Vol. 4 Issue 25 January 2008
Happy Hannukah. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. 50% Off Year End Sale. All of that. We survived. Incredible. It was all relatively uneventful, and then we were greeted in the ‘08 by such wondrous sights as David Letterman’s beard, the Iowa caucous, and Daniel Day Lewis. I can tell 2008 is gonna be a great year. And with amazing new releases from newcomers like Bon Iver, Throw Me The Statue, Slije Nes, and classic BRM dudemanbros like Nada Surf, and American Music Club you should be psyched too.
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Current Releases
- Click to see:
- Thrill Jockey
- Jagjaguwar
- Secretly Canadian
- Fat Cat
- Bank Robber Music
Thrill Jockey
www.thrilljockey.com
School Of Language
"Sea From Shore"
On the strength of a scant 2 albums, Field Music, made themselves one of the most promising pop-y post-punk bands around. 07’s Tones of Town was an under the radar masterwork of kitschy White Album – period Beatles-influenced pop, and propulsive mathematical rhythms – so it obviously sucked when the band decided to call it quits a just a couple months after said album came out. They felt “expectations” were getting in the way of their being as creative as they’d hoped. Nearly a full year later we see the first post-Field Music release: School of Language’s Sea From Shore (Thrill Jockey) – the solo record of FM’s David Brewis. It is pop with creative arrangements and inventive percussion bookended by a series of “Rockist” tracks – looped vocals, polyrhtyms, and clip’d cut and paste samples almost make Sea sound like a, dare I say it…an “electronic” record, and yet elsewhere like on “Disappointment ‘99” we get the same exuberant and obtuse hookiness that Field Music practically trademarked. You won’t believe Brewis essentially recorded this by himself, in his house. I always knew the Field Music guys were major talents, here’s more fuel for that fire. Check out: "Rockist Pt1"
Jagjaguwar
www.jagjaguwar.com
Bon Iver
"For Emma, Forever Ago"
Bon Iver. Misspelled, but apparently it means “good winter” in French. It’s a fitting name for Justin Vernon’s astonishingly haunting one man folk sounds. Recorded by Vernon in a cabin in the remote woods of Northwestern Wisconsin while under a self-imposed “hibernation,” For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar) is Bon Iver’s debut. He didn’t mean to “make an album,” but instead happened upon one of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful singer-songwriter recordings we at the Bank Robber have heard in quite some time. Vernon’s ghostly harmonies are luscious and soulful – somehow managing to channel TV On The Radio, and Jeff Buckley too. Songs like “Skinny Love,” and “Flume” are icy and effortless, and altogether unforgettable. It’s no wonder, The New York Times called Emma “irresistible” and Pitchfork lauded the original self-released CD-R of the album with its “recommended” tag. Check Out: "Skinny Love"
Secretly Canadian
www.secretlycanadian.com
Throw Me The Statue
"Moonbeams"
Scott Reitherman aka Throw Me The Statue understands “indie-pop.” No questions. His fantastic Secretly Canadian-debut, Moonbeams, plays like a kaleidoscopic mash-up of every Magnetic Field, Arcade Fire, and Postal Service record…toss in a bit of Neutral Milk Hotel for all the nylon string guitar and “banshee vocals,” and you’ve pretty much got it. And yet, the thing is, no matter how “derivative” this may sound, Moonbeams astonishes with a completely addictive, “everything but the kitchen sink” pop vibe. In other words, all the influences are there, but in showstopping cuts like “About A Walk” and “Lolita,” they sound completely Retherman’s own. Glockenspiels ring out, casio programmed drums sputter on, and one songs after the other, Throw Me The Statue prove one of the nicest surprises of ’08 thus far. Check out: "About To Walk"
Fat Cat
fat-cat.co.uk
Silje Nes
"Ames Room"
So now that Bjork is off making acapella records, no wait, scoring unlistenable soundtracks to her husband’s (Mathew Barney) completely indecipherable movies (see: Drawing Restraint 9 or actually don’t see it), it’s almost kismet that Iceland’s most famous girl in a duck dress’ influence can be heard in a myriad of other brazen voiced lady-experimentalists who thankfully have taken a rain check on the “weirdness” and bird attire. Norway’s Silje Nes is one of these ladies. Her Fat Cat debut, Ames Room, is filled with gentle, rhythmic bursts of playful, homey pop songs. She definitely has a lot in common with the electro-organic sounds of Psapp, and that’s not a bad thing. “Ames Room,” is gentle and lilting and heart-achingly pretty. Nes’ voice is breathy and wonderful – she sounds like she could be your sister – toying around with whatever instruments she can get her hands on that don’t require on outlet. Lovely. Check Out: "Ames Room"
Bank Robber Music
bankrobbermusic.com
Various
"BRM Volume 12 "
Hey Supervisors,
