Music

Song of the Day

THE SWELL SEASON
In These Arms

DOWNLOAD: In These Arms

Today is one of those days when I went looking for the music, but instead, the music found me. I was heartened to find out that despite their recent breakup, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova will continue to perform as The Swell Season and that they’ve just finished Strict Joy, their first album since their Oscar-winning performance in ‘Once’. When asked about this song, Hansard said that it started as a small idea for a love song but soon blossomed into something much deeper about committing to trust and faith in another person…“Sometimes you’re just meant to commit to someone’s life, and you’re meant to go through all these experiences”….the resulting song is simply beautiful.

TheSwellSeason

Strict Joy drops October 27 and you can check out more from The Swell Season on MySpace or on their website

And as a bonus today, here is a YouTube video from their recent appearance on NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk Concert’ hosted by Bob Boilen (and I strongly advise you to take the time and follow the link for the entire performance)…..

Song of the Day

RADIOHEAD
These Are My Twisted Words

DOWNLOAD: These Are My Twisted Words

Oh that crazy Thom Yorke…he’s at it again, dropping free shit on us and this time he didn’t even take credit for it! Yesterday, “These Are My Twisted Words” mysteriously showed up on the Web, and even though this thing has Radiohead tattooed all over it with that long, meandering intro loaded with simmering rhythmic complexity and Yorke’s trademarked mournful croon, the doubters out there were screaming it was a fake. But after enough people made enough noise, Thom did admit on their website that it was in fact a new song from Radiohead…hmmmmm…..could this be the song that has been rumored to be in the new “Twilight” sequel? Honestly, I could give a damn since I’m not a sixteen year-old girl and I didn’t see the first Twilight movie, but I’ll take all the Radiohead the boyz are willing to toss out. You can visit Radiohead on their official website

radiohead

Song of the Day

JULIE PEEL
Unfold

DOWNLOAD: Unfold

Here’s a lovely bit of Slow Core for this crazy hot summer day from Julie Peel, complete with perfect little flourishes of strings, a bongo and soft guitar waft along with her lighter-than-air vocals. And let’s not overlook her wonderfully sad lyric. ‘Unfold’ is from her Julie Peel’s full-length debut, Near The Sun, set to drop in September but available now for preorder on American Laundromat Records and you can hear more on her MySpace Page

JuliePeel

Song of the Day

GREAT NORTHERN
Houses

DOWNLOAD: Houses

As any of you long-time Song of the Day Listmembers can attest to, the summer months always prove kinda tough when it comes to finding truly good music to listen to…Hell, I even tossed out Katy Perry’s “Kissed A Girl” last year ‘cuz the pickings were few and far between…so I apologize up front for having to go back to a release from earlier this year for today’s song. I think L.A.’s Great Northern dropped “Remind Me Where The Light Is” back in April and I admit to having completely overlooked it, but I gotta say, there are some really tasty cuts on it…”Story”, “Snakes”, “Mountain” and the song I’m giving up today, “Houses”, all showcase Rachel Stolte’s dreamily harmonic vocals and the dubbed-up, buzzy wall of shoegazing guitars offered up by her bandmate, the former 30 Seconds to Mars vocalist and guitarist, Solon Bixler. With very little coaxing, I found myself wrapped up in the eerily surreal aural scenery that I was hearing. Give ’em a further look on their MySpace page

great_northern

Song of the Day

GOSSIP
Heavy Cross

DOWNLOAD: Heavy Cross

Beth Ditto is hard to love. And I’m not talkin’ about her music…Hell, the girl’s got one of the best sets of pipes in the music biz…no, it’s that she’s not feminine…or conventionally pretty…or particularly video-friendly. Oh, let’s be honest…she’s a really large, militantly unapologetic lesbian who could care less if you listen to her music or not, especially if you’re a Katy Perry fan! That’s probably why that even after three amazing albums, The Gossip…oops, sorry, they’re just calling themselves ‘Gossip’ now…are much more Big Time in the U.K. than at home in the States, but now, with the release of their fourth CD, Music For Men, Beth seems to have dialed up the cute and channels a bit of Debbie Harry and Blondie for a sound that is a lot less punky and more Pop-Hook radio-friendly than anything the band has put out before! Hey, I was down with ‘Heavy Cross’ right from the beginning with the tasty, staccato guitar intro and her mewling Woo-Hoo’s, but then the disco drums and wah-wah pedals come out and this thing chugs me right onto the dance floor. I still don’t expect to see her on ‘Regis & Kelly’ any time soon, but it’s still lotsa fun and totally unexpected…gotta get it! Check out Gossip on their MySpace page or on the Official Gossip Website

beth

Song of the Day

HALLELUJAH THE HILLS
Blank Passports

DOWNLOAD: Blank Passports

OK…enough of the quiet stuff…let’s head into the weekend with a lovely bit of melodic noise from Boston’s Hallelujah The Hills. Underneath the wall of instrumental goop crammed into this song, there is some damned smart writing in there delivered with Ryan Walsh’s angry vocal. ‘Blank Passports’ is off of their forthcoming album, Colonial Drones, due out in September and you can hear more over on MySpace

