The Books

The Books are very peculiar trio. They consist of a guitarist, vocalist and a cello player. Besides their own folk sounds they also sample random sounds, which they typically find from cassettes that they buy from thrift stores.

To show their diversity here are two tracks.

Mister Heavenly

In case you missed the Mister Heavenly show here's a recording of their Portland show. Great video with great audio. Thanks Portland.

Man Man

A few weeks ago I went to see Mister Heavenly, which is a new band that consists of Honus Honus of Man Man and Nick from the Islands and the Unicorns as well as one of the drummers from Modest Mouse. Well before the show I managed to catch up to Honus to talk to him for a minute. We got to talking about Man Man and he told me that they've finished recording the new album and it should be available sometime in April! Keep your eyes open and by all means make sure you're at their live show.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan

Great new album from 2010 and here's my favorite track from the album.

The Watson Twins

The backup singers for Jenny Lewis, of Rilo Kiley and her S/T band, have their own solo project.



I absolutely love the piano and drum beat on this song.

Blockhead

2010 saw a great solo release from Blockhead, who is a major producer for Aesop Rock.

The album is The Music Scene and the first song has a very captivating beat with some pretty eerie vocal tracks.

Ugly Cassanova

I've always loved Issac Brock and think ALMOST everything he touches is gold (e.i. Harrison Ford and the unmentionable Indianian Jones IV). It was for this reason I was very excited when I found out about this movie 180 South. Sorry, correction I don't really care about the movie but when the soundtrack was announced I was jumping for joy. Issac Brock's not so approved of side project with members of Red Red Meat and The Black Heart Procession is going to be releasing 9 tracks on it, and 8 of them are new! I always thought the more toned down Ugly Cassanova would never get another release due to the issue with Brock joining Sub Pop under a different name. Below is the tracklist, a new song by Ugly Cassanova and if you care a trailer for the 180 South.

01 Ugly Casanova: "Mountains of Storms"
02 Ugly Casanova: "Here's to Now"
03 Mason Jennings: "Machines"
04 James Mercer: "Doug's Theme"
05 Ugly Casanova: "Wave Goodbye"
06 Ugly Casanova: "Lonesome Blues"
07 James Mercer: "Journey Through the Past"
08 Ugly Casanova: "Hotcha Girls"
09 Jack Johnson: "Spring Wind"
10 Ugly Casanova: "Maybe We're Lost"
11 Ugly Casanova: "Corcovado"
12 Love as Laughter: "Coconut Flakes"
13 Ugly Casanova: "The Geezer"
14 Ugly Casanova: "Lay Me Down"
Here’s to Now


and the movie

New Of Montreal

Of Montreal has been working on his new new album, which will be titled False Priest, since the '08 release Skeletal Lamping. Kevin Barnes had this to say about the new album:

"It’s not as fragmented as Skeletal Lamping — more conventional songwriting, it doesn’t change every minute. We’re trying to create a really good headphone record that can transport you to these different places and sort of scatter your brain in a cool way." (thanks to readthehook)

Here is a new track which may or may not be called Famine Affair



Here's an acoustic version of another new song that will hopefully be on the new album

Record Club covers

Quick one before I dash off to work.

If you don't know who the record club is they are fronted by Beck Hansen, of Beck (naturally). The record club is Beck and his friends covering LPs by the likes of Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Oar, and INXS. Here is Never Tear Us Apart by the Record Club.



And here's the 1987 original

Black Keys - Brothers

As you've probably noticed by the numerous posts I've done recently about the new Black Key's album Brothers that I was extremely excited about it. Extreme hype for an album, or anything for that matter, isn't always a good thing. You get in your mind just how everything should sound and unless its perfect it won't live up to the hype. Sadly, this is exactly what happened to me.

I first heard Tighten Up and was blown away. I listened to the song everyday, and most times more than that. The next single was Next Girl and I thought it was only getting better! Soon after the second single the album leaked onto the internet. I started to listen and for the first four tracks I really enjoyed, however, tracks 2 and 3 were ones I had previously heard and loved. After that it got less and less like the Black Keys I was expecting to hear.




For the most part I did not enjoy Brothers. It had way too much of an electronic sound when I was expecting a more bluesy jam band sound like their previous albums. On the plus side on Brothers is that when it comes time to decide the best tracks of the year you should expect to see Next Girl to be pretty high up on that list.

National - Anyone's Ghost

Here's an acoustic session the National did. The song they're playing is Anyone's Ghost, which is currently my favorite from the CD.

Girl Talk

Hopefully you've already had a chance to see the Twilight concert series which will now be at pioneer park, previously it was at Gallivan.

