and Sara.

Listening Assignments 8.18.08

2008-08-18T13:26:00.006-04:00

1. The Rosebuds - Life Like - The Rosebuds have seen a few different incarnations over the years, most recently as a synth-heavy pop band on '07's Night of the Furies. Thankfully, their next release will return to their melodic indie past, though with more noticeable oompf. Linesthroughlines fave Bon Iver also pitches in on the album. With that info and this stellar lead track, sign me up. [from Life Like (out 10.7)|info]

2. Y'all is Fantasy Island - With Handclaps - A more fitting song title would be difficult to find, though handclaps don't actually make their appearance until the singer conjurs them with 45 seconds left in the song. And with the guitar solo closely resembling a basic scale, this is one summer jam that I could possibly do myself. Pro: Could be an iPod commercial. Con: Could be an iPod commercial. [from With Handclaps EP|Free]

3. Dear in the Headlights - Talk About - It took a few listens to love this track, but I definitely do. They practically stole the show from Mae and As Tall as Lions when I saw them last year and this song hints that their upward trajectory is intact. It's stops and goes and organs and curious little pieces of shattered guitar lines and la-dee-dahs and a cute keyboard bridge, too. [from Drunk Like Bible Times (out 9.30)|info]

4. Richard Swift - Lady Luck - Yes, this came out this year. Yes, it's a white guy. Yes, he's oozing soul out of every pore. Yes, he's drowning in reverb. No, he doesn't need rescuing. [from Ground Trouble Jaw EP|free]

Those Malleable Blacksmiths

2008-08-15T12:56:00.004-04:00

It's Friday, the culmination of a long week and it's not over yet. I'm in need of an aural massage. I want tiny sonic fingers to etch patterns into my cranium. Last of the Blacksmiths will fit the bill nicely. SanFran's finest soundsmiths painstakingly hammer their molten songs into weighty axes and chop slowly away at the darkness. Underneath the soot and sweat lies a human, like you and me, pink fleshed and broken hearted. It's amazing what a Fender Rhodes, clean guitar and some light horns can do to your mood.

Listen:
What You've Been Saying
Autumn Vacation
[from Young Family Song|buy]

Growing Up w/ Blitzen Trapper

2008-08-14T15:47:00.002-04:00

1. Am I the last to hear about Animoto? It's a brilliant site that enables you to do things like this:

Listen:
Blitzen Trapper - Furr
[from Furr (exclusive tour EP)]

2. Thanks to Animoto, I got to watch the hilarious preview of the next Coen Bros. film Burn After Reading while my video was being made. I may or may not have squirted milk out of my nose.

3. Hey PBR drinkers! Did you know that pretty much everything you thought about Pabst Blue Ribbon is false? Read about how your grandfather's brand became indie chic.

4. Did you hear about the Soundgarden reunion? (thanks Heather/IAF,YAF)

Femme Fatale: Carla Bruni

2008-08-13T13:07:00.004-04:00

There is a strange hope in this. It's odd enough that the first lady of France has nude modeling pictures all over the internet, but odder still that she's a musician and actually mighty good at it. Carla Bruni's voice is all smoke, no mirrors. The French language is naturally seductive and spills out as if her mouth is full of marbles. For all we know, she could be singing about taking out the trash or Tivo-ing Lost, but I refuse to believe it. She's obviously singing about feeding me peeled grapes on the Mediterranean coastline...

All kidding aside, she's probably a lot deeper than that. And wouldn't it suck to have no one take you seriously because of your past and your position? And could you imagine Michelle Obama/Hilary Clinton/Barbara Bush dropping an album, and a good one to boot?

