Blog: Given and Taken in Ink

Today, the National release Trouble Will Find Me , the band's sixth full-length album.  "Sea of Love" is the latest song to get the video treatment (after " Demons "), and it's a delightful reminder that the band's reputation for "all somber all the time" isn't quite accurate.  Directed by Sophia Peer, it's a tribute to Russian band Zvuki Mu's video for "Grubyi Zakat."  Check it out (along with the original ): Trouble Will Find Me is out today via 4AD . This post [...]

I have to say, this one caught me completely off-guard.  The Rest released one of the finest records of 2012, SEESAW , after a series of setbacks that delayed the album for over a year.  Soon afterward, the band set out with the ambitious goal of releasing a music video for every song from the record - with each successive video topping those that came before it.  But now, seemingly out of nowhere, The Rest is breaking up: After 10 years, 3 albums, and 328 shows, The Rest have decided to [...]

• The Rest - The Last Day

Laura Marling is set to unveil her fourth album, Once I Was An Eagle , on May 27 (May 28 here in the US).  It's the follow-up to 2011's critically-acclaimed A Creature I Don't Know , which was one of our favorite albums of that year (#2, to be precise).  I still listen to Creature on a semi-regular basis, and there are days when I wish I ranked it #1.  But if I kept going back and re-writing GTI's Best Of lists, I'd never have time to actually post about new music. Anyway, [...]

Manchester-based The Travelling Band has released a video for single "Hands Up," the first taste of the band's upcoming third album, The Big Defreeze .  The song is also currently available for free as part of the Hands Up EP , available on the The Travelling Band's bandcamp page . I would have much more to say, but it's taken me weeks just to get this far.  I blame the New-Dad Effect. Check out the video (and don't forget to hit up bandcamp for that free download of the EP): [...]

This is admittedly a few days late, but Phosphorescent performed a pretty great rendition of "Song for Zula" on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last week.  Featured on the band's wonderful sixth album Muchacho , it might be my early favorite song of 2013.  Opening with a reference to Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," "Song for Zula" seemingly explores the deep antipathy caged animals must feel towards humans.  It's possibly much more allegorical than that, as Zula is the name of a small town in Africa (hence the references to desert plains) - as well [...]

Album of the Day is a new venture here at Given and Taken in Ink, in which we feature an album that's worth mentioning despite not being the newest batch of tunes on the street.  We didn't go too far back for this first installment, with the #14 pick in GTI's Best Albums of 2012 post.  Still, Blunderbuss has been in heavy rotation in my car lately, and since today is the one-year anniversary of its release, it seemed as good a time as any to talk about it.  I'm plagiarizing myself, but I'm also [...]

The Rest have been busy since the release of their latest album, SEESAW (one of GTI's Best Albums of 2012 ).  Every few months, the band unveils a creative new video, with the goal of eventually releasing one for all ten tracks on the album.  We've already been treated to a wide range of visual storytelling for " Hey! For Horses ," " John Huston ," and " Always on My Mind ."  Today, the band debuted its latest video, this time for album-opener "Who Knows."  It's arguably the best song on SEESAW and definitely a [...]

Air Marshal Landing is a Canadian indie pop trio comprised of Matt Simmonds (bass, keys, vocals, guitars), Cory Adrian (guitars, vocals, bass), and Graham Drummond (drums, synth, percussion). In anticipation of the band's debut, You Used to Be Me , on June 4, Air Marshal Landing has made "Little Town" available for free MP3 download, for only the price of your email address.  Head on over to Air Marshal Landing's bandcamp page for the download, and check out the music video below: This post Air Marshal Landing, "Little Town" [...]

The National have provided the first (studio) taste of their upcoming new album, Trouble Will Find Me , in the form of "Demons."  The song is a bit of an unusual choice for a lead single, as it's even more sad-bastardy than usual for the band: Do my crying underwater, I can’t get down any farther. All my drowning friends can see, Now there is no running from it. It’s become the crux of [...]

• The National - Demons

Given and Taken in Ink's mixes rarely have any thematic connection, other than genre and the time when most of the songs are released.  So far the lone exception was our most popular mix on 8tracks, Sad Songs for Summer (2012) .  And while it wasn't quite intentional, The Beginning of Spring works in much the same way (albeit not sad, and not summer...but you get the picture). Due to the whole birth-of-first-child thing, I haven't really had a chance to feature some of the big albums that were released in [...]

