Jan 30, 2010

The electro-acoustic ensemble Clogs is the longstanding project to conflate the hard lines of classical and pop music. The venture is spearheaded by The National‘s Bryce Dessner (guitar), Australia’s Padma Newsome (violin, viola, mandola, voice), Rachael Elliott (bassoon), Thomas Kozumplik, (percussion) and often features helps from the likes of other genre-mixers Sufjan Stevens and My Brightest Diamond‘s Shara Worden. The core group met in the late-‘90s while they were a misfit classical ensemble on the campus of their alma mater, Yale School of Music. Today, however, they lead a musical scene, alongside Belle Orchestre, The Books, and Rachel’s.

The band already have four acclaimed full-lengths under their belts via Brassland Records—Thom’s Night Out (2001), Lullaby for Sue (2003), Stick Music (2004), and 2006’s Lantern. On March 2nd, they will release their fifth venture, The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton. The new song-cycle gets a stately preview in “On the Edge.” The lovely track features a fluttery libretto by Worden (she also sings on five other songs). Also, check out the band live in February and March. Tour dates can be found here.

Trivia: The work was composed by Newsome during his 2005 residency at Giardini La Mortella, sponsored by the Fromm Foundation. The titular Garden is a fecund botanical paradise created by Lady Walton (the widow of the late British composer Sir William Walton) on the island of Ischia, in Italy’s Bay of Naples.

Jan 30, 2010

Give a listen to the feathery-soft Balearic cut, “And Now,” plucked from jj nº 3. The jj track is downloadble above and on the latest NPR All Songs Considered podcast. The podcast also features new tunes from The Besnard Lakes, Midlake, and more. The previously cloaked personas of the Gothenburg outfit are starting to become unveiled. For instance, the woman to the left is jj’s vocalist.The new LP, jj nº 3, is out March 9th via Secretly Canadian/Sincerely Yours.

Jan 30, 2010

Check out Vivian Girls’ studio version of their favorite cover of The Chantels’ classic “He’s Gone.” The bouncy cut was recorded by the band’s friend King Tuff and will appear on the B-side of the group’s forthcoming My Love Will Follow Me single, due out next month on the Girls’ own Wild World Records. (Via Gorilla vs. Bear.)

Tindersticks: “Black Smoke” (directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard) Video

Tindersticks’ latest sullen indie-rock LP, Falling Down a Mountain, is coming out on February 16th through Constellation. Now we’ve got this slightly grimy, 70s-esque performance clip from the infamous British directing duo, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. The “Black Smoke” video was filmed this winter in Stuart A. Staples Le Chien Chanceux studio in la Souterrain, France.

This well-lit clip is pretty much the opposite of the pair’s lo-fi, gritty craziness of their 1985 reenactment of David Bowie’s last show as Ziggy Stardust, “A Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide,” or their near-legendary take on the videotaped performance of The Cramps at Napa Mental Institute in 1978, “File Under Sacred Music.”

Check out the artistic twosome’s work with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Jarvis Cocker, Camera Obscura, The Veils, and Fanfarlo at their Vimeo page. Also, Falling Down a Mountain is now streaming in its entirety right here.

Jan 29, 2010

Reykjavik’s FM Belfast already made a stir at last year’s SXSW and via sprite remixing for múm, Retro Stefson, Skátar, Nix Noltes, GusGus, and Kasper Bjørke, but now they’re preparing the world for more of their sunny brand of chiptune-pop. The Icelandic foursome’s debut LP is titled how to make friends and it should arrive in the spring of this year on Kimi Records.

Check out the group’s earworm-y single, “Par Avion” above. And for a taste of the group’s energy in the live setting, see the trippy live footage Torfi Frans Olafsson shot for the single.

Hauschka: “Barfuss durch Gras” Video

Düsseldorf-based composer/pianist Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka), will perform select U.S. concerts this winter. Go to Bertelmann’s MySpace for dates. Also, check out the beautifully animated video for “Barfuss durch Gras” to the left. In the Linda Kühhirt-directed clip, clouds travel across the sky and flowers bud as the song’s plinking melody slowly builds. The prepared-piano piece is off Hauschka’s excellent 2008 LP, Ferndorf, out now on FatCat. (Via P4k.)

Jan 29, 2010

Love Is All‘s Two Thousand and Ten Injuries is dropping March 23rd on Polyvinyl and today we’ve got another preview song in the heartbroken post-punker, “Repetition.” The song harkens back to their excellent debut, Nine Times That Same Song. You can pre-order the new full-length on limited white vinyl (only 500!) here. All pre-orders include the sticker and button pictured to the right. (Via Gorilla vs. Bear)