Listen:
Tu Es Ma Came
[from Comme Si De Rein N'etait|buy]
Quelqu'un m'a dit
[from Quelqu'un m'a dit|buy]

Listening Assignments 8.11.08

2008-08-11T11:37:00.006-04:00

1. Ray LaMontagne - Let It Be Me - If someone out there can prove to me that this man was not set down on this green Earth to sing, I will promptly pour ketchup on my finest necktie and eat it. All I can say is this: There are album teasers and then there is this song. If you don't want to buy this album after hearing this song, you're smoking drugs. [from Gossip in the Grain (out 9.30)|pre-order]

2. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire - Whelp, as mentioned last week, this is the song I wanted all along. And I'm far from the first to post it. But holy moly, this song is sex on fire. I'm not sure this band could be hotter. [from Only By the Night (out 9.23)|info]

3. The Rumble Strips - Boys and Girls in Love - This starts off like Flight of the Conchords' "Hiphopopotamus vs. The Rhymenocerus" and quickly begins sounding like a Jason Anderson track, which is to say that it's foot-stomping, piano-pounding goodness. Then it's closely akin to something The Morning Benders or Port O'Brien would do (hand claps and general glee). Except British...[from Girls and Weather|buy]

4. Passion Pit - Sleepy Head - Thump thump thump thump thump. This swirling indie psychedelic techno-pop hypnotizes me. I'm not a dancer, but my feet keep moving themselves. Damn you, passion pit ! (just kidding I love you). [from Chunk of Change EP (out 9.16)|pre-order]

A French Kicks Kiss

2008-08-10T11:18:00.005-04:00

Somehow, I missed the fact that NYC's French Kicks released their follow-up to 2006's Two Thousand all the way back in May. Unfortunately, that means the buzz it created was somewhere between a whisper and a cough, a sad fact because I really dig the hell out of it.

"So Far We Are" was my #17 track of 2006, a hook-filled number with one of the most likeable drum parts in recent memory. But it seems no one can mention them without mentioning the Walkmen, a band I've never been able to get into at all. If anything, it should be the other way around. This is much more accessible to me. Swimming is slippery with subtle flairs. Mostly simple arrangements with tasteful and beautiful melodies throughout. Oddly enough the record is bottom-heavy for me (aside from the cool track 4 "New Man") as I find myself listening to the second half on nearly on repeat. "This Could Go On" is a rewarding and fitting finale, building from an odd floor-tom beat into an unexpectedly pretty turning point. It sounds like the band calling out, through the night, to you. Oh, how they've missed you terribly.

Listen:
Sex Tourists
Love In the Ruins
[from Swimming|buy]

Inara George's Destiny

2008-08-08T14:29:00.004-04:00

It is apparent by now that Inara George (of the Bird and the Bee) was born to be a musician, but perhaps even more so born to make An Invitation, due out August 12. After all, her father was Lowell George, founding father of Little Feat and previously of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. After all, Lowell's good friend, the legendary arranger/composer/artist Van Dyke Parks (Beach Boys/Brian Wilson, Joanna Newsom, Harry Nillson, to name a scant few) was present at her birth. Little did Parks know that in 2008, 29 years after Lowell's sudden death from heart failure, he would collaborate with Inara to make An Invitation, arranging full-orchestral accompaniment to her mature, melodic songwriting.

The resulting album is a brilliant, triumphant letter of love, addressed to every living thing, the sun, the moon, the sky. Equal parts Brian Wilson's Smile and MGM's Gone With the Wind. Despite 10 of 13 tracks wrapping up in a tidy 3:30 or less, these recordings feel sweeping and epic. Each song is a century, condensed into a silver spoonful. This is a destiny set to digital tape.

Listen:
Duet
Oh My Love
[from An Invitation with Van Dyke Parks (out 8.12)|buy/stream]

Apollo Sunshine Shall Noise Upon You

2008-08-06T13:24:00.004-04:00

It's rare, but sometimes a band actually makes the album you always wanted them to make. Not that what you wanted was anything specific, but somehow they hit that nail on the head. A natural progression from where they were then to where they are now, minus the identity crisis 90% of bands out there have from one album to another. This year, so far, that band is Apollo Sunshine.

