Head over heels in love with Future Islands‘ upcoming album In Evening Air; mark it down for a definite purchase, it comes out on Thrill Jockey, May 4, 2010. You’ll be expected to develop a gigantic crush on singer Sam T. Herring’s voice; he sounds like a gaping wound you’re secretly ecstatic to have, as a testament to having lived, and his band, what with the dance-y electronica “post-wave” accompaniment, is pretty much the mantelpiece scar. A gorgeous ode to proper suffering is what it is! They’re playing Glasslands with another amazing band, Boogie Boarder, this Sunday.

Download “Tin Man” by Future Islands
Download “Bio Hassle” by Boogie Boarder

In the photo above, Boogie Boarder watches as Future Islands performs.

Download “You Could Be“ | Canada’s instrumental three-piece Torngat is returning to New York on April 2nd for a Wordless show at Le Poisson Rouge with the International Contemporary Ensemble. I was really taken with them when they opened for Múm’s Wordless show at St. Apostle Church in the fall of 2007. I was disappointed with the choices Múm made for their set list in response to the gorgeous venue–they thought it would suit to be pallid and ghastly–but Torngat did something that chilled me completely, and I was to remain impressed with them forever for having done such a perfect thing in response to where they were…

Download “Bordeaux Boredom” | St. Apostle is a gorgeous, breathtaking church, designed to sound divine by way of reverb, of course. Two of the band members left the stage, one playing the trumpet and the other the french horn; they split up in opposite directions to separately walk the entire length of the floor (where the audience was seated), and then around, playing strange notes. At the end of it, they came together in front of the stage to merge the two horns almost inside of each other and go nuts. It was fantastic! It was like being submerged in paradise, which is of course always filled with an orchestra of animal sounds. Elephants, birds, lions! 

The music posted here is from their previous album You Could Be, which is an intricate web/symphony of simple melodies–the new one comes out in March; and some photos from the St. Apostle Church show are below. Check out the impressive 2009 Wordless calendar, which brings-back The Books, one of my all-time favorites, on April 9.

Websites: Torngat

Download “Honor Amongst Thieves” | I’m heading out to DC for the inauguration this weekend, for what’s sure to be stressful, cheerful, overwhelming, magical times. The Obamas are walking at the parade even!, which scares the shit out of me, but everything will be fine and Michelle Obama will be divine. What’s more, on Saturday night These United States will play their special opening set at the Songs for Presidents show at Six and I Historic Synagogue, and it will be so good because they’ll squeeze their hearts out for their reinvigorated DC. I was so sure that Jesse Elliott was already fully immersed in reinvigoration that I asked him to have a one-word conversation with me this morning:

Will you be playing new songs? Maybe. Is Mark Charles of Vandaveer playing with you? Maybe. Are you playing a full-length opening set? ish. Just how are you feeling about the reinvigorated DC? Wow! When should we expect a new album? Summer.

A host of other bands are playing, of course: Nellie McKay, Denison Witmer, Jukebox The Ghost, J. Matthew Gerken, Christian Kiefer, Tim Fite, Jefferson Pitcher, Laura Burhenn, Joe Pug, Hiss Golden Messenger, Silver Darling, plus more. And the 44th song for the 44th President will be unleashed as well. Details.

Call the box office for no-fee tickets ($16 advance, $20 day-of): 202-408-3100

Websites: These United States, 43 Presidencies, Christian Kiefer

July 17 Brooklyn, NY Shangri-La
July 18 New York NY Cake Shop

ps. Jeff lives on another throne, but that one’s reserved for the dead.

Download “Wheelpusher” by Anni Rossi | Everyone seems to love the Ting Tings, but it’s opener Anni Rossi I’ve my eyes on while the two acts are in town for a date at Bowery Ballroom and Southpaw this week – though unfortunately for latecomers like me, both shows are sold out. Regina Spektor and Joanna Newsom comparisons are afloat, and to the extent that these comparisons are useful, they are true for violist/singer/songwriter Rossi, if only owing to the tradition of a stringed instrument (when the arrangement is viola-based), the temperament of some songs I’ve heard so far, and a singing style that can be considered whimsical. The degree of similarities are insignificant, however, but the description on Rossi’s myspace applies: “Great music for Family and Friends! Gather around the table.”

Photo by Shake it like a…

Bowery Ballroom – June 17 (tonight)
Southpaw – June 20 (Friday)

When I picked up Black Mountain’s In the Future and asked my friend Lev if he’d heard of the band, his eyes popped in such diameters of familiarity and glee that I had to ask him to write up the review. Says he:

Release: January 22, 2008 (from Jag Jaguwar)

Whether intentionally sarcastic, or accidentally honey-tongued, the title of Black Mountain’s second full-length “In The Future” is a perfectly unfitting title to describe the music contained therein. The opening chords of “Stormy High” teleport you back to the smoke-filled seventies, doused in all of the psychedelic fervor, debauchery, and flower-power that gleamed so bright some-forty-odd years ago. Large doses of whirling organ, fuzzed out Gibson SG’s, and dual vocal harmonies drowned in reverb, undoubtably, and comfortably, place this record alongside some of the dusty vinyl in your dad’s record collection. The album’s song structures stick to such a relentlessly precise formula of combing abrupt moments of energy and drudging meditative breaks that the schizophrenic rhythm of the album sometimes begs for a shorter, more impactive musical delivery. Ultimately, this album will appeal to people either attempting to relive their youth under the guise of the seventies, or those assuming the seventies never ended.

