Please tell me this is not a hoax.

New Radiohead album in 10 days?!?!
In Rainbows will be out October 10th
Hmm, so no label is behind the release (at least according to the trippy website).
We shall see, we shall see...

Devendra Banhart on Conan

In case you missed it... he wants to be your lover:

Ievan Polkka: greatest song of our generation?

Ievan Polkka, aka Leekspin, is a Finnish folk song performed by the a capella group Loituma. The song is partly sung in traditional Finnish, but the most popular :27 second clip, looped in the meme Leekspin, is freestyle scat-like gibberish singing, which varied at each performance. Here's a video of it:



Ya gotta admit, it's damn catchy! Perhaps too much so. After watching the video repeatedly in a 24-hour period I noticed myself humming it to myself in public places. (I recommend it especially for long lines at the DOL.)

Loituma - Ievan Polkka.mp3
Ievan Polkka Techno Remix.mp3 (one of many, I am sure, and one of the more ridiculous one. probably not what the creators had in mind when they wrote it.)

For the curious, here's a link to the lyrics--in both Finnish and English!

...aaaaand I'm Finnished. ::rim shot::

Feel No Shame for What You Are

Today is a popular day for birthdays... count back about 40 weeks and you'll know why. Here's a cover song for all of you who are alive thanks to a little New Year's Eve nookie on your parents' behalf:

Howie Day - Sweet/New Year's Prayer (Jeff Buckley cover).mp3

Kanye Takes on Feist?!

Kanye West sure has been getting his indie on lately. First he samples Sweden's favorite "Young Folks" Peter, Bjorn and John and now he's taking on iPod cover-girl Feist. The dreamy songstress' "Gatekeeper" is mashed-up into a million little pieces as Twista drops a few rhymes over the melody. Mr. West is of course behind the bizarre production. Check it out here:

And for the five of you haven't yet heard Kanye's take on the ubiquitous PB&J tune here it is:
Young Folks - Kanye West

Another quick cover

A most adorable/heart-breaking duet:
Yeah! Oh Yeah! - John Vanderslice & St. Vincent (Magnetic Fields cover)

"You're the iron. I'm the rust."

Confession: I have an overwhelming tendency to enjoy any indie-pop band that hails from Sweden. Pinto is no exception. Like all good Swedish bands there are sugary boy-girl vocals, peppy handclaps and underlying melancholy lyrics. Think a mellower Peter, Bjorn and John or a less maudlin Jens Lekman. There is especially a self-deprecating charm to "Iron and Rust". When Andreas Magnusson sings "You're the iron, I'm the rust" there's a profound realization of the destructive nature of an almost parasitic relationship. Of course, it's just so snappy and catchy and, umm Swedish, that you barely notice. This is really good stuff.

Iron and Rust - Pinto
Here Comes the Love (Can You Show Me A Way Out?) - Pinto

The Mountain Goats @ North Star Bar, Philadephia, PA 9/22/07

The Mountain Goats looked as good as they sounded last Saturday during their show at Philadelphia's intimate North Star Bar. John Darnielle and Peter Hughes appeared ultra-dapper, dressed in their finest suits. As amazing as they looked, however not even Peter's spiffy Etro vest could distract the audience from the music -a set of 18 career-spanning tunes, including "In the Craters on the Moon" and "September 15, 1983" which are set to appear on the band's new album due for an early 2008 release.

