Neil Young: “Long May You Run” (Live on Conan O’Brien) Video

Dear internet, I’m With Coco.

The “Godfather of Grunge,” Neil Young, ended Conan O’Brien’s 20-plus years of working for NBC last night and his tenure as host of the Tonight Show with a classy acoustic version of “Long May You Run.” The Stills-Young Band track wasn’t an obvious choice, but it was heartfelt. (Plus, when was anything from Young ever “obvious?”) The aged musician appeared during the middle of the show, and it seemed appropriate to have such an underappreciated rock star send off the sadly discarded O’Brien. Long may you run Coco.

Trivia: Conan’s 2009 debut episode as the Tonight Show host featured Seattle grunge rockers Pearl Jam, a band who were greatly influenced by Young and collaborated with him on the excellent 1995 LP, Mirror Ball. How fitting.

Jan 23, 2010

High Places are set to release High Places vs. Mankind on April 6th, via Thrill Jockey. Now you can listen to a preview track from the follow-up to the experimental duo’s 2008 self-titled debut. Check it out above. The song is called “On Giving Up” and sees vocalist Mary Pearson’s looping herself over an electronic-dance beat. The L.A.-via-New York band are touring. (Via MBV.)

Sub Pop will finally release Teen Dream next Tuesday. It’s the third LP from the Baltimore dream-pop pair Beach House. Pre-orders of the CD are packaged with a DVD, which includes clips for every track on the shimmering release.

Watch singer Victoria Legrand’s video for “Silver Soul” to the left. It features hazy footage of silver-painted ladies, taking showers, dancing around, and playing with hula hoops.

You can also download it in MP4 format.

Jan 22, 2010

Patterson Hood has already gone on record several times saying that the Drive-By Truckers’ tenth studio LP, The Big-To, is “very much a rock album. Very melodic and more rocking than anything since disc 2 of Southern Rock Opera.” The dark subject matter that’s typified the Truckers since that seminal release is in full effect on the official follow-up to 2008’s Brighter Than Creation’s Dark

The 13-song collection ruminates on topics such as the death of two loved ones (Jerry Wexler, Jim Dickinson), a Tennessee homocide of a preacher by his wife, and your family while you’re on the road, work in a hemorrhaging marketplace, binge drinking, a trapeze act called The Flying Wallendas, the strange tale of a stripper, and the general state of unease in the U.S. Through it all, an underlying circus allegory begins to emerge. Hood explains further in the liner notes:

I never really was all that into the circus as a kid, but I sure was into the Rock Show, which was sort of The Circus for kids of my generation. I went and wanted to join. I’ve been living on the road for much of the last two decades. I get tired and burned out, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The Big To-Do.

Hood and the gang wrote most of the new tracks while on the road, a first for the DBT gang. In addition to the liner notes, Hood penned track-by-track descriptions. His musings on the rocker “This Fucking Job” (download it above), are very thought-provoking. Check those out over at Stereogum.

Jan 22, 2010

The Grizzly Bear clan recently paid a promotional visit to Triple J Radio‘s studio for an interview and a run-through of “While You Wait for the Others,” a fan favorite from 2009’s Veckatimest. More importantly, the foursome also covered Hot Chip‘s 2006 mega-single, “Boy From School.” It’s an extremely enchanting iteration of the pop cut and you’ve gotta love those harmonies. The full session can be found at Triple J. (Via I Guess I’m Floating.)

Jan 22, 2010

L.A.‘s David Bolt and Craig Gordon, aka The Delta Mirror, started off as a hip-hop duo in the ‘90s, but recently they’ve ventured into the world of electronic music and shoegaze. They also added a bassist in Kassie K. The downloadable song above is off their upcoming debut full-length, Machines That Listen (out March 19th via Lefse). “He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You” has some twitchy IDM beats and distorted Ride-esque guitar going for it. Nicely done.

Jan 21, 2010

Danish orchestral-pop mavens Efterklang are releasing their first LP for 4AD on February 23rd. The quartet’s calling the new release Magic Chairs and we’ve got the piano-led “Modern Drift” for download above. Guest musicians included their touring band members, Peter Broderick, Heather W. Broderick, Frederik Teige and Daniel James. British engineer and producer Gareth Jones (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Depeche Mode, Interpol, Mogwai, Grizzly Bear, Wire, et al) also came in for mixing duties. This is Efterklang’s third studio album. The band will tour North America and hit up SXSW after the album release.