Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do. (2012)

When Fiona Apple announced her return to mainstream performing and subsequent upcoming studio album release, the indie music blogosphere was infused with a rush of excitement. One I will admit I was swept up in myself before I realized I wasn’t really all that familiar with Apple’s works outside of “Criminal” and really had no intention to be. When a live recording of “Anything We Want” from Fiona Apple’s SXSW visit, I was intrigued but not impressed and as more and more people seemed to indicate that I should be anticipating Apple’s first album after 7 years, I found myself disenchanted more and more by the idea of it.  Enter Dave at Rawkblog who convinced me to actually listen to When The Pawn… to get an idea of Apple’s style and hopefully understand new single “Werewolf”, where Apple rattled out metaphor after metaphor, better. A feat that actually worked while also making me realize I had heard far more of Apple than I thought I did.

Album opener “Every Single Night” is exactly when I realized I was indeed hooked, as Fiona puts her knack for poetic lyricism at the absolute forefront along barebones accompaniment. It’s also a surprisingly perfect introduction to Apple as a songwriter for the uninitiated and/or unfamiliar – even virtually acapella there’s still hints of the jazzy lilt Fiona imbues in her music and her bold fearlessness as she suddenly swells to slightly subdued shouts before floating down light as a feather. 

“Daredevil” expounds on this, Fiona’s musical equivalent of a high wire act plodding along daringly slowly adding sultry temptation, an air of danger, and slightly more in terms of instrumentation – it’s the first true instance of Fiona’s steely-eyed flippant disregard for pretty singing as she howls and yelps and twists her voice with little regard for judgment but instead of emotional release.  

There’s also Apple’s clever little phrases that don’t draw much attention to themselves as Fiona coos “I don’t cry when I’m sad anymore” while double bass strokes envelope her and she in turn turns to tuneful shrieks in “Left Alone” or “All that love must’ve been lacking something if I got bored trying to figure you out” in the piano pop romp of the occasionally humorous “Periphery”.  

While each song works in its own individual way towards the inevitable tension release, The Idler Wheel... is not without obvious highlights – “Jonathan” with its peril-invoking piano lines and foreboding percussion Apple expunges yet another one of her demons in the form of her ex; and exceptional album closer “Hot Knife” as Fiona turns a nursery rhyme-esque simple lyric into a contrapuntal masterpiece – layering vocals on top of vocals turning her and her sister Maude’s vocals into a full on round with an remarkable pop twist punctuating her slightly veiled sex reference  with primal percussion ensuring that you’ll be humming it for days after.   

The Idler Wheel… is the kind of album you treasure once you get the full scope of it, an album sure to be as cathartic for the listener as it no doubt was for Fiona to write and create. It’s an album of unflattering self-awareness that deals with those swarms of negative emotions we rarely champion; breakups are the standard but on The Idler Wheel..., Fiona outlines her own neuroses and flaws and in turn helps you feel a bit more comfortable with your own. Apple’s lyricism seems almost overwhelming in its deluge of thoughts and ideas but the truly important points stand there like buoys in the ocean of Apple’s stream of consciousness writing-style.   

Fiona Apple's The Idler Wheel... is currently available for streaming as part of NPR's First Listen before it's June 19th shelf-date. Listen here. 

Hands - Massive Context EP (2012)

It was a case of continuous mistaken identity that brought Los Angeles band Hands to my attention. Jess over at exfm would ask me if was going to see Hands every time I would see her and was usually enroute to an ARMS show. Followed by Jess realizing her error and noting that another one of her friends over at Small Plates Records was really into them. After so many times of that happening it only made clear and logical sense to check them out.

Hands are a foursome from Los Angeles - not any of the other bands with an apparent claim to the name abroad. Their most recent EP, Massive Context, was released on Small Plates Records and simply put: it's a thing of beauty. Short but by no means stunted, Massive Context is a thoroughly engaging set of 6 songs that blossom and flourish with intricate instrumentals, catchy, memorable melodies, and Geoffrey Halliday's pleasant, skyward-reaching tenor. Though not rapid-fire paced, Hands plays with an undeniably vivacious energy as they weave immersive sonic tapestries with a forward-moving pop slant. All the while their tunes take a much appreciated time to establish themselves, they never rush out of the gate to capture your attention, instead they plod away at their own pace building intensity and explosive potential which often realizes itself through Halliday's expressive vocals.

The result is an absolute triumph of an EP, Massive Context is a record that can stand the test of nearly endless repeated play - each listen revealing some new piece of Hands' puzzled compositional stitchwork and inextinguishable talent and charm. A record you can't merely put on and forget about but catches your total attention and focus.

You can order Hands' Massive Context EP on CD and vinyl over at Small Plates Records, as well as purchase digitally from Amazon or iTunes. The album's also available for streaming on Soundcloud and Spotify.

Watch: Efterklang - "The Ghost" with Sydney Symphony

After Danish indie rockers Efterklang announced the completion of their upcoming fourth studio album Piramida, I've essentially been watching their every move with laser precision. A fact made all the more painful by the fact that the Danes seemed totally content not actually sharing any tunes from it; instead announcing a slew of dates where Efterklang would be teaming up with symphony orchestras to perform the album in full. All of which were not at all here in the US where I'd be guaranteed to be in the audience. Instead Sydney was the first date and updates from their attempts to properly notate all the music for the orchestra and rehearsals streamed in periodically enough to make my heart ache. And somehow, someway I completely missed the band posting up a live video from their recent Sydney performance of new track and probable lead single "The Ghost". I call shenanigans.

