Hand Me Down
It's about that time when I start to put together my best of cd mix, along w/ my covers record. For the best of mix I always look for that great rock song to kick things off. I found it. Visqueen's "Hand Me Down". Rachel, thank you for rocking my world!
Visqueen
I was going to write something about the latest record from Visqueen, Message To Garcia...but, Duff McKagan tells it like it is! "I listened to this CD last week on a drive through the mountains with my band of four grown men. "So Long" is an epic ode to heartbreak and heartache that silenced a car full of over-caffeinated men and perhaps drew a tear or two. Rachel Flotard and her band have written one of the best records that I have heard in a while. Period."
Sucked Out
Mr Bendan Benson covers the classic Superdrag tune "Sucked Out"...mmmm, tasty!! Enjoy!! Thanks I Am Fuel :: via Day Trotter...
The Shazam
If I win power ball these guys will be a house hold name and Cheap Trick will be back on the cover of Rolling Stone. Lovin’ the track “So Awesome”.
Daniel Johnston
Check out the new song "Freedom" from cult icon Daniel Johnston's newest release, Is And Always Will Be. One of my fave lines of the year - "The show must go on, The end it's really never over, May the force be with you, Don't you ever surrender". Part of the wonderful thing about Daniel is his glaring imperfection! ***Download "Freedom"
Califone
In the new world of momentary internet stardom, MP3 here today and
gone tomorrow, Califone is a band that defies this blueprint. Hmmm...why
is that? Because they do something really important, write great songs!
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (out Oct. 6th) is the long-awaited
follow up to 2006's acclaimed Roots and Crowns. Check out this wonderful
band - they're career has no shortage of strength.
Wild Beasts
Wild Beasts are like this
mysterious cocktail that your favorite bartender recommends. Their newest release, Two Dancers
features songs of love and all we do to find and hold on to it.
“All The King’s Men” is captivating and irresistibly seductive, and on my most played songs of the year!
Lucky Elephant
As the last rays of sunshine hang around the pacific northwest, the band Lucky Elephant may help extend the summertime theme. Check out the track "Edgar" :: a lovely pop song that features a charming and intricate melody that I keep coming back to.
A Feelies show is a rare occurrence, and one to be cherished for a lifetime. Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan described The Feelies’ performance as "phenomenal." They still had it — the same, dervish-like, post-Velvet Underground sound that has drawn new fans since the late ’70s. Well, it doesn’t look like I’ll get to see a live Feelies show soon, but I can look forward to the re-issues of Crazy Rhythms & The Good Earth this week!
A fun little mix-tape I stumbled upon…nice list of songs! Love “Raised Eyebrows”.
Reigning Sound
Witness the rock and roll fury of Love and Curses by Reigning Sound! Stream the rock-ness {{here}}
Richmond Fontaine
Alcohol, Winnebagos, freeways, motel rooms…Willy Vlautin is one of the most compelling songwriters working today, compares equally to great American novelists like Raymond Carver or John Steinbeck and musicians such as Bruce Springsteen or Tom Waits. We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River by Richmond Fontaine is another heartbreakingly great record.
New Swell Season
The Swell Season, the acclaimed duo of Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard, are set to release their startling new album “Strict Joy" this October 27. But today over at Spinner.com you can download a new song called “In These Arms.” It's exactly what I was hoping for!
Lightning Dust
Just in case you were wondering, there's one song that gives me chills every time I hear it.
"Antonia Jane," the first song from Lightning Dust's upcoming Infinite Light. It's the most breathtaking song I've heard for some time. Amber Webber and Joshua Wells are the duo known as Lightning Dust. Webber and Wells got their start playing together in the neo-psychedelic folk-rock group Black Mountain. The record is filled with classic pop arrangements.
Lightning Dust, I Love You! Out now on Jagjaguwar.
Capsula
Capsula a kinetic trio from Bilbao, Spain — one of the 10 best bands on earth! Interested in hearing what Capsula are all about? I bet you are. David Fricke says, “a high-velocity union of the Cramps and the Who, coated in corroded glam!’ Sweet. I just found out about their not so new record, Rising Mountains. Thanks KEXP!! ***Check out track 3 “Sun Shaking”, Damnnnn!! Video - {{here}}
Fielding hail from Long Beach, ca. The current line up is comprised of Beth and Eric Fielding Balmer. The new fielding album is called The Voice of Us and pays a bittersweet homage, both visually and lyrically, to the late Wilda McGaha, the maternal grandmother of Eric Fielding Balmer, the band’s lead singer/songwriter, and it is her stunning image that graces the album’s cover. There's something powerful here. Two reasons, among many, that Fielding’s new record is amazing! Check out the tracks “102” & “Ladders To Stars”…available on iTunes.
''the songwriter's songwriter"
Joe Henry's upcoming Anti album "Blood From Stars" is due out August 18th. Check out this tasty, jazzy melancholy song, entitled 'The Man I Keep Hid' - download {{here}}
Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small
Merge Records defies everything you’ve heard about the music business. Started by two twenty-year-old musicians, Merge is a lesson in how to make and market great music on a human scale. The fact that the company is prospering in a failing industry is something of a miracle.
In celebration of their twentieth anniversary, founders Mac and Laura offer first-person accounts—with the help of their colleagues and Merge artists—of their work, their lives, and the culture of making music. Our Noise also tells the behind-the-scenes stories of Arcade Fire, Spoon, the Magnetic Fields, Superchunk, Lambchop, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Butterglory. Hundreds of personal photos of the bands, along with album cover art, concert posters, and other memorabilia are included.
Sounds Like July!
The band Twin Berlin is from New England. They are reminiscent of The Libertines and The Strokes. I know, that may not sound very appealing? But, check out “Fake It Well” and “Pretty From The Window”. SOUNDS LIKE: …tightly played and super catchy.
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Baltimore duo Wye Oak are back with a new album and receiving lots of blog-press. It’s one of those absolutely lovely records that only gets better the deeper you sink into it. The Knot is out on Merge 7/21. Stream the record {here} SOUNDS LIKE: rock guitar licks mixed in with some longing lyrics.
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Raygun, Naked Raygun… they released six albums that would change the sound of punk rock indefinitely. Along with Husker Du, Naked Raygun was one of the first U.S. post-punk bands of the early '80s that merged melodic influences with punk/hardcore. I put 1985's Throb Throb as one of the BEST records from the ’80s. The record begins brilliantly, with the one-two punch of “Rat Patrol” and “Surf Combat”, which together total a little more than 3 minutes. SOUNDS LIKE: NAKED RAYGUN!
I am admittedly late to the Dodos party, but now that I am here, I think I'll stick around for a bit. The new record 'Time To Die' drops in stores 9/15 on Frenchkiss. But, b/c it has leaked – it will be av. Digital on July 28th through Amazon. Excuse me, I need to get back to the stellar song, “Fables”…yummy!
