Yo La Tengo

The Kingsbury Manx - Ascenseur Ouvert!

In truth, I've paid little attention to Kingsbury Manx since the splendour of their eponymous debut was swiftly followed by the underwhelming 'Let You Down'.  Allied to this was a show (can't recall exactly where but it may have been Temple Bar Music Centre) which hinted at, but ultimately failed to capture the magic of that debut. 

But they're back with a new record (their fifth) and it sounds like an ideal early summer record. Check out their myspace page here.

Black Postcards - Dean Wareham

Galaxie 500 (also known as 'seminal Boston indie three-piece Galaxie 500') were one of the quieter joys of the late 80's/early 90's American underground. Their all too brief three album career ('On Fire' is an hauntingly beautiful record) had a profound impact upon a generation of American bands right to the present day.

Singer, Dean Wareham, finally got around to penning his memoirs last year wherein he documents the rise and ultimately shabby deterioration of the band. 

'Black Postcards' covers Wareham's career from Galaxie 500, to Luna and, finally, to his present incarnation with Britta Phillips, Dean & Britta (clever eh?). The book is now available in paperback or alternatively you can go to the official site for a signed hardback copy for a measly 25 bucks.

Various Artists - Music inspired by the film 30 Century Man

From seran wrapping all he can to punching a donkey in the streets of Galway, Scott Walker's career has been remarkable given his progression from boy band notoriety to composing a series of albums outdoing each other in their avant-gardism. 2006's documentary '30 Century Man' focuses on the most recent of these - 'The Drift' - dissecting its creation whilst neatly tracing back through Walker's career. 

This then, is not a soundtrack as such - each band choosing tracks from throughout Walker's career. Curiously (and unsurprisingly) few of the acts on here choose to tackle his weightier recent releases. The album is released on April 27th on Lakeshore records. It features Damon & Naomi and Saint Etienne amongst others. 

Animal Collective vs Yeah Yeah Yeahs

What do you get if you cross two of the most inventive and critically acclaimed American bands of late? Er, this abomination actually. You'd genuinely imagine that there's no way Animal Collective remixing 'Zero' could be a bad thing. But you'd be wrong. Monotonous to the point of absurdity. Try harder chaps.

 

Iron and Wine - Around The Well

Ah, Sam Beam - think of him as a Bonnie 'Prince' Billy you would bring home to meet your mother (Will Oldham's much more likely to produce a guitar after dinner and compose a song about fucking the family pet). 

His contribution to the wonderful 'Dark Was The Night' CD apart, Iron and Wine have been in hibernation somewhat of late. But that's all about to change. 'Around the Well' is a 2-CD/3-LP collection of rare and out of print tracks (and no doubt a few that just weren't good enough first time around.)

It's out and in the stores on May 19th. Fans of the band had recently been given the opportunity to vote for the songs they'd most like to hear at 10 upcoming dates in the States. If you'd like to influence the vote, then you're out of luck as voting ended on March 30th. 

Good news though is that there's not one but eight tracks for you to download over on the official site. The band also released a very rare live CD entitled 'Norfolk 6/20/05' on Record Store Day. There are no plans to issue this as an official release. Expect to see it on an ebay near you soon.

God Help The Girl

Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch has been taking time out from his day job of late to put together what he calls a "musical narrative". The result is 'God Help the Girl', an album which will feature Niall Hannon and will hit the Twee streets on June 22nd. The album will be preceded by a single 'Come Monday Night' on May 11th. Expect more vignettes about boys kissing girls behind bicycle sheds and a healthy smattering of Frankie Howerdisms. Titter ye not indeed. There's a free mp3 for download right here (or just listen to it below). Beautiful stuff.

New Sufjan! 'Sofia's Song'

No, not a continuation of his 50 States project. Just a two minute ditty which alludes to Sofia Coppola as his confidante. Listen here.

Jason Lytle (ex-Grandaddy) returns.....

