Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Tegan and Sara new LP and tour

The Canadian sisters have announced that they will release their sixth studio album Sainthood October 27th and Los Angeles is lucky enough to be getting a show at the Orpheum Theater October 25th.


Front Cover
Back Cover

Sainthood Tracklist:

01 Arrow
02 Don't Rush
03 Hell
04 On Directing
05 Red Belt
06 The Cure
07 Northshore
08 Night Watch
09 Alligator
10 Paperback Heart
11 The Ocean
12 Sentimental Tune
13 Someday

Tegan and Sara also did vocals on one of Tiesto's new songs, "Feel It In My Bones", for his upcoming album Kaleidoscope. You can check it out here thanks to hypemachine

Monday, August 24, 2009

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest Album Review



By now everyone has heard Veckatimest and has already made up their mind on it, nevertheless I thought it would be wrong not to write a review on the album that critics are saying is the only album this year to rival Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post-Pavillion. True Veckatimest is a great album, and true it has proven that Grizzly Bear is no one-trick pony, and that they can improve upon their debut Yellow House. That having been said I do not believe that this is the best or even second best album of the year.

Being a huge fan of Department of Eagles, I was excited to listen to Veckatimest, however the album as a whole did not initially grab me. “Southern Point” was the one song I felt I could really sink my teeth into, with it’s up beat tempo and exploding drums. It’s quite possibly one of my favorite songs this year and exactly the kind of song I hope to hear from Grizzly Bear. The rest of the album seems to be hit or miss for me. Despite the fact that “Two Weeks” is one of their more popular songs, Ed Droste’s wallowing glee club vocals bores me and the instrumentation itself doesn’t seem to be anything to get excited over. Other songs like “Cheerleader” seem to hit the same note for me.

I’ve begun to realize that my main problem with Grizzly Bear is in fact Ed Droste’s voice. I think combined with Daniel Rossen’s voice he works well, but as a lead singer Ed Droste cannot keep my attention. Daniel Rossen is what saves this album for me. Even songs that begin with Ed Droste can become magnificent when concluded with the voice and musical intensity that is Daniel Rossen. “All We Ask”, “Fine for Now”, “While You Wait for the Others” and “I Live With You”, are therefore all great tracks. But there is more to Grizzly Bear than just lush vocals.

Similar to Department of Eagles, Grizzly Bear’s fulcrum is the magical environment created within their songs. The album is subtle, but when given the proper attention Grizzly Bear’s musicianship and Chris Taylor’s skill as a producer grab you. How they are able to so quickly take us into their world and keep us there for a solid 50 minutes blows me. Yet in the end when the album comes to a close, I am left wanting more. Maybe that’s a good thing or maybe that’s a bad thing. But I can’t help be feel like there is still something missing from Veckatimest.

I give Veckatimest 7.5/10 Bleeding Heads


Check it Out: Grizzly Bear- Southern Point

Get Veckatimest from Insound.com

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Best of 2007 Revisted

Here is my list for 2007. Albums followed by songs:

1.Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective


2.Random Spirit Lover by Sunset Rubdown


3.Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? by Of Montreal


4.Spirit If... by Kevin Drew (of Broken Social Scene)


5.Icky Thump by The White Stripes


6.Neon Bible by Arcade Fire


7.Scream & Light Up the Sky by The Honorary Title


8.The Con by Tegan and Sara


9.The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn by CocoRosie


10.The Meaning of 8 by Cloud Cult

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11.In Rainbows by Radiohead


12.Leaves in the River by Sea Wolf


13.The Magic Position by Patrick Wolf


14.The Flying Club Cup by Beirut


15.The Stage Names by Okkervil River


Other Honorary Mentions
*Loney, Noir by Loney, Dear
*Places Like This by Architecture in Helsinki
*Cassadaga by Bright Eyes
*Our Ill Wills by The Shout Out Louds
*The Reminder by Feist
*Wincing the Night Away by The Shins
*Cease to Begin by Band of Horses


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Songs
1."Peacebone" by Animal Collective
2."Elephant Gun" by Beirut
3."The Mending of the Gown" by Sunset Rubdown
4."I Am John" by Loney, Dear
5."The Past is a Grotesque Animal" by Of Montreal
6."Far More" by the Honorary Title
7."Take Your Medicine" by Cloud Cult
8."Werewolf" by CocoRosie
9."General Specific" by Band of Horses
10."Catch Hell Blues" by The White Stripes

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Fun. "Be Calm"



What would it sound like if your high school drama team got together after school and formed their own indie-pop band? Well my guess is it would sound like Fun.. Fun as in the new indie-pop band called "Fun.". Fun. is the love child of Nate Russ ( formerly of the Format)and Antonoff (Steel Train)and fun is exactly what they sound like. Whereas last year the Little One's Morning Tide set the bar for indie-pop fun, this year Fun. has taken it away from that tropical beach to the stage, where the band makes use of all sorts of theatrics: key changes, time signature changes, violins, trumpets etc.,etc.,etc. The band's downfall might be the fact that they are too poppy, perhaps Nate Russ's voice is too clean and too perfect, but that also just makes it all the more enjoyable when you start to sense a little bit of anger in his voice. Their album Aim and Ignite's opening track "Be Calm" is the perfect song to set the tone for the rest of the album. It swoons from dark ballad, to upbeat pop song, to an almost parade like tune. It is everything but calm, but it is pure fun.

Aim and Ignite comes out August 25th, 2009.Pre-order the vinyl here!

