VIDEO: Lady Gaga - “Telephone” Ft. Beyonce

New version? New epic version.

(Ian Anderson)

VIDEO: The National Performs New Song On Jimmy Fallon

(Ian Anderson)

NEWS: Pomegranates Sign To Afternoon Records

*MP3: Pomegranates - “Beachcomber”



I am very excited to announce that Pomegranates have signed to Afternoon Records. Pomegranates are one of my favorite bands active today, and I am proud as can be to have the AR and Poms families merge. They are an exciting band that exudes authenticity and creativity. They’ll be releasing their third full-length album this Fall, and I cannot wait to see what they come up with.

For more information, click here. 

(Ian Anderson)

The Golden Age: Frightened Rabbit’s “The Winter of Mixed Drinks”

*MP3: Frightened Rabbit - “Nothing Like You”



Frightened Rabbit’s third album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, is polished, all right. It’s polishing off the stink and grime of a toxic way of being. It doesn’t all go away in the wash, of course. Every relationship leaves its indelible mark—that unmistakable stain of fear and self-doubt that not even the heaviest dose of Pine Sol can disguise. Winter is the sound of Spring, the sound of a man who has finally ditched the Pine Sol in favor of the open air and open sea.

Scott Hutchinson is right where we left him on The Midnight Organ Fight, swimming out of the Firth of Forth to the cold embrace of the North Sea, swimming until he can’t see land. Not to commit suicide, as he promised not to do in “Floating in the Forth,” but essentially to find himself, or his new self. And so we have the zen cleansing of Winter’s first three tracks. “I didn’t need these things,” Hutchinson says of his baggage on opener “Things,” vowing to shed everything and burn it. He swims a little further. “Are you a man, or are you a bag of sand,” he asks himself in the album’s repeated mantra, reeling strings and guitar figures rising about him, licking away the band’s rough edges. Then “The Loneliness and the Scream,” where the band wails, stomps, and claps away from misery. “All I need is your hand to drag me out again,” Hutchinson sings.

From their the album only increases its epic intent. Hutchinson never quite completely finds release from his pain, but he’s clearly not miserable anymore. In one of the album’s shining Scottish moments, “The Wrestle,” Hutchinson does battle with an unnamed Leviathan of the deep. “My enemy, please stay close to me,” Hutchinson exhorts his foe, brother Grant beating his drums senseless behind him. But then he meets a new girl in “Nothing Like You,” a ripping guitar song that is better for Hutchinson’s new-found confidence. Finally, Hutchinson and co. are “Living in Colour,” dancing and romping around an old-fashioned rock figure, as a gray world melts into new shades of joy around them.

Winter is not as raggedy as its predecessors, which is precisely the point. Hope doesn’t always have to appear in shining white garments, because then it wouldn’t likely be human. The thing that keeps Winter human is Frightened Rabbit’s perpetual scruffiness, its Scottishness, in sound and in ideals. But even a Scottish band should be allowed that ray of hope which sometimes puts a glossier sheen on the rougher elements of life. Sometimes it is a good thing for catharsis to actually happen, because people do dream of actualizing catharsis in their lives, though it rarely happens in such dramatic fashion as it does on this album. I suppose that’s the reason why art exists.

- The Golden Age is a weekly column written by Erik Martz.

50 Words Or Less: Top Ten Tracks On Elbo.ws

1. *MP3: Born Ruffians - “Sole Brother”

Like a lo-fi lounge band, or Pavement on a jazz binge, Born Ruffians aim for insouciant melodies and instrumentation, whether it’s on the bouncy guitar licks or skipping bass line. But the straining vocal suggests the parodoxical problem of a band spending way too much of its energy appearing to be carefree.

Grade: C+

2. *MP3: Nada Surf - “Elecrocution” (Bill Fox)

A perfect slice of power-pop. Sure, it’s a highly glossed-up carbon copy of the original, but some covers exists solely to shed light on the unjustly ignored source. This is one of those examples.

Grade: A-

3. *MP3: Titus Andronicus - “A More Perfect Union”

Thoughts unchanged.

Grade: B+

4. *MP3: New Pornographers - “Your Hands (Together)”

Thoughts unchanged

Grade: B

5. *MP3: Kisses - “Bermuda”

Chillwave takes its backpacking journey to Europe, finds that its disco heart lies in Los Angeles. Infectious to a degree, but suffering from a deluge of similarly gauzy keyboard-minded bands

Grade: B+

6. *MP3: Club 8 - “Western Hospitality”

Thoughts Unchanged

Grade: B

7. *MP3: Phosphorescent - It’s Hard to Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)

The same Stax-nicking that Belle & Sebastian do well, but without the Twee preciousness, and plus some Southern Rock showmanship. Like hearing a decent replicant of a good Vegas revue. (Those exist, right?)

Grade: B-

8. *MP3: Cults - “Go Outside”

Like Motown by way of dub, but presented in an electro-pop package. By no means bad, but first impressions don’t match those of ecstatic blogosphere. Still, I’ll heed their advice. It’s beautiful out there.

