Alan Lomax in Haiti Box Set

In the 1930s musicologist Alan Lomax went to Haiti on a recording mission. Armed with some wax cylinders and a notebook, Lomax had the practically impossible dream of documenting an entire culture's musical development, and he came pretty damn close, making over 1,500 recordings. This treasure trove had, until recently, been sitting in the Library of Congress collecting dust until a restoration project began.

Now we have a box set that includes some 287 songs on 10 cds from artists like Assasins (the killers) and Plaisance Boy Scout Troupe (Awesome). Included in the set is a transcription of many of the creole lyrics and field notes. Unfortunately it is not cheap (very few worthwhile things are!), but it is universally available thanks to Other Music's digital store.

Read more and stream at Spinner

Ariel Pink gets a record deal on 4AD

This one via the
4AD site.

Glad to see he is off that Animal Collective whatever label and has more stuff coming. Pink and Haunted Graffiti basically were the west-coast pioneers of a certain tapey, hissy "lo-fi" (increasingly annoying to use that term) sound. Lots of big '09 releases (Nite Jewel, Kurt Vile) are indebted to him.

mp3 Holy Shit (Matt Fishbeck and Ariel Pink) I Don't Need Enemies

Video: The Avett Brothers Slight Figure of Speech

Rockin. Nice job Jody Hill (Foot Fist Way).

gonna break out that vcr soon.

tUnE-yArDs

With all of the LOVE that the Dirty Projectors' NYC shows have been getting, it seems like a good time to check out Merrill Garbus' solo project called tUnE yArDs, who opened for the DPs on Sunday at Bowery.

tUnE yArDs is definitely a case of the apple not falling very far from the tree (Dirty Projectors). Like the Dirty Projectors, Garbus places her vocal virtuosity in relief by often going a-capella or pairing her voice with sort of incongruous ukelele loops.

My take on this stuff goes in and out, but right now it is definitely on the in-tide. Garbus is a rare vocalist who really explores her medium (the voice) and then manages to make things more interesting with the strong rhythmic patterns of the loops.

Single "Hatari" is !!!. tribal wailing launches into a sick drumbeat. Get down.

mp3 tUnE yArDs Hatari

Beach House Teen Dream

Long hiautus due to an increasingly busy holiday work schedule. Posts will probably be less frequent for a minute.

That said, there are a couple of exciting January releases to be looking forward to, most notably Teen Dream, the new album from Beach House on January 26 (preorder).

The Baltimore group has some serious momentum. They signed on Sub-Pop, they had a song in New Moon, and blew everyone away at that free Grizzly Bear show that Jay-Z went to in August.

Every preview mentions that Teen Dream was recorded in some sort of old church, but I don't understand how this is relevant to either your or my eardrums. What you need to know is that Victoria Legrand is a monster talent. On the new album she uses her voice in a more conventional way. The long, abstract notes that characterized Devotion are less frequent. The songs still have plenty of atmosphere (and reverb), but they are tighter, often oriented around a hook. While it sounds like this approach could water down the whole Beach House effect, it is more of a calculated risk. Beach House rises to their self-imposed challenge on Teen Dream, using the formal problems posed by pop convention to move their sound in new directions.

Single "Norway" is widely available, but here it is again.

mp3 Beach House Norway

CFCF: Continent

If you read this blog, you probably have seen very little blog-core, electro remixes, or basically anything that might make it to the top of hypemachine. In a total reversal, this post will cover an artist that made a remix of "D.A.N.C.E."

CFCF is Montreal's Mike Silver, who chose to name his project after an early Quebecois English-language TV station: "Canada's First, Canada's Finest." His remix output has been prolific (great ones of Justice, Health, and Crystal Castles) and consistent, a rarity for these blogophilic producers.

Now comes a full-length, Continent, which should be regarded as a test for someone like CFCF. Happily, Silver passes. His debut is coherent, consistent, and interesting. On Continent Silver ditches blog-core's main aesthetic principle (instant gratification) and instead takes his cues from a more sophisticated balearic place. Artists like Studio come to mind.

Buy Continent here

mp3 sample of remixes plus the single from Continent. It almost feels rebellious to post the Justice one so far after the fact. But as is typical with CFCF, it is restraint that carries his "D.A.N.C.E." which, in my opinion, remains the best interpretation of the original.

mp3 Justice D.A.N.C.E. (CFCF remix)
mp3 Health Before Tigers (CFCF remix)
mp3 CFCF Monolith

Surfer Blood: Astro Coast

First there were the Drums and now comes Surfer Coast. Florida bands with blue, foamy lyrics. Another CMJ highlight, I have been sitting on these guys for a bit because their album isn't due until mid-January. Nonetheless this band from once-glamorous West Palm Beach FL merits some discussion, mostly because of their huge, huge single "Swim (To Reach the End)." People have been all over the place trying to pin these guys in, and the "early Weezer" tags actually make sense. On "Swim (to reach the end)" the reverb and the huge guitars feel both experimental (wall of sound, shoegaze?) and classic (hair band?) at the same time. Maybe it's better to not even try to explain the sound.

Astro Coast is out January 19th on Kanine records. You can preorder at Insound. One to look out for in early '10.

mp3 Surfer Blood Swim (To Reach the End)

NYC Taper live recording

Best Coast: "When I'm With You" 7"s

I'm never sure how to talk up 7"s, but I guess it's like the record equivalent of buying a song off itunes or whatever. I play the mini records pretty often, especially when I get really obsessed with a song. LA beach fuzz-ers Best Coast continue their torrid output with a new 7" on Black Iris (link has streams to both songs). A-side "When I'm With You" is another one of those excellent songs about being with(out) someone special. Think of a stoned Vivian Girls and you got it.

mp3 Best Coast When I'm With You

Video: J Tillman "Though I have Wronged You"

If you thought Fleet Foxes' devotion to craftsmanship, the human voice, and acoustic guitars makes them throwbacks, think again. Drummer and vocalist J Tillman's most recent album Year In the Kingdom has been out for a couple of months, but just released a video for the track "Though I Have Wronged You."