Black Mountain’s playing Bowery Ballroom on February 22, 2008 with Bon Iver.

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New York’s brass outfit Zlatne Uste hosts the annual Golden Festival this weekend, bringing over 50 bands to upper Manhattan in celebration of Balkan brass. The festival starts modestly tonight at The Good Shepherd School from 7:30 PM, resuming the festivities there at 6:00 PM tomorrow, when bands will play three stages till 4 AM. See full schedule.

One of them is Providence’s What Cheer Brigade, who I saw at the center of an enchanted crowd gathered outside the McCarren Pool during last summer’s Man Man show. They will be playing the Auditorium at 3AM. Pictures from that first encounter:

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More inside.

If you missed buying Joanna Newsom tickets, like I did, for her show at BAM with members of Brooklyn Philharmonic, do not despair! Another date has been added the night before: Jan 31 it is, and good seats are still available.

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The lounge area that is now part of Soundfix Records sits cozily past its music collection, and is a venue you want to take advantage of. The intimacy it provides is unlike any other record store’s, since there are tables over which specialty drinks can be had in a laid back atmosphere, away from all the records under bright lights of commerce; and the size of the room itself is just right. Bowerbirds took no more than 15 minutes to set up. After the most basic of sound checks, the acoustics proved its worth as well. Other events may prove otherwise, but the venue was a superb fit for this particular band (while handling my t-shirt purchase, singer Phil Moore said that he had previously been unaware of the store’s existence, but was glad to have discovered it through playing it; on stage he mentioned how good it felt to play a small venue after touring with the Mountain Goats for the past few weeks).

More after the jump.

With their album Hymns for a Dark Horse, Bowerbirds have a solid rock under their feet. Each song is so complete that it is without confusion, and the success of their shows comes from the clarity that allows unfettered commitment in performance. The songs are simple in style, but the whole of their simplicity is filled and lined with content; the lyrics exercise the economy of poetry, and the tunes that carry them fit them perfectly. Even when only Beth and Phil sang some parts, the resultant volume was less a physical product of their voices than of the underlying songwriting itself. In fact, the strength of the entire album is that volume is achieved with the littlest of fuss, and the performances give the same impression, where the band is simply a vessel for this mass, the interpretation of which has long been discovered and documented, and now must simply be relayed with truthfulness.

Being a trio definitely seems to help in achieving that goal, since their music is the kind that asks for a private nurturing in the hands of its own makers (and I hope that with a rise in popularity, they will see no need to tour as a bigger band). Mark Paulson, in any case, who is currently the third member, adds a crucial polish to the core with his help on violin, backup singing and bass drum. Phil and Beth don’t appear to have gotten over the glee of playing their songs – Beth, in fact, always had a smile ready to burst (in some cases I even noticed her suppressing it).

They played without a set list, but the songs were in this order:

My Oldest Memory
Hooves
La Denigracion
Slow Down
Bur Oak
The Marbled Godwit
In Our Talon
Olive Hearts
Dark Horse
The Ticonderoga

Upcoming shows:
THU 10/18/2007 New York, NY Knitting Factory (Force Field PR / Aero Booking CMJ Showcase)
SAT 10/19/2007 New York, NY CMJ Day Stage

Details

Soundfix Records
October 3, 2007

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Release: October 23, 2007 from Dead Oceans

As much as it’s filled with repetitious melodies and lyrics that aren’t the full force of poetry yet, Matthew Houck’s Pride, released under the name Phosphorescent, is a beautiful album. Indeed, the repetitions evoke a sense of containment, which effects a devotion that requires little or no straying. And so the voice stays on course one wistful song after the other, borrowing their solemness from hymns, though tucked away in the background of some are movements more energetic and spontaneous. There is also a successful employment of a choir throughout, which is apt for a project that sounds like it was produced for the singer’s own salvation, and which smooths the sound surrounding his flaking voice.

More after the jump.

Key to the album is a realm in which spirituality and solitude become one and the same, as do selfishness and selflessness, and perhaps God and a lover. Just as religion might blossom when solitude is allowed to bloom, so might the brightest of inspirations. And so the artist must, if he is to save himself through his art, be able to open himself up and gleam in solitude. From the impression Pride eventually radiates, Matthew Houck seems to have done so, perhaps benefiting from his time spent in the south before he moved to Brooklyn.

The lyrics have a particularly minimalist style to them, and the stories they tell by evoking misty images are always interesting. The star of the album is the song “Wolves”. Here the lyrics are pronounced more clearly than elsewhere, which seems reasonable, given it also tells the record’s most intriguing tale – about wolves that have come into the house who mate during the night and won’t make nice, but whose beauty in the light there is to sing about.

New York City dates
11/09/07 Brooklyn, NY – Venue TBA (Todd P show)
11/10/07 New York, NY – Cake Shop