Thrushes

The stuff I get sent in the mail directly from bands is hit-or-miss and often sides on the miss side.  It’s albums like Sun Come Undone from Baltimore-bred Thrushes though, that make it worth opening the mailbox every day.  There’s many bands these days who put shades of both post-rock and shoegaze into their music and Thrushes have seemed to come up with a healthy balance.  They have that element of explosive guitars, rumbling drums and a loud-soft-loud dynamic, but it’s done in a reverb-heavy shoegaze environment.    Another thing going for the band are the beautiful vocals from Anna Connor.  It adds a dreamy quality to the band.

The album starts off perfectly with “Aidan Quinn”, a song which is constantly evolving until the magnificent wall-of-sound ending.    The album also has a very satisfying ending, the band really comes together on both “Roy” and “The Hardest Part”, both songs that are furious enough to leave you feeling awe-struck and emotionally drained.  The only problem I have with the Sun Come Undone is the second track, “Heartbeats”  comes dangerously close to Jesus and Mary Chain’s most popular song “Just Like Honey”.   The guitar lines and drum beats at the beginning are both eerily similar.  The song comes into it’s own within a couple minutes which probably should have been it’s starting point.  Otherwise though, it’s a great listening experience.  Thrushes are a very talented band and Sun Come Undone is an excellent debut for them.

MP3 Aidan Quinn
MP3 The Hardest Part 

Myspace
Buy the album 

Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning

A reader suggested I check out The Innocence Mission a while back, and I just got around to purchasing their latest album, We Walked in Song, this week. From what I’ve heard from the band, I knew to expect acoustic-based indie pop and alluring vocals from Karen Peris. The Innocence Mission reminds me of another band I’ve just recently start listening to, The Softies. The voices of both these bands are extremely calming and affectionate.

While The Softies have that warm summer day quality to them, The Innocence Mission seem more of an autumn band. Their music has an element of melancholy that gives it an element of introspectiveness to contrast with the Softies escapism. In short, I love them both in their own way, and recommend you seek both of them out.

MP3 Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning
MP3 Lake Shore Drive

Buy We Walked in Song at emusic.

*Bonus – Here’s an MP3 from the Softies album, Holiday in Rhode Island.

MP3 Sleep Away Your Troubles

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-Also, check out The Yellow Stereo’s “Films on the Mind” post when you get the chance. It’s about music soundtracks and it includes some of my favorite music-in-film scenes of all time (“These Days” in Royal Tenebaums, “Just Like Honey” in Lost in Translation, “Tiny Dancer” in Almost Famous). There’s even links to clips from the movies!

The fellows at The Yellow Stereo put a lot of time into their posts and it shows, if you’re not reading this site step on board.

–The Rosebuds have a podcast online discussing their new album, Night of the Furies. It has clips from all the songs on the album (which is fantastic by the way) and showcases the duo’s heavy Southern accents (who knew?). Via Dodge.

Top 10 Music Videos of 2007 (so far)

We’re three months in on 2007 and there’s been a lot to talk about music-wise. An argument could be made that in the first third of this year, there’s already been as many great releases as all of last year. I’m completely bypassing that stuff though and focusing on best music videos of the year. I’ve picked out ten that are really exceptional and put them in a semi-non-ordered list.

Click here to see the all ten videos.

Of Montreal – Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse

One of my favorite songs of the year and also one of my favorite videos. It’s basically a very odd high school play. What other video has a dancing cowboy grizzly bear that’s very good at playing RISK, a man in a white jumpsuit that has a giant lobster claw, and a sword fight with a muscular angel in outerspace!

MP3 Heimdalsgate like a Promethean Curse

Grizzly Bear – Knife

This is another bizarre video that includes some very amazing stop-motion effects as well as what I think is a form of claymation. The storyline has something to do with a man who is hurt by technology and wants to go back to mother nature (the way he does so is really odd). The video fits the music perfectly.

MP3 Knife

Modest Mouse – Dashboard

This video is on the lighter side of things and features Isaac Brock with a huge beard telling sea stories with a number of old bearded guys that make hilarious facial expressions. He ends up discovering Atlantis at the end but my favorite scene is when Brock is acting out his adventure with two mops.