You should have this in your mailbox! You should have devoured it like last nights cold pizza! If you are a music supervisor (or at least claim to be one), please email us asap and we will send you one of these precious gems of non-biodegradable plastic to fill your office with. Really. We are that nice, and we printed that many. Here's a taste from this compilation from Tunng. Check Out: "Hands"
- Click to see:
- Barsuk
- Merge
- Friendly Fire Recordings
- Modular
Barsuk
www.barsuk.com
Nada Surf
"Lucky"
Nada Surf can do no wrong. They are a band who, in the inimitable words of Brian Wilson, “just weren’t made for these times.” Nada’s unashamedly song-driven power-pop, has always had more in common with say The Raspberries, than the Arcade Fire, and over the course of their storied career, I can’t think of another band that is more consistent, or can write a better power-ballad anthem (see: “Always Love” – the freaking verse of that song is more memorable than your favorite group’s entire discography). Nada’s new one, Lucky, (the group’s third for Barsuk) just may be their best album yet. Produced by John Goodmanson (Death Cab For Cutie, Sleater-Kinney), and featuring members of DCFC, John Roderick of The Long Winters, and more, Lucky is packed with epic pop anthems (“Who’s Authority,” “Weightless”), mid-tempo rockers (“Beautiful Beat”) and melodramatic instant classics (“See These Bones”). In times when the musical landscape is over-crowded with bands pretentiously fawning over “texture” and “obscurity,” it’s downright inspiring to hear a group that can play, effortlessly knocking out some truly memorable, fully-formed songs. Actual. Songs. Here’s to the new avant garde. Check Out: "Who's Authority"
Merge
www.mergerecords.com
American Music Club
"The Golden Age"
For over two decades, Mark Eitzel has lead his American Music Club through the landscape of folk, lounge, rock, and pop – a heartstopping literal roots band, languid, and I always kept my American Music Club on the same shelf as all my Tom Waits shit. Is it because they both exposed the dark-underbelly of our Nation’s landscape? I don’t know. What I do know is that American Music Club is back with The Golden Age, their debut for Merge Records. Despite the band moving to Los Angeles !? (I can’t think of a place less AMC-like, but I digress), and acquiring two new members (Steve Didelot on drums, and Sean Hoffman on the bass), not all that much has changed for the AMC. But really not all that much needed to change. AMC still are masters at brooding, and earthy pop, only now sweet Beach Boys harmonies, and mariachi horns are thrown into the lush, expansive mix. And hey, with all these proto-westerns populating movie theaters now (see: No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood), I can’t think of a more appropriate time for an album like this or Merge’s other new dustbowl folk entry, The Radar Bros’ Auditorium. Check Out: "The Grand Duchess Of San Francisco"
Friendly Fire Recordings
www.friendlyfirerecordings.com
Camphor
"Drawn To Dust"
I can recognize a great name when I hear one, and “Max Avery Lichtenstein” definitely qualifies. Why this dude changed his name to..uh..Camphor for his languid, orchestrated Friendly Fire debut, Drawn To Dust, I’ll never know. Lichtenstein might be vaguely familiar to you in so far as his scoring work for indie flicks like Tarnation, Jesus’ Son, and The King, but Drawn is his first song-oriented work. And it’s a good thing he decided to sing, cause he’s got a great deadpan baritone that seriously recalls E of The Eels. Throw some meticulously orchestrated arrangements, wry acoustic guitar chords, and moody tempos, and you’ve got one outstanding chamber pop debut. Check Out: "The Sweetest Tooth"
Modular
www.modularpeople.com
Ghostwood
"EP"
Who can resist teen heartthrobs? Nobody. That’s who. Even in the cynical ranks of the crabby indie rock world, we are all still immune. Modular’s latest signees, Ghostwood, unabligingly fit this bill. This group of Australian teens do Interpol better than Interpol does these days. Which is to say the band’s digital-only debut ep, has songs that sound like they are being played by individuals who aren’t falling asleep at their Richenbackers. Shimmery guitars, dance-floor tempos, and yearning vocals dominate, so do “soaring chorus’. And it’s a good thing, cause we love anything “soaring” here. Modular is always 5 steps ahead of everyone else, so we have no doubt that Ghostwood will be eating up the blogs in the ’08 when they drop their official lp. Look out. Check Out: "Blue Version"
K.I.M
"Wet 'n Wild 12""
K.I.M is Kimberly Isaac Moyes – one half of Austalia’s premier electro-pop dance duo, The Presets. K.I.M’s “solo ish” is nothing to shake a glow stick at. This is dance music people. You should feel guilty if you are listening to KIM’s new Wet ’n Wild 12” (Modular) seated. And don’t even get me started on the forthcoming KIM full-length Party Machini or the heavily anticipated new Presets and Cut Copy records! Check Out: "Wet 'n Wild"