Fun. - Be Calm

Monday, August 17, 2009

Osso Quartet /Sufjan Stevens "Enjoy Your Rabbit"



It's really annoying that there is no news of Sufjan Stevens putting out any records anytime soon. Even more annoying is that Sufjan Stevens is going on tour and not coming to the west coast. Nevertheless we do have Osso's album Run Rabbit Run, an instrumental version of Sufjan Steven's albums Enjoy Your Rabbit, to look forward to. The once-title track "Enjoy Your Rabbit" was recently released by Stereogum and is actually quite cool. I was never much of a fan of Sufjan Steven's super early stuff like Enjoy Your Rabbit, but with the new skin Osso has adorned the song, it's only become more obvious how amazing Sufjan Stevens was even back in the early days. Osso's album Run Rabbit Run will be released October 6th, 2009.

Check it Out: Osso - Enjoy Your Rabbit

Friday, August 14, 2009

Best Albums/Songs of 2006 Revisted

Now that summer is coming to a close and while I still have some downtime I thought that I would go back and make a list of my favorite albums/songs from the year 2006: 1. because I didn't have this blog-thing back then, so I never actually made a 2006 list and 2. I'm an obsessive person and I don't give all albums the proper amount of listening time so my lists for a year don't always represent the best albums of the year, simply because I haven't gotten around to listening to them all. So this is an updated version of a list that I would have made in 2006, if I had made a list in 2006. Hope that's not too confusing. Anyway...

Best Albums of 2006
1.The Life Pursuit by Belle and Sebastian


2.Robbers and Cowards by Cold War Kids



3.Shut Up I Am Dreaming by Sunset Rubdown



4.Through the Window Pane by the Guillemots


5.Black Holes and Revelations by Muse



6.Bring it Back by Mates of State



7.The Dust of Retreat by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's


8.9 by Damien Rice


9.Gulag Orkestar by Beirut


10.Crane Wife by The Decemberists


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11.Duper Sessions by Sondre Lerche


12.Return to the Sea by The Islands


13.The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance


14.Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins


15.Gang of Losers by The Dears


16.Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens


******************************************************
Best Songs
1. “Sao Paolo” by Guillemots
2.“Skeleton Key” by Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
3.“The Men Are Called Horsemen There” by Sunset Rubdown
4.“Accidental Babies by Damien Rice
5.“Dress Up in You” by Belle and Sebastian
6.“Rough Gem” by Islands
7.“Ballad of Human Kindness” by the Dears
8. “Postcard from Italy” by Beirut
9. “Hang Me Up to Dry” by Cold War Kids
10."Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Volcano Choir "Island, IS"



If you don't know who Volcano Choir choir is, they might sound more familiar than you think. Volcano Choir is one part Justin Vernon (voice of Bon Iver) and one part Collections of Colonies of Bees ( Justin's favorite experimentalist band from Wisconsin). Together they form a more experimental version of Bon Iver. The words are the same, the voice is the same...everything else is different. The first song released "Island,IS" will be featured on the bands upcoming album Unmap, set to be released September 22nd on Jagjaguwar.


Check it Out:Volcano Choir - Island,IS

P.S. I've seen lots of pictures of Justin Vernon with a banjo in his Volcano Choir pictures, so hopefully we'll get to hear some sweet banjo tunes on their album!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Thao Nguyen With the Get Down Stay Down Know Better Learn Faster




According to Pitchfork Thao Nguyen and her troops will be releasing the follow up album to We Brave Bee Stings And All October 13th. The album, Know Better Learn Faster will feature appearances by Andrew Bird, Laura Veirs, and tUnE-yArDs, Blitzen Trapper and Horse Feathers. If you haven't heard their debut album you should definitely check it out. We Brave Bee Stings And All is available from Kill Rock Stars here.

Check it Out:Thao Nguyen With the Get Down Stay Down - Swimming Pools

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Islands Vapours and LA show



I was excited to hear that so soon after their fantastic Arm's Way album,Islands is returning with their third album Vapours. The new album also sees the return of ex-member Jaime Thompson. I was actually surprised to hear that Jaime had returned since he seemed to be the inspiration for a lot of the darker energy on their sophomore album, like the song "J'aime Vous Voir Quitter".

Vapours is said to be stripped down compared to Arm's Way returning to a more synth sound rather than orchestral. A new track from the album "No You Don't" can be heard on their myspace, which will have to tide fans over until September 22, 2009 when the album is released.

Islands will also be appearing at Los Angeles's Sunset Junction Festival on August 22 along with Delta Spirit and Conor Oberst. You can get tickets to the show here. They are great to see live and it's probably the cheapest festival around California so check it out. And remember ISLANDS ARE FOREVER!

Buy Arm's Way on Vinyl!

New Radiohead Single: "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)"




Today Radiohead released a new single called "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)" inspired by thee Harry Patch, the last remaining UK veteran of WWI who recently died at the age of 111. Thom York says the song was inspired by a radio interview he heard Harry Patch give in which he said:

"i am the only one that got through
the others died where ever they fell
it was an ambush
they came up from all sides
give your leaders each a gun and then let them fight it out themselves
i've seen devils coming up from the ground
i've seen hell upon this earth
the next will be chemical but they will never learn"


The song was recorded live and the strings were arranged by Jonny Greenwood. You can purchase the song from here. All proceeds go to the British Legion.

Monday, August 3, 2009

LA Show: The Bowerbirds




In support of their new album Upper Air the Bowerbirds will be playing a show tomorrow at The Echo. We all remember the Pitchfork acclaimed debut album Hymn's For a Dark Horse that came out back in 2007. That album was simple and beautiful and Upper Air promises to deliver more of the same plant and animal filled folk-romance. So if you want to feel like you are on the up&up of small indie folk bands go see the Bowerbirds tomorrow @ the Echo.

Tickets are $10 @ Ticketweb or $12 @ the door. Doors open at 8:30 and Megafaun is opening.

Check it Out: The Bowerbirds - In Our Talons