Album of the Summer?

Preview: Ramona Falls – Intuit

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Portland has more life in it yet.  Why-haven’t-they-crossed-over-yet Menomena‘s Brent Knopf has an album coming out one week from today.  It’s called Intuit and represents the debut of his “solo” project, Ramona Falls.

Reviewed: The Dodos’ Time to Die

It still ain’t broke.

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San Francisco duo turned trio The Dodos’ third album Time to Die (out digitally July 28 and physically September 15) is not a departure from the course set by their previous two, and this is mostly a good thing. The crew chooses to keep the guitar and drums largely acoustic, there’s still hardly any (noticeable) bass, and there may be even fewer effects on the vocals and guitars.  Still, this is a logical if small step forward from an already great band.

Return of the Next Big Thing: Yeasayer

Best future music.

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Yeasayer was one of the most buzzed bands of 2007, and, as with all much-blogged bands these days, critics also wondered whether they’d just end up another footnote, flavor of the month.  Well, they almost were in 2008.  All Hours Cymbals had a great set of songs, but it wasn’t a great record. Mostly because the mix was muddy, so muddy that they didn’t win me until I saw their Take-Away-Show and became convinced that those tipsy, spoons-on-beers versions of the songs were the best they’d done.

Of course since then we’ve gotten “Tightrope” on the Dark Was the Night comp and an increasingly infectious live show that they’ve been touring up with their new lineup through their festival highlights at Bonnaroo and on Pitchfork on Saturday.  At these shows they’ve played at least three songs from the album–“Ambling Alp”, “Lovely Girl” and another below–and these new songs’ve already been some of my favorites at each show. They seem to have further centralized the vocals around Chris Keating, brought up the beats and generally recognized that a little less could be a lot more.

So it looks like the next album could represent the realization of that huge potential, but how much do we really know about the release?  Not so much. No title, no tracklisting, no release date.* They went to Woodstock to start recording way back in January, but the most we really know comes from an update on their Last.fm two weeks ago: “expect flash bangs in October followed up by a bigger explosion in January 2010.” So singles, leak or EP October, LP January? Mark your calendars.

*Note: Today they announced that the record will be coming out January 19.

Yeasayer – Tightrope
Yeasayer – 2080

Disclaimer: These songs are up for listening purposes only for a short time. If you’re an artist or label who wants the song taken down, please write me.

Wilco – Unlikely Japan

Still “dad rock“?

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Wilco’s “Unlikely Japan”, an earlier version of what became Sky Blue Sky’s “Impossible Germany”, is kinda batshit. It starts modestly with just piano, vocal and a steadily-strummed acoustic guitar, and then in a couple minutes ye olde Wilco static invades.  And then there’s the synth, electronic beats and vocoder (vocoder?! JEFF NOT YOU TOO!).

My jury’s still out on exactly how much I like this, but even a trainwreck (the last 1:30?) has its appeal. I just can’t look away.

Wilco – Unlikely Japan (from the You Never Know 7″)

Disclaimer: These songs are up for listening purposes only for a short time. If you’re an artist or label who wants the song taken down, please write me.

Leaked: Modest Mouse – No One’s First and You’re Next EP

If Radiohead Released It, It’d Be Called ‘Amnesiac’

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Modest Mouse’s upcoming EP, No One’s First and You’re Next, comes out August 4, but it leaked this morning. It may be composed mostly of b-sides from the Good News and We Were Dead sessions, but, while there aren’t going to be any “Float On”-style breakouts, the songs aren’t half-assed and aren’t at all bad. Similarly, while they’re calling it an EP, it ain’t so slight: it clocks in at over 30 minutes, which is longer than a lot of LPs these days (Vivian Girls, anyone?). Basically it’s a must for Modest Mouse fans who haven’t already been obsessive enough to collect these songs.

Much of it’s now been widely available either on the last couple singles or on their MySpace, but below are a couple tracks that haven’t.

Modest Mouse – King Rat (Previously from the Dashboard single)
Modest Mouse – I’ve Got it All (Most) (Previously from the Float On single)

You can pre-order the EP here and check their upcoming US tour dates here

Disclaimer: These songs are up for listening purposes only for a short time. If you’re an artist or label who wants the song taken down, please write me.

Leaked: Mew – No More Stories… LP

Just in time for Pitchfork

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Hot on the heels of last week’s Dodos leak (album now streaming, release date in fact changed) is the this morning’s leak of Mew‘s next, titled simply:

No more stories
Are told today
I’m sorry
They washed away

No more stories
The world is grey
I’m tired
Let’s wash away

For serious.

