New Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Here's a new track from Bonnie "Prince" Billy's upcoming first-ever live album, Summer in the Southeast (due out Nov. 15).

Bonnie "Prince" Billy Hearts mp3

Bronson vs. God has another track from the album.

Update:

The excellent Dreams of Horses (one of my favorite blogs...he's had some awesome stuff lately) has 3 tracks from the upcoming Tortoise and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy collaborative album, The Bold and The Brave, including this track, the album-opener:

Tortoise + Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Daniel mp3 (Elton John cover)

Why?

Elephant Eyelash, the new record from Anticon's Why?, is a collection of ridiculously catchy hip hop influenced indie rock.

Dusted Magazine says:

"There are so many surprising twists in the melodies, time signatures, lyrics and production that I'll keep returning to these songs for months. Elephant Eyelash is a terrific rock record, especially for a guy who's known as an MC..."

Recommended for fans of Pavement, Beck, Radiohead, and the Fiery Furnaces.



Why? Rubber Traits mp3
Why? Sanddollars mp3

Check out reviews of Elephant Eyelash on Metacritic

Buy it

The Squid and the Whale

Awesome movie, even better soundtrack. Written and beautifully directed by Noah Baumbach with the kind of impossible attention to detail reminiscent of his work with Wes Anderson, The Squid and the Whale is one of the best movies I've seen this year. Also the second movie in a row we've watched with Tim DeLaughter from the Polyphonic Spree sitting right behind us (the first being Thumbsucker). While I felt this clearly meant he was stalking us, it was suggested that he probably just has the same taste in movies. Whatever.

Here's one of the highlights from the soundtrack, used perfectly during a montage:

Lou Reed Street Hassle mp3

Bodies of Water

I was introduced to Bodies of Water by the great Music For Robots, and they are one of my favorite finds in a while.

These songs run the gamut stylistically from '60's California sunshine-pop to indie-folk to psych-rock, but all 3 sound like a band with a ton of promise. The band's website describes their sound as "lushly melodic," adding that they "eschew traditional verse/chorus songwriting, but they never, ever 'jam'."

Bodies of Water Here Comes My Hand mp3
Bodies of Water Love Will Call You By Name mp3
Bodies of Water Roar, Roar, Roar mp3

As of right now, you can only get the EP at this store, but the band assures us that it will soon be available from their website. I'll let you guys know.

Elsewhere:

Vashti Bunyan's Lookaftering, which i featured here last week (with mp3), is getting awesome reviews. Tiny Mix Tapes gave it a perfect score, and Pitchfork added it to it's Best New Music list.


In NBA news (sort of), ex-Detroit Piston Dennis Rodman has signed to play pro basketball. In Tijuana.

Iron & Wine + Calexico

Poster by Bryan Keplesky

We're going to see Iron & Wine and Calexico tomorrow night at the Ridglea Theater in Fort Worth, and I'm real excited. So excited, in fact, that I'm offering you one of my favorite covers of all time:

Iron & Wine Waitin' For A Superman mp3 (flaming lips cover)

Bonus: another kickass cover!

Calexico Love Will Tear Us Apart mp3 (joy division cover) mp3

Good Hearted Woman

Willie

This comes to us from the cool people at the Polyphonic Spree Forum: The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and Tim DeLaughter of the Polyphonic Spree covering Willie Nelson's "Good Hearted Woman". It's really short (about 1 minute) but to Tim's credit, you can hear he was ready to go longer until Wayne cut him off.

Tim DeLaughter + Wayne Coyne Good Hearted Woman mp3

Sweden is the new Montreal

On the heels of Dodge's posts on Swedish bands yesterday comes this post on yet another ridiculously likeable, impossibly good Swedish band with a misleading name: the Acid House Kings. If you're a fan of Kings of Convenience or Belle & Sebastian I can almost guarantee you will love these guys. Tiny Mix Tapes gushes about their new album:

"Mixing the sweet and gentle pop of Camera Obscura with the gorgeous intelligent dance sensibility of ABBA, Acid House Kings' newest will overwhelm your senses and make you fall in love."



