Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Trespassers William to trespass no more
trespasserswilliam.comThe new year is traditionally held as a time for fresh starts and new beginnings, but it can also be a symbolic time for drawing things to an end or perhaps more appropriately, wrapping up something to begin something else. Not that that was the only reason it wasn’t a complete surprise when Seattle duo Trespassers William took to Facebook this week to announce that the band would be shelved for the foreseeable future.
Despite completely winning me over with their second album Different Stars – one of my favourites of the decade – their gorgeously sad and languid dreampop led by Anna-Lynne Williams voice and slide guitar never really seemed to catch on beyond a devoted audience to whom the sound of melancholy captured at 100 frames per second and replayed in exquisitely detailed slow-motion was the best thing ever. Even so and despite seemingly endless lineup changes – Williams and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Matt Brown were the only constants – they carried on for a decade and a half and are now moving onto other things. Williams records solo as Lotte Kestner and is half of Ormonde, while Brown performs as Disinterested; Trespassers William may now be silent, but the voices that comprised it are not.
Similarly, while we’ll not be getting the follow-up to 2006’s Having that was promised for this year, that won’t be the final word from the band. In 2009, the released the European EP The Natural Order Of Things and at the start of last year, digitally released a compilation b-sides and to coincide with the announcement of the hiatus, have cleared the vaults with another digital release in New Songs & Outtakes, consisting of a couple of new songs that had been targeted for the fourth record and other goodies.
I’m sad that they never managed to put together a North American tour that brought them to Toronto, but am glad I was able to catch them at SXSW in 2008 and again in 2010, and to have had the fortune of living with their music for so long.
Update: Again, via Facebook, the band have announced that their b-sides/unreleased material currently available via Bandcamp will be getting a proper physical release. Details to come, but the digital sales will be ending this weekend.
MP3: Trespassers William – “Lie In The Sound”
MP3: Trespassers William – “Vapour Trail”
MP3: Lotte Kestner – “Crush The Bird”
Iron & Wine have released a new video from last year’s Kiss Each Other Clean.
Video: Iron & Wine – “Godless Brother In Love”
At The Paris Review, Dean Wareham keeps a tour diary about taking the “Plays Galaxie 500” shows to Japan.
Independent Weekly talks to Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers.
Nicole Atkins plays a video session for The Huffington Post.
Cursive, accompanied by Cymbals Eat Guitars, will be in at The Horseshoe on March 31. Tickets are $16.50 in advance. Cursive’s new album I Am Gemini comes out on February 7; Cymbals Eat Guitars released Lenses Alien last year.
MP3: Cursive – “The Sun & Moon”
MP3: Cymbals Eat Guitars – “Rifle Eyesight (Proper Name)”
MP3: Cymbals Eat Guitars – “Definite Darkness”
The Huffington Post profiles and interviews Warpaint.
And another Yo La Tengo Hannukah show is up over at NYC Taper; that’s five of them now.
Pitchfork bears bad news for those who thought the new Sleigh Bells album Reign Of Terror would be the perfect Valentine’s Day soundtrack; it has been pushed back a week from February 14 to the 21st.
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Clock Opera offers Ways To Forget
FacebookTo promise that something is coming in “early 2012” may be sufficient detail when that date is still a ways off on the horizon, but at a certain point it will eventually actually be early 2012 – as it is now – and when that time arrives you’d best have a little more to offer. That first part of that scenario was most of 2011 for London’s Clock Opera, who despite sounding more than ready for prime time when I first saw them last SXSW and reconfirmed at Iceland Airwaves have been rather shy about offering any details about their debut album besides that it’d be out “in early 2012”.
Well refreshingly quietly, details of their debut album came to light at the very end of last year by way of an iTunes preorder link, and really all you need to know is that it’s called Ways To Forget and will be out – in the UK at least – on April 9. Going for a soft launch with that info may prove to be wise as I expect things will get exceptionally fast-paced for this quartet as word of their electro-anthemic rock – think a younger Elbow armed with sequencers – and attendant excellent live shows gets out.
And the first shot in that metaphorical attack came yesterday with the release of a second video for the song “Once And For All”, which already had a perfectly good clip for the original single release but seeing as how it was re-recorded for the album, a new, heartstring-tugging vid was clearly in order. And so here it is, along with what I would consider to be sufficient argument that Ways To Forget will be one of the highlight releases of, well, early 2012.
MP3: Clock Opera – “Once And For All”
MP3: Clock Opera – “Belongings” (live at Maida Vale)
Video: Clock Opera – “Once And For All” (2012)
Video: Clock Opera – “Lesson No. 7”
Video: Clock Opera – “Belongings”
Video: Clock Opera – “Once And For All”
Video: Clock Opera – “White Noise”
The Ting Tings – whom I am convinced are part of a larger sociological experiment to discern exactly what the shelf life of formerly buzzy but ultimately vapid pop bands is – hope that enough people still remember who they are to buy their second album Sounds From Nowheresville, out February 27 in the UK and shortly thereafter in North America, and to go see them when they play The Phoenix on April 6. To say nothing of paying $26 to do so. Spin has a conversation with the duo about the new record.
