Blog: We Listen For You

Of Montreal Paralytic Stalks Release Date: Feb 7th, 2012 Label: Polyvinyl Records At the very core of an album review is the examinationof the choices made by the artist or band. When an artist makes art of any kind, they're forced to makecountless creative decisions, some small, some significant, until they have afinal product that fans and critics can put under the microscope. Of Montreal is no different, butthey've always been a tough band [...]

After the Goldrush is possibly smallest album in the running for the greatest album of all time. There's just something about Neil Young--he's able to prick your heart in ways that no one else can. Not Dylan, not Lennon, not Gaye. The personal becomes so small, the longing so dear, the end so close. Marissa Nadler's Covers II record remains one of the most rewarding of the year. One gets the image of a concert in your living room. Who knows, maybe Neil would stop on by...

In the morning, the ground was covered and as much as we didn't like to see the slick black snake its way through the neighborhood, we all knew what it meant: we could get out. My brother, whose nightly role as astronaut turned into a cosmonaut that night before we had the frozen perogies and could finally go creeping, once again, into the snow.

Roman Ruins is the project of Graham Hill who has played drums for Papercuts and Beach House. It should be no surprise that Hill has a spectacular ear for percussion creativity. On "Mighty Love", the track opens with the sound of feet running on a crunchy surface and slowly becomes the backbone for a dreamy and expansive track filled with twists and turns. It takes a bit for all the sounds to come together, but once Hill's Beck like vocals kick in, the track hits a nice groove that holds strong until the end. This [...]

"It's been nearly two decades since Lambchop released its first album, at the time pronouncing itself "Nashville's most fucked-up country band." Provocative it may have been, but the description made sense: at the heart of all that ruckus was a band at once defying and embracing the musical legacy of its hometown. Since then, Lambchop has evolved into an accomplished ensemble, adding palpable depth and substance to singer-songwriter-guitarist Kurt Wagner's songs—and the band sounds as commanding as ever on its 11th album, Mr. M , a collection of meditations on love and loss and the [...]

Let's start today out with a good one. Fresh off their appearance as owner of WLFY's Best EP of 2011 , Beach Fossils seem to be growing that gorgeous 80s sound that they've been cultivating. "Shallow"'s spare but surprising instrumentation is just more proof that the best stuff from this band is still to come. The hooky piano and moaning vocals make this best way to start your day.

Over at Paste, they've got a delightful live video of Cheyenne Marie Mize's demanding "It Lingers" from the We Don't Need EP ( review ) recorded at the Butchertown Pub. Mize's sparse instrumentation makes this version sound like a hard hit leftover from the 90s: earthy and bass-heavy. Mize's voice arrives as growl buoyed by the phenomenal three-piece.

Wandering in from a psyched-out trip through a Spaghetti Western, Madlib wasn't sure what to do. He limped around. Sample some local delicacies: a walnut in the shape of a raven and just as big, a fish which sang a lullaby, chilies cooked over a roasting heart. If it's all just in your mind, then why are you stressing, the fish sang. Madlib ate on. Lilacs & Champagne = 1/2 of Grails + Emil Amos of Om/Holy Sons and Alex Hall.

If there's one record that I had to choose for not getting its due last year, it would probably be Lia Ices Grown Unknown . Perhaps its because the Brooklyn-based chanteuse creates languid songs that take a while unravel themselves. As on "Little Marriage" the spareness is deceiving and often disjointed. Lia Ices Official "Little Marriage" Video from Secretly Jag on Vimeo . On "Wish You Were Here," Ices's [...]

Is there anything more soothing than an M Ward song? The lassie-faire strumming makes each note hover above the rhythm. When A Wasteland Companion comes out (4/10), I hope we can expect more of this. It's the kind of shimmering elegance that makes M Ward as a solo project stronger than She & Him and Monsters of Folk -- while they seem to want to dip back into the bombast, Ward dips back to the quiet moments, to the AM Gold -- those times when melody really meant something. Preorder A Wasteland [...]