hth

Song of the Day

BLITZEN TRAPPER
Furr

DOWNLOAD: Furr

As I sit here getting radiation burns from the glow of my computer monitors, a little fried after retouching the 500 or so images from my shoots this week, I’m being lulled into a soft & fuzzy place by the warm harmonies of Blitzen Trapper’s latest album, Furr, an amazing recording they modestly call ‘fine homemade music’, but what is actually some of the most beautifully crafted ballads and wonderfully meandering alt-country stuff I’ve heard in a long time. OK…I suppose the ‘homemade’ thing is accurate since in true indie form it was put together by guitarist-vocalist Eric Earley in the band’s telegraph-building-turned-studio in their home town of Portland, Oregon, but the result is a cohesive collection of imaginative, heartfelt and revealing storytelling. Head over to their MySpace page and give ’em a look.

blitzen_trapper

Song of the Day

JOE HENRY
Death To The Storm

DOWNLOAD: Death To The Storm

It’s been a couple of years since Madonna’s brother-in-law (yes…that Madonna), Joe Henry, was on The List, but he’s got a new album set to drop next month and for anyone who loves his atmospheric, bluesy/jazzy, warmly narcoleptic tales told in an ever so slightly Tom Waits-y fashion, I think Blood From Stars should make you happy. While he’s probably still better known as a producer of underappreciated R&B veterans like Solomon Burke and Bettye LaVette, or for his work with bigger names like Aimee Mann and Ani DiFranco, Henry’s growling barroom croon and his opulently layered, warm sound instantly draws you into his dark sonic world, populated by lounge lizards, drunks, thieves and whores. Check him out on MySpace or at Joe Henry Loves You Madly

joehenry

Song of the Day

WHEELS ON FIRE
I’m Turning Into You

DOWNLOAD: I’m Turning Into You

I’m feeling something wonderfully retro in an Iggy/MC-5/Lou Reed-y kinda way with this song by this Athens, Ohio quartet…the off-key, screamy vocals, the 60’s gurgling keyboards, the fuzzy guitar riffs…it’s just a perfect bit of unadorned, lo-fi, straight-up Rock & Roll for this sweltering summer day! ‘I’m Turning Into You’ is off of their new album, Get Famous, and if it gets you going the way it’s been doin’ it to me, you can check the kidz out further on their MySpace page

WheelsonFire

Song of the Day

HOPE SANDOVAL
Blanchard

DOWNLOAD: Blanchard

Being a huge Mazzy Star fan, it was like Christmas in July today when I found out that after more than 8 years, Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions are set to release a new album this fall. I probably played ‘Among My Swan’ so much back in the day, my friends might have thought I was suicidal, but it was just that I have always been moved by her darkly-themed songwriting and opiate-induced, sadly sexual vocal style. The Warm Inventions is her partnership with My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig and while the resulting songs are eerily reminiscent of both of their previous bands, the styling he’s brought from My Bloody Valentine is more lush, more meticulously arranged…almost over-ripe…but ambiguous enough as not to overpower her wistful, husky voice which mines new depths of melancholy that only a double-dose of Lexapro can cure. ‘Through the Devil Softly’ is set to drop September 15th, but in the meantime you can check out Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions on her website.

hope

Song of the Day

DARKER MY LOVE
Talking Words

DOWNLOAD: Talking Words

It’s late, but while I sit here waiting for this hard drive to finish backing up the final bits of some 350 gigabytes of data after I’ve spent the last two days of my life dealing with repeated Apple crashes, kernel panics, multiple angry calls to SOS APPLE and just what ya might call generally shitty times, I figured I’d spit out what I’m listening to. This ain’t exactly new…it’s off of Darker My Love’s second album, ‘2’, that was released last summer…but I was over on the NME site earlier today and saw the album is only now getting a UK release, so in honor of that and the fact that I’ve been playing ‘2’ all afternoon, here ya go! If ya wanna listen to even more Darker My Love, check out their MySpace page.

darkermylove

Song of the Day

THE TWILIGHT SAD
I Became A Prostitute

DOWNLOAD: I Became A Prostitute

twilightsad

It’s been a couple of years since Glasgow’s The Twilight Sad have shown up on The List, but with leaks popping up everywhere from their new album, Forget The Night Ahead, I dare say a lot of folks are really looking forward to October when it drops. The first single, ‘I Became A Prostitute’, isn’t even supposed to be released until August 3rd, but like I said, leaks happen! And while the quality of this one ain’t gonna win any awards, the droney wall-of-noise guitar runs, James Graham’s Morrissey-on-downers vocals and the total feeling of hopelessness and melancholy we’ve all come to expect from The Twilight Sad hits you like a shovel to the head and just makes me wanna pick up the CD even more. You can head over to MySpace for a bit more Sadness and as a bonus, here’s the extremely dark (and sexy) video that accompanies the song…..

