To follow up yesterday’s negativity, here is a band you should absolutely not ignore. Valar is a three-piece Australian act whose tender, straining folk reminds me of a terser Grizzly Bear or a less lo-fi Chad VanGaalen. In the above video, shot by Matt Davis, they play two exquisitely lovely songs, “Don’t Hold Back” and “Silverman.” (No relation to the Ben Folds album, for better or worse.) Download both performances below and buy their latest EP on Bandcamp.
Valar – “Don’t Hold Back”: mp3 Valar – “Silverman”:mp3
Year-end lists are coming up — we’ll probably see the first ones the first week of December, if not earlier, which is fucking crazy — so here’s a handy-dandy guide on 2010 bands you don’t have to listen to before making yours. Important note: Inclusion on this list doesn’t mean a band is bad, or even mediocre. It just means they’re not special, no matter what their mothers told them. One note on 2010 buzz bands: Nearly all of these groups sound either 1) Not as good as Boat Club 2) Not as good as Cut Copy 3) Not as good as the Walkmen 4) Not as good as Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. In case you’re looking for bands you might actually want to listen to beyond next week. See the full list after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ll be honest, folks — I don’t take any joy in writing this post every year. Elliott Smith’s been my favorite musician for a decade now, and amid all the thousands (really!) of songs and albums and bands I’ve heard in all that time, there’s nothing that’s made his passing any less of a loss. But I do take joy in sharing his music, and there is so, so much that should be shared. (The anniversary of his death was yesterday — apologies for the tardiness.) Here’s a scattering of rare songs and a link walkthrough of some of his essential history.
Elliott Smith – “Place Pigalle” (unreleased): mp3 Elliott Smith – “Mr. Good Morning” (live, 5.08.00):mp3 Elliott Smith – “You Make It Seem Like Nothing” (1.12.03): mp3 Elliott Smith – “Grand Mal” (unreleased):mp3
Some recent developments: Elliott Smith’s debut, Roman Candle, and his final album, From a Basement on the Hill, were both reissued by Kill Rock Stars this year. Roman Candle was remastered by Smith archivist Larry Crane and — and it’s my favorite album of all time, so — it sounds like magic. The compilation An Introduction To… Elliott Smith is due Nov. 2.
Update: Larry Crane himself notes “Come To Me,” which was only played twice, is actually called “You Make It Seem Like Nothing.”
From the expanded version of The National‘s High Violet (out Nov. 22) comes “Terrible Love (Alternate Version)” and a video that’s equal parts late ’90s-copping and tour documenting. In case you were wondering what a victory lap looks like, this is a very, very deserving band taking one.
The Car is On Fire / all photos by David Greenwald
I was lucky enough — and I do mean that — to attend this year’s In the City festival and conference, the event’s 10th year and first, as far as I know, in Manchester. My panel ran on Wednesday afternoon last week, which meant I had nothing to do for the next three days but see bands and enjoy British beers. I did more of the latter, but I did manage to catch a few acts. MP3s, Photos and thoughts after the jump.
For all the circular hype-backlash over nostalgic camerawork w/r/t indie rock album covers and videos — Polaroids, Super 8, whatever — sometimes looking retro is the means to the end of simply looking pretty. Such is the case with Warpaint’s cotton-soft video for “Undertow,” a little track that’s standing right up top on my ongoing songs of the year list. (And don’t miss the live clip we posted a few weeks back.) The band’s The Fool is out 10/25.
How could you deny this face? / photo by David Greenwald
Pals, Rawkblog is on the verge of something great — we’re on track to break all our page view records this month. (At least those page view records that didn’t come the month we were on the front page of Digg re: the end of OiNK.) At our current rate, we’re going to stop just short of 100,000, which may be small stuff for some ofourpals, but after five years, it feels like a landmark. You’re already here: Thank you. I don’t ask for much on Rawkblog (you may have noticed we stopped doing pledge drives when the ad sales picked up), but if you like what I do here, the best way you can help is to tell people about it. E-mail your pals and say, “Hey, here’s a rad blog you should check out. Bro was just flown halfway across the world to be on a panel about blogging with Ryan Pitchfork, so he probably knows his shit.” That’ll convince ‘em! Or: send a tweet. Hit Facebook Like on this post. Or any post.
If you’re new around here or looking for our greatest hits (or a link to send out), here are some:
Year-end lists are coming up — we’ll probably see the first ones the first week of December, if not earlier, which is fucking crazy — so here’s a handy-dandy guide on 2010 bands you don’t have to listen to before making yours. Important note: Inclusion on this list doesn’t mean a band is bad, or even mediocre. It just means they’re not special, no matter what their mothers told them. One note on 2010 buzz bands: Nearly all of these groups sound either 1) Not as good as Boat Club 2) Not as good as Cut Copy 3) Not as good as the Walkmen 4) Not as good as Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. In case you’re looking for bands you might actually want to listen to beyond next week. See the full list after the jump. 