This Friday (2/3) Eleanor Friedberger is playing live at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and we have a pair of tickets to give away. Last Summer was WLFY's official soundtrack to the summer of 2011 with its laid back, yet catchy songwriting highlighted by wonderful stories expanded on from personal memories. Win or lose, I highly recommend coming out Friday and seeing one of the best singer/songwriters we have going right now. Now to contest: In the comment section below tell us why you should win these [...]

Bowerbirds walk the line. If it were any more out of tune it would be "experimental;" any more melodic it would be "pop;" more somber, less luminous. When the keyboard kicks in you leave it all behind and the singalong sounds sad, which is what all singalongs are. The Clearing arrives March 6 on Dead Oceans. Preorder here .

Look it doesn't matter that it's Sunday, anytime the Lips put out a track, it's a reason to post. This one features Erykah Badu, Biz Markie (backwards, evidently) and that annoying voice on your phone that some people seem to think will help you out, but I just think it's leading you on. Available for one week only, so listen as much as you can, "Now I Understand."

Parisian shirts aboard a boat down the Seine drinking wine, explicit content, kinda vaginal cave walls, Eleanor Friedberger, this video has it all. Watch it here .

SXSW is a dream week for music fans as thousands of bands and music fans invade Austin, Texas. This will be my fourth year attending the festival and something I noticed two years ago is that a lot of the showcases are exactly the same. Last year we put on a an acoustic show by the lake, early in the morning, that featured Mother Mother, Ben Sollee, Joey from The Henry Clay People, Candy Claws, and Lohio. We had complications locking down an actual location to send out and its attendance was pretty low. The people [...]

From The Cedar Box Janurary 2012 Allysen Callery - Winter Island Written by Marissa Nadler In the spirit of winter, I'd like to write about one of most unique songwriters that I know, and her new album Winter Island . It's a coincidence that both musicians showcased thus far in From The Cedar Box have been from Rhode Island. Next month, we will be leaving the Ocean State, but Winter Island is a record [...]

Cheyenne Marie Mize We Don't Need Release Date: January 24, 2012 Record Label: Yep Rock When Cheyenne Marie Mize appeared at the Zanzabar last summer, I was surprised to see her take to the drums right off the bat. Mize had made her first imprint with the elegant Among the Gold , an EP of Civil War era folk songs sung with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. While her last LP Before Lately followed the introspective [...]

If you're a fan of both Sparklehorse and vinyl, you know how hard it is to land a copy of what some would argue is their best album (including me) , It's A Wonderful Life . On Ebay, an original and only pressing of the record goes from $99-$199 depending on condition. Fans can get excited as It's A Wonderful Life and Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of The Mountain will get the 180 gram deluxe gatefold reissue treatment. I haven't seen any news for this because an official statement [...]

Bro. Stephen Baptist Girls Release Date: January 24th, 2012 Label: Crossroads Of America <p><p&a mp;amp;amp;gt;&amp ;amp;lt;a href=" http://xrarecords.bandcamp.com /album/baptist-girls"& amp;amp;amp;gt;Baptist Girls by Bro. Stephen&lt ;/a>&am p;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&am p;amp;gt;</p> For the last three years, Bro. Stephen (Scott Kirkpatrick)has been crisscrossing the country in his car, playing his music incoffeehouses, strangers' homes, or anyplace else where he could pull out hisacoustic guitar and have a few ears listen to [...]

Cloud Nothings Attack on Memory Release Date: January 24, 2012 Record Label: Carpark Records In the past three years Cloud Nothings have released as many albums. While the first two Turning On and Cloud Nothings twinkled with an adolescent sheen, Attack on Memory -- with it's brooding title in place -- is obviously an attempt (in one way or another) to grow up. Accordingly, the Cleveland-based group travelled to Steve Albini's Electrical [...]