Video: 'Black Smoke' - Tindersticks

Falling Down A Mountain is out now.

Stream: 'Tomorrow In A Year' - The Knife

Tracklist:
CD 1
01. Intro
02. Epochs
03. Geology
04. Upheaved
05. Minerals
06. Ebb Tide Explorer
07. Variation of Birds
08. Letter to Henslow
09. Schoal Swarm Orchestra
CD 2
01. Annie’s Box
02. Tumult
03. Colouring of Pigeons
04. Seeds
05. Tomorrow in a Year
06. The Height of Summer
Bonus track
07. Annie's Box (alt. vocal)

Video: 'The High Road' - Broken Bells

Broken Bells = Danger Mouse (50% of Gnarls Barkley) + James Mercer (20% of The Shins)

The High Road

Broken Bells | MySpace Music Videos

And the Oscar for best acceptance speech goes to......

......this is fucking priceless.

'Quarantine The Past' tracklisting decided

Matador had been running a competition for folk who wished to hazard a guess at the tracklisting of Pavement's upcoming 'Best of', and now that the tracklisting's been revealed let the arguments begin.......
1. Gold Soundz (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
2. Frontwards (WATERY, DOMESTIC EP)
3. Mellow Jazz Docent (PERFECT SOUND FOREVER EP)
4. Stereo (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
5. In The Mouth A Desert (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
6. Two States (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
7. Cut Your Hair (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
8. Shady Lane / J Vs. S (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
9. Here (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
10. Unfair (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
11. Grounded (WOWEE ZOWEE)
12. Summer Babe (Winter Version) (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
13. Range Life (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
14. Date w/ IKEA (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
15. Debris Slide (PERFECT SOUND FOREVER EP)
16. Shoot The Singer (1 Sick Verse) (WATERY, DOMESTIC EP)
17. Spit On A Stranger (TERROR TWILIGHT)
18. Heaven Is a Truck (CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN)
19. Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17 (SLANTED & ENCHANTED)
20. Embassy Row (BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS)
21. Box Elder (SLAY TRACKS 1933-1969 EP)
22. Unseen Power Of The Picket Fence (NO ALTERNATIVE COMP)
23. Fight This Generation (WOWEE ZOWEE)

Hmmm, not much to argue with there at first glance, yet......and yes, let's be anal and fannish about this....no Rattled By The Rush, Silence Kit, Father To A Sister Of Thought, Texas Never Whispers and, Jesus wept, no Loretta's Scars? That said, condensing this band's genius into a 23 track retrospective is both impossible and unnecessary given that they've reissued almost all of their back catalogue by now with the exception of Terror Twilight (this reissue is to follow soon) which, curiously enough, offers but one track to 'Quarantine The Past'. Anyway, here's some of the runts of the Pavement litter.....

Port O'Brien Daytrotter Session

Four choice cuts from last year's wonderful Threadbare available for download over on Daytrotter now.
mp3: My Will Is Good (Daytrotter Session)

The National return

It may have no title yet but The National are set to release the follow up to 2007's Boxer this coming May on 4AD Records. The National remain one of those rare bands who seem to exist beyond cliques, movements or scenes - something they share in common with, say, Yo La Tengo. Singer, Matt Berninger - every inch the anti-frontman - locates seaminess in even the most mundane circumstances. There's something ridiculously out of beat about The National which makes them all the more endearing, whether that's Berninger's flat vocal style against the band's vaguely anthemic sound or the drums which sound a little off, yet fit the sound perfectly.

The Low Anthem: Tiny Desk Concert

Creators of last year's occasionally wonderful Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, here's The Low Anthem in session on the always wonderful NPR. Clearly the band have a following here as their upcoming gig on February 8th has been moved from Whelan's to Vicar Street. Tickets still available here.

Setlist

Ghost Woman Blues

This God Damn House

To the Ghosts Who Write History Books

Jonsi on WNYC

Jonsi - he of Sigur Ros and Jonsi and Alex/Riceboy Sleeps fame - releases his debut solo album (if Julians Casablancas and, er, Plenti have enough to say over the course of ten or so songs, Jonsi should feel fully entitled to have a crack at it) on March 22nd. There will be a tour to follow. The world of solo albums is littered with ruin - I recall a spectacularly feeble effort from The Boo Radley's frontman, Sice, back at the peak of their ephemeral flirtation with fame. It's unlikely this will follow suit - here's some acoustic tracks from 'Go'.

Watch live streaming video from aplive at livestream.com

Spoon on KCRW

New album 'Transference' out now.

