You Were All Yellow

Earlier this year, wunderkind Petra Haden (of The Rentals, That Dog, and most recently, the Decemberists) released two albums: one was the ridiculously good interpretation of The Who Sell Out, and a collaboration with musician Bill Frissell. We'll be taking a look at the latter album because it has an interesting song or two.
The album is mostly covers, from bands like Foo Fighters to Stevie Wonder. Also is a cover of Coldplay's break-out song "Yellow." Frissell does the instrumentation and Haden adds her beautiful voice, taking Chris Martin's lyrics and making them really something beautiful.
I guess this week the song was featured on The OC. What does this mean? Will the song be featured on their next mix and Haden will be made the next indie goddess? We'll have to wait and see. As for now, here's the song.

Petra Haden and Bill Frissell-Yellow (Coldplay cover)

You Wouldn't Leave Me

Okay I know her album The Tigers Have Spoken came out in November of last year, but I just got into Neko Case's live album a couple months ago. I liked the New Pornographers and AC Newman's solo album but never took a stab at any of Neko Case's albums. Well I got this album and loved it so much! Anyway, I don't have much to say but this is my favorite song from the record. I don't know my Neko but I don't think this is on any other record. Correct me if I'm wrong. And if I am wrong, tell me if this live version or the studio version is better so I can get my hands on it.

If You Knew

Fawns With Fangs

The Places and lead singer Amy Annelle have been on Hush Records for quite some time in various incarnations. Their last album as The Places, Call it Sleep, crept under the radar with good reason. The album's quiet and soothing atmosphere got the band little attention, and even opening for The Decemberists on one of their cross-country tours didn't help. Well maybe their new album, a cover album entitled Fawns With Fangs will. Bands/people covered on the album range from Bob Dylan to Elliott Smith to the Beatles. It is only available through contacting the band for $10 either through their Gmail or MySpace account. Here's a track from the album.

The Places-Sickle Clown (The Pretty Things cover)

Find more information at the band's MySpace

New New New DP Video

I'm really feeling responsible for posting these. It's another beautiful video as part of the Dirty Projectors' album/DVD The Getty Address. This one's for the song "Warholian Wings," "in which Don Henley sees the shape of Love." Hm. Anyway, it's a great video. As always, you can view it here, along with the other past chapters.

Dreams of Snow

Hey I've been waiting to post this. I know a lot of people have been putting up their winter selections and stuff so here's mine. It snowed again last night and this morning so it put me in the mood. Here's some songs that remind me of snow and some Christmas songs. I like Christmas songs but not so much to put a whole list of them so I put in some others. I hope you have a good wintry day even if it's still eighty degrees.

Doris Day-Here Comes Santa Claus
Arcade Fire-Cold Wind
Boy George and Antony-Happy Christmas, War is Over
Coldplay-Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Keane-Snowed Under
Feist-Lo a Rose E'er Blooming
Belle and Sebastian-The Twelve Days of Christmas (from their Peel Christmas Party)
Arcade Fire-Jinglebell Rock (thanks to Big O magazine)
Elliott Smith-Angel in the Snow
Sufjan Stevens-Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Plugging

I just wanted to urge you all to go vote in the Plug Awards if you haven't yet. There are a lot of great artists up for awards, and it's a bit difficult to choose. Anyway, if you haven't voted, please do. You can do so by going here and submitting your ballot.

Also, if you're in the Dallas area, be sure to check out Voxtrot playing tonight at the Cavern. I doubt I really need to hear stuff by them (if you do, just search for them on here and you'll find about 10 posts about them), but maybe you just need a little nudge into going. They're playing with Castanets (which seems like a weird pairing to me) and this band from Denton called Shiny Around the Edges. We saw them open for Castanets and they're a pretty good country band. Here's two songs by them.

In the Heart
Waiting for the Night

Someone asked me for this in the comments yesterday. It's Ted Leo covering Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and then throwing in a bit of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Maps" during the part where SUBG sounds all Mapsy in the guitar. Yeah. It's a pretty great track.
Ted Leo-Since U Been Gone/Maps

Some people have told me that the Belaire cover of Kanye West's "Through the Wire" wasn't working so I uploaded it.
Belaire-Through the Wire

(Also, I only have 100 mb of space on EZ Archive so I'm gonna have to be taking down older mp3s. I uploaaded some that I had on my SiteSled account that died. If you want an mp3, don't hesitate to e-mail me for it, or I might put up a SaveFile if a lot of people want it so it'll last longer.)

