Yeasayer's new video (Not Safe for Viewing at Work)
The first single off of Yeasayer's upcoming album Odd Blood now has a video. "Ambling Amp," one of ten tracks to appear on the follow-up to All Hour Cymbals has already gotten many spins from me since they offered the single free (here). The video, a visually stunning compliment to the otherworldly tune, joins Sigur Ros and Flaming Lips as yet another weird video featuring running nudes.
Odd Blood drops February 9 on Secretly Canadian.
Warning :: Video has artfully tasteful nudity - not safe for work.
The wait for Spoon’s new album, Transference, will be a little shorter! Transference will now be released on January 19, 2010.
Produced by the band, Transference will be preceded by first single “Written In Reverse,” which will be released digitally December 1. A seven-inch vinyl release will follow January 5 featuring the exclusive B-side “Mean Red Spider,” which will not be available digitally. We will begin taking pre-orders for Transference and the “Written in Reverse” 7″ on Tuesday, December 1st.
To hear a live version of "Written In Reverse" from 2008, follow the link below. I wonder if "Mean Red Spider" and Get Nice's "Mean Mad Margaret" sound anything alike?
Just a friendly reminder to all who managed to nab tickets for this Friday's show - South London's The xx will be playing Neumos as stage support for Friendly Fires. For those of you who are just finding out about it now, this show is unfortunately sold out. Hopefully the band will gain enough popularity that would warrant a headliner tour later this year. Their album is one of the best 2009 has to offer. If you don't have it, get it now (here). To further entice you, listen to "Islands" and "Basic Space," two greats off the band's debut album xx.
"[The marimba is] an instrument that I've always liked, but I've never had the patience to bring on the road or even try recording. I don't think it's the coolest move for my 'street cred,' but it's a beautiful sounding instrument, what can I say?"
According to Jagjaguwar, Spencer Krug's experimental solo project has been given the name Moonface and will be releasing the 20 minute Dreamland EP: marimba and shit-drums on January 26, 2010 (the same day as Spoon's Transference!). For those of you who keep up with every Krug moniker, Moonface has already released a two-song picture disc in collaboration with artist David Horvitz. Those two songs however did not feature the marimba, so don't expect the same sound. So what should we expect? Jagjaguwar has only said the following:
This is physically available only in the vinyl format (approximately 20 minutes of music on a single side of a 12-inch record). It is also available in digital formats. The vinyl edition and some digital editions will be accompanied with a dream journal, on which the music is based.
I once kept a dream journal, though it never made any sense when I tried to analyze it. I wonder if Krug's dream journal talks of places where lovers have wings, perhaps??? They've also released the cover art of a snorkeling Krug, which is posted below. 2010 is already shaping up to be one solid year for music.
Concluding their tour with White Denim after blazing through the eastern half of the greater 48, Austin trio Brazos have been busy promoting their new full-length album Phosphorescent Blues. Sounding very little like their debut EP Feeding Frenzy, the band has sanded down their rough edges with the addition of soft piano touches and subtle orchestration. Brazos is Andy Beaudoin (Drums), Martin Crane (Vocals, Guitar, etc), & Paul Price (Electric Bass), and the music they have created is timeless. Fans of indie folk acts like Fleet Foxes, Okerville River, and Blitzen Trapper should give this record a spin. Below are a handful of tracks off Phosphorescent Blues which embody the sound and soul of this beautifully crafted long player.
For fans of Beta Band, King Biscuit Time, or even the slight departure of Black Affair, the news that Steve Mason was making a new album brought nothing but joy and anticipation. It now appears that we now have a concrete date for all the waiting to end. Announced this week via Twitter, Mason has reportedly finished his newest LP entitled Boys Outside, which will be released under his own name on March 10, 2010. Mason enlisted the help and production skills of Richard X, as well as his label Black Melody.
To tide fans over until next year, Mason will be dropping the first single "All Come Down" this November 23 (pre-order here). You can listen to a snippet here, and from the sounds of the new track, it's going to be one amazingly chill album (which we all can appreciate). A video is posted below showing the progression of Mason & Richard X songcrafting a new cut for the record.
Up until now, I've never understood Spoon's reason behind the naming of "Quincy Punk Episode", a great song which appears on the very underrated Series of Sneaks LP. Today I came across an article railing on the old TV show Quincy, M.E. and it's portrayal of punk in its infamous episode "Next Stop Nowhere."
For those of you like me who are unfamiliar with the show, it's not too surprising. Originally aired in the mid '70s and early '80s, this show probably pre-dates most Spoon fans. Quincy M.E. was the original forensic crime-buster television series, and without it, we might not have such shows today like CSI or Bones (you either love it or hate it for that). The premise of Quincy, M.E. revolved around a coroner (Dr. R. Quincy, Medical Examiner) who uncovered murders based on his findings while inspecting the dead. What's surprising to me is that the police he worked for made enough mistakes for his show to last 7 years.
So in 1982, Quincy M.E. decided to air the episode "Next Stop Nowhere" which involved the murder of some dude at a "punk" concert. The stereotypes are absolutely ridiculous (see the episode trailer below), and no surprise, the music is blamed for the kid's death. I'm sure this freaked some parents into banning punk music in their respective households, but the major fallout from this episode was the spawning of "Quincy punk," a term used to denote the punk-rock posers who worried more about the height of their mohawk than the "true spirit" of being punk.
So because of my ignorance of '70s crime scene investigation TV shows, I never made the connection to where Spoon's "Quincy Punk Episode" got its name. I'm glad I know this random bit of knowledge, and hope others learn it, too. Posted below is a good live version of the song from 2007 at San Francisco's Treasure Island, courtesy of the BayTaper via Internet Archive.
