Ear on TV: Week of 11.30.09: Band of Skulls

Most would assume that bands were clamoring to get in New Moon's soundtrack, but for many, like the UK's Band of Skulls, it wasn't even on their radar. In fact, the band found out via the Los Angeles Times that a demo they'd recorded after finishing their debut album (Baby Darling Doll Face Honey) had been pegged for inclusion. It wasn't until singer/guitarist Russell Marsden spoke to his 22-year old sister that the band began to understand just how a big deal it was getting the song ("Friends") on the soundtrack.

The band performs on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Friday night, likely playing the soundtrack contribution in the wake of the film's success. They've had a streak of good television and film inclusions, between the song "I Know What I Am" getting used in an iPod commercial and "Blood" getting placement in this past season of True Blood. Two vampire franchises in one year? Does the band like vampires? "No," said Mardsen, before they performed at the movie premiere, "they're not very nice." Similarly, they had no interest in meeting the film's stars, preferring instead to checkout fellow performers Sea Wolf (who who are also on the calendar this week playing The Bonnie Hunt Show on Tuesday).

Meanwhile, Oscar winners Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova (The Swell Season), have warmed up to tinseltown a bit since becoming the toast of the ceremony in 2007, after their win for Once. Take their performance in Los Angeles this past week, where actor Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother) joined the band on stage to perform his own special composition. The band joined in for what turned out to be a musical pick-up line, referencing his penis and even including a real phone number to call for some action. I doubt Segel will be around when the band plays The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Monday night, but it gives me the perfect opportunity to embed the video (below).



Finally, it's the second installment of IFC's Dinner With the Band, which this week will be a much less crowded set featuring Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy. On the menu is This Lamb Sells Razor Clam Ragu, and plenty of twisted violin pop from Final Fantasy. Both sound delectable in their own way.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, November 30
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Death Cab for Cutie (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Weezer (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The Swell Season
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Bat For Lashes (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: The Ellen Degeneres Show: Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: Live With Regis and Kelly: Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
Tuesday, December 1
IFC: Dinner WIth the Band: Final Fantasy
FOX: Lopez Tonight: The Bravery
NBC: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Rickie Lee Jones
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Avett Brothers (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Cold War Kids (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: The Bonnie Hunt Show: Sea Wolf
Wednesday, December 2
CBS: Grammy Nominations Concert Live!: Maxwell, Sugarland, Black Eyed Peas, LL Cool J
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Cribs with Johnny Marr (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Raveonettes
SUNDANCE: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...: Elvis Costello, The Police (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Obits (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Lily Allen (REPEAT)
Thursday, December 3
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Mika (REPEAT)
FOX: Lopez Tonight: Los Lobos
MTV: It's On With Alexa Chung: The Big Pink
NBC: The Jay Leno Show: Maxwell
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Phoenix (REPEAT)
Friday, December 4
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Band of Skulls
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Wale (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Keane (REPEAT)
Saturday, December 5
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: David Gray
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Rihanna

Now Downloading: New Releases 10.27.09

We're quickly approaching the point of no return as far as significant releases go, before the tide turns to that of gift-oriented, so we have to savor what morsels are thrown our way. This week that means the latest from The Swell Season, Devendra Banhart, Tegan & Sara, Wolfmother, Gemma Ray, Broadcast And The Focus Group, Boat, a live release from R.E.M., a compilation from The Breakaways and deluxe reissues of U2's The Unforgettable Fire and James Brown's Live at the Garden: The Expanded Edition.

Playlist: New Releases 10.27.09

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The Swell Season - Strict Joy
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

As wrong as it is, it's hard not to think of this album as a sequel to Once, where Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova have broken up and are putting it to song. Of course The Swell Season existed before Once, with many of the songs from their debut ending up in the film, so this technically is a follow up to that release, but for the vast majority of the record buying public, Once is the starting point. I'm not sure what Hansard & Irglova are thinking putting their Van Morrison impersonations front and center (opening songs "Low Rising" and "Feeling The Pull"). The rest of the album has worked wonders as a sincerity tonic, cleansing my palate of all the irony and sarcasm in indie rock that are part of my usual diet, and for that I am grateful.

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Tegan and Sara - Sainthood
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

The transition from folk to minimalist new wave pop is almost complete for Tegan and Sara, with this their sixth album, Sainthood. Their past two releases both signaled the change, but the subject matter was a little dark on So Jealous and The Con. Here, there's a lighter feel to go with the witty banter the sisters showcase during their live set, and it just feels a bit more relaxed, confident... and yes, fun. And when your opening single is titled "Hell," that's saying something.