So while the group prepares for a slew of other dates with orchestras far and wide (and not here where I want to see them) for their lucky lucky fans in Europe and abroad at least we can enjoy this brand new track off Piramida. While not in its studio-recording form, it's a good track nonetheless. Enjoy it. I know I am.



Also, good news: Piramida will out sometime in September on 4AD.

Pitstop: Levek

Well this is totally embarrassing. Several months ago I saw Levek in concert and apparently forgot about how good they were. Which is really just tragic. The concert in question was Illuminator and Conveyor's 7" release show which they played also played with Hundred Waters.

The brainchild of Florida native David Levesque, Levek's ties with Hundred Waters aren't just coincidence; in addition to both being from the sunshine state, several of the members of Hundred Waters were part of Levek's backing band and similar to Hundred Waters, Levek makes music in a genre all his own. The simplest way to explain being: A sort of blissed out tropical-infused occasionally beach-invoking pop. A even that only applies sometimes. Plus there's something super endearing about the fact that when I met David post show, he assured me that what I just witnessed was completely different from any of the music he had out. While that might be a bit disappointing to some, there's something incredible about experiencing something that so few have - while anyone can download his demos at any time, you have to actually make the effort to get the full picture and in that regard I felt rather privileged.



Unfortunately I had forgotten about the man and his mad musical experiments until this week when it was announced that Levek would be releasing his debut album. Whether this will be an effort to distill his magical live set into an actual record or if it will just be more of his markedly different bedroom recordings remains to be seen. But I'm certainly excited for it. You can get a little sample from the upcoming album Look A Little Closer with first single "Black Mold Grow":



(via Beats Per Minute)

Levek's debut record Look A Little Closer with be out September 25th on Lefse Records.

Get yourself properly keyed up for the debut with Levek's demo:

Pistop: Mandolin Orange

I may have only seen them live twice but one of the things I've come to except from a Bowerbirds concert is a talented opener. Enter  North Carolina duo Mandolin Orange the night's more unexpectedly pleasant surprise. I arrived at the Bowerbirds most recent New York stop expecting solely one opener in the form of Dry the River whose music I had already been exposed to and knew I liked so you can imagine my surprise when Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz took to the stage with guitar, fiddle, and friend Josh Oliver in tow.



What followed was a thoroughly enjoyable set of folksy, rootsy Americana - the band's self-described country pop. The kind that's welcome even to those like me who prefer to stay as far away from country music as feasibly possible. It's hard to say what exactly sets Mandolin Orange apart for the tons of other folk acts gunning for you attention, perhaps it's that they aren't. The duo have a rather laidback style of songwriting that still manages to highlight their remarkable talents, heart-stirring lyricism, and intoxicating harmonies. There's also the fact that the vast majority of instruments you'll hear from them on their records or see at their live set are played by the twosome themselves (there's guests enlisted to fill out the rest).



Mandolin Orange play a sort of updated Appalachian-infused folk that really doesn't get nearly enough play. Which is sort of a shame. The duo are as equally at home playing traditional folk tunes as they are playing their own traditional-leaning originals and the young band already have two albums under their belt 2010's Quiet Little Room and a double album Haste Make/Hard-Hearted Stranger released late last year. And Mandolin Orange show no signs of stopping any time soon; a fact I certainly couldn't be more pleased with that as the duo's darkly themed but never depressing brand of accessible country pop hits all the right spots.



You can listen to their most recent album over on Spotify as well as check out their upcoming tour dates on their Website here.

Watch: Parlovr - "Holding On To Something"

Yesterday, Montreal indie-pop trio Parlovr premiered their spanking new video for their latest album Kook Soul's best track "Holding On To Something" over at Noisey. And it's kind of just what you'd expect from the quirky threesome. Well, in so far in that the video is weird and fun and has very little if nothing at all to do with songs lyrics or anything like that. The plot of the video is essentially that of a movie told not at its actual start but not wholly in reverse either. The movie sort of takes cues from silent movie era films in that there are panels between acts that tell you the story as its about to unfold.

After a very audible "Action!" that signals the video's start, the screen pans from a piano playing Alex to a confused looking Jeremy and Louis mouths the words to "Holding On To Something", all appears as normal as you're going to get with the trio before things spiral out of control and quasi-hilarity ensues. Jeremy develops a random ailment, Alex attempts to help, and Louis just sings. There's also a pretty nonsensical scene of Alex's hair blowing in the wind as he caresses an iguana.  And everything happens in slow motion. And that's pretty much all you get.

Watch Parlovr's video for "Holding On To Something":

Watch: Bowerbirds - "Overcome with Light"

Considering their absolute admiration and appreciation of nature, I'm surprised it's taken this long for us to get a video like this from the Bowerbirds. The Lawrence Martinez directed video is the simplest video in all of their rather short output - a series of beautiful nature images accompanied by the Bowerbirds' pastoral hymn "Overcome with Light". Simple and yet no less poignant. There's more than meets the eye as some images aren't what they appear, at least not outright. There's little symbols and sigils and other signs hinting to the otherworldly but it all fits in a way that acknowledges the mysterious allure of nature without pushing it toward a strange, supernatural direction. A real work of beauty. Bowerbirds, don't ever leave us again.

Watch the video for "Overcome with Light":


(via Stereogum)