Of course the physical setlist (see photo below) itself was barely of relevance, as JD himself expressed out-right disdain for it. Several songs listed were impromptu-ly swapped for others -"Up the Wolves", "Jenny" and "Southwood Plantation Road" among them. (When you have to decide from a body of work that encompasses 15 years and 500 songs, can you really blame the guy?) In typical tMG fashion, there were the sing-along classics such as "This Year" and "Cubs in Five". Of course they rocked, but they also served a greater purpose which is to say they highlight the quieter numbers' haunting and hypnotic nature when schizophrenically juxtaposed with them. The arresting "Shadow Song" nearly had John speaking in tongues. The crowd was united in awe and reverence. Based on the experiences of June and myself, I am essentially convinced tMG fans are the antithesis of Bright Eyes fans. And that is indeed a very good thing.
On both a musical and personal note, the entire evening worked out just right. Being the second person on line to enter the venue (My friend Tom was first), staking out and defending front row center spots and even getting to chat beforehand with a pre-suited up Peter Hughes in the bar. As corny as it may sound, it is also very true: tMG are not only great musicians, but great people. All of which made the three hours of commuting to Philly beyond worth it. The only sad part is I have to wait until next Monday, an entire week, to see it all over again.

F-Troop

Say what you want about memes; I cannot resist any that request the posting of music. Here are 10 great songs that start with the letter F:

1. Frontier Psychaitrist - The Avalanches.mp3
2. Fire Water Burn - Bloodhound Gang.mp3 (I love the Pixies reference)
3. Fight Test - The Flaming Lips.mp3
4. Float On - Modest Mouse.mp3
5. First of the Gang to Die - Morrisey.mp3
6. Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead.mp3
7. For Once in My Life - Stevie Wonder.mp3 (Dare to say you don't like this song and I FITE U)
8. For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti - Sufjan Stevens.mp3
9. Fuck Her Gently - Tenacious D.mp3 (that's fuckin' teamwork!)
10. Father Lucifer - Tori Amos.mp3

Mission Accomplished

A few weeks ago I was supposed to see Oliver Future in NY, but through a series of unfortunate events, I was unable to. How soul-crushing! Fortunately, I was able to give their guitarist/lead singer Noah Lit a jingle the other day intending to chat about their music. We also talked about strangling, politics in music and how to find a good BBQ joint in Austin:

What's it feel like to be back in Austin, as opposed to LA?
Austin is our old hometown; our new town is LA.

Why did you move?
Everything just aligned. We decided to do something bold. The timing was right. The label paid for the first three months, and we ended up staying. We all live together now in a house in Echo Park, in a rad neighborhood.

Wait, you all live together? And you work together? How do you keep from strangling each other?
We do strangle each other! Everyone strangles each other once a night. It's a good tension releaser. You've got to have that. Hah, sorry, I've had a lot of coffee today.

That makes two of us! So you're strangling each other. How'd you get together in the first place then?
Jess & I played together a while ago, and we decided to take it on our own terms. Sam is from Fort Worth. He was the drummer for our first high school band. He traded it for a guitar. I put a keyboard in front of [my brother] Josh and said, "Here, learn this!" And he did! He picked it up amazingly fast. I was so impressed.

We had this drummer at the time...he was OK. We were playing a show and this guy [Jordan] comes up to us afterwards and says, "Uh, I can do better than that. Can I come over and just jam with you guys?" So he did the next day and we were just jamming together and it worked out really well.

So, you're living in Texas right now... but there's so many political songs on the album... how does that, ah, mesh? I mean, are there political motivations in your lyrics?
You know, Austin is a blue dot in the middle of a red state. It's a really civic-minded city. There's UT-Austin. We have some radical professors. And politics seem so trendy right now. While others theorize of political takeovers, we live it. Our politics speak for themselves. You can trust us; we're reporting from the belly of the beast.

I guess what I'm asking here is about your songwriting process. How do you write your stuff?
There's the emo thing. It's so selfish. We had this one review that said our music was too trendy. "Love and loss is timeless," he said, "write more of that. That's what people want to hear. Politics are a fad."

...But ironically, there is a lot of love and loss on the album...
There is, and I don't want to dissuade people from writing it. But you can write about politics. You don't need to be Rage Against The Machine to be political--even though they're great, and we need that. There's plenty going on. There are so many things to write about. You can be a little more metaphorcal. We wrote "Drowning Parade" exactly one year to the day after Katrina hit, but that's wasn't the point. You'll have to excuse me if you hear some other noises. We're getting into the car and getting some lunch.

Oh? What kind?
Barbecue!