Acid House Kings Do What You Wanna Do mp3
Acid House Kings This Heart Is a Stone mp3
Acid House Kings Sunday Morning mp3
Acid House Kings This and That mp3

Buy the album

If you like Swedish people as much as I do, check out this Swedish music blog

Also check out my previous posts on Swedish artists The Knife and Jose Gonzalez

Congrats

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Wall

It's been a bittersweet week for Paul Wall. His Houston Astros got swept by the Sox in the World Series, but he did find time to get married. To a sister. Keeping it trill. What it do. I don't even know what I'm talking about.

Anwyay, here's a link to his now irrelevant ode to the Astros:
(via So Much Silence)

Paul Wall They Don't Know (World Series remix) mp3

Book of Sand

In this installment of good bands with bad names, we have Tarantula A.D. Actually, their name isn't necessarily "bad", I just put off listening to them because the name sounded a little too death metal-y for me. But when I heard that their debut LP, Book of Sand, featured contributions from Devendra Banhart and CocoRosie's Sierra Casady, I figured they were worth a listen.



Let me start by saying this music isn't for everyone. Everything about this album is epic, from the cover art to the arrangements, instrumentation, and song structure. I'm really at a loss of words to describe their sound, so I'll let others do it for you.

Turnip says Book of Sand is "a living soundtrack of pounding rhythms, lush strings, spaced out opera and crashing rock...Sand is that creeping feeling you get when you run through the woods alone at night chased by a loved one who finally snapped"

Dude, that's kind of what I was thinking. Serious.

Mammoth Press says, "this is an album that you sit down with on a Saturday afternoon with a book and a cup of coffee and just soak in. Tarantula A.D really have something here, and for those with the patience to fully absorb it all there is a rich musical reward. I highly recommend this."

Finally, Mystery and Misery calls Tarantula "perhaps the most amazing live band I’ve ever seen."

The album comes out Nov. 8. (pre-order)

Tarantula A.D. Who Took Berlin (Pt. I) mp3

ACL News

The dates have been set for the 2006 Austin City Limits Festival. I guess the festival organizers thought that by moving the festival from the last weekend in September to the second to last weekend in September (Sept. 15-17), they would avoid those 100 degree temperatures. Good job guys. Organizers cite the fact that "the 30-year average high for the last two weeks of September is 88 degrees Fahrenheit (vs. 84 degrees Fahrenheit for first two weeks of October)." Apparently the organizers haven't heard of global warming.



In further ACL news, the ACL TV show will feature Austin locals and gorilla vs. bear favorites What Made Milwaukee Famous the week of Nov. 19. Franz Ferdinand will also perform on that episode.

What Made Milwaukee Famous Hellodrama mp3

thanks

First up, a couple of thanks are in order:

Thanks to everyone who took the time to put themselves on the gorilla vs. bear Frapper. Kind of a stupid concept, but it's cool to see where you guys are from and read your nice/interesting comments.

Also, blogger of the day award goes to Grambo from whatevs for his awe-inspiring pictures of Saturday Looks Good To Me's Betty Marie Best. Thanks dude.

Music:



Rocky Votolato is the newest signee to Barsuk Records (home at one time or another to the likes of Death Cab, Nada Surf, Rilo Kiley, etc.). He has drawn comparisons to Jeff Buckley, the Pernice Brothers, and Pedro the Lion. The following is a track from Rocky's Barsuk debut, Makers, due out Jan. 24, 2006.

Rocky Votolato white daisy passing mp3 (here)

Download songs from some of Rocky's previous efforts at his website

Also new from Barsuk:

The Long Winters Ultimatum mp3 (here)

Coach Said Not To

Coach Said Not To

I meant to mention these ladies a while back, then I saw that Dreams of Horses posted on them yesterday...so I figured maybe if mention them now, then maybe a bunch of other people will post on them, then they'll make it onto that elbo.ws Top 10 Artists thing and a bunch of people will buy their EP. Because it's good and they deserve it. Plus they have one of the best band names ever.

