Eureka Birds

Although the vast majority of my music-listening this week has been dedicated to fully absorbing Fleet Foxes’ incredible new album, I did take a bit of time today to check out some of the new stuff being sent my way and was struck by the well-crafted, heartfelt indie pop of Eureka Birds. The Baltimore band has been busy recently releasing the altogether wonderful Eureka! EP and playing I Guess I’m Floating’s SXSW showcase. Their six-track EP is full of lovely, understated pop songs with lush instrumental arrangements and a whole lot of heart.

The track that stood out to me most is “There Was Light”, a wistful little pop song that matches singer Justin Levy’s exquisite falsetto with a gorgeous string / piano arrangement. Later there’s “Cactus Man”, an undeniable earworm with amusingly lighthearted lyrics (it kept making me think of the song “Particle Man”) and perhaps the album’s catchiest chorus. The band is generously giving away the Eureka! EP at bandcamp and you’d be smart to grab the the entire thing while you can. Download the two aforementioned tracks below.

MP3 There Was Light
MP3 Cactus Man

Never Quite Free

When recommending The Mountain Goats to friends, you face the dilemma of choosing an introduction into their massive discography, which includes 18 full-length albums, as well as dozens of EPs, singles, and compilation appearances. With All Eternal’s Deck, John Darnielle has made as outstanding of a starting point as any to dive into the artist’s luxuriously bountiful catalogue. The album may very well be his best since 2005’s The Sunset Tree, and thematically it actually feels like a continuation of that album. Darnielle has said “if The Sunset Tree was about living in the middle of abuse, [All Eternal’s Deck] is more of a surviving album.” There’s no track that encapsulates that theme better then it’s penultimate track, “Never Quite Free”.

For a guy who’s most famous line is “I hope you die! I hope we both die!“, this is an incredibly uplifting, even life-affirming song. The track combines poignant piano chords, dynamic percussion, and a slide-guitar solo that sounds like it could have been taken from an early Wilco song, with a moving vocal performance from Darnielle. The contemplative lyrics describe a newfound peace with his troubled abuse history. Whereas in The Sunset Tree‘s “Hast Thou Considered The Tetrapod”, Darnielle sings about being “held under these smothering waves” and “one of these days I’m going to wriggle up on dry land.”, now he sings “the waves that tossed the raft all night have set you on dry land” and later continues “It’s so good to learn that from right here the view goes on forever”. The Mountain Goats have played a multitude of styles in their 18-album career, but I don’t know if they’ve ever been as beautiful as on this song.

MP3 The Mountain Goats – Never Quite Free

Buy All Eternal’s Deck at Merge Records.

MP3: Cults – You Know What I Mean

After Cults came out of nowhere last year to become a certified blog smash with “Go Outside”, folks wondered whether the enigmatic Brooklyn duo could live up to the track’s greatness. “Oh My God” helped quell some of the doubters, and “You Know What I Mean”, the first single from the band’s self-titled debut out later this year, confirms without a doubt that these guys are the real deal.

The song begins as a laid-back, soulful ode to 60’s girl-group ballads and then about a minute in splits wide open, with bursts of guitar and Madeline Follin’s vocals gushing through. The song continues that quiet / loud dynamic until its exclamatory climax with Follin’s voice nearly reaching a breaking point as she exclaims “And I can’t sleep alone at night. Yeah, you know what I mean”. It’s a spectacular, goosebump-inducing moment that conveys a band that’s just beginning to fulfill their potential.

MP3 Cults – You Know What I Mean

Braids – Native Speaker

There’s a reason this review of Braids’ debut album is coming two months after the release. Native Speaker is not an easy album to pin down; just when I thought I had a grip on it, it would change forms and slip through my fingers.

The songs on Native Speaker are more biological than mechanical; they begin with a breathe of life, quite literally in the case of the title track, and develop and grow organically before ultimately fading away into the beyond. The songs’ amoebic nature makes it possible for the shape of the record to change, depending on mood, environment, and context.

On the surface these songs are bursting with a shimmering beauty. The sparkling arpeggios of “Lemonade” are a perfect example, building and bubbling gradually before breaking apart into pure ether. But that beauty belies sinister undertones; the songs lull you into comfort, but they also seem capable of corruption. Braids only hint at this and never let the songs fully embrace their nefarious nature, demonstrating effortless dexterity as a unit.

The band is fond of slight flourishes, like the backwards tones that announces “Glass Deers”, but they never get bogged down in studio wizardry. Instead they deftly integrate these plumes of sound, showing considerable restraint for a band so young. The results wash over you like a psychedelic prism, catching different glimpses of refracted sound on each pass. This makes some things even better when you finally put the pieces together, like the subtle climax of “Lammicken” which finds singer Katie Lee wailing while a distorted future war of synthesizers erupts around her.

It’s these kinds of moments that finds me going back to Native Speaker again and again, trying to discover what the album has in store this time. Moments that seem innocuous at first blush can metamorphose and stupefy the next time around. That a fledgling group proves so adept and this kind of alchemy is something quite noteworthy.