...and gives a track by track account of 'Yours Truly, The Commuter', his new album. Shit, if you thought Grandaddy's melancholia was contrived, have a listen. Lighten up fella. You can listen to a track from the new album here.

Massive Attack @ The Olympia, October 6th

Still tickets available for this one. Quite surprising really.

Bongwater - The Power of Pussy

Rarely mentioned now, Bongwater were responsible for at least one and a half wonderful albums (all of 'Power of Pussy' and half of its follow up 'The Big Sell-Out') in the eary 1990's. Featuring an unlikely alliance of Ann Magnuson, a part-time actress with a penchant for the avant-garde and Kramer, a nerdy record producer, most noted for his work with seminal Boston band Galaxie 500, Bongwater released four albums between 1985 and 1992.
But it was on 1990's 'Power of Pussy' that the duo hit their creative peak. Essentially 17 songs about fucking, its insane range of musical styles and Magnuson's withering lyrical approach resulted in an album that's too often overlooked as novelty.
Bongwater split in 1992. Ann Maguson is still acting and singing. Karmer, fittingly, was recently involved in the James Randi Educational Foundation's 'One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge' which offered a million dollar prize fund to anyone who could demonstrate paranormal ability. Strangely, the money remains unawarded.

Cathal Coughlan (spoken word)

Lurking menacingly on the fringes of the Irish music 'scene' for some 30 years now, Cathal Coughlan has dipped in and out of the public consciousness of late. In truth, this is a state of affairs he is unquestionably more than happy with. 

His most recent album 'Foburg' was formed as part of a specially commissioned piece for Cork's 2005 European city of Culture festivities entitled 'Flannery's Mounted Head'. The album pursues the story of its protagonist Flannery and his travails as he careers headlong into oblivion. 

In the intervening period Coughlan has made various appearances in French musical theatre productions. Conventional he is not. And so it is that he rears his head on these shores again on June 4th. He'll perform a spoken word show (hell, if Henry Rollins can do it) in St. Audeon's Church, Dublin as part of The Fold series of performances. Tickets still available here and more information here.

Doves @ The Olympia, 20th April 2009

It's three years now since Doves released the markedly downbeat 'Some Cities', and yet in spite of this hiatus there's a palpable sense of expectancy prior to the gig tonight. A sold out Olympia crowd sits politely through a support act who betray a studied awareness of Kings of Leon chic but ultimately labour through a soporific set.

That Doves take to the stage to such a sense of euphoria is largely down to the excellence of both their debut 'Lost Souls' but perhaps more pointedly, the world-weary charm of sophomore album 'The Last Broadcast'. Tellingly the band draw heavily from both - 'Pounding' and 'Words' are early highlights. New single 'Kingdom of Rust' works wonderfully live as, in spite of its poignancy, it provokes the first lusty singalong of the evening. It's the new music however which at times fails to ignite - 'The Outsiders' and 'Winter Hill' merely seem like clothes cut from the same cloth.

Yet, by the time they return for the encore, Doves have blown away any such quibbles. 'Caught by the River' and 'There Goes the Fear' shimmer tonight - the latter, in particular, bringing the evening to a cacophonous end.

onfire Event 2

....will be happening soon. Can't say who it will be just yet (as, frankly, I don't know), but it won't either of these. Alas.

Fever Ray

Hard to pin a label on this one. For fans of The Knife - 2006's 'Silent Shout' went largely unheralded. Further proof that the Dreijer siblings (mostly Karin on this) create a wonderfully nightmarish sound.

Song of the Year....the first of many

Perfect. As opening couplets go; "I started out in search of ordinary things, how much of a tree bends in the wind." is pretty much perfect to these ears. Welcome back.

Jim Cain - Bill Callahan

onfire 1 - James Yorkston w/ Chequerboard

Happy 20th birthday Merge

This really is quite lovely.

Sleep All Summer - St. Vincent And The National