'VCR' - The xx

The XX VCR from EJiN Kim on Vimeo.

'The Sleeping Red Wolves' - Sufjan Stevens

So here's one that slipped by. Sufjan's BQE emerged late last year without much mention of this track which features on the DVD of same. Unheralded it may be as yet, it's a perfectly formed song reminiscent of 'Majesty Snowbird.'
mp3: 'The Sleeping Red Wolves'

Stream: 'There Is Love In You' - Four Tet

Out next week. Streaming now. Via fourtet.net
There Is Love In You by Four Tet

Upside Down - The story of Creation Records

Way, way before Oasis existed, Creation Records, for almost a decade, was the most important UK based record label. For instance, in 1991 Creation were responsible for the release of Loveless and Screamadelica, two records which closed the book on the 1980's and defined a decade still in its infancy. It was a label driven as much by Alan McGee's hubris as it was the breathtaking array of seminal bands he assembled. At various stages the label was home to Primal Scream, The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, The Boo Radleys, Felt, The House of Love, Teenage Fanclub and, er, 3 Colours Red.

'2' - Retribution Gospel Choir

What else would you call a sophomore album but 2? From the man who spends most of his time in Low with his wife, comes the new RGC album - basically an excuse for Alan Sparhawk to indulge his rock tendencies. He's done this before with Low on The Great Destroyer (which the band will perform in full at this year's Primavera Sound in Barecelona) with mixed results. Regardless the band's new record is out on January 26th. You can stream some tracks here.

'Die Stadt Muzikanten' - Woodpigeon

Following on from last year's well received Treasure Library Canada, Woodpigeon return with - I'm not typing it again - their third album. For fans of the genre known as lush orchestral folk, perhaps.

Choice Music Prize 2009 shortlist

Drab, drab, drab. Here are the runners and riders for the annual backslapathon that is the Choice Music Prize. Few, if any, surprises there. Nice to see Adrian Crowley get a mention though. If, as I suspect, the Choice Music Prize sets itself up as a hipper alternative to the Meteor Awards, it begs the question why they play it so safe with the nominations. Or perhaps this is the music scene in Ireland right now, and if that's the case and The Duckworth Lewis Method's novelty pop is representative of where we're at right now, why bother celebrating mediocrity? I don't understand the nomination process - perhaps it's not too dissimilar to the UK's Mercury Prize equivalent - but there's a glaring absence in the list where Hunter-Gatherer's record should be. Perhaps it was released too late to make the shortlist, but I'd like to think that record was representative of where we can go or at least aim for in 2010.
EDIT: Just been doing some digging on the eligibility of records for nomination which revealed the following criteria for inclusion.....

In order to be considered for the Choice Music Prize a release must meet all of the following conditions:

1. All albums must have been released for the very first time in Ireland in the previous calendar year. This means that the album must have been made available for purchase by the general public (in shops, at gigs or on websites) for the very first time in Ireland (i.e. Republic of Ireland and/or Northern Ireland) between 1 January and 31 December of that year.
2. Re-issues, multi-artist compilations, live albums and Best Of collections are not eligible
3. The albums can be from any genre imaginable
4. The artist(s) in question must have been born in Ireland (i.e. Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland) and/or hold an Irish passport. Bands are eligible to be nominated if the majority of the band members were born in Ireland (i.e. Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland) and/or hold an Irish passport.
5. For the purposes of the Choice Music Prize, an album must contain six or more tracks and/or be over 33 1/3 minutes in length (33 minutes and 20 seconds).

There is no formal application process for the Choice Music Prize. Once an album meets the above criteria, it is eligible to be considered by the judges for selection.

Ultimately, this means that Hunter-Gatherer's record was up for selection but ignored. Jesus wept. Here we are then, the 10 acts who best represented Irish music in 1989, er 2009.........

And So I Watch You From Afar “And So I Watch You From Afar” (Smalltown America)
Bell X1 “Blue Lights On The Runway” (BellyUp)
Codes “Trees Dream in Algebra” (EMI)
Adrian Crowley “Season of the Sparks” (Chemikal Underground)
Dark Room Notes “We Love You Dark Matter” (Gonzo)
The Duckworth Lewis Method “The Duckworth Lewis Method” (1969/Divine Comedy Records)
Julie Feeney “Pages” (Mittens)
Valerie Francis “Slow Dynamo” (VF)
Laura Izibor “Let The Truth Be Told” (Atlantic)
The Swell Season “Strict Joy” (Plateau)

'Oversteps' - new Autechre album on the way

'Oversteps' will be released on March 22nd on Warp Records.

