Beirut - "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen cover)

"Hallelujah" has got to be one of the most, if not the most, covered songs of the last 25 years. The myriad covers have ranged from transcendental (Jeff Buckley, obviously) to just plain pointless (a lot of folks). Thankfully, Beirut turns in a lovely, ukulele-led version of "Hallelujah" that was recorded for a recent Black Session on French radio station France Inter. This solo take by Beirut leader Zach Condon owes more to the Jeff Buckley version than Leonard Cohen's original. Then again, we've gotten to a point where pretty much everyone who covers "Hallelujah" does exactly that - intentionally or not. (Thanks MOKB)

Download MP3: "Hallelujah"

The Black Keys - "Strange Times"

Initially, the songs that comprise Attack & Release were supposed to be a joint collaboration between The Black Keys, Ike Turner and Danger Mouse. Being a big Black Keys fan, Danger Mouse asked them if they would like to write some songs for an Ike Turner "comeback" album which Danger Mouse would be producing. The sessions for the planned album had only just begun when Ike tragically passed away last year, but Danger Mouse and The Black Keys soldiered on and decided to release the songs as a new Black Keys album. With Danger Mouse helming the production duties, the Black Keys receive a much needed boost to their sound. They're still raw and dirty as ever, but the duo's guitar/vox/drum sound is augmented by subtle studio trickery, keyboards, etc. "Strange Times" is the first single and it sports a trademark scuzzy blues-metal riff and Magical Mystery Tour-style choruses - a side of The Beatles you'd never expect to hear in the Black Keys' music.

Download MP3: "Strange Times"

The Velvet Underground - "I'm Not A Young Man Anymore"

Who would have thought, after four decades, we'd get to hear a new VU song? Not I. According to various sources, a vinyl bootleg billed as a 1967 performance by the Velvet Underground at the Gymnasium in New York became available on ebay this month. It boasted the inclusion of one unreleased track entitled "I'm Not A Young Man Anymore." So, here it is in all it's fuzzy, lo-fi glory - 7 minutes of winding, furious, "Run Run Run"-style blues riffing. The sound quality isn't amazing, but it never was with the Velvet Underground.

Download MP3: "I'm Not A Young Man Anymore"

Cut Copy - "So Haunted"

I have been falling in love with this Australian, electro-rock trio over the last few months, and I'm anxiously awaiting the release of their new album, In Ghost Colours, which DFA's Tim Goldsworthy is co-producing with band leader Dan Whitford. I already posted the dazzling first single, "Lights & Music", a little while back. "So Haunted" is another stellar track from In Ghost Colours, but this one seems a bit influenced by Kevin Shields' mode of attack. The verses are filled with swarming guitar feedback which, of course, makes way for a big synth breakdown towards the end.

Download MP3: "So Haunted"

El Guincho - "Antillas"

At the end of last year, Panda Bear's Person Pitch showed up on countless year-end lists - most of the time, near the top. There has been a lot of blog-based speculation that the success of Person Pitch would trigger a crop of imitators in the near future. Here to prove that forecast true (at least partially) is El Guincho aka Pablo Díaz-Reixa who has roots in both Barcelona and the Canary Islands. The influence and imitation of Noah Lennox is uncontestable, but El Guincho's debut, Alegranza, actually sounds closer to the new material Animal Collective has been playing live for the last year. "Antillas" and several other songs on Alegranza also brought to mind The Talking Heads' Naked which is less informed by African music and more by Latin/Carribean sounds.

Download MP3: "Antillas"

Miracle Fortress - "Digital Love" (Daft Punk cover)

After releasing one of my favorite albums of 2007, Five Roses, I've been anxious to hear something new from Miracle Fortress. It was such a pleasant surprise to discover that they'd recorded this euphoric cover of one of my favorite Daft Punk songs, "Digital Love." It manages to recreate the requisite electronic flourishes while injecting a warm, human element to the song. It's sort of amazing how easily the band makes "Digital Love" their own. Big thanks to You Aint No Picasso for the heads up.

Download MP3: "Digital Love"

La Blogotheque Presents: Throw Me The Statue

One of my favorite new bands, Throw Me The Statue, hooked up with the La Blogotheque crew to record a couple songs from their fantastic debut LP Moonbeams. They played two of my favorites, "About To Walk" and "Lolita," on a ferry in a sound outside their homebase of Seattle.