MP3 Dashboard

Ben Kweller – Penny on a Train Track

This is by far the simplest video of the bunch. It’s of Ben Kweller’s grandma doing jazzercize to the song (which is one of my favorite singles of ’06). This brought me some mad lol’s, I’ll tell you what.

MP3 Penny on a Train Track

Dirty on Purpose – Car No Driver

This late addition to the list was suggested by Frank at Chromewaves, and I think I can safely say that it’s one of the best uses of time-lapse videography I’ve set my eyes on. The video starts out with a boy playing piano in the middle of an empty field and then goes on to show a bunch of red-jacketed construction workers building a giant trebuchet (medieval catapult) to launch the piano. Are they helped out by four dancing girls in red dresses? Of course they are!

Son Volt

I don’t know much about Uncle Tupelo other than it was the former band of Jeff Tweedy and I hadn’t heard of Son Volt until a few days ago when their album appeared in my mailbox (horrible, I know). After giving “The Search” a few listens though, I think I’d have to be pretty crazy not too seek out some of the band’s back catalog.

From a complete newbie perspective to the band, I can really appreciate that the band can use a conventional Americana/Alt-Country format and clarify/streamline the sound into something that is simple yet powerful. Over the artists’ years of making music, they still have something to say and their music holds an emotional resonance. They don’t overdo their classic rock influence as much as they just implement a refined sense of songwriting with commanding touches of simmering electric guitar. “Methamphetamine” and “Underground Dream” both use this strategy, and they’re two of my favorites on the album.

MP3 Methamphetamine
MP3 Undergroud Dream

Buy The Search
Official Web Site

Youtube Day (feat. Broken West, Page France, Margot)

I have a three self-taken live videos for your weekend. The first one is of Broken West tearing the place apart with their set closing performance of “Brass Ring” at Schubas:

Now here’s an admittedly awesome clip of Page France performing “Chariot” from two weeks ago. Complete with trumpet, bells, and extra lyrics!

Lastly, a short-but-sweet vid of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s performing “Skeleton Key”. This was their best song of the night in my opinion.

The Fratellis – Costello Music

For a band that should by all rational thought, be considered a one-ipod-song-wonder, The Fratellis are really creating some great buzz for themselves and the fact that their album is one of the most infectious, rowdy fun of the year should be given some credit (the commercial and some provocative promo pics don’t don’t hurt).

Costello Music doesn’t really do anything new, but it’s good at what it does. Namely, taking aspects from Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines, and The Futureheads and spitting out some energetic garage riffs that’ll get you off your seat. “Baby Fratelli” and “Chelsea Dagger” are both the kind of lively, tempo-jumping punk rock anthems that put the band on the map and when the band changes it up a bit like on the acoustic-based “Whistle for the Choir” or “Everybody Knows you Cried Last Night” (which I’m sure is a take-off of The Clash’s “Rudie can’t fail”) they still keep you interested.

MP3 Baby Fratelli
MP3 Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night

If you want to check out the official “Flathead” video, here’s the youtube link. Females be warned though, this video is primarily intended towards those of us with a Y-chromosome.

Andrew Bird – “Armchair Acophrya” Track-By-Track Review

This week sees some of the best releases so far this year, but my clear favorite among them (even though I can’t pronounce it) is Armchair Acophrya by Andrew Bird. As of now it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to call it my favorite of the year (although Of Montreal and Arcade Fire are also both fighting for the title)

Fiery Crash

The album begins with a musical buildup and lyrical themes that foreshadow the rest of the album. Andrew Bird’s low rumbling vocals sing to you about mortality (death is a continuing theme on the album) while the music remains brisk and upbeat. It sounds much more like a rock song than anything I’ve heard from him, probably because of the primary use of electric guitar in the song.

Imitosis

This song starts with a familiar intro that comes from the song “I”, a live staple for Bird. The strength of the source material and the added touches that Bird has put on it keeps this track interesting.

Plasticities

“Plasticities” has one of my favorite song intros. The way violin, guitar, bells, and a whistle are introduced is a testament to the Andrew Bird’s songwriting skill. It’s also one of the catchiest songs on the album, has the best violin work, and features some of my favorite lyrics. I particularly love the metaphor of “your own personal waterloo.” Amazing song.