I'm very excited about almost all of these shows, the only ones I'm not excited about is just because I haven't heard the band... yet!

The second week at Twilight is Girl Talk who puts on an amazing show. I previously saw him last year at the U and there was so much energy, and alcohol, resulting in one helluva show. If you're wondering what Girl Talk does live, or if you're worried it sounds like he puts on his CD and just presses play, then you're in luck. One of my favorite bloggers, Matt from youaintnopiccasso, has compiled a list of bootleg Girl Talk shows and this morning he posted a new one from this year.

Here's the link to his archive, the newest bootleg is at the bottom (sound doesn't start until about 2:30 so don't worry if you can't hear much, just be patient.)

Click here

I've always been impressed with Girl Talk's ability to throw in random samples and this years show doesn't disappoint with a little Miley Cyrus.

Supposedly (my source in wikipedia hence the supposedly) GT has announced plans for a new album in 2010.

MGMT

Pull your skinny jeans out of the closet because MGMT has announced their tour for their very mediocre album, Congratulations, they will be making a stop in Salt Lake City to play a show at In the Venue.

04-07 Sydney, Australia - Metro Theatre
04-12 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
04-13 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
04-17 Indio, California - Coachella
04-29 Toronto, Ontario - The Mod Club
04-30 Durham, NH - University of New Hampshire
05-02 East Rutherford, NJ - Bamboozle
05-28 San Luis Obispo, CA - Avila Beach Bowl
05-29 Santa Cruz, CA - Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
05-31 George, WA - Sasquatch Festival
06-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
06-02 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
06-04 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
06-06 Austin, TX - Stubbs
06-07 Houston, TX - House of Blues
06-08 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
06-11 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks
06-13 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
06-14 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
06-15 Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion
06-16 Detroit, MI - Fillmore
06-18 Chicago, IL - Rivera Theatre
06-20 Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theatre
08-08 Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
09-16 Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
09-20 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland Ballroom
09-23 Birmingham, England - 02 Academy
09-24 Bournemouth, England - 02 Academy
09-26 Manchester, England - Manchester Apollo
09-29 London, England - Brixton Academy
09-30 London, England - Brixton Academy
10-03 Brussels, Belgium - AB Café / Resto
10-04 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
10-07 Paris, France - Bataclan
10-08 Paris, France - Bataclan
11-29 Dusseldorf, Germany - Stahlwerk
11-30 Hamburg, Germany - Docks
12-02 Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
12-03 Stockholm, Sweden - Berns
12-04 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
12-06 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
12-07 Munich, Germany - Tonhalle
12-08 Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
12-10 Prague, Czech Republic - Archa Theatre
12-12 Milan, Italy - Alcatraz
12-13 Zurich, Switzerland - Maag Hall
12-14 Lyon, France - Le Transbordeur
12-16 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
12-17 Madrid, Spain - La Riviera
12-18 Lisbon, Portugal - Campo Pequeno

Mates of State

Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are a married couple who have managed to stay together and form the amazing band Mates of State.

In 2006 Mates of State released the the great album Bring it Back which, miraciously, managed to have one of the creepiest album covers I have seen.

Oh and it also has some of the best harmonies I've ever heard.

Well this summer the duo will be back, after two years of silence, with Crushes (The Covers Mixtape)

Tracklist:
01 Laura (Girls)
02 Son et Lumiere (The Mars Volta)
03 Sleep the Clock Around (Belle and Sebastian)
04 Technicolor Girls (Death Cab for Cutie)
05 Long Way Home (Tom Waits)
06 Love Letter (Nick Cave)
07 Second Hand News (Fleetwood Mac)
08 17 Pink Sugar Elephants (Vashti Bunyan)
09 Roller Coaster Ride (Dear Nora)
10 True Love Will Find You in the End (Daniel Johnston)

Now some of these songs I can understand why the band would choose to cover, such as Death Cab and Girls, but others I just am unsure so to how they will sound, such as Tom Waits. Still I have faith and it will be interesting to see how the Mars Volta will be transformed into indie pop. Below you can download the first track, which from my first impressions is really good (and warranted an immediate replay).

The track is abilible for download with the exchange of your email.

Black Keys

Not sure how I missed this but if you preorder a ticket to one of the Black Key's many show you will received two mp3s. One is Tighten Up, the Danger Mouse produced track, and Next Girl.

The Black Keys will be playing a 21+ show at the Depot on June 2nd.

