Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Thought Ballune - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Portland trio Unknown Mortal Orchestra stopped by the Fuel TV studios to deliver this locked-in performance of "Thought Ballune", a cut from their excellent self-titled debut LP, on shelves last week thanks to Fat Possum.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Collections of Colonies of Bees - GIVING


The very brilliant experimental rock con-flab Collections of Colonies of Bees are set to release their new LP GIVING on 2 August 2011 via the Hometapes lable.

Enjoy a scintillating live rendition of the opening track Lawn unleashed on a very grateful audience at Tokyo's Shibuya O-West.

Collections of Colonies of Bees - Lawn from Hometapes on Vimeo.

Wilco - I Might


This past weekend, Wilco's second annual Solid Sound Festival went down in North Adams, Massachusetts. One of the special treats for attendees of the festival was first dibs on copies of Wilco's new 7" single, "I Might", the first single on Wilco's new, self-owned record label, dBpm Records. (It's backed by a cover of Nick Lowe's "I Love My Label", appropriately enough.) The single, which you can stream below, hits shops July 19. (via Stereogum).

Monday, June 27, 2011

The Unthanks - Last

And now for some superlative wordsmanship on the newish Unthanks LP, Last, from our favourite Hunter-gatherer, Craig "the rural sophisticate" Howe(?). Take it away Craigus.

"Every now and then you come across an album that is not just an excellent listen, but that opens the door on a facet of the music world previously unknown to you. 

The Unthanks ‘Last’ is one such record, and I’ll certainly be giving their back catalogue a thorough going-over.  Rachel and Becky Unthanks, sisters from England’s North East, were raised amongst a rich folk tradition and are musically classified as ‘contemporary folk’ which would normally have me heading in the other direction. 

While it is a very English record and a lot of the subject matter is based around local tales and traditions, the unique vocal performances ensure that this record transcends any genre classification.

The title track is a seven minute gem underpinned by a lilting piano refrain and a snare nestling just behind the beat. The respective voices of the sisters are highlighted beautifully; Rachel’s purer tones against the smokier tones of Becky, as they share verses then join in a gorgeous, swelling harmony.   

The sisters regional dialect comes through clearly, particularly in the ‘Queen of Hearts’, a three/four number featuring autoharp and cornet, and the Geordie accent has never sounded more appealing or wistful. Their regional roots are evident in songs such as ‘Gan to the Kye’,  and ‘Close the Coalhouse Door’ (about a coalmining disaster), and The Gallowgate Lad, while  they choose some interesting covers, namely King Crimson’s ‘Starless’ and Tom Waits’ ‘No-one Knows I’m Gone’.

Find yourself a cold wintry afternoon, stoke the fire, pour yourself a glass of red and let the majesty of this record reveal itself to you."

01 The Unthanks - Last (Live 6 Music Session) by drakeygirl

And check out this awesome, oh-so brief, live performance by the Unthanks at the Imagine Festival in Waterford, Ireland. Quite superb.

The Unthanks from John Loftus | Creative* on Vimeo.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Truly magestical new song from Portland indie-rock mysterios, Unknown Mortal Orchestra. "Ffunny Ffriends" is lifted from their self-titled debut long-player released just last week. 

Just you try to cut it short. Simply impossible. 

Hence the lengthy fade-out we guess. Should go even longer. 

But just look at that luscious fade-out in the sound-wave file view. A thing of beauty.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Ffunny Ffrends by chaught02

Unknown Mortal Orchestra filmed this performance of "How Can You Luv Me" while in the Different Fur Studios in San Francisco, as part of a recent Yours Truly shoot. The track is from their self-titled debut LP, out June 21 on Fat Possum.


Yourstru.ly Presents: UMO "How Can You Luv Me" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Jay Reatard's original garage-punk outfit: REATARDS

And for those who need a punch in the face to get going this weekend, here's a 15 year-old Jay Reatard punching a guitar-shaped hole in the face of tomorrow with a scorchingly low-fi, full-throttle DIY, splash-splotter version of Chuck Taylor's All Star Blues.

Take it away Jay!





And don't dare miss Reatards brand new re-issue out now on Goner Records, "Teenage Hate". "Guitar, screaming, and pounding." That's how Jimmy "Jay" Lindsey credited himself in the liner notes of his first proper LP, 1998's Teenage Hate. He also billed himself as Jay Reatard, the pseudonym he would use on a staggering number of recordings until his death early last year. According to a transcript included with this deluxe reissue of Teenage Hate, Reatard was a name taken on one night not long before the material was recorded, during a live set comprised of Bay City Rollers covers. "After our first song some guy with a big green mohawk yelled out 'you guys are fucking reatarded [sic],'" he said. "So at the next garage party we played, I announced us as the Reatards kinda as a joke but the name fit so we kept it."

