A music blog dedicated to my ever-expanding tastes. A musical journey with endless pitstops along the way. Bringing you the best of what I see and hear.
Sometimes one of the worst things to happen is a region-based releases. Sure, with a foreign artist it make a lot more sense since making your music available everywhere involves significant hoop-jumping but it can cause a brilliant album to fall by the wayside. Case in point is Let The Dog Drive Home, the fifth studio album from Faroese singer/songwriter Teitur. Those abroad had the album for almost an entire year before it arrived on US shores at the very beginning of this year which almost made me forget about the album entirely. And what a real shame that would've been.
Since my first listen to Poetry & Airplanes, Teitur has held a special places as probably one of the most underrated songwriters plying their trade. Maybe that has to do with Teitur Nordic residence but there's been plenty of Scandinavians and the like who've been equally talented and properly successful despite not living here. Sondre Lerche for instance. Or even First Aid Kit. No, the reason Teitur isn't more beloved can only be because he hasn't reached more ears. Hopefully Let The Dog Drive Home can change that. It's a sort of return to form for Teitur, reaching levels of charm, emotiveness, and lyrical poignancy that I hadn't really felt since his debut (the aforementioned Poetry & Airplanes). Tracks like "Waverly Place" and "Freight Train" are almost classic Teitur, featuring the sparse instrumentation and emotional stirring tenor present in his most powerful tracks without sounding like rehashing of whatever worked last time. The stories are new as "Freight Train" percolates with barely concealed regrets, "Let the Dog Drive Home" cruises casually by steeped in metaphor, and the wide majority of Let The Dog Drive Home's tracks slipped into crisp pop dressings of an entirely different beast than albums past.
Melancholic but not depressing, On Let The Dog Drive Home, Teitur shares the kind of life lessons it takes considerable ages to learn. Considering Teitur's rather youthful countenance, it'd seem almost disingenuous if the man weren't the picture of sincerity. That and he grounds this rather big life-changing realizations in a relatable manner whether they be in the form of stories of drinking ("All I Remember From Last Night Is You" or even cozy Bacharachian arrangements ("Very Careless People") allowing Teitur's ruminations to feel more like sound friendly advice than professional, sagely opinion.
Get a taste of Teitur's excellent album with the music video for "Freight Train":
Earlier this year, Swedish sister folk duo First Aid Kit released The Lion's Roar, the follow up to their 2010 debut The Big Black and the Blue and while the album name-checks and musically cites a number of the sisters' influences from 70s folk til now, the duo's best track to date is "Wolf" which didn't make the album. On their full length debut ,with tracks like "Hard Believer", the sisters proved themselves willing and able to tackle big picture topics and on "Wolf", the girls lament the destruction of the Earth in a manner not unlike Bowerbirds' "In Our Talons". It's subtle but that's what makes it most effective.
In the video for the track directed by Johan Söderberg (no relation to the sisters Söderberg surprisingly enough), the sisters take to the forests of their native Sweden for a bout of ritualistic dance to awaken their inner beasts and become a part of nature once more. There's beautiful pseudo-psychedelic light shows and the whole thing culminates in a fearsome blaze consuming the sisters and their sacred monument. A stellar and equally incredible video.
Watch First Aid Kit's video for non-album track "Wolf":
2012 began with a number of bands having already promised this would be the year they release follow ups or even debut full lengths in some cases. Since it's only the first month of 2012, a lot of things have yet to be announced but from what has been, it's shaping to be a pretty great year (I mean new Bowerbirds!) for music. Here's a playlist of some of the releases I'm most excited for in order of release date (where possible).
1) First Aid Kit - "The Lion's Roar"
It's hard to imagine that the Swedish sisters released their debut album almost two years ago but this month they're releasing a follow up that's looking like it might just blow their debut out of the water. The sisters are older and wiser and seem to just be growing in talent. First Aid Kit's sophomore album The Lion's Roar is due out January 24th.
This year sees the release of Hospitality's self-titled debut album, their first for new label Merge Records, the follow up to a low-fi folk poppy EP released in 2008 and it's about time. While I've grown to love the tunes of the EP, Hospitality's new sound is a step in the right direction. I've only heard several of the new songs live so I can only imagine how much better they'll be recorded with all the tools they had at their disposal. Hospitality is actually one of my most anticipated album's off the year, if only for the bewilderingly catchy "All Day Today". Hospitality is out January 31st on Merge. Get it, seriously.
