Jim James- "Steam Engine"

My love for alt.country is no secret. My favorite band is Wilco, and I adore Uncle Tupelo, Ryan Adams, Son Volt, Whiskeytown, Fleet Foxes, Blitzen Trapper, etc. One of my favorite releases this year was My Morning Jacket's stellar Evil Urges. One of the factors that makes me love MMJ so much is Jim James's haunting voice. It's an unforced falsetto with such a pure and balanced tone, and a titanic range. Here's a video of him performing a solo acoustic version of "Steam Engine," from MMJ's 2003 release It Still Moves.

Tiny Masters of Today- La La Land

I posted a while back about Bang Bang Boom Cake, the debut album from Brooklyn kids Tiny Masters of Today. BBBC was a really solid and inspiring album, if not because of their age (the siblings in TMOT are 12 and 14) then because of their throwback, lo-fi punk sound.

Now, TMOT have released a single with a politically-charged message. On their site, the sibs said this about the song:

This election is really important. John McCain and Sarah Palin represent more of the same ignorance that has made the last 8 years really bad. Words are important, and this song is made up of other people's words. They are twisted around but we don't feel bad because politicians do that all the time. Grab it before someone sues us or something!

On the new, free single "La-La Land," the tiny masters piece together clips from McCain and Palin speeches a la Wax Audio's "Imagine This." The result is a crunchy protest anthem with punk attitude. Download "La-La Land" here.

Of course, at the end of their message, the duo signed off with a decidedly punk-rock message: "Make music not war."

Amen.

Pigeons & Planes

As evidenced by my previous posts on music sites like Pitchfork.tv and Daytrotter, I check a lot of music websites and blogs. If I find one that is habit-forming, chances are, I'll let you all know about it.

One blog I've been digging lately is the recently started Pigeons & Planes. It's got a simple format, but it's full of good MP3's, videos and news bits. Confusion, who runs the blog, scours about ten music blogs a day and weeds out the best picks from each site for P&P. P&P is updated constantly, which is a nice change from once-a-day MP3 blogs. Proof: The blog began Sept. 28 and there are already over 100 posts.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

When Juno came out last year, it was embraced for it's quirkiness, smart and hip screenplay and indie-approved soundtrack, which was graced by Cat Power, Sonic Youth and, most prominently, the Moldy Peaches's Kimya Dawson. Dawson grew from an underground obscurity to a center-of-the-radar obscurity. The soundtrack shot up the charts, and Dawson set out for a sold-out tour- including one particularly curious stop on the View. While many were pleased that Dawson was receiving so much praise for old and underrated work, just as many, if not more, hipsters raised their noses in disgust at Dawson, now a "sell-out."

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, based on a book of the same name, is a thoroughly enjoyable cute ditty of a film. It leaves you smiling, pleased and little more. However, I think that it's fated to reach the same fate as Juno, because of its indie'd soundtrack. On the plus side, Nick & Norah is clearly a major studio film with recognizable stars, so it's not as if its success is unexpected as it was with Juno. But the fact that it is centered around two hipster teens who slave over mixtapes, know what Electric Lady Studios are and spend an entire night sailing through the five Burroughs in search of a secret show by a cult indie band means that the film is geared toward the same demographic as indies like Juno.

The soundtrack counts songs from Vampire Weekend, Devendra Banhart (who also has a cameo in the film), Takka Takka and We Are Scientists, among others, in its infinite playlist. By all means a solid soundtrack, but also one that will surly piss off the hipsters who will no doubt see mall rats sporting Vampire Weekend t-shirts in the coming weeks.

I'm personally neutral to the situation. I really enjoyed the movie and bought the soundtrack because it had songs I like from bands I like on it. Plus, I couldn't think of another way to get the Vampire Weekend song. A friend of mine, and die hard Devendra fan, on the other hand, refuses to see the movie. She thinks that it exploits indie bands by marketing them to the masses who won't appreciate their sound, and will listen to the music only for its shallow, materialistic value.

What do you think?

Pitchfork.tv

While I'm sometimes truly miffed by Pitchfork Media and their overtly obnoxious need to be the "indie" and "obscure" in all of their reviews, I must admit that I am a fan of the online TV channel they launched earlier this year, Pitchfork.tv.

Between interviews with Jay Reatard and Feist, live sessions on the top of buildings ("Don't Look Down") with Department of Eagles and Jose Gonzalez and multi-player bands like the Walkmen and Broken Social Scene crammed into a basement ("Juan's Basement"), Pitchfork.tv not only offers videos of the latest, brightest indie artists, but offers them in creative locales, such as the aforementioned building and basement, or the "random Brooklyn street" on which Jay Reatard was interviewed. These settings promote candid conversation and performance.

Pitchfork.tv also frequently updates their music video library, hosting a broad spectrum of videos, from the atmospheric Animal Collective to lo-fi punkers No Age.