Where are you going? Can you recommend a good place?
No, we're going somewhere new. I'm not sure what it's called. It's about culinary excitement here.



Ah. So, one of the things I noticed about this album is that it's so cohesive-sounding. Did you intend to write an album like that, or...?
Yes, we did! We just thought we were going to do it the way they used to: not just a collection of songs you slap together, but an album. We did that and afterward people were all, "Whoa, you wrote a *record!* A RECORD-record, like Abbey Road!" And we'd say, "Yeah, isn't that what we were supposed to do?" People are so shocked by it. It's so different these days.

What's your favorite song on the album, or that you're playing live right now?
Ah, it's so hard to say. We used to do a cover of [Faith No More's] "Easy Like Sunday Morning." Really, it's more like, there's a part of every song that I just go, "Oh man, this is my favorite part of the whole album!" There are so many great parts like that. But I really can't pick songs.

Any other covers?
We've gotten lazy about covers. We used to do "A Day in The Life" but not anymore. It was really challenging to try and take that whole orchestral song and just play it with us 5 guys.

But you did it?
We did!

What's next on your tour plans? I guess, to be selfish, I'm curious the next time you might come though the Northwest...
Definately! We're finishing up a tour here in Texas, and then heading home. We'd like to go up north. We went to Sacramento recently...

That's too far south!
...Yeah, we'd like to hit up some places up there. Maybe by November, or December. The holidays kind of kill tours, you notice that? You either got to do it between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or before Thanksgiving. But soon.

Pax Futura is out now.

"Hang on to your dreams till someone beats them out of you."

John Darnielle just officially released "From T & G" in the Mountain Goat forums. However, before listening JD insists you accept the following disclaimer:

"DEAR JOHN D.,
I want a copy of the version of "From TG&Y" (which you have also called "For TG&Y" at various points, omg which one is correct) that you and Peter recorded at Electrical with John Congleton last fall. I understand that by accepting this file, I agree not to be El Gran Señor Intenet Douchebag, saying on various forums or LJ comments threads how this song ought to have been on the next album instead of whatever other song I have blindfoldedly singled out, it being quite clear that this song's theme is rather more in line with the Sunset Tree.
I understand that you would not be the guy to just shove a Sunset Tree style song onto another album, since that would be so lame. I agree that the terms of this agreement are reasonable and awesome, and that they apply to me whether I grabbed the song directly from these forums or from some other source, and hereby state that I agree to them whether I have read them or not.
Yours most sincerely,
[signature of recipient]"

Got that guys? No quarreling in the comments. Good. Now enjoy.
From T & G - The Mountain Goats

And while you're at it, check out the cover story for this week's Washington Post entertainment supplement. "Express." Catch tMG in a town near you, as they kick off a tour of the Northeast U.S. today:

September
20 - Washington, DC, the Black Cat
21 - Baltimore, MD, Sonar
22 - Philadelphia PA, Northstar Bar
24 - Buffalo, NY, Buffalo Icon
25 - Toronto, ON, Lee's Palace
27 - Pittsburgh, PA, Rex Theatre
29 - Northampton, MA, Pearl Street
30 - Boston, MA, Middle East Underground

October
1 - New York, NY, the Bowery Ballroom
2 - Brooklyn NY, Studio B
30 - Milwaukee, WI, Pabst Theater

November
2 - Grinnell, IA, Gardner Lounge
3 - Omaha, NE, Slowdown
5 - Aspen, CO, Belly Up
6 - Denver, CO, Hi-Dive
8 - Lawrence, KS, Jackpot Saloon
9 - Columbia, MO, Mojo's
10 - St. Louis, MO, Biliken Club (St. Louis University)
11 - Springfield, MO, Randy Bacon Studio & Gallery
14 - Urbana, IL, Canopy Club
15 - Chicago, IL, the Empty Bottle

Dear Bright Eyes, Please Save Me From Your Fans, Or, Conor Oberst Gave Me His Cold

I was in NY with Jess the past two weeks, spending most of the time complaining about how great bands--or, really, all bands--always pass Olympia up. The day I get back home I hear from my catsitter that Bright Eyes is performing that night here in Oly.
What?
Really??