Tracklisting:
1. r ess
2. ilanders
3. known(1)
4. pt2ph8
5. qplay
6. see on see
7. Treale
8. os veix3
9. O=0
10. d-sho qub
11. st epreo
12. redfall
13. krYlon
14. Yuop

Review: 'Falling Down A Mountain' - Tindersticks

Given their seemingly acrimonious dissolution after the release of Waiting For The Moon back in 2003, it was suggested that Tindersticks had perhaps exhausted their unique - some would say limited - sound and the time was right for them to fade away quietly.
Two solo records by front man Stuart Staples - including the quite lovely Leaving Songs - seemed to confirm the sense that the band's end was indeed terminal. Then, from nowhere in 2008, it was announced that the band had been rehearsing, recording and, lo and behold, finished an album; the magnificent The Hungry Saw. And suddenly it felt as if the band had never been away.
In many ways they hadn't, and if The Hungry Saw was the record which confirmed there was life left in the band, Falling Down A Mountain seems like one long celebration of this fact.
The Hungry Saw may have sounded like a record that had taken the band 5 years to make, Falling Down A Mountain, however, is Saw's cheeky younger brother - a breezy rush through Tindersticks' musical pallette which casually affirms the band's reinvigoration.
There's a looseness, a frivolity even, about the opening track which sets the tone for the rest of the record. Over 6 minutes in length, 'Falling Down A Mountain' sounds almost like a rehearsal, a sound-check of the band's disparate contributions which barely align themselves to Staples' muted vocal, or, more pertinently, Terry Edwards' caterwauling trumpet around which the song is constructed. And yet it all sounds utterly like Tindersticks should in 2010.
If 'Keep You Beautiful' revisits more familiar Tindersticks terrain, 'Harmony Around My Table' sounds celebratory - all handclaps and la la las - in spite of a lyric which mischievously suggests that "I found a penny, I picked it up, On the day I had some luck, But now that was two weeks last Tuesday, Since then there's been a sliding feeling."
There's the ubiquitous and perfectly pitched duet, this time with Mary Margaret O'Hara on 'Peanuts'. 'Black Smoke' and 'No Place So Alone', in their unique ways, carry the album along with bristling intent until the album's centrepiece. 'Factory Girls' builds from its delicate piano intro (reminiscent of 'Cherry Blossoms'), pivoting around the ruefulness of Staples' refrain that ''It's the wine that makes me sad, Not the love I never had'', ultimately leading to a 'Tiny Tears'-esque conclusion. It's a masterful song which manages to tread a fine line between pathos and self-pity.
The album closes out with 'Piano Music', one of two instrumentals on the album (the other - 'Hubbard Hills' - is one of the few bum notes on the record, lost in its own blandness) which draws the record to a close as epically and compellingly as the title track opens it. Falling Down A Mountain then is no reinvention, more a glorious reaffirmation of this very special group's continuing existence. How wonderful it is to have them back.
Falling Down A Mountain goes on general release on January 25th. There's also a deluxe package avaliable from Constellation records here.

'Chase The Tear' - Portishead

Portishead - Chase The Tear from Mintonfilm on Vimeo.

'Angel Echoes' - Four Tet

With his new album There Is Love In You imminent, here's a track from Four Tet's recent BBC session.
Angel Echoes (BBC session) by Four Tet

Hunter-Gatherer

He doesn't have a website as such (he does however, have a Myspace page). There appears to be about two press photos of him and if you google his moniker then you have to search very hard to find anything about him that doesn't allude to foraging for plants and animals. Regardless, he's just released a quite wonderful album entitled I Dreamed I Was A Footstep In The Trail Of A Murderer which already has to be a certainty for a Choice Music nomination (shortlist announced on Jan 13th) at the very least. There are 15 tracks on Murderer and it proves that whilst we Irish cannot rap, we do occasionally make some beautiful electronic music.
Hunter-Gatherer will open for tUnE-YaRDS in Whelan's on February 12th.

Hunter-Gatherer - Memory Pillow by onfire
Hunter-Gatherer - Snow-globe by onfire

'Similes' - Eluvium

Bit of a departure from the instrumental norm here as Eluvium's new album will feature Matthew Cooper's vocals for the first time. Eluvium's gossamer-like output thus far has been more noted for its melancholic ambient loops married to a muted string and piano accompaniment. If this sounds remotely like Brian Eno, then that's precisely where it's at. For the quiet ones.
mp3: The Motion Makes Me Last (via Temporary Residence)

This is taken from 2004's An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death.

