Some Bits of News
There’s not been a Big Famous Album reviewed on this site in bloody ages. Partly I’ve become so focussed on what’s going on locally that I have somewhat taken my eye off the ball with regards to bigger releases, even just those which are big relative to the small world of indie music. And partly there have been very few which have tickled my fancy in the slightest for quite a while.
There are some bits and pieces coming along though which suggest that this might change in the immediate future. And about time too, all this navel-gazing is no good for anyone. Look outwards, I say, cast off the Tunnel Vision of the Toad and embrace the wider world. Alright, sorry, but sometimes I get so deeply into my own stuff I do kind of forget that from time to time. So what do we have?
The Twilight Sad: I have a naughty copy of this, to which I am not going to confess, and have only listened to it a few times through. It’s out on the 5th October though and is currently sounding rather promising. I wouldn’t say I was all that into it just yet, but then I only really embraced their last album a song or two at a time, so I am prepared to take it slowly with this one.
The Avett Brothers: Their sound hasn’t changed much, but then it never did, really. Out on the 29th September, the title track from I and Love and You has been slipped out in to the world for us to enjoy and it is full of the exact same understated warmth which I love about this band. I know I am morally obliged to hate them because they are on Columbia these days but if the whole record sounds like this then I may find my indie snobbery very difficult to maintain.
The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
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The Mountain Goats: Alright, I’ll say it: I thought Sunset Tree was their best album abd I have yet to hear anything by this band that I like anything like as much, despite their considerable back catalogue. Heretic Pride was okay, and the new song Genesis 3:23 is also… okay. Not at all bad by any means, but I would not describe it as any better than pleasant. This one’s also out on the 5th October.
The Mountain Goats – Genesis 3:23
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Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs is out on Monday, which somewhat makes up for the fact that they seem to have been a little less generous with preview mp3s than everyone else. But then, with a cast-iron reputation like theirs, why would they need to? This sounds a lot like “…I Will Beat Your Ass” and I would say that I am enjoying it, but am yet to be blown away. There are a few more moody, quiet numbers on this record as well, perhaps a little more in line with the likes of Summer Sun and the like than the previous record was.
Flashy Python: This is a solo project by a certain hand-clapping, yeah-saying gentleman by the name of Alec Ounsworth. He, like Julian Plenti before him, is rather keen to keep his solo project free from associations with his band stuff, and has put the whole album up for preview here. It’s less driven than early CYHSY stuff, and generally a bit more weird, but it sounds pretty interesting to me.
Flashy Python – Skin & Bones
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Micah P. Hinson: This just dropped into my inbox this morning, and I know nothing about it bar two things: firstly, that Micah P. Hinson is fucking amazing; and secondly that the artwork, pictured above, is bloody lovely.
Langhorne Slim: His new album Be Set Free isn’t being released until 26th October, but the new song sounds brilliant. It’s called I Love You, but Goodbye and is a little plusher and more elaborate than his earlier recordings, but unusually, I rather like this. The piano is especially gorgeous – a times eleborate, at times rich and sonorous and at times deft and twinkly. This augurs very well indeed – I am excited.
Langhorne Slim – I Love You, But Goodbye
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It’s about time the big(ger) boys fought back a little, frankly, but it looks like there could be some very promising recordings from some relatively high-profile artists coming our way this Autumn.
The only one I don’t have is the Micah P. Hinson newbie, while the others I haven’t even gotten round to listening to yet, such is the ridiculous amount of releases these past few & coming months.
I’m very ‘cited about the Hinson & Slim, though. Very.
you in crowd types make me smile…..
…..anyway, i’ve heard the Twilight Sad album a few times, and it is really good, and the band seem to have developed their sound on from the first one……still the same MBV approach, but with a lot more depth…..can’t wait to get my minging hands on a copy
The Micah P promo email I got said he’s releasing TWO albums of covers on the same day. As the man sez “Volume one is the quieter, calmer songs, Volume two is much louder and loaded with many more instruments. They’re for different moods, different times; the ups and the downs.” Sounds good to me.