It’s due August 25 and is not to be confused with the No More Stories EP, which was a preview of  No More Stories… (or NMSATTISTWA NMSTWIGITLWW) and came out on June 30 (still with me?). Anyways, these guys are pretty hot shit in Denmark, their last got an 8.4 from Pitchfork (it didn’t receive a lot of other reviews on this side of the Atlantic) and they’re one of the few bands that could almost pull off calling themselves an “indie stadium band.”*  Basically they’re every bit as epically pretentious as you’d expect from a band that would go with that album title.  Tracks below.

You can catch them this Sunday at the Pitchfork Music Festival and on tour with the Nine Inch Nails, and you can pre-order their album here.

Mew – Hawaii
Mew – Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy
Mew – Beach

*Note: They are not on an independent label.

Disclaimer: These songs are up for listening purposes only for a short time. If you’re an artist or label who wants the song taken down, please write me.

The Best Elliott Smith Songs You (Still) Haven’t Heard

Plus: Covers, more cowbell.

So you may have all his albums.  And you may even have the also pretty great New Moon.  Is there anything else in his catalog that the hucksters haven’t already compiled and put out?  Yeah actually, a poo ton.

In the tradition of the posts about The Shins here and Radiohead here, below you’ll find links to mp3s of what I think are the best of his unreleased material.  Songs are ordered roughly according to how much I recommend them.

Also included are some covers, which collectively prove that Elliott Smith had good enough taste in 60s and 70s pop to put him on footing with the likes of Wes Anderson.  If nothing else check “Don’t Fear the Reaper”: emo kid can shred.

Studio (and Home) Rarities:
Elliott Smith – I Can’t Answer You Anymore (Rare)
Elliott Smith – No Name #6 (from No Name #6/Division Day)
Elliott Smith – Division Day (from No Name #6/Division Day)
Elliott Smith – I Don’t Think I’m Ever Gonna Figure it Out (from the Speed Trials EP)
Elliott Smith – Some Song (Rare)
Elliott Smith – How to Take a Fall (Rare)
Elliott Smith – Amanda Cecilia (Rare)

Covers:
Elliott Smith – Don’t Fear the Reaper (live Blue Oyster Cult cover)
Elliott Smith – When I Paint My Masterpiece (live Bob Dylan cover)
Elliott Smith – Nighttime (live Big Star cover)
Elliott Smith – These Days (Jackson Browne cover)
Elliott Smith – I Me Mine (live Beatles cover)
Elliott Smith – Waterloo Sunset (live The Kinks cover)
Elliott Smith – I’m So Tired (live Beatles cover)
Elliott Smith – Jealous Guy (live John Lennon cover)

Best. Chord progression. Ever.

If you’re one of the 7 million that have seen this video you know that certain chord-progressions repeat themselves.  A lot.  (Even if that Pachelbel comedian guy really overstates his case: buncha those songs don’t even have those chords).

Here’s my favorite: D-G-D-G-Em-A-D-G .

Examples?:

Radiohead – No Surprises
Wilco – Ashes of American Flags
R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts
The Decemberists – Red Right Ankle

Disclaimer: These songs are up for listening purposes only for a short time. If you’re an artist or label who wants the song taken down, please write me.

Leaked: The Dodos – Time to Die

Still due September 15th?
(Updated 7/14/09) No.

The Dodos, whose Visiter was one of my five favorite albums of 2008, are set to release their third full-length, dubbed Time to Die, September 15th. That might change now because it leaked yesterday, two months early.

Oh well, Veckatimest leaked three months early and it certainly didn’t hurt that release.  Singer/songwriter Ed Droste’s advice? “You’ve gotta be sort of Zen about it.”  So listen to Ed: be cool, my babies.

First reactions? Phil Ek’s mix is more polished, instrumentation is more diverse and harmonies are more full, but freakouts are less frequent. Still, feels like the logical step forward. What do you think?

The Dodos – Fables
The Dodos – Two Medicines
The Dodos – Small Deaths

Updated 7/14/09, 11 AM CST: The album is now streaming on the album’s website here and will be out digitally on July 28th.

Pre-order Time to Die and get a free poster here.
And catch their ecstatic live show (they’re kinda like how you wish Animal Collective would be live) in your neighborhood on their massive tour.

Disclaimer: These songs are up for listening purposes only for a short time. If you’re an artist or label who wants the song taken down, please write me.