Throw Me the Statue - Lolita
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Throw Me The Statue - About to walk
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Heavy Rotation: Shocking Pinks

If DFA's quality control continues to maintain their current level of excellence, I won't be able to stop pimping their roster. The Shocking Pinks' self-titled LP was released by DFA late last year, and I finally got around to hearing it. Strangely enough, The Shocking Pinks do not sound like the typcial DFA band. They are heavier on the guitars and lighter on the beats. The band's brainchild is New Zealander Nick Harte - a gifted songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has concocted a dense, gorgeous amalgam of new wave, shoegaze and dance-punk. Over the course of 17 tracks, Shocking Pinks manages to weave together My Bloody Valentine, The Microphones, Kraftwerk, New Order, The Clean and the occasional cowbell. Whether the song is dissonant, droning, thumping or wispy, Harte's ear for melody never falters.

Download MP3: "Emily"
Download MP3: "The Narrator"

The video for "Emily":

Feist - "I Feel It All (Britt Daniel Remix)"

I recently posted the video for "I Feel It All" and am now happy to share Britt Daniel's fantastic remix for the song which is a bonus track on the digital-only "I Feel It All" single (courtesy of I Guess I'm Floating). He doesn't mess with the song a whole hell of lot, but the small changes make a big difference. Britt brings the piano, bass and drums to the forefront - essentially making it sound more like a Spoon song. Well, that description might do it a bit of a disservice - I promise, it's great.

Download MP3: "I Feel It All (Britt Daniel Remix)"

She & Him - "Sweet Darlin'"

Boy, oh boy. Zooey's voice is just slaying me - like stopping me dead in my tracks. The girl is like Dusty Springfield, Patsy Cline and The Crystals all rolled into one. I've already pointed out how glorious the first single is, and I am happy to report that the album lives up to that song's promise. "Sweet Darlin'" is another clear standout for me. It's classic Spector wall-of-sound, girl-group retro-pop. Zooey's vocals have been multi-tracked and stacked to approximate a group of singers and it works marvelously. Everything else you'd expect from a Spector track is here: the booming echo, galloping percussion and soaring strings. It's the kind of thing that'll make you smile unabashedly.

Download MP3: "Sweet Darlin'"

My Morning Jacket: Off The Record EP

With MMJ's new album, Evil Urges, slated for release sometime in June, I've been jonesin' pretty hard to hear something new from my favorite Kentuckians. Last night, I came across the Off The Record EP which contains 2 b-sides from the Z sessions: "How Could I Know" and "Chills" - neither of which are anywhere close to being throwaways. Although, I can understand why they were left off of Z. On that album, MMJ was branching out and exploring new sounds. "How Could I Know" and "Chills" are throwbacks to the languid, gauzy songcraft of The Tennessee Fire and At Dawn. Get your fill until the new stuff leaks.

Download MP3: "How Could I Know"
Download MP3: "Chills"

Clear Tigers - "Igloo"

This Brooklyn-based five-piece just came onto my radar yesterday. A friend's recommendation led me to download "Igloo" from their myspace page. Upon hearing said track, I was awestruck and rushed to buy their self-released debut, Brutal, off of iTunes. When I first heard "Igloo," what immediately struck me was how much it sounded like something off of Wolf Parade's first 2 EP's. It's a creaky, dreamy thing built with winding keyboards, guitar and Nathan Akin's emotive howl. Actually, now that I think about it, the most accurate comparison would be the Handsome Furs' ramshackle, synth 'n' guitar tunes. I really can't believe these guys haven't been signed yet, but I hope it happens soon.

Download MP3: "Igloo"

Built To Spill: Under The Covers

I am home sick today, and I've got covers on my mind (har har). I've had this stockpile of sweet Built To Spill covers for quite some time and I thought I'd share them with you. They're all live bootlegs, and the quality ranges from good to great.

Download MP3: "What Goes On" (The Velvet Underground)
Download MP3: "What Is Life?" (George Harrison)
Download MP3: "Imagine" (John Lennon)
Download MP3: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (The Beatles)
Download MP3: "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" (The Clash)
Download MP3: "Freebird" (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

The New Pornographers - "Myriad Harbour" video

Dan Bejar's giddy ode to New York City gets the animated video treatment. Who knew his cartoon fro and beard could be so transfixing?

Throw Me The Statue - "About To Walk"

This week marks the 10 year anniversary of the release of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. It has been ten long years since Jeff Mangum unleashed his phantasmagoric magnum opus upon a very unsuspecting world. I bring this up because I believe Throw Me The Statue mastermind Scott Reitherman to be a bright new torchbearer of Mangum's peculiar sound. Fans of The Microphones, Jens Lekman and The Magnetic Fields should be quick converts as well. Throw Me The Statue's debut LP Moonbeams will out next Tuesday on Secretly Canadian. It's a tantalizing cocktail of cheap casio synths, fuzzy brass ensembles and fleet-fingered strumming. "About To Walk" is taken from the EP of the same name. I've been listening incessantly to this blissful cut of fuzzy, lo-fi indie rock all week. I dare you to attempt resistance.

