Now Downloading: New Releases 05.10.11

Thanks to the Bloggerpocalypse that occurred earlier this week, this nearly finished post was lost forever when Blogger reverted back, jettisoning out over 30 hours worth of posts/comments. The work that was published has mostly been brought back, but, as in my case, drafts were lost or reverted back, losing all updates. Too bad, to, as this was a pretty deep week for releases, one that deserves attention. Between releases from Okkervil River, Man Man, The Antlers, Sloan, Sam Roberts Band, The Felice Brothers, Raphael Saadiq, Mountains, The Sea and Cake, The Lonely Island, Joan of Arc, Le Butcherettes, interesting-to-great returns from Urge Overkill, The Cars, Peter Case and Greg Brown along with (finally) the US release of Howe Gelb & a Band of Gypsies. Like I said, too impossible to ignore, so instead of just moving on and trying to get ahead of next week's, I'm recreating most of what I did earlier... abridged to say the least.

Playlist: New Releases 05.10.11

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Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Will Scheff, emboldened by his production and backing of the 2010 Roky Erickson collaboration (True Love Cast Out All Evil), took the reigns for the first time in the studio for Okkervil River, and no expense was spared. Orchestras, guest musicians... the unemployment rate in Austin had to have had a decent dip during the recording. And while it's not as essential a release as the excellent Black Sheep Boy, it's streets ahead of their past two releases.

Download: "Wake and Be Fine" [mp3]

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Man Man - Life Fantastic
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Philly's Man Man gets reigned in a bit, recording for the first time with Saddle Creek producer a la casa Mike Mignola, and the result if their first album that didn't expand the sound of the one prior. But this is still a great Man Man album, and still has the manic gypsy barker delivery backing Honus Honus' dark and frightening lyrical magic.

"Life Fantastic" [mp3] (via The Hype Machine)

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The Antlers - Burst Apart
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

We're not in a Cancer ward anymore (2009's breathtaking Hospice), but frontman Peter Silberman's haunting falsetto is still devastating, even without the conceptual flourish.

"I Don't Want Love" [mp3] (via The Hype Machine)

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Sloan - Double Cross
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Sloan has been rockin' the good fight up North for 20 years now, and they released their best release (2006's Never Here the End of It) late in their career. The Abbey Roadish connection of songs (30 of them!) was a epic, and while The Double Cross only clocks in around 33 minutes, there's a brilliant string of connected songs to start that for a moment makes you believe NHTEOI take two is in session. It loses a little steam after that, but the boys from the great white North still bring it.

"Unkind" [mp3] (via The Hype Machine)

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Howe Gelb & a Band of Gypsies - Alegrias / "4 Door Maverick" [mp3]
Sam Roberts Band - Collider / "Longitude" [mp3]
The Felice Brothers - Celebration, Florida
Urge Overkill - Rock&Roll Submarine
The Cars - Move Like This
The Lonely Island - Turtleneck & Chain
The Sea and Cake - The Moonlight Butterfly/ "Up on the North Shore" [mp3]
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
Here We Go Dance - The January EP / "Hands in the Sky" [mp3]
Mountains - Air Museum
Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
Booker T Jones - The Road From Memphis
Lee "Scratch" Perry - Rise Again
Joan of Arc - Life Like
The Shivers - More / "Used to Be" [mp3]
Sleepy Vikings - They Will Find You Here
Antietam - Tenth Life
Le Butcherettes - Sin Sin Sin
Peter Case - The Case Files / "Round Trip Stranger Blues" [mp3]
Psychedelic Horsesh*t - Laced
Greg Brown - Freak Flag
Wild Beasts - Smother
Hugo - Old Tyme Religion
Balkans - Balkans
Delay Trees - Delay Trees / "Cassette 2012" [mp3]
Other Lives - Tamer Animals / "For 12" [mp3]
COMPILATIONS
Randy Newman - The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 2
REISSUEs
Laura Veirs - The Triumphs and Travails of Orphan Mae
Holly Golightly & Dan Melchior - Desperate Little Town

tags: music, album review, okkervil river, man man, indie rock, new releases

Music on TV - Week of 05.09.11: Okkervil River

Okkervil River play Letterman on Friday, May 13.

After taking a year off to back and collaborate with the legendary Roky Erickson, Okkervil River is thankfully back with a new album of literate Americana -- I Am Very Far, out Tuesday.

As is usually the case, Will Scheff's printed lyrics are as big of a draw as the delivered music, with his finely tuned dark tales full of wit and subtext. But with I Am Very Far, there's a sense that the band is perhaps trying to move beyond cult status, and from the opening echoed beat of "The Valley," the album sounds like it could attract more than the current Okkervil stable of fans. There's a bit of the histrionics that propelled Arcade Fire to the next level, and the occasional nod to classic Talking Heads as well, to go with the usual Americana leanings. The Texas outfit takes the stage on Letterman on Friday, May 13.