Coach Said Not To Shadow Puppets mp3

You Take My Breath Away

As regular readers of this blog can attest, when I get into an artist I tend to get a little obsessed and post on them relentlessly until you guys give in and listen just to shut me up (eg: Rogue Wave, Sufjan). Well, The Knife is my current obsession (3 posts in under a week!?), which is strange because I'm normally not into electro-pop like this.

But on my weekly trip to the record store to pick up the new Rogue Wave cd (I also got it on vinyl and got the 10:1 ep), I picked up the import self-titled debut from The Knife. I highly recommend you buy this if you can ever find it.

This track, however, is from their more recent album, Deep Cuts, which I could not find at the record store and is apparently not available in the U.S. (if anyone wants to hook me up w/ this I'd really appreciate it). This is not a cover of that 80's jam from Top Gun, but it does reference it. Which is only part of the reason I love it.

The Knife You Take My Breath Away mp3

Buy the album

Read more about The Knife at Music For Robots

We're Already There

Mazarin

I have to admit I was unfamiliar with Philadelphia band Mazarin until I found out they will be touring next month with SOUND team, so I thought I'd give them a listen. Not sure how I missed these guys before, but let's just say I was more than impressed.

Splendid says:

"This is wonderful stuff, immediately accessible yet impossible to wear out, as much power pop does, even after many repeated listens. Indeed, "Another One Goes By" has the feel of a classic, a song that will stick around forever, married somehow to the time and place in which it first took hold."

Hell, even Pitchfork gushed about them:

"For real, it's hard to find a track on this record that isn't at once impressive in its craft and deeply lovable on a sensual level"

The band is also very generous with their music, offering up 3 of the best tracks from the excellent We're Already There (buy it):

Mazarin Another One Goes By mp3 (highly recommended)
Mazarin Louise mp3
Mazarin We're Already There mp3

My Brightest Diamond

My Brightest Diamond is opening for Sufjan Stevens on his current European tour.

Shara Worden (UNT grad, Denton represent) sings, writes songs, and arranges for My Brightest Diamond, and she is also a member of Sufjan's Illinoisemakers. Here's a track from My Brightest Diamond's forthcoming album, Bring Me The Workhorse:

My Brightest Diamond Something of an End mp3

Small Stakes

Via Largehearted Boy:



Small Stakes has made available for purchase some of their new gig posters for the likes of Sufjan, Stars, Joanna Newsom, Death Cab, and The Walkmen. Some great stuff, and if you like one I suggest buying it now before it's gone forever. A couple more examples:

Album of the Week

I've been hyping this album for a while now, and it finally comes out this week, so buy it. I think I've mentioned before, this is one of my favorite records of the year.

Also, the band will be embarking on a U.S. tour in November, with dates in Denton on December 9th and Austin on December 10th.

Rogue Wave Publish My Love mp3
Rogue Wave 10:1 mp3

Download an additional track from Descended Like Vultures ("You") at Glorious Noise

Bonus Rogue Wave (from Out of the Shadow):

Every Moment mp3
Endless Shovel mp3

Elsewhere:

Good news for you guys on the left coast: the Silversun Pickups join Brendan Benson for that leg of his tour.

Heartbeats

The Knife

I threw up a hastily written post about The Knife's (or would it be The Knives'??) song "Heartbeats" last night. I stopped by the record store last night and picked up the import single and I've been rotating it with Jose Gonzalez's cover all morning...I can't decide which version I like better but they're both amazing.

So in a bit of "Heartbeats" overkill, I found this version, which is apparently a mashup of sorts that combines The Knife version with Jose Gonzalez's cover. Again, I'm worthless and i have no info on this, because I found it on a foreign website and I don't speak foreign.

The Knife + Jose Gonzalez Heartbeats mp3

Now, a little info on The Knife:



The Knife is a Swedish duo (Karin and Olaf, apparently brother and sister) who refuse to play live and "deride rock’n’roll for being outdated."

A statement from the band:

"We want to react against the organic, improvised expression. We wanna do a more synthetic, weird and non-organic expression. Within the artificial expression new moods and spheres arise. Electronic music is absolutely the music of the future. Machine music is good."

Watch the video for "Heartbeats" here.