Download MP3: "About To Walk"

Heavy Rotation: The Dodos

This San Francisco-based duo began as the musical project of Meric Long under the name Dodobird, but with the timely addition of Logan Kroeber, Dodobird became The Dodos. Long tends to strum his acoustic guitar the lead-fisted intensity found in songs like Neutral Milk Hotel's "Two-Headed Boy" and Bob Dylan's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" while Kroeber rolls out frenzied Panda Bear-inspired drumming. In fact, "Fools" may just remind you of Animal Collective's "The Purple Bottle." I am also frequently reminded of Akron/Family's blend of granola crunch and tribal psychedelia. The Dodos' second full-length album, Visiter, will be released on March 18th by Frenchkiss Records. Both of the following MP3's are taken from Visiter.

Download MP3: "Fools"
Download MP3: "Jodi"

Hercules & Love Affair - "Time Will"

I've already praised their brilliant single "Blind" which features the heavenly pipes of Antony Hegarty, but I can't laud this Greek mythology-obsessed band enough. Hercules & Love Affair's self-titled debut long-player (due in March on DFA records) is a freewheeling, eclectic album that conjures up a plethora of references: Sly & the Family Stone, disco, LCD Soundsystem, Bjork, IDM, Talking Heads, The Knife and synth-pop are just what come to my mind right now. Thankfully, Antony lends his stunning vocals to 4 more songs on the album, one of which is opener "Time Will." This spellbinding track could have easily fit onto The Knife's Silent Shout or Bjork's Vespertine, but, again, Antony's voice pushes the song into a whole, new otherworldly territory.

As a bonus, I posted the music video for "Blind" below.

Download MP3: "Time Will"

Kanye West w/ Daft Punk: "Stronger" (Live at the Grammys)

The Proclaimers - "Over and Done With"

Scottish twins Charlie and Craig Reid are best known for their random hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" which served as the theme song to Benny & Joon way back in 1993. "Over and Done With" was originally written and recorded for The Proclaimers' 1987 debut, This is the Story, and Wes Anderson had the good taste to resurrect it for the soundtrack to his debut film Bottle Rocket in 1997. The Reid brothers' forceful, melodic folk-rock might sound a little bland if it wasn't for their thick, Scottish accents. To me, there is something incredibly endearing about hearing two Scotsmen singing couplets like : "This is the story of losing my virginity/I held my breath and the bed held a trinity." Most importantly, "Over and Done With" is a brisk, massively infectious tune that'll get lodged in your brain and likely never leave.

Download MP3: "Over and Done With"

Joanna Newsom: Bootleg Update

After a little extra digging, I came across a blog, No Words, with a few live recordings from Joanna Newsom's most recent tour. The only downloads still available were recordings of "Emily" with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and a new arrangement of "Inflammatory Writ" with her touring band. The sound quality is very good on both songs.

Download MP3: "Emily" (with symphony)
Download MP3: "Inflammatory Writ" (new band arrangement)

Heavy Rotation: Port O'Brien

Port O'Brien is the musical project of northern Californian and sometimes Alaskan fisherman/boat hand Van Pierszalowski. He spends roughly a third of every year fishing for salmon with his father off of Kodiak Island in Alaska. Many of his songs were written at sea which explains the constant nautical imagery. Thus far, they've released songs in various formats including a compilation of EP tracks entitled The Wind and The Swell. Van & Co. have mastered the fine art of skewed folk-rock. At various times, they remind me of The Microphones, Animal Collective's Sung Tongs, M. Ward (who has claimed Port O'Brien to be his favorite band), Neil Young's On The Beach, Bodies of Water and Iron & Wine. The 2 MP3's I've included below are taken from their upcoming, full-length debut All We Could Do Was Sing which will be out in May.

Download MP3: "I Woke Up Today"
Download MP3: "Stuck On A Boat"

Projekt A-Ko/Horowitz - Split 7"

I just became aware of these two fledgling UK bands. Projekt A-Ko was formed by members of defunct Glasgow band Urusei Yatsura. Both bands specialize in blissful boy-girl indie-rock of the shoegaze persuasion - their songs easily bring to mind My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tengo & The Jesus & Mary Chain. Horowitz makes the kind of fuzzy twee-pop that fellow Scots The Vaselines perfected. As the title suggests, Projekt A-Ko and Horowitz have a split 7" coming out next week on Filthy Little Angels records. Since I'm a newcomer, I'll let the press release speak for itself:

'Nothing Works Twice' is the first official release from Projekt A-Ko's forthcoming debut album. Delivering an energetic burst of noisy shoegaze-pop, the song builds on the instantly recognizable sound of the Glasgow-based band's former group Urusei Yatsura, who in their eight year career released three albums, a host of EPs and recorded several radio sessions including four for the late John Peel.