Yup, Micah P. and Langhorne Slim are definitely the two I’m most excited about as well.
i’d leave those 2 out with the rubbish
Tommy Tommy Tommy Tommy Tom Tom. Did you forget to stay at Greenman?
ha ha…..i would’ve loved too…..but the farmer kicked me off the field….such a shame….as i was starting to like the lilting Welsh accent of the sheep!
I was informed last night that the Micah P Hinson album is a covers album. Is that not correct?
Yup- see the Daily Growl’s comment above. I’m really skeptical about covers albums, but I’m still looking forward to his.
Rampant Chutney Consumerism: espousing wrong opinions on the internet since 2005.
and you love it big boy…..
anyway, just cos they are different to yours doesn’t make them wrong…..
But in the case of Micah P Hinson it does Tom.
The Longhorn Slim posted above is fantastic as well. Right up there with Restless which I have now played to death!
i just don’t get it…..maybe it’s just first impressions, saw him play a gig at the venue in Edinburgh with Iron and Wine, both were utter shite…. MPH is/was just bland and painful in my eyes……tho i did get over my prejudices towards Iron and Wine eventually….so maybe there is time for MPH.
Bland???? Dear God almighty, there really is no hope for the boy, is there.
I agree with Matthew’s point – that Micah P. Hinson is bland, and that there really is no hope for him.
When the fellow goes from mental guitar wig-outs to ragtime to classically-backed laments to simple blues in the space of a single album that kind of statement is just nonsense.
Yes, but they could be bland mental guitar wig-outs, bland ragtime, bland classically-backed laments and bland simple blues, couldn’t they?
or they could just be shite!
you’re all wrong. MPH is, in actual fact ‘quite good’…no more, no less.
play nice!
I haven’t heard the MPH stuff, I’m just playing devil’s avocado.
i wish i did like him, cos a lot of people who’s musical opinion i respect love him…..but nah…..he leaves me cold.
Well that’s a whole other matter, but bland is just daft.
Now that Twilight Sad thingy has really and truly crept under my sheets and abused me rather nicely, if in a quiet, violent way. Mmm yes love it now, the morning after xoxo
Good gracious Tart. You just made me turn up my WGBH Classical HD.
You made me turn up my WGBH Classical HD too!
I would have turned mine up, but I’m still in the office.
I dream of turning up my WGBH Classical HD.
Yay! Tart has converted two music lovers to classical. Looks like I’ll be employed for another year! Yay Tart!
Another euphimism I don’t know about? dangit
Ben, I don’t really think that’s what people meant.
Oh, it’s a public radio station.
Famous one…
Oh.. public radio, see? a working-class tramp like me wouldn’t know about such things
I believe my butler listens to public radio, which just goes to show that I haven’t lost the common touch.
You’d like National Public Radio Tart. They play the BBC and are a bunch of beatnik commies like yourself. Well, as close as America gets.
I listen to it all the time. It’s almost like real news.
This Mountain Goats sounds quite different which is good because he tends to ‘one trick pony’ syndrom. Although this song is a bit reminiscent of The Apartment by the Barenaked Ladies
hey mathew, have you heard zipolite machine by mountain goats – my personal fav. i haven’t liked his stuff since he got all serious and the production changed dramatically (but then i havent given it musch of a chance). i liked the hit-the-record-button-on-the-boom-box-and-play style of his early stuff.
Hmm, no I haven’t actually. Sunset Tree has lots going on, but I still really like it, but I’d definitely be interested to hear some scratchier stuff.
I thought you’d had a trawl through The Mountain Goats’ early stuff, Toad?
For years and years, there was nothing but scratchy stuff.
The studio albums don’t come close.
for some reason the mt goats move towards better production corresponded with john’s growing interest in american football. go figure.
Is public radio posh then? Like public schools?
Matthew?
oh you missed the winky face there. yes, I know what NPR is…and I listen to the news there often, it’s the only place to get European news which isn’t as biased toward “democratic progress” (read capitalist expansion projects.)
I just hate/don’t listen to classical music.
Public radio is posh here in the US, Dylan. It doesn’t have commercials and imports news from other countries where people talk with funny accents so as you can’t understand them. So only snobs listen to that station.
Dylan
National Public Radio is a network of publicly funded radio stations around America. They rely on donation from rich (hence posh) people, public funding and sponsorship.