Try Again

I got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago from this band who I had heard of through Gorilla vs. Bear. Chris posts a hecka lot of new artists all the time so I don't always check out each and every one. Such was the case for this band, Empty Rooms. Well I took a listen to the mp3's they offer on their site and I like them pretty well. They kind've sound like a more opened-up Interpol or maybe more like American Analog Set with a few more British influences or something. There's a bit of reverb and the songs are the perfect songs for overcast days like today. Take a listen and buy their EP if you'd like.

Docks in the Distance
Try Again

Breakdown

I thought this was a really sad news article. One of my favorite female artists Nellie McKay apparently had a bad time at a recent show in LA. Defamer has the details:

She was talking to the audience about the problems she’s been having with Sony and someone shouted “Shut up and sing!” This seemed to touch a nerve with dear Nellie. After politely explaining to the miscreant that “If this continues with Sony, I will leave the music business, B****. And NEVER SING AGAIN,” she started screaming and crying and “They say I’m just pulling a Barbra Streisand,” and “You have NO IDEA WHAT I’M GOING THROUGH,” and corporations are raping the world, etc. etc. As the audience, who had previously been laughing and hawing at everything she said, stood there in uncomfortable silence.

That's pretty awful. I really really love McKay's first album (a double album, actually) Get Away From Me. The follow-up is supposed to come out January 3rd, including duets with Cyndi Lauper and k.d. lang. Exciting.

Change the World

Sorry about posts today, I've been pretty busy. Am working on getting a file host so be ready for that!

Wolf and Cub

I'm not going to start off this post by lamenting the fact that here is another indie band that has the word "wolf" in their name. No I'm not. Anyway straight into it. Australian band Wolf and Cub are an up-and-coming yelpy dance punk band. Sounds familiar right? Their self-titled EP was released in Britain and their singles "Steal Their Gold" and "Thousand Cuts" are getting a lot of buzz and for good reason. Both songs are really awesome. Sometimes I can't understand what lead singer

Listen to two songs, "Thousand Cuts" and "Spirals" here.

Go to their MySpace to hear a remix of their song "Targets" done up by Minotaur.

To Here Knows When has the the Phones remix of "Thousand Cuts" and it is, like all other Phones remixes, pretty great.

Q-Unit

Yeah I'm on a roll for music you've probably already heard today but you just gotta hear it if you haven't. I don't know who exactly did it but someone went out and mashed-up 50 Cent and Queen. The results are pretty hilarious and even comes with awesome cover art. You can download the whole thing here, but here's my favorite track.

Under Pressure All the Time

Magic Numbers Vid

Have you heard of the Magic Numbers? Yeah you probably have, and I'm sure you've already formed an opinion of them. Well I think they're alright. They have some fun, upbeat songs that are pretty cool and fun to sing along with. One of those songs has a video, "Forever Lost." You should watch it. I might make you.

Windows Lo | Windows Hi
Real Lo | Real Hi

(Thanks to RockInsider for sending this my way.)

Blues Are Still Blue

So yesterday I posted a Peel session track version of Belle and Sebastian's new single from their new album. Well someone posted in the comments that the song "Another Sunny Day" is up on Matador's site. So it is! And I'll also have another new song for you too later.

Another Sunny Day

EDIT: I was gonna up the other song on my site for you all but it appears my SiteSled account has been deleted. That's always good. If you know some hosting service that's cheap and has more than 1GB bandwidth a day, I'd like to know.

Mgmt

One of my readers, Emily, alerted me about this band called MGMT, (like, you know, Management). They're yet another band a little more difficult to Google than some others. Anyway, Emily also sent along a couple mp3's from their only CD, an EP entitled Time to Pretend. She mentioned that they opened for Of Montreal when she saw, which makes some sense.
The Management makes great poppy music that's a little out there. They have their own record label (I think, they're the only artist on the label at least) Cantora Records. It's a cute site with lots of news about Mgmt. Who is in the band I have no idea, or where they're from (although I think it's Houston). I guess that doesn't really matter as long as we have the music.

EDIT: I've gotten some information from Will who runs Cantora Records about the band's background in case you're interested. The band formed at Wesleyan college from where they jut recently graduated. Half of the bad grew up in nashville and the other half in upstate New York.

Time to Pretend
Destrokk

Here's a video for the song "Boogie Down."
EDIT: Also, there's a video for the song "Destrokk" here.

More Fun With...

I just wanted another excuse to post about Belaire. I've been pretty much obsessed with them for the past week. I love the Kanye cover, love what I've heard on their MySpace, everything. They're adorable. I'm gonna be buying the CD soon as I can, hopefully.