Department of Eagles, "No One Does It Like You," from Don't Look Down

Ra Ra Riot Interview

I'm interviewing Allie of Ra Ra Riot tomorrow for my zine.

Any question suggestions are welcome!

As always, if you're interested in a copy of the zine, just email me with your address and I'll mail you a copy free of charge!

Dr. Dog- Fate

For a band to play D.C.'s Iota Club & Cafe (it gets it's name from it's minute size) on one tour, and then months later play D.C.'s legendary 9:30 Club (with a 1,200 capacity) is a pretty good indication that they're onto something good, and Dr. Dog, who have been touring in support of their latest release, Fate, are indeed.

From it's packaging to it's sound, the common theme on Fate would be nostalgia. The album's lyric booklet, which resembles a Civil War-era newspaper, also includes a picture of the band in period garb. The band's use of three-part harmonies, lightly distorted guitar and twinkling piano along with singer Scott McMicken's well-controlled warble create an album reminiscent of those by 60's pop groups like the Band and the Beach Boys.

On the swinging "Army of Ancients," McMicken’s croons escalate to a frantic yelp as he sings “I don’t want to wake up/ I don’t want to move/ I’ll skip the sermon and stick to the booze/ I’m sorry.” Strings and punchy, muted horns add to the vintage sound.

Along with “Army of Ancients,” many of the songs on Fate have minor-chord mentalities, and wouldn’t sound out of place in a dingy nightclub. “The Ark” is a slinky, slow-building track filled with lyrics about eagerness to please and self-doubt.

More positive songs, such as “From,” a love song, showcase the groups ability to harmonize and knack for instrumental arrangements, including one memorable guitar solo. The organ is used on many of Dr. Dog’s song, and shines on the hymnal “100 Years.”

Album-opener “The Breeze” is a sweet ditty that encourages the listener to “put that needle to the groove, and sing” is they ever feel “stuck in time.” At its climax, the drum mimics a beating heart while band members “Ahhh” in tandem. As the band sings of the breeze blowing them all away, winding flutes play cycling chords, almost interpreting the song literally.

Stand out track “Hang On” follows “The Breeze.” Drawing as much from 60’s pop and alt.country as old soul records, McMicken pleads, “I don’t need a doctor to tear me all apart/ I just needs you to mend my heart.”

On the horn-jabbed “Uncovering the Old,” McMicken sings, “Nothing means nothing to me.” However, Dr. Dog truly care about the art of music and their love of the craft is on full display on Fate through their emotive vocals, contemplative lyrics and the inventive arrangements.

The Killers on SNL, Or, How The Killers Stole My Heart

Last night on SNL, The Killers performed their new single "Human" as well as "Spaceman," another new tune to be debuted on their upcoming album, Day & Age.

I was in 7th grade when Hot Fuss came out, and I'll never forget the first time I heard it. My friend Carson had heard them perform "Somebody Told Me" on some television show an so I bought the album for her for her birthday. We listened to it in her den and I was enraptured by their new wave, synth-heavy arena rock. While none of the elements were entirely unique, to me, they seemed to be doing something totally different and their sound was like nothing I had ever heard.

Hot Fuss became my favorite album and I developed an unhealthy crush on Brandon Flowers. He was my desktop background and a sinister black and white shot of the band was on the front of my school binder.

As with any album, as time went on, the frequency I would listen to the album waned. However, I was very excited when I heard not only that they were working on a new album, but that they listed Bruce Spingsteen as one of their top influences.

Unfortunately, Sam's Town was underwhelming. It definitely had potential, but somewhere along the road Brandon Flowers & Co. lost sight of their own sound and became engulfed in their influences and dodging the sophomore slump.

I didn't hate Sam's Town- by any means. I listened the heck out of it, I just never felt that rush that I did whenever the opening bars of "Mr. Brightside" would play.

With the new single "Human," I see new hope for the Killers. "Human" is a fantastic return to form. The intro is optimistic and ethereal; "Are we human, or are we dancer?" Flowers muses. then the beat pulsates in and the synth begins to drive the song to the forgotten territory the Killers first inhabited in the days of Hot Fuss.

On SNL, the Killers performed "Human" as well as "Spaceman," a paranoid number that showcases Flowers's yelp and frontman bravado.

Based on these two songs alone, Day & Age should, well, kill.

More Andrew Bird

That last post inspired me to post this video of Andrew Bird performing "Spare-Ohs" while strolling the streets of Montmartre. Both the song and the setting are gorgeous.

New Andrew Bird Single- "Oh No"

I adored Andrew Bird's last album, Armchair Apocrypha. His whistling and violining makes me swoon, and he crafts some of the most gorgeous soundscapes. "Heretics" and "Plasticities" were fixtures on many of the mixtapes I made last year. His latest single, "Oh No" keeps with the trend, with some added sociopathy. You can stream it now here.

His next album, Noble Beast, is due out in January.