Review: Woods :: Sun & Shade

Sun & Shade is the kind of record you take out into the dessert with you, put on repeat, and suck on a couple hits of acid to while your subconscious commences an epic battle with itself. Or you could simply spin it on your turntable with a fresh cup of coffee on a sunny Saturday morning. Either works.

I'm no expert in the lo-fi and hazy folk-rock world of Woods, so I don't feel comfortable calling Sun & Shade the band's best record to date—but yes, I'm certainly thinking it. Despite the laid back vibe of Woods' acoustic psychedelia, this is a hardworking crew that's released an album every year since their 2006 debut. And as fond as I am of the band's last two full-length Songs of Shame and At Echo Lake, there is something very immediately appealing and accessible about Sun & Shade.

Old Tapes - "Queen" & "Farewell"

Here's a really well-balanced one-two punch from Rochester, NY band Old Tapes. While the first track, "Queen," is a raunchy mix of snappy drums and fuzzed-out electric guitar, "Farewell" is a soft climb of quietly strummed guitars and electronic percussion. You can hear more from this promising trio later this summer, when they release their debut EP.

Old Tapes - "Farewell" 
Old Tapes - "Queen"

Live: Cotton Jones at Doug Fir

There's something almost religious about seeing Cotton Jones in concert—like going to church, but without any talk of god. The hymns are to the silver morning light, the flowers in the park, rolling hills and rushing rivers, hazy half dreams, and chiming bells. The songs are all personal moments and portraits—sipping tea, looking out the window—shared by the soulful and honey-voiced Michael Nau and his band of country folk from Cumberland, Maryland. The seven-piece group filled the stage at Doug Fir Lounge on Friday night with the standard folk-rock instrumentation of drums, bass, and electric guitar, plus a few more colorful treats like an amplified accordion, trombone, and tuba. Despite the band's size, the songs sounded as if they were being played in your own living room next to a quietly popping fireplace—warm and intimate at every turn. As always, Nau was aided by his husky-voiced singing partner and wife Whitney McGraw, who looks about six-months pregnant and as radiant as ever. The two have an incredible onstage rapport, never trading more than a look or nod during their vibrant duets and harmonies, and as an audience member, it often feels as if you've stumbled onto a couple's private, hushed conversations.

Michael Kiwanuka - "Tell Me A Tale"

23-year-old London musician Michael Kiwanuka nails the early 1970s sounds of soul and rock music on his debut EP, Tell Me A Tale. With bright flute and string arrangements and a deep resonant voice, the confidant Kiwanuka sounds like he grew up on a steady diet of Van Morrison and Curtis Mayfield LPs like Moondance, Curtis and Roots. The EP drops on June 13th via Communion Records.

Michael Kiwanuka - "Tell Me A Tale" (from Tell Me A Tale)

Watch the video for "Tell Me A Tale" after the jump.

Boy Without God - "Of Cowboys & Other Beautiful Men"

"If I was a beautiful man, I wouldn't worry 'bout love," sings Gabriel Birnbaum over a quietly fingerpicked acoustic guitar on "Of Cowboys & Other Beautiful Men." Over the course of the its four-plus minutes, this sparse acoustic ditty slowly opens up with bursts of brass, strums of electric guitar, and heart-tugging strings, creating a florid and intoxicating concoction. The last time I wrote about Birnbaum's Boy Without God project was in February of 2010 for his blissful home-brewed single "City Kids." Now, Boy Without God is set to return with a polished and intimate ten-track studio release, God Bless The Hunger, due out on June 21st. Now, one more time:  "If I was a beautiful man, I wouldn't worry 'bout love." How great is that line?

Pre-order the album now at Boy Without God's Bandcamp.

Boy Without God - "Of Cowboys & Other Beautiful Men" (from God Bless The Hunger)

Review: JEFF The Brotherhood :: We Are The Champions

I caught JEFF The Brotherhood live for the first time last week. I expected to be blown away and—despite the four-band lineup and short set time—I absolutely was. The first 15 minutes or so of the show was simply Jake and Jamin Orrall warming up—trading heavy riffs and drum breaks with long pulls of beer, as the brothers found their edge and timing, working their way into the first song. Regardless of the limitations of the setting, the Orrall's play was simply ferocious with Jamin providing the backdrop for Jake to dance around his pedals and release an unrelenting six-stringed assault. The fact it was just two cats making all that noise was astounding.