Heretics – Download MP3

This is the first single from the album and it’s a brilliant choice, since it’s perhaps the most immediate song on the album. The song’s goodness is so subtle that at first it just washes over you, but the song sticks with you a long time. I’m sure many friends of mine have heard me singing “Thank God, it’s fatal” while walking through my day. I imagine this song turning into a live sing-a-long. The spoken word moment that happens just after the 2 minute mark (“Wait just a second now, it’s not all that bad”) could be my favorite moment of the album.

Armchairs

This song is a bit of a departure for Andrew Bird. Piano is the main instrument for much of the song and it’s the longest song in his catalogue. Although it’s pleasant enough at the beginning, it gets really interesting around the 4 minute 30 seconds mark, when Andrew Bird begins to belt out the lyrics in truly epic fashion.

Dark Matter

This was an immediate favorite of mine when I first heard the album and not just because of the fun “Operation” references and soul-searching themes. It’s the most upbeat, exuberant and satisfying song on the album and features my favorite guitar riff (it comes during the bridge). The strings during the chorus are superb and the drums and vocals also really come together to make this my favorite song on Armchair Apocrypha.

Simple X

This song appeared in a different form on Martin Dosh’s album Pure Trash under the title “Simple Exercises”. This new version features the same musical background but has Bird’s vocal melodies hovering over it. The results don’t seem strained in anyway and it’s actually one of the strongest points of the album. It’s nice to hear an Andrew Bird song where the drums are the main instrument and it’s a proof of Dosh’s songwriting abilities.

The Supine

Short Instrumental track (similar to “untitled” on the previous album).

Cataracts

This track is probably the least inspiring on the album, it feels a bit like a funeral march. The build at the end has just enough umph to keep it from being filler. The whole song in fact seems building towards the latter third of the album.

Second Opinion (courtesty of Wayne from Oceans Never Listen):

For all the fine songs on Animal Apocrypha, and there are many, I believe Cataracts is the stand out song. Andrew Bird has always been a master of creating beautiful sounds, but I believe Cataracts is the most emotionally charged song he has written. I think it might be the line about “unrequited mothers”, but this song just packs a huge punch with its lyrical content. His violins seem to almost weep and the whistling is just mournful enough to make your heart break.

Scythian Empire – Download MP3

Using fingerpicked acoustic guitar and tumbling piano to great effect, Andrew Bird picks up the pace wonderfully in this song. The instruments are layered so gracefully here it’s awe-inspiring. On top of that, this song has the best whistling solo on the album. It’s a major highlight of the album, and one of the best representations of Andrew Bird’s style.

Spare-Ohs

What’s noticeable about this song is the almost country-western sounding duet he has with Haley Bonar (who also does background vocals of many songs). Other than this and a strong chorus, though, the song overall is a bit forgettable.

Yawny at the Apocolypse

The title of this song is so colorful and descriptive that you don’t need lyrics to describe the feeling. The song features a violin solo that I can’t pin as being Eastern European or Oriental. Either way it’s lovely and fitting way to end the album. Andrew Bird, you’ve done it again!

Page France/Canada/Headlights/Margot & the Nuclear So & So's – Live @ Courtyard Cafe

Page France, Headlights, and Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s is such a killer line-up that it’s hard to imagine that this show wouldn’t be anything less than fantastic. It was already being called Champaign/Urbana’s “Show of the Year” before the humble Courtyard Café was packed with college students and music lovers. For the most part, the night lived up to the hype.

Page France was the second act (after Gentleman Auction House who I didn’t get to see). I was pretty surprised that they put Page France up second as the announcements made it seem like they would be playing right before Margot. There was a couple more members present since I last saw them and the band seemed to really enjoy being there. Their set was rather short but it was jam packed with everything there is to like about the band. From what I remember they played a couple songs off the EP’s, a handful of new songs (including “Family Telephone”, “Hat and Rabbit”), as well as “Junkyard”, “Elephant”, and “Chariot”. The new songs turned out fantastic live and the old ones were played with a greater vigor than I had seen them before. Overall, from both quality of the performance and the crowd reaction, Page France could have headlined.

