“Rainwater Cassette Exchange“:
Just announced, Deerhunter will be releasing the Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP digitally on 5/18.
Speck Mountain – Some Sweet Relief
Artist: Speck Mountain
Album: Some Sweet Relief
File Under: Dream Rock
Recommended if You Like: Neko Case, Mazzy Star, Cat Power
Featured Tracks:
Have you met your musical soul mate yet? Karl Briedrick and Marie-Claire Balabanian of Speck Mountain have – each other. Self-described “musical soul mates,” Briedrick and Balabanian write as a team, communicating in intuitive, womb-curled melody, exploded texture and spiky rhythm.
Their new album, Some Sweet Relief, is atmospheric, sexy, headphone hypnotica – or ambient soul as the duo likes to classify it. A fitting sound for the theme of their latest effort, which is about desire and fidelity. Balabanian has a beautiful voice with a timbre very much like that of Neko Case – a sleepier, sexed up version of her. It’s a great late night listen, especially on such a sultry evening as tonight where ‘Some Sweet Relief’ from this heat would be nice. Time to check out and tune in.
Here’s the video for “Angela“.
In Anticipation: Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Listen to “Cheerleader” :
Grizzly Bear‘s forthcoming release, Veckatimest, is due out May 26 and is easily one of the most anticipated albums so far this year. On par with the buzz of Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion. After seeing them perform their new work at The Central Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX at SXSW, I fully understand why. It was one of the most beautiful performances I’ve seen and left me with goosebumps. I too cannot wait for this album to come out. Add me to the list of eager fans counting down the days.
The band is touring extensively in support of the new album. Be sure to check their MySpace page for the latest tour info. For San Francisco-based readers, they will be performing at The Fillmore on June 21, 2009 with Here We Go Magic. A fantastic line up!
Pre-order the album direct from the band.
Video: The Veils – “The Letter”
The new video for “The Letter” off The Veils new album Sun Gangs out now. I’m really enjoying this album right now.
Bringing Up Baby, As Music Lovers Might
My NPR Music Notes newsletter today contained an interesting article on music and kids that completely resonated with me. Entitled Bringing Up Baby, As Music Lovers Might, it speaks to the careful diligence new parents, who are passionate about music, take when selecting the music their child will listen to.
Being a music snob, I always found children’s music to be trite and belittling. Why do we have to dumb down music for children? Just because they’re tiny and unable to speak, doesn’t mean they can’t comprehend what’s going on around them. Turns out I was right about that. Babies can recognize surprisingly complex rhythms and are sensitive to the differences between consonant and dissonant music.
Hell bent on eliminating Barney and anything remotely like it in our household, I created my own child-friendly music program for my little guy, Judah – which has turned into a bit of a rock history overview in the process. James Brown, The Flaming Lips and Cut Copy were early favorites. Now he asks for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Duke Spirit and The Raconteurs by name. And I swell with pride every time he does so.
I know I’m going to catch flack from all you kid haters for this, but here’s the video that solidified my theory on kids and music – that they don’t need to be fed music through a purple dinosaur in order to connect with it. Here’s Judah, not even 2 years old, channeling the Grandfather of Soul himself. (He still uses our T.P. holder as a microphone to this day.)
Record Store Day; Silversun Pickups Performing at Rasputin
Saturday is Record Store Day, the one day of the year that all of the independently owned record stores around the world come together with artists to celebrate music (and help keep the independent record store alive). A ‘holiday’ born in San Francisco, the first official Record Store Day was held at Rasputin Music with Metallica on April 19, 2008 and is now celebrated the third Saturday every April.
There are lots of good live music and fun events happening around the Bay in support of the cause. Be sure to check the Record Store Day website for participating locations. Amoeba in San Francisco will be featuring giveaways every hour, a contest to win a turntable package and special appearances by John Vanderslice, Loquat, Kelly Stoltz and Aesop Rock. And, get this, The Silversun Pickups are performing live at Rasputin in Berkeley at 4PM. Yowza!
Silversun Pickups, “Panic Switch”:
We Are Hunted – The Online Music Chart
Via @shakazolo and TechCrunch, I discovered a very interesting website – We Are Hunted, an Online Music Chart that charts what people are listening to on the web. We Are Hunted aggregates social networks, forums, music blogs, Torrents, P2P Networks and Twitter to develop a daily chart of the 99 most popular songs online. Yet another great music discovery tool I plan to add to my repertoire!
EELS – Hombre Lobo
EELS will release their first new album in four years – HOMBRE LOBO, set for June 2nd, 2009 on Vagrant Records. Take a listen to “Fresh Blood”, then check out the trailer for the track “Tremendous Dynamite”.
One to Watch: Benjy Ferree
Benjy Ferree, “Pisstopher Crisstopher”
Benjy Ferree was one of my most anticipated shows of SXSW and my most disappointing. Imagine stumbling upon this track in the myriad of bands you’ve researched for SXSW, then arrive at an acoustic show. I was a disappointed, but not deterred.
After Austin, I dug into Ferree’s sophmore release Come Back to The Five & Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee. The track, “Pisstopher Crisstopher”, that led me to him has been on repeat since Austin and will definitely make my ‘Best Songs of 2009’ list. (Can you hear Jack White in there?) Expecting to hear more of this hard-driving rock, I was a bit thrown by the hodge podge of genres on the album – a little rockabilly one minute then some Americana, du wop and rock the next. Not that it was bad, it was just a little confusing.
Then I learned the story behind the album, Come Back to The Five & Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee, and it started to make a bit more sense. It’s a concept album inspired by the childhood actor, Bobby Driscoll, who from the age of 6 to 16 was the most acclaimed childhood actor of his time (’50s). Then he grew up, stopped being cute, and ultimately died alone at the age of 31 in his Manhattan apartment. His body went unidentified and was buried in an unmarked grave – so the story goes.
Ferree, himself a failed actor, used this story as inspiration for the album. Going so far as trying to recreate the appearance of Driscoll on the cover of his album. An interesting story, to say the least. Knowing this definitely gave more clarity to what I was listening to, especially the 50s du wop and rockabilly influence. I’m just not convinced he nailed the execution. There are, however, some real gems on the album that make we wonder what he can do when he’s not caught up in playing to a concept. I will be watching him, and waiting to find out.
Harmonic Convergence: Fleet Foxes @ The Fillmore
Blitzen Trapper joins Fleet Foxes on stage for the final encore.
It was a lovely evening of music this Tuesday at The Fillmore with Blitzen Trapper and Fleet Foxes. Truth be told, Robin Pecknold’s new haircut threw me a bit and I spent much of the night coming to terms with it. (Grow it back, I say!) The band pulled out some new songs throughout the night, showcasing Robin’s amazing pipes. Musically, it was a bit ‘more of the same’ though. And I couldn’t help question, with so much talent in that band, why some of the other members aren’t showcased? Drummer J. Tillman is an amazing artist and a force in his own right. I know the Fleet Foxes have ‘a sound’, which is incredible, but it is a lot of the same tempos and rhythms. So I couldn’t help wondering, are they missing an opportunity by not letting other band members come to the forefont? It would certainly mix things up a bit and make for a more dynamic band – perhaps helping their longevity and fan engagement in the long run. What do you think?
Listen to “Sun It Rises”
the OCMD 