MP3 Braids – Lemonade
MP3 Braids – Lammicken

Buy Native Speaker at Kanine Records.

Bright Eyes / The Mynabirds – Live @ Foellinger Auditorium

My history with Bright Eyes begins when I was in my early teen years. Conor Oberst’s poetic, emotional, sometimes self-indulgent artistic style was tailor-made for young sensitive types like myself, and was far more satisfying then some of the other acoustic “emo” out there (ahem, Dashboard Confessional). Also, as most of my music listening at the time was dedicated to singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson, Oberst’s music was a pretty natural progression. Anyway, Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground was my jam, and an album I still find myself returning to quite often.

Although there’s been some variation in quality of Conor’s work since the early days, (Wide Awake / Digital Urn = good, Cassadaga = not so good), Bright Eyes has always been near the top of artists that I want to see live. Even moreso after listening to his latest opus, The People’s Key, an album which, in my opinion, stands up with the artist’s finest work. I never got that chance until his performance last week at Foellinger Auditorium, a theater placed squarely in the center of University of Illinois campus. Even with high expectations going in, I don’t think I could have imagined a better Bright Eyes live experience, the concert featured plenty of old favorites which all sounded amazing, and the new songs were played to perfection.

The night began with a marvelous set from Saddle Creek labelmates The Mynabirds, a collaboration between ex-Georgie James singer Laura Burhenn and producer / solo artist Richard Swift (who celebrated a birthday on stage during the set). I spotlighted the band here last year, and am still loving their debut album What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood. The six-piece band were incredibly tight making every song sound livelier and fuller then on the album, and Laura’s vocals and charm were an absolute delight. Her lovely voice was showcased in tracks like the dusty soul ballad “Ways of Looking” as well as in more raucous numbers like set-closer “Let The Record Go”. Just about as perfect of an opening set that you could ask for.

MP3 The Mynabirds – Let The Record Go
MP3 The Mynabirds – Ways of Looking

Preceding Bright Eye’s set, the fans rushed the stage, not content with sitting idly in the theater seats with their idol so close by. I knew that Bright Eyes inspired a particular rabid type of fandom, but this was the first time experiencing that up close, and let’s just say there was very few intervals where someone in the crowd wasn’t expressing their undying love for Conor. The band had nothing but love for the crowd as well, playing a cornucopia of tracks ranging back as far as his 2000 album, Fevers and Mirrors, as well as plenty from his well-received new album, The People’s Key.

The production value of the show was excellent, the band played against a backdrop of huge LED light screen and two lit-up quarter-band shells that made for some very cool visuals throughout the night. The band which Conor assembled for the tour was of the highest quality, including mainstays Mike Mogus on guitar and Nate Walcott on trumpet / keys, as well as a bassist, dual percussionists and Mynabirds vocalist Laura Burhenn, who was on double duty for the night. Even some of the sparser songs from the back catologue got a huge sonic boost from the band and This especially was noticeable on the Digital Ash in a Digital Urn songs like “Take It Easy (Love Nothing)” and “Arc of Time” which were given a huge sonic boost live.

The best moment for myself personally is the atypically bouncy, uplifting folk tune “Bowl of Oranges”, a track I obsessed over in high school and still holds a special place for me. “Nothing Gets Crossed Out”, a beautiful, far more melancholy tune from the same album was another great moment. Hearing the old tunes intertwined with the new was a reminder of how many stylistic changes Bright Eyes has gone through, whether it was the alt-country tinges of “Four Winds”, the hypnotic synth-rock of “Gold Mine Gutted” or the raw intensity of “The Calendar Hung Itself” or the more refined sonic explorations of new songs like “Shell Games” and “Jejune Stars”. The constant has always been Conor’s delicate, trembling voice and I was glad to see that his vocals had as much fervor and fragility live as I was used to hearing on record.

After ending the set with an exquisite performance of “Lua” where Conor was backed only by acoustic guitar and a lone trumpet, the band came back for a four-song encore which included two of the best songs of the night, the sinister, devastating beauty of “Lover, I Don’t Have To Love” and the boisterous, crowd-inciting “Road To Joy”. The night closed with his anthemic ode-to-humanity, “One For Us, One For You”, as fitting of a song to go out with as I can think of. Conor spent the majority of the song at the front of the stage engaging with his fans (and at one point modeling a cowboy hat he was handed). Despite his sad sack reputation, you could tell that he took as much pleasure in playing these songs as we took in hearing them. If this is truly the last Bright Eyes album / tour, I feel extremely lucky that I could be a part of it.

MP3 Bright Eyes – One For Me, One For You
MP3 Bright Eyes – Bowl of Oranges

View more Bright Eyes / The Mynabirds pictures after the jump. Click here for the entire set.