Haha I actually do have a reason for posting! I found a couple mp3s from their live performance on Austin's KVRX from October 30th. I wish I had the whole performance but two songs will do, I suppose.

Hit and Miss
Haunted Castle

Andrew Kaffer

Andrew Kaffer and Architecture in Helsinki's Cameron Bird might as well have been separatedd from birth. I had downloaded a song by Kaffer from Marriage Records and didn't listen to it, but when the song came up on shuffle, I just couldn't remember which Architecture in Helsinki song it was. There isn't much instrumentation: a guitar, squeaky shoes, and a little electronic fuzz here and there. The song is from his solo album Idle Idol which is distributed by Marriage Records. His former band, Kissing Book, released two albums on one of my favorite labels, Magic Marker Records. Check out a couple mp3s by Kissing Book.

The Faubion Stomp from Idle Idol

Talk Shop

I just found out about this great band from Austin, TX (there are many) called Clap! Clap! Okay I hope you're not jaded by the whole Clap Your Hands Say Yeah clapping thing because this band is a lot more fun. They make electronic dancefloor-worthy anthems with a generous amount of goofiness. They just might be Austin's answer to U.S.E.
Do you remember that track I posted about last week from the Kanye West covers album? Well they're on it too! See I told you you'd like them. They do a great cover of Kanye's "New Workout Plan." It's slightly hilarious. You can hear it on their MySpace.

They also have an EP entitled Get Naughty that you can download for free off their website! It's really great so definitely check it out.

Talk Shop

Funny Little Frog

I'm anxiously awaiting Belle and Sebastian's new album The Life Pursuit next year. As you might be able to tell, I'm a big Belle and Sebastian fan (the namesake of this here blog) and yeah. I also can't wait to get my hands on the live album they're doing of their set at All Tomorrow's Parties' "Don't Look Back," aka all of If You're Feeling Sinister done out live.

Oh, back to the news. Revolution in the Head has B&S's upcoming single that will precede the album entitled "Funny Little Frog." It's from a Peel session they did so it's not the glossy produced version, but it's something. Many thanks to him for putting it up.

I Would Rather Be Catholic Now

I got an e-mail over the holiday from someone from this Dutch record label called Speakers From the Night. She was particularly pimping one band called Furtips so I checked them out.
They've been around since 1992, making noise-pop all around Holland. According to their bio they have 400+ songs waiting to be recorded.The couple songs I have heard should seem like normal pop songs, but there's just something off about them. I think it's the vocals. There are two vocalists and they switch off during their songs. I dunno, it's just sort've odd but it's great stuff.

I Would Rather Be Catholic Now
Destruction Love

Buy their newest album We Are Communications from SFTN.

He Does a Good Cover

I feel kind've bad for saying it, but I don't go in much for Owen Pallett's (aka Final Fantasy's) own recorded material. He's opened for the Arcade Fire (co-arranged all the string parts on Funeral even) and wrote a song about Win and Regine. Is he always going to be known as the violin player for Arcade Fire? Maybe so.
But let me tell you, that kid does a good cover song. So far I've heard two covers, one a Joanna Newsom cover and the other a Bloc Party one, and I've loved both a lot. Maybe I just need to give his album Has a Good Home more listening time, but for now I'm stuck on these two songs.


Peach, Plum, Pear (Joanna Newsom cover)
This Modern Love (Bloc Party cover)

Black Friday

Well since everyone's probably still tripped up on tryptophan or really tired from early morning day-after-Thanksgiving-Christmas sales, I'll take it easy today. And to celebrate this day (Black Friday), I'm gonna showcase some artists who have the word "black" in their name. Or songs that have it in the title. Clever, huh?

The Black Keys-All Hands Against His Own
Black Dice-Endless Happiness
Black Mountain-Druganaut
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-Ain't No Easy Way
Junip-Black Refuge
Bishop Allen-Little Black Ache

Check out the awesome video for Junip's "Black Refuge" here.

RIP Mr Miyagi.

Mothers Sisters...

Voxtrot has a new song streaming at their MySpace called "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives," which BrooklynVegan says is the title track from their forthcoming EP. I tried capturing the song from their MySpace but wasn't very successful. If anyone can help me out in any form, I would be very grateful. So I guess this means they're not working on a full album, which is okay I guess. I was just sort've hoping they'd get one out soon. Whatever, new Voxtrot is good, no matter what form it comes in.

