The buildup to our Fall issue cover subject’s Monsters of Folk’s debut album is finally over. The four-person mega-super-cool-whatever band celebrated by playing single “Say Please” for Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show last night. The video is above for your audio-visual pleasure. The suited-up Conor Oberst, Jim James and M. Ward sings swap vox and Mike Mogis kills on that guitar solo. Conan responds by yelling: “Killer!”
Also, Stereogum has this black and white clip of the high lonesome Jim James-led cut “The Right Place.”
Real Estate
“Beach Comber” MP3
Sep 23, 2009
Martin Courtney IV, Matthew Mondanile III, Etienne Pierre Duguay and Alex Bleeker of New Jersey’s Real Estate have already released some solid singles in 2009. Their album promises even more soundtracks to fight boredom. That will drop November 17th via Woodsist. The self-titled album’s opening cut is the beach boombox-worthy “Beach Comber,” As usual, the lead guitar glistens as the percussion shimmies along the cracked pavement of your beach bum mind. Pitchfork has a video of the foursome playing “Beach Comber” live at New York’s Annex. Full LP trackisting and tour dates below.
Real Estate:
01 Beach Comber 02 Pool Swimmers 03 Suburban Dogs 04 Black Lake 05 Atlantic City 06 Fake Blues 07 Green River 08 Suburban Beverage 09 Lets Rock The Beach 10 Snow Days
Real Estate Fall Tour:
10-14 Brooklyn, NY - Monster Island Basement ^ 10-15 Charlottesville, VA - The Southern @ 10-16 Brooklyn, NY - The Milestone 10-17 Atlanta, GA - 529 * 10-18 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 * 10-19 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel * # 10-20 Philadelphia, PA - The Barbary * # 10-21 New York, NY - Pianos (Force Field PR CMJ Day Party) 10-21 New York, NY - Santos Party House (Oh My Rockness CMJ party) 10-22 Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands * 10-23 New York, NY - The Delancey (Underwater Peoples Showcase) 10-24 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (Mexican Summer Showcase) 10-25 New York, NY - The Living Room # 10-30 Storrs, CT - University of Connecticut $ 11-02 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell’s % 11-03 Washington, DC - Black Cat % 11-04 Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie % 11-06 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom % 11-07 Boston, MA - Great Scott % 11-09 Montreal, Quebec - Il Motore % 11-10 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo % 11-12 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle %
^ with Big Troubles @ with Andrew Cedermark * with Japandroids # with Neon Indian $ with Vivian Girls % with Girls
Just when you thought Mew couldn’t get any cooler they drop this Halloween-ready video for “Repeaterbeater.” The second single from Mew’s latest, critically acclaimed LP, No More Stories…, finds the threesome hypnotized by the magical cane of a priest in a haunted Victorian mansion in Copenhagen. Their brand of prog-rock is already pretty dazzling, so it works. (Via EW’s Music Mix & mtvU)
L.A. disco-pop trio Music Go Music may sound a whole lot like ABBA but they put a dark twist of prog and metal into their retro styles. The group is fronted by the soulful belter Gala Bell (aka Meredith Metcalf). She also sings for the indie rock trio Bodies of Water. Bell is joined by Torg (Adam Siegel) and Kamer (Daniel Metcalf). The dance-y, ‘70s-esque group released an entiing series of 12-inch releases this year and last, as well as video clips for the fictional talent show program Face Time.
You can see the other clips Bell executive produced at the band’s Myspace. Here they blaze through the first song they ever created together, the five-minute earworm “Light of Love.” Bell looks like she’s having a ball with these heart-string-plucking lyrics. Donna Summer and Olivia Newton-John: eat your hearts out. (via Flavorwire)
Iceland’s neo-classical composer Ólafur Arnalds did something inspiring with technology this year. His Found Songs project from April saw him create a 7-song series in a week that he instantly uploaded for public consumption via his Twitter account. The artwork was all supplied by fans on Flickr as well. This Web 2.0 marvel would seem gimmicky if Arnalds didn’t make such beautifully emotive music. (Think Max Richter or a less-processed moments of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s oeuvre.)
Found Songs will now get an old-fashioned North American physical release on November 10th, via Erased Tapes. The re-mastered and limited edition will come in the following formats: CD, 10” vinyl and high-quality download.
A perfect example of Arnalds’ twilight aesthetic is this enchanting video for “Ljósið.” The minimal, yet engaging animation clip was helmed by Esteban Diácono - a young motion graphic artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Like the album it was plucked from, ““Ljósið” inspired its own internet buzz. Oer 400,000 people watched the clip in just two weeks via Vimeo and YouTube. It’s downright beautiful. Share it with someone you love.
St. Vincent‘s music puts people into a trance for her time-bending video, “Marrow.” I still love how you can hear the click of the instruments at the 1:11 mark. It’s a testament to Annie Clark’s attention detail on her sophomore effort, Actor. The slightly creepy, Terri Timely-helmed clip (Children of the Corn anyone?) coaxes the track’s scuzzy guitars and fluttering classical theatricalities out of their respective holes. Now I wonder what Clark’s New Moon duet with folk singer Bon Iver will sound like. Actor is available to order here: beggarsgroupusa.com
Alec Ounsworth
“That Is Not My Home (After Bruegel)” MP3
Sep 22, 2009
When we first reported about Clap Your Hands Say Yeahfrontman Alec Ounsworth trekking to New Orleans to record a solo project with session players from Galactic and The Meters, it seemed as though he was moving away from indie-rock.
The Mo Beauty cut “That Is Not My Home (After Bruegel)” tells an entirely different story. It sounds like a full-bodied continuation of his former band. He glosses over the missed opportunities of their sophomore LP with this bombastic earworm. There is little of New Orleans jazz, funk or blues here. The percussion and horns are mainly there to roll Ounsworth’s lyrics along.
Mo Beauty is due October 20th from Anti-. (via P4K)
Dubstep production wizard Joker, already made a name for himself with grimey tracks such as “Digidesign” and “Purple City.” Here he takes on “Cruel Intentions,” the bouncy house-dsico single from Simian Mobile Disco‘s new LP, Temporary Pleasure. Joker’s remix is a shadowy and grim soundscape compared to the original. Beth Ditto’s vocals are still high in the mix though. Joker injects a syncopated beat and plenty of feverish synthwork throughout. I have to say I prefer the re-rub. As we reported earlier, SMD is touring this fall.
Martin Courtney IV, Matthew Mondanile III, Etienne Pierre Duguay and Alex Bleeker of New Jersey’s 
When we first 
Dubstep production wizard 