Free AOL Album Stream

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Devendra Banhart - What Will Be
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
Gemma Ray - Lights Out Zoltar
R.E.M. - Live at the Olympia
Broadcast And The Focus Group - Broadcast And The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age / Free AOL Album Stream
Yo Gabba Gabba: Music Is Awesome
Boat - Setting the Paces / "Lately (I've Been On My Back)" [mp3]
The Breakaways - Walking Out on Love: The Lost Sessions / Free AOL Album Stream
Junk Culture - West Coast / "West Coast" [mp3]
Los Lobos - Los Lobos Goes Disney
Deleted Waveform Gatherings - Ghost, She Said
The Mother Hips - Pacific Dust / Free AOL Album Stream
Chet - Chelsea Silver, Please Come Home
Chuck Prophet - ¡Let Freedom Ring!
Del McCoury - Family Circle
Gov't Mule - By a Thread / Free AOL Album Stream
Awesome New Republic - Hearts / Free AOL Album Stream
I Love You - Bell Ord Forrest / "The Colloquialism Is Simply 'Gas'" [mp3]

REISSUES
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire (Deluxe
Reissue)
James Brown Live at the Garden: The Expanded Edition

tags: music, album review, the swell season, devendra banhart, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

Ear on TV: Week of January 26: Andrew Bird

Singer/songwriter Andrew Bird, over a span of eight albums now, has quietly moved from obscurity into something resembling mainstream. Whether you recognize his work in recent Residence Inn commercials, playing in a Barnes & Noble, or in your iPod, his quirky violin, guitar and whistling melodies find a way to burrow into your head. His latest, Noble Beast -- released last week, finds Bird scaling back some of his eccentricities down to a still challenging piece of work that dares some radio airplay. What hasn't been pared back is his love of words, as witnessed in the song "Tenuousness": "From proto-Sanskrit Minoans to porto-centric Lisboans / Greek Cypriots and Hobishots / Who hang around the ports a lot." Now say it ten times fast -- and again while holding your tongue, just for fun.

Live, the multi-instrumentalist often builds a songs layers using loops, but when he plays "Fitz and Dizzyspells" on Letterman Tuesday night, time restrictions probably won't allow that spectacle. Instead we'll likely witness him move from guitar to violin along with his world champion caliber whistling. Either way, we should expect to hear a well-earned "wow" from David Letterman after the last note fades.

It's been four years since Franz Ferdinand's sophomore album, You Could Have It So Much Better, lived up to it's title and landed with a thud. Since that time, the Glasgow quartet vowed to shake things up, and tomorrow sees the release of the result in Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. It's an album that despite the vow, sounds a lot like the last, albeit with the addition of some more inventive keyboard sounds. I, for one, thought You Could Have It... was better than most gave credit, so that and the fact that they put on a good show is reason enough for me to be tuning in to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday night to see them perform "Ulysses" (or possibly "No You Girls Never No").

Finally, the latest season of Austin City Limits has been pretty good so far, and this week's lineup has to be my favorite, pairing the legendary Nick Lowe with the Oscar winning Swell Season (Once's Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova). Lowe's famous sharp wit and ironic lyrics have given away to a more graceful delivery, more in line with his nearly 60-year old voice, but expect to hear plenty of his classics (like "Cruel to be Kind") because the Basher is set to release a new collection of greatest hits called Quiet Please…The New Best of Nick Lowe, in anticipation of Lowe's 60th birthday in March. And so it goes and so it goes and so it goes and so it goes...

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, January 26
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Ben Kweller
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Mae Shi
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: The Bird & the Bee
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: The Walkmen
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Ting Tings (REPEAT)
Tuesday, January 27
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Andrew Bird
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: RZA
IFC: The Henry Rollins Show: Rufus Wainwright (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: M83
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Little Joy (REPEAT)
Wednesday, January 28
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Crystal Antlers
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Cold War Kids
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Katy Perry (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...: Elvis Costello, Renee Fleming
Thursday, January 29
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Franz Ferdinand
Friday, January 30
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Benji Hughes
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Glasvegas
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (REPEAT)
PBS: Tavis Smiley: M.I.A.
Saturday, January 31
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Jason Mraz>
PBS: Austin City Limits: Nick Lowe, The Swell Season
Sunday, February 1
NBC: Super Bowl XLIII: Bruce Springsteen (halftime show)

As always, be safe out there and check local listings

It's a Swell Season for Once

If you're at all like me -- and that's something I certainly wouldn't wish upon anyone -- than the highlight of the Oscars this past Sunday night was the performance and win by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for the song "Falling Slowly," from the film Once. Well, you can relive some of the magic tonight, as they perform and speak about the songs from that magical film on The Artist's Den, a live music program on the Ovation network.

Who: Swell Season (Oscar winners Glenn Hansard & Marketa Irglova)
When: 8PM EST, Thursday, February 28, with repeat at 11PM
Where: Ovation (Channels 157/Dish, 274/Directv, N/A on Comcast)
Check Your Area

The idea behind the series, is to put powerful performers in settings that have just as much a story to tell as the music. Swell Season's on a serious high, following their date with Oscar, and this recording, November 4, 2007, captured them as the film was catching fire. It features Glen Hansard (also of The Frames) and Marketa Irglova performing at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel in Seattle.

The building used to be a sanctuary and home for orphaned and "wayward" girls from 1906 until 1973, shortly after which it, and the entire Good Shepherd Center, received landmark status from Seattle. The center is now home to various community oriented projects, including artist studios up on the top floor of the chapel. It's a breathtaking setting perfect for the spell that Swell Season casts on the some 200 people in attendance.

Previously: The Top Movie Soundtracks of 2007