Meanwhile, it's been 30 years since Reggae giant Bob Marley died, and to pay tribute to the legend, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is hosting artists performing Marley classics all week.* The week fittingly starts off with famous son Ziggy Marley on Monday, and moves on to Chris Cornell, Jennifer Hudson, Jakob Dylan and Lenny Kravitz on successive nights. Ziggy plans to sit with Fallon himself, to talk a bit about his father's legacy on Monday, and there's a good chance a few reggae musicians associated with the Marley legacy will be sitting in with The Roots all week long. You don't want to miss it, mon.

*It's becoming a tradition the talk show started last year with a tribute to The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, in celebration of the great album's reissue.

Picks for the week
Monday, May 9
ABC: Good Morning America: Donny & Marie Osmond
ABC: The View: Donny & Marie Osmond
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Wiz Khalifa
COMEDY CENTRAL: The Colbert Report: Lupe Fiasco
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Go! Team
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Ziggy Marley
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Soundtrack of Our Lives
PBS: American Experience: Soundtrack for a Revolution: John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, The Roots, Harry Belafonte
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Jonny Lang
TBS: Conan: Amos Lee
Tuesday, May 10
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Calle 13
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Hugo
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Go! Team
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Def Leppard
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Chris Cornell
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Knux
SYNDICATION: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Stevie Nicks
Wednesday, May 11
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Zac Brown Band
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Ray Lamontagne
FUEL: The Daily Habit: New Boyz
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Colin Hay
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Steve Earle
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Jennifer Hudson
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Grouplove
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Musiq Soulchild
TBS: Conan: Ke$ha
Thursday, May 12
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Raphael Saadiq
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Manchester Orchestra
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Naked and Famous
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Jacob Dylan
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Greenhornes, Hugo
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Def Leppard
Friday, May 13
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Okkervil River
FUEL: The Daily Habit: New Boyz
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Rodrigo Y Gabriela
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Lenny Kravitz
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Rhaphael Saadiq
Saturday, May 14
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: k.d. lang
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Paul Simon
PBS: Austin City Limits: John Legend & The Roots

Chuck: One 'D' too many?

After all is said and done, last night was probably a wasted opportunity for Chuck. The fledgling NBC certainly did their darndest to promote the worthy series, with several promos, including a 3-D one (albeit, paired with a kids movie and a puzzling Sobe commercial). The show pulled in more viewers against more competition (House, The Bachelor, etc.,) but it was still fourth in it's slot, and I'm not sure it even did enough to bring back the newbies who stopped by to see what this Chuck thing was all about. The 3-D experiment didn't help matters much, as it had too many technical requirements for it work properly. For the payoff, you an HD flat screen TV and feed along with the special glasses from displays for Sobe drinks (old school red & blue 3-D glasses didn't work).

Even if you were equipped, there wasn't much 'wow' factor after the first few minutes -- the credits, to my eyes, worked the best, which makes sense given it's use of line art. I actually found it worked fine watching the HULU 420P broadcast at the 640x360 size presented (resist going fullscreen, resist!). But aside from the gimmick, the episode was just alright.

There were plenty of cultural references to go around, but I'd argue they were a bit too obscure for the purpose of bringing in more fans. With Butterman (former Steeler great Jerome Bettis) as an ex-con, here were at least three Shawshank Redemption references (Jeff, warning he'll "bite down hard," Butterman saying he's going to "Zihuatanejo", and Jeff's response of "Get busy living, or get busy dying"). Then there were shout outs to The Empire Strikes Back (the grenade's id is IG-88, which is an assassin/bounty hunter droid, Weird Science (Chuck saying "See you in the emergency room" before taking a shot,) and even Bachelor Party (Chuck hanging sans pants from the elevator, ruining a romantic moment). Oh, and then there was also the pointless "To Be Continued" graphic at the end in Back to the Future style. Why?

But we did get the former lead singer of those 90's one hit wonders Drive Shaft ("You All Everybody",) as a special guest star. Dominic Monaghan did an admirable job, but not enough to shake Charlie from Lost. His Tyler Martin character had some nice lines, like the flowery first two times he was hit by a Casey tranq dart ("Daisies..." and "I feel like a daffodil...").

Musically, it was all over the map, without a whole lot of focus or plot-driven purpose. Even the use of Europe's "The Final Countdown" felt like it's done before. I did enjoy hearing Okkervil River's "Lost Coastlines," though, as it was one of my favorite songs of last year. But I'm not sure what it contributed other than, "hey, I like that song." Next time, we're hopefully back to some brilliance.