JEFF The Brotherhood have been putting out releases on their Infinity Cat imprint since high school and now the duo have made the big leagues, bringing their riff-punk and Infinity Cat roster to Warner Music. Perhaps that's why they decided to up the ante with their latest album, We Are The Champions. The speed, manic drumming, and grungy head-banging guitar work is all still intact, but brothers Orrall have found a way to hone that signature sound and talent into the sharpest of pop songs—a fistful of catchy and tight two-and-a-half minute testaments to the band's near constant touring over the past year.

Idiot Glee - "Trouble At The Dancehall"

My favorite track off Idiot Glee's new album Paddywhack premiered yesterday on You Ain't No Picasso—"Trouble At The Dancehall." According to Matt's post, the track was written around a loop of Sandy Nelson’s instrumental surf rock-ish song “Teen Beat." Perhaps I read too much into the word "dancehall," but when I previously listened to the Idiot Glee track I envisioned a young white guy doing his take on Jamaican dancehall music, especially that syncopated beat and "Wanna be with you girl" line. I guess that just goes to prove how subjective the interpretation of music is—or how dumb I am. Have a listen and download the excellent track below along with an old dancehall favorite of mine by Sister Nancy.

Order Paddywhack here and make sure to grab Idiot Glee's "Don't Go Out Tonight" 7" over at Small Plates Records.

Idiot Glee - "Trouble At The Dancehall" (from Paddywhack)
Sister Nancy - "Bam Bam" (from One, Two)

Hooray For Earth - "No Love"

Grand, lush, and out of this world, Hooray For Earth's debut LP True Loves will be a very welcome addition to the coming warm summer months. Whether it's the warm arpeggiated techno and anthemic chorus of "Sails," the Elephant-sized bass synth and upstroked reggae guitar on the title track, or the "Eye of The Tiger"-style muted guitar and giant celebratory brass of "No Love," this album is eager to please—and it does, at every turn. Frontman Noel Heroux clearly has an affinity for some of the finer pop moments of the 1980s, as at times, True Loves feels akin to dropping your Greatest Hits of The 80s compilation into a blender, injecting a healthy dose of steroids, and the for good measure, pouring a vile of acid into it. If "Bring Us Closer Together" doesn't remind you of Laura Branigan's "Gloria," then you should probably re-watch Flashdance. A more dynamic, expansive, and plain fun record hasn't passed this way in 2011.

True Loves is out on June 6th via Dovecote Records. Pre-order here. Download the band's recent Daytrotter session here.

Hooray For Earth - "No Love" (from True Loves)
Hooray For Earth - "Surrounded By Your Friends" (Daytrotter)

Stream "True Loves" and "Sails" after the jump.

Black Lips - "New Direction"

Holy hole in a doughnut, this new Black Lips record is delectable. On the Mark Ronson-produced Arabia Mountain, the group's punky psychedelic garage rock is as tightly wound and sharply honed as ever, coming in the form of an intravenous injection headed straight for your bloodstream. You can now stream the entire album over at Grooveshark. Last week, Rolling Stone also released another of the album's tracks as a free download—the irresistible foot-stomping and hip-shaking "New Direction." Snag it below, along with the previous album treat, "Modern Art."

Arabia Mountain is out on June 7th, but you can pre-order it now over at Insound.

Black Lips - "New Direction" (from Arabia Mountain)
Black Lips - "Modern Art" (from Arabia Mountain)

Vetiver - "Wonder Why"

Today, we get another treat from the Vetiverse in the form of "Wonder Why," the second single from Andy Cabic's forthcoming June 14th Sub Pop release, The Errant Charm. In sharp contrast to the hazy electronic loops of previous album leak "Can't You Tell," "Wonder Why" is about as straightforward as a pop song gets, chugging along pounding drums, a bright piano motif, and an easily repeatable chorus. If "Can't You Tell" is a smokey late-night touch of dreamy psychedelia, "Wonder Is Why" is a warm summer afternoon driving around town with the windows down and music blasting. One thing is for certain, for better or worse, Cabic has never sounded so polished.