MP3 Page France – Junkyard
MP3 Page France – Hat and Rabbit

Canada was next and while I skipped out on most of their set from what I heard they sounded like something I should check out. Page France joined them for their last song which was very fun to see. Headlights were up next and they kicked off their set with “TV”. Unfortunately the sound guys couldn’t get the sound right during their set and much of the vocals and keyboards coming from Erin’s side were lost. Despite this though, the hometown heroes still played a crowd-pleasing set with a couple of new songs that sounded like they had some huge potential.

MP3 Canada – Beige Stationwagon
MP3 Canada – Hexenhaus
MP3 Headlights – TV

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s played last. I had seen the band earlier at the Pygmalion Fest where they had a much bigger stage with more room to move around. The band chose to start their set with a few of their more slower songs and saved most of the crowd favorites for the end of the set. While this made for a great ending, I would have liked to see the band rocking out the opening a bit more (it was far past midnight at this point and people have to stay awake, y’know). Margot… finished off their set with their three best songs: “Skeleton Key”, “Quiet as a Mouse”, and “Barfight Revolution, Power Violence” and although they didn’t blow the songs out of the park they still were great to see live. Like last time, I spent most of the time watching the auxillary drummer, Casey. He has all the right moves.

MP3 Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s – Skeleton Key
MP3 Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s – Barfight Revolution, Power Violence

Side note: I noticed that each band I saw play had a good-looking female presence on either violin or keyboards. And they all played good music. So overall it was a great night.

Dappled Cities Fly

I’ve always had a thing for Australian music and I think it’s a proven fact that bands from Australia are always more happy than American bands (at least their press photos would suggest this). Dappled Cities Fly are the latest entry into the Aussies-that-I-think-are-destined-to-take-the-States-by-storm category. They already have some opening dates with Modest Mouse under their belt and they just finished up a run of shows at SXSW.

I received their album last week and it has barely left my CD player since (side note: my iPod player broke so I’m back to using CD’s). Their new album is entitled Granddance and it’s incredible. The album is as uninhibitedly enthusiastic as it is uplifting. Throughout the album, the band makes great use of falsettoed vocals mixed with a unique mixture of guitars and energetic drumming (set to some of most addicting melodies you’ll hear this year). It’s hard to pick favorites, but the quirky first track, Holy Chord, I think is the best intro to the band. The song starts off showcasing some of Tim Derricourt’s amazing lead vocals and midway becomes a bouncy indie pop anthem. The title track is another one that features the lively, jangle pop that the band does so well, in addition to a killer slide guitar solo. Don’t pass this one up.

MP3 Holy Chord
MP3 Granddance

Bonus MP3 Fire Fire Fire (DFA Mix)

Myspace
Dangerbird Records Site

Voxtrot / Pitchfork Fest Contest Update

Voxtrot’s self-titled full length album has been floating around the internet the last couple of days and from the first couple of listens, I can say it’s a bit of a departure from the EP’s that turned them into an indie “buzz bands”. The album features less bouncy twee anthems and a more expanded sound compared to Raised By Wolves and Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, & Wives (journalists will no doubt call Voxtrot a more “mature sound”).

By itself though, it stands pretty well as an album. The melodies are still as strong as ever and although the album is a bit mellower I’d never call it boring. Songs like “Kid Gloves” and “Stephen” still have that catchy-as-heck sound and “Ghost” and “Future Pt. 1” put their expanded instrument palette to good use with strings and trumpet. I’ve also read from various boards that this one gets better every listen.

MP3 Kid Gloves

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The Guess the Pitchfork Fest Line-up Contest is over so thanks for those who contributed. Unfortunately, the line-up announcement came a bit earlier than expected and the ticket prices didn’t match up as well as I thought (hopefully the winner has paypal).

I compiled the artists who got the most votes to show you what you thought the fest might/should look like (this is not the official line-up!):

Deerhunter, Grizzly Bear, Hot Chip, Menomena, Peter Bjorn and John, LCD Soundsystem, The Thermals, The Knife, Beach House, Deerhoof, !!!, Beirut, Do Make Say Think, I’m From Barcelona, RJD2, The Ponys, Aloha, M.I.A., Annuals, Fujiya & Miyagi, Malajube, Battles, Lupe Fiasco, Clipse, The Pipettes, Camera Obscura, Boris

I’ll post updates on the line-up and hopefully be able announce a clear winner within a month or so.