Scuttle Buttin – Live From Japan

Before I get evil man, and I go and do somethin wrong…”

Canadian group Stars is known for their intensely layered synthy sound, but their songs and vocals are great enough to stand without all the deep instrumentation – as shown by the Tiny Desk Concert they did recently for NPR, stripped down to just Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan’s voices with Evan Cranley’s acoustic guitar for back-up. Torq and Amy are always able to get across a lot of emotion, but it comes through even stronger here, and the haunting lyrics shine through wonderfully.

Initially the White Stripes breakup news brought a bit of sadness to my already dark mood for the day (I live in Minnesota, what do you expect? Have you SEEN this winter?). It had become increasingly obvious (Jack’s comments a few months back about getting in the studio with Meg notwithstanding,) that the more time passed, the less likely a new White Stripes album would be made. After reading the very classy press release, I realized that this probably was for the best, and it’s not like Jack White was going to disappear in Third Man records and never come out again. I assume we will be seeing more of The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, and I have a sneaky suspicion this is a new beginning, not only an end. As restless as Jack White seems to be, there can only be more bands and collaborations up his sleeve. I for one would love to see him induldge his folk and country leanings in a full length release, considering his love of classic country. He recently produced Wanda Jackson’s latest release, and has produced everyone from the Von Bondies to The Greenhornes and the legend Loretta Lynn (helping to bring her a Best Country Album Grammy in 2005). He will only continue to be in demand as a producer. Meg has recently been married, but I do hope she doesn’t disappear completely. While it’s true she may not have had the technical proficiency of many of her peers, there is NO doubt she was the perfect drummer for that band. I can’t even picture someone different in that chair. Sometimes things just fit with the right two people and this is the case here. I really will miss this band, as it seemed every release was an “event” that I looked forward too. I can’t say that about a lot bands, but they were on the short list.
At the end of “Under Great White Northern Lights” (one of the finer tour documents made in a long time,) there is a somewhat heartbreaking moment as Jack plays a gorgeous “White Moon” on the piano, bringing Meg to tears. For some reason, this seems fitting today. Thanks for the music and we appreciated every last bit of it.

A lot of people are calling this a return to form. The most I’ve enjoyed an R.E.M. song in a long while. The new “Collapse Into Now” is available on March 8th. I always love when a legendary band still makes relevant music this late in their career. Let’s hope the rest of the disc can be on the level of this song.

The Civil Wars “Barton Hallow”

Iron & Wine are getting back on the road, (dates courtesy of Paste). Hitting a couple of warm up dates on the west coast, then hitting Europe (who could blame them), and then back to the US for a few more. The new “Kiss Each Other Clean” gets its release tomorrow, and I like the few I’ve heard so far.

NPR’s First Listen might be my favorite thing right now. They select three or four upcoming albums at a time and stream them in their entirety for the week leading up to their release. So far I’ve gotten to preview several of my most anticipated releases this year, always deciding that yes, this is a way I want to spend my money. One of my most anticipated albums of 2010 is the new project from Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis and her boyfriend Johnathan Rice – they’re keeping it simple and just calling the act Jenny & Johnny, but I don’t care what they call it, I just want to hear it. Jenny and Johnathan have been working together for several years, actually, touring together on each other’s records, and Johnathan is actually a pretty solid presence on Jenny’s 2008 release Acid Tongue.

So this feels like a natural progression for them, but it’s also really different sonically from most of her solo-credited work. It’s really upbeat and poppy, a very beach-friendly, sunny summer album, but with Jenny’s characteristically layered lyrics giving the songs a bit more of an edge than you at first expect (I think Johnny cowrote the lyrics, so I’m not meaning to leave him out; I just know Jenny’s style better and can see it here even more strongly, somehow, than in some of her solo work, where she was experimenting with different musical styles more than with lyrical depth). Basically if you like Best Coast‘s sound but think the songwriting is a little on the simplistic side (no disrespect, I honestly love Best Coast), then pick up I’m Having Fun Now when it comes out on August 31st. Well, you can give it a listen below first.