I'll spare you the gruesome details of trying to get tickets. I got in the door just before 8, sporting my I Hate Children frock and already scowling when I realized this was an all-ages show. "All Ages" meaning, of course, "15-20."

I maneuvered my way up front, surrounded on all sides by squeaky high school girls. It was virtually a total clambake* up there. Kimya Dawson was up first. The K-recs star and Oly native twittered through several songs about farts and drinking, and mentioned hanging out at the Co-Op several times. (Sorry, I'm just not a Kimya fan.)

She was followed by the unimpressive Nik Freitas. The crowd was politely quiet, perhaps too much so. Between songs, I was thinking I'd been to livlier funerals. Things didn't pick up much until Bright Eyes joined Nik for a final song which woke the crowd up.

Sometime after 9:30 Bright Eyes came on, and the mass of people crowded tightly rushed the stage, creating an uncomfortable sardine/mosh pit situation. There were guys with cameras begging the people up front to get closer ("I'll, like, put my soul in a little jar for you!") and other guys without cameras simply begging, met with rude replies ("No way man, I waited in line for 7 hours, there's no way you're getting up here!")

Conor was noticibly beginning to pause between songs to listen to all this. He finally broke tension with "Hey you guys, be nice to each other. You're giving me flashbacks of high school." And, later: "You know, it's not like at home. We can hear everything you guys are saying up here."



The crowd pathetically panned the indie superstar regardless, with multiple thanks for coming to Oly, and other desperate Oly shoutouts: "How do you like it here on Olympia, Conor?" "Hey Conor, are you drinking Olympia beer?"

Wow, people. Just wow. See, this is where I should be talking about the music and how awesome the setlist was, and how hard they rocked, but really, It was one of the best shows I'd seen simultaneously occurring on one of the worst settings I'd been to. The crowd was almost too distracting to really enjoy the show, which was a tragedy.

At one point the crowd wave had thrown me so far forward I found myself almost flopped up on stage. I was grabbing onto something for support, realizing a moment later it was Conor's cowboy-boot-clad foot. Whoops. As Jess said, "between that and Andrew Bird's socks, we're pretty much covered the indie foot fetish market."

Perhaps now I know why artists don't come here more often: we're so excited we wet ourselves and then throw ourselves at the feet of whomever we're seeing en masse. Imagine a large, urine-soaked throng of girls who all resemble that one girl on American Idol who was crying for Sanjaya. Yeeeeech.

In addition, it was obvious Conor was suffering a pretty bad cold. Throughout the set, he alternated swigs of Tecate (always a wise choice when you're ill), honey, and that throat spray stuff. Now, I've never seen Bright Eyes before, so perhaps he's just a particularly phlegm-y singer, but one or two people actually told him he'd spit into their mouths. Probably an exaggeration, but I'd safely venture that most in the first row or two in front on him were covered with a thin slime by the end of the night (self included).

Again, yeeech. What that supposed to be a brag? Seriously, fellow Olympians, you're making the rest of us look bad here. And don't even get me started on the girls who were hitting on the slide guitarist the entire time.

Horrifically distracting crowd aside, the show rocked too much for one hand. The untitled new song they cranked out at the end had everyone worth their rocksalt headbanging and jumping like it was Nirvana. I guess, in our own way, it really was a kind of Nirvana. The last song, especially.

Three Imaginary Girls even caught video of it at the Spokane show:


At least I got the setlist. Now where is my honey and throat spray...?

*Clambake = all-female group. The opposite of a Sausage Fest.

Pan-da Pan-da Pan-da pan-Rebus!

Leave it to June to come up with a lyrical rebus to Deerhoof's should-be-classic tune "Panda Panda Panda." The angular guitars, the girly vocals, the kindergarten lyrics, what's not to love?

