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The Shins will be releasing their first single off their upcoming album Port of Morrow next week (on Valentine’s Day no less. That’s cute James) on a 7″ – you can already check out that single here . James Mercer and company, meanwhile, just released the B-side to that single yesterday, and it’s a lovely, slower tune that, along with “Simple Song,” is really amping up expectations for Port of Morrow. Check out the video below.
The lovely Cate Le Bon is an English/Welsh singer-songwriter whose been around since 2008, most notably in support of Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys, but it’s her sophomore record Cyrk that is just starting to get some attention stateside. It came out January 17 and is a wispy bit of Nico-influenced dark pop with a tinge of St. Vincent. RIYL: indie pop, accents.
Cate Le Bon – “Puts Me To Work”
Canadian artist Grimes (aka producer/singer/songwriter Claire Boucher) is a bit of an enigma in the indie scene: her debut was released on a cassette in 2010 and her biography uses phrases such as “religiosity and psychedelic revelry” and “hyper-futuristic filter.” So, it’s pretty weird stuff at times, but with Visions, her third proper album and the first on label 4AD, it comes together more coherently than anything she’s put to tape before. It’s an intriguing mix of trip-hop, ambient, witch-house (ugh) and whatever else you want to call a distinctly pretty disembodied female voice percolating over spacey soundscapes. Visions is out February 21.
Another debut album I criminally missed out on in 2011, Sleeper Agent’s Celabrasion is a taut little set of garage-rock jams that puts to good use the dueling girl-boy vocals of Alex Kandel and Tony Smith. Check it out if you like Girls, Cage the Elephant, Wavves, etc. etc.
Sleeper Agent – “Proper Taste”
Finally saw Wilco for the first time Tuesday night as they played their first night of a three-night stand in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Palladium. Although Kicking Television (where this song is from) is one of my favorite live albums, I had little idea just how good they would be live – they destroyed my expectations. Jeff Tweedy and company, especially face-melting guitarist Nels Cline, dispelled any notion of Wilco as a “dad-rock” band, a label unfairly heaped on them thanks to some of their newer albums. I’ll be the first to criticize Sky Blue Sky or Wilco (The Album) for sounding uninspired, but hearing those songs in a live setting, with the entire band nailing time changes, solos and improvised codas with ease, transforms them into an altogether different beast. And they performed “Handshake Drugs,” one of my favorite live cuts.
Wilco – “Handshake Drugs (Live)”
Along with the new (incredibly weird) of Montreal record, Cloud Nothings‘ surprising sophomore effort Attack on Memory has racked up the most listens in my iTunes in 2012. It’s an eight-song burst of noise rock, healthy layers of fuzz and Dylan Baldi’s ragged yelp masking some seriously strong pop hooks. Their debut, which dropped at the beginning of last year, didn’t really make an impression on me, but the band’s growth to songwriting of a substantial, lasting quality is quite noticeable here. Given Pitchfork’s recent Best-New-Music-ing of them and the goodwill buzz they’ve been building up since last year, it’s quite obvious this is the best thing Cleveland’s had to offer in years…
Bonus MP3: Nifty little garage-rock instrumental: Cloud Nothings – “Separation”
Saddle Creek mainstays Cursive will be releasing their seventh full-length I Am Gemini on February 21. According to frontman and main creative force Tim Kasher, the record is a concept album about two identical twins separated at birth. First single “The Sun and Moon” details the part of the story when the two first meet – and for a Cursive song, it definitely leans in a more pop-rock direction than previous efforts. That’s perfectly fine with me – whenever Kasher has turned down the vitriol and focused on his remarkable melodic gifts, I’ve always found Cursive to be more palatable.
Certified indie-pop nutjob Kevin Barnes and his constantly metamorphosing band of Montreal are releasing their eleventh album, Paralytic Stalks, February 7th, although a leaked copy has already found its way onto the web. It’s been a long, wild, occasionally annoying journey with Barnes and company, who rose from the ashes of the Elephant 6 record label and their peculiar brand of conceptual twee into increasingly oddball lyrical journeys and increasingly divergent musical tastes, culminating with Barnes’ role as a fictional transsexual musician named Georgie Fruit. 2010′s False Priest eased up on the weird throttle and got back to what drew me to of Montreal in the first place, namely Barnes’ penchant for melody and an appreciation of genres not normally seen in the indie pop game. Paralytic Stalks is sufficiently bizarre to qualify as another of Montreal release, but is firmly grounded in a colorful pop tradition. “Ye, Renew the Plaintiff” even has a pretty sick guitar solo that rips along before an extended outro takes things to outer space and beyond.
Check out the song if you’re an of Montreal fan and ready to subject yourself to another Kevin Barnes roller-coaster ride. And check out Pitchfork’s interview with the outlandish Barnes below.
Of Montreal – “Ye, Renew the Plaintiff”
One of 2011′s gems that I entirely missed until last week. This New Jersey foursome released their sophomore effort Days last October, and its stellar retro indie rock that chases after the spirit of ’90s bands, similar to what Yuck was doing early last year. Check it out if you like melodic, no-frills indie, and if you’re lucky enough to have a Coachella ticket be sure to check them out.
Daily Klap
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'90s, Days, Easy, indie rock, Real Estate, Yuck
New albums coming out like gangbusters in January so far – iPod ad darlings Chairlift plan on releasing their second proper LP Something on the 24. Although I have no idea what “Amanaemonesia” means (less a real thing and more a cool collection of syllables for , the sound is very ’80s and in line with Chairlift’s electronic tendencies, who now only consist of silky singer Caroline Polacheck and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Wimberly.
It’s been almost five years since the Shins released an album (the superb Wincing the Night Away - one of the first records I ever reviewed), and the wait is almost over. Not only are they playing at Coachella 2012 (whose lineup has to be seen to be believed ), but their new album Port of Morrow is slated for a March release. “Simple Song” is the first taste off of it, and it’s vintage Shins – James Mercer’s time in Broken Bells doesn’t seem to have dulled his indie pop chops at all. 2012 is looking to be a good one…
Back on the schneid – happy 2012! One of my favorite bands, Nada Surf is releasing their seventh album The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy on Barsuk January 24. “When I Was Young” is the first single, and is just the kind of soft-loud slow grower that the trio have been perfecting since their excellent 2005 album The Weight is a Gift.
Nada Surf – “When I Was Young”
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