New Wax Seattle's David Bazan is set to release Strange Negotiations via Barsuk on May 24th. Bazan took a cue from Kickstarter.com and took donations from fans to help fund the recording of the album. The now-completed and set-for-release album follows up 2009's Curse Your Branches , an unflinchingly introspective collection of songs centering around Bazan's struggles with Christianity. While Strange Negotiations plays like an extension to its predecessor, albeit with a more overreaching thematic arc, it hearkens back sonically to Bazan's days [...]
New Wax Mysterious nomad songwriter Cass McCombs, whose apparent distaste for publicity (rumor is he'll only do handwritten interviews through the mail) is only rivaled by his effortless knack for penning excellent genre-defying material. From the Smiths-esque tinge of his earlier material, to the unexpected country-influence of 2009's sublime Catacombs , McCombs has proven to be not only a deft student of music but an original voice in an overcrowded indie landscape. With his newest effort, Wit's End , McCombs has released his most peculiar, and arguably [...]
SIDE A 1. The Middle East - Land Of The Bloody Unknown 2. Woods - Pushing Onlys 3. J Mascis - Not Enough 4. Bill Callahan - Baby's Breath 5. Marissa Nadler - Baby, I Will Leave You In The Morning 6. Low - Especially Me 7. Royal Bangs - TV Tree SIDE B [...]
COTV Tags: Destroyer , Kaputt
New Wax After self-releasing a few albums and releasing their self-titled album on Arts & Crafts in 2009, Canada's difficult-to-categorize Timber Timbre return with Creep On Creepin' On . On the new full-length, Vocalist Taylor Kirk melds his patented dark wordplay and unique voice with imaginative arrangements that successfully marry seemingly disparate genres. Take, for example, the endlessly re-playable "Black Water," a six minute track that sounds like a mash-up of swamp blues and 60's Motown. Atmospheric flourishes and discordant strings abound on Creep On and the [...]
New Wax We wrote about The Low Anthem way back in 2007 and it's nice to see the band cultivate a respectable following. The Rhode Island band is back with a follow-up to their 2009 Nonesuch Records debut Oh My God Charlie, Darwin . The new album, entitled Smart Flesh , extends the bands spot-on portrayal of rustic Americana with a winning collection of songs ranging from moody to ramshackle. The first three songs on Smart Flesh serve as a fitting microcosm [...]
SIDE A 1. Robin Pecknold - Where Is My Wild Rose (Chris Thompson Cover) 2. John Vanderslice - Walkabout (Atlas Sound Cover) 3. Strand Of Oaks - Wolves (Phosphorescent Cover) 4. The Decemberists - Cuyahoga (R.E.M. Cover) 5. Loch Lomond - The Chain (Fleetwood Mac Cover) 6. Wolf Gang - Pyramid Song (Radiohead Cover) 7. Marissa Nadler - Colorado Girl (Townes Van Zandt Cover) [...]
COTV Tags: Yellowbirds , The Rest Of My Life
New Wax While I'd usually steer clear of bands whose songs have been licensed for use on an MTV show (three songs from their upcoming full-length Holiday Life will appear on the show "Skins"), I have to mention the new Carousel EP from New York band Ravens & Chimes. I wrote about their likable brand of indie pop way back in 2007 when the band released their debut Reichenbach Falls and was curious to see what their new material would sound like after such [...]
New Wax For the last few years, Philadelphia guitarist/songwriter Kurt Vile has released a steady diet of eclecticism over a series of lo-fi EPs and albums. Delving into his catalog felt a bit like mining for gems with a pickaxe. The effort yields unquestioned treasures, but you've got to sift through some bedrock. Then again, discovering songs like summer jam "Freeway" or the stripped down folk musing "My Sympathy" makes the effort worthwhile. With 2009's Childish Prodigy , Vile took a step, albeit a small one, towards a more [...]
New Wax Yellowbirds is songwriter Sam Cohen, who also serves as guitarist and vocalist for experimental psych-pop collective Apollo Sunshine. On his debut album under the Yellowbirds moniker, Cohen hones in on a more focused sound while still playing like a mash-up of several genres. Raised in Houston, Texas and now based in New York City, Cohen injects his melodic songs with a touch of the West. For example, take the throwback country-pop sound of "Rings In the Trees," which finds Sam Cohen exploring his inner Roy Orbison over an [...]
COTV Tags: Chad VanGaalen , Red Hot Drops
New Wax Little Wings is Kyle Field, a fascinating visual artist and prolific yet overlooked musician with a growing catalog under his belt. While he released an album under the name Be Gulls with Lee Baggett in 2008, Field returns with his first album under the Little Wings moniker since 2007's Soft Pow'r . On Black Grass , Field's voice sways and cracks over an engaging set of off-kilter tunes that could vaguely and probably insufficiently be described as lo-fi Americana. Think old Will [...]
SIDE A 1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues 2. Cass McCombs - County Line 3. Beach Fossils - Calyer 4. Radiohead - Lotus Flower 5. Parts & Labor - Rest 6. Okkervil River - Mermaid 7. Times New Viking - No Room To Live SIDE B 1. Little Wings - How Come? [...]
SIDE A 1. Phosphorescent - Are You Ready For The Country? (Neil Young Cover) 2. Sweet Lights - One Day (Sharon Van Etten Cover) 3. Midlake - Am I Going Insane (Black Sabbath Cover) 4. Sarah Jaffe - Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (Leonard Cohen Cover) 5. Lower Dens - Dear Betty Baby (Mayo Thompson Cover) 6. Atlas Sound - I'll Be Your Mirror (The Velvet Underground Cover) 7. Hezekiah Jones - The [...]
COTV Tags: Strand Of Oaks , Last To Swim
New Wax Fear not, devoted CO readers, I'm not dead, I just took a little mental vacation. What better to draw me out of hibernation than a new Rural Alberta Advantage album? With their accomplished 2008 debut Hometowns , Nils Edenloff and company unveiled a collection of songs brimming with nostalgia, loss, and unbridled emotion that made the songs feel life-affirming even when the lyrical content was at its most downtrodden. One glance at the snowy album cover for Departing , which is due out March [...]
SIDE A 1. Devotchka - 100 Other Lovers 2. Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever 3. Bright Eyes - Shell Games 4. Smith Westerns - All Die Young 5. Lia Ices feat. Justin Vernon - Daphne 6. John Vanderslice - Sea Salt 7. The Mountain Goats - Damn These Vampires SIDE B 1. The Rural [...]
You Should Know Lately I've been spinning a gem of an album I somehow missed out on in 2010. Entitled Break Mirrors , it's the impressive debut album from 23-year-old Blake Mills, a Los Angeles songwriter with an already impressive resume. He's toured with the likes of Band Of Horses, Jenny Lewis, and Cass McCombs and has recorded as a session musician with Julian Casablancas, Andrew Bird, and believe it or not... Kid Rock. He was also a founding member of Simon Dawes (now simply known as [...]
You Should Know Uber-prolific folk troubadour Joe Purdy is offering his newest album, This American , his 12th full-length, for free download for the rest of December. You can download the album in its entirety here . -- Capt. Obvious MP3: Joe Purdy - Highways Tags: Joe Purdy
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