Playlist (incomplete): Chuck - Episode 2.12
1. (Chuck's dream/opening)
2. "Good Days Bad Days" - Kaiser Chiefs - scene at Buy More
3. "Try it Again" - The Hives - Chuck and Casey deal with the grenade
4. "I Like Dem Girls" - Sizzle C - first song at club
5. "The Final Countdown" - Europe - The golden ticket challenge
6. "Out at the Pictures" - Hot Chip - second song at club
7. (third song at club)
8. (fourth song at club)
9. (opera libretto playing while they decide to give Butterman the ticket)
9. (walk-in music for Tyler Martin show, Sarah and Casey enter)
10. "Tales of a Thousand Fears" - Vienne - Tyler takes the stage
11. "Lost Coastlines" - Okkervil River -

Now Downloading: New Releases 09.09.08

It's a big week for releases as we run into the fall season, second only to spring in it's capacity for 'best of the year' list entries. Some possible competitors in this crop include the latest from Okkervil River, The New Year, Chad Vangaalen, Kimya Dawson (poached in last week's edition,) Damien Jurado, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, Horse Feathers and The Lovely Sparrows.

Playlist: New Releases 09.09.08

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Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

You could call The Stand Ins a sequel to 2007
s excellent The Stage Names, and it would be kind of accurate. But it's probably more like it's conjoined twin separated early and now making it's own debut, as it the album was originally meant to be the second half of a double album, looking at the art and entertainment world. So if there's one flaw, it might be that it suffers from being a slight repeat of a theme we've already heard, that of the soul-crushing nature of the entertainment biz (a theme, however, that is worthy of a second album). "Lost Coastlines" is easily the album's highlight, and it also marks a farewell of sorts to Jonathan Meiburg, who shares vocals on the song with Will Sheff and has since moved on to make his band Shearwater a full-time gig. The song seems to be about trying to keep a band together, so it's bittersweet, to say the least. The next song features some tasty guitar lines from guest guitarist Charles Bissell (The Wrens), making the medicine of Sheff's heady lyrics go down easier, like jelly with crushed aspirin. The whole album features moments like this -- "Starry Stairs" immediately follows complete with horns, and then there's including the meta-inducing "Pop Lie," which admonishes the audience for singing along to the pop singer who lies. It's a song that's sure to have fans complicitly singing along.

Download: "Lost Coastlines" [mp3]

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The New Year - The New Year
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

The Kadane brothers' previous incarnation of Bedhead made great use of space within the notes of a song, making melancholy out of what you didn't hear. In their third album since forming The New Year, with slowcore drummer Chris Brokaw (Come, Codeine,) the band nudges further away from the anti-sound they cultivated, filling in the spaces with (gulp)arrangements. Like fellow Steve Albini recorded act Silkworm did towards the end of their run, the band has added piano to their sound, adding some depth to songs that border on feeling too slow for their own good. The build and release of any good The New Year song is present, though, and between "The Company I Can Get," "Seven Days and Seven Nights" and "The Idea of You," the Kadanes have created some of their best work yet.

Free album stream from AOL
Download: "The Company I Can Get" [mp3]

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Chad Vangaalen - Soft Airplane
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Coming across this time like a spooky version of Neil Young, Chad Vangaalen's sound has matured a bit in the two years since Skelliconnection, but his recording techniques remain as lo-fi as ever. Where his previous albums came across as scattered, it was because they were culled from hundreds of songs in his basement, whereas Soft Airplane was written and recorded with the album in mind (even if it's still in his basement). Three of the first four songs sound , in structure at least, remarkably like Neil Young songs, and while the album is his most straight ahead album yet, by the halfway point ("Phantom Anthills") strays briefly into electronica, with danceable drum beats and the odd analogue synth sound here and there. But it bounces back into the CVG trademarked spooky with the ghostly murder ballad "Molten Light," featuring the repeated refrain "I'll find you and I'll kill you." Cue chills.

Free album stream from AOL
Download: "Willow Tree" [mp3]

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More on the radar this week:
Fujiya & Miyagi - Lightbulbs / Free album stream from AOL
Calexico - Carried to Dust / Free album stream from AOL / "Two Silver Trees" [mp3]
Kimya Dawson - Alphabutt
Damien Jurado - Caught in the Trees / "Gillian Was a Horse" [mp3]
Mogwai - Batcat EP
Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez - Why is Bear Billowing / "Mostly a Friend" [mp3]
Sam Champion - Heavenly Bender / Free album stream from AOL
Tricky - Knowle West Boy / Free album stream from AOL
The Lovely Sparrows - Bury the Cynics
Horse Feathers - House With No Home / Free album stream / "Curs in the Weeds" [mp3]
Angela Desveaux - The Mighty Ship
Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements / "A Song for Ellie Greenwich" [mp3]
Bound Stems - The Family Afloat
Michael Franti & Spearhead - All Rebel Rockers / Free album stream from AOL
Hallam Foe: Original Soundtrack
Steve Wynn - Crossing Dragon Bridge
Colourmusic - F, Monday, Orange, February, Venus, Lunatic, 1 or 13
The Subways - All or Nothing
LL Cool J - Exit 13
Greg Camp - Defector
Locksley - Don't Make Me Wait
Emiliana Torrini - Me and Armini
Matt Bauer - The Island Moved in the Storm
Gym Class Heroes - The Quilt
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Stereophonics - Pull the Pin
People in Planes - Beyond the Horizon
oRSo - Ask Your Neighbor
The Low Lows - Shining Violence
Growing - All the Way
The Sound of Animals Fighting - The Ocean and the Sun
Hal Ketchum - Father Time
Callers - Fortune
Joan Baez - Day After Tomorrow / Free album stream from AOL
Civet - Hell Hath No Fury
REISSUE
ZZ Top - Eliminator [Expanded Edition]