The video is thinly-veiled internet theory in the form of a Platonic dialogue between two 8-bit dots. Daring and intelligent. (Full disclosure, I watched the video doing my daily morning surfing before I was completely dressed. Shit hits home.)



mp3 J Tillman Though I Have Wronged You

Real Estate: Real Estate (LP)

1)This is a band that I have talked about already, seen live and generally liked.
2)I am not sure if I have ever done a negative review on this blog.
3)Here it comes

Real Estate's new LP (Nov. 17th on Woodsist)has nothing to say. In fact, the lyrics and the larger band take away from the band's real strength, which is Mondanile's ear for melody. The whole project is much more rewarding in its incarnation as Mondanile's other band, Ducktails. There, guitars are free to wander, lyrics are generally nowhere to be found, and the songs aren't forced into pop formulas.

All that being said, these guys are talented and are giving it their best, so you could do far worse with your money than buying their mediocre LP at Insound.

mp3 Real Estate Fake Blues (So much potential with that guitar sound!)

Sweden!: Islands by The Mary Onettes

Labrador Records, "Sweden's and the world's finest purveyors of pop music," adds another arrow to an already stuffed quiver with the Mary Onettes' second album, Islands. The group had to make the entire album twice after a double hard drive tragedy (one was stolen and the backup failed) destroyed the entire album in 2008. Philip Ekström's project re-imagines 80s touchstones like The Cure and The Jesus and Mary Chain. As with much of the output from Sweden it is great and somehow manages to make old ideas sound fresh, a musical anachronism that really has you believing that The Smiths must have been listening to the Mary Onettes.

They perform at Webster Hall tomorrow evening (Nov. 6). Tickets

CD at Insound
Or if you need it in vinyl you can get it from Labrador starting on Nov. 9.

Neat Track by Track interview+video at Strangeglue

mp3 The Mary Onettes Puzzles

"Introducing" by Brilliant Colors out Yesterday!

More San Francisco. Trio Brilliant Colors got signed to great great Slumberland Records who also have a little band called the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their first LP was released yesterday (nov. 2) and is really fun. Single "Absolutely Anything" is kraut-ish noise with a hint of Nena (wild!). You can get their LP+mp3s on the Slumberland site for only $8! No excuses people.

Drummer Diane Anastasio on the all-girl DIY spirit of the group in SFGate: "It makes a world of difference to me. After playing with only women, whenever I play with dudes, it's just a different dynamic. They're not coming from the same experience as we are. Dudes are encouraged to pick up instruments." Righteous.

mp3 Brilliant Colors Absolutely Anything

Live Review: Real Estate and Girls @ Maxwell's

I mean what was I ever going to write about this show featuring two of my favorite bands?

Real Estate was great. Some of those guys have sort of equine features, but whatever the music is there. The vocals were pushed more toward the front of the mix during the show. I am not sure if this was good or bad because the instrumental sections definitely stand out with that band.

Then...Girls. This was the first show of the "Album" tour, and there were some jitters from both the band or the audience. Would the new guitarist Ryan Lynch know the songs? (not really). Would the sell-out crowd know the words? Would they get it? (yes!) There was a moment when the gaunt Christopher Owens thanked the crowd after playing "Lauren Marie." "Thanks, we were terrified of playing that song." Owens, pale and skinny, wearing a Nosferatu T-shirt looked like he may have had an encounter with a vampire or two over Halloween, but musically was none the worse for wear.

For all the uncertainty of a new band and new tour, the good far outweighed the bad. Everyone at least knew "Lust for Life." The glorious "Hellhole Ratrace" got really heavy and fun at the end, and transitioned straight into super heavyloud "Morning Light." I was disappointed not to hear "Big Bad Mean Motherfucker" and maybe a B-side like "Life in San Francisco" or "Solitude." But there were two new songs; one was called "Heartbreaker." I didn't catch the name of the second one, but it was really well written.

Owens responded to rapturous applause at the end by strumming Holy Shit's gem "My Whole Life Story" as an encore. I hope the band continues to get more confident as they tour. Don't miss this one! Rest of the tour can be found at Girls' myspace

mp3 Holy Shit My Whole Life Story
Owens said before he played that this was a song that made him want to write music in the first place. I had forgotten about "Stranded at Two Harbors" (which is sadly totally unavailable) for a bit, but it sounds ultra-relevant now. Gotta hand it to Matt Fishbeck. More discussion in an interview here

Film Music: Il Divo and Renato Zero

Finally got a chance to see Paolo Sorrentino's 2008 docu-fiction about Italian politician Giulio Andreotti. Relevance on a music blog? Sorrentino's film rarely features a shot without some sort of music. The stylized photography and frequent slow-motion sequences clearly borrow ideas from music videos.

One of my favorite scenes features a concert by Italian glam superstar Renato Zero. Andreotti (a monster) and his wife share a moment of genuine tenderness, which turns into ambivalence in front of the television. The song, "I Migliori Anni Della Nostra Vita" is perfect light-opera tinted pop. I think it is time for someone to make an ironic album of this stuff, it is amazing.

Stunning


mp3 Renato Zero I Migliori Anni Della Nostra Vita