Vetiver - "Wonder Why" (from The Errant Charm)

Caitlin Rose - "Shanghai Cigarettes"

On "Shanghai Cigarettes," a pack of smokes is all that's left of a relationship gone bad and Nashville songwriter Caitlin Rose is ready to call it quits, burning "it down to the filter 'til it burned my throat." Just under 4 minutes, the song features a fun country narrative over an uptempo and irresistible rock & roll combination of loose fiery guitar solos and handclaps. Music's in Rose's blood: her mother is Liz Rose, a songwriter who's written a handful of hits for Taylor Swift. But Caitlin Rose's 11-track debut Own Side Now, released earlier this year, has a much more tasteful and low-key sound than your average pop record. The instrumentation is all your traditional country and rock fare—acoustic guitar, slide guitar, harmonica, electric piano—and it's the perfect pairing for Rose's songwriting style—classic.

Caitlin Rose - "Shanghai Cigarettes" (from Own Side Now)
Caitlin Rose - "Own Side" (Daytrotter)

The UFO Club - "Be My Baby" (Ronettes cover)

If you dug those Night Beats tracks I posted last week, you'll absolutely love this psych-rock version of everyone's favorite Phil Spector classic, "Be My Baby," by The UFO Club—a collaboration between the Night Beats' Lee Blackwell and The Black Angels' Christian Bland. The song appears on a UFO Club and Night Beats split 10" out now via Austin's Reverberation Appreciation Society. The record features 4 tracks from each band and is pressed in an edition of 500 on 140 gram vinyl with handcrafted and screen-printed artwork by the bands. Go pick up your wax or digital download now at Austin Psych Fest. Stream all 8 tracks on the Night Beats' Facebook page.

The UFO Club - "Be My Baby" (from The UFO Club / Night Beats Split 10")

The Story of "Mother and Child Reunion"

One of my all-time favorite tracks is Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion"—a simple, catchy, and straightforward bit of rocksteady with a hell of an opening guitar line. Simon recorded the song during a series of sessions with famed Jamaican studio band The Dynamites in Kingston in 1970. Not only was "Mother and Child Reunion" Simon's first single post Simon & Garfunkel, but it was also one of the first instances where a mainstream white musician prominently incorporated elements of reggae into a pop song. Obviously, people dig reggae music and the track wound up being a hit, reaching #4 in the US pop charts in 1972.

According to an interview that year with Rolling Stone, Simon was inspired to write the song after his dog was killed by a car and he began to think, "Oh, man, what if that was [my wife] Peggy? What if somebody like that died?" The inspiration for the song's title and chorus, however, is a little less emotional: "I was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called 'Mother and Child Reunion.' It's chicken and eggs. And I said, 'Oh, I love that title. I gotta use that one.'" (Research via Marco)

Check out two covers of the track below. Listening to Horace Andy's version out of context, you really would have no idea Simon penned the original.

Horace Andy - "Mother and Child Reunion" 
Grizzly Bear - "Mother and Child Reunion"

Look Out For: The Night Beats

I caught the Night Beats last night in an opening slot for JEFF The Brotherhood and the Greenhornes, and man, were they great. The Seattle via Texas trio play psychedelic garage rock dredged in the urgency and fervor of great punk music. The manic drumming of James Traeger and the adept play of bassist Tarek Wegner make for a heavy foundation for lead guitarist and singer Lee Blackwell to basically go nuts over. When Blackwell's not wailing on his guitar ripping intricate blues riffs, he's howling away like some Marc Bolan meets Robert Plant hell demon. Look out for the band's debut LP this summer via Chicago's Trouble In Mind.

The Night Beats - "Ain't Dumbo"
The Night Beats - "Dial 666"

Ty Segall - "You Make The Sun Fry"

My experience with bands recording covers records is that the proceeding follow up LP always tends to be much richer from that experience (see Phosphorescent's Here's To Taking It Easy after To Willie and Vetiver's Tight Knit post Thing of the Past). Think of it as a rock & roll masters class. Fresh off his Ty Rex EP of T. Rex covers, Ty Segall is set to return with Goodbye Bread—yes that adorable hound photograph is the actual cover art—on June 21st via Drag City. And yes, that bluesy swagger on the LP's first single, "You Make The Sun Fry," reeks of Marc Bolan—and that's a very good thing.