They took an odd detour to get here, with 2003's Apollo Sunshine an unexpectedly southern-fried affair. It was, nonetheless, critically revered and the bar raised, though predicting which of their schizophrenic influences they'd exploit next would have been pure folly. Shall Noise Upon is definitely a return, of sorts, to the sounds that made Katonah so fresh in the first place. However, like the prodigal son, the band returning isn't the same one that set off into the wilderness. Their collective savvy is palpable as they craft beautiful sounds with intention and maturity. And too keep you on your toes, there are still moments of noise and homages to unexpected genres (gospel and dirty funk!).

There was awhile that I wondered if this album was ever going to happen. In the three years since Apollo Sunshine, the members had seemed more interested in DJing parties and clubs than touring/writing/recording. But here it is in digital, vinyl, and streaming form, the hard-copy to be released in less than a month. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Listen:
Breeze
Singing to the Earth (to Thank Her for You)
[from Shall Noise Upon|stream|buy]
Conscious Pilot
[from Katonah|buy]
The Bright Side
[Monty Python]

Breeze - Apollo Sunshine

Listening Assignments 8.4.08

2008-08-05T11:59:00.004-04:00

1. Ray Charles - Oh, What a Beautiful Morning - This song is an easy sell, though I'm not sure how many people my age group know it. This is Ray at his best, taking this old standard and making it shine. If this song doesn't get you pumped to start the day, I don't know what will. [from Standards|buy]

2. Kings of Leon - Crawl - Fuzzy wuzzy was a bass tone. And so this song followed along. It isn't quite what I wanted or expected out of the Kings of Leon, but singer Caleb Followill's voice still dominates all else. The fantastic single "Sex on Fire" is streaming on their myspace and is the song I wish I could post here. How's that for a glowing, informative review!? [from Only By the Night (out 9.23)|info]

3. Wild Sweet Orange - Tilt - I had high hopes for this band last November, hopes that dissipated slightly as I listened to more of their music. There are some great tracks on this album ("Land of No Return", "Seeing & Believing", "House of Regret"), though it'd be stronger if "Wrestle with God" was included, but the songs that aren't great sound like they're trying too hard to be profound. "Tilt" is really nice though. Reminds me of early Jimmy Eat World. [from We Have Cause to be Uneasy|buy]

4. The Theater Fire - Swimming - It's been over two years since I wrote about The Theater Fire, but they were one of the very first bands I discovered through the world of blogging and opened my eyes to the potential of this whole endeavor. This track is actually one of their first, all the way back from 2003, a sort of cowboy confessional. Really endearing. [from The Theater Fire|buy]

Growing up with The Men

2008-08-03T17:36:00.002-04:00

I will tell you that I have always been like this. I'm aurally addicted. When I was in 2nd grade, I was obsessed with "We Didn't Start the Fire". I didn't have the means to play it on my own but my dad had given me a copy of the album Storm Front in cassette form. My step-father also liked Billy Joel, so we played it in his truck often. Until, that is, we were on a family vacation driving from Portland, OR to North and South Dakota, through Montana and the rest of it. We were listening to "We Didn't Start the Fire" when the truck's caught on fire. That fire ate through the dash, devouring that cassette tape. I didn't hear the song again for years.

But when I was a little older, maybe 9 or 10, I began to gorge myself with music. I had a CD player by then, it also had radio, and I listened to z100's 5 @ 9 every night. I knew every word to Bel Biv Devoe's "Poison", I could recite Whitney's "I Will Always Love You", and I was particularly obsessed with All-4-One's "I Swear". I had a very small collection of CD's, mostly ones my dad had given me. Mostly albums the labels were sending him to review in his position as station program director. Mostly not very good records. But I would listen to them, over and over. I'd put my favorites on repeat and probably drove my mom nuts.

