Iron and Wine Announce New Album, Hear the New Single "Lovers' Revolution"

Iron and Wine‘s last album Kiss Each Other Clean was a solid — if slightly forgettable —  romp through a few different genres, always grounded by Sam Beam’s breathy vocals and Southern mysticism. Now Beam and company are set to return this Spring with a new album called Ghost on Ghost (which also happens to be my favorite kind of supernatural porn). Check out the first single “Lovers’ Revolution”. It’s clear Beam is continuing to follow his muse (there’s some serious Van Morrison vibes here) and it will be interesting to see where he goes stylistically on this next release.

You Oughta Know: Burial

In this new series called “You Oughta Know”, we’ll be extolling bands and artists that have been around for a few years but don’t necessarily get the respect they deserve.

That’s pretty much the only known picture of Burial, a.k.a. William Bevan, an English 2-step/dubstep/house producer who probably would have remained anonymous were it up to him. As Burial, he released the instant electronic classic Untrue (stream it here) in 2007 and then vanished for two years. Over the last few years he’s contributed to some compilations and co-productions (including an excellent 12″ single with Thom Yorke and Four Tet), but it wasn’t until late 2011 that he actually started releasing new music simply as Burial.

And release he did, though rather than compiling his new songs onto a follow up album, he instead released three EPs/12″ singles called Street Halo, Kindred, and Truant/Rough Sleeper. It’s practically impossible to say which is best, (most of the critical world seemed to favor Kindred, the two-song Truant/Rough Sleeper is actually my favorite) so Raptor Jesus, a radio host, Stereogum commenter, and kindred (no pun intended) musical spirit sequenced the eight songs released in the last couple years into a playlist/album of sorts. These individual releases are outstanding, but taken as a whole the breadth of Bevan’s genius across these tracks is mind-boggling. He’s a guy whose music, surficially, all sounds the same — he utilizes familiar 2-step patterns and the clicks and knocks (not to mention pitched-down ghost voices) feel shared between compositions — but you could never accuse this music of being boring, at least not if you’re really listening. More afraid of the light than the dark, but with a creeping ethereal beauty, Burial’s music sounds great in the background, and even better if you’re paying attention.

Check out Raptor Jesus’ compilation below.  Take some time with it; it gets more welcoming the more you listen, and it’s incredible stuff…

Stream Local Natives Sophomore LP Hummingbird

Local Natives 2008 debut Gorilla Manor bristled with the manic inspiration of youth. Songs like “Wide Eyes” and “Who Knows Who Cares” soundtracked a time in my life when nothing was certain, and that was completely OK. Now they’ve returned with Hummingbird, produced by the National‘s Aaron Dessner. Check out a stream below.

The Midwintah Mix 2013

It’s cold as balls outside. Like really, really cold. Colder’n Dantean hell. The last couple days after work I’ve been retiring to my warm apartment (heat included in rent = #ballin), throwing on some tunes and huddling up on the couch with a good beer and mah stories. There’s been some really excellent music that’s come out over the last couple months and I wanted to make a sort of half-playlist, half-album sampler. Have a good weekend and stay warm. Unless you live someplace warm, in which case you’re an asshole.

Stream Jim James debut solo LP, Regions of Light and Sound of God

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I mention Jim James? Lead singer of My Morning Jacket? Yes. Possessor of a uniquely rustic falsetto? That too. Psych-jazz/folk-chamber-r&b revivalist? Wait…

James’ debut solo album, the superciliously titled Regions of Light and Sound of God exists in the in-betweens; between quiet and noisy; light and dark; smooth and rough. It also exists between musical genres and time periods and seems to do so self consciously. I haven’t had time to digest the whole thing, but I wanted to get a stream up because, if nothing else, this is a very interesting record.

Regions of Light and Sound of God is out 2/5.

Stream the album through NPR’s First Listen series by clicking here.

That's Enough Sia

Dear Sia,

It’s breaking my heart to say this girl, but please, you gotta stop. With “Titanium”, a song you made with Guetta, and the subsequent success of Rihanna‘s “Diamonds” — a truly obnoxious slice of conviction-pop which empowers no one — you have made the quickest imaginable transition from dignified and gifted artist to duplicitous, middling sellout. And it makes me sad.

You’ve written and recorded some excellent music. Songs like “Breathe Me” and “Day Too Soon” display an artist totally comfortable in her own skin; there’s nothing superficial about the deep soulfulness in your voice. Moreover, it doesn’t appear you’re deliberately trying to sound like Fergie.

On “Titanium”, you are deliberately trying to sound like Fergie. Why? Why are you doing this? I feel totally betrayed; it’s kind of like I just walked around the corner to find you cheating on my best friend, with a hobo. When I first heard “Titanium” I was sure it was Fergie, or at the very least I was confident it was not Sia. Having discovered it was you I shrugged and figured it was just a cash grab. I knew you had written some songs for Christina Aguilera, and catchy pop was certainly near and dear to your heart.

But then “Diamonds” appeared, a song you wrote. Now “Diamonds” is a smash-hit and a lot of people like it a lot, but that’s not fair, because it’s awful. Rihanna’s husky baritone delivery on the chorus doesn’t help, and furthers the question of how unappealingly she has to sing before people will stop thinking she can sing. Lyrics like “Feel the warmth, we’ll never die/We’re like diamonds in the sky” are objectively horrible, but what really pushes this song over the cliff is the repetition of a pull-string doll Rihanna repeating “Shine bright like a diiiiiiiiamund” again and again and again, like so many blows to the back of the head with a baseball bat.

I was convinced the Guetta thing was just a tryst, but seriously, please stop. Stop taking advantage of us; don’t keep writing infuriating garbage just because you’re smart enough to know it will sell, you should be ashamed of yourself. You are Faustus.