Grade: B-

9. *MP3: Damien Jurado - “Arkansas”

“Hallelujah” by way of doo-wop, Phil Spector and honky tonk features pleasantly melancholic vocals, but little else.

Grade: C

10. *MP3: RJD2 - “The Shining Path” (Alan Wilkis Remix)

Wilkis draws the soulful, Wonder-esque vocals of the original and adds Parliament-thick synth-bass for a funky, taut remix.

Grade: B+

Bonus:

11. *MP3: She and Him - “Thieves”

Gorgeous, echo-drenched production and singing filled with high lonesome make for a pretty affecting track.

Grade: B

12. *MP3: MGMT - “Flash Delirium”

Somewhere in a musical triangle of Bowie, The Beatles and The B-Dandy Warhols. Until a gonzo ending, “Flash Delirium” comes across as a sonic derivative. Admirable turn in direction, though, for a duo who could have just done “Kids” part two.

Grade: C+

MP3: Dr. Dog - “Stranger”

*MP3: Dr. Dog - “Stranger”



Dr. Dog’s new album, Shame, Shame, will be out on 4/6 via Anti.

Official Site

(Ian Anderson)

VIDEO: Yeasayer - “O.N.E.”

(Ian Anderson)

MP3: MGMT - “Flash Delirium”

*MP3: MGMT - “Flash Delirium”



MGMT’s new album, Congratulations, is on the horizon. Click here to sign-up for a free mp3 via Sony.

(Ian Anderson)

MP3: Bright Eyes - “Happy Accident”

*MP3: Bright Eyes - “Happy Accident”



This Bright Eyes track appears on the reissue of 2004’s One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessel by Neva Dinova, which will be out on 3/23 via Saddle Creek.

(Ian Anderson)

Best New Releases For March 9, 2010

Aloha - “Home Acres” (Polyvinyl)


*MP3: Aloha - “Moonless March



Buy it on iTunes.

Broken Bells - “Broken Bells” (Sony)


*MP3: Broken Bells - “The High Road”



Buy it on iTunes.

Frightened Rabbit - “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks” (Fat Cat)


*MP3: Frightened Rabbit - “Nothing Like You”



Buy it on iTunes.

Gorillaz - “Plastic Beach” (Virgin)


*MP3: Gorillaz - “Plastic Beach”



Buy it on iTunes.

jj - “No. 3” (Secretly Canadian)


*MP3: jj - “Let Go”



Buy it on iTunes.

The Knife - “Tomorrow, In A Year” (Mute)


*MP3: The Knife - “Variation Of Birds”



Buy it on iTunes.

Liars - “Sisterworld” (Mute)


*MP3: Liars - “Scissor”



Buy it on iTunes.

The Morning Benders - “Big Echo” (Rough Trade)


*MP3: The Morning Benders - “Excuses”



Buy it on iTunes.

Pavement - “Quarantine The Past” (Matador)


Buy it on iTunes.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - “Brutalist Bricks” (Matador)


*MP3: Ted Leo And The Pharmacists - “The Mighty Sparrow”



Buy it on iTunes.

(Ian Anderson)

Interview: OK Go, Hunting For Magic In The Dark

*MP3: OK Go - “This Too Shall Pass”



OK Go are becoming an icon and I couldn’t be happier about it. Their easily accessible – while still maintaining a flare for the experimental – sound has gone bigger, better and farther than ever before with their new album, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky. Last week, I had the good fortune of interviewing Tim Nordwind, the be-speckled, vest-wearing multi-instrumentalist of the group and really enjoyed his perspective on the process of making their new album.

Much of that process had as much to do with the overall band mentality as it did the process itself: “I think throughout the years, if nothing else, the band has gained confidence in the things we know and like and want to convey to the world,” Nordwind said. “I think the new record by and far is the best one we’ve written, mostly due to the fact that we’ve made two before and we’ve been able to see what works and doesn’t work. The things that worked were the things that came from the gut. We weren’t taking cues from anyone. It may not be what people are expecting but it was what we felt. We are trusting our instincts a bit more than we did when we were younger, now we’re doing what we want to do.”

The freedom that came from trusting their own sense of direction seems to be the real catalyst behind the album’s creativity and eventual end result, “The goal is to always be moving forward and to push ourselves creatively,” he said. “What we don’t want to do is repeat what we’ve done before … People expect us to do the unexpected and that is a really great place to be … Guitars are great and cool, but we just sort of were done with guitars for the moment and weren’t writing around the guitar anymore.”

Leaving the guitars behind will be the telling factor of Colour, it changed the writing process entirely and moved the band into a creative headspace that allowed the songs to reveal themselves to the band: “This time, we were hunting for magic in the dark,” Nordwind said. “We’d make a beat and do something as little as add sonic information to it, and we’d ask ourselves, how does this make you feel? We were very much writing towards emotion. If the song made us feel a certain way, we thought then the song was worth pursuing. Therefore, this record takes more left turns and leads you down a path that we haven’t really led listeners down before. I love writing that way, it’s much more of a mystery adventure.”

