Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Antlers - Hospice

Brooklyn-based Antlers' Hospice is the most haunting and at the same time the most beautiful album I've heard in quite awhile. Frontman Peter Silberman delicately placed each word alongside just the right notes to perfectly convey the emotions that run somberly throughout. Unfortunately, such an incredible album came at a cost: Silberman spent two years in solitude, reflecting through music his relationship with a terminally ill child. His deliberate infusion of personal life and art make Hospice strike fearfully close to the heart, and captivation reaches and tugs gently from each track. A strange feeling, yes, though it somehow comforts, too.

"Kettering" stood out to me immediately and will no doubt fall in my favorites for 2009, along with this album as a whole. "Bear" and "Two" I also like a lot. See video and tracks below.

Video: "Two"
Audio: "Kettering"

Audio: "Bear"

Monday, September 21, 2009

Q&A with Merge Records

Some real great insight here into the difference between independent record labels and the giants, illegal file sharing, and the survival (and success!) of indie labels today, all from the perspective of Merge Records (Spoon, Magnetic Fields, Arcade Fire, M. Ward) founders Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance.

Read interview here.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Black Keys/Luda/Q-Tip/Raekwon/Mos Def project

This is going to be unreal. Full line-up includes: The Black Keys, Ludacris, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Mos Def, Jim Jones, Nikki Wray, Billy Danze, Pharoae Monch and NOE.

Official site: http://www.blakroc.com/index_artists.html
Article: http://www.twentyfourbit.com/post/185857435/black-keys-unveil-project-w-ludacris-rza-raekwon

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Volcano Choir

New(ish) Justin Vernon! If you've read this site I'm sure you know I'm a big Bon Iver fan. Volcano Choir is an assembly of fellow Wisconsinites, including Jon Mueller, Chris Rosenau, Jim Schoenecker, Daniel Spack, Justin Vernon, and Thomas Wincek. I just heard this track on my XM radio (which I'm becoming a big fan of) and really liked it. With Vernon's intimate falsetto and the mention of snow, it sounds not too distant from something you'd find on a Bon Iver album. Material for this group actually pre-dates Bon Iver, though the group is releasing an album titled "Unmap" soon. Hope you like the track, I sure do.


Full album streaming here

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Girls - Hellhole Ratrace



Have you heard this?! Now, I wouldn't consider myself a terribly emotional guy, but this track cuts me deep. Several things about it made me squirm on first listen. The baritone croon, the swarming reverb, and the lyrics, which seem to become more and more profound with each ascending repetition, without at all becoming dull. It's almost as if they repeat incessantly because the struggle he sings about hasn't yet - or won't ever - resolve...or maybe that's just me.

It's sharing songs like this that brought me back to TAO (and due to popular demand, of course). Hopefully I can keep it up this time.

*Oh, and thanks to a completely unfriendly internet search name, it's really hard to find more music by these guys. If you happen to have more luck than I have, please, help out a friend.

Video: Girls - Hellhole Ratrace

**Thanks Matt Golden for finding this extremely resourceful article about Girls! http://www.faqmagazine.org/ChristopherGirls.htm