Blog: Given and Taken in Ink

As far as album origin stories go, The Rest 's is possibly one of the most incredible.  Three years ago, the Rest set out to make a new record, SEESAW, only to suffer a series of tragedies and setbacks that delayed the album's release until 2012.  Prior to the start of recording, the band's close friend and producer died suddenly from a heart attack.  In his memory, the Rest decided to honor him by holding their recording sessions in his old studio, a converted church.  The band emerged from those sessions with a strong group of songs that they [...]

Glasgow's Mummy Short Arms has made alternative a relevant term again.  The band has already gained buzz on the strength of a pair of singles - "Cigarette Smuggling" and "Change" - and will now released "Silicone Dream" in advance of its upcoming full-length record.  With a buzzing guitar line, whimsical beeps, and lead singer James Allen's ragged howl, "Silicone Dream" isn't like anything else in the industry right now.  Allen's voice is strikingly unique.  Other than a passing similarity to Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock, he's got a style unlike any of his peers.  I can't quite [...]

As much as I love The Gaslight Anthem , I may always do so with a touch of bitterness.  I grew up in New Jersey, in a town not far from the band's origin in New Brunswick, but moved away for college.  By the time I went back - this time to Rutgers for grad school (where I was a radio DJ for a few years) - the NJ indie music scene was all-but dried up. I spent three awful years in New Jersey.  It had nothing to do with the state itself, but it was a [...]

The Walkmen have released the title track from Heaven , due for release on June 5 via Fat Possum : And in case you missed it, last month the band released a trailer for the album, featuring some very pretty stuff that is hopefully a song from the album:

I've been spending so much time talking up Moonlight Bride 's new EP, Twin Lakes (reviewed here ), that it's been easy to forget that the band released a full length album, Myths , back in 2009.  Myths got a bunch of positive press back then, including from Paste Magazine , but for some reason it completely slipped under my radar.  After some time spent poking around the band's website, I stumbled upon the fantastic single "Young Guns."  These guys may be from Chattanooga, but they've got the swagger of the New [...]

Ramona Falls is the former side project of Brent Knopf, one of the founding members of the indie rock group Menomena.  As Given and Taken in Ink reported over a year ago, Knopf left Menomena to focus on the follow-up to Ramona Falls' excellent debut, Intuit [2009].  The result is Prophet , due for release on May 1 via Barsuk Records .  But thanks to the miracle of Internet streaming, you can preview the entire album a week early!  Each of the songs is available individually on Barsuk's Soundcloud page , or grouped [...]

Given and Taken in Ink - April 2012 from gtimusic on 8tracks . April has been a surprisingly good month for music.  Moonlight Bride was featured in GTI's March 2012 mix, but "Diego" has been in heavy rotation since then, so I couldn't pass it up here.  Likewise, this month also saw Holy Esque release a new single, "Ladybird Love."  I'm so glad to feature new music from the always-excellent Yuck and Joe Pug .  There's the heartbreaking "Small Hands," by Keaton Henson," and Natureboy's intoxicating "Blow [...]

If Keaton Henson 's "Small Hands" wasn't tragic enough on its own, the recently released music video catapults the mood into utter devastation.  Using puppets crafted by Jonny Sabbagh, director Joseph Mann weaves an emotional tale of nature's cruelty that imbues a harsh reality to the song's refrain, "I hope for your life you can forget about mine."  But unlike the video for Zaac Pick's " Whitewater ," which also used non-humans to tug at our heartstrings, there is no uplifting message or happy ending here.  Take a look, and make sure to have tissues nearby: [...]

I will always fondly remember the moments I heard a song for the first time and everything around me just seemed to...stop.  These are the songs that almost defy explanation, and we who write about music can only struggle to place descriptive words where none belong.  So it was with Natureboy's "Blow to the Head," the first song released from the band's upcoming second album, The Sweep .  Something ineffable about "Blow to the Head" grips the imagination and just makes the rest of the world go quiet. Natureboy is the project of Sara Kermanshahi, a first [...]

Yuck was one of my favorite bands of 2011, as made obvious by a couple of gushy posts ( here and here ) and an eventual #4 spot on GTI's Best Albums of 2011 list.  And now the band is back with a new single, "Chew."  It's not currently available for purchase, but allegedly a physical release is in the works.  Keep your fingers crossed, because this is a good one:

Joe Pug's upcoming new album, The Great Despiser , is now available for preorder here .  Preordering through that link will net you an immediate download of "Hymn #76."  The Great Despiser is the follow-up to Pug's debut LP, Messenger , which earned him bucketloads of accolades, including the #5 spot on GTI's Best Albums of 2010 list. Here's Pug grilling up some premium meat while talking about the new album: And by all means, do yourself a favor and check out his live show.  [...]