One of those records was the self-titled LP by The Men. I found it in a Goodwill today for $2 and jumped on it. Listening back, I'm amazed by how relevant it still is. Aside from a laughably-reverberating snare drum sound, its pop sensibilities are timeless. It's a lot like Crowded House and the Tragically Hip, with a more gravelly vocal tilt, and incredible guitar tones. Anyway, you may not even dig it, but I thought I'd open a window into my world. I probably listened to "Goodnight, Sally" over 1,000 times when I was 10. I think that says something about me today.

Listen:
Goodnight Sally
Easy Target
[from The Men|buy]

The Fabulous Avett Brothers

2008-08-02T12:01:00.005-04:00

If there are rockstars disguised as folk musicians, they undoubtedly be the Avett Brothers. You wouldn't know it, listening to The Second Gleam, but you'd know it if you ever saw them live. Beards? Check. Youthful exuberance? Check. Sibling frontmen? Check check. Front-row-fist-pumps-and-full-voiced-sing-alongs? Checkity check.

Folk-punk?

This is Townes VanZandt on speed. The Beatles high on bluegrass. When Iron gets piss-drunk on Wine. This is foot-stomping falling in love, right here.

Exhibit A:

Listen:
St. Joseph's
Tear Down the House
[from The Second Gleam|buy]
Will You Return?
[from Emotionalism|buy]

Spamalot

2008-08-02T12:00:00.003-04:00

Just so you know, Blogger incorrectly flagged my blog as a spam blog and locked it until it could be reviewed. I couldn't even post to tell you I was locked out! Lamesauce.

Anyway, back to business...

the Sounder and the Fury

2008-07-31T12:20:00.004-04:00

There can be something startlingly effective in committing music to tape unpolished. I think it goes back to the fact that no one is ever "perfect" in real life. When I hear something immaculately constructed, recorded and performed, it hits me in a different place than something unfinished: my head, where at night I imagine perfect scenarios with flawless and flowing soundtracks. So when I hear ((Sounder)) laying these broken tunes to track, I feel something else is being spoken to. Call it heart, soul, or whatever else you want.

Listening to this, I know with certainty that it's ok to be imperfect. Hell, it's preferable. ((Sounder)) is saying it's acceptable to not have all the answers. They're saying we all look in the mirror and see the scars from childhood accidents across our chins. We all know the pain and joy that is buried underneath the shiny exteriors of our eyes. We are who we are. Rock what you've got and make no excuses.

Listen:
Get Use to Falling
Things are Gonna Get Worse (Before They Get Worser)
[from Good Things Come and Go Like Bad Things|buy]

18 years of Cool, Stereolab

2008-07-29T14:00:00.003-04:00

I'm going to say the name of a popular underground indie band and you're probably going to shudder with how immeasurably cool they are. Stereolab. There, I said it. Shuddering? Quintessentially cool, atypically fresh, and much longer-lasting than Big Red. Even the name is money.

Stereolab has been the soundtrack for cool kids to screw to since 1990, so long that those cool kids are now probably in their 40's and their cool kids will soon be screwing to Chemical Chords. This is the circle we live in, and this is the staying power of this unique band. They've lived through the grunge era and the accidental death of a talented band member. They've outlasted countless sound-alikes, influenced hundreds of bands (Pavement, Belle and Sebastian, The Little Ones, Crystal Skulls), and practically invented "post-rock". They were kind of like the Broken Social Scene of the '90s, their little fingers dabbling in numerous side-projects and other outlets.

If you loved High Fidelity. If you supported the space program. If you dig the Velvet Underground. If you gobbled Pez like it was going out of style. If Max Headroom is your hero. If you see your dreams in technicolor. If your parents were the cool kids mentioned above.

Stereolab is here for you.

