Cover Commissions is a monthly series in which a featured artist produces a special cover for this blog. Our readers choose the song from a list of suggestions provided by the artist. Any artists interested in participating in a future installment, please email Cover Me at the address on the right.The sound Minnesota's Peter Miller creates as We Are the Willows isn't easy to describe. Here's how
We Are The Willows It takes a man dedicated to his art to cast aside social norms, embrace this childlike voice and see what it can do. Peter Miller is such a man. First begun as a side project (Miller is the front man of Red Fox Grey Fox it now holds its own very distinct place in the musical goings on. Miller captured sounds from all over the Twin Cities; the whoosh of the light rail, birds chirping, etc. Matched with his tender and reflective lyrics to create an album that is really [...]

This new Beach House track is way beyond my expectations. Norway clears the table of last year's headphone masterpiece, Devotion , and makes way for a record that may put Beach House on the map as one of the most important bands of 2010. The Norway single will be released on 7" on Monday 11th January 2010 and will be backed with an exclusive track titled, Baby . [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Beach House - Norway from Teen [...]
We Are The Willows - A Funeral Dressed As A Birthday Lara over at Off Central PR was enough to send me this artist's EP, who happens to be label mates with Bon Iver. Hopefully she sends me more stuff , I like getting stuff from people . However, I must say I was really confused when I first heard it when Lara mentioned that this is a "one man project of Peter Michael Miller." Now you're thinking what's so confusing about that. Well give it a listen, and to save [...]

We Are The Willows: A Collection Of Sounds And Something Like The Plague (cover above) Listen to: A Funeral Dressed As A Birthday ( mp3 ) Tom Waits: Glitter And Doom Live Lovvers: Think Ep Quieting Syrup: Songs About a Sick Boy Listen to: Passwords To A Fort Full Of Pills ( mp3 ) The Slew: 100% Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures (vinyl) NOFX: Cokie The Clown Ep
New songs from Beach House and Beck? Radiohead and Joy Division covers? A slew of mp3s from some of music's top up-and-comers? It could only be this week's edition of our Friday Mixtape! Yes, we got a particularly epic one for you, and for good reason. This was the week we announced our Top 100 Albums of the Decade after all! And with our Top 50 Songs of the Decade coming next week, there are plenty more reasons to celebrate still to come. NEW Singles: "Norway" by Beach House [...]

Autumn is in full swing in London and it's starting to get chilly so here are few light folky indie sounds for your listening pleasure and join us as we try to avoid all the hidden dog shit under the leaves. Tim Williams -- I Hit Another Wall -- download This track is from his recently released album, Careful Love, which is the first release since his open heart surgery back in 2008. Lovely stuff Download audio file (Tim Williams - I Hit Another Wall.mp3) [...]
A Collection of Sounds & Something Like the Plague is the forthcoming debut full length from Minneapolis one-man-band Peter Michael Miller, aka We Are The Willows. The album comes out on November 24th, but in the meantime he's giving away a 4-song EP entitled A Family. A Tree. Get your copy of the EP here. I can't wait to hear the album. We Are The Willow's Myspace

photo: Jeremiah Satterthwaite Peter Miller Minneapolis, bases singer/songwriter, embarked on a musical journey after he graduated. He settled for a loose concept using the sounds of the city, creating "cityscapes" that sound otherworldly and down-home at the same time. With his countertenor adding a sense of loneliness to the sounds he recoded using a simple pocket recorder, his folkie musings are dreamlike. Using guitar plucking and the occasional ukulele strum A Collection Of Sounds And Something Like The Plague is an album that demands complete attention [...]

We Are The Willows is the solo project of Peter Michael Miller, a native of Wisconsin who now resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On November 24 Amble Down Records (Bon Iver, The Daredevil Christopher Wright) will release his debut album in the shape of "A Collection Of Sounds And Something Like The Plague". He has previously released two EPs, the latest coming in June this year in the form of "A Family. A Tree.". His style is atmospheric folk-pop, with all the music recorded by Miller. Mostly on laptop and a few microphones. What I have heard so [...]

Artist/Music submissions come fast and furious at times and it is hard to keep up being the solo person around Slowcoustic HQ. Why even mention this? Because it's my blog damnit! No just kidding - I am wanting to let you all know about a project that showed up in the ol' inbox a few weeks back that I thought you might actually want to listen to. I always enjoy getting artist submissions - they just don't always match up to what I have going on around here...but that is a whole different story. It also can be hard [...]

Minnesota's We Are The Willows [aka Peter Michael Miller] evokes all the memories of childhood, friends and family while being performed at the dining room table [not literally]. His upcoming debut LP A Collection of Sounds and Something Like the Plague [ Amble Down Records - Nov 24th] will be out just on time for the winter season. I suggest you get it, grab a hot cocoa [or dark beer] and snuggle up with your best friends in a real pile - yea i went there. MP3 :: We Are The [...]

We Are The Willows , the solo-project of singer/songwriter Peter Miller, will release A Collection Of Sounds And Something Like the Plague , November 24. As a roster-mate of Bon Iver, Miller immediately elicited expectations of delicacy and raw art, and low and behold, We Are The Willows lives up to the billing. We Are The Willows creates majestic, atmposheric tunes, with a soothing electro-acoustic sound. According to Miller, A Collection Of Sounds And Something Like the Plague is directly constructed from and inspired by the noise of one's surroundings. Well-put, [...]
Wisconsin singer/songwriter Peter Michael Miller who records under the name We Are The Willows, is going to be releasing his debut album "A Collection of Sounds and Something Like the Plague" on November 24 via Amble Down Records. He currently has an EP out titled "A... Click the link to read more
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Benji Cossa : "April (live)" [mp3] other Benji Cossa posts at Largehearted Boy The Fresh & Onlys : "Invisible Forces" [mp3] from Grey-Eyed Girls other Guignol posts at Largehearted Boy John Vanderslice : "Too Much Time (demo)" [mp3] other John [...]

Greg Sand - Family Reunion (2008) Music is human birdsong. It isn't mp3s or downloads or tracks or top ten hits. It is people, their wails to the open sky about love, their eyes focused on the new morning, their fear of death. My urge to you is to find an unpopular one. A song with braces, one that's much too quiet or much too loud, one sitting alone in the lunchroom. Spend some time with it, get to know it. I guarantee it [...]
die neue ep rollt heran, heißt "okay" und ist vielmehr ein nachtrag zum "azar" album, enthalten sind zwei alternative versionen des "ryan's songs und natürlich "okay" sowie, so schrieb mir daniel von der band: "We also included two covers of San Francisco band Okay we recorded with Jason NeSmith of Casper & the Cookies: "Compass" and "Give Up" : venice is sinking - compass venice is sinking - ryan's song venice is sinking - okay [...]
If you guys are interested in reading even more about Fun Fun Fun Fest then I suggest jumping over to the Austin Sound. My review and pictures are there along with the same from Doug Freeman. There's even some commentary from a few of the local artists that were in attendance. It's seriously good stuff. Perhaps you can even check it out as you listen to the amazingly tasty EP that I have today. Enjoy. Please visit the site for more commentary and downloadable songs.