I may have only heard Sharon Van Etten's lead single "Serpents" a couple days ago but that was enough to make me thoroughly intrigued by Sharon Van Etten's new album. Her first on Jagjaguwar, she's in good company alongside the increasingly popular Bon Iver. Hearing new track "Leonard" today also made it practically impossible for Tramp not to be on this list. Sharon Van Etten's Tramp is out February 7th.
When Fanfarlo first released new track/video "Replicate" back in September, I just about wet myself. The release was completely unheralded following a year-long radio silence which the band spent reacquainting themselves with real life after a year of straight touring and also writing and recording the new tunes. The year long self-imposed exile has certainly done some good. "Deconstruction" is the perfect blending of old and new and the bands claims of a more pop-oriented sound are not unfounded. And while the band could get together and release an album of nursery rhymes and I would still buy it, it helps that the new music is so downright good. Fanfarlo's sophomore album Room Filled With Lights is due out February 28th.
I've only heard this single track from Plants & Animals upcoming album and yet that was enough. It burrowed into my brain and stayed there for days exacerbated by my constant repeating of the track. I've lost count with how many times I've played it but it still hasn't lost any of it's edge. And so based off this track alone and a good deal of good faith, I'm much looking forward to Plants & Animals new album. Whether that'll change when they release the next track remains to be seen but I doubt it. I mean if you can write a song as good as "Lightshow", they should all be similarly awesome, right? Right. The End of All That is due out February 28th.
If there is one thing the Brits seem to know how to do and do well, it's folk. Britain's Dry the River are one of the multitude of bands that are cranking out sincere, well-written, and masterfully performed. I mean the only kicker is that their releases are region so those unfortunate enough to not be natives have to wait a bit before we're allowed to get our hands on their stuff. Like their Weights & Measures EP which they released mid-year in Britain and is only now available in the states. But it's music that well worth the wait. In more way than one. 2012 will see the release of Dry the River's debut album, an album that's bound to be epically enjoyable. Dry the River's Shallow Bed is slated for a March 5th release in the UK but there's no word yet on when the rest of the world will be able to enjoy.
You know, when Andrew Bird did his massive auditorium/concert hall tour last year I should've known to expect an album and yet the news of his upcoming surprised and delighted me. Not too much has been revealed about it besides the name, release date, album art and a tracklist but if anything can be gleaned from the 30 second album trailer, the new album might be heavily acoustic. Or as acoustic as you can be when you rely on a loop pedal. Since there's no single released yet, I thought I'd include one of my favorite tracks off of 2010's Useless Creatures. Break It Yourself will be released March 6th.
If nothing else was released this year but the new Bowerbirds album, I would still be a happy man. Especially considering their last release was way back when in 2009. And while that's not a necessarily long time in music, it is when you see them live and they promise to return again soon with a brand new album and preview two new amazing songs. I fully intend to ravenously consume Bowerbirds third album like a starving wolf. And if our first peek at the new album is any indicator, the pastoral folk the band do so well is back after some much missed time away. Bowerbirds third full length album The Clearing is due out on March 6th.
Considering last year's The Mistress was a re-release, the shock that Yellow Ostrich is so quickly coming out with another album should subside a bit. This year, Yellow Ostrich release their true Barsuk Records debut with Strange Land which also marks the band's first album together. Instead of bandleader Alex Schaaf's solo looping project, the band flush out their sound based off of Schaaf's demos. Sounds good. And while no one's really heard anything from the album yet, I'm assuming that the band's sophomore record is going to be enjoyable because of how insanely catchy their debut is. That's not something you forget how to do. Since there's no previews available yet, enjoy "WHALE" off The Mistress. Strange Land is due out March 6th on Barsuk Records.
