The orchestral-pop Brooklyn band Clare and the Reasons will be hitting the open road with L.A.‘s legendary/criminally underrated Van Dyke Parks. The L.A. composer, arranger, artist, singer, and actor has always made a habit of producing and arranging top shelf pop and indie acts over the past forty years (The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Loudon Wainwright III, Silverchair, Ry Cooder and Joanna Newsom to name a few.)
The special (and extremely short) U.S. west coast jaunt will go down in February. Parks collaborated with the band on their debut LP, The Movie. The Reasons recently released that album’s sucessor, Arrow, out now on Frog Stand. In celebration of their continued musical partnership, here’s a free download of Clare’s tuba-y cover of the Genesis’ track, “That’s All.” It appears on the new LP. Download/stream it out above.
The Brooklyn group recently returned from a North American tour with The Vic Chesnutt Band, and will be playing a final NYC show of the year with cosmopolitan singer-songwriter Keren Ann at the Knitting Factory on December 14th.
Here the Reasons posted about their upcoming dates with Van Dyke Parks on the Frog Stand Records site.
Clare and the Reasons:
12-14 Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory # 02-09 Seattle, WA - The Triple Door % 02-10 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios % 02/12 San Francisco, CA - The Swedish American Hall % 02-14 (make out show!) Los Angeles, CA - McCabe’s %
% with Van Dyke Parks # with Keren Ann
The Art Museums
“Sculpture Gardens”
Dec 02, 2009
San Francisco duo Josh and Glenn Donaldson (aka The Art Museums) are the latest signees to Woodsist (home to Fresh & Onlys, Ganglians, Mayfair Set, Real Estate, Kurt Vile, Woods). The only info we know about they recorded their forthcoming debut LP, Rough Frame (release date TBA) on a Tascam 388 tape machine this summer. Oh, and according to a press release, they are really into “art, poetry, WHAMM records & films abouts Mods.” They’re also not too fond of “flared trousers, drip coffee, [and] dirty sneakers.”
Apart from the above silliness, you can give Rough Frame‘s Kinks-like single “Sculpture Gardens” above. It sounds pretty slick for “lo-fi.” Check out the full tracklist below:
Rough Frame:
Side A 01 We Can’t Handle It 02 Sculpture Gardens 03 So Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore 04 Paris Cafes 05 When Amber Melts
Side B 06 Oh Modern Girls 07 Rough Frame 08 Sing a Song of Stacie 09 30 Seconds
Pardon the crit-speak for a second here but Portland’s Mimicking Birds sounds like “Paul Simon wandering through Antarctica with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy at his side.” (Yeah, pretty ridiculous.) It’s also a mostly apt description for this entrancing folk music. I may be full of hot air but MB frontman Nate Lacy is releasing his debut on Isaac Brock’s (Modest Mouse) small imprint Glacial Pace after all. Likewise, these sound collages unfold with the patience of ambient music. Wisps of melody, percussion, found-sounds, and god’s know’s what curl in and out of your ears. Lacy is joined by Tim Skellenger on additional/lead guitar and Aaron Hanson on percussion.
Here we have the video (fanmade?) of “New Doomsdays,” a found-sound track that’s been kicking around since 2008. In the clip, the life cycle of mushrooms is depicted as the band’s folk soundscapes unfold. A short clip of an instructional short preceedes the haunting music. A mp3 version is available here. This year the NW band toured behind their ghostly tunes with Modest Mouse (Brock is supposedly producing their 2010 debut) and introducing their creaky songsmithing to many new ears at Austin City Limits. Be sure to check out the trio’s page on VIRB for download/streams of various tracks.
They run the gamut from front porch banjo folkies with the tongue-tied lyricism of Paul Simon (“The Chimney Sweep”) to would-be indie anthems (“Burning Stars), and jangly, pastoral blues (“A Perfunctory Clockwork Yawn”). There’s even time for an ambient electro-acoustic track with some sweet Native American-esque flute. Basically, keep these guys on your radar. They’re playing a few some dates with Laura Veirs and Blind Pilot.
Side note: Mimicking Birds’ Lacy also is a pretty solid mixed media artist. See some of his pieces on the band’s MySpace and to the right.
Cocker performed “Underwear” from the stone cold Pulp classic Different Class with the band, and also “Girl With One Eye,” a cut produced by Pulp bassist Steve Mackey and featured on Florence’s debut LP, Lungs. (Mackey was also in attendance, according to NME.)