We like!

Panda Panda Panda - Deerhoof

The quirky, panda-loving trio is offering up an album's worth of previously unreleased material on their website for free, legal download. Get it while it's hot!

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Way before the Dap-Kings were backing Amy Winehouse, they were sharing the stage with Sharon Jones, a former prison guard at Riker's Island, who in a perfect world would be R&B's reigning queen. With a voice that's bold, sassy and funky as hell it's hard to believe she's over 50?! years old. And that's to say nothing of her awesome accompanists -who are as brassy and brilliant as always. Her upcoming album 100 Days, 100 Nights is due out October 2nd and is probably the best record Motown never released. Amy Winehouse ain't got nothing on her.

100 Days, 100 Nights - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Tell Me - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

"Certain songs, they get so scratched into our souls..."

It's always fascinating to hear your favorite songwriters discuss the writing process, especially when that writer writes gritty stories of druggy adolescent angst with impeccable narrative structure and novelistic detail. Last Thursday I had the pleasure of watching an interview with the The Hold Steady's Craig Finn at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, New York, alongside Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. While at first glance an African novelist and an American rocker might not seem to have that much in common, however, it soon became apparent that both writers had to leave home in order to write more clearly about it. It's also worth noting that puberty's a bitch regardless of geographic location.

During the chat, Finn explained how writing a song is like completing a crossword puzzle. Once you get the long answer down the middle, all the shorter, peripheral answers easily fall into place. He also recalled how he taped that now infamous Kerouac line to his wall ("boys and girls in America have such a sad time together") and how he referred to it every time he suffered writer's block. He followed the conversation up with acoustic renditions of "Certain Songs" and "Arms and Hearts", an outtake that never made the final version of last year's fantastic Boys and Girls in America.

Certain Songs - The Hold Steady

the Good Grief

Music critics like to use (and/or make-up) somewhat pretentious words to describe artists 98% of the world's population have never heard of (shoegaze, twee-core, anyone?) Well allow me to add "riot-girly" to your musical lexicon, as it seems the most apt way to characterize the Santa Cruz trio of Dan, Dylan and Alisha, aka the Good Grief (or at least the songs that feature Alisha's vocals).

"Mannequin" is fine example of this genre hybrid. It's features angular, post-punk riffage, a driving rhythm section and vocals reminiscent of a sweeter Karen O or Sleater-Kinney. Yet it's also one big blast of accessible power-pop with a memorable chorus and infectious beat. And the best news is most of their self-titled 5 song EP follows in much the same vein.

Mannequin - the Good Grief
Check out their myspace page

A quick cover...

Sure, Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" has been covered one too many times. However, Patrick Wolf's rendition is just so lovely. It might not be as transformative/heart-attack inducing as the Futureheads version, but it's pretty damn good.

"I wrote all the right things for you."

I'm having a hard time describing Tim Williams. Sure, I could tell you that he's a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter. But there are so many of those. And most of them are mediocre and generic at best . And you see, Tim Williams is not.

Take the standout track "Novel". It's is one hell of a song. Simultaneously crisp and sparkling, yet urgent and yearning in its pounding acoustic intensity. I hate to use cliche adjectives like "haunting" and "passionate" to describe Tim's music, except in his case's there's really nothing cliche about it.

Mark your calendar's for October 2nd. That's when his debut album When Work Is Done drops.
Novel - Tim Williams

"The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend too."

Yesterday June and I (along with her husband/ chauffeur Adam)spent 10 hours road-tripping/getting lost, as we ventured through the great, autumnal Northeast- most notably Vermont.
The Magnetic Fields know what we went through - although Stephin Merritt didn't have to stop at a hospital to ask for directions.
Long Vermont Roads - The Magnetic Fields

Music: It's so overrated

According to Pitchfork according to the onion

Take this choice paragraph: "Schreiber's semi-favorable review, which begins in earnest after a six-paragraph preamble comprising a long list of baroquely rendered, seemingly unrelated anecdotes peppered with obscure references, summarizes music as a 'solid but uninspired effort.'"

