song of the moment

Go here to listen to a brand new single entitled "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." by Noah & The Whale!!!

Here's the video for "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.":


The band is set to release their third album, Last Night On Earth, on March 15th, check out the album art + track listing below:

1. Life is Life
2. Tonight's The Kind of Night
3. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N
4. Wild Thing
5. Give It All Back
6. Just Before We Met
7. Paradise Stars
8. Waiting For My Chance To Come
9. The Line
10. Old Joy

noah and the whale's top 5 albums of 2009

Well, this is probably the last best of 2009 list, and what better way to end things off with a top 5 albums list by Charlie Fink, lead vocalist from my favourite band of the year, Noah And The Whale. Please enjoy Charlie’s list in no particular order:

Sleeping States: Gardens of the North
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Bill Calahan: Sometimes, I Wish We Were Eagles
Jay-Z: The Blueprint III
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone: Vs. Children

Noah And The Whale's The First Days of Spring/my favourite album of 2009 is out on Young and Lost Club, buy the deluxe edition CD/DVD here and visit the band's MySpace here.

happy halloween

Noah And The Whale—Oct 31, 2009 @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern








see more photos at my flickr page

blue skies are coming

Noah And The Whale—Oct 31, 2009 @ Criminal Records






see more photos at my flickr page

this is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed

A reminder that Noah and The Whale are playing a FREE in-store at Criminal Records in about 10 hours from now... that's 12-noon! The band will also play later on tonight at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern!

noah and the whale'll sing love songs about heartbreak and grief

Here's some good news for those who live in Toronto and don't like spending money:

Noah And The Whale will be play a free in-store at Criminal Records on Saturday, October 31st at noon! Then, a week later, Timber Timbre will play for free at North York Central Library on Saturday, November 7 at 8pm!

Make sure you check those shows out! Both bands have put out albums—Noah And The Whale: The First Days of Spring and Timber Timbre: Timber Timbre—that are sitting in my top 5 of 2009 at the moment.

noah and the whale: the first days of spring

Noah And The Whale’s new record, The First Days of Spring is rather different from their charming debut, Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down. The band’s sophomore release is wonderfully mellow and genuinely heartbreaking. The First Days of Spring features some of the most moving and candid songs I have heard in a long long time. I remember thinking of how personal this album sounds during my initial listens, and then I read somewhere that much of the album is about/inspired by Charlie Fink’s breakup with former part-time member Laura Marling... oh it makes so much sense!

The opening/title track really sets the pace and tone for the rest of the album. The melodic violin and guitar notes as well as the slow and quiet thumping of the drum in the background create a minimal atmosphere. It is not until 1:20 into the song where vocal comes in—again, setting the pace that things move slowly—emotion changes gradually and it takes time to heal a heartbreak; nothing can be rushed (seriously, what a difference from opening with "2 Atoms In A Molecule"!) This song begins quite optimistically: "It’s the first day of spring/And my life is starting over again"... "But like a cut down tree, I will rise again/And I’ll be bigger and stronger than ever before." However, Fink’s voice tells a completely different story; his crackly and tender singing show a level of loneliness, desperation, and vulnerability. The next line "For I'm still here hoping that one day you may come back" confirms Fink’s weakness. Much like the opener, the majority of the album is more sad songs and heartbreaking tales. "Stranger" and "Blue Skies" are my favourite and probably the most depressing songs on the album. The latter features some of the most memorable lines in any song this year: "This is a song for anyone with a heart/This is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed/I'll do anything to be happy/Oh, cause blue skies are coming/But I know that it's hard." Even though I am quite happy at the moment, I absolutely adore these two tracks; what can I say, I am a huge sucker for sad songs! As mentioned earlier, most of the songs on The First Days of Spring are quite low-key and exceedingly minimal, except for "Love of an Orchestra", which is up-tempo and it features a choir and orchestra. It is brilliant and sounds like something from a musical!

The First Days of Spring is a beautifully crafted emotional journey; the album is flawless—the music, lyrics, Fink’s vocal, the ordering of the tracks... the album cover art—Noah And The Whale have created a masterpiece! There are already three or four songs on this album that I considered to be some of the best songs of 2009, so it is not really surprising that The First Days of Spring is, at the moment, my favourite album of the year!

Stranger [super-wicked-cool song]
Blue Skies [super-wicked-cool song]

visit Noah and the Whale's MySpace here
The First Days of Spring comes out on October 6th in North America, you can pre-order it here,
but it is out in the UK already and you can buy the regular version of the album here and the Deluxe Edition CD/DVD here


There is also a film by the same title to accompany the album and there will be exclusive screenings of it in the following cities:

September
17 Velvet Lounge in Washington, DC
25 Criminal Records in Atlanta, GA
26 Darkroom/Panic! in Chicago, IL
30 The Whiskey Bar in Seattle, WA

October
3 Crashin’ In @ Stranton Public in New York, NY
4 Burn @ The Castle in Tampa, FL
6 Cinespace in Hollywood, CA
6 Good Records in Dallas, TX
8 Bryant Lake Bow in Minneapolis, MN
8 Popscene in San Francisco, CA
9 Comet Tavern in Seattle, WA
20 Trainwreck @ Angels & Kings in New York, NY


The band will also embark on a small North American tour in October:

20 The Roxy in Los Angeles, CA
21 Casbah in San Diego, CA
22 Swedish American Hall in San Francisco, CA
24 Crocodile Café in Seattle, WA
25 Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, OR
28 Majestic Theatre in Madison, WI
29 Lake Shore Theatre in Chicago, IL
30 The Pike Room in Pontiac, MI
31 The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, ONT

i'm a fox trapped in the headlgihts

Holy crap, it has been a whole week since I updated this blog... sorry, I just have been sort of busy/lazy at the same time!

Noah and the Whale new record The First Days of Spring will be out on October 6th in the US (August 31st in UK). There will also be a series of live dates and screenings of the film (OMG!)

Noah and the Whale from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

Patrick Wolf's The Bachelor is FINALLY out in North America this week!

Brand New released their first single, "At The Bottom" off of their upcoming record, Daisy on Tuesday. You can get the single from iTunes. Go to Spin.com for a great interview with Jesse Lacey.

Port O’Brien is heading out for a fall tour with Sea Wolf. Their new record, threadbare is out on October 6th, you can download a brand new song over at Stereogum.

Gallows are heading back to North America with AFI and Flogging Molly, go to the band’s MySpace for the dates.

"Cone of Light", a brand new song from King Khan & BBQ Show + The Black Lips hybrid aka The Almighty Defenders is available for download via Vice Records.

...and finally, RIP Les Paul!

you know in a year, i'm be happy

Check out the trailer for The First Days of Spring, a film/album by Noah And The Whale!



The film will be shown at the following dates:

7th + 8th August—Belladrum Festival (Read Bed Stage)—Inverness
9th August—Big Chill Festival (Film Four Tent)—Malvern Hills
10th August—Cameo Picturehouse—Edinburgh*
30th August—Watershed—Bristol*
31st August—Cornerhouse—Manchester*
1st September—Film Theatre—Glasgow*
2nd September—Showroom—Sheffield*
4th September—ICA—London*

* = includes Q&A with Charlie Fink

Blue Skies (Yacht Remix)
Blue Skies (Death To The Throne Remix)
My Broken Heart [wicked-cool song]

You can pre-order the deluxe edition of The First Days of Spring (CD+DVD) over at Recordstore.co.uk.

gossip whale

Check out The Gossip's new single, "Heavy Cross" from their forthcoming album Music For Men, out on June 23rd.

The Gossip: Heavy Cross [wicked-cool song]


Noah And The Whale has a new home. The band also announced their second record, The First Days of Spring, will be out at the end of August. Below is a live video and recording of new songs taken by Vincent Moon.

Fiume Night 14.1 _ Noah & The Whale _ williamsburgh, april 2009 from vincent moon / temporary areas on Vimeo.

in five years time, you might just prove me wrong

OMFG, Noah and the Whale is doing a FREE show at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on September 23rd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The band embarks on their first North America tour this September:
Sep 16 Union Pool, Brooklyn, NY
Sep 18 Sidewalk Cafe (FREE SHOW), New York, NY
Sep 19 Mercury Lounge , New York, NY
Sep 20 Toad (FREE SHOW), Boston, MA
Sep 22 The Saint (FREE SHOW), Montreal, Que
Sep 23, 2008 8:00 PM 08:00 PM - Horseshoe Tavern (FREE SHOW), Toronto, ONT
Sep 25, 2008 8:00 PM 08:00 PM - TBA, Chicago, IL
Sep 26, 2008 8:00 PM 08:00 PM - Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
Sep 29, 2008 8:00 PM 08:00 PM - Chop Suey (FREE SHOW), Seattle, WA
Sep 30, 2008 8:00 PM 08:00 PM - Doug Fir (FREE SHOW), Portland, OR
Oct 2, 2008 8:00 PM 08:00 PM - Pop Scene at 330 Ritch, San Francisco, CA
Oct 4, 2008 8:00 PM 08:00 PM - Detour Festival, Los Angeles, CA
Oct 6, 2008 8:00 PM 08:00 PM - Spaceland (FREE SHOW), Los Angeles, CA

Shape Of My Heart [super-wicked-cool song]
5 Years Time [super-wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit Noah And The Whale’s MySpace here
buy Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down here

noah and the whale: peaceful, the world lays me down

"2 Atoms In A Molecule", the first track from Noah And The Whale’s Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, begins the album with the narrator’s dream of an inseparable love, ("last night I had a dream, we were inseparably entwined, like a piece of rope made out of two pieces of vine, held together, holding each other, with no one else in mind, like two atoms in a molecule, inseparably combined") but he later woke up to the hush reality of lost love and fail relationships ("...and if love is just a game, then how come it's no fun? If love is just a game, how come I've never won?") This opening song perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the album: Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down is indeed full of wonderfully charming and cheesy pop song! In addition, the 40-plus minutes album is accompanied by catchy acoustic rhythms with occasional strings, horns, xylophones, and the lovely vocal of Laura Marling. The only drawback from this nearly perfect record is that 6 out of the 11 songs are from the band’s self-titled EP, I just wished that there were more new ones... but really, I can’t really complaint since the songs from the EP are so freaking amazing! Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down is irresistibly addictive, it is definitely up there with Mystery Jets’ Twenty One as the catchiest album of 2008!

2 Atoms In A Molecule [wicked-cool song]
Second Lover
5 Years Time [super-wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

visit Noah And The Whale’s MySpace here
Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down comes out on August 11th, you can pre-order it here