Hard Lessons & The Nice Device

All my Detroit and Lansing readers, this show is going to be awesome. You have my guarantee. Plus that flyer has a boxer on it, and boxers are cool. So go. (thanks to possibly my coolest myspace friend Nicole for the heads up)

The Detroit Free Press says The Nice Device's "Birth of a Lover" is one of the strongest debut records to emerge from the fruitful Detroit scene in two years ..."

The Nice Device Little Birdie mp3
The Nice Device Oh Me Oh My mp3

The Hard Lessons "seamlessly meld a love of both Detroit's rock tendency--overdriven guitars and booming drums--
and soul style--preachy, soul-stirring swagger from the fiery Korin Cox" (says the Durham Independent)

Plus they've played with Brendan Benson, and he's my boy.

The Hard Lessons Milk and Sugar mp3

Both bands are on myspace and want to be your best friend:

The Hard Lessons
The Nice Device

In further Detroit news:

Make a Detroit Pistons pumpkin (via whatevs). I'm going with Rasheed.

Also, Glorious Noise offers up an "exclusive" Rogue Wave mp3 from Descended Like Vultures that was offered here about 2 months ago. Just sayin.

The Knife

I'm going to preface this post by saying I know absolutely nothing about The Knife, and I don't really have time to research them right now. But this song is fu**ing awesome.

I found it via Brooklyn Vegan's post on Jose Gonzalez (he covers this song on Veneer, and his version is great too...listen at his myspace). Something about this song makes me so nostalgic for the '80's. The part of the '80's that didn't suck. And I don't get nostalgic.

The Knife Heartbeats mp3

I found this song at Guava Maffiosa. Ridiculously good blog that you should all check out.

El Gato Esta Noche

If you're in Dallas, you should really check out this show tonight. El Gato is awesome. Unfortunately, I don't have any mp3s so you're going to have to trust me on that, or you can listen at their myspace page.

Salim Nourallah is also playing, and I know I've mentioned how much I like him. Fortunately, I do have an mp3:

Salim Nourallah 1978 mp3

Belafonte is also playing but I don't know them. Tickets are only $6.

Is the NBA Racist?

No more headphones for my boy Sheed

From cnnsi.com:

Indiana guard Stephen Jackson believes the NBA's new ban on bling-bling is racially motivated, but says he will abide by the rules.



Jackson, who is black, said the NBA's new rule about jewelry targets young black males because chains are associated with hip-hop culture, and he said the league is afraid of becoming "too hip-hop." In protest, he wore four chains to the Pacers' exhibition game against San Antonio on Tuesday night.

What do you guys think? I'm not convinced that it was a consciously racist decision, but Jackson's got a decent point...I think David Stern is a little out of touch with the league's fan base, who could care less what the players are wearing on the bench. Personally, I can't wait to go to a Mavs game and see all the players in their expensive suits, while team owner Mark Cuban parades around in his ridiculous acid-washed jeans and Mavs football jersey.

Read Cuban's comments about the dress code on his blog.

Oh yeah, for those of you who don't read Stereogum, a third track from the new Strokes album has leaked. Let the hipster backlash begin:

The Strokes 15 Minutes of Pain mp3

Thanks to everyone who put themselves on the map!

José González

First things first:

When bloggers get bored, we add stupid crap like this: Please take a second and put yourself on the gorilla vs. bear map. Rep your city, add a picture, etc. Only takes a minute. Thanks!

Okay, now some music:



I posted about a month ago on Swedish Argentine (or is it Argentinian Swede?) José González. In the post, I wondered why his album, Veneer, hadn't gotten much love from the bloggers here in the U.S. Well, that's changing quickly after his apparently incredible recent NYC shows.

Anyway, the album is great, and you should buy it. Here are a couple songs, the first one earning the coveted distinction of one of our favorite songs of the year. Something about his voice catapults him into that rarified Nick Drake/Elliott Smith category, at least for me:

José González Crosses mp3
José González Save Your Day mp3

Bonus:

songs:illinois has three live tracks from José, including his cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart". (thanks for the heads up, John!)

New Music

I bought two albums that were released yesterday, and they both come with my highest recommendation.



