THE BOOKS, Free Translator (from The Way Out, 2010)
This song isn’t a new discovery, but somehow I managed to miss its back story when I heard it originally. It’s based on the band’s discovery of the website freetranslation.com. The story is best told in their own words:
For this track we took a very well known folk song (which we’ve been advised not to name) and using free translation software, we translated the text into, for example, German, then into Italian, then into French, then into Swedish and then back into English. The results were spectacular. All of the imagery became completely warped, sentence structure was geniusly scrambled, errant nouns would inexplicably enter into strange situations… it became a machine free association on the original lyrics to the point that the ‘cover’ became a new original. Who wrote the song became completely unclear at this point… it became some mass collaboration of linguists, programmers and songsmiths. Both Paul and I translated an retranslated these lyrics so many times that new characters began to emerge and we made a collection of the best moments in our texts. I then set them to the music the best I could, adding conjunctions and fixing the rhythm of the sentences where necessary to make a smooth vocal line.
And to elaborate on the band’s approach in general, I find this description quite endearing:
I think part of what we’re trying to do with the Books is to break the back of language, to bend it until it snaps and then examine the pieces to see what of it’s essence remains. Poets and songwriters have been in business so long, trying to say things in just the perfect way that they’ve crowded out the front door to meaning which is all tightly locked up by cliches. Essentially we’re looking for the back way around. So it’s really heartening to find a site like freetranslation.com that so egolessly shreds language like it’s making a vat of sauerkraut out of your precious word cabbages.
The song is so sparse and calming - who would have imagined it holds such an involved structure?!
Canadian newcomers, Braids, have created a debut album that is super concise and coherent. I could have selected any song off Native Speaker - they’re all pretty excellent upbeat ambient tunes that meet shoe-gazing halfway. I just went ahead with the opening track. Feast your ears!
No tour happening at the moment, but check back here for updates.
Photo by Marc Rimmer
GOTYE, Somebody That I Used To Know (Featuring Kimbra)
THE HEAD AND THE HEART, Rivers and Roads (iTunes Session, 2011)
This band is one of my favorite discoveries of 2010, and definitely my proudest via my blogging endeavor. Since I first found out about the Seattle band they went from a self-released album, to being one of Sub Pop’s golden children. They now tour full time and open for bands like Dr. Dog and The Decemberists.
They recently released a special iTunes session with new versions of some of the songs off their self titled debut, as well as a couple new songs they had been trying out live (Go! See! Them!). Rivers and Roads grabbed me when I heard them play it live, and I’m so glad to have a copy of it in my music library to press play and rewind. Also check out their acoustic version of the song here.
They’re off to Australia now for a tour (Alyza!) and then on to the US for a bunch of March dates around the country. Click here for info.
LOW, Just Like Christmas (The O.C. Mix 3: Have A Very Merry Chrismukkah, 2005)
For 2012, I have vowed to start up the blog again! The URL has been renewed, and my list of new music is being assembled. What better way to kick this off (once again) than offer up my favorite Christmas song of all times (off the embarrassing O.C. holiday music mix - crappy show, excellent taste in music!). The Duluth-based duo create quiet and mostly melodic music that isn’t necessarily what you would like to hear playing in the background as you open up those Hanukkah and Christmas gifts, but this one here is a winner.
Enjoy! And I’ll see you more frequently in the new year!
WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS, Act on Impulse (from forthcoming LP In the Pit of the Stomach, out Oct 2011)
I adored all that this Scottish band had to offer with it’s debut These Four Walls in 2009, and was therefore very excited to hear that they are scheduled to release a new LP on October 3rd. They may not have a novel sound to offer, but they write and perform a darn good set of solid rock songs. Act on Impulse indicates that the band is continuing their tendency to build up bass and percussion to carry the tracks through - a trademark structure in the debut album.
They’re back on tour this fall (details here). I’ve seen it happen, it’s all types of incredible. Do it.
BJORK, Crystalline (from the forthcoming Biophilia, out Sept 2011)
Hard to believe, but it’s been four years since we’ve heard from Bjork. Apparently she’s been hard at work recently prepping a new album that’s set to release on September 27, 2011, Biophilia. Cyrstalline is the album’s first single, accompanied by a video directed by Bjork’s longtime collaborator, Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, The Green Hornet). Both the track and the video are everything we’ve come to expect from Bjork - eccentric, sparse, and emotive vocals over digitized sounds that lead up to a battle of beats.
Bjork is jumping on the new-models-of-album-release bandwagon with Biophilia and will be issuing each track as an iPad App. Sounds gimmicky to me, but hopefully it’ll make it to the standard mp3 format soon enough.