A fan video of “Underwear” has yet to be uploaded onto YouTube, but there’s an OK-quality clip of “Girl With One Eye” embedded here. Enjoy. Here’s the full tracklist:
Florence And Friends peformed:
01 “Hurricane Drunk” 02 “Cosmic Love” (with Patrick Wolf) 03 “Dog Days Are Over” (with Patrick Wolf) 04 “Drumming Song 05 “My Boy Builds Coffins” (with Jack Penate) 06 “Every Glance” (with Jack Penate) 07 “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” 08 “I’m Going Down” (with Kid Harpoon) 09 “Kiss With a Fist” (with Kid Harpoon) 10 “Girl With One Eye” (with Jarvis Cocker) 11 “Underwear” (with Jarvis Cocker) 12 “You’ve Got the Love”
Final Fantasy
“Lewis Takes Action” MP3
Dec 01, 2009
Classical-pop experimentalist/violinist extraordinaire Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, has a new LP, Heartland, dropping January 12th on Domino. His conceptual third full-length will feature guest spots from fellow arranger Nico Muhly, Toronto indie-pop artist Gentleman Reg, and the inimitable Czech Symphony. In a press release, Pallett describes the album as “one-sided dialogues with Lewis, a young, ultra-violent farmer, speaking to his creator.” There’s also something about a fictional world of “Spectrum.”
Courtesy of Domino, you can now listen to one of Lewis’ “ultra-violent” chats with his maker. “Lewis Takes Action” is a lithe track despite all the instrumentation flitting about its mix. A rush of violins, trotting brass, Phil Spector-esque drum hits, and plety of tragic falsettoed lyrics make for a grave, yet enjoyable listen. Spoiler: Somebody get’s a serious bludgeoning during the course of this track.
Download the track above, but it’s also available at Domino’s site, in exchange for an e-mail. (Your e-mail also enters you into a contest to win a signed “Lewis Takes Action” 7”.)
Pallett has a week of semi-intimate gigs lined up near the release of Heartland. Check those out below.
Final Fantasy:
12-01 New York, NY - Webster Hall # 12-02 Brooklyn, NY - Bell House # 01-12 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club 01-14 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill 01-16 Chicago, IL - Schubas (Tomorrow Never Knows Festival) 01-18 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom 01-25 London, England - Union Chapel
Premiere: “Work This City (Yes Giantess Remix)” MP3
Dec 01, 2009
The Brooklyn electro-soul outfit Body Language consists of Matthew Young, Grant Wheeler, Angelica Bess, and Ian Chang. Earlier this year they dropped their debut EP, Speaks, through Ghostly International‘s mini imprint, Moodgadget. On that release was the infectious two-step single “Work This City” It sounds a little bit like a glitchy, slightly grimy version of The xx, Hot Chip, School of Seven Bells, but the NYC crew largely use their synths as a hip-hop MC would sample beats.
It’s no surprise, since BL intially served as production collaborators with Passion Pit on their debut LP, Manners. Remixes for Pit’s Chunk of Change EP (the Lanau Wake Up Mix of “Sleepyhead”) and Machinedrum‘s “Late Operation” EP, featuring Theophilus London, fill in the rest of their résumé.
Today we’ve got an exclusive premiere of Yes Giantess’ re-rub of “Work This City.” BL’s Boston electro pals extend the single past the six-minute mark with a whirring, beeping house beat. The chorus ignites into cut-up overdrive and rests for a spell. Rinse, repeat, bottle up and explode! Body Language is touring with the English electronica band Zero 7. Check out the remaining dates here.
The Notwist
“Boneless (Grizzly Bear Remix)” MP3
Nov 30, 2009
The electronic/indie rock band The Notwist get a belated re-rub courtesy of the Grizzly Bear guys above. The remix appeared on the website of Grizzly multi-instrumentalist/producer Chris Taylor’s new Terrible Records imprint. The song in question is Notwist’s “Boneless” from 2008’s The Devil, You + Me. The new treatment casts aside the original track‘s upbeat piano for slightly catastrophic dronescapes, hurried drum hits, and forlorn woodwinds. it’s perfect music for a late fall day and quite different from an earlier Panda Bear remix. This new version is by Taylor and will be featured as a B-side on the forthcoming Notwist single for “Come In.” The German trio is touring Europe and India. (via Terriblog)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
“Even Heroes Have to Die” MP3
Nov 30, 2009
Earlier this year, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’ long-time imprint Touch and Go ceased producing new records. Then in September, we told you the indie punks had inked a deal with Matador. Well, now they’ve posted the first preview track from the new partnership. It’s the jangly and angular “Even Heroes Have to Die,” a undeniably catchy punk track from the Pharmacists’ forthcoming album, The Brutalist Bricks. The trio’s sixth LP will drop in CD, LP, and digital outlets on March 9th. Go here for upcoming tour dates. (via Matablog)
The orchestral-pop Brooklyn band 
San Francisco duo Josh and Glenn Donaldson (aka 
Here we have the video (fanmade?) of “New Doomsdays,” a found-sound track that’s been kicking around since 2008. In the clip, the life cycle of mushrooms is depicted as the band’s folk soundscapes unfold. A short clip of an instructional short preceedes the haunting music. A mp3 version is available 
Classical-pop experimentalist/violinist extraordinaire Owen Pallett, aka 
he Brooklyn electro-soul outfit 
Earlier this year, 