It fulfills the same role in America that the BBC does in Britain (and actually carries BBC news hour in the morning), a non-partisan, independent news organisation. If you live in Britain you may not understand the importance of this but living in the States having a news service that is not openly corporate in it’s loyalties is really vital.
Other than that, they also run several classical music stations (Boston’s is called WGBH) that fund, record and broadcast a lot of classical music. I was listening to same said classical station when Tart started to talk about being violated by the Twilight Sad. It was a bit nauseating so I turned up my WGBH HD up in order to drown out her filth.
In making that stupid comment I started this long arse, pointless, conversation.
For that I am sorry. Sorry to you Matthew for hijacking you blog with this shit.
Oh, hi Tart.
ever notice how the folks on npr will always pronounce spanish words and names with an accent but if they have a story about germany or korea they forego with the accent. and how many times can a story about micro-loans in third world countries be interesting? npr is for the ‘posh’ folks and the overeducated here in america as a way to feel better about themselves – as if listening to meaningful world events makes up for the fact that they live vacuous yuppie lifestyles..
hey ben, do you really believe npr is a non-partisan, independent news organisation? would you agree it has a distinct liberal/progressive bias?
Not unlike reality.
Chris, I have no idea about the rest of their programming, but if they’re importing news from the BBC then you can largely rule it out. The BBC is a lot of things, but a liberal agenda-monkey it is not.
No idea about the rest of the station of course. But bear in mind that the idea of right and left is skewed massively to the right in the US, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, so it might seem lefty to Americans but everyone else in the world might well see the same thing as largely centrist.
Don’t know if anyone mentioned this yet, but the Yo La Tengo album is streaming in full at NPR. http://stereogum.com/archives/stream-the-new-yo-la-tengo_087991.html
Sounds good.
I saw the Twilight Sad hereabouts back in the Spring and they played a couple of the new tunes. It seemed like a bit of a mixed bag to me, but there were a couple that really stood out.
As for the Mountain Goats, how about Tallahassee? That’s a brilliant album I think. And International Small Arms Traffic Blues is a classic tune. Also, I agree with Chris and Gav that his lo-fi records from the 90s, of which there are about 700, are also really really good. That said, his more recent records haven’t done all that much for me.
Oh, and Micah P. Hinson is the second coming of Christ. It makes me feel a lot better to think that Christ is a recovering addict / ex-con from Texas.
Re: The Mountain Goats – I think Tallahassee was the first studio album. Yeah, it’s good (‘No Children’ is a cracker), but the grind of the recording equipment in first decade of their existence is fondly remembered. Plus, and here’s the main thing, the songs were better back then. He was a really good storyteller.
Gav
I think that may have to be my next purchase. Even before the new album.
The Twilight Sad have always been a bit like that though don’t you think C&B. I’m never sure why I like their music as much as I do because at first listen it doesn’t sound like it should be anything special. Bloody fantastic though. I think it’s his voice.
Chris, this morning I listened to a 30 minute special on how Obama has damaged US foreign relations by continuing the practice of hiring ambassadors as political favours to people that have helped him. Yesterday was a statistical analysis of infant mortality rates in the US and the rest of the developed world. So no. When NPR investigate a Republican policy it’s because they are lefties. When they investigate a Democratic one it’s because they are trying to be unbiased.
the ONLY unbiased news organization in america is cspan. watch their morning news program ‘washinton journal’ for awhile and then tell me if npr doesn’t have a progressive bias. just because npr challenges obama a bit doesn’t mean they have reached some kind of impartiality. it and it’s affiliates are populated with graduates of east coast liberal institutions type. ‘this american life’ and ‘the tavis smilely show’ can only be enjoyed if you have that type of education. they chose what news is important and despite its listener support they are a bussiness and know their target audience and that audience is white, middle to upper class, well educated folks who vote democrat – they are not going to displease that audience. cspan, on the other hand gets all its funding from cable companies who leave them to do their thing and is beholden to no one.
Filth, indeed! You naughty office wankers!
Chris, why would NPR pandering to a demographic make them less independent than CSPAN being owned by cable companies?
I don’t know enough about the content of either for this to be a loaded question, but if CSPAN is owned by cable companies then I don’t see how that makes them de facto independent – I’d have thought quite the opposite.