Video: The Ting Tings – “Hang It Up”
I can’t say I was too interested in the previously-announced return of Cults to town – happening April 25 at The Phoenix, but the fact that Spectrals – aka London-based retro-pop revivalist Louis Jones – would be opening makes me a bit more keen. His debut Bad Penny came out last Fall.
MP3: Spectrals – “7th Date”
MP3: Spectrals – “Peppermint”
Video: Spectrals – “Bad Penny”
The Arctic Monkeys talk evolution with The Sydney Morning Herald. They open up for The Black Keys at The Air Canada Centre on March 14.
The Alternate Side has a session to watch with We Were Promised Jetpacks.
Gold Flake Paint talks to James Graham about the third Twilight Sad album No One Can Ever Know. It’s out February 21 and they band are at Lee’s Palace on February 29.
Loud & Quiet plays go-between in facilitating a Q&A between Veronica Falls and Johnny Marr. Veronica Falls are at The Garrison on February 14.
Is This Music chats with David Gedge of The Wedding Present. They bring Seamonsters to The Horseshoe on March 25.
Spinner talks to Rosa Rex of Peggy Sue; DIY also had a year-end chat with the band.
Laura Marling has put together a poetry- and art-powered minisite for “The Beast”, which one assumes is the next single from A Creature I Don’t Know.
Clash and The Guardian have pieces on hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton, whose debut album backed by The Hooves Of Destiny – Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose – is out February 28. A video from said record came out last month.
Video: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny – “Sweet Tooth Bird”
For Folk’s Sake and American Songwriter meet First Aid Kit, whose new record The Lion’s Roar – out January 24 – brings them to The Great Hall on April 4.
DIY and BBC profile Swedish duo Niki & The Dove, whose debut album is due out sometime this Spring.
The Line Of Best Fit – who agreed with me that I Break Horses’ debut Hearts was their favourite of 2011 – goes through the album track-by-track with Maria Linden. They’re opening up for M83 at The Sound Academy on May 6; DIY talks to Anthony Gonzalez of that outfit.
Q gets former label honcho Alan McGee to offer a buyer’s guide to the Creation Records catalog.
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
Review of Blouse’s Blouse
Amanda Leigh SmithAnd we’re back. Gotta tell you, folks – actually taking a holiday during the holidays? I could get used to that. But if I stayed off the job, then I couldn’t write about Blouse and I kind of want to write about Blouse, considering I was listening to their self-titled debut an awful lot in the weeks leading up to and throughout the holidays.
The trio collects their mail in Portland, Oregon but draw their inspiration from the great English art-rock labels of the ’80s; their sound is steeped in the catalogs of 4AD, Factory and Fiction Records. That means mechanical rhythms, echoed guitars, roaming basslines, sweeping synths, all of that good stuff. But most essentially it means icy vocals with just enough English-accented affectation courtesy of lead singer Charlie Hilton – she sounds detached where she needs to but is also emotive and in touch with her inner romantic.
There’s nothing particularly unfamiliar in any of this, but what sets them apart from other era revivalists is that rather sound as though they’re a meticulously crafted tableau unearthed from a time capsule, Blouse has enough looseness, warmth and energy woven into it to come across as a wholly fresh and living thing. Blouse was released back at the start of November, probably just late enough to get lost in the shuffle of year-end shenanigans. So before turning your eyes and ears straight on ahead to 2012, take a moment to try Blouse on.
Spinner, DIY and Bow Legs all have conversations with the band.
MP3: Blouse – “Into Black”
Video: Blouse – “Videotapes”
Video: Blouse – “Into Black”
NPR has a Weekend Edition interview and session with Ryan Adams.
NYC Taper has posted recordings of another two of Yo La Tengo’s Hannukah shows last month.
And reaching back into the archives, NYC Taper has posted a show by Stars from back in October.
Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon writes at The Huffington Post about the art of the gay love song. The For Paolo EP is out January 24.
Loud & Quiet talks to Sandy Miranda and Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up.
The Line Of Best Fit has a special year-end edition of Oh! Canada consisting not of downloads, but 2011 reminiscences from the likes of Woodpigeon, Great Lake Swimmers, and more.
Yeah that’s all for today. Hey, things don’t go from 0 to 100 at the drop of a hat.
Sunday, January 1st, 2012
Guided By Voices cover The Rolling Stones
Frank YangWhen Guided By Voices hung it up with a final show in Chicago on New Year’s Eve, 2004, I rang in 2005 with a farewell post. Well not a post, reading back over it, but a (salty) salute. This followed a covers post from the Summer of 2004 when they announced they were calling it a day, and then another in October 2010 when they were gearing up for their reunion show at Matador 21 (the MP3s for the second one are still up).