10) Lost in the Trees - "Red"
This year will see the release of North Carolina folk pop orchestra Lost in the Trees' latest album. A tribute to Ari Picker's deceased mother, the group don't appear to be taking any steps back away from their emotionally complex brand of sentimentality infused compositions. Instead the group have spent the year trying their best to capture the memory of Picker's mother filtered through a catchy pop sensibility and an orchestral grandeur. The result is sure to be an affecting work of beauty. Lost in the Trees' third album A Church That Fits Our Needs is out on March 20th on ANTI-. Lost In The Trees - Red by antirecords
11) Little Tybee - "Boxcar Fair"
Georgia folk pop outfit Little Tybee might very well have the quickest turnaround of all time. Their upcoming release For Distant Viewing is practically right on the heels of sophomore record Humorous to Bees which came out last April all the while the group put together and soundtracked a puppet show by the name of Boxcar Fair. While such a quick release schedule might worry people, new track "Boxcar Fair" should allay all fear. There's still the conscientious equality of each member in it's arrangements, not to mention the song just being all around good. Little Tybee's For Distant Viewing's release date isn't exact yet but it can be expected sometime in March.
12) Kishi Bashi - "Manchester"
While Andrew Bird's album is definitely cause for excitement, up and coming violinist/loop pedal enthusiast/multi-instrumentalist Kishi Bashi's upcoming debut is definitely something to be excited about if not worthy of occupying the majority of your interest. Since his debut opening for Sondre Lerche last year, Kishi Bashi's been hard at work prepping the follow up to his Room For Dream EP. The results are astounding. Funded about 120% via Kickstarter, Kishi Bashi's debut is on the right track. Those who helped fund the project got a sneak peek of "I Am the Antichrist to You" in addition to the previews featured in his welcome video and the song was absolutely astounding. But until he releases an album track as a single or otherwise, you can still enjoy "Manchester" from his EP. Kishi Bashi's debut has a loose release date set for somewhere in the spring with a definite date coming soon so stay tuned.
13) Conveyor - "Mukraker"
Brooklyn band Conveyor have a lot to look forward to in 2012. Or rather fans do. Earlier this month, the released the digital single "Mukraker" which is part of their split 7" with other noteworthy Brooklyn band Illuminator. Also pretty sure they're working on a full length. No idea when that is but Conveyor's curious blend of slowly unfurling minimalism with explosive flourishes guarantees that I will be all over it when that day comes. In addition to everything else they release and do. Hopefully that'll be soon but you can't rush progress.
14) Secret Mountains - "Weepy Little Fingers"
Baltimore psychedelic rockers Secret Mountains can utterly swallow you with a single song and news is that they're planning on releasing a full length this year. That's as exciting as it is scary. The follow up to 2010's Rejoice EP, the band have been hard at work recording new tunes. And they just won a trip to record with Converse and record a live session so that's more new tunes and more recordings. Secret Mountains is going to have an intensely busy year and their debut full length might just be the cherry on top. No word yet on when their record is going to drop but news of which can't be that far away. Enjoy "Weepy Little Fingers" which the band released as a single last year.
Despite releasing their debut album in their home of Iceland last September, Icelandic folkies Of Monsters and Men are gearing up for a major North American explosion. After tours and the release of their Into the Woods EP, the band are prepping for the stateside release of their debut My Head is An Animal which will feature a different tracklist than the Iceland release. And considering all their updates are coming from the studio, it's only a matter of time before we learn of the upcoming album's release date. One thing is certain though, even if the album's tracklist is 100% different than the Iceland release and the Into the Woods EP, "Little Talks" is bound to be on it. It's the band's greatest songwriting achievement that deserves to be displayed whenever and wherever it can be.
Considering the band had their debut release over in Europe last year, expecting an release this year might be a bit of wishful thinking on my part but the band has stated an interest in doing some recording and releasing something this year so I'm going off of that. Besides who knows maybe the band's debut album Glass will get a stateside release sometime this year? I mean, there's 11 months for that to happen. Despite a 2012 release being mostly speculation on my part, the band's becoming pretty active over here so maybe just maybe we'll see something. If not, 2012 should be the year where everyone at least starts paying attention to Teletextile.
Considering how early in the year it is, more and more album release news should come spilling out. I'm looking forward to being able to expound upon this list and getting to update several of those unconfirmed dates. Until then, I hope you enjoy.
