Making Out Like Banditsalbums

Leonard Cohen Box Set Coming

Jennifer Marston — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:00:15 +0000

Legacy Recordings is honoring Leonard Cohen’s 77th birthday with the mother of all box sets entitled The Complete Albums Collection.

The release will contain all of Cohen’s 17 albums, including live material and studio recordings. Throw in a 36-page booklet and an essay written by Pico Iyer, who’s contributed liner notes to four of Cohen’s albums, and who needs Christmas this year?

The whole bundle will be out October 11—both as a 17-disc set and as an 11-disc one that includes only Cohen’s studio releases.

And here’s the list of albums included:

Songs of Leonard Cohen
Songs From a Room
Songs of Love and Hate
Live Songs
New Skin for the Old Ceremony
Death of a Ladies’ Man
Recent Songs
Various Positions
I’m Your Man
The Future
Cohen Live – Leonard Cohen in Concert
Field Commander Cohen – Tour of 1979
Ten New Songs
Dear Heather
Live in London
Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
Songs From the Road

Stream: Apparat – The Devil’s Walk

Jennifer Marston — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:00:34 +0000

Today starts a new week, which means the good people at NPR have a few new albums streaming. And while I’m tempted to give the spotlight to a band we shamelessly cover far too much, I’ll make the figurative leap across the pond and instead talk about Apparat‘s latest.

German producer Sascha Ring’s music achieves what much electronic music doesn’t (dubstep, I’m looking at you): It brings emotions—many different kinds—to forefront of each track while understating the more typical elements of the genre (handclaps, shuffles, etc.). His fourth album, The Devil’s Walk, proves Ring hasn’t lost his touch. From the first guitar pluck on opener “Sweet Unrest” to the isolated vocals of “Your House Is My World” that end the album, he lives up to his forte of masterfully merging shoegazy electronic with traditional pop, rock and acoustic.

According to NPR, the album originated in a makeshift studio in Sayulita, Mexico and later finished back in Europe. Mute will release it on September 27.

Take a listen, right here.

Listen: Ryan Adams “Lucky Now”

Jennifer Marston — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 03:17:59 +0000

Around these parts, we hear the phrase “new Ryan Adams album” and can’t help wondering, What’s it gonna sound like this time?

It’s not that I didn’t dig the jangly, arena-rock-like anthems on III/IV and the prog-metal album Orion, both released in 2010 (though the former was actually recorded in 2007). But the Ryan Adams persona (and let’s face it, dude’s got a few) I’ll take over any other is the one found on gems like Cold Roses, Gold, and Easy Tiger.

So in my world, at least, the new Ryan Adams track is appropriately titled. “Lucky Now” hearkens back to the melodic, country-rock musings found on those latter albums, and the song is hopefully a taste of more to come when Adams’ next full-length, the Glyn Johns-produced Ashes & Fire. The record is apparently inspired by Adams’ newfound love of hiking and will be released on October 11 via PAX•AM.

The mostly acoustic “Lucky Now” features minimal drums, just a touch of electric guitar and piano courtesy of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Benmont Tench. Stream it below, where you can also find album artwork and the tracklist.

Ryan Adams – “Lucky Now”

Lucky Now by ryanadams

Ashes & Fire
01 Dirty Rain
02 Ashes & Fire
03 Come Home
04 Rocks
05 Do I Wait
06 Chains of Love
07 Invisible Riverside
08 Save Me
09 Kindness
10 Lucky Now
11 I Love You But I Don’t Know What to Say

New Hot Chip Album in the Works

Jennifer Marston — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:21:18 +0000

London’s casio-crunk-meets-electro-soul crew Hot Chip will return in the new year with their fourth full-length, which they’ve cleverly titled One Life Stand.

No tracklisting yet, but we do know that the first track from the album, “Take it In,” is available upon pre-ordering the album. The song is up and streaming over at P4K right now, for those who like to try before they buy. One Life Stand is out February 9 via Astralwerks.