Let it snow......

Sparklehorse working with Steve Albini on new album

Sparklehorse are busy preparing their next studio album and this time they'll be collaborating with Steve Albini, which should make for an interesting sounding record. In one interview from 2009, Linkous stated his wish that the next Sparklehorse album sound like the songs were "coming out of a satellite that's crashing into a gas giant or something". Clearly, this is Albini's forte. The last official Sparklehorse album (not including collaborations with Fennesz and Danger Mouse last year) was 2006's slightly underwhelming 'Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain'. Anyway, all of this Sparklehorse chat has made me desperately want to dig this out...........'Every hair on your head is counted......'

'Quarantine the Past' - Pavement

Due on March 9th, 2010 but no track listing has been revealed as yet. There is a reason for this as the Matablog explains......

Quarantine The Past lands in stores as Pavement embark on their first live appearances since the fall of 1999. Dates begin in New Zealand on March 1 and continue through Australia and Europe over the spring and summer, with 4 dates in New York’s Central Park next September. More US shows will be announced shortly.

We are holding a Guess The Track Listing Contest. The album contains 23 tracks, all previously released, and the first track is “Gold Soundz”

Deadline for entries is 2 weeks from today: TUESDAY, JANUARY 19.

Entry is open to anyone worldwide, with the exception of those listed under the contest rules and restrictions.

Pavement 2010 dates announced so far:

Mon Mar 01, 2010 – Auckland – Auckland Town Hall
Thu Mar 04, 2010 – Sydney – Enmore Theatre
Fri Mar 05, 2010 – Sydney – Enmore Theatre
Sat Mar 06, 2010 – Meredith – Golden Plains Festival
Sun Mar 07, 2010 – Adelaide – Thebarton Theatre
Mon Mar 08, 2010 – Perth – Metro City
Wed Mar 10, 2010 – Brisbane – Tivoli Theatre
Fri Mar 12, 2010 – Melbourne – Palace Theatre
Tue May 04, 2010 – Dublin – Tripod SOLD OUT
Wed May 05, 2010 – Glasgow – Barrowland Ballroom SOLD OUT
Fri May 07, 2010 – Paris – Le Zenith
Sat May 08, 2010 – Amsterdam – Paradiso
Mon May 10, 2010 – London – Brixton Academy
Tue May 11, 2010 – London – Brixton Academy SOLD OUT
Wed May 12, 2010 – London – Brixton Academy SOLD OUT
Thu May 13, 2010 – London – Brixton Academy SOLD OUT
Fri May 14, 2010 – Minehead, West Somerset – All Tomorrow’s Parties SOLD OUT
Sat May 15, 2010 – Minehead, West Somerset – All Tomorrow’s Parties SOLD OUT
Sun May 16, 2010 – Minehead, West Somerset – All Tomorrow’s Parties SOLD OUT
Tue May 18, 2010 – Brussels – Ancienne Belgique SOLD OUT
Wed May 19, 2010 – Berlin – Astra
Thu May 20, 2010 – Praha – Palac Akropolis
Fri May 21, 2010 – Vienna – Arena
Sat May 22, 2010 – Munich – Muffathalle
Mon May 24, 2010 – Rome – Atlantico
Tue May 25, 2010 – Bologna – Estragon
Thu Jul 01, 2010 – Roskilde – Roskilde Festival
Fri Jul 02, 2010 – Roskilde – Roskilde Festival
Sat Jul 03, 2010 – Roskilde – Roskilde Festival
Sun Jul 04, 2010 – Roskilde – Roskilde Festival
Thu Aug 12, 2010 – Oslo – Oyafestival
Sat Aug 14, 2010 – Gothenburg – Way Out West Festival
Tue Sep 21, 2010 – New York, NY – Central Park Summerstage SOLD OUT
Wed Sep 22, 2010 – New York, NY – Central Park Summerstage SOLD OUT
Thu Sep 23, 2010 – New York, NY – Central Park Summerstage SOLD OUT
Fri Sep 24, 2010 – New York, NY – Central Park Summerstage SOLD OUT

There will also be a deluxe edition of 'Terror Twilight' released later this year. It'll be interesting to see how they manage to stretch that record over 2 discs given that the original was a low point of a band largely running on empty.

Serena Maneesh

New album out on March 22nd entitled S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor.
mp3: Ayisha Abyss (via 4AD)