Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

Karen Dreijer–whom you may know as half of The Knife–has just released a self-titled solo album under the moniker Fever Ray.  It’s as icy and creepy and strangely delightful as many of The Knife’s catalog.  I was a little underwhelmed by the 10-track album, but nonetheless I think it’s definitely worth your time to check out what this Swedish songstress/dungeon master has got in store.

Check out Fever Ray’s debut Fever Ray.

Listen to Fever Ray – “Triangle Walks“

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of the new compilation Dark was the Night, featuring every indie star and their mother: from Sufjan Stevens to Bon Iver, from Feist to The National, from My Brightest Diamond to Iron & Wine.  It’s incredible!  And the good news is that when you buy it, you’ll be donating to the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

One of the tracks released on myspace was My Brightest Diamond’s take on Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good”.  It’s really good.

Pre-order your copy of Dark Was the Night.

Listen to My Brightest Diamond – “Feeling Good” (taken down by request)

The hottest international act has created another masterpiece with Welcome to Mali, a tantalizing array of  traditional-meets-rock tracks that will make you wonder how “the blind couple from Mali” actually made something so golden.  It’s always hard to judge international acts on the same scale as domestic ones–you have to wonder if music is really that unique. And you have to wonder if positive results are due to honesty or for an appearance of multi-culturalism. I’m not accusing anybody, but you know who you are.

Nevertheless, I digress.  It’s the mess of this political season–I have no reason but to listen to these two in a musical bungaloo of my own creation. They met in a school for the blind, two musical minds in search of drafting and crafting the perfect piece to the plexing puzzle.  Damon Albarn-the ‘near’ to their ‘far’-does no harm here, infusing urgent rock into the lush instrumentation and smooth undulation of “Ce N’est Pa Bon”.

The high-octane “Compagnon De La Vie”, the satiating ballad “Bozos”, and the arching anthemic “I WIll Follow” area all complete delights.  These songs are the comfort in your musical nights of uncertainty, your sonic rites of passage into the world of the world music genre.

So go and enjoy. Go on. Go. Buy a copy of Welcome to Mali.

Listen to “Compagnon De La Vie”

Listen to “Ce N’est Pa Bon”

**Props to my brother for showing me A & M a while back!

Gotta love him

As my brother would say, “REEEEE-MIX!”

My buddy J(O)(N)(A)(H)–that looks pretty cool–made me aware of a couple of remixes of some Jose Gonzalez tracks. And why wouldn’t you want to hear them? You have no reason. They’re awesome.

Listen to Jose Gonzalez – “Killing for Love (Beatfanatic Remix)”

Listen to Jose Gonzalez – “Killing for Love (Todd Terje Brokeback Remix)“

How can you be a noble beast? How can you be a simultaneously polite, chilvarous, and law-abiding individual and yet be a complete barbarian? Well, CSV favorite Andrew Bird (His Birdness) wants you to believe that it is possible.  But as much as I want to believe him, I simply can’t.  And ultimately that is the real downside (tragedy? I don’t know) of His Birdness’s new album Noble Beast.

As a listener, you will notice immediately that this is not a ‘typical’ Bird album. By that, I mean that Noble Beast isn’t as challenging or provocative in its musicality as Bird’s previous album.  I want some dissonance, I want some haunting whistles and strings.  And I want catchy rhythms.  What Bird gives is a little of each, and it makes for a good album, but it doesn’t make for a great one.  I have to credit Bird with exploring new instrumentation, working with more lush arrangements, and even trying out different vocal styles.