Animal Collective The Purple Bottle mp3

buy Feels here



dios (malos) Broken Bones mp3
dios (malos) Feels Good Being Somebody mp3

buy dios (malos) here

I also picked this up on vinyl:



Featuring members of Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Beck, etc. No mp3 for you guys (dude, it's for charity), but here's the music video, via YANP:

NAHPI Do They Know It's Hallowe'en video

The vinyl release includes remixes by Disco D and Th' Corn Gangg. Buy it here for under 5 bucks...all proceeds go to Unicef.

All right, fine, here's an mp3 that is not available on the release:
(via Razorbladerunner):

NAHPI Do They Know It's Hallowe'en (Cadence Weapon Remix)

SOUND team

Time for an update on everyone's favorite Austin band, SOUND team.

A few big things for the band: Rolling Stone reviewed their new EP Work, they started a new label to release their EP, and most importantly (for me anyway), the band will be playing at Trees on Nov. 13 (see all tour dates here). Everyone in Dallas should come out and make fun of Bill for smoking Misty Lites.

an mp3 from Work:

It's Obvious What's Happening Here

Update: Pre-order the EP right here for only 7 bucks!

The Raconteurs

Brendan Benson

Have I mentioned that I cannot wait for this?? (via LHB) The album isn't due out until early '06, but the first one to get me an mp3 wins a prize that won't suck.

The White Stripes Lovesick (Bob Dylan cover) mp3
Brendan Benson Tiny Spark mp3

Whatever Happened To Your Loving Heart

This may be a rather lengthy post for an artist you've never heard of, but bear with me, he's worth it:


Phil

I received Whatever Happened To Your Loving Heart, the debut CD from Phil and the fledgling release on Achord Recordings, in my mailbox yesterday:



I was immediately drawn in by the charming album artwork, and I was also intrigued by the accompanying press materials proclaiming Phil's Whatever Happened to Your Loving Heart "reminiscent of a young Gram Parsons, while lending a nod to more current artists like...Iron & Wine, or early Sufjan Stevens." Not likely, but I decided to give it a shot anyway.

I felt an instant connection with this record. Phil's comforting vocals and earnest lyrics combined with near perfect production (Akron/Family's Ryan Vanderhoof co-produced) and instrumentation (a beautiful fusion of banjo, steel pedal guitar, piano, cello, and more) make for a pleasantly familiar and soothing listen that never becomes boring or derivative.

Whatever Happened To Your Loving Heart ranks with Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake It's Morning and Iron & Wine and Calexico's In The Reins as the best folk-country album of the year.

Phil Joke's On Me mp3
Phil Left Coast mp3

If you like these two album tracks, I highly recommend you buy the album here. Every track is exceptional, and there's not a weak song in the bunch.

Bonus: (non-album tracks)

Phil Whisper & Wail mp3
Phil Hey Ya mp3 (best cover of "Hey Ya" of all time)

New Vashti Bunyan

Vashti Bunyan's Lookaftering (due out Oct. 25) is one of the most highly anticipated folk albums of the year, featuring contributions from Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Adem, and more. The BBC says:

"Bunyan is back with a new collection of haunting, timeless songs. Lookaftering is authentically crafted, all aching melodies played on acoustic instrumentation. Her crystalline voice blows through the natural world with a fragile, classic force that contemporary ears may find difficult to ignore."

Recommended for fans of Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Iron & Wine, etc.

mp3:

Vashti Bunyan Against the Sky (feat. Joanna Newsom on harp)

Buy the album here

Elsewhere...

Go check out Dodge's contest for this week, in which you can win some stuff from MOKB favorite Stellastarr* The best part about it: the winner is selected at random, so you can be a complete moron and still win!

The Like In-store Photos

I went down to Good Records yesterday afternoon with Jesse from Indoor Fireworks for The Like's In-Store performance, and they sounded surprisingly good (and they sounded even better at their packed show later last night at Gypsy Tearoom). The Like's singer wanted to hook up with Jesse I think, after he knew the words to a Split Enz song they played. Here are some pics and an mp3...check these girls out if you get the chance.