All of which is to say that it felt right to welcome 2012 with another GBV cover post on the occasion of the release of their comeback LP Let’s Go Eat The Factory, which was formally released today to die-hards who’d pre-ordered it (though it either arrived on Friday or will arrive on Tuesday since there’s no mail delivery today or tomorrow, but I digress). But rather than post other bands covering Bob Pollard and company – I’m kind of running out of those – I’ve got one of them covering a band that’s hoary in comparison with GBV – and most active bands, really – The Rolling Stones. I’m not sure exactly when and where it comes from, but the GBVDB points out it’s probably circa 2000, so not the “classic” lineup that’s back together today, but that’s still Bob up front, forgetting the lyrics and not giving a damn.
2012 is also an important year for The Rolling Stones as it’s their 50th anniversary. Congratulations! Please don’t tour.
MP3: Guided By Voices – “Sympathy For The Devil”
Video: The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil” (live at Hyde Park, 1969)
Video: The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil” (live at Altamont, 1969)
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Review of Caveman’s Coco Beware and giveaway
Frank YangMost bands that name themselves for prehistoric entities – your Mastadons, your Dinosaur Jrs – seem to do so at least a little for the heavy and/or primal connotations that come with it. Not so much for Brooklyn’s Caveman, who seem to have chosen the name ironically as there’s nothing raw or neolithic about their smooth and polished debut album Coco Beware.
Rather than club you about the head with a bone, Caveman makes an impression with shimmering guitars, floaty synths and tight harmonies delivering genial, mid-tempo pop that’s reminiscent of a less annoying Vampire Weekend sans Afropop influences. Another reference point is Local Natives thanks to their vocal interplay and creative percussion though Caveman never gets nearly as frantic as that outfit when they’re in gear. Granted, atmosphere and mood are much more Caveman’s mandate than overt dynamicism but you can sense that they’ve got the goods to amp things up a bit if they wanted, they’ve simply opted not to. As a result, Coco Beware succeeds at being an interesting listen, but not a very exciting one. They can do better.
Caveman are in town at The Horseshoe on January 11 along with Oklahoma’s Hospitality, chattered about here. Tickets are $10 in advance but courtesy of Embrace I’ve got a pair of passes to give away to the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Caveman” in the subject line and your full name in the body, contest closes at midnight, January 8.
MP3: Caveman – “Thankful”
MP3: Caveman – “Easy Water”
MP3: Caveman – “Old Friend”
MP3: Caveman – “Decide”
MP3: Caveman – “My Room”
Video: Caveman – “Easy Water”
Anyone hoping that the Cat Power Christmas Eve release would be a new song rather than a cover might be a little disappointed that it’s not – but to be fair, it’s a cover of herself. Her redo of “King Rides By” sounds very much like the confident Cat Power of today than rather than the one who originally recorded it for her third album What Would The Community Think in 1996 – great for those who have been waiting to hear her voice wrapped around anything new but not necessarily offering much insight into where her songwriting is as she prepares her first release of new material since 2006’s The Greatest. An MP3 of the track is available to download from Cat Power’s website in exchange for a charitable donation and the video, featuring boxer Manny Pacquiao and directed by actor/director Giovanni Ribisi, is available to watch below.
Video: Cat Power – “King Rides By”
Wilco are streaming the opening night of their “Incredible Shrinking Tour Of Chicago” from earlier this month at Roadcase.
One of this year’s Record Store Day releases was an EP consisting of Franz Ferdinand covers; a video for the selection by Peaches came out back in the Spring but now, three more for the contributions by LCD Soundsystem, Stephin Merritt and ESG have come out. Still nothing for the collaboration between Franz Ferdinand themselves and Deborah Harry yet, but these other vids came out of nowhere as well. So.
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Live Alone”
Video: ESG – “What She Came For”
Video: Stephin Merritt – “Dream Again”
Video: Peaches – “Turn It On”
Spinner talks to Matthew Sweet about celebrating his 20th anniversary with his Girlfriend, Laundromatinee welcomes the popsmith to their studios for a session, and NPR has a Mountain Stage session.
The AV Club gets Craig Finn to go all One-Track Mind with one of the songs from his solo debut Clear Heart Full Eyes, due out January 24.
DIY checks in with Of Montreal as they put the finishing touches on Paralytic Stalks, out February 7.
The Alternate Side serves up a session with Mates Of State.
Spin has a Moog Sound Lab video session with The Antlers.
Loud & Quiet interviews Erika Anderson of EMA, who has a date at The Garrison on March 13.
Merrell Garbus talks to Blurt about what’s been a pretty good year for tUnE-yArDs. Relix also has a chat.
NYC Taper – who narrowly avoided being hacked into oblivion earlier this week – has posted recordings of a couple of this year’s Yo La Tengo Hannukah shows at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.
Paste looks into the enduring appeal of Neutral Milk Hotel’s not-nearly-as-reclusive-as-he-used-to-be leader Jeff Mangum.
NPR talks to Tom Waits.
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