Burning Jet Black have released "Bleeding Heart," the third single from the band's EP, The Modern Egotist .  Dan Mercaldi, director of the official video for " Magazine Girl " (which has blown up since its release with over 220,000 views), sits in the directing chair once again.   Echoes of 1991 are strong here, with the grungy sepia tone and lead singer David Sparrow's Cobain-esque hair.  It's a throwback to a time when all you needed to make a music video was a bunch of guys and their instruments tearing shit up. [...]

It was a sad day in America (and other places, I assume) when Rilo Kiley called it quits .  At least the band is releasing a b-sides/rarities compilation, cleverly titled rkives , this week (April 2) via Little Record Company.  Now, after compiling archival tour footage, the band has released an official video for "Let Me Back In" (formerly called "I Love L.A."): This post Rilo Kiley, "Let Me Back In" first appeared on Given and Taken in Ink .

Fresh off the release of fourth album Pedestrian Verse last month, Frightened Rabbit has released the first track from its forthcoming EP, Backyard Skulls.  It's a slower, ooooh-filled take on "Holy," which you can hear courtesy of The 405 : And for sake of comparison, here's the album version: Thoughts?  Which one do you like better? This post Frightened Rabbit, "Holy" (alternate version) first appeared on Given and Taken in Ink .

• Frightened Rabbit - Holy (Alternate Version)

Nashville singer/songwriter Tristen, who has been writing and recording since 2000 (when she was 14 years old), is set to unveil her newest album CAVES later this year.  After releasing the charming Charlatans at the Garden Gate in 2011, Tristen decided to fund her next album via a successful Kickstarter campaign , which met its funding goal earlier this month. After gaining attention with the 60s-country inspired Charlatans , Tristen was not content to record the same album twice, and will explore new directions with CAVES .  She discussed the possibility [...]

It's been a while since we last heard from Snowmine , who released an excellent Shaking Through session in " Curfews " back in 2011 (which made GTI's Top Songs of 2011 list).  The Brooklyn-based quintet (comprised of Grayson Sanders, Austin Mendenhall, Alex Beckmann, Jay Goodman, and Calvin Pia) has just finished up its second album, which should be available later this year.  First single "Silver Sieve" is a gorgeous tune that should tide fans over until the rest of the album arrives.  Accompanying the song is an interesting animated video, courtesy of artist Martin Francis Shields.  Shields [...]

Why wait until March 2013 to release GTI's Top 50 Songs of 2012 list, long after no one cares?  Maybe that's just how we roll here.  Or maybe ...maybe it's a commentary on the short attention span of today's music scene.  Ah ha!  It definitely must be that. Besides, other than City Reign's stellar debut full-length , we haven't had a chance to cover much of 2013's new releases yet.  So, instead, let's dance among the fond memories of the distant past: Playlist: 1. Joe [...]

Maybe it's because Johnny Marr 's new album just came out last week, but the Smiths have been in my head lately, namely "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out."  The song was originally released in 1986 as part of the band's third album, The Queen is Dead , and was slated to be a single then, but was passed over in favor of "Bigmouth Strikes Again."  Despite being considered one of the Smiths best songs, it didn't actually get released as a single until 1992 (for promotion of one of the band's "best of" compilations). [...]

Over the past two years, City Reign has steadily continued to earn well-deserved buzz from its early demos and singles.  Combining catchy, unapologetically guitar-driven melodies (a rarity in today's indie music scene) with a lead singer who can sound a good bit like Idlewild-frontmand Roddy Woomble, City Reign was poised to fill the void left by the breakup of the UK's finest rock band. Still, a funny thing happened between the time we first heard City Reign's "Making Plans" and the release of Another Step , the band's full-length debut.  Over the course of several [...]

• CarBootRecords - Anchor
• CarBootRecords - See What It's Worth

We first covered Stone Cold Fox back in July, after it had released its wonderful debut EP, The Young .  Now the band is back with a brand new single, "Seventeen," whose video just premiered on MTV .  I didn't even know MTV still played videos, but the icon in the upper right corner doesn't lie: Be sure to check our our review of The Young . And if you're in the Philly area, the band will be opening for Broken Anchor at MilkBoy tonight.  [...]

Hamilton, Ontario-based The Rest have a love for filmmaking (at least with regard to music videos for their songs), but the band seems never content to release the same style of video twice.  "Hey! For Horses" was an exercise in DIY paper puppet porn, while "John Huston" featured stirring performances by live actors.  Now the band has chosen "Always On My Mind" as the third video from Seesaw , and this time it's got live actors of a different sort.  It's quirky and stunning, all the way up to the wild ending.  I wonder if there's a [...]