Listen:
Three Women
[from Chemical Chords (out 8.19)|buy]
Miss Modular
[from Dots and Loops|buy]

Listening Assignments 7.28.08

2008-07-28T12:12:00.005-04:00

1. Calexico - Two Silver Trees - Everybody's favorite western alt-folk group is pouncing back to Feast of Wire form with the upcoming release of Carried to Dust. Sounds like they're singing out over an expansive plain, echoing across canyons, accompanied by the whispery grasslands and wild dogs. They survive on dust and dew. [from Carried to Dust (out 9.9)|info]

2. Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree - This is so Chad. Tiptoeing along with timidness. It always sounds like trembling fear, but it always gallops into redemption. This time, especially. [from Soft Airplane (out 9.9)|info]

3. The New Frontiers - Spirit and Skin - I spent a week with this record, after reading numerous reviews saying it was the Militia Group's best release since Copeland's Beneath Medicine Tree (one of my all-time favorite records). And it's good, but not transcendent in any way, save this one song. A simple and beautiful ballad that would be huge if it were recorded on a cheap tape recorder and Sam Beam were singing it. But being on Militia just isn't "cool" enough. [from Mending|buy]

4. My Brightest Diamond - Inside a Boy - Something tells me if it were a dude singing a song called "Inside a Girl", it'd be a major taboo. As it stands, it's more of Shara Worden's Jefferson Airplane-esque spaciness, spinning through an enormous space with violins and tons of reverb. [from A Thousand Shark's Teeth|buy]

Soapbox Anti-Hero

2008-07-27T13:47:00.004-04:00

Is it just me or is it kind of funny that 15-year-old Miley Cyrus' new record is called Breakout?

I saw The Dark Knight everybody! I'm officially the 21,435,678th person to be able to say that! I have a feeling I'd have liked it more if I saw it opening weekend. Why? Because you can only hear so many best movie I've ever seen's and biggest grossing movie of all-time's until the movie will have no chance of meeting expectations. Maybe if I'd been a part of that first wave, propelled by insane hype, I would just be brainwashed into wanting to make out with Batman like everyone else does. My friend Kevin, a big movie critic up in D.C., gave it a 6-star rating (out of 5 stars), his first ever. Come on, people! It was good! Really good (I shivered at the end!). But not that good.

You know what I'm finally done with? Complaining about gas prices. I don't know if I'm just desensitized to it or what, but I'm just over it. We're a spoiled society, though you'd never guess it by the oil headlines. You can find DVD's for $5 all over the place! Cheap cable internet, DVR's, On-Demand, Flat-screen TV's, all within a reasonable budget. Even organic food and products are becoming wide-spread and well-priced. Minimum wage is going up, almost $2 an hour by 2009. We'll pay money hand-over-fist for coffee, beer, and bottled water, but god-forbid we pay increasing amounts for gas, the thing everyone loves to take for granted. Most of us (including myself) are too young to realize that oil has really only been huge in the last 80 years (all of our lifetimes), thanks to modern technology that has revolutionized the extraction and utilization of its bounty. In the grand scheme of the world, that 80 years is like a blink. We've developed that fast, this thing that is limited and non-renewable. And now, we're going to be forced to find something else, to develop something else. As we should be. And I can't think of a better way to bring that change on than this "outrage" at paying ever-increasing prices at the pump, forcing car companies and this country to clamor for a solution (electric cars/bicycles/takethedamnbus). It takes a lot of stress to make a diamond, my friends.

And now, my pedestal crumbling, I will sit down, shut up, and get back to writing about music for awhile.

It's a Musical, Really

2008-07-27T12:37:00.003-04:00

It's a Musical is impossible to Google without the inclusion of quotation marks. This German duo is musical indeed, though more reminiscent of numerous Canadian acts than anything coming out of Germany these days. That is until the dude starts singing, belying an adorably broken accent. Are you opposed to trumpets? Glockenspiels, droning keyboards, pianos? Mates of State meets The Most Serene Republic? Frolicking across flowered fields? Rope swings? Brightly-colored t-shirts? Hopscotch, wall-ball, foursquare? If you're against these things, move along. There's nothing to see here.

