Circle Pit

Jack Mannix and Angela Bermuda are unconventional, unapologetic and Australian. In that order. After the tales of Sydney street life, drugs and casual sex on gritty Bruise Constellations, Circle Pit languidly slides into a new 7", Slave / Honey on Sub Pop. Synthy gospel on one side, druggy shoegaze on the other, you can stream both sides here.

Circle Pit // Honey

Bowerbirds

I was first winsomely lead away by the Bowerbirds when they opened for Bon Iver at Black Cat in 2009. 2008? Though they played for a largely talkative and annoying crowd,

{taking a moment to just put it out there: i get weird juju from nearly every DC crowd I'm obliged to stand with. truly, what is with the apathetic posturing? shaves my buzz every time.}

{there. i feel better.}

the Raleigh, NC-natives Phil Moore {vocals, guitar}, Beth Tacular {vocals, accordion(!)} and Mark Paulson {vocals, violin} are, quite frankly, endearing. Critics toss around the "freak folk" genre, but I'd disagree. Feels more tempered; intimate story-telling over flowing instrumentation. An attentive beak to their glossy feathers. So tonight the four of us will have a bit of a reunion in Charlottesville when they open for Arcade Fire - followed by Régine and I ribbon dancing to Sprawl II.

Bowerbirds // Beneath Your Tree

Alexander

Alex Ebert, better known as the messianic frontman of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, released his solo effort Alexander back in March. Scaling back from the 10+ piece enthusiasm of the Zeroes, Ebert still delivers on blissed out, 70's inspired psychedelia. "Truth," with it's Caribbean flavors, licks of Paul Simon and maybe even a little Citizen Cope for the more contemporary of our contemporaries? whistles and trips just enough to mask politically-minded lyrics. You don't get serious until you GET serious.

Alexander // Truth

Windsor For The Derby

{hollywood cemetery, rva}

Windsor For The Derby // Queen of the Sun

Robin Pecknold

As I continue to fidget in anticipation of Fleet Foxes second album's release in May, frontman Robin Pecknold saw it fit to dole out a few tasty treats to satisfy. Recorded in LA a few weeks back, he released three tracks of acoustic guitar picking and lilt-along vocals. "I'm Losing Myself" featuring Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste, a cover of Chris Thompson's "Where Is My Wild Rose" and posted "Derwentwater Stones."


{sneak-attack pic of Pecknold unawares at Moxie, Le West spring road trip 2010. yeah i'm that creep. i mean, fan.}

Fleet Foxes begin their spring tour April 29 in Vancouver. Loads of dates are already sold out, but their stop in D.C. magically has tickets left. You can carpool with me if your first pushpin is RVA, but only if you bring snacks.

See you at Wye Oak tonight. Next week I'm posting some thrash-metal and rage sh*t, get some edge back in this blog, nah meen?

Robin Pecknold // Derwentwater Stones

Hurricane Bells

Had that moment of being in the midst of normalcy when a song makes you stop in your tracks. You listen fiercely for a breath to catch some of the pieces, figure out what it is that made you freeze. Then you cast about wildly, who's going to tell you who this is?? Who knows this song?! You throw down the frilly blouse you were folding and stammer to your manager that you've got to know who the artist is, is there way to look? Hoping desperately that you don't come off weird slash socially awkward on the first shift of a part-time gig {a girl needs a little drop in the bucket to finance all these mp3s}.
With a cool confirmation she disappears for a moment to return with a magic post-it, scrawled on in graphite is the key to your craving. Nirvana. As is my 40% discount. I like this place.

Currently on tour with KT Tuntall, {VAST improvement from prior tour with Blue October. Gag me with a spoon}, Steve Schiltz of Longwave created solo album, Tonight is a Ghost, in the best sense - writing, playing, recording and mixing all the songs himself. Quickly followed by Down Comes the Rain, stream either or album here. Admittedly, I'm not as wild about the rest, that could be the mention of Blue October leaving a bad taste on my tongue

But like a locomotive racing down frostbitten rails, away away from here, "Freezing Rain" makes my heart hurt.

Hurricane Bells // Freezing Rain

Damien Jurado

Grey gray day. My dad always laments days like this are "raw, goes to your bones" before he shudders and saunters off to find his Smartwool socks. Need something lonely and brittle, dustings of bitter cocoa powder on plinking ivory keys. Journeyman Damien Jurado, with a hollow call and slow turns over his shoulder. That'll do it.

Damien Jurado // Arkansas

Junip

Junip, not juniper. Or Jupiter.
Which is good on both counts, as I have an aversion to gin and do not have proper lung capacity to accomodate atmospheric ammonium hydro-sulfide.