In two weeks, Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit's sophomore record The Lion's Roar comes out and if the little we've been treated to from it hasn't been enough to fuel the anticipation, today the duo released a brand new video for a song called "Emmylou". The song pays homage to some of the songwriting greats that have come before them in a remarkably subtle way of slipping their names into the lyrics and while it's not the first time the duo have made their love for their predecessors known, it might very well be their best to date.
After the announcement of their brand new sophomore album, Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit previewed the title track "The Lion's Roar" shortly after. Well now that track's also got a video. Filmed in Stockholm by Mats Udd, the video features the sisters in a kind of medieval tribal garbs with a militaristic band of drummers trekking through darkened fog-laden forests and alternating scenes of the girls in elegant dresses rowing out to the middle of a lake on a bright sunny day to find a trunk hidden at the bottom of the lake. Not much of the plot is explained but it's hardly necessary. The video is beautiful shot and looks straight out of an fantasy epic or a Swedish fairy tale. Enjoy the video for "The Lion's Roar":
First Aid Kit's sophomore album The Lion's Roar is due out January 24th.
Since the release of their debut album The Big Black and the Blue last, Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg aka First Aid Kit have been busy touring, recording tracks with super producers (Jack White), and charming the hearts and ears of anyone lucky enough to hear their music. And so as the two get ready to depart on another world tour, news of their upcoming album The Lion's Roar spread, particularly today where the title track was unveiled via their website and NPR.
The new track channels the emotional intensity and poignant question-asking of tracks like "Hard Believer" and "Heavy Storm" off their debut, along with their characteristic sweeping vocal harmonies and a much more mature and flushed out sound.
Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg aka First Aid Kit are young, still in their teens in fact. And yet they write music that's almost shocking mature and with roots going back far longer than either of them have probably been alive. Releasing their debut album The Big Black & The Blue, whose first single "Hard Believer" and "I Met Up With The King" tackled religious and social elements, and the latter of which gets its name from a song about Elvis Priestly, their latest single "Ghost Town" has a classy country music vibe, an air of melancholy, but still remains stunningly pretty with the sisters' trademark harmonies ever-present. The video, directed by Mats Udd, was filmed during the summer in Stockholm and inspired by the 1970s film Picnic at Hanging Rock.
The video depicts the sisters dressed in long flowy white gowns traversing the Swedish wildness to watch movies on an old school projector. Interloped are scenes of the sisters standing in a field with skeleton masks on. Attempting to show the contrast between light and dark, I wish they girls had disposed of the masks and let the lyrics and the rest of the video really display the contrasts. There's a kind of quiet melancholy and nostalgia to be associated with their pilgrimage into the depths of the woods to watch old movies and though the lyrics are quite sad, the sisters are shown smiling several times as they make their trek. However weird the skeleton masks seem, the video for the most part is pretty great and showcases what the sister do so well: sing lovely songs and be all together lovely in general.
Earlier this week I mentioned the the release of First Aid Kit's debut album The Big Black and the Blue.
The album starter "In the Morning" sets the tone of the album demonstrating what the sisters are best know for: their stunning vocal harmonies. Short and somber, it features the sisters largely unaccompanied for the majority before the entrance ominous beat-keeping drum beat and repetitive twangy guitar riff that instead of distracting only augments the girls' intensity. The lead track also sets up a reoccuring water motif opening with the sisters captivating vocals narrating a trek across the wilds to dispose of a wedding ring into the sea ultimately resulting in a grim watery death. Following is "Hard Believer", detailing a religious arguement in an almost surprisingly upbeat manner especially considering lyrics like "Love is tough, time is rough on me" before reaching a triumphant climax with the duo belting: "And it's one life, and this life, and it's beautiful". "Sailor Song" begins with solo vocals with a gently strumming autoharp that helps to accent the words of the songstress/narrator before the song picks up into a hoedown-like energy and the song's plot slowly unravels. Initially the intro hints at a dark fate with the foreshadowing: "I was out on the porch, and now I'm ready for my doom". This song are so important the lyrics are to understanding the song's content because the overall cheerful, happy tone that belies the song's actual nature. Also returning is the water motif; the story about a sailor and his significant other who waits for him to return. "Waltz for Richard" maintains the dismal mood of the album, telling of a couple's last visit to the coast to watch bosts on the ocean together before being split up.