King Khan and the Shrines

Explode your sunny weekend into full shine-tastic splendour with none other than King Khan and the Shrines singing from a rooftop near you..

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver

Lyrical snapshot from the highly anticipated sophomore release of Justin Vernon and his band Bon Iver:

"Iʼm tearing up, acrost your face
move dust through the light
to fide your name
it’s something fane
this is not a place
not yet awake, I’m raised of make


still alive who you love
still alive who you love
still alive who you love


in a mother, out a moth
furling forests for the soft
gotta know been lead aloft
so I’m ridding all your stories
what I know, what it is, is pouring – wire it up!


you’re breaking your ground."

Some pretty far-flung abstracted symbology going on there, you'd be forgiven thinking. But in its sonic context it works perfectly. It works so well in fact, I think I'm about ready to forgive him for that final track on the album - the wholly ironic-less smelly piece of 80s cheese - Beth/Rest.



Written by Justin Vernon with Andre Durand and Dan Huiting
Directed by Andre Durand and Dan Huiting
Produced by Daniel Cummings and Picture Machine Productions

Making Eye Contact...


Here's a few choice words about the new Gang Gang Dance effort from none other than the CEO of Flying Lobster himself, Pierce "Duder" Brown.

"The new album from New York’s Gang Gang Dance, their first for 4AD, begins with the words "I can hear everything, it's everything time”. This ushers in the sound of the remarkable 11 minute electronic apocalypse of Glass Jar, a magnificent, spiraling, sprawling album opener, which proves an early climax on this, their category-defying 5th outing. Unlike their recent output, 2005’s dark-ambient masterpiece God's Money or the grime world beat of 2008’s Saint Dymphna, Gang Gang Dance chose to undertake a more fully realized writing and recording process for Eye Contact to produce their highly original and distinctively percussive Eastern groove. Recorded with new drummer Jesse Lee, who replaces founding member Tim DeWit, the album was written in the peaceful Californian desert and recorded in a spacious converted-church studio in upstate New York. The result is an album that plays like a voyage or single composition, taking twists and turns within gloriously maze-like arrangements.

Although New Yorker's may talk about this band in the same breath as their good friends and spiritual brothers in the shadows of Animal Collective and Black Dice, that doesn't truly describe their sound. Wielding gigantically layered primal kaleidoscopic atmospherics, Gang Gang Dance are simply a little bit scary and a lot bit good. The electronic soul of key track Chinese High opens with a stuttering piece of spoken word sampling reminiscent of a ghost talking to themselves underneath a refrain, but once it kicks off it’s well-structured, visionary stuff.

The band’s secret weapon is the ethereal alien vocals of Lizzi Bougastos. Like another instrument, her voice is the arc around which the melodies are intertwined, weaving in and out and over their propulsive genre-splattering jazz percussion. Songs gradually build celestial wonder and cosmic euphoria and the album flies by in a seductive mélange of non-specific non-Western influences, tribal drums, and Frippertronic guitars. There are free-improvisational aspects (which Gang Gang Dance have become renowned for in the live setting) and unpredictability remains within their soundscapes, yet there is also a sense of well-defined structure throughout. While no commercial crossover will be gained from Eye Contact, Gang Gang Dance have released one of the most captivating albums of the year, each song different yet cohesive, challenging and ultimately highly rewarding."

Meat Puppets - Lollipop


The Meat Puppets remain one of the most significant and vibrant American original acts. The band’s reputation is linch pinned because of their incomparable abilities in blending punk/d.i.y. attitude with country and psychedelic rock feel. The esteemed Kirkwood brothers were widely exposed to the MTV generation when Nirvana’s Cobain pursued them to join as guest musicians on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance in 1993. The band’s subsequent album Too High to Die went gold, selling over 500,000 albums, and became their most successful commercial release. After various trials and tribulations that have been well documented, the band reunited in 2006. With the new Lollipop, the band has now delivered three consecutive bat-right-on-the-ball studio efforts.

Meat Puppets - Damn Thing by All Tomorrows Parties

New Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks


On August 22, 2011, Domino will be releasing ‘Mirror Traffic‘, the 5th post-Pavement album from Stephen Malkmus and the 3rd or 4th to bear the Jicks name (depending on whether you’re looking at spines, sleeves or labels).

Produced by Beck Hansen, ‘Mirror Traffic’ makes a compelling case that after some 22 years in the public eye, Stephen Malkmus’ full range of musical and lyrical capabilities had yet to be previously explored.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Senator by DominoRecordCo