It’s a larger argument about the issue of ‘lack of bias’, which is at best an illusion, and at worst horrifying.
In everything there is bias. Like Chris says, as soon as you choose how much time to spend on each story you are showing bias. I used the word unbiased foolishly because I actually think it is a misappropriated concept.
I will say that I find NPR news fair, I don’t watch the television in the morning so I don’t know anything about CSPAN. The use of phrases like “east coast liberal institutions” borrows language from a rather troubling group of people but as I’ve never met a CSPAN devotee I didn’t like I will assume it was not meant as it usually is by pundits, and simply agree with Chris that “This American Life” is the most pretentious, self-indulgent wank, even if I tend to like a lot of the other programing.
mathew – cspan is not owned by the cable companies – they just fund it and have no say whatsoever in its content. unbiased in cspan’s case means a horribly bland objective (yes objective is a ‘problematic’ word) presentation of issues. when they have guests from opposite positions they must prep them by first stating there will be no rasing of voices whatsoever because it is usually a bland moderator allowing each person to state their position while people call in to comment or ask questions. so usually you get one side then the other – sometimes in the same segment sometimes from different segments. and the guests range from right/left wing-nuts to moderates. not that they don’t get accused of being biased but usually its someone who doesnt watch that often – its funny when they have a righty guest they usually get a couple calls accusing them of being biased towards the right and same thing happens vice-versa when they have a lefty on.
ben – hopefully you dont lump me into those types that usually use left-east coast-intellectuals in that way (i dont think you did) – i do borrow that phrase from those types but don’t think i have the venom…they just irk me at times because i am a product of public schools and state colleges (as you might be able to tell by my grammar and spelling) which tend to be seen as something less by those uppity east coast liberal types.
and the fact that you dislike this american life makes me think we have similar attitudes. – i don’t think npr should be banned or their stations burned…but i do have trouble with the tone and content at times.
oh yeah, you can watch cspan on line – my favorite is washington journal. but i must warn you, it’s only slightly more exciting than watching the grass grow.
I’ll say this about C-Span and then stick my toe/nose out of this whole thing as it’s got way too much to do with my real life job/vocation/ickiness thing.
C-Span is quite often simply the turning on of a camera inside the House of Representatives or Senate floor. Often it consists of recording the presentations of conferences and information panels to government officials and panels. The mornings are given to call in shows where a host will take, in turn, questions and comments from lines devoted to red for conservatives, blue for liberals and some other such line for undecideds on a particular issue or question from which a guest has given a short talk right there in the studio with said host.
C-Span has hours and hours of panel discussions on the latest non-fiction books and it’s Book-TV channel is a wealth of information on US history and the state of literature in the US. It covers (mostly without commentary) all State funerals, most Presidential and Vice-Presidential press conferences, and also gives Americans a view (again without commentary, just cameras running) into the British House of Commons – Prime Minister’s Questions.
The whole idea of C-Span was to give people an unbiased view into the workings of their own government. Yes, unbiased, in the true sense of the word. That’s why there is as little commentary as possible in as much as possible, aside from the talk shows in the morning. The point is to put cameras into meetings and floor debates and briefings and just let them run. When commentary is allowed there is a true effort to give all sides a chance at equal time to have their say. I’ve never seen anything like this on television anywhere else. Let me know if you’ve got this where you are. It is all privately funded as far as I know.
/civicslesson
well said tart!
Yes Tart, from what little I’ve seen that was pretty much what I guessed it worked like.
Prime Minister’s Questions though? Mostly just two packs of adolescents braying insults at one another, from what I’ve seen.
Chris
You don’t sound like someone who would equate intelligent with evil. Nor someone who resents education and believes it corrupts. Hence the line about ‘not finding a CSPAN devotee I didn’t like’.
I’m certainly going to make more time for CSPAN though. Although my American friends tell me the that the Houses of Parliament are much more amusing.
thank you ben.
ive heard a few tracks from the new yo la tengo. not bad. good enough for me to listen to a few more. for awhile there i was convinced yo la tengo was making music specificall y to be palyed in the car while taking your kids to school.
Aye to what C&B said about MPH. The man is definitely the bee’s knees, the dog’s bollocks and the horse’s knob as far as I’m concerned.
Agreed.