A menancingly surreal Old West town serves as the gloomy setting for shooting birds, and an intoxicating perfume. Before long, a wild animal melee breaks out in a disrepute saloon. Stefan Nadelman masterfully animated the video for Ramona Fall‘s “I Say Fever,” from this year’s equally great, Intuit. The Portland indie rock group, led by Menomena‘s Brent Knopf, are playing Portland, Ore.‘s Crystal Ballroom with The Helio Sequence on November 28th.
Molina and Johnson
“Almost Let You In” MP3
Oct 30, 2009
As we reported earlier this month, Molina & Johnson is the new collaboration between, Jason Molina and Will Johnson, the American folk mavens behind Magnolia Electric Co. and Centro-matic respectively.
The roots-rock fan’s wet dream have a self-titled debut album coming out November 3rd, via Secretly Canadian. We already heard the LP’s opening cut, “Twenty Cycles to the Ground,” but here here’s another heartbreaking folk ditty, entitled “Almost Let You In.” The duet interweaves plaintive guitar, tambourine, and soft raps on the hard body of an acoustic six-string.
M & J will tour with former Come/Codeine member Chris Brokaw later this fall in Europe and here in the States. The full itenary can be found here.
A vampire, crazed Santa Claus, mummy, skeleton, U.F.O., and plenty of tombstones litter Sea Wolf‘s Halloween-y single, “Wicked Blood.” The track would fit right in on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack and in fact Alex Church’s unit did contribute the previously unreleased song, “The Violet Hour,” to the over-hyped soundtrack.
The folk-pop quartet will also perform at an upcoming Twilight event on November 6th at L.A.‘s Hollywood & Highland complex. The concert also features performances from Death Cab For Cutie, Anya Marina and Band of Skulls. A Q&A with select cast members will follow the vampiric gig. “Wicked Blood” is off the L.A. group’s sophomore LP, White Water, White Bloom. Remaining band dates can be found here. (out now on Dangerbird).
Dirty Projectors
“Ascending Melody” MP3
Oct 29, 2009
Back in August we reported about Dirty Projectors’ 12” for the Bitte Orca cut, “Temecula Sunrise.” It was set for release in September but got pushed back to this October. Above you’ll find the Eastern-tinged “Ascending Melody” (formerly called “That’s My Move”). The loose and extremely well…melodic studio version is available now.
As we mentioned earlier, the release also includes the title track, “Cannibal Resource,” and the heartfelt pop number, “Emblem of the World.” The funky,“Ascending Melody” is the clear winner among the new material though. The 12” is out now via Domino. There’s lots of neat studio chatter on this one. Enjoy. The band is touring the U.S. now. Go here for remaining tour dates. (via HypeMachine / zshare / box.net)
The U.K. indie rocker Lightspeed Champion shows up to sing on the heartfelt electro ballad “My Turn.” The song above is from Basement Jaxx‘s Scars long-player from earlier this fall.
The attached clip sees Mr. Lightspeed dressed up for the ball (or something) as head-nodding animated bears saw, maim, hammer, and pretty obliterate his heart. Champion doesn’t seem to mind so much because the end is full of chuckles and Cheshire Cat grins. The music video was directed by Tomek Ducki. Also, the Jaxx crew is touring this fall. Check out the dates below. (via Stereogum)
Xiu Xiu
“Volcana! (I Hope Your Train Crashes Remix) (The 6ths)” MP3
Oct 29, 2009
This week, Xiu Xiu’s website reported that there’s a new full-length coming down the pipeline. The title will be Dear God, I Hate Myself. Sounds par the course for the heavily experimental Brooklyn/ Durham, NC threesome. According to the same post, the LP will be out be out the first week of February in the U.K., with an American release to follow a week after, via Kill Rock Stars.
And for all your Xiu Xiu fans out there (come on out of the shadows!), the band’s addition to Merge’s forthcoming remix compilation is now available for free online. Download their claustrophobic I Hope Your Train Crashes remix of The 6ths’ “Volcana!.” It will definitely give you the bends. On November 17th, SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Remixes! will be released on limited edition CD and digital download. All proceeds will benefit charities picked by the SCORE! curators.
You can also stream the whole thing here. Other contributing remixers include, Caribou, John McEntire (Sea and Cake, Tortoise), The Junior Boys, Four Tet, Jason Forrest, +/-, and The Blow.
Air France‘s recently released a tribute song to their hometown of Gothenburg, called “GBG Belongs to Us,” a nod to Saint Etienne‘s “London Belongs to Us.” That cut alligned these two powerhouse talents for the slick remix above.
Air France turns Saint Etienne’s lounge-y synth-house cut, “Spring,” into a Balearic-funk beach jam. It’s an understated, breezy re-rub for late night come downs. The Foxbase Alpha track is made for this stuff. Etienne’s Foxbase (1991), So Tough (1993), Continental comp (1997), and Sound of Water(2000) were all recently reissued.
The Low Anthem‘s windswept single “Charlie Darwin” gets a beautiful stop-motion animated video by longtime friends Simon Taffe and Glenn Taunton (End of the Road Films). In the sunset-lit clip a man works the field and digs up a skeleton of a human head and a diluvian-like wellspring. It’s rare that you witness such a perfectly matched visual to a song. Pefect execution, through and through.
The EOTR directing pair were the group’s first supporters, releasing the band’s debut 7"in the U.K. Low Anthem returned the favor this past summer by playing the End of the Road Festival. The haunting track is from the band’s criminally underrated third LP, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, out now on Nonesuch. See more snazzy videos of the band at their website. The Providence, Rhode Island trio’s currently hitting the open road with fellow folkies Blind Pilot and Josh Ritter.
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