VK will return later today with actual music, a medium, which contrary to hipster belief, is actually pretty damn good.

Peter Bjorn and John Post

After seeing Peter Bjorn and John live last night (with fellow VK cohort June!) at New York's Roseland Ballroom, I became convinced that they were the most meta-literal band ever. The bass drum read "Peter Bjorn and John Bass Drum". The curtain behind them read, "Peter Bjorn and John Backdrop". And just in case you were wondering, the t-shirts at the merch table read "Peter Bjorn and John T-Shirt".

But beyond the obvious stage labeling, PB&J rocked. And I mean rocked. "Objects of My Affection" and "The Chills" became electrified, shoegaze-y anthems. Oh and that song with the whistling, yeah they obligatorily played "Young Folks" too. With Miss Nicole Atkins supplying the coy, female vocals.

Here's an older PB&J song off 2005's Falling Out
Far Away, By My Side - Peter Bjorn and John
Thanks to Tara for the photos.

The Sign...With Hand Signals!

You've heard the Mountain Goats' cover of "The Sign". But have you SEEN the Mountain Goats cover of "The Sign"? The coordinated hand signals are priceless.

New Beirut

Indie wunderkind Zach Condon, aka Beirut is at it again. His upcoming album The Flying Club Cup is filled with the lush, gypsy-aping orchestrations of his debut Gulag Orkestar, and yet it feels somewhat different, sounding more Parisian than Balkan. But of course it's neither. Just a boy from New Mexico transplanted in Brooklyn dreaming up lovely European melodies that never existed.

Can't wait till October 9th? Here's a sneak leak.

In The Mausoleum - Beirut
The Penalty - Beirut

A Real Man's Bass.

He caresses his double bass like he's Andrew Bird and it's a violin. He lifts and drops his voice like he's Alec Ounsworth and it's time to record a new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album. He sits back and watches as his songs twist and dance and undulate in directions unexpected like he's Nat Baldwin, and that's probably because he is Nat Baldwin.

Within Walls, from Enter the Winter.
Wake Up It's Time To Rise, from Lights Out.

Orange Ball of Hate

All to often an album you've anticipating for months does not live up to the lofty expectations you had for it. Less often an album you've been anticipating for months does live up to the lofty expectations you had for it. But do you know what almost never happens, (to me, anyway)? An album you were sure, totoaly, completely certain that you would have turns out, against all odds, to inspire quite the opposite reaction inside of you. I can only think of two albums that have done this to me, and I'm going to tell you about them.

CoCoRosie : The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

I've been making a consious effort to change, but the truth is I am not a huge fan of female vocalists. I can list the female artists I truly love in one breath, and one thing they have in common is strong voices. Strong, mature voices. I'm talking Janis Joplin, Mama Cass, Martha Wainwright. I like my female singers to sing good, solid songs. Nothing experimental please. Weird, quirky voices, something I embrace and actively seek out in male artists, I can not stand in female. Joanna Newsom? Can't stomach it. Yoko Ono? I'd rather not.

Enter CocoRosie. They sound like Joanna Newsom imitating Yoko Ono. Or Yoko Ono imitating Joanna Newsom. Experimental, odd, quirky, downright fucking weird. All descriptions fit the two sisters nicely. I knew I would hate their latest album, just as I had their previous ones. Even a glowing plug from John Darnielle didn't make me doubt this.

Then a misclick while browsing in emusic had me downloading 'Ghosthorse and Stillborn' instead of some Of Montreal. Oh, I was pissed. 12 precious downloads, wasted! Or so I thought. Expecting to turn it off after only minutes, I stuck the album into itunes and hit play.

I did not turn it off after a few minutes. I did not turn it off at all. I played it through once, then twice, and then a third time.

I liked the damn album. No, I loved it. And no one, believe me, was more shocked than me by that fact.