Stream Unknown Mortal Orchestra's new Album "II"

Unknown Mortal Orchestra return in two weeks with their sophomore LP II. The album is streaming below, just about to dig in myself.

Classic: Talk Talk

“Before you play two notes learn how to play one note — and don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it.”  You hear stories of artists “walking away” all the time, but whether for love or money they very often return (Jay-Z has “retired” at least 3 times. He might be retired right now, there’s no way to be sure). Not the case with Mark Hollis. Talk Talk began in 1981 as part of an upstart pop culture movement identified as New Romanticism. From the start they were lumped in with Duran Duran and early on the two bands shared an almost identical aesthetic and fanbase. Through its first three albums, Talk Talk was a synth pop band, plain and simple. They weren’t without flourishes of inspiration that suggested a much deeper well of creativity, but they made hits like “It’s My Life”, “Life What’s You Make It”, and “Such a Shame” whose sound was boilerplate “80s” all over.

Then after 1986s The Colour of Spring something…. weird happened. With EMI essentially providing a blank check for the band to do whatever it wanted, Hollis and company spent close to a year in the studio recording what would become Spirit of Eden. Spirit was completely different from anything that came before. Culled from hours of improvisational jamming and constructed with exhaustive intensity, Spirit of Eden has much more in common with Bitches Brew than is does with Rio.

But the real coup de grâce was the band’s final album Laughing Stock, its first and only after severing ties with EMI. Taking jazz fusion as its most evident touchstone, Laughing Stock was about 4 to 6 genres of music existing side by side in one place and doing so with such a quiet cohesive power that the abundant silences feel louder than the instruments. It’s been intimated Talk Talk “invented post rock” with this record, which feels a little hyperbolic, but it’s not inaccurate and Laughing Stock is worthy of that sort of lofty praise. It is a certifiable, undeiable, indescribable work of art.

The sessions for Laughing Stock were rumored to be fraught with domineering perfectionism and exhausting hours spent refining and paring back the sound. It’s not surprising that after the record — and perhaps because of it — Talk Talk parted ways. Mark Hollis would return from enigmatic hermittude (a phrase I just made up) in 1999 for an understated and beautiful solo album, but nothing of note has been heard from him since.

Hollis once sang that “life’s what you make it”, and there is no better example of this than Mark Hollis himself. He made a decade-long statement and then, quite simply, walked away.

Spirit of Eden

Laughing Stock

New Tracks from Junip, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Justin Timberlake

It’s new tracks time! Happy 2013! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Right now you’re probably asking yourself: “what do these three acts have in common?”. You’re not asking yourself that? OK, go ahead and ask yourself that….

Nothing.

Well, there’s a decent amount of falsetto going on in each of these songs, that might be the unifier….

Justin Timberlake ft. Jay-Z – “Suit and Tie”

Let’s not mince words: Future Sex/Love Sounds is an absolute masterpiece. One that transcended its lukewarm critical reception by capturing the ears, hearts and private parts of a generation. “Sexy Back”, “Cry me a River” , “My Love”, “Love Stoned”, “What Goes Around”… I could probably list 4 more songs you know by heart, but by then I’d have pretty much covered the whole album.

So while we’re at it, let’s not mince words here either: this song is underwhelming. Timbaland‘s beat is solid and shimmery, but lacks the organic punch of some of his past work, Justin is at 63% of sexiness capacity (he was at least at 77% for all of Future Sex), and Jay-Z’s verse is phoned in at best and downright awful at worst.

HOWEVER, this song shows some promise. It’s clean and muscular and certainly shows that JT can still hit all the notes. With rumored collabos with some more heavy hitters (who hopefully make more of an effort to not suck than Hova does here), hopes are high that The 20 /20 Experience, out sometime this year, will deliver.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “So Good at Being in Trouble”

So there’s this thing called “lo-fi”. I stress “thing” because nobody is really sure what lo-fi is. Is it a genre of music? A recording style? An attitude of disaffected indifference? An affliction constituted by a just-baked bread in the ocular cavity*? Whatever lo-fi means in 2013, bands who identify with it have a hard time distinguishing themselves. Not the case with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, a group whose idiosyncrasy makes their music sound just slightly out of step with everything else around. Probably because it’s a step ahead… or a step behind…. or it just took a break to smoke a joint, you know, whatever.

UMO’s aptly-titled sophomore LP II is out February 5th, I’ll have a stream up as soon as one is available.

Junip – Line of Fire  

José González sings with a lightness floated by cold and pain. His voice sits just above impending doom, suspended. When he recorded covers of The Knife’s “Heartbeats” and Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” he took two beloved favorites and imagined them in his own way. This was a very risky proposition that probably could have gotten him blackballed early on… if said covers weren’t absolutely brilliant are arguably as good as the originals.

Now his band Junip is set to release their second album Junip on April 23rd. “Line of Fire”, the first single, is sprawling and orchestral. It seems to run counter to much of González’s solo work, but his voice has truly never sounded more at home than it does nestled between the track’s billowy instrumentation. Stay tuned for streams of each of these three albums as soon as they are available. (the widget seems to be acting a little funky for this one, so if it doesn’t pop right up just click here.)

*loaf-eye, get it?

David Bowie Announces new Album, Shares New Song

Just when you thought the Thin White Duke was maybe finished making albums, yesterday David Bowie (on his 66th birthday no less) announced that in March he’ll release The Next Day, his first album of new material in 10 years. Bowie has also given us a song from the album called “Where Are We Now?”. It’s a cathartic reflection on the time he spent in Germany, and its video doesn’t make a case for Bowie getting any less weird. Check out “Where Are We Now” below. As soon as a stream of the new album is available you’ll find it here!