It's a Musical's debut full-length The Music Makes Me Sick LP will be released in October on Morr Music (Seabear, Radical Face, Electric President, AmAmSet)

Bad Day

Listen:
Pain Song
Take Off Your T-Shirt
[from The Music Makes Me Sick EP|download]

Merrill = tUnE-YaRdS

2008-07-25T12:52:00.004-04:00

Ever felt like you're getting slightly stale? Your outer edges are drying out, you're a crumbly saltine, you're an unappealing handful of old popcorn. The constancy of the surrounding environment becomes like a steady hot breeze, slowly sucking the love from your cuticles and sapping the hope from the edges of your mouth. Sometimes your life seems less like a choose-your-own-adventure and more like a cracked record, doomed to repeat that same skip over and over.

Musically, I feel that way a lot. It's inevitable in my position, listening to countless hours of music a week in order to provide you with the best 30 minutes of it, always trying to find that new oasis in the middle of a vast, bland desert. For my sake as much as for yours. I need it. Precious drops of the stuff that keeps me from drying out and losing hope.

Today I found it in tUnE - YaRdS, one of the strangest, most beautiful things I've ever heard come out of Vermont. tUnE - YaRdS is Merrill Garbus, a by-all-accounts odd gentleman with obscene amounts of freshness. Merrill is going to be the ziploc bag I've been looking for.

His album is available by donation here, and was apparently recorded with only a digital voice recorder (plus some programming and arranging on Audacity).

Listen:
FIYA
When You Tell the Lions
[from BiRd-BrAiNs|buy]

Born on a Bender

2008-07-24T13:53:00.004-04:00

Considering Blogdom's well-documented love affair with cover songs and the fact that I haven't written about Berkeley's The Morning Benders in well over a year, I am determined to deliver a double-dose of delish.

It's less important to whom they sound similar (early Shins, The Kooks, SSLYBY, What Made Milwaukee Famous) than to what genre they call home: positive, inspiringly unpretentious rock. This not-so-fearsome foursome has been busy crafting an album of sun-soaked bits and pieces, lashed into a happy battering ram of indie pop. Your door is going to be smashed in, but you're going to be totally okay with that.

And as a gift to you and me, they've also fashioned a near-full-length EP of lovingly-recorded-in-a-bedroom covers, aptly titled The Bedroom Covers. For the most part, it consists of deeper cuts from their favorite artists including The Velvet Underground, Paul Simon, Talking Heads and Fleetwood Mac. It's a nice companion to the sparkling, studio-produced Talking Through Tin Cans. You can by the LP on iTunes for 5.99 and the EP is free. Make sure both find homes with you within a week's time.

Listen:
Boarded Doors
Patient Patient
[from Talking Through Tin Cans|buy on iTunes/amazon]
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)
[from The Bedroom Covers|free]

Water Wings

2008-07-23T10:53:00.002-04:00

I'm going to Ocean Breeze Funpark today, getting a harsh white-boy burn/tan, and soaking myself in various bodies of water that may or may not contain human urine. I'll be dreaming of you and my next music post, to come tomorrow, which may or may not contain new Calexico, old Apollo Sunshine, or an proper listening assignment for this week (monday's was an assignment mixtape).

I saw Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D Monday. Don't see it in 2-D unless you enjoy activities related to shredding money. 3-D, however, has come a long way since I saw Captain Eo when I was 10. You really feel like you're in the movie.

Didn't see The Dark Knight yet. How important is it that I see it at my earliest possible convenience?

Can't stop listening to Beck's Modern Guilt or Shearwater's Rooks. Damn.

Listen:
Scourge of the Sea - Water Wings

Summer Muxin'

2008-07-21T14:22:00.002-04:00

Ahh yes, Muxtape. You're back. You were making me look rather foolish there for a few minutes.

So I made a mix for you guys with no specific theme other than it's Summer and it's time to kick back and relax. And that muxtape makes it so easy!