But it's Junip, phew!, out of Gothenburg, Sweden and in existence since the early '90s. You'll recognize the tremolo of José González alongside Tobias Winterkorn (keyboard) and Elias Araya (drums). González and Araya have been palling around since 14 with a shared love of hardcore metal. Meeting and jiving Winterkorn from time to time at shows sparked conversation on a different aesthetic, something more on the 60s and 70s mellow guitars and a Moog. Far from thrash, and a clear fingerpoint in the hypnotically melodic direction.
A long, slow-trodden, patient direction - with their first full release, Fields, released last month after 10 years in the making.

Drift along at a North American show once they make landfall Nov. 1.

Junip // Rope and Summit

Judson Claiborne

Leaky pipes and rusty wheel spokes. Tied sneaks thrown over a phone line. Cracked robin's egg on the sidewalk and a husk of a moth's cocoon on the porch. That's Time and Temperature by Christopher C Salveter aka Judson Claiborne, a name given by his father he says to be reclaiming.
Interesting process - to be taking back an invisible thing that was given to you in the first place. Most of us would probably like to do the same since losing a number of things, mostly between the ages of 13 and 17. But that's a haiku for the time capsule buried in the backyard and ES ain't dealing with that esoteric mess.

You might recognize the frontman's ambly lament from Low Skies, who toured with the likes of Neko Case, Okkervil River, Band of Horses, et al. After gaining inspiration biking Southeast Asia, getting zenned in a spiritual haven off the Hudson and finally landing in Chicago - Judson collaborated with a few who mutually share wearied adoration for steely mist and fog.
tu
la
ru
lah.

Judson Claiborne // Song for Dreaming

Monsters of Folk

Cream. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Traveling Wilburys. The Highwaymen. Velvet Revolver. Tinted Windows. (even Taylor Hanson gets a fist bump on this blog)

Better than that last bite of Thanksgiving dinner, supergroups are a heady blend of performers who've already made a name for themselves as legal pundits or geography bee champs. In this recent wave of rocker emulsion, I've been looking out for the Monsters of Folk album since early summer. Conor Oberest (Bright Eyes), M.Ward (She & Him), Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket) and producer/engineer Mike Mogis - these fellas have joined each other on and offstage, share recipes and have weekly get-togethers for MNF. Total bros.

Scheduling a late autumn trip around the world, for each M.O.F. ticket sold a $1 will go to local non-profits. Karma & jams, as dear to me as pb&j. Word on the street is they'll be switching instruments and trading roles throughout each show in the spirit of their laidback collaboration. I'm sure they won't mind me stepping in for a little triangle jangle and a recorder solo.

Will they be a success or a novelty? Take a listen and decide for yourself - I like you more when you have an opinion.

M.O.F. // Sandman, the Brakeman and Me
M.O.F. // Temazcal

Grizzled Again

We’re barely into the third week of the semester and already there’s a substitute? Bullocks! Unheard of!

Well sorry kiddos, you’re just going to have to accept it and carryon with the mundane of day to day. Truth is – your music sage is on hiatus. A walkabout, roaming the wilderness and tracing his songlines while having out of body’s in new dimensions.

Or something like that.
I’ll pick up some slack until he returns to his earthbound vessel for good.

Behold – the liberation of Grizzly Bear’s newest video. Another wonder of stop motion animation directed by Sean Pecknold aka Grandchildren aka Robin Pecknold’s of Fleet Foxes fame brother. Not for those feint of heart (the humor just gets lamer in Mckay’s absence) the masked fencer has an out of body experience of his own to the lyrics of one of the best breakup songs ever written.

Grizzly Bear // While You Wait For The Others

Jason Lytle

Love this guy. Did his thing with Grandaddy for a long while and could never really lift the poor bastards off the ground. Apparently after their last show, he set his guitar on fire and moved from California to Montana to record this album, Yours Truly, The Commuter. Copycat (RE: Bon Iver). I guess the point was to reinvent himself with his music. While I like this album a lot, it basically sounds to me like the next thing from Grandaddy. Although, definitely better than their last few.

Jump from your secular diving board into this abyss for a while, forget who you are, where you're from and that you have a job. Then get divorced, sell the kids and move to Montana. And whatever you do, don't take a shower.

Jason Lytle // Fürget It
Jason Lytle // Brand New Sun

Timber Timbre

Take Tom Waits and remove his lifetime smoking habit and you might get a born again grown baby that sounds somewhat like Timber Timbre. Soulful, haunting, and laced with a dizzying chemical that spirals the spirals in my pupils, this experimental Toronto duo led by space alien Taylor Kirk will likely have you moaning for more.

Lately, I've been getting into organs. Mainly boob organs. But this kind is good, too. Very good.

