Sufjan Stevens' "Too Much" available for download

Sufjan Stevens continues to give listeners peeks of his upcoming October album The Age of Adz. First with "I Walked" now with a free download of "Too Much" on his bandcamp. He originally played the song (which he originally called "Too Much Love") as part of his set at Castaways in Ithaca which had punchy brass, captivating electronic glitchy stop-starts, and memorable singability.

The track has a trademark epic-ness I've come to expect from the man. Just listen to what he does with the strings and right before the end when things get really really awesome.
Listen to/download "Too Much" here:


You can also watch the live video to see how Stevens polished it up:

Telekinesis to release new EP

Seattle's one man band with live support Telekinesis is releasing a new EP by the name of Dirty Thing. Actually, the EP has already been released digitally and you can get it off iTunes if that's your cup of tea but the physical release shall be on October 8th on Morr Music. The EP will consist of two new song, a new version of a song from the album, and two cover songs from The Magnetic Fields and Warsaw (Joy Division before they were Joy Division). Michael Benjamin Lerner aka the man behind Telekinesis is currently working on the second full length as well as touring with Someone Still Love You Boris Yeltsin. Enjoy the video for "Dirty Thing":

Telekinesis : Dirty thing from morr music on Vimeo.

Watch: Maps & Atlases - "Solid Ground"

Chicago technical pop rockers Maps & Atlases have been around for such a long time that sometimes you forget they're doing things for the first time, like their debut full length out earlier this year. Now the band just released their debut music video for "Solid Ground". The video, directed by Taryn Gould and Emily Kowalczyk, opens with Dave Davison floating isolated in a soil-filled canoe before the band appears on the different parts of the lake edge pushing and pulling Davison's canoe with the pure power of their playing until the reel him in back to shore. The video is delightful in that the plot doesn't override the music, instead merely separating the band members like they would be in a studio session, with each individual having their say which in turn doesn't do much until the band's individual parts and actions link up with each other. The video, beautifully shot, is staunchly minimalistic, a little trippy; and a whole lot of awesome. Enjoy Maps & Atlases debut video for "Solid Ground":

Maps & Atlases - Solid Ground from FatCat Records on Vimeo.

Watch: Left With Pictures - "Go, Simon, Go!"

August is officially over and with its end comes a brand new installment of Left With Pictures' In Time project; the band's ambitiously awesome monthly track and video release. For August's song "Go, Simon, Go!", the band follows up July's somber but hopeful gem "Half Time" with a bluesy almost balladic feel. My favorite part is the brief change in tone, mood, and vocalist that occurs near the end before heading into the chorus. Interesting to note, is the video. Directed by Laura Copsey and edited by Tom Rochester, the video manages to incorporate different types of filming techniques and seems like a natural evolution from last month's stop motion video directed by Jake Ogden. Enjoy the video for "Go, Simon, Go!"



You can also read a short interview with LWP's Stuart Baker on The Daily Growl here.

Pitstop: Hello Mtn

Anyone whose heard Horse Feathers knows its members are all incredibly talented musicians but what you might not know is that several of them have their own side projects/other musical endeavors. That's where Hello Mtn comes in. Composed of Horse Feather's cellist Catherine Odell and one Matthew Morgan, the Portland-based duo are apparently making a record according to their MySpace page. In fact, that's really all that's on their page. But lack of information aside, their music (which you can hear in small little snippets) is in a similar folksy, Americana, orchestra pop style as Horse Feathers but ruggedly different. Featuring Odell's sweet come-hither vocals, occasional appearances of cello, and Morgan on guitar I'm eager to hear more from them and to get my hands on the eventual record. You can check out Hello Mtn on their MySpace page here.

Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard (2010)

Ra Ra Riot's sophomore release The Orchard is a valiant effort for what a sophomore album should be. Following in the footsteps of their vivacious hit-laden debut The Rhumb Line, the band instead shifts gears and focuses more on quiet introspection. Lead/title track "The Orchard" sets an example for what the listener can expect as it plays like a lazy Sunday in musical form and makes remarkable use of each of the band's components: A stunning string section that creates just the right atmosphere for Wes Miles' wispy wide-eyed innocent tenor, and band members weaving together to form mostly reflective, sometimes sorrowful musical tapestries. Lighter, more energetic tracks like "Boy" and "Massachusetts" provide nice interludes from the mostly contemplative nature of the album. In them, the band channels what could be called their signature sound creating tracks that are bound to please everyone.

The Orchard, with its stellar arrangements, manages to do what so few sophomore release fail to do. It manages to give long time fans something they'll like while also offering up new musical ideas and changing the formula a bit (like "You and I Know" and its female lead vocals). Where some tracks might not be the most lyrically compelling, they more than make up for it with balls-to-the-wall energy, catchiness, and seemingly effortlessly virtuosic string parts.

Give the album a taste with the music video for "Boy"

Ra Ra Riot - "Boy" from Barsuk Records on Vimeo.

Stricken City - Songs About People I Know (2010)

Earlier this year, London pop rock quartet Stricken City released their free/donate Animal Festival EP to ease the wait for their debut full length expected to be out sometime this fall but before that, they released a mini album by the name of Songs About People I Know. Lo-fi quality track "Gifted" starts the album with Rebekah Raa's melancholic solo vocals before the band enters to liven things up on the energetic "Pull The House Down". "Small Things" employs a time-tested method of consecutively introducing each instrument before Raa enters on vocals and korg pondering a life of boredom. The song has some of my favorite music moments, featuring several little melodic moments both vocally and instrumentally on guitar and korg. "Killing Time" shambles about like one pacing about in a room emphasized by Raa's repeated rhythmic "eh's" like the ticking of a clock before gaining a sort of freedom with Raa's lyrical rubato against strict time-keeping drum beats and manages to experiment with varying time itself without drawing undue attention to itself. "P.S." with its brassily anthemic intro: "You're so boring/You're so normal/I don't ever want to talk to you again", Raa wages full out war on boredom and its perpetrators but in a manner that's charmingly sweet and drives the sentiment home with an appropriately placed modulation. "Sometimes I Love You" has Raa soloing over a blanket of harmony and when she makes use of dissonance, you really feel the tension she conveyed with beginning lyrics: "Sometimes I love you/Sometimes I hate you/Sometimes I don't know what to think". "Five Metres Apart" follows the rather somber preceding track with a resolute declaration of love with the similar build up fashion of "Small Things". Album closer "Terrible Things" parallels the start if only in its intense focus on Raa's beautiful vocals. Combine that with an accompanying piano part that's amazing in its own right and you've got dreamily wistful masterpiece that's bound to make your heart swell and break at the same time.

The mini-album gets its name only for the its length. Each tracks is almost depressingly short, the longest clocking in at about 3 and a half minutes but the musical ideas are as developed as some of the most drawn out concept albums. The songs artfully swing between shiny happy-go-lucky party pop and the brittle-as-glass emotional introspection you might find in seasoned singer/songwriter repertory. The way Raa's voice works with the band is so effortless hypnotizing that you're left hanging on her every word and vocal riffs. Don't be surprised if you find yourself repeating it from start to finish several times.

Listen to the mini-album in its entirety here: