out this week

What a weird release week: three dramatic changes in musical style coming from PJ Harvey, Iron and Wine, and Múm… it’s like The Twilight Zone!!!

The Weakerthans: Reunion Tour
The highly-anticipated and long-awaited follow-up to Reconstruction Site is another lycially satisfying record by The Weakerthans.

Civil Twilight [wicked-cool song]
Reunion Tour [wicked-cool song]

buy Reunion Tour here


PJ Harvey: White Chalk
Hauntingly gorgeous!!! PJ Harvey has taken a brand new direction on White Chalk: musically, the angry rock guitar melodies are replaced by haunting piano notes whereas vocally, her commanding deep voice is replaced by mesmerizing soft tones as well as unusual high pitches.

The Devil [wicked-cool song]
When Under Ether [wicked-cool song]

White Chalk is out this week in the UK, but it won't be out till next week in North America


The New Amsterdams: At The Foot Of My Rival

Hughes
Fortunate Fool

buy At The Foot Of My Rival here


Iron & Wine: Sheperd's Dog

Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog)
Boy With a Coin [wicked-cool song]

buy Sheperd's Dog here


Tiny Masters of Today: Bang Bang Boom Cake
Two kids (13-year-old Ivan and 11-year-old Ada) making rebellious punk songs – wickedly entertaining!!! Already had a profound impact in the UK, Bang Bang Boom Cake will try to make some noise in North America this week.

Stickin' It to the Man [wicked-cool song]
Bushy [wicked-cool song]

buy Bang Bang Boom Cake here


Múm: Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy
So different... ???

They Made Frogs Smoke 'Til They Exploded
Dancing Behind My Eyelids

buy Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy here


Two Gallants: Two Gallants
A good folk rock record full of heart and soul! Indeed, it is a giant step up from What The Toll Tells.

The Deader [wicked-cool song]
Despite What You've Been Told [wicked-cool song]

buy Two Gallants here


Devendra Banhart: Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Shabop Shalom

buy Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon here

***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

i'll trust as far as i can spit

The New Amsterdams at the El Mocambo last night started off the first of three straight nights of concerts for me. Both the opening acts were kind of bad, so Tricia and I left the venue, got hot chocolates, a poutine, went back to El Mocambo and played free foosball inside. After that, we made our way inside the crowd towards the front. The New Amsterdams hit the stage with “Hover Near Fame”, which I thought was a great opening track. Throughout the show, the band was funny and very interactive with the audience. During the encore, Matthew Pryor actually took requests from the audience and played a few old favorites: “Proceed With Caution”, “All Ears”, and “My Old Man Had A Pistol”. This show was slightly different than the one I attended a few of years ago. Well, mostly just the instrumentations: missing are a piano and an electric bass; while new additions included a cello and a slide guitar. Result: a more folk/country sound. Since the show was 19+, there were quite a few drunks, aka people yelling random crap at the band. There was this guy, who I swear was also in the last New Amsterdams concert, that kept yelling a bunch of shit out... it was actually funny at times, but mostly very annoying. It was only funny because the band actually paid attention to the guy and they were kind of interacting through the show. The guy kept yelling random Get Up Kids songs hoping the band would play them. So finally, Pryor said, “dude, no Get Up Kids songs, the band broke up, and if you missed it, too bad!” Later, during a quiet song, the guy yelled “turn down the bass!” Pryor replied with “turn down the heckler!” in which the audience responsed with the loudest applause and cheers. Good times! Oh, I also bought this children’s CD that Matthew Pryor made called If You Ever See An Owl… According to the merch guy (who was like the nicest merch guy ever… I actually had a whole conversation with him and he gave me four New Amsterdams buttons), the CD is probably not coming out till September because there is no label to distribute it yet. Anyways, here’s my favorite song on the disc: “We Can All Get Along With Dinosaurs” ***file has expired, reload upon request, enjoy!

go here to see pictures from the show