Final Album, Closing Track Mix

Last year, I made a mix of Debut Album, Opening Tracks, which featured a few of my favorite side one track ones on debut albums. In thinking about some of the bands that are breaking up recently (LCD Soundsystem, The White Stripes), I decided to make a sequel to that mix of the best closing tracks on an artist’s final album. What artists went out with a bang? Who provided the most climactic tracks to end their career? I’ve found it’s actually quite rare for bands to leave on a high note, and in many occassions a great final track is due to death more then a concious decision to retire. Like last time, I left out some the most obvious choices (”The End”, “Voodoo Child”) and selected a few of my favorites*. Download the mix below and tell me your favorite swan songs in the comments.

MP3 LCD Soundsystem – Home
MP3 The Stone Roses – Love Spreads
MP3 Nick Drake – From The Morning
MP3 The White Stripes – Effect & Cause
MP3 Nirvana – All Apologies
MP3 Joy Division – Decades
MP3 Neutral Milk Hotel – Two Headed Boy Pt. 2
MP3 Pulp – Sunrise
MP3 Sunny Day Real Estate – The Rising Tide
MP3 Blur – Battery In Your Leg
MP3 Guided By Voices – Huffman Prairie Flying Field
MP3 Jay Reatard – There Is No Sun
MP3 My Bloody Valentine – Soon
MP3 Elliott Smith – A Distorted Reality Is Now Necessary To Be Free

*keeping in mind, that some of the bands here (like Sunny Day Real Estate, My Bloody Valentine) could potentially release another album, however unlikely.

Video: NewVillager – Lighthouse

Here’s a video that I’ve been meaning to post for a while. The song is by Brooklyn-via-San Francisco duo NewVillager, which our very own, Cheryse spotlighted here two years ago, way before they started blowing up the blogosphere / “killing it” at SXSW. The video is skillfully directed by Ben Dickinson, who you may know from his work with The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem. The jubilant, exceedingly catchy track is bolstered by this stylish, very colorful clip that features some of the most imaginative (and resourceful) costumes that I’ve seen in a good while. Check it out above and grab the MP3 below.

MP3 NewVillager – Lighthouse

NewVillager’s debut album will be out sometime in 2011 on IAMSOUND Records.

Summer Fiction

As family members / twitter / the weather keeps reminding me, yesterday was the first day of spring, which means it’s not too early to get an jump on summer. And what better way to do so, then with this glistening sunshine pop band from Philly called Summer Fiction. The band, which is the project of singer/songwriter Bill Ricchini, make songs that feel like they’ve been beamed straight from the psych-pop years of the late 60’s with The Zombies, Beach Boys, and Harry Nilsson being the most obvious influences. A lot of bands can do 60’s pop imitations, but this actually sounds like the real deal. Their self-titled debut album is full of smartly crafted hooks, addictive melodies, and warm, gooey harmonies, supported by pitch-perfect acoustic guitar and keyboard riffs.

The first single from the album is called “Chandeliers”, which is a great representation of what Summer Fiction is all about. A whimsical, invigorating baroque-pop song with an infectius melody and lush instrumentation (including a harpsichord solo!). The biggest highlight for me though, is “Throw Your Arms Around Me”, an achingly gorgeous, 69 Love Songs-like acoustic ballad with a lovely, immediately engaging melody and a tender string-laden bridge that is sure to start tugging at your heartstrings the moment you hear it. Download both tracks below and get all of the fantastic self-titled album at bandcamp.

MP3 Chandeliers
MP3 Throw Your Arms Around Me

Check out the nostalgia-tinged video to “Throw Your Arms Around Me” below:

MP3: Junior Boys – ep

Junior Boys are preparing to release their fourth album, It’s All Time, on June 14th and they’ve graciously shared with us the first single and penultimate track on the record, “ep”. The Canadian duo are known for their crisp, sophisticated electronica and indelible pop sensibilities and both are on full display in this smooth, slow-burner. Coming off my favorite album from the band, Begone Dull Care (although I may be in the minority there), the new record looks to capitalize on the understated beauty that makes their unique take on electro-pop such a delight.

MP3 Junior Boys – ep

Waiting For My Chance To Come

 

In Matt’s review of Noah and the Whale’s First Days of Spring, he said that in the album’s most hopeful moments, the band sounds ready to move on from a devastating relationship and get back to some of the joy of their first record. Noah and the Whale’s debut album exuded a rarely seen kind of uninhibited optimism where “fun fun fun” and “sun sun sun” were had in abudance, and the new album, Last Night On Earth does return to some of that twee-pop exuberance. It’s not a naïve happiness though, Charles Fink recognizes the tribulations of life in but finds joy and opportunity in the hardships, which is what “Waiting For My Chance To Come” is all about.

Opening with a sprightly ukelele hook before adding buzzy synths, finger-picked guitar, and stately violin, Fink sings “it’s hard to feel like, you’re worth something in this life” and “you’re just looking for a way outta here, a way to see this old life all disappear” before concluding triumphantly, “Take a gamble on your heart, it will lead you through the dark, you’re just waiting for your chance to come”. The natural build of the song and the rhapsodic instrumental arrangement make a perfect accompaniment to the hopeful message, making the song truly uplifting.

MP3 Noah and the Whale – Waiting For My Chance To Come

Buy Noah and the Whale’s third album, Last Night On Earth at Amazon.