COTV
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6.25.2009
6.24.2009
Joe Pug Offers Free EP
You Should Know
While Joe Pug is hard at work finalizing a new full-length recorded in Chicago, you can mosey on over to Pug's website and download a free EP entitled In The Meantime. The EP features 5 songs from the original Nation Of Heat sessions. These are not merely throwaway songs as Pug exhibits the same lyrical command that made Nation Of Heat so special. Just enter in your email address and you can download this exclusive collection of songs at www.joepugmusic.com. -- Capt. Obvious
6.15.2009
Dark Mean
You Should Know
Fellow music bloggers will attest that opening your daily inbox can be overwhelming. When you're perusing hundreds of bands, sometimes the music starts to sound a little samey and unfortunately you find yourself moving the bulk of your mail to the trash. Hamilton Ontario's Dark Mean represent the rare exception of a band that I took one listen to and knew I was on board. The trio's debut 4-song EP Frankencottage is an eclectic hodgepodge of folk rock, electonic elements, and pop. The title track is built on a thudding bass riff, stuttered drums, and 80's-tinged keyboard, while the aptly titled "Happy Banjo" melds melancholic lyrics with upbeat instrumentation that includes banjo (naturally) and horns. Vocally, the different ranges of voices weave together seamlessly to create an intoxicating blend that will have you nodding your head uncontrollably. Frankencottage is the first of three EP's that will form the band's first full-length, and it is available for FREE on the band's website. Highly recommended. -- Capt. Obvious
6.09.2009
Fanfarlo
You Should Know
You can't get a whole lot for a dollar these days, but from now until July 4th, you can pick up Fanfarlo's new album Reservoir for a measly buck and you'll even get 4 bonus tracks. The band hails from London and creates highly orchestrated indie-pop that sounds a bit like Arcade Fire meets Belle and Sebastian. Lead singer Simon Balthazar's vocals are also vaguely reminiscent of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! singer Alec Ounsworth, but the similarity isn't blatant enough to be a distraction. Lazy comparisons aside, Fanfarlo carves its own niche with a highly-ornamented yet never overly-adorned approach. Balthazar's words are effortless yet weighty. The band's arrangements are immense. Still, Fanfarlo manages to hypnotize despite complexities that could have easily caused the album to crumble. Take, for instance, album opener "I'm A Pilot," with its stomping percussion and hazy piano. The song builds slowly to a bell and string-laden crescendo indicative of things to come. As far as debut albums go, Reservoir is a rarity. It's steeped in grandiosity but displays a focus seldom seen on debut albums. Please visit the band's website and take advantage of this opportunity to buy their album for next to nothing. I'd venture to say this will be one of the best dollars you ever spend. -- Capt. Obvious
6.08.2009
Leonard Cohen: Live In London (2009)
New Wax
Humility is a virtue lost on many a younger musician these days. One album into a career, and you are likely to hear posturing the likes of which might shame an NBA player. What humility you do see is usually calculated and superficial; designed to fit the expectations of a certain genre and not reflective of anything substantial. Leonard Cohen has had a long career, in literature and music, and more than anything else it is his humility that shines through in this recording, from London in July 2008. The 73 year old Cohen, touring again after a long hiatus, is truly thankful and appreciative to be performing his songs for so many people. In his warm delivery, his wry humor on display in between songs, and the respect he gives his material and its place in the audiences' heart, Cohen gives a blueprint for artistic maturity that Kanye West would do well to study. Cohen is a consummate performer. He knows exactly how to deliver every line, what songs people need to hear, how to best seduce the audience. In the 26 songs on this recording, Cohen doesn't miss anything glaring save for "Famous Blue Raincoat;" but with the wealth of material presented, perhaps that omission can be forgiven. Opening with "Dance Me To The End Of Love," Cohen jumps between albums and periods in a manner that would do Dylan proud. There are songs from his first album all the way through 2001's Ten New Songs, and everywhere in between. His rendition of "Hallelujah" is a highlight in a show of highlights, as he takes his oft-covered song and reclaims it for himself once again. The slow, stately romp of "Bird On A Wire," the snarl of "Everybody Knows," the wistfulness of "So Long, Marianne" - this show has too many beautiful moments to write about. Listen to this album, and see if you can be charmed by Cohen as much as he so clearly appears to be charmed by his audience. -- Mountain John
6.07.2009
Vieux Farka Touré: Fondo (2009)
New Wax
