Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

Say it like a Frenchman: Bon EE-VER.  In a strange confluence of musical exposure, I’ve come across two releases from Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.  One is a new EP entitle The Myspace Transmissions, a mellower and less intense take on 4 songs from For Emma, Forever Ago.  “Blindsided” is lovingly adorned with Vernon’s patience and delicate guitar plucking,  making this song as dreamy as a Dove Ice Cream Bar (man those are so good!).  “For Emma” is an abridged, more instrument heavy take on the original, but delightful nonetheless.

The second EP I’ve come across was released in 2006 by Justin Vernon under his own name.  Apparently titled Hazletons, this EP shows the beginning of Bon Iver’s sound.  Apparently, Vernon packaged 100 copies of this record in Raleigh, NC in long paper sleeves with various nature photos.  The lilting vocals, the emotive instrumentation, the evocative aura–it’s all here, perhaps a little unrefined.  The true highlight is the title track “Hazleton”, so be sure to check that out.

Get The Myspace Transmissions here for free.

Listen to “Hazleton”

Listen to “Blindsided“

I was definitely a fan of Loney, Dear’s debut (internationally) Loney, Noir, but I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the sophomore followup Dear John.  Perhaps I was expecting a little more from Sweden’s Emil Svanangen this time around–a sort of maturation of sound.  But the songs on Dear John still possess a sort of infantile fragility to them, without the resilience that I was hoping for.  Ultimately, it just comes down to the fact that I don’t think Loney, Dear has enough to distinguish himself from the zillions of talented acts.

What is going to keep someone coming back to listening to his music? Well, the more urgent “Distant” is a good start, with his choral cacophony at the end of the track.  “Harsh Words” and “I Was Only Coming Out” are both rather earnest attempts by Loney to incorporate more instrumentation and emotion into his songs, but they ultimately stall despite their brevity (Check out the whistling in “I Was Only Coming Out”, by the way!).  The lead track “Airport Surroundings” is perhaps the brighest light on this album, with an edgier Loney coming out of his shell with chants of “You’re the one I want” and “Nah-Nah-Nahs”.

Check out Dear, John.

Listen to “Airport Surroundings”

Listen to “Distant“

Well apparently, the EP #4 of Swedish eclectic electropop sensation (?) Suburban Kids with Biblical Names has arrived and this 4-track extended play should be a good hint as to what their upcoming full-length album will be like.  Full of the unabashed geek electronica and esoteric instrumentation, #4 lives up to the SKw/BN name. “1999″ is just as bit as delicious as Prince’s (not this isn’t a cover of it!), with the barking of dogs and the joyful synths making any listener want to party like it’s 1999.  “World Music” is exactly what it sounds like, and I can’t tell if this is a sardonic snipe of the world music genre.

Anyhow, check out #4!

Listen to “1999“

Well, if you haven’t heard, the much-overdo album from the UK collective  Doves is coming soon! April 6, 2009 to be exact.  The album will be titled Kingdom of Rust, and it is looking to be pretty sweet.  I have been incredibly impressed with Doves’ previous work, but that doesn’t excuse the 3 and a half years it has taken to get another album out.

Anyhow, here’s a track from the new album titled “Jetstream“.

The brainchild of Zach Condon, Beirut has somehow gained some kind of magical indie mystique since the 2006 release of his debut Gulag Orkestar.  What are your ears supposed to do with a lyrically talented individual with a penchant for the accordion and Balkan horns and cymbals? Well, it seems that is generally understood that Beirut is something unique and….well, really enjoyable.  Condon is originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, but later moved to Paris for several months after attending community college.  It was there that he soon came to love Balkan sounds, and the rest really just history.   And so after the successful sophomore release of The Flying Club Cup, Beirut has added to his somewhat prolific discography with a 2-EP LP March of the Zapotec/Realpeople Holland.

For MOTZ, Beirut traveled south of the border to Mexico to enlist a Oaxacan band to help him with his strange and delightful concoction of sounds.  The outcome is something to be heard, with the sultrous “The Akara” sounding like something straight out of a movie you’ve never heard.  “La Llorona” is more reminiscent of previous Beirut work, with staccato, bumpy horns complemented by Condon’s buttery smooth vocals.

The 2nd part of the double-EP, Realpeople Holland, is an entirely different animal yet still distinctly Condon.  Under the Realpeople name, Condon ventures into electronica to deliver some uplifting and enticing tracks.  The highlight of the EP, “My Night with a Prostitute from Marseilles” has him crooning ‘And now / outside / you see the waves in her eyes’ to great effect.  If not for the vocals, the song could easily pass as a Postal Service track with its precise synthetic goodies and all.

Get a copy of the double-EP here.

Listen to “My Night with a Prostitute from Marseille”

Listen to “La Llorona“

On his groundbreaking (although nobody knew it then, of course!) album Five Leaves Left, Nick Drake crafted a lovely, mahogany-stained song featuring a beautiful wailing of cellos.  This song was aptly called  “‘Cello Song”, and apparently this song struck a chord (pun intended) within the hearts of Jose Gonzalez & The Books. They do a lovely rendition of the song, and you ought to hear it.

Nick Drake - “‘Cello Song”

Jose Gonzalez & The Books - “Cello Song” (courtesy of iguessi’mfloating)