tags: music, album review, okkervil river, the new year, chad vangaalen, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

Ear on TV: Week of August 27

Will Sheff, the frontman and songwriter for Okkervil River, is like a novelist who works short musical form. So when they perform on Conan Tuesday night, even though it's only one song, it'll be a page-turner as well as barn-burner. The Austin band are great live performers, and Sheff's voice breaks and cracks reaching notes that meet his needed expression. It's no wonder he's prone to it giving out on him at the end of a tour (like last year.)

And while it already aired this morning (early bird gets the worm,) Smoosh made an appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba, writing a new song for the 'Sleep' themed episode called "Pajama Party." Only a few years removed from the target audience (Singer/Keyboardist Asya is 15, drummer Chloe is 13) these sisters had my 2-year old son jumping up and down saying "kids...pwaying... music... go gabba!" You can catch a rerun later, but the show that's like crack for toddlers (and their parents) will also feature The Salteens (Tuesday) and Supernova (Thursday) this week as well.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, August 27
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Feist
NICKJR: Yo Gabba Gabba: Smoosh
Tuesday, August 28
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: T.I. w/ Wyclef Jean
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Okkervil River
NICKJR: Yo Gabba Gabba: The Salteens
Wednesday, August 29
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: T.I., Against Me!
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Ozomatli
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Deerhoof (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: The Ellen Degeneres Show: Gym Class Heroes
Thursday, August 30
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Willie Nelson
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Nellie McKay
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Wilco
NICKJR: Yo Gabba Gabba: Supernova
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Paul Simon, Primal Scream, Corinne Bailey Rae
Friday, August 31
IFC: The Henry Rollins Show: Sinéad O'Connor
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Mims (REPEAT)
Saturday, September 1
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Björk (REPEAT)

tags: music, television, soundtrack, talk shows, okkervil river, yo gabba gabba, smoosh, indie rock, rhapsody

Now Downloading: New Releases 08.07.07

I'm on vacation this week, and since all my formative listening is centered around my work day (commute, background at work, etc.) I'm a bit behind again. But there are two releases this week that deserve call-out regardless of how much ear time I've been able to give 'em. Okkervil River's latest as well as the Sub Pop debut (EP) from the HBO stars Flight of the Conchords.

Playlist: New Releases 08.07.07

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Album: Okkervil River - The Stage Names

Far less melancholy then 2005's Black Sheep Boy, The Stage Names finds Will Sheff and the band more playful, making it an easier first listen. If the songs prove to be as dense as prior releases, then this will be their best (and most accessible) album yet, which is saying a lot. Given that Okkervil River's songs become better with repeat listens, it's safe to say this album will find itself on many end of the year lists (including mine.)

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Album: Flight of the Conchords - The Distant Future

Quickly becoming an 'insider' cult classic, the HBO series Flight of the Conchords is a pop-culture dream. When ESPN's Sportcenter starts quoting from it ("It's Business Time,") you know it's made it (now let's get that second season picked up.) Sub Pop releases their first US offering with this mixed-bag EP of comedic genius. "Business Time" hilariously cops the vibe of Prince's "If I Was Your Girlfriend," sexing up the mundane day-to-day life of a married couple.

You lean in close and say something sexy like "I might go to bed...I've got work in the morning."
I know what you're trying to say baby.
You're tryin to say "Ooh yeah, it's business time..."

The EP mixes in some live songs, which is good, because a song like "Robots" works so much better with a setup (which "Banter" helps provide,) and lets you know that Jemaine Clement's robot voice is not done with effects (a more dead-on Stephen Hawking impression you'll never ever hear.

Download: "Business Time" (Sub Pop)
Free album stream from AOL

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More going (or already in) the Sansa
The Brunettes - Structure and Cosmetics
Art in Manila - Set the Woods on Fire
Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir
Peter Case - Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John
Benzos - Branches
Christy & Emily - Gueen's Head
Simple Kid - 2
Tarentel - Ghetto Beats On The Surface Of The Sun

tags: music, album review, okkervil river, flight of the conchords, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody