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UPCOMING RELEASES

Latest Additions:

Hannah Cohen - Child Bride (4/23)
Sofia Talvik - The Owls Are Not What They Seem (1/31)
PT Walkley - Thriller (2/28)
Dot Hacker - S/T EP (2/21)
Tribes - Baby (3/13 U.S.)
Young Hines - Give Me My Change (4/10)
Brendan Benson - What Kind of World (4/24)
Julie Lee & The Baby-Daddies - S/T (3/6)
Lightships (Teenage Fanclub) - Electric Cables (4/3 UK)
Patrick Watson - Adventures In Your Own Backyard (4/30)
We Have Band - Ternion (2/28)
Megan Reilly - The Well (4/24)
Yukon Blonde - Tiger Talk (3/20)
Janiva Magness - The Devil Is An Angel, Too (3/13)
Nite Jewel - One Second of Love (3/6)
The Owsley Brothers - Cobalt (3/6)
M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion (4/10)
Emeli Sande - Our Version of Events (6/5 US)
Norah Jones / Danger Mouse) - Little Broken Hearts (TBA)
Tyrone Wells - Where We Meet (3/6)
Poor Moon (Fleet Foxes) - Illusion EP (3/27)
Erin Passmore (Rah Rah)- Downtown EP (2/28)
Young Prisms - In Between (3/27)
Ed Vallance - Volcano (4/10)
Theresa Andersson - Street Parade (4/24)
Robert Francis - Strangers In the First Place (5/22)
Water Liars - Phantom Limb (2/28)
Amy Ray (Indigo Girls)- Lung of Love (2/28)
Ben Howard - Every Kingdom (3/13 U.S.)
Warren Haynes -  Live@ Moody Theater (CD/DVD) (4/3)
Rascal Flatts - Changed (4/3)
Adam Cohen - Like A Man (4/3) 

DC RELEASE SCHEDULE

Artists > Site/Facebook / DC > DC Feature

January 24

Alexz Johnson - Skipping Stone (EP) DC
Big Deal - Lights Out
Bhi Bhiman - Bhiman
Cardinal - Hymns
Chairlift - Something
Cheyenne Marie Mize - We Don't Need (EP) DC
Craig Finn (Hold Steady) - Clear Heart Full Eyes 
Dana Falconberry - Though I Didn't Call It Came DC
Dion - Tank Full of Blues  
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar DC
Grace Woodroofe - Always Want DC  
Idiot Glee - Paddywhack
Ingrid Michaelson - Human Again
Joe Cocker - Hard Knocks
John K. Samson (Weakerthans) - Provincial DC
Kellie Pickler - 100 Proof 
Laura Gibson - La Grande
Liam Bailey - Out of the Shadows (UK)
Madi Diaz - Plastic Moon DC
Martin Sexton - Fall Like Rain EP
Matt Pryor - May Day
moe. - Whatever Happened to the La La's
Nada Surf - The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy
Polica - Give You The Ghost DC
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Area 52
Sean O'Connell - Free at First Light
The Darcys - Aja
U2 - From the Sky Down (DVD Documentary)
Various - Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan Tribute) DC

January 31

Adam Arcuragi - Like A Fire That Consumes All...
Alyssa Graham - Lock, Stock and Soul DC
Buxton - Nothing Here Seems Strange DC
Darrell Scott - Long Ride Home
Errors - Have Some Faith In Magic  
Gotye - Making Mirrors
Gretchen Peters - Hello Cruel World DC
Grimes - Visions
Hospitality - S/T
Imperial Teen - Feel the Sound
Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting
Kami Thompson - Love Lies DC
Lana Del Ray - Born to Die
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas DC
Mike Doughty - The Question Jar Show
Night Genes - Like the Blood
Radiohead - The King of Limbs: Live From the Basement (DVD)
RM Hubbert - Thirteen Lost and Found
Rachel Sermanni - Black Current EP (UK) DC
Ringo Starr - Ringo 2012
Ruthie Foster - Let It Burn  
Sami the Great - S/T
Sara Isaksson/Rebecka Tornqvist - Sing Steely Dan/Fire
Seal - Soul 2
Sofia Talvik - The Owls Are Not What They Seem
SOJA - Strength to Survