Animal Collective mania continues! "Blue Sky" is a new jam the band has been playing on their current tour, and I had the pleasure of hearing it in person last week. The song's long intro sports a lethargic, DJ Shadow-esque breakbeat that gradually builds into the gorgeous, hypnotic second half which is actually built around a sample from the Grateful Dead's "Unbroken Chain."
"Knotty Pine" is taken from the forthcoming Red Hot compilation, Dark Was The Night, which will be out 2/17 on 4AD. For anyone unfamiliar with Red Hot, it is "an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture." Dark Was The Night was curated/produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. Being a Dirty Projectors fan, Mr. Byrne contacted head Projector, Dave Longstreth, about collaborating for the project. Byrne ended up giving Longstreth lyrics he had written way back in the late '70's and asked him to write a tune for them. Not surprisingly, the Dirty Projectors did a fantastic job. "Knotty Pine" is a jubilant, jerky song that could have fit in nicely on Talking Heads' '77.
Disc One
01 "Knotty Pine" - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
02 "Cello Song (Nick Drake)" - The Books Feat. Jose Gonzalez
03 "Train Song" - Feist + Ben Gibbard
04 "Brackett, WI" - Bon Iver
05 "Deep Blue Sea" - Grizzly Bear
06 "So Far Around the Bend" - The National (arrangement by Nico Muhly)
07 "Tightrope" - Yeasayer
08 "Feeling Good" (popularized by Nina Simone) - My Brightest Diamond
09 "Dark Was the Night" (Blind Willie Johnson) - Kronos Quartet
10 "I Was Young When I Left Home" (Bob Dylan) - Antony + Bryce Dessner
11 "Big Red Machine" - Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
12 "Sleepless" - The Decemberists
13 "Stolen Houses" (Die) - Iron and Wine
14 "Service Bell" - Grizzly Bear + Feist
15 "You Are The Blood" - Sufjan Stevens
Disc Two
01 "Well-Alright" - Spoon
02 "Lenin" - Arcade Fire
03 "Mimizan" - Beirut
04 "El Caporal" - My Morning Jacket
05 "Inspiration Information" (Shuggie Otis) - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
06 "With A Girl Like You" (The Troggs) - Dave Sitek
07 "Blood Pt 2" (based on original song "You are the Blood" by the Castanets) - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
08 "Hey, Snow White" (Destroyer) - The New Pornographers
09 "Gentle Hour" (Snapper) - Yo La Tengo
10 "Another Saturday" (traditional song) - Stuart Murdoch
11 "Happiness" - Riceboy Sleeps
12 "Amazing Grace" (traditional song) - Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
13 "The Giant Of Illinois" (Handsome Family) - Andrew Bird
14 "Lua" - Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch
15 "When the Road Runs Out" - Blonde Redhead + Devastations
16 "Love vs. Porn" - Kevin Drew
Handsome Furs' sophomore album, Face Control, is/was one of my most anticipated releases of 2009, and I'm pleased to report that it completely delivers the goods. The interplay between Dan Boeckner and his wife, Alexei Perry, has only gotten better since Plague Park and the fruits of their collaborative labors are grand indeed. Case in point: "I'm Confused," which is just one of many exceptional jams on the album. For whatever reason, I have a difficult time tiring of the Furs' ramrod welding of electronic rhythms/textures and swaggering rock riffs (I liken it to Springsteen fronting New Order). The differences between Plague Park and Face Control are not great, but the production is more hi-fi this time around. Also, Face Control's songs tend to possess a quicker pulse and more directness.
For me, new Neko Case is always cause for rejoicing. At this point in time, I know it's pretty damn redundant pointing out that she possesses a siren's voice - capable of slaying you and making your heart melt simultaneously. "People Got A Lotta Nerve" is the first single from her forthcoming fifth album, Middle Cyclone, which is out 3/3 on Anti- Records. After a few listens, "People Got A Lotta Nerve" seems an odd choice for a first single. It hasn't grabbed me the way Fox Confessor's "Star Witness" did...but, really, I'm splittin' hairs here. It's another great siren song.
The title track from Bon Iver's soon-to-be-released EP, Blood Bank, is - like a lot of his work - a quiet stunner. "Blood Bank" and the three new tracks that accompany it all benefit from the addition of bandmates into Bon Iver's fold. These additions are both tasteful and subtle - they simply add texture and body to Justin Vernon's skeletal compositions. As always, Vernon's smoky falsetto is the draw and the payoff all in one.
Matt Houck a.k.a Phosphorescent has decided to follow up the fantastic Pride with To Willie, an album comprised entirely of Willie Nelson covers. Upon hearing the opening track, "Reasons To Quit," I was immediately struck by how natural this project must have been for Mr. Houck. Anyone who has listened to Phosphorescent knows that autumnal Americana is his forte, so these 11 covers sound as much like Phosphorescent as anything he's written. Seeing as how Phosphorescent has been compared to Bonnie 'Prince' Billy so much in the past, melancholic lines like "And I'm hardly ever sober and my ol' friends don't come 'round much anymore" keep bringing "I See A Darkness" to my mind.
I have to admit I've never listened to the Black Lips much, but this first single from their forthcoming album, 200 Million Thousand, has sunk its claws deep into me and I've had it on repeat for at least a week now. "Starting Over" is four minutes of lo-fi crackle and scuzzy jangle - that perfect sound you only hear on records like The Velvet Underground & Nico and Slanted & Enchanted. I have no idea what to expect from the rest of 200 Million Thousand, but I can only assume this is an omen of good things to come.
By now, I'm sure most of you have had the chance to revel in the glorious new Animal Collective album, Merriweather Post Pavilion. I'll just go ahead and say it: the album is so fucking good that it has effectively handicapped 2009.....and it's only January 3rd. Don't be surprised when spring hits and you hear passing cars blasting "My Girls" or "Summertime Clothes" so damn loud that the bass rattles your brains. Anyways, this brings me to Blind Man's Colour which consists of Kyle Wyss and Orhan Chettri from St. Petersburg, Florida. While they have written and recorded original material, their phenomenal covers of 3 songs from Merriweather Post Pavilion are what caught my ear. Even more impressively, they recorded their covers months ago when they could only work off of live Animal Collective bootlegs. The duo does a marvelous job towing the line between reverent and unique - their takes being more acoustic/organic, but still hallocinatory and echo-laden. After hearing MPP, their covers only seem more enjoyable and impressive.
Brooklyn's Here We Go Magic is the new moniker of singer/songwriter Luke Temple. I have never heard Temple's work prior to Here We Go Magic, but, from what I've read, Here We Go Magic is quite a leap forward for him stylistically. Their self-titled debut (due 2/24 on Western Vinyl) has been dominating my first week of 2009. Here We Go Magic hints at the African-inflected songwriting of Paul Simon and David Byrne, but Temple's songs have a much more esoteric, aquatic feel to them. In fact, Here We Go Magic often resembles a heady amalgam of the casio-tinged, psych-pop of Oh, Inverted World and the transformative folk of Sung Tongs. The standout track, "Tunnelvision," is an exemplary mashing of these myriad styles.