First track “Oh No” has all the wordplay one has come to expect from Bird, and is certainly enjoyable (and fairly accessible).  Then again, there’s nothing to this song that really differentiates itself as birdlike (avian?).  “Masterswarm” has Bird in a soprano role to begin the track, and then bursts out into a pizzicato samba groove that continues to grow on me as I write this.  “Fitz and Dizzyspells” seems more like a natural progression of Bird’s musical maturation, and is quite enjoyable in its unabashed optimism and fluttering violin and its sing-along whistling.  “Tenuousness” and “Nomenclature” are satisfactory folk standards, but the weak “Not a Robot, But a Ghost” and “Unfolding Fans” that follow make the middle of the album quite sluggish.  But the album concludes quite strongly, with the highlight “Anonanimal” shining brightly in its sun-drenched electric guitar, perfectly executed vocals, and the hand-clapping-violin bridge that explodes into a wonderful rock song.

I’ve realized that this review has gone on too long.  I don’t mean to give the impression that I didn’t like this album–my expectations were outrageously high to begin with, I suppose.

But definitely go and buy a copy of this album–Buy Noble Beast.

Listen to “Fitz & Dizzyspells”

Listen to “Anonanimal“

As you may notice, CSV is now supporting the use of ‘Digging’ and ‘StumpleUponing’ for every single post! So get cracking!

It’s snowy outside, and that means footprints are aplenty.  So why not leave a couple other kinds of tracks for you?

Hey Champ – “Cold Dust Girl”

Cecil Otter & Paper Tiger – “Forensics (instrumental)“

Prepare to be hyped by the next big thing: Passion Pit. I’m not particularly in love with their debut EP Chunk of Change, and personally I think it’s unwise to release a 7 song EP.  Why not cut a few more tracks and call it a legit album?  But I will say there’s some interesting unabashed electropop going on here, and there’s certainly room for potential.

Check out Passion Pit – “Sleepyhead“

So I suppose it’s a little late to jump on the Anathallo bandwagon, right? Forgive me, for I have committed the transgression of having not listened to Anathallo’s indie pop masterpiece Canopy Glow until only recently.

Somewhat surprised that the Chicago collective slipped under my radar during the crazy year of ’08, I have to say that I am ecstatic about Canopy Glow.  These songs really do glow bright, radiating beautifully from the speakers with all sorts of neons and pastel pastiche.  The album’s starter “Noni’s Field” comes out firing with a wonderful soundscape of heavy drums and tipsy pianos and ambitious vocals.  The edgy upward inflections of “Italo” make for an addictive sonic effect, while “The River” is an excellent lesson in minimalist pop.  “Cafetorium” begins with a a concoction of different riffs and melodies, but the intricate drums and the soprano chorus brings it all together to make this the highlight of Canopy Glow. And who doesn’t love a song (in the vein of The Postal Service, I might add) about the ornitological hero “John J. Audubon”?

Getting eight people on the same page is hard, and getting them to play incredible music is something of even greater difficulty.  But Anathallo has done it.  And done real friggin’ well.  So reward them for it, and check out Canopy Glow.

Listen to “Cafetorium”

Listen to “Noni’s Field“

It’s taken me quite a while to get around to Of Montreal’s latest album, Skeletal Lamping.  I’ve been to one of their shows before, and I’ve always been impressed with their showmanship.  Provocative, intriguing, entertaining.  And their studio albums are usually of the same caliber, at least as studio albums go.

But after reading all the high praise for Skeletal Lamping, I was confused upon listening to the album.  It is, for the most part, incoherent babbling.  Perhaps I’ve grown tired of the carefully placed sexual innuendos and the cries of “Oediupus Rex” and “We can do it softcore, if you want” that emanate from the speakers.  Perhaps I’ve grown tired of the redundant snyth beats, that once excited me but now bore me.  Perhaps I’ve grown tired of listening to 17 tracks that hardly reach 4 minutes, and of which are composed of really 2 or even 3 different songs each.

The whole album makes for an uneasy listening experience, but not in the way that I think Of Montreal intended.  It’s ADD set to music, and even the grooviest of songs like “St. Exquisite’s Confessions” gets scrambled alien sounds.

I’ll link to the album, but I really don’t suggest picking it up.  Skeletal Lamping.

Listen to “St. Exquisite’s Confessions“