It took me a few times through Arcade Fire’s new album The Suburbs to really latch on to it, but now that I have, it’s easily emerged as one of my favorite albums of the year so far, and I’ll be shocked if it’s not in my top five come the end of the year. The Canadian ensemble hit The Daily Show With Jon Stewart promoting the album, and here they are performing “Ready to Start” and “Month of May.” I wish they’d done one with Regine on lead vocals, but hey, can’t have everything. There’s some cute interaction between Stewart and Win Butler at the beginning of “Month of May,” too.

via Pitchfork

Kathryn Calder is probably better known as the other female singer in The New Pornographers, the one who isn’t Neko Case. She’s the one who performs Neko’s parts on tours when Neko can’t be there, but she’s been given plenty of her own to do on the past couple of records, and it’s been great to see her come into her own. She’s also part of the band Immaculate Machine, and next week Kathryn is releasing her first solo album, entitled Are You My Mother? Well, to be completely accurate, Are You My Mother? releases on CD next Tuesday, August 10th, but it’s been available from digital outlets like iTunes and Amazon.com MP3 for about a month. I picked it up immediately, and I’m quite taken with it – it doesn’t have the wide-ranging quirk factor of The New Pornographers or the raw power of some of the other big releases out this year, but Kathryn’s voice is superb and she’s crafted a set of beautifully simple songs with unusual instrumentation (a lot of warm piano and clapping rather than normal percussion), yet with an easy willingness to drop in an epic section here and there that raises the ante and makes you pay attention more than you otherwise might.

The first single from the album, “Slip Away,” got a music video yesterday, a charmingly twee cut-paper animated affair that culminates in disco spaceship bunnies. Yeah, you read that right. I’m not entirely sure what about “Slip Away” suggests science fiction, but I’m not entirely sure I care, either, because disco spaceship bunnies kind of speak for themselves. In any case, it’s a lovely, understated song that captures both the minimalist and the layered sides of the album quite well.

Links:
MySpace
Amazon MP3 (available now)
Amazon CD (available 8/10)
Twitter

If you caught the latest trailer for David Fincher’s upcoming The Social Network, you probably noticed the absolutely awesome cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.” It only took a minute of digging to find out that it was done by a Belgian girls’ choir called Scala & Kolacny Brothers. And they make some really, really, really awesome covers. I’ve put below their “Creep” cover along with a few of my favorites after the jump.

I had no idea that Brandon Flowers of The Killers was releasing a solo album in September, but now that I have heard the first released song and watch the epically badass video, I cannot wait. Enjoy.

I am stranded at a Dunn Bros. in Uptown Minneapolis. It’s pouring rain and I seem to have contrived the conundrum of technology vs. nature. I am not able to put my laptop back in it’s bag as it filled with water when I removed said laptop, and not able to walk outside with the lappy naked to the aqueous air…alas, here I sit, so I write…about what? Then a chord strikes, tired in the din of executive voices deciding how to best boost employee morale after having to “let go” the ones that matter, but don’t.

Annoyed, damp and too short of change to purchase anything adequately jolting, I find this tentative guitar strumming and my diet cola acutely distant from my current desire for Segovia and hot, spicy chai. Ah well, at this point I figure novel, live background sound is preferable to the iPod default and take a moment to listen. The guitarist is soon joined by a pianist and my perception of them as accompaniment to mundane chatter transitions quickly to hearing creative composition, complete with vocals and inspired jazz progressions.

There are a few interruptions; noise complaints from unsuspecting, sipping patrons, but they are unwarranted as these two local musicians need to be heard. Eric Mayson (piano) and Jeff Rolfzen (guitar), both self-taught, play on passionately, while maintaining a sense of clarity and sincerity for the music. I find these sensibilities harder and harder to come by in the mist of the hipster schlock that seems to be inundating the local music scene.

So, I recline in the refreshing realization that random, good, live music experiences do still exist and make a mental note to “accidentally” get stuck here more often in the hopes of catching the pair again.

Radio Empire (our album review) has announced their summer tour dates for their “Soccer Moms and Singalongs Tour,” so be sure to clear your schedule if they are coming to your area. You won’t be disappointed. You can find out more about their tour, stay updated on any possible additions, and listen to their tunes on their official MySpace page.

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Mark Kozelek’s Sun Kil Moon will release a new album entitled “Admiral Fell Promises” on June 13th. Help yourself to a pre-taste over at Caldo Verde Records.