Big Guns

So Rilo Kiley's frontwoman's new album Rabbit Furcoat is going to be released on Conor Oberst's Team Love Records in January. As promised, the Troop Beverly Hills veteran's solo record is a very country affair. Apparently the Watson twins also contribute vocals on most or all of the tracks on the record. I'm not a big Rilo Kiley fan, but I've liked what I've heard from this record. Lewis's vocals seem a bit different than on Rilo Kiley songs, a bit more like Neko Case but still more polished than Neko. Seems like pretty great stuff.

Big Guns
You Are What You Love
Apparently I exceeded my bandwidth already today and SaveFile's working again so I put 'em up on there.

The Best

It seems a lot of people are prepping and presenting their end of the year lists. By looking at the title of this post it may seem I'm following their example. I'm not. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving and I'm not going home to celebrate with my family unlike everyone else I know. So I'm presenting my top song not to mope around campus to. Meaning, these songs should hopefully keep me upbeat to some extent. Hopefully it'll work.

Acid House Kings-Do What You Wanna Do
The Pipettes-Dirty Mind
The Go! Team-Huddle Formation
Architecture in Helsinki-It'5!

If you ever feel the onset of not-good feelings, just pop in to Learning to Love You More which should cure it to some extent.
Also, this Bobby Birdman video is amazing. Can't get enough of that song. I will post it for the 2,497,325th time.
I Will Come Again

(I signed up for SiteSled for hosting, we'll see how it goes. I'm not sure how much bandwidth I get so this could be interesting.)

Fresh Cherries

I was really flattered when Douglas Martin e-mailed me about his music-making project, Fresh Cherries From Yakima. The Seattle-based singer-songwriter has his first effort The North Caroline EP available to those who want it simply by e-mailing him. The whole thing was fundd by him and recorded in his living room so I guess he doesn't want people to have to pay for it, which is pretty cool.
The songs I've heard by him remind me of some folky acts like Akron/Family and Devendra Banhart, but then the genre seems to shift to normal singer-songwriter efforts you've heard all your life. The production is simple and honest, and the guitar-playing bare. Some songs are accented by percussion.
On the EP there are two covers of Decemberists songs

You can download four songs from the EP from his MySpace and if you like those, e-mail him for a copy of his CD.

I was very chuffed when he offered me this next song, a Wolf Parade cover. It's a pretty good stripped down version that hasn't been heard by many.
You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son

Remixes

Not much to write about but just wanted to have you check out this Go! Team remix by Hot Chip. "Ladyflash" isn't my favorite song of Go! Team's album, but this remix is still pretty hot. Taken from the Ladyflash single, this remix strips down a lot of the noise and funks up the track, adding some xylophone and other nice beats.

Ladyflash (Hot Chip remix) (c/o Joonr)

Also, I've been looking around for a long time to find this remix. I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and when I heard the Faint was remixing their song "Y Control" I knew I had to have it. Couldn't find it anywhere. Finally after much patience and web surfing I found it. It's pretty good but I just imagine it as a Karen O-fronted Faint. All of the instrumentation sounds like anything the Faint has done, except maybe they've let Nick Zinner do some guitar stuff.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Y Control (The Faint remix)

Broken Witch

Alright so I was looking for an mp3 of the Liars' new single "It Fit When I Was a Kid" and I found this. It's a folk cover of the first track off the Liars' last album They Were Wrong So We Drowned, "Broken Witch." It's buy someone named Anders. I don't know who they are, but it's a pretty drastic re-working of the song. I don't have an mp3 of the original for comparison, so you may just have to take my word for it.

Anders-Broken Witch (.m4a)

Oh and download the Liars track I was looking for at 20 Jazz Funk Greats:

Butter Battle

Strange enough as it may seem, guitaritst Jens Langsjoen has an entire song whose lyrics are the text from the Dr. Seuss book The Butter Battle, all about two opposing towns who butter their bread on opposite sides. My friend is Jens's cousin, and he sent me these songs to put on here. The guitar work is beautiful and the lyrics are slightly off-kilter but still thoughtful.
"The Butter Battle" is simply guitar and a bit of tribal-sounding drums, which is quite fitting considering the subject matter.
Strangely enough, when I tried searching for Jens online, I found an article in which his drawings are featured and he is quoted about dissecting cadavers and misplaced bodies at the University of Texas Medical Department. Strange, but fitting it seems. The other song I got is "Alien With a Boyfriend" which sounds like it should be full of goofy lyrics and synthesizers but is more akin to Jose Gonzalez's guitar work with less fragile vocals.

Butter Battle
Alien With a Boyfriend
I really need to get some webspace, any ideas?