Horowitz's delightfully sweet and catchy 'Sweetness, I Could Die in Your Arms' and 'Hug Target' compliment the flipside perfectly. Following a sold-out single on Cloudberry Records, their debut album 'Frosty Cat Songs' is available physically on Kitchen Records and digitally through cult indie label Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation. They were voted at number 18 in the legendary Festive Fifty on Dandelion Radio for 2007 with the song ‘Tracyanne’.

Both bands have many songs streaming on their respective myspace pages: Project A-Ko's is here. Horowitz is here.

Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"

Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, was self-pressed and released late last year, but will be receiving a proper release through Jagjaguwar Records on February 19th. I regret ignoring all the blog-praise it's been reaping for the last several months and not giving it a listen sooner. After one song, I was floored. Don't be fooled into thinking this is just another guy with another acoustic guitar writing another song about a girl. Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) has a sweet, grainy falsetto very similar to TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe. Listening to "Skinny Love," I felt like I was listening to an acoustic demo of an unreleased TVOTR song. The production casts a dusty haze over the songs - something that recalls M. Ward. What's miraculous about Bon Iver, a guy with an acoustic guitar, is that he manages to stand out with a sound that is pretty unique and timeless.

Download MP3: "Skinny Love"

Black Kids - "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" (Live on MTV2 UK)

Why is the UK always cooler than the US in so many ways? MTV2 UK recorded this live performance of Black Kids' best song (so far).

The Knife - "Heartbeats" (BBC OneMusic Session)

The cold of winter has prompted me to revisit The Knife's magnificent Silent Shout. It's just not an album you can listen to in warm weather. The icy synths, jagged beats and Nordic vocals are much easier to embrace with frost in the air and snow on the ground. Although "Heartbeats" did not appear on Silent Shout, this stunning version performed during a BBC OneMusic Session in 2005 is cut from the same cloth as Silent Shout. The pace is almost glacial and the bubblegum snap of the original has been replaced with a somber yearning much like Jose Gonzalez's hit cover version. The original made me want to dance, but this version moves me. Simply put, it is a superior take on an already brilliant song - one of the best of this decade.

Downloand MP3: "Heartbeats" (BBC OneMusic Session)

Neil Young - "See The Sky About To Rain"

On The Beach has long been my favorite Neil Young album. I'm not saying it is his best album, but, for me, it doesn't get any better than Beach's soothing swirl of melancholy. I know this will sound corny, but listening to it does give me the feeling that I'm sitting in the sand with the wind and waves crashing serenely around me. "See The Sky About To Rain" evokes these feelings in me more than any other song on the album. The doleful organ and pedal steel glide along with Neil's vocals to hypnotic effect. The most recent Neil Young archival release, Live at Massey Hall 1971, contains a breath-taking solo version of "See The Sky About To Rain" with Neil alone on the piano. This live version at Massey Hall truly gives the original a run for its money - it may even be better.

Download MP3: "See The Sky About To Rain" (On the Beach)
Download MP3: "See The Sky About To Rain" (Live at Massey Hall 1971)

Jens Lekman - "Pocketful of Money"

After falling in love with Jens' latest, Night Falls Over Kortedala, I backtracked into the older stuff. Lately, I've been obsessively listening to "Pocketful of Money." The incorporated sample of Beat Happening's "Gravedigger Blues" sparked the initial attraction. If I hadn't been told that it was a sample, I would have thought Calvin Johnson had just stepped into the studio to sing some lines with Jens. The way Jens creates an imaginary duet by harmonizing with Calvin's sampled vocals to sing "I'll come runnin' with a heart on a fire" is a truly magical moment that'll give you kick-me-in-the-heart smiles.

Download MP3: "Pocketful of Money"

Joanna Newsom - "Cosmia (live)"

I was fortunate enough to witness Joanna Newsom performing the entirety of Ys with the Brooklyn Philharmonic last night, and I'm still a little slack-jawed. I spent a chunk of this morning scouring the internet for bootleg recordings of one of these recent symphony shows that she's been doing all over the world. Alas, I came up with nothing. Last year, I saw Joanna on her first tour in support of Ys. It was sans symphony, but her 5 person touring band was amazing by any measure. Throughout the performance, the band rotated through an assortment of instruments : banjo, tambura, guitar, accordion, musical saw, timpani and drums. As I've mentioned before, the Joanna Newsom & The Ys Street Band EP released last year featured new arrangements of "Cosmia" and "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" featuring the touring band. "Cosmia" is the standout for me. Clocking in at over 13 minutes (almost twice the album version's length), it never loses steam.

Download MP3: "Cosmia (live)"

Les Savy Fav - "Patty Lee" (Live on Conan O'Brien)

The always brilliant Les Savy Fav throwdown a strip-tastic rendition of "Patty Lee" for Conan O'Brien's viewing audience. Conan totally loved that shit.