Premiere! I finally joined the rest of the cool kids on Vimeo (verdict: rad) and now that we’re in hi-def visually, if not sonically, here’s a gem of a jam: a new live track from Ravens & Chimes. Frontman Asher Lack tells me this song, “Clarissa Explains It All” — yes, after your favorite ’90s Nickelodeon show — is going to be a bit faster when it arrives as the b-side of this fall’s “Hearts of Palm” single, but it’s pretty high energy here. The Rawkblog Band to Watch has half of their sophomore disc tracked and hopes to tour before knocking out the rest, so we’re looking toward 2010 at this point. No rush, fellas.
Judging by the first trailer for The Fantastic Mr. Fox, director Wes Anderson’s return after the misfire of The Darjeeling Limited will be a much-needed left-turn for the singular auteur: a romp. The film marks a number of firsts for him — his first adaptation (from the Roald Dahl book of the same name) and his first animated effort. Fox, coincidentally like previous Dahl adaptation James and the Giant Peach, was shot in gorgeous stop-motion rather than the ugly, vapid computer animation that so many films have defaulted to in recent years. (Pixar’s always breathtaking efforts aside.) It looks like a hell of a lot of fun — but with George Clooney voicing the title character in the caper, let’s just hope Wes doesn’t dump all of his trademarks for an animated Ocean’s 11. It’s due Nov. 13, which gives us three months to take bets on which Kinks songs he’ll use.
Who’d be interested in doing a weekly (or whenever) listening party via live-blog/Twitter? Everybody buys (or, OK, borrows) a new album or a forgotten oldie, we all pop it on and discuss the jams in real-time? Could be epic.
Back in April, yours blogly was one of the first to notice that Jon Brion makes an appearance in the trailer for Judd Apatow’s Funny People, jamming with Adam Sandler. Now, it appears Jon had some involvement in the soundtrack, too. The Playlist reports today that ol’ JB produced and performs with Sandler on a pair of iTunes-only soundtrack bonus cuts, “Photograph” and Neil Young’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.” Nice! Jon, you’ll remember, did the score for the Apatow-produced Step Brothers (Jason “Coconut Records” Schwartzman took those duties on Funny People). This set also includes a live recording from Wilco’s “Complete Wilco” tour — a take on “Jesus, Etc.” with Andrew Bird — and more choice folk/rock. Funny People is out on Friday.
[Ed. note: From the archives.. now with functioning links. The bootleg migration continues.] I’ll confess, I’m not much of an M. Ward fan. Something about his faux-retro sound and wrinkly bluesman persona is just too slick, too pat for me. Luckily I like him better as the one-man backing band for Zooey Deschanel, who, for an actress, sounds much more genuine. The band’s debut album, Volume One, was released on Merge last year and made my best-of list; it sounds almost as carefree and joyful as these radio session performances. (Thanks to I Am Fuel, You Are Friends for posting these.) Read the rest of this entry »
Today, indie folk poet laureates the Mountain Goats announced their latest record, the Bible-heavy The Life Of The World To Come, due Oct. 6 on 4AD. 2009 keeps getting better. Let’s hope this thing’s better than Year One; luckily, first single “Genesis 3:23″ sounds more along the lines of last year’s tremendous (and now ironically titled) Heretic Pride than it does Christian rock.
Friends-of-Rawkblog The Whisper in the Roar continue their residency at Molly Malone’s tonight in L.A. The dreamy young band is still developing their sound, but I’ve heard only good things so far — good enough to recommend them today, and to have taken their first round of press photos. Above, some of their “official” shots and a few outtakes. Get a taste on MySpace and get more local dates here — Rawkblog heroes Trash Can Sinatras are playing the Troubadour on Wednesday in what’s sure to be a life-altering gig.
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