With Fondo, Vieux Farka Touré’s sophomore release, the young West African gunslinger makes great strides toward establishing a musical identity that continues his late father’s legacy while at the same time moving in an original direction. Of course, when your father is African blues legend Ali Farka Touré, continuing the legacy is not such a bad thing. Longtime Farka Touré, pére collaborators Toumani Diabaté and Afel Bocoum make appearances, with Bocoum singing on three of the tracks and Diabaté and the younger Touré having a lovely kora/guitar duet on one track. Many of the same touches remain. The long, stalking blues rhythms haven’t gone away, and Vieux is nearly as convincing a guitarist as his father. Melodic lines ripple back and forth like waves on album opener “Fafa,” which is perhaps the best song on the album. Vieux adds a drum kit, as well as rock and roll (“Sarama”) and dub reggae (Diaraby Magni”) to his repertoire, and still manages to sound like a traditional Malian bluesman. If anything, this album should open Farka Touré to a wider world than his father had ever known. The guitar parts on smoldering blues number “Souba Souba” wouldn’t be out of place on, say, an Iron & Wine album, suggesting that when Farka Touré takes the stage at Bonnaroo next week he may leave with a number of new fans. The duet with Diabaté (“Paradise”) is as beautiful as the duets his father played with the kora virtuoso, and the album ends with a gentle acoustic reprise of “Fafa.”There is not a sour note on this album, and although the year is young, this may well end up as the best African release of 2009- if only because it signals that there is indeed a new Farka Touré in town, and like his father he demands to be heard. -- Mountain John
6.05.2009
Bowerbirds: Upper Air (2009)
New Wax
Having toured with the likes of Bon Iver, Phosphorescent, and John Vanderslice, North Carolina duo Bowerbirds will follow up their impressive 2008 album Hymns For A Dark Horse with a new album entitled Upper Air on July 7 via Dead Oceans. Album opener "House Of Diamonds" is an outright gem. Opening with a lightly strummed acoustic guitar riff and sparse piano, the track finds lead vocalist Phil Moore and backup vocalist Beth Tacular harmonizing on a beautiful hook: "You are free, you are already free." On the track, Moore muses on an existence free of materialism: "You are free from the greed of your culture/ You are free from the lust for the luster/ Of the diamond houses in the city's cluster." Where Hymns For A Dark Horse seemed to focus on human coexistence with nature, Upper Air seems penned from a more personal point of view. On "Northern Lights," Moore sings "All I want is your eyes/ In the morning as we wake/ For a short while." Musically, there are no missteps on Upper Air. The tracks are never needlessly adorned and every string placement or backup vocal serves the greater purpose. If melodic folk music with intelligent songwriting is up your alley, I'd strongly recommend Upper Air. -- Capt. Obvious
6.03.2009
David Lynch's Interview Project
You Should Know
Filmmaker David Lynch’s new web series consists of interviews conducted during a 70-day, 20,000-mile road trip across the United States. So far there’s only one clip, the above conversation with a veteran named Jess who’s trying to repair his trailer so he can live alone in the southwest desert. You should go bookmark the project website. -- Capt. Obvious
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6.02.2009
John Vanderslice: Romanian Names (2009)
New Wax
I can only hope to be as cool as John Vanderslice when I'm 42. The indie-rock elder-statesman continues to pump out his own brand of polished-yet-innovative pop songs, and his new album Romanian Names sounds decidedly... well, John Vanderslice. That's not to say there's not a subtle shift in tone. Where his two previous albums, 2005's Pixel Revolt and 2007's Emerald City, were wading knee-deep in post-9/11 paranoia, Romanian Names trades in the politics for a more personal feel. Vanderslice has set aside the apocalyptic and abstract imagery of songs like "Kookuburra" and "White Dove" for more narrative songs like album-closer "Hard Times": "To find an answer I searched every sentence/ And ended deeper still/ In hard times." While the production on Romanian Names is as meticulous as anything Vanderslice has released, it somehow also feels effortless. A mid-tempo pop song built on rich layers of electronica, "Too Much Time" is an example of Vanderslice at his catchiest. While Romanian Names may not be as thematically intriguing as some of his past material, it's as listenable as anything he's released. -- Capt. Obvious
Luxury Pond
You Should Know
I'm pretty much on board with anything involving Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), and Luxury Pond is no exception. Luxury Pond may be the new songwriting vehicle for Toronto-based musician Dan Goldman, but Pallett and Goldman previously collaborated on Goldman's 2004 album Through A Revolution. Luxury Pond's debut album is due out June 16th on Sonic Unyon and it's filled with lush instrumentation and infectious melodies. With string arrangements by Owen Pallett and backing by the St. Kitts String Quartet, Goldman's lyrics, which cover a wide variety of topics from prehistoric sharks to frozen lakes, are beautifully accentuated by a similarly mystifying tapestry of sound. California-based Daniela Gesundheit (aka Snowblink) provides gorgeous backup vocals to Goldman's own subdued-yet-enchanting voice. Take, for example, the intoxicating "Boulders," which thrives on equal doses of pop-sensibility and melancholic texture. When Goldman sings "This has been a heavy year so far," it's hard not to add the plucking of your own heartstrings to an already-rich arrangement. -- Capt. Obvious
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