Hooves on the Turf

I wade through an inbox filled with mp3s and bring you only the good ones! In this installment: sass and melancholy, banjo and accordion, Danish and the ghost of Bob Dylan.

Download “Another World” by Antony & The Johnsons
Atony Hegarty sings an elegiac song, and what do you expect, the result is nothing short of apocalyptic. Just listen to that voice, it has Mercury Prize winner written all over it. He sings about missing the sea, the bees and the trees; about needing another world because “this one’s nearly gone”. But even if he were singing  about unicorns, I say this one would still be a pretty sad song. “Another World” is taken from The Crying Light, coming out on January 20th.

Download “Boom” by Anjulie
This song is so damn sassy, from the phrasing of the lyrics to the smooth eruptions of the horns, that if you don’t like it, it probably means your body’s natural music receptors have long been impaired by cerebral overdose. Besides, there’s a wide variety of oddly nasal voices I adore, especially in women, and Anjulie’s is one of them. As is the case with artists who deliver a strong first impression, there’s always a looming fear of possible future disappointments, but for now, this Toronto-raised daughter of immigrant parents from Guyana is rock solid. A three-song digital EP, Boom, came out last week.

Download “Daniella” by Hurray for The Riff Raff
Yes. Here we have the magical marriage of a banjo and an accordion, and the magical mood of the wistful. But the reason I loved this song on the first listen is far more elemental: the way singer Alynda Lee breaks the name into “Dan…. Yella” and rhymes it with “Why you’re with that fella?” It’s worth mentioning that the band’s name, Hurray for the Riff Raff, is of course an accurate representation of my most preferred musical lifestyle. The band is from New Orleans, and is scheduled to play several New York City dates, including a free show with Sharon Van Etten on December 8 at Pianos.

Download “Beruset og Forhadt” by Sune Rose Wagner
Sune Rose Wagner of Denmark’s The Raveonettes has an upcoming self-titled solo album, from which this track is taken. The danceability of it in all its airiness begs for a long drive at dusk. I like that it’s quite simple. There’s perpetual motion, a soft voice that bounces off a labyrinth of rhythms, and a whole lot of reverb.

Download “Long Time” by Deer Tick
Deer Tick’s debut, War Elephant, which singer John McCauley III wrote at the age of twenty, was reissued last week on CD as well as a limited edition of double vinyl. Taken from that album, “Long Time” is a song dotted with iconic elements of the past that come together in somewhat of a reinterpretation of the classic. The instrumentation is minimal, most of which is a restrained arrangement of guitar layers, which seems to serve McCauley’s fiery voice.

Photo Credits: Sune Rose Wagner by Davey Wilson