Jams: A First Look at Clean Equations‘ self-titled EP and Yael Meyer‘s Heartbeat EP, Ryan Adams‘ Sad Dracula semi-classic, Let It B-Minus.
Video: The Rest go Hitchcock with “The Lady Vanishes.”
Camera Obscurist: Stillness? Still the move.
Tour Dates: The Mountain Goats and Final Fantasy — tonight!
The Rest – The Lady Vanishes from The Rest on Vimeo.
A clever bit of work from The Rest — Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes pared down to 6 minutes to soundtrack the band’s post-rocky song of the same name. Excellent stuff from one of the year’s can’t-miss new acts.
Previously: First Look: The Rest – Everyone All At Once
In the absence of a new Feist album this year (or better, a New Buffalo full-length), the dearth of wry, catchy female folk-pop is beginning to grow as cold and crushing as the oncoming winter. Enter Yael Meyer, a Los Angeles singer-songwriter whose sparkling arrangements and lilting voice raise her above the Hotel Cafe crowd to the air staked out by a certain one-named Canadian.
Meyer’s been absent since 2004′s Common Ground, making her new Heartbeat EP, out this week, an even more welcome release. The title track is a somber but insistent piano-driven gem that Ben Gibbard would kill to write — “I’ll traveling at the speed of my own heartbeat,” a multi-tracked Meyer sings in perfect harmony in the song’s chorus. The ukulele ode “Favorite Two” offers a brighter attitude and ramshackle chamber-pop that unwinds like a carefully restored music box. “Singing a happy song just won’t do,” she pouts. Of course it will.
Yael Mayer – “Shed Their Fear”: mp3
(Buy the Heartbeat EP direct from Meyer)
More: New Music
Photo by David Greenwald
A lovely lady on the California coast, 2008.
Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”: mp3
More Photography: Camera Obscurist | Photography Portfolio
Bishop Allen brings its fey, Tony the Tiger indie-pop to the Echoplex tonight (in support of new album Grrr…) alongside less fey, equally reliable Amazon.com champs Throw Me The Statue. Eat a balanced breakfast before this one, folks.
Later this week: Sometimes-singer, mostly comedienne Charlyne Yi is at the UCB Theatre on Friday; the Mountain Goats and Final Fantasy (!) bring one of the fall’s strongest, most well-read double bills to the Henry Fonda on Sunday. (I’ll be kicking out the jams at both.)
Ryan Adams can be too hard on himself. Let It B-Minus may not be his highest-graded collection, but the sessions certainly deserved release beyond his Web site, circa 2006, where it emerged alongside goofball, Garage Band-y albums under his monikers DJ Reggie and Warren Peace. But Let It B-Minus, recorded as Sad Dracula, is a more serious affair.
An homage to the Replacements’ album of the similar name, Let It B-Minus was recorded in the faded style of Cold Roses and played with the Danzigian fury of Rock N Roll‘s heavier moments. Over 27 minutes, it spans much of his range — “Actors on Actors” is up there with his most wistful work, while “4th of July” winks at the Strokes with its down-stroked guitars. It’s a loud, loose record that makes even its sillier stuff — the mid-album block of “Temporary Vampire,” “Steve Miller & Weed” and “Be Careful” — more immediate (and less self-conscious) than, say, “Halloweenhead.” As the slow-cooked sound of Easy Tiger and Cardinology unfortunately proved, Ryan’s at his best when he’s reckless and on the run. Whatever its failings, Let It B-Minus is a fearless record — hopefully not his last.
Ryan Adams – “4th of July”: mp3
(Let It B-Minus is available wherever fine torrents are downloaded)
Previously: More Ryan Adams
Frustrated as I often am with the insubstantial trends of modern-era indie rock, for those interested in tapping into actual underground music, it’s a bit of a golden age. Take Clean Equations’ self-titled debut, an indie-pop EP that draws equally on the sophisticated nerd-outs of Built to Spill and Grandaddy and the more majestic aspirations of bands like Explosions in the Sky. It’s hard to imagine this release being made before 2009; it’s also hard to imagine it soundtracking a $250,000 Vice party. Good thing music speaks for itself.
Clean Equations – “Alison”: mp3
New Music: Taken By Trees‘ “Watch the Waves”; Shannon Stephens‘ long-awaited return.
Videos: Taylor Swift charms on Saturday Night Live, the Main Drag‘s stop-motion throwdown for “Dove Nets”; live footage of Rose Melberg‘s rare, gorgeous trip to Los Angeles.
[Taylor in Columbus in 2008 / photo by rowelbg]
Camera Obscurist: Orangutan love.
Critical Backlash: Harshing Owl City‘s misbegotten mellow.