So I scoured my library and picked artists and/or tracks that haven't appeared on the blog before, for whatever reason, but deserved some facetime. Some are long holdovers from the days where the listening assignments were 4 songs in my AIM profile and on the Mae messageboard every week. The Fire Theft, Crystal Skulls, Decibully, PushStars, The Arts & Sciences, and more. I hope you enjoy it. We've come a long way, you and I.

www.linesthroughlines.muxtape.com

What rhymes with Muxtape?

2008-07-20T15:35:00.001-04:00

If Muxtape wasn't being a little brat right now, I'd be posting the new mix I've been making you the last few days. Until tomorrow...

L'and of Talque

2008-07-19T14:19:00.004-04:00

Montreal's Land of Talk just signed with Saddle Creek Records, so I thought a post might be in order. They recently released a "little" in-between-albums acoustic teaser with 10 tracks. One brand new song from their upcoming LP, one Wintersleep cover (which I wrote about here), and acoustic re-workings of the songs that have been floating around since 2006's EP Applause Cheer Boo Hiss (as well as its extended re-release). They're nothing if not precious, singer Elizabeth Powell's lazysexy warble weaving ropes around imperfect (and alive) acoustic guitars and powerful piano. While some of it sounds slapped together in a few days (which I'm sure it was), its bright spots are powerful and raw, those moments of serendipitous strums and harmonious accidents. Powell's uniquely emotive voice remains constant, tying those woven ropes off into butterfly knots, their gossamer wings flapping at the still air.

Listen:
Street Wheels
Young Bridge
[from L'adventure Acoustique|buy]

Fresh Pomegranates, Year-Round

2008-07-18T13:53:00.004-04:00

How omnipresent are Pomegranates these days? You can find them in just about every juice out there, shampoo, hand soap, sorbet, smoothies, even bagels. (I'm pulling for pomegranate wallpaper, myself.) I remember back in the day when they were just annoying-to-open (yet delicious), rarely available fruits. On the outside, they don't look like much, just a vaguely red, leathery ball. But the inside is a myriad of tightly packed, brightly colored cells, just waiting to burst on your pointy teeth and let out their tart, all-staining bounty.

Oh, you meant the band? Of course you did! Well they might be on a similar career path to their fruitious counterparts. They seem to be getting significant blog love these days, citing well-worded reviews from reputable places like KEXP's blog, Berkeley Place, and Amplifier Magazine, and WOXY.com (to state only a few) on their promotional schwag. And I'm here to add to the pile.

The best part about listening to Pomegranates is how unpretentious it all is. They most decidedly are not leather-jacket-donning, coordinated-all-suit-wearing, or eye-liner-applying. They're a foursome of fresh-faced lads who show up to rock wearing the same t-shirt they wore all day. I have the good sense to assume they are smiling with every downstrum and stomping with every handclap, kind of like I do when I listen to it. Everything Is Alive is 11 tracks of sparkling, unassuming indie-pop along the lines of The Little Ones or SSLYBY. Four young gents enjoying the ride and making tracks across this great U, S, of A.

Catch them live:
7.18 - Hickory, NC - Tea & Coffee Co.
7.19 - Chapel Hill, NC - Jack Sprat
7.20 - Richmond, VA - Rumors Boutique
7.21 - Charlottesville, VA - Gravity Lounge
7.22 - Norfolk, VA - The Boot
7.23 - Washington, DC - The Black Cat
7.24 - Pittsburgh, PA - The Lava Lounge
7.25 - Columbus, OH - Scully's Music Diner
7.26 - Louisville, KY - Forecastle Festival (west stage 1pm)
7.28 - Chicago, IL - Subterranean
7.29 - St. Louis, MO - Lemp Art Center
9.14 - Morrison, CO - Monolith Festival @ Red Rocks

Listen:
The Bellhop
[from Everything is Alive|buy]
Osidious the Emphatic
[from Two Eyes|buy]

Save Me, Amos Lee

2008-07-17T13:15:00.005-04:00

Now that AT&T has ushered the sweet stylings of Amos Lee into America's households via "Sweet Pea", I'm hoping his new Last Days at the Lodge gets a little more love. With a soul this shiny, it's hard not to. His velvety voice resonates with heart, vibrating alongside twangy gospely guitar. This back porch is a pulpit, these tumbleweeds are parishioners, and over these airwaves flow the means to salvation.