This choose-your-own-adventure style of writing also lent itself well to the producer manning the helm, Dave Fridmann, who has worked with the likes of The Flaming Lips, MGMT, and local favorites Tapes ‘n Tapes: “Dave Fridmann is awesome,” Nordwind said. “He basically gave us the keys to this 3-D, psychedelic, wizard of oz world. He really knows the science of sound, so if you tell him you want a certain sound, he’ll give it to you, because he knows the physics behind. He’s the gatekeeper of this very interesting and unique sonic world … we were more or less left to run amuck. Every piece of equipment in his studio is broken just the way he likes it. As far as he’s concerned, the weirder the better. The more out there, the happier he will be working on the project. This record really sounds like that space at that time. The record is the product of us plugging in three types of pedals, while punching buttons, while someone is playing guitar, and then someone is tweaking knobs on a microsynth.”

The result of this new approach is an album that has a sound completely unique to OK Go, and also a sound completely unique to their catalog: “This record more than any of our others, sounds the most like what we hear in our heads and what we listen to versus what we know how to play,” Nordwind said. “This time around, more so than ever, was about trying to get at how the songs we love make us feel, not so much about how can we actually play these songs. This is a record that I am happy to sit down and listen to from beginning to end. As we go on, I kind of like the music more and more. I’m glad we’re there.”

Official Site

(Ian Anderson)

MP3: Drake - “Over”

*MP3: Drake - “Over”



Drake’s latest single, “Over”, produced by Boi-1da, is exactly what I was hoping for. Drake’s new album, Thank Me Later, will be out on 3/30 via Young Money/Universal Motown.

MySpace

(Ian Anderson)

MP3: Minus the Bear - “My Time”

*MP3: Minus the Bear - “My Time”



Minus the Bear’s new single, “My Time”, reveals another step in the evolution of the band. It is just as crisp and precise as previous efforts, but with a bit more pop to it. Their new album, Omni, will be out on 5/4 via Dangerbird.

Official Site

(Ian Anderson)

NEWS: I’m On Tour Y’alls

*MP3: One for the Team - “Hard For You” (iTunes)



As I like to do, I am currently touring with my band. We’re covering the midwest nicely and hitting the east coast to celebrate the release of our new record (out March 16 yo!). In fact, our release parties will be in New York on March 15 and 16 sponsored by The Culture Of Me. For the first week, we will be on tour with our good buddies from Sioux Falls, SD We All Have Hooks For Hands.

*MP3: We All Have Hooks For Hands - “Be Love, Be Wild”



Here’s them there tour dates, come on out and say hey, I’m usually behind the merch booth:

3/05 - Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium ^
3/06 - Aberdeen, SD @ The Red Rooster ^
3/07 - Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre ^
3/08 - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews ^
3/09 - Iowa City, IA @ Public Space ^
3/10 - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen ^
3/11 - Athens, OH @ The Union
3/12 - Columbus, OH @ The Summit #
3/13 - Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot at Copeland Afterparty
3/14 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Garfield Artworks #
3/15 - New York, NY @ The Cake Shop
3/16 - Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls (Sponsored by The Culture Of Me)
3/19 - Danbury, CT @ Heirloom Arts Theatre
3/21 - Washington, DC @ The Red And The Black
3/24 - Valparaiso, IN @ Blackbird Cafe
3/25 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Miramar
3/26 - Stevens Point, WI @ The Afterdark

^ = w/We All Have Hooks For Hands
# = w/This Is My Suitcase

So, you know what that means when I hit the road, that’s right, On The Road Mixes.  

*MP3: The New Pornographers - “Your Hands Together”
*MP3: She & Him - “In The Sun”
*MP3: Tallest Man On Earth - “King Of Spain”
*MP3: Born Ruffians - “Sole Brother”
*MP3: Telekinesis - “Coast Of Carolina”
*MP3: David Bazan - “Bless This Mess”
*MP3: OK Go - “This Too Shall Pass”
*MP3: Mouthful Of Bees - “The Now”
*MP3: Joanna Newsom - “81”
*MP3: Taylor Swift - “You Don’t Have To Call” (CSI Remix)
*MP3: AC/DC - “Have A Drink On Me”
*MP3: Tapes ‘n Tapes - “Cowbell”
*MP3: Caribou - “Odessa”
*MP3: Rogue Wave - “Good Morning”
*MP3: John Vanderslice - “White Dove”
*MP3: David Bowie - “Changes”
*MP3: Sloan - “I’m Not A Kid Anymore”
*MP3: Johnny Cash - “Boy Named Sue”

(Ian Anderson)

MP3: Gorillaz - “Rhinestone Eyes”

*MP3: Gorillaz - “Rhinestone Eyes”



The new Gorillaz record, Plastic Beach, will be out on 3/9 via Virgin. It is now available digitally.

Official Site

(Ian Anderson)