Ty Segall - "You Make The Sun Fry" (from Goodbye Bread)

Middle Brother records Daytrotter sessions

Middle Brother has a handful of cuts off their stellar self-titled LP up on Daytrotter today. The band recorded two 4-song sets with Sean Moeller. The first in January of 2010 at John Prince's Nashville Butcher Shoppe Studio with John McCauley and Taylor Goldsmith playing their freshly written material. The second session was recorded in Austin at this year's SXSW, the morning after McCauley's Deervana show. I'm sure he wasn't hungover at all.

Middle Brother - "Daydreaming"
Middle Brother - "Thanks For Nothing"

Video: Battles - "Ice Cream"

Luis Cervero, Nicolás Méndez, and Lope Serrano are CANADA: a production company and trio of Spanish filmmakers based out of Barcelona. Over the last year or so, CANADA has been behind some of pop music's most dynamic, rich, mind expanding, and always NSFW videos. To date, the peak of these filmakers' efforts has been the video for "Bombay" by El Guincho (though the Scissor Sisters' "Invisible Light" isn't far behind). The trio's most recent addition to their canon of psychedelic, nudie, lick-heavy videos is "Ice Cream" by Battles. I've never been a huge Battles fan, but the sharp, jagged, and manic rhythms of "Ice Cream" are beautifully supplemented here with CANADA's quick cuts and seemingly endless supply of questionable imagery. Watch the "Ice Cream" video after the jump, along with "Bombay" and "Invisible Light."

Video: Nobunny - "Blow Dumb"

The alter ego of Oakland musician Justin Champlin is Nobunny: a cottontail, pantyhose, and underwear clad punk rocker with one ugly ass bunny mask. Champlin, who also used to play with Hunx & His Punx, has released two albums under the Nobunny moniker, the most recent of which is last year's First Blood. Last week, the band released a video for the album's cowbell-laden bubblegum pop punk single, "Blow Dumb." After the jump, watch Champlin and company giddily dance around in their undies as they lip sync to this pop gem in front of a screen of vintage porn.

Woods - "Out of The Eye"

So far, Woods' forthcoming LP Sun & Shade appears to be a home run. We've alreadfy heard "Pushing Onlys"—a sunny and weathered acoustic gem that highlights Jeremy Earl's warbly falsetto. Now we have the 7-minute-plus instrumental epic "Out of The Eye." A simple uptempo bass riff drives the track forward with a playful wandering lead guitar and splashes of percussion. It's an especially mesmerizing and hypnotic track that dips its toes into the psychedelic Kool-Aid with a background of deeply-voiced and barely discernible chanting. If there's any subliminal message here, it's to go out and buy this record.


Stream: Woods - "Out of The Eye" (from Sun & Shade)

Video: Sharon Van Etten, Justin Vernon, Megafaun & Fight The Big Bull - "Tribulations"

Last weekend, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, Sharon Van Etten, Megafaun, and Fight the Big Bull joined forces for a beautiful rendition of "Tribulations" at the MusicNow festival in Cincinatti. The performance was part of Sounds of The South, an evening of re-imaginings of the songs ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax recorded and collected during his early travels in the south. If you like what you hear, Mississippi Records in Portland, OR is currently reissuing Lomax's recordings on vinyl. Watch the incredible collaboration after the jump.

Bon Iver - "Calgary"

Today, Bon Iver released "Calgary," the first single from the band's forthcoming sophomore LP Bon Iver, due out on June 21st. The song starts out almost like an 80s ballad with Justin Vernon cooing over a soft humming synthesizer pad, but then at the two-minute mark the band launches into a new climactic section driven by forceful pounding drums and a scratchy electric guitar. The track suggests Vernon may have picked up a thing or two while recording that Peter Gabriel cover last year. One thing's for sure, this new sound is a far cry from Vernon's haunted Bon Iver debut, For Emma, Forever Ago, and this music fan couldn't be more excited to hear what's next.

Check out the lyrics to "Calgary" here and pre-order the LP here.