Listen:
Jails and Bombs
Kid
[from Last Days at the Lodge|buy]

A Department of Eagles

2008-07-15T13:34:00.003-04:00

I think most would credit Ed Droste with the recent success of current Death + Taxes coverboys Grizzly Bear. It was he, after all, who recorded GB's heralded debut Horn of Plenty nearly by himself, but it was the addition of local songwriter Daniel Rossen in 2005 that propelled them to greatness. Need proof? Tear yourself away from Yellow House and take a listen to his side-project duo Department of Eagles.

"In Ear Park", the first song released off the upcoming album of the same title, is cautious and momentous like a baby bird taking its first flight. As it stretches and grows, it is bathed in light, it is swaddled in wind. It is cradled by soft feathers and soars like new love.

Listen:
In Ear Park
[from In Ear Park (out 10.7.08)]

Listening Assignments 7.14.08

2008-07-14T13:31:00.007-04:00

1. Ray LaMontagne - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley) - Looking through the archives, I'm finding that Ray is more of the linesthroughlines everyman that I assumed him to be. With appearances on Blankets V.1 (though not with this song), Sing Her Name, Oh It is Love, and Spring/Summer Roadmix V.1, Mr LaMontagne is comfortably the most deployed mixtape weapon on this blog. I've even posted about this song, almost two years ago, when this blog got about 20 hits a day. Some of you are still around, but I thought this morsel would be a fitting kick-off for this weeks mini-Blankets assignments, no?

2. Night Shall Eat These Boys and Girls - Where Did Our Love Go? (Supremes) - 1. It's not going to be what you think. 2. It's going to be far better than you imagined. 3. Beautiful. [live on WCBN]

3. Anoraak - Talking in Your Sleep (The Romantics) - One last Buffet Libre offering to convince you to download the whole thing. The vocals on this are acceptable, but the original got out-'80s-ed by Anoraak's bouncy synths and drum machine.

4. The Acorn - Good Enough (Cyndi Lauper) - I could listen to the delicate stylings of Canada's The Acorn until the proverbial cows come home. This bears little resemblance to the original Goonies theme but takes it much deeper. It's much more affecting. It breaks my heart. *Sob*

Noise Therapy with Apollo Sunshine

2008-07-12T11:47:00.004-04:00

It's a damn shame that Apollo Sunshine has never been covered here, mostly due to the fact they haven't released an album in three years. Still, their previous works deserve some love and will receive it at my earliest convenience. This I vow.

We are gathered here today, however, to celebrate the upcoming newness of Shall Noise Upon, the boys' long-awaited 3rd proper proper LP. It will fittingly enjoy the fruits of the modern double-release with vinyl/digital versions available August 5th and a hold-it-in-your-mitts CD release on September 2nd.*

These two tracks are just a peek through the window. I'm on my tippy toes but I can make out Sam, Jesse, and Jeremy sitting on tri-colored couches. Jesse's beard is as potent as it ever was. I can't quite make it out through the glass, but I think I hear the muffled chords of '60s psychedelia emanating from the turntable in the corner. I see Beach Boys posters on the walls. The three men nod their heads and sing in unison. This place sure looks like the cabin in the woods where Katonah was recorded. I feel really good about this.

Listen:
Singing to the Earth (To Thank Her For You)
666 (The Becoming of the New Earth Government)
[from Shall Noise Upon (out 8.5/9.2)|pre-order]

*Honestly, this could be the most efficient way to market an album in today's filesharing, album-leaking environment. They've released these two tracks to the public as free downloads, but no full-length LP will be available to leak until the digital version is already released. Then they'll have a month to play with marketing the released files to convince people they have to have the hard copy.