Chattanooga-based Moonlight Bride recently released its new EP, Twin Lakes , the follow-up to 2009's Myths .  You may recognize the EP's first single, "Lemonade," from GTI's March 2012 8tracks mix .  The song serves as a perfect soundtrack to a lazy summer afternoon, which apparently is exactly the sentiment the band was going for.  "I wanted it to embody the feeling of being bored in the summer," Justin Giles (vocals/guitar) told Spinner , which debuted the video. While "Lemonade" is a worthy first single, my favorite from the EP is actually [...]

Given and Taken in Ink - March 2012 from gtimusic on 8tracks . Playlist: 1. Robbers on High Street - Didn't Wanna Know 2. Justin Townes Earle - Look the Other Way 3. Moonlight Bride - Lemonade 4. Elias - Glass 5. Holy Esque - Rose 6. The Shins - 40 Mark Strasse 7. Ramesh Srivastava - The King 8. Joshua Hyslop - What Have I Done? (feat. Anna Scouten) Let me know if you like the tracks.  The big heart button next [...]

"Get over it," Justin Townes Earle said during a recent live performance .  The quip came in response to a review Earle had read about his new album, Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, in which the reviewer stated that he should have made another Harlem River Blues (his last album).  If you didn't know anything about Earle's back story, it would have seemed an unusually scrappy defiance for a dapper young man who performs sad folk songs while wearing a suit and bowtie. "I gotta keep [...]

Ramesh Srivastava , former lead singer and songwriter of Voxtrot, is back with a new EP.  It's the first new music Srivastava has released since Voxtrot split up in 2010.  He's made "The King" available for free download (although you do need to register for a RCRD LBL account in order to do so).  Digital copies of the EP are available here . Srivastava's music has always had a bittersweet quality that few of his peers can match, and "The King" is no different in that respect.  As I said in a retrospective I [...]

On June 5, Vancouver duo Japandroids will release Celebration Rock , the follow-up to its 2009 debut, Post-Nothing .  Check out the huge, summer rock anthem of a first single, "The House That Heaven Built": Preorder Celebration Rock at Polyvinyl Records . Japandroids will be touring North America and the UK all spring and summer: 04-27 Grand Rapids, MI -- The Pyramid Scheme 04-28 Grand Rapids, MI -- The Pyramid Scheme 05-17 Cardiff, Wales -- Clwb Ifor Bach 05-18 Brighton, England [...]

• Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built

Glasgow rock band Holy Esque will release its debut self-titled EP on April 23.  Lead singer Pat Hynes has a unique, ragged warble to his voice that makes a single like "Rose" so compelling.  Including Hynes (vocals/guitar), the band is comprised of Keir Reid (keys), Hugo McGinley (guitar) and Ralph McClure (drums), all of whom are between 19 and 20 years old. Combining the UK post-punk revival sound with 90s indie rock, "Rose" features prominent drumming and a catchy guitar line, all over a wall of atmospheric distortion.  It's an extremely promising introduction to a band [...]

Justin Townes Earle played a bunch of new tunes at Austin's Four Seasons as part of KUT's lineup for SXSW.  You can download the whole thing here (and it's well worth doing so), or check out the video for his performance of the album's first singe, "Look the Other Way," below: Count me as extremely excited for the new album.  (I loved Earle's quip about people complaining that he didn't make another Harlem River Blues: "Get over it.  I gotta keep myself interested too.")  And a very big thanks [...]

Joshua Hyslop will be releasing his debut LP this spring, and has given fans a taste with the album's first single, "What Have I Done?," a duet with Anna Scouten.  Building on the success of Cold Wind (one of GTI's favorite EPs of 2011 ), Hyslop continues to show off his talent for melody and a voice that must make all the ladies swoon. Sometimes initial reactions are the most illuminating, and mine was, "Oh my.  That's pretty." Check out the stream: Support This [...]

"Welcome to my next big decision," Timothy Showalter self-referentially sings on "Spacestations," his new song recorded for last month's edition of Shaking Through .  Showalter's career has been one of big decisions.  There was the first, a decision to quit his job as a second-grade teacher and record his debut album, Leave Ruin .  Then came the decision to record a concept album in Pope Killdragon that shattered the boundaries of what folk music could sound like.  And now, for his Shaking Through session, Showalter chose to abandon guitars entirely and go for a big, atmospheric, [...]

• Strand of Oaks - Spacestations