Bon Iver - "Calgary" (from Bon Iver)

Stream Jonathan Wilson's Gentle Spirit, out in July

I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Wilson. The talented songwriter and guitarist has played with everyone from Jenny Lewis, Vetiver, Elvis Costello and the Jayhawks' Gary Louris to Robbie Robertson. I even dedicated an entire mixtape to Wilson and his famed jam sessions in Laurel Canyon. Now, according to Wilson's web site, the musician is finally set to officially release his elusive second album, Gentle Spirit—a record Tame Impala's Nick Allbrook dubbed "one of the best albums I've ever heard." You can now stream the record in its entirety below and snag it this July.

Video: Phosphorescent - "My Dove, My Lamb"

Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent recently performed a barefoot Take Away Show in and on the roof of his Brooklyn apartment for Toms' One Day Without Shoes—an annual event held on April 5th to raise awareness of the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child’s life. Houck performed two songs off his 2007 album Pride: "At Death, A Proclamation” and "My Dove, My Lamb." The latter of which is particularly stunning with Houck singing quietly over a plucked and swirling electric guitar. Watch after the jump.

Mutual Benefit - "No Names"

"And I will see your light, I will know your eyes as they are." This intimate banjo-plucked ditty by Mutual Benefit is off the band's forthcoming split 12" with Holy Spirits on San Francisco label Father / Daughter. The 12" is pressed on gold and clear swirl vinyl and is limited to 250 copies. Snag the beautiful wax right here.

Mutual Benefit - "No Names" (from Mutual Benefit / Holy Spirit 12")

Thee Oh Sees cover The Creation: "If I Stay Too Long"

Side 3 of Thee Oh Sees' most recent psych-rock masterpiece, the double LP Castlemania, features an oddly wonderful collection of covers, including "I Won't Hurt You" by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and "What Are We Craving?" by Norma Tanega. But perhaps none is more compelling than Thee Oh Sees' take on the 1967 single "If I Stay Too Long" by English rock band The Creation.

Lee Moses - "Bad Girl (Pt. 1 & 2)"

Time and Place by Atlanta guitarist and singer Lee Moses is a lost treasure of rhythm and blues—a holy grail of a soul record that's developed a dedicated and cult-like following over the past 30-plus years. Originally released in 1971 on Maple Records and re-issued in 2007 by Castle Music UK—though now sadly out of print again—the record contains Moses's interpretations of various classic cuts of the era ("Day Tripper," "Hey Joe," "Reach Out I'll Be There") along with his own hard-nosed funk sound, as evidenced by the original title-track and unequaled two-part "Bad Girl." While Moses's fluent and sharp guitar play deserves praise, it's his savage aching voice—a mess of emotions, nearly bursting apart at the seems of sanity—that truly captivates. (via)

Lee Moses - "Bad Girl (Pt. 1 & 2)" (from Time and Place)

Review: Hunx & His Punx - Too Young To Be In Love

There's no release in 2011 I've listened to more than Too Young To Be In Love by Hunx & His Punx. The San Francisco outfit channels late 1950s and early '60s girl group pop à la the Ronettes and Lesley Gore through their own fuzzy, sharp, and straightforward punk rock lens. At the heart of the group is the flamboyant, nasal-toned, and punk-lisped frontman Seth Bogart who, doing his best Ronnie Spector impression, both playfully subverts and updates this classic and wholly American genre.

The War On Drugs - "Baby Missiles"

The War On Drugs have announced their second full-length, Slave Ambient. Recorded in pieces over the last four years in Asheville, North Carolina and at frontman Adam Granduciel's home studio in Philadelphia, the 12-track LP comes hot on the heels of the band's critically acclaimed 2010 EP, Future Weather. In fact, the first single off Slave Ambient is a slightly reworked version of Future Weather standout, "Baby Missiles"—a track that "chugs and propels forward with the speed of a locomotive on a serious dose of methamphetamine." (via)

Slave Ambient is out August 16th on Secretly Canadian. 