Belaire

I was going to do a post on Belaire before but now it seems like I have to. Do it Old Maid posted a track they did for a Kanye West covers album, full of indie bands covering songs off of The College Droupout. Belaire is an Austin band that shares two members of Voxtrot. Interested now? Well they make tight synth-pop songs that could easily compete with Voxtrot's tighter-than-a-drum pop melodies. I guess you could say they're the girl Voxtrot, if you wanted to make up silly names like that.They have a CDEP that you can buy straight from them.

Belaire-Through the Wire
Listen to them at MySpace.

Loveletter

Coming out of Grand Junction, CO comes The Loveletter Band, three kids creating indie pop as best they can. I think they actually just recently changed their named to Bad Weather California but I don't really know. Anyway at the Dear Nora show last night this girl mentioned them and talked about how great they were so I thought I'd check them out, and I have to say that I agree with her. The band creates beautifully-aching songs that stick in your head. I don't know who they sound like but maybe you should just check 'em out.

New Lover
I'm Gonna Drink All Day
Blind Song

Dirty Mind

I've been meaning to post on the Pipettes for awhile but never got around to it. Anyway, they are clinical cutesters making a stir in the UK. They've opened for bands like Sleater-Kinney and haven't released an album yet (seems to be the trend among buzz bands these days).

Anyway, I thought you might need an introduction to them and thought this video for their newest single "Dirty Mind" would be fitting.

Dirty Mind video

MP3s
Why Did You Stay (live on XFM)
Dirty Mind

Not Tonight But Tomorrow!

So awhile ago I mentioned the fact that Dear Nora and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone are both coming through UT and they'll be hitting my town. Well that day is tomorrow and I'm pretty excited. I don't get many chances to see shows so when I do it's a big thing.
Anyway, I'm excited so I thought I'd share some music by both bands with you. I know you want it.

Dear Nora-Since You Went Away
Dear Nora-On to September

CFTPA-Lonesome New Mexico Nights
CFTPA-Roberta C (Version)

Head on over to Casiotone's MySpace and listen to their collaboration with Dear Nora on a cover of Missy Elliott's "Hot Boyz." The track is available on States' Rights Records' compilation Bro Zone, which is only $5 for 30 tracks!

And the Villains

I don't really know anything about this band, but the tracks I've heard are pretty good. Plus I read they've been opening for Sons and Daughters in the UK. That can't hurt. Anyway, Vincent Vincent and the Villains make songs that sound like they could be on the oldies station on the radio. Their bass-driven pop melodies have a barber shop sort of quality to me. I don't know, it's weird but good.

On My Own
Johnny Two Bands

Feist Remix

I read in Fader that Feist had released her song "Gatekeeper" from Let it Die as a vinyl-only single with a remix of the song. So I went hunting for it and couldn't find it, but did find another remix of the song by someone called Grooveblaster.
It's a pretty cool remix, nothing drastic or anything, but it makes the song a bit more upbeat.

Gatekeeper (Grooveblaster Remix)
Listen to the "Do Right" remix here. (Realplayer)

EDIT: Thanks to Ms. J who sent me the remix I was talking about, you can now download it.
Gatekeeper (Do Right Remix)

Witch in the Club

I know you're thinking "Uhh hello Halloween was last month and we're tired of all these songs about witches and zombies." No, no you're not. Because you probably haven't heard this track.
Quintron and Missy Pussycat are based out of New Orleans and they play what they call "swamp rock." That's actually the name of the record that this track comes from, Swamp Rock. Anyway the track is all drumbeats and crazy backwoods organs (you didn't know they had them, did you?) and crazy vocals about waking the dead with your nightlife antics. It's hot.

Quintron and Miss Pussycat-Witch in the Club

I'm finally thinking of maybe getting some webspace. Anyone got any suggestions for cheap, reliable hosting?

Ceremony

Alright so my mp3 player broke. It didn't really break, more like it ran out of batteries. No triple A's to be had. So my walkman was brought out of hiding. Went to the thrift store yesterday and found a few tapes to play in my walkman, including The Smiths' Louder Than Bombs, Bjork's Telegram, and New Order's Substance. The last one is a really great album and while walking around campus I never really feature any older music. I guess it's because I assume most of you to have a background in older music, but I'm sure there are some who aren't, and for everyone else it's a good reminder. Plus there's a cover.

Joy Division-Ceremony
Xiu Xiu-Ceremony (follow link)

Related Xiu Xiu song:
Ian Curtis Wishlist

Sorry for all the updates yesterday. Felt like I had to compensate for my slacking this week. This'll probably be the only post today cuz I have to go to work blah blah I'm boring you're not listening blah blah.