Next Girl:

Fever Ray music video

Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson is the voice behind most of the tracks of Swedish band The Knife, the others feature her brother Olof Dreijer. Personally I've always preferred the tracks where she sang rather than her brother. As a resulte I was ecstatic when I found out she going to be recording a solo album under the name Fever Ray. Karin certainly lived up to my expectations. She stayed true to the Knife's electro sound but also branched out to create her own, more toned down, sound. Fever Ray's self titled release is a great release with lot of really good tracks. Here is the music video for the track If I had a Heart.

Julie Peel released her first full length LP, Near the Sun, back in September of last year. The entire album has a very open and free sound. While listening you'll never know what Julie is going to pull out of her sleeve to layer on top of her methodical voice. Near the Sun has a very compelling sound that you'll find yourself humming the tune of all day. You'll enjoy Near the Sun if you're a of Nina Nastasia, Fiest or My Brightest Diamond.

Here is the fist track off the album titled "Living in a Movie"

Bird

Just discovered a great new folk band from the Netherlands. They have a great folk sound that beautifully incorporates the violin as well as an accordion.
I recommend the track "About"

Video Bodies of Water

Enjoy this dark and eery video for Under the Pines by Bodies of Water. The track is from their '08 release A Certain Feeling.

Fictionist

Utah's own Fictionist released their album Lasting Echo, which is one of the catchiest albums that's been released this year. Fictionist does an excellent job of blending a folk and country sound into the raw rock sound that harness. It also doesn't hurt that their music is topped with beautiful vocals that have a haunting sound that will you'll be hearing all day in your head.

Fictionist will be returning to Utah to play a show at the Velour on April first.

Enjoy their track Blue-eyed Universe.

Blue-eyed Universe from Fictionist on Vimeo.

Video Bird and the Bee

the Bird and the Bee released a tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates which is purely covers. I'm really digging this record as well as the bands developing sound.

Broken Bells

As I posted earlier James Mercer and DJ Danger Mouse's side project titled Broken Bells was released earier this month. I have some time to review this album and I'm very impressed. At first I thought it would be quite similar to The Shins, however, it very different. I guess that's what happens when you bring the genius that is Danger Mouse into the studio with you.

I've picked a few tracks of my favorite tracks from the High Road LP for you to sample. The first is The Ghost Inside. You can definitely feel the hip hop influences but they work perfectly with the voice of the Shins to tell the story of a modern love.


The first single The High Road sounds more like classic Shins

Acoustic preformance by Tegan and Sara

Twins Tegan and Sara recently released their 6th full length album Sainthood. I've been a big fan of these gals since I first heard them play Where Does the Good Go on spinner tv. I immediately sought out the album from which the song appeared and struck gold. So Jealous was where I first started and the Quinn twins didn't let up. They went on to release The Con and Sainthood with the help of Chris Walla, the guitarist for Death Cab for Cutie. Tegan and Sara stopped by Canadian blog La Blogothèque earlier this month to play a few songs for them.

Aligator from Sainthood


Feel it in my Bones which is a Tiësto track featuring Tegan and Sara



Nineteen from The Con


Tegan and Sara will be playing at In the Venue on April 6th. I've seen them once before and know this is one show you don't want to miss.

Where you at Menomena?

So back in January Menomena tweeded their new album "would be done in two weeks". My heart must have skipped a few beats when I heard that. We've been waiting for new material from these guys for three years now. Well a few days later they posted again to inform us that the album will be masted by Jeff Stuart Saltzman, who previously done work with Death Cab for Cutie. Well it's been three months since the album has been "finished." Where are you Menomena! Well at least they were kind enough to release a video for one of their songs Queen Black Acid (posted below).


Also here's the boys playing Wet and Rusty on the Streets (sorry about the low quality)

The Chairs

There are a few bands where you just don't dare attempt to cover their music. Neutral Milk Hotel is one of the bands. Jeff Mangum has one of those voices that any replication will automatically sound monotonous and drab. Well I stumbled upon some small indie band from Wisconsin, called The Chairs, who had attempted to cover Airplane over the Sea. I automatically had little faith but to my surprise, and delighted, found that they had done an excellent job. The first EP these guys had produced held so many great little jems, such as my favorite track titled Polly (not a Nirvana cover but an original track). Turns out this little local band from has been hard at work producing EP after EP and recently released their full length album, Nine Ways.

The band's entire discography is available on their website with Radiohead's philosophy of pay-what-you-want (Well that is as long as you're downloading the entire album. Single tracks cost $.99 but in its entirety it is free. I guess that's their catch?)

I recommend checking out Biggest Fan from the LP and Polly from the November EP.