RADIOHEAD, Supercollider (from Supercollider / The Butcher EP, 2011)
The 12” Supercollider / The Butcher was recorded right after Radiohead completed the perfect King of Limbs album last year. In the spring, they released these two songs on vinyl on the occasion of 2011 Record Day (April). They became available in the US in June and I just got around to hearing them now. As always the case with Radiohead songs, they cast an intense magic spell - for seven whole minutes. Not going to even try to articulate it any further. For those of you fellow latecomers to this release, enjoy!
It’s only available on vinyl, but I found some on Amazon, if you’re interested.
WU LYF, We Bros (from Go Tell Fire to the Mountain, 2011)
The mysterious band WU LYF (stands for: World Unite! Lucifer Youth Foundation) doesn’t interview much and has only recently uncovered the names of its four members. They hail from Manchester, UK and have just released their first album, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain in mid June. As long as they keep making this intense pop, it doesn’t much matter that I don’t know anything about them… We Bros is my personal favorite off the debut with its cascading drums and bass and those now-recognizable raspy vocals of the lead. It is definitely one of the “lighter” tracks on the album, so prepare for a heavy experience.
Visit their website for a list of shows - they’ll be in the US in July! http://www.wulyf.org/ There’s also a lot of weird shit on the site that adds to the band’s carefully crafted mystique.
BEIRUT, East Harlem (from forthcoming LP, August 30 2011)
Woot woot! My favorite band has released new music at long last. It’s been so long since this has happened (2009) that I haven’t even had the chance to feature them on this blog, as far as I can remember.
East Harlem is not really a new song to those who have been following Beirut/Zach Condon closely. He has been singing it at live shows for quite a few years, and even made it onto a live recording that eMusic released of a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg from 2009.
Like the best of Condon’s compositions, East Harlem is rich and textured with trumpets and piano taking center stage. Condon’s brooding vocals draws a direct line from Harlem to France, with all the drama and energy that goes along with that image.
I cannot wait for the full length - the band hopes to release it in late June or early July. out on August 30th!They’re already touring all over the US and Europe for the foreseeable future, and trust me - you’re going to want to catch them in as many spots as possible. No Beirut show sounds the same. Click here for a full tour schedule.
Blue Sky Black Death, And Stars, Ringed (from Noir, 2011)
This duo (part SF/part Seattle) has been creating dramatic instrumental tracks, tinged with emotive vocals since 2003. When hip hop isn’t the heart of the track, they remind me of the likes of Balmorhea, Explosions in the Sky, and Blackbird Blackbird. The soulful vocals of And Stars, Ringed sweep us up into its self-contained narrative like no other on their recent LP, Noir.
This serves as a perfect soundtrack to the end of the week!
Apparat (a.k.a. Sascha Ring) is a German electronica producer, who started out rocking the dance floor, but slowly but surely embraced a more ambient vibe. His recent single Ash/Black Veil is the most mellow I’ve heard from him, and also the most mesmerizing and complex. He was recently picked up by Mute records and plans to release an LP later this year. Good stuff to wait for from the sounds of this tune.
For upcoming tour dates (Europe only, at the moment) click here.
BON IVER, Calgary (from forthcoming Bon Iver, out June 21, 2011)
The long-awaited sophomore LP from Bon Iver (aka Justin Vernon) is finally upon us. June 21st will see the release of the self-titled follow up for the band’s impeccable For Emma, Forever Ago (2007). Yesterday we had the pleasure to hear the first track off the album, Calgary, and from it we can definitely conclude that Vernon is shedding the sad, quiet, and contemplative tunes for a more energized and full (yet still pensive and restrained) sound. His voice is as gorgeous as ever in its high falsetto, and his composition much more textured. I’m also very glad to hear he dropped the auto tune that dominated his 2009 EP, Blood Bank…
To say I’m looking forward to this album is a gross under-statement.
You can head on over here to download this song for free.
And here for a listing of the band’s upcoming summer shows.
THE RAVEONETTES, Forget That You’re Young (from Raven in the Grave, 2011)
The Danish duo The Raveonettes are back with a new (fifth) album. Their effortless combination of the melodic with alt-rock manages to stand out - no small fete in the current saturated musical landscape. Forget That You’re Young wouldn’t be so exciting if it weren’t for the duo’s beautiful vocals and poignantly sparse composition. A great example of how to not complicate a song, but still sound sophisticated.
Rather than contribute to the world's waste by burning multiple CDs, or crowding everyone's inbox by sending mp3s and links--I thought I would just invite you all here once in a short while for song recommendations. I hope you will enjoy them just as much as I do.
This site is meant solely to spread the word and admiration for these songs further and beyond, so if any of the featured artists do not wish to be here, please just shoot me an email and I will delete the post. No hard feelings!
I can be found at: info [at] daysofmusic [dot] net, or by leaving a comment (a link is provided at the bottom of each post).
, if you’re interested.