The band already has a list of 2010 dates, for which you can already buy tickets. Expect this list to triple—nay, quadruple—in size closer to the new year.

02/12 Glasgow, Scotland – Academy 
02/13 Edinburgh, Scotland – Picture House 
02/15 Nottingham, England – Academy
 02/16 Leeds, England – Academy
 02/18 Newcastle, England – O2 Academy 
02/19 Manchester, England – Academy 
02/20 Birmingham, England – O2 Academy 
02/22 Bournemouth, England – O2 Academy 
02/23 Bristol, England – O2 Academy 
02/24 Norwich, England – O2 Academy
y02/26 London, England – Brixton Academy
 02/27 London, England – Brixton Academy

New Song from The Watson Twins

Jennifer Marston — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:22:41 +0000

February will see The Watson Twins release Talking to You, Talking to Me, their new record whose creation saw help from members of My Morning Jacket and Everest. It’s also something of a departure from the folk and country-style songs on previous releases; there’s a little more hip-swinging soul to be had on this one.

Hear it for yourselves. The girls are giving away a new track for the small price of your email address. They will also hit the road at the end of the month. Dates are below.

Talking to You, Talking to Me is out February 9 via Vanguard.

10/28 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre
10/29 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
10/30 Portland, OR – Aladdin Theatre
11/01 Seattle, WA – Neumo’s
11/02 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
11/03 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
11/05 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
11/06 Lawrence, KS – Granada Theatre
11/07 St. Louis, MO – Blueberry Hill – Duck Room
11/08 Birmingham, AL – WorkPlay Soundstage Theatre
11/10 Saint Petersburg, FL – State Theatre
11/11 Fort Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
11/13 Orlando, FL – The Social
11/14 Atlanta, GA – Center Stage Theatre
11/15 Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre
11/17 Washington, DC – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
11/19 New York, NY – Webster Hall
11/20 Philadelphia, PA – The Trocadero Theatre
11/21 Montclair, NJ – Wellmont Theatre
11/22 Boston, MA – House of Blues Boston

Image Credit: Pamela Littky

Midlake Announces New Album

Jennifer Marston — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:33:38 +0000

Midlake‘s three-year hiatus has been somewhat intentional, since the band, according to a recent statement, was very concerned with making a follow-up to 2006′s The Trials of Van Occupanther that “carried on moving and creating and pushing for a newer sound and emotion.”

Keeping that in mind, Bella Union, who will release the new album just in time for Groundhog Day, has said that The Courage of Others will contain less soft-rock and more of a “definitely British, trad-tainted folk sound.”

The band has already released a full tracklisting (below) and the album’s art (above), and have several show dates planned for the new year, just before the album’s release.

The Courage of Others is out February 2.

Courage:
01 Acts of Man
02 Winter Dies
03 Small Mountain
04 Core of Nature
05 Fortune
06 Rulers, Ruling All Things
07 Children of the Grounds
08 Bring Down
09 The Horn
10 The Courage of Others
11 In the Ground

Dates:
01/05 Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
01/06 Tallahassee, FL – Engine Room
01/07 Orlando, FL – The Social
01/08 St. Augustine, FL – Cafe Eleven
01/09 Mt. Pleasant, SC – Village Tavern
01/10 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle
01/11 Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone
01/12 Little Rock, AR – Rev Room
01/22 Newcastle, England – The Cluny
01/23 Leicester, England – The Musician
01/24 Cambridge, England – Junction2
01/27 Norwich, England – Arts Centre
01/28 London, England – Tabernacle

New Tegan & Sara Video – “Hell”

Jennifer Marston — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Here comes a bizarre video—for the single “Hell”—from Canadian indie-poppers Tegan & Sara, who released a brand-new album, Sainthood, today. How do dozens of faceless pictures, origami fortunes, mummies made of fabric, and a tug-of-war in a hotel room relate to one another? We don’t really know, but director Jamie Travis has, according to the T&S site, “a head chock full of absurd and wonderful ideas.”

See for yourselves:

Sainthood is out now on Vapor.