Timber Timbre // Lay Down In The Tall Grass

Holly Miranda

I've talked about her before and I'll talk about her again. Holly has a new EP out called Sleep On Fire and it's not bad. I'm pretty sure this is a prelude to something much bigger, but that's only an educated hunch. And if you know me, you know my educated hunches are worth millions. Sometimes hundreds. Or ones. I've been following this lass for the past few several months. Her progress that is, not her physically. Come on, seriously? You really think I'd...no you shut up. Right...following her. I do believe she's getting much better. My EH tells me she'll be a household name in the music world very, very soon.

This is really bullshit because it's real. Listen for yourself.

Holly Miranda // Everytime I Sleep

A little short. Well it's 17:40, but it's worth it. Is it me or is she the devil? In a good way. A good way.

Eels

From the land of the lyrically gifted, this album is a welcome mat I like to put my feet on. Elvis Costello on the upside, Leonard Cohen on the downside, and there's really not much of an in-between. It's called Hombre Lobo, the Eels 450th album (that may not be accurate, but I lost count, so...) and it's a pleasant roller coaster ride that I, for one, will be taking multiple passes on.

Eels // That Look You Give That Guy

Faunts

Born in Canada in 2000, year of Falconia, Dark Lord of Falcon Crest, Faunts have fascinated the world with news of repeated transsexual orgies backstage. That may or may not be true, but it probably is. Or isn't. Stop straying off topic, let's keep this about the music. Most of the melodies on their latest album, Feel.Love.Thinking.Of (nice one fellas) are Slow.Touching.Retropop.Dutching. What did I just write? Dutching. College experiment, I'll explain later. The lyrics will boil the love blood in your heart holes so I'd suggest some Cardene before listening. That's Mexican for heart medication. Speaking of heart medication, can I borrow a quarter?

Faunts // So Far Away

O+S

Look at these two. Who do they think they are? Orenda Fink (Azure Ray, Art In Manila) and Scalpelist (Cedric LeMoyne of Remy Zero). I know it's confusing, I mean who are we talking about here, music people or music bands? And what am I talking about?

This is sort of a weird chemical imbalance that caused a spark. Melodic and quiet in their own natural worlds, together they combust into something slightly more jagged and chaotic. I use chaotic loosely, you can still fall asleep at the wheel to this. So do it!

O+S // Permanent Scar

Junior Boys

These Ontarians blew up, whatever that means these days, right off the bat in 2003, when they released something good enough for Christian Fennesz to remix.

The song Fennesz really liked.

Their new album is Begone Dull Care, on Domino. It is named for the short film by animator Norman McLaren.

As usual, it was difficult for me to choose just one new track to share. One I really like called "Work" was recorded in Berlin and sounds like DJ Hell a bit-- I didn't want to beat you over the head with Hell any more-- and another is basically electro RnB ("Sneak a Picture"). The song I choose is like neither of those.

Junior Boys // Dull to Pause

The Antlers

Bear
or, Children Become Their Parents Become Their Children

There’s a bear inside your stomach, a cub’s been kicking from within. He’s loud, though without vocal cords, we’ll put an end to him. We’ll make all the right appointments, no one ever has to know, and then tomorrow I’ll turn twenty-one, we’ll script another show. We’ll play charades up in the Chelsea,
drink champagne (although you shouldn’t be), We’ll be blind and dumb until we fall asleep. None of our friends will come, they dodge our calls, and they have for quite awhile now. It’s not a shock, you don’t seem to mind, and I just can’t see how.

“We’re too old.”
”We’re not old at all.”
“Just too old”
“We’re not old at all.”

There’s a bear inside your stomach, a cub’s been kicking you for weeks, and if this isn’t all a dream, well then we’ll cut him from beneath. Well we’re not scared of making caves, or finding food for him to eat. We’re terrified of one another, terrified of what that means. But we’ll make only quick decisions, and you’ll just keep me in the waiting room, and all the while I’ll know we’re fucked, and not getting un-fucked soon. When we get home we’re bigger strangers than we’ve ever been before. You sit in front of snowy television, suitcase on the floor.

The Antlers // Bear

Phosphorescent Salutes Willie Nelson

...with 11 of his finest tracks on an album simply and aptly titled To Willie. If you like Willie, you’ll either love or hate this. My guess is you’ll love it because it’s about as close to the real thing as it gets. Then you say "Well why cover it then?" Then I say "It’s a fucking tribute album and it’s a damn good one." Then you say, "But I hate Willie Nelson." Then I punch you in the eyebrow and we never speak again. Until the next day when we have coffee and reminisce about the awesome fight we had the day before.

But don’t get me wrong. Phosphorescent (Matthew Houck) doesn’t make an exact replica here. He has a style and interpretation that makes Willie sound cosmic in areas. Like right here:

Permanently Lonely