Life in the Machine

I got this e-mail from this amazing band out of Chicago called The Changes. Apparently they're pretty big there, selling out Schuba's and gathering a huge fanbase there for good reason.
The songs I've heard are melodic electronica-tinged perfect pop songs. The Changes could make it big, and probably will. They've opened for the likes of Ted Leo, The Kaiser Chiefs and Stellastarr*. They played at Lollapalooza this year, also.

They're playing in NYC in December, at Rothko on the 15th and the Mercury Lounge on the 17th. Then they'll be headlining Schuba's New Year's Eve.

They have a MySpace.

When I Wake
Her, You, and I
Take Your Medicine has another song, "The Machine."

Buy their EP here.

IndieInterviews

I'm not big into podcasts but I'm sure some of you guys are.

IndieInterviews has gotten a lot of great people and bands to be interviewed for their podcasts. The latest podcast features an interview with DFA Records'/LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy.

Listen to it and many other interviews here. Other interviews include I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Decemberists, Scout Niblett, Baptist Generals, and many many more.

Or you can subscribe to IndieInterviews directly through iTunes using this link: pcast://feeds.feedburner.com/indieinterviews

This Time it Will

Jeff Hanson is an odd specimen in the independent music community. His voice is often the center of any review of his CDs, whether it be his latest self-titled or his debut album Son. To be honest, it is what sets him apart. If he had a normal voice he wouldn't be much special, although his songs are great tunes with thoughtful lyrics and great guitar-playing.

Check out the pretty video for his hit song "This Time it Will " here. (Quicktime)

MP3s
This Time it Will
Just Like Me

Buy his albums here.

Pop Rocks

I usually don't go for local bands. Not usually. When I lived in Texas all around my was a "-core" scene. Put anything in front of "core" and we had it. Mostly "hard" and "grind." When I moved to Utah I figured there would be a copious amount of singer-songwriter confessionals everywhere, on campus, off campus, and anywhere they could play. Well Utah does have them of course.
On Friday I went to a local show with a friend because he knew one of the guys playing, Drew Danburry. Well he played in a pizza shop with four or five other bands. Some were okay and the confessional songwriters were there too. The gem of the night for me, however was this little pop band called Mary Cox and the Pop Rocks. Instruments like a mini keyboard, ukulele, bass and drums all melt together to create infectious cute melodies akin to Dear Nora, Tullycraft, All Girl Summer Fun Band and The Pipettes. They even had a couple little kides dancing up in the front! That had to have been staged.
They have a CD but I didn't buy it from them then, which was a mistake. They do have a MySpace (who doesn't?) with three songs that you can listen to. They're playing again next week so I'm going to buy the CD from them then and share some of the songs with you.

Circlesend

Freedom Road Records is a little record label out of the UK that's recently released the new album from the band Undertheigloo. For a description of how they sound, I might put forth the comparison of a British Death Cab for Cutie. Maybe. They don't have any mp3's but you can stream the entire album Circlesend right here. Give it a listen if you will.

Also, check out some of the other bands on Freedom Road Records, like Norwegians Wallpaper Sillhouettes, Swedes Compute, and Nervous_TestPilot.

Steel Tantrum

I feel bad for not posting this before because it's a great little effort and it's free. Cagey House is the name for Dave Keifer's electronica project. From Baltimore, Maryland, Steel Tantrum, his latest EP, was released on Canadian "netlabel" Nishi. You can download the entire EP here complete with artwork.

On this track, Keifer writes that the song "is a psychotronic duet for jittery bass line and screaming metallic spider demon."

Yep, you check it out.

The Shnay Speaks

Seasick Sailors

Swedish band Gustav and the Seasick Sailors sent me an e-mail with this song. The Charlie Brown piano hooked me at first, then came the organ, and the harmless guitar doesn't hurt either. The whole thing reminds me of a better, more Swedish Five for Fighting (never thought I'd compare a band to them). Anyway, check out the track, it's pretty good, and if you want, friend them on MySpace. They're Swedish! Of course they're good.

Nightlife

Check out their label, Marilyn Records.

New Harry Potter

So the new Harry Potter movie comes out this weekend. Being in a college town means a lot of people are going to see it, myself included. I've been interested in the soundtrack for this film for awhile, mostly when Franz Ferdinand were in talks for being in the movie. When that didn't come out, it was still cool to hear some of Radiohead and Jarvis Crocker were doing it. Anyway, here's a couple new songs off the album for you, as performed by Crocker and co.
The band performs as The Weird Sisters. The song "Do the Hippogriff" is pretty goofy but rocks out a lot more than the score songs on the album. Check 'em out.

