Not to be mistaken for the inferior (really!) Feist song of the same name, Very Truly Yours’ “1 2 3 4″ is a startling three minutes of twee. As winsome as the Cardigans, as pale blue-sad as the Softies and certainly more charming than Camera Obscura’s poufy latest, the band fell into my lap last week during an inspired afternoon on the Hype Machine. Please, blogosphere, if there are more indie-poppers this good that I’m not listening to, point me in their direction immediately. Look for more gushing from yours truly as soon as their new EP gets here in the mail.
I’ve always been a folk dude, first and foremost, and among my favorite musicians of the genre are the wandering troubadour types who’ve left trails of discography in their wakes — from Neil, Joni and Bob to modern heirs such as Will Oldham, Jason Molina and Bill Callahan, formerly Smog. (And Ryan Adams, but I digress.) It was Callahan’s final album under his polluted nom de plume, 2005′s A River Ain’t Too Much To Love, that hooked me on his dispassionate baritone — that, and the standout song “Drinking at the Dam,” which turned the album’s acoustic shuffling from intimate to majestic with its swaying backing vocals and well-placed piano accompaniment. Yet the song, like the album, has a kind of crisp, dry production that fits the song flawlessly; a more obvious reverb-soaking would’ve ruined it.
Such was the case on Callahan’s first album as just plain Bill, 2007 Nashvillized Woke on a Whaleheart, but Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle returns to that wonderful crispness, as well as “Drinking at the Dam’s” airier arrangements. Read the rest of this entry »
The LA Times‘ Todd Martens reports on his Tweeter page that Weezer has a new album due in a couple months — but Rivers won’t talk about it so he won’t “jinx” it. Can we expect a “Greatest Man Who Ever Lived Pt. 2?” Cross your =W=s! Other surprise albums on the way: Hayden’s The Place Where We Lived and Circulatory System’s Signal Morning, which both arrived in my inbox today and thus actually exist.
Seattle power-pop act Telekinesis gets all Lars and the Real Girl in this dorky, soft-focus video for one of the best songs from the band’s excellent self-titled debut. Telekinesis! is out now on Merge and the band happens to be in Los Angeles tonight.
Some jams for your Saturday from Phoenix, whose mighty power-pop opus Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is out on May 25 and available digitally on Amazon and iTunes now. Check out “Lisztomania” unplugged above and “1901″ fully loaded after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Broken Social Scene has holed up for LP4 in Chicago’s Soma Studios with the Sea and Cake’s John McEntire, Kevin Drew blogs. Given the band’s sonic affinity for McEntire’s brand of breezy Chicago post-rock, he should be a great fit. BSS is also covering Joy Division in upcoming film The Time Traveler’s Wife; in the meantime, Brendan Canning’s great solo debut should tide you over. [Via Stereogum]
“All I want is your eyes,” Bowerbirds frontman Phil Moore sings in the meditative “Northern Lights,” a dusty, cymbal-filled folk song combining chamber-pop intimacy and woodsy, flannel-clad rawness. It’s very much in line with Strand of Oaks’ mournful Leave Ruin, an album you’ll remember I liked quite a bit. I was a fan of the B-birds debut as well, so judging by “Northern Lights,” I think we can look forward to good things from their sophomore effort, Upper Air, due July 7 on Dead Oceans. They’ll be at the Echo on August 4.
Not to be mistaken for the inferior (really!) Feist song of the same name, Very Truly Yours’ “1 2 3 4″ is a startling three minutes of twee. As winsome as the Cardigans, as pale blue-sad as the Softies and certainly more charming than Camera Obscura’s poufy latest, the band fell into my lap last week during an inspired afternoon on the Hype Machine. Please, blogosphere, if there are more indie-poppers this good that I’m not listening to, point me in their direction immediately. Look for more gushing from yours truly as soon as their new EP gets here in the mail.
I’ve always been a folk dude, first and foremost, and among my favorite musicians of the genre are the wandering troubadour types who’ve left trails of discography in their wakes — from Neil, Joni and Bob to modern heirs such as Will Oldham, Jason Molina and Bill Callahan, formerly Smog. (And Ryan Adams, but I digress.) It was Callahan’s final album under his polluted nom de plume, 2005′s A River Ain’t Too Much To Love, that hooked me on his dispassionate baritone — that, and the standout song “Drinking at the Dam,” which turned the album’s acoustic shuffling from intimate to majestic with its swaying backing vocals and well-placed piano accompaniment. Yet the song, like the album, has a kind of crisp, dry production that fits the song flawlessly; a more obvious reverb-soaking would’ve ruined it.
The 
Live: 
Broken Social Scene has holed up for LP4 in Chicago’s Soma Studios with the Sea and Cake’s John McEntire, Kevin Drew 
“All I want is your eyes,” Bowerbirds frontman Phil Moore sings in the meditative “Northern Lights,” a dusty, cymbal-filled folk song combining chamber-pop intimacy and woodsy, flannel-clad rawness. It’s very much in line with Strand of Oaks’ mournful Leave Ruin, an album you’ll remember I 