The War On Drugs - "Baby Missiles" (from Slave Ambient)

The Shivers: The sweet soul music of More

The last thing I expected to hear Saturday night at Backspace here in Portland, Oregon was stirring soul music. Yet that's what Queens' Shivers are dishing out these days. You wouldn't know it from the uptempo synth-driven singles "I Want You Back" and "Used To Be" on the band's latest full-length More, but in front of a live audience, Keith Zarriello transforms into the consummate entertainer and frontman. Dancing and flailing about in manic fashion in a navy blue suit, Zarrielo sunk his teeth into his newest batch of love songs with the urgency, confidence, and class of the soul singers of old: your James Browns, Otis Reddings, and Al Greens. In short, the man was feeling it.

Mixtape: Quiéreme Siempre Sol

The Five Discs - "Doctor"

I've never been a huge Deerhunter or Atlas Sound fan, but I'll be the first to admit that Bradford Cox has an amazing ear for music. He also has a pretty impressive vinyl collection as evidenced by the micromixes he releases via his blog. One of the gems I have Cox to thank for uncovering is "Doctor" by 1950s Brooklyn doo-wop group The Five Discs. Unfortunately, the song seems to have been forgotten by all but Cox, as you won't find it anywhere else on the internet. The lyrics here are fun, but not especially original. What makes the song so extraordinary and addictive is its simplistic and repetitive high-toned guitar riff. Played over a deep bass line, that little hypnotic riff seems to have climbed inside my inner-ear and set up permanent camp.

The Five Discs - "Doctor"
Atlas Sound - "Doctor" (Five Discs cover)

Download all of Micromix 23 at Deerhunter's blog.

Thao & Mirah :: Thao & Mirah

"Raised by wolves of necessity / Come closer to me," sing Thao Nguyen and Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn in chorus on "Folks." The approach is distinctly Thao with her warbly howl and ferociously rhythmic acoustic guitar leading the charge, as Mirah's higher toned vocals provide the background polish in the form of a hushed harmony.

While Thao & Mirah gives ample opportunity for the individual stylings of musicians Thao, Mirah, and producer Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs) to shine—as much as lead-off track "Eleven" is distinctly tUnE-yArDs, "Folks" is Thao's, and "Little Cup" Mirah's—it's the dynamic moments of collaboration within each track that make this project truly compelling. That collaborative spirit is particularly evident in the soft funk of "How Dare You." Over a distorted kick drum, Thao and Mirah switch between trading lines of verse and chorusing together in celebratory harmony, convincing the listener pop music has never sounded so sweet and easy.

Thao & Mirah - "Folks" (from Thao & Mirah)
Thao & Mirah - "Eleven"(from Thao & Mirah)

Black Lips - "Modern Art"

"K-hole at the Dalí / Seeing the unknown / Well it might have been a molly / 'Cause my mind's being blown / Take the escalator to the next floor / Such a strong sedator, now I can't find the door."

"Modern Art"—the first single from the Black Lips' forthcoming Mark Ronson-produced Arabia Mountain—boasts a hilarious narrative courtesy of Jared Swilley about taking what he thinks is ketamine (k-hole) or ecstasy (molly) at the already psychedelic Salvador Dalí museum in Spain. Just barely over the two-minute mark, the fearsome and catchy "Modern Art" sharpens the band's already hard-hitting brand of garage rock and even makes it a little dancey. Thank your Mr. Ronson?

Black Lips - "Modern Art" (from Arabia Mountain)

Arabia Mountain is out June 7th via Vice. Watch the video for "Modern Art" after the jump.

Other Lives :: Tamer Animals

Recorded in Stillwater, Oklahoma over a 14 month period, Other Lives' sophomore effort Tamer Animals is a dense, detailed, and carefully crafted effort that washes over the listener with layers of harmony and an empty auditorium's worth of reverb. Although inarguably beautiful, the atmosphere of the record is much darker than your average folk record. Songs like "Old Statues" and "For 12" are as grand and richly told as they are gothic, haunting, and chilling. The cold sweeping chorus of voices and army of percussion in "As I Lay My Head Down" would be perfectly suited for soundtracking a silent black and white film. Like much of the album, the song is filled with evocative and mysterious imagery and layers of shadowy movement—the perfect accompaniment for a dark starless night around a campfire.

Other Lives - "For 12" (from Tamer Animals)
Other Lives - "Tamer Animals" (from Tamer Animals)