What does it sound like? It sounds like pop album. A pop album raised by two loving pop parents, that went to a good pop school, that got top marks in all of its oppy classes. A pop album that fell in with a bad crowd, made some new, exciting friends, and ran away from home to live in a warehouse with a bunch of misfits in New York. The pop is there. But it is draped with coloured shawls of so many others sounds and ideas that at times it is almost invisable. At times it sounds like gospel, at others like a gothic lullabye. Completely unpredictable, even after multiple hearings. I sometimes thing the album warps and changes everytime I look away.

Japan
Animals


So what's the other album that I should have hated but did not? This one:

The Beatles : Love

Now let's be clear, I do not hate the Beatles. I don't care how cliche it us, they were my first musical love, and I love them still. I have a tattoo of John on my shoulder, and I cried for days when George died. And this is why I was so sure I would hate that album. Some guy getting his dirty fingerprints all over my beloved songs? (Ok, so George Martin's son is hardly "some guy," but I was not in a rational frame of mind when I first heard of this album). Remixing the Beatles? Blasphemy! Never before have I been so certain in my hate.

By now I'm sure you know what is coming. I listened to the album. And I did not hate it. Not one little bit.

This is an album to remind you of why you loved the Beatles in the first place. You hear the songs so often, it's easy to forget how stunning they are. But when you unexpectedly hear the Penny Lane trumpet refrain on the tail end of Get Back, or when the opening notes of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds start pulsing in and out like a heart beat, or when the music suddenly cuts out Hey Jude and the 'na na nas' come a glourious acappela, or when Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite decends into I Want You (She's So Heavy) and it sounds like what you image the end of the worlds would sounds like, or when the persistent Tomorrow Never Knows beat drives Within You Without You.... Ah. Then, you remember why you love the Beatles so god damned much.

Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite
Within You Without You

Donny Hue and The Colors

Here at VK we get lots of music recommendations from readers, artists, publicists and the like. Sometimes we like them. Sometimes we don't. And sometimes we're all-together floored (in a jaw-dropping good way). I'm beyond pleased to say that Donny Hue And The Colors fit into the latter category.

The Brooklyn-based band's latest album Folkmote is an awesomely cohesive psych-folk romp. It exists in a universe where "flowerbirds" flit across fragments of mountains, while autoharps and "piano dreams" soundtrack their flight. The band's rootsy, rollicking aesthetic is simultaneously lovely, scrappy and at times transcendent. So few established bands, let alone up-and-coming ones could title a song "-", which features a nearly four minute long instrumental intro and not sound pretentious or meandering.

So these guys have got the "epic" thing down, but that's not to say the album is without snappy three minute pop songs - there are plenty of those, most notably "Real Long Time". In other words think of Donny Hue as a more accessible Neutral Milk Hotel, or a trippier Okkervil River. Except you'd still be off. And that is indeed a good thing.
Mountain Piece - Donny Hue And The Colors
Gone are the days of delusion
Gone are those days so far behind
Would you believe they're not all mine
(Just wait til the 1:34 mark, that's when the song really takes off)

Stream more songs on their myspace page

Saturday Songs

Ok, so there are literally dozens of songs written about Saturdays. Here are a smattering of our favorites:
Saturday Waits - Loney, Dear
A dreamy track by Sub Pop's latest Swedish signees.

Finch on Saturday - Horse Feathers
A rootsy and folksy, string-laden affair off one of last year's most overlooked albums Words Are Dead

Saturday Night Didn't Happen - Reparta and the Delrons
Classic 60s girl group song, which is way darker and melodramatic than the rest of the pack. Forger about wall of sound, this is sound of a wall of denial.

What I Do On A Saturday - Steve Burns
"I'm just a boring example of everybody else" sings Steve, you know the dude who used to host Blue's Clues. Well he got a some help from his friends, a little group called the Flaming Lips and put out a pretty damn good album.

Saturday - Yo La Tengo
Kinda spooky, atmospheric song from the veteran indie rocksters

(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night - Tom Waits
Old-school Waits. Meant for wandering and drinking alone.