Do the Hippogriff (follow link)


(Sorry for a lot of lame posts this week)

Galaxies

I'm sort've at myself for not having written about Laura Veirs much before. Her newest album Year of the Meteors has gotten a lot of love from a lot of people and for a lot of reasons. The album is very chill, calm-down music. To be honest her voice reminds me of Emily Haines (of Metric and Broken Social Scene) to a lot calmer, less freak-out music. It's a really beautiful album. She's going on tour with Colin Meloy of the Decemberists (I did mention that) and Kill Rock Stars is releasing the album on vinyl sometime next year. Exciting!

Galaxies
Dodge has another song, "Magnetized" for downloading purposes.

Also, be sure to check out To Die By Your Side, a great new blog. His latest post has some great covers.

Greg Weeks

Blood is Trouble, the latest release from songwriter Greg Weeks is filled with lots of good rainy-day folk music. I didn't know much about him so I looked him up. Pitchfork's review of the album was mostly praiseworthy and gave a couple hints about the guy. His other band is called Espers and apparently he suffers from tendonitis and carpel tunnel syndrome. But somehow he still manages to create wonderful folk songs comparable to " the rain-soaked progressive art-rock of Nico, Leonard Cohen, and the more downcast recordings from the Canterbury scene." Sounds like a pretty good group to be compared to to me.
Besides, it's really rainy here so some rainy day music is in order.

Interchange

New New Dirty Projectors Video

The next installment in the Dirty Projectors' on-going "glitch opera" epic The Getty Address, the seventh chapter, is now viewable! Like the other two videos I've posted, this one is visually appealing and amazing. This one has a lot more animation but is still amazing.

If you haven't been checking them out (shame on you), here are the past two videos, here and here.

Catch the new one for the song "Ponds and Puddles" right here.
Buy the album from Western Vinyl.

¡Forward, Russia!

British post-punkers ¡Forward, Russia! haven't made much of a splash in Blog World but just might soon. With their crazy upside-down exclamation name they seem like perfect fodder. Not a good enough reason for you? Well maybe this description of their music will move you:

"Equal parts At The Drive-In's restless writhing, vintage Sonic Youth's white noise grind and new wave dico riff fireworks"

If that wasn't enough, maybe the fact that their songs are all numbers will pic your interest? perhaps? Well hopefully, because they are worth checking out.

Nine
Thirteen
Fourteen

Phones

Phones is the remix alias of super-producer Paul Epworth. Most of the bands he remixes are bands that he has done production for. The remixes are some of the best out there. I like them all a lot, and have featured some on here before. I thought it'd be nice to feature some of my favorites for you all.

White Rose Movement-Alastian (Phones Gone to the Dogs Remix)
The Rakes-Retreat (Phones Repeat Mix)
Futureheads-Hounds of Love (Phones' Wolf at the Door Remix)
Bloc Party-Banquet (Phones Disco Edit)
Annie-Heartbeat (Phones Maximo Remix)
Death From Above 1979-Romantic Rights (The Phones Lovers Remix)
Gang of Four-Not Great Men (Phones Extended Remix)

(I've uploaded them all onto Savefile, sorry for the annoyance.)

I'll Never Drown

Tim Fite has one of the more interesting introductions to his biography that I've seen in awhile.

Tim Fite was one of the small number of babies born between 1975 and 1983 without any blood. Although seemingly healthy, his veins were as dry as his bones. Most of the other babies with this condition were immediately quarantined, and later dissected by leading scientists to determine the cause of such an anomaly (generally to no avail and in extreme secrecy). Tim Fite, however, survived the pokings and proddings of multiple rounds of clandestine-testing, and was eventually hooked up to a machine. The machine that gave him his blood.

Huh. Interesting. Well his bio goes on to talk about his genre-hopping past albums under different aliases. What these aliases are I don't know. His newest album Gone Ain't Gone was released in September. The sound is backwoods country akin to M. Ward but without the glossier production. Fite's voice is every bit old-timey radio. Listen to a couple mp3s and figure it out.

I'll Never Drown
The Hostage and the Thief
No Good Here
Forty-five Remedies
Stream all of Gone Ain't Gone here (requires Real Player)

Will Oldham Tribute

Catbirdseat tipped me off on the upcoming Will Oldham tribute I am a Cold Rock, I am Dull Grass, A Tribute to Will Oldham. And why do you care? Well it features covers by bands like Unbunny, Viking Moses, Court and Spark, Calexico, Iron & Wine, Impossible Shapes, and Scout Niblett. What's really nice is that the website for it features little clips of most of the songs. Check it out!