"Heavy Storm" opens up with lamentatious "I wish I could believe in something bigger/More than these trees, these winds, these oceans/I wish I could believe what they tell me" and describes the change that society has had on the song's various characters who move away, settle down, and ultimate lose old characteristics. The song provides a sort of social commentary with the characters living in peace with nature, playing shabby instuments but not caring, and singing songs praising their loved ones and nature before moving away to the big city and completely phasing out these aspects of themselves. The narrator(s) constantly wish throughout that they could return to far gone days before giving up and resigning to the fate that those far gone times are gone forever. "Ghost Town" enters with a organ and piano intro that provides a stark contrast to the guitar-centric album so far before the guitar and vocals enter to give a balladic account of a lover overwhelmed by their personal demons and a troubled past that ultimately lead to missed opportunity and longing. Whereas the last song saw the triumph of negativity, "Josefin" can be seen as a representing the overcoming of this struggle and becoming better through facing these challenges. "A Window Opens" sees the return of the darker feel. The narrator hoping that leaving will help give them clarity and understanding before ultimately deciding against it and opting instead to return. "Winter Is All Over You" is a slow moving but gripping narrative that portrays a character going off and dying in a war and the feelings of those left behind best illustrated by the sorrowful and almost rageful: "I saw your mother at the department store she looked as innocent like a stillborn/But all I could think about was the sting". "I Met Up With A King" sees the possible re-emergence of the religious themes encountered earlier in the album featuring a conversation between the narrator and dying, rotting "king" (possibly Jesus?) as well as girl used only for body by a young man who takes everything from her and has a total disregard for her mind (a prostitute reference perhaps?). Maybe it's a reference to Parzival? The rotting king being the Fisher king and the girl being...well any girl in medieval literature actually. There's several possible interpretations of this song and that is what is so good about it. The earlier argument against religious validation and the way the girls growl on "Well thank God" kind of shuts down the religious reference but who knows? Last track on the album "Will Of the River" rounds out the album, spicing up the simple guitar and vocals with flutes. The song, full of nature imagery, asks a very Hamlet-esque question of whether "to rest upon forever or to live for one more day" before the storyteller resolves to pick themselves up and go make a home somewhere. The song ends the album perfectly, fading in the same silence from which the album began.
Something I found interesting was the albums way of functioning as a storybook. Each song has it's own story with connecting themes of either the ocean, regret, despair, or sometimes death. The songs could function as a series of vignettes or you can put them all together to get a greater story. Also of note is the use of language in the songwriting. Several wonderful little words and sayings are slipped in in a way that doesn't draw any attention to thems and the listener would probably miss if they weren't paying attention. The songs themselves contain certain hints to their central plot but leave much to the imagination of the listen, much like a well-written piece of fiction. The album itself flows seemlessly with each track aiding to create an overall mood but retaining their own individuality and charm.
I mentioned the ambiguity and variety of interpretation for First Aid Kit's second single "I Met Up With A King", listen/watch and decide for yourself:
So it's been awhile since I've written anything on here. I'm kinda getting used to this having a blog thing. Anyway I just heard some of the greatest news that I fear my young heart can't take it. Brace yourselves.
Swedish lovelies Johanna and Klara Soderburg of First Aid Kit just recently released their debut album The Big Black & The Blue this past Monday, March 8th [Edit: Their single "I Met Up With A King" was released on March 8th, the album was released January 25th]. Now I first found out about them about a year/year and a half ago from Eardrums Music blog and I have to say they are ridiculously talented. The girls were about 15 and 17 at the time and had already released their debut EP Drunken Trees. Now they're a little older, a little wiser, and still writing awesome songs it seems. While their EP boasted "You're Not Coming Home Tonight" which describes terse end to a marriage, they got surprisingly even more mature with their first single from their new album "Hard Believer" with lyrics like "I see you've got your Bible your delusion imagery/I don't need your eternity or your meaning to feel free/I just live because I love to and that's enough, you see/So don't preach about morality that's just human sense to me". Check it out!:
If you like folk, haunting vocal harmonies, or even just good aptly written music check out First Aid Kit and maybe give their debut album a listen.