Danger Mouse

DJ Danger Mouse has been a busy little bee! He just recently finished a side project he did with James Mercer (The Shins) called Broken Bells, which debuted the beginning of March. Danger Mouse also has produced a track off of Brothers, The Black Keys new album which is slated for release on May 18th.
Stream the new track on the band's myspace

1, 2, 3

I'd like to thank my friend for showing me this great band called 1, 2, 3. Earlier this year they released their first single titled Confetti.




Keep your eyes open and hopefully we'll have a full length album out by them later this year.

The New Pornographers

The New Pornographers have announced tour dates, sadly which none include Utah, as well as their first single from their new album, Together, which is out May 4th.
Together will have appearances by many amazing musicians, as usual, such as Zach Condon of Beirut and Will Sheff of Okkervil River and Shearwater.
Enjoy Carl Newman and Neko Case's glorious harmony in Your Hands (together):



The new single, The Crash Years, can be purchased for $.99 on itunes.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/crash-years-single/id359472440

Looks like May is going to be an amazing month!

Here's the tracklist:

"Moves"
"The Crash Years"
"Your Hands (Together)"
"Silver Jenny Dollar"
"Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk"
"My Shepherd"
"If You Can't See My Mirrors"
"Up In The Dark"
"Valkyrie In The Roller Disco"
"A Bite Out Of My Bed"
"Daughters Of Sorrow"
"We End Up Together"

And their tour:

Fri, 5/28 – Parc Del Forum, Barcelona, Primavera Sound
Mon, 5/31 – George WA – Sasquatch Music Festival
Mon, 6/7 – Calgary AB – MacEwan Hall
Tue, 6/8 – Edmonton AB – Edmonton Event Centre
Wed, 6/9 – Saskatoon SK – The Odeon Events Centre
Thu, 6/10 – Winnipeg MB – The Garrick Centre
Fri, 6/11 – Minneapolis MN – First Avenue
Sat, 6/12 – Milwaukee WI – Pabst Theater
Sun, 6/13 – Columbus OH – Newport Music Hall
Tue, 6/15 – Toronto ON – The Sound Academy
Thu, 6/17 – Montreal QC – Le National
Fri, 6/18 – Boston MA – House of Blues
Sat, 6/19 – New York NY – Terminal 5
Mon, 6/21 – Philadelphia PA – Trocadero Theatre
Tue, 6/22 – Washington DC – 9:30 Club
Wed, 6/23 – Washington DC – 9:30 Club
Fri, 6/25 – Chapel Hill NC – Memorial Hall at UNC
Sat, 6/26 – Atlanta GA – Variety Playhouse
Sun, 6/27 – Nashville TN – Cannery Ballroom
Sun, 6/28 – St Louis MO – The Pagaent
Thu, 7/15 – Vancouver BC – The Vogue Theatre
Fri, 7/16 – Portland OR – Crystal Ballroom
Sun, 7/18 – Oakland CA – Fox Theater
Mon, 7/19 – Los Angeles CA – The Music Box
Tue, 7/20 – Los Angeles CA – The Music Box
Wed, 7/21 – Tucson AZ – Rialto Theatre
Fri, 7/23 – Austin TX – Stubb’s BBQ
Sat, 7/24 – Dallas TX – The Showroom at Palladium
Sun, 7/25 – Tulsa OK – Cain’s Ballroom
Mon, 7/26 – Lawrence KS – Liberty Hall
Wed, 7/28 – Denver CO – Ogden Theatre
Fri, 7/30 – Boise ID – Egyptian Theatre
Wed, 8/4 – Madison WI – Orpheum Theatre

Broken Social Scene

Earlier today Broken Social Scene released two new tracks from their forth coming LP titled Forgiveness Rock Record. The two new tracks, as well as their previously released song, can be found on their website.
http://www.brokensocialscene.ca/

Forgiveness Rock Record will be released on May 4.

Tracklist:
01 World Sick
02 Chase Scene
03 Texico Bitches
04 Forced to Love
05 All to All
06 Art House Director
07 Highway Slipper Jam
08 Ungrateful Little Father
09 Meet Me in the Basement
10 Sentimental X's
11 Sweetest Kill
12 Romance to the Grave
13 Water in Hell
14 Me and My Hand

Let's start with local shows

There's been quite the dry spell in Utah concerts however our luck is about to change.
In April one of my new favorite bands, Yeasayer, will be coming to town to promote their new album Odd Blood. I decided to share with you the track titled I Remember, which is my favorite song from the album right now, rather than their two amazing singles, Ambling Alp and O.N.E.



This band has transformed electro pop with their own twisted dark sound. They will be in Salt Lake on April 23rd at In The Venue. Opening for Yeasayer will be Sleigh Bells who's distorted sound will keep your head bobbing. Keep your eye out as they will soon be releasing their debut LP.