Calexio-I Send My Love to You
Iron & Wine-We All, Us Three, Will Ride

SWR

When I saw Bloc Party in June, She Wants Revenge was opening. I really didn't want to like them. I thought the band's name was stupid, and when they came on stage I thought they were gonna be awful. Surprisingly to me, I actually liked them. They sound so much like a sexier Interpol that it's amazing. The band is essentially two guys, with bass and occasionally a guitar and a drum machine. Live they had a drummer but on record it's just a machine I think. They've got a self-titled album coming out soon and it's pretty good. The songs are kind've samey and the lyrics seem a bit forced but usually they're good songs. Central Village had this to say:

I dunno what to think about She Wants Revenge. I'd love to like them, but the album feels a bit off. There are a few solid songs, but the whole thing seems too artificial. Like a plastic vampire you buy at Wal-Mart or something.

Tear You Apart
Out of Control

Tall Girls, Long Blondes

The Long Blondes are a mysterious band straight outta England. I don't know much about them and can't really find a lot of comprehensive information, or songs. All they have are three singles, two of which seem to be sold out, according to their website. The songs I have heard are great. Think if Electrelane sang a little more and went back to 60s. If you've ever seen the movie Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (I thought it was pretty awful/trashy), they remind me a lot of the girl band at the center of the movie. Pretty great, and I can't wait to hear more from them.

Appropriation (By Any Other Name) [Live] (follow link)
Autonomy Boy
Christmas is Cancelled

No Music

Just a reminder, I know today that there are a lot of elections going on around the U.S. today, so just be sure you get out and vote.

Comet Gain

British Kill Rock Stars vets Comet Gain return from a period of absence with their new album City Fallen Leaves, out today. I don't know much about the band other than what I've read on their Kill Rock Stars factsheet and an interview they did a while back with KRS. The label has three mp3s from their releases, including a new one from the new album. All of them are pretty great.

Just One More Summer Before I Go
Why I Try To Look So Bad
Skinny Wolves

Buy the new album.

New Vids

Whoo. I'm back and pooped. So for now here's some new videos all stolen from Videos.antville.org

Franz Ferdinand-Walk Away (Windows)
The White Stripes-The Denial Twist (dir. Michael Gondry)
Bright Eyes-At the Bottom of Everything (Quicktime)
Jose Gonzalez-Stay in the Shade (Quicktime)

Tiga

I thought that Tiga was just a remixer, but I guess I was I wrong. I thought all of his remixes that I'd heard were pretty great, and his own material is pretty good too. His song, "You Gonna Want Me" sounds like something DFA might put out. Plus he does a great cover of Nelly's "Hot in Herre."

Louder Than a Bomb
Hot in Herre (Nelly cover ft Jake Shears)
Tiga and Zyntherius-Sunglasses at Night (Corey Hart cover)
Tiga-You Gonna Want Me (12" Dance Mix)
Felix Da Housecat-Madame Hollywood (Tiga's Mr Hollywood Remix)

Stream some remixes of "You Gonna Want Me" at Tiga's UK site

Ohh and this is going to be my last post until Monday, because I'm going outta town. Check the links of the side for goodness. See you Monday!

Heard Somebody Say

Here's the video for Devendra Banhart's new single "Heard Somebody Say," the second off his new album Cripple Crow.

Quicktime

Read Pitchfork's criticism of Devendra Banhart and his antics. They took it down from the website but someone saved the link.

Colin Meloy Doesn't Like Middle America

Earlier this year Colin Meloy of the Decemberists went out on a solo tour and released an EP of Morriseey covers coveted by all those who didn't get one and bought for ridiculous amounts of money on eBay. Well he's doing it again in early 2006, when he makes a jaunt across the US coasts, ignoring middle Americs again. It's okay, we're getting used to the feeling. Tour support will be provided by Laura Veirs (whose latest album Year of the Meteors is being released on vinyl by Kill Rock Stars, incidentally)

1/18 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox
1/19 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
1/20 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
1/21 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theater
1/23 - Chicago, IL @ Park West
1/25 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
1/26 - New York, NY @ Town Hall
1/27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
1/28 - Alexandria, VA @ Birchmere

Start speculating: will Meloy do another tour-only EP of covers? I sure hope so. An EP of Robyn Hitchcock covers doesn't seem far-fetched.