Song of the Day

COEUR DE PIRATE
Comme Des Enfants

DOWNLOAD: Comme Des Enfants

I know Regina Spektor’s new album, Far, has been out a week now and I still have yet to pick up a copy, but a few minutes ago I fell across Béatrice Martin, a 20 year-old from Quebec who performs under the stage name Coeur De Pirate, that just gave me a real Spektor fix, albeit in French! Earlier this year she was nominated for all sorts of awards at Canada’s Juno Awards for her self-titled debut and topped the Canadian charts for weeks with this song. Head over to her MySpace page (also in French) and check out some more of her songs…1.6 million others have already done so!

CoeurDePirate3

Song of the Day

WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS
You Still Hurt Me

DOWNLOAD: You Still Hurt Me

William Fitzsimmons dropped ‘Live from the Downtown Studios’ a couple of weeks back…an EP of seven live versions of songs taken from his most recent release, “The Sparrow and the Crow”, an album of hurt and pain that promotes the heartache of longing that I’ve come to expect from him. Let the guitar flourishes carry you along on ‘You Still Hurt Me’, then head over to MySpace to listen to a bit more.

WilliamFitzsimmons

Song of the Day

LIGHTNING DUST
I Knew

DOWNLOAD: I Knew

Lightning Dust is side project cobbled together by Amber Webber and Joshua Wells, both members of the Vancouver band Black Mountain. Now, I like Black Mountain, but what Amber and Josh are doing here has nothing to do with the psychedelic rock they put out with the other guys…..‘I Knew’, a frantic love song just leaked off of their second album, is more like fast-paced electro-folk and the way it’s driven along with that synthy, pulsating beat and Amber’s trilling vocal harmonies, it’s kinda reminiscent of the Cocteau Twins. ‘Infinite Light’ drops August 4th, but until then you can check ’em out over on MySpace

LightningDust

Song of the Day

SEAN BONES
Dancehall

DOWNLOAD: Dancehall

One of my most-played albums from last years was ‘Heavenly Bender’ from Brooklyn’s Sam Champion, so this morning when I found out their guitar player, Sean Sullivan, has a little side project going, I just had to check it out. As Sean Bones, he’s kicking out Ska and Reggae-infused party-pop with a refreshing soulful feel. His debut album, Rings, is set to drop July 21st and you can check him out on MySpace

seanbones

BONUS

I’m feelin’ generous, so here’s a previous Song of the Day off of Heavenly Bender…

SAM CHAMPION
Be Mine Everyone

DOWNLOAD: Be Mine Everyone

samchampion

Song of the Day

thecavesingers

THE CAVE SINGERS
Beach House

DOWNLOAD: Beach House

Yesterday it was a ‘Cabin Song’…today it’s a ‘Beach House’…am I on the cutting edge of a new indie music/home improvement trend?!! Seattle’s Cave Singers are set to drop their second album, Welcome Joy, in August and Pete Quirk’s scratchy, nasaly Arlo Guthrie-like vocals are intertwined beautifully among the simple, atmospheric folkie harmonies layed down by Derek Fudesco and Marty Lund…it all sounds so familiar, but in a peculiar way…like a story you had long forgotten…his voice brings it all back into focus. Give ’em a look on their MySpace page

Song of the Day

t_nile

T. NILE
Cabin Song

DOWNLOAD: Cabin Song

With the pedal steel guitar, country twang and mournful storytelling that dominates “Cabin Song”, it’s probably hard to tell that Vancouver’s Tamara Nile, or T. Nile when she’s on stage, has a musical style that falls a lot closer to Sheryl Crow than full-on Nashville, but on her just released “The Cabin Song EP”, the blend of country, folk, world beats and even electronica really showcases this young singer/songwriter who grew up up in…yes…a cabin on a small Island off the coast of British Columbia. Give her a look on MySpace or at her website

Song of the Day

TheRaveonettes

THE RAVEONETTES
Last Dance

DOWNLOAD: Last Dance

It’s stuff like this that makes the Song of the Day worth it…you come in find a demo leaked off of an album that is probably a year away…and you didn’t hafta work to get it or nuthin’! The Raveonettes are back in Copenhagen recording a new record and they want your input…if you head over to Viceland.com you can download other demo’s a they come available and even get into live chats with Sharin and Sune to let ’em know what you think! Of course, if ‘Tweets’ are more your style, you can also follow them on Twitter but my favorite is still the tried & tested MySpace Page

Song of the Day

wyeoak

WYE OAK
Take It In

DOWNLOAD: Take It In

Jenn Wasner of the Baltimore-based duo Wye Oak spins a beautifully bittersweet tale as she whispers, moans and floats through this song, surrounded by a clanging caucaphony of guitars and drums and the pulsing heartbeat of an incessant bassline. “We are both the same…..Unwell…”…since I seem to have the picked up a case of the Swine Flu, this just sort of hit home today! ‘The Knot’ drops on July 21st and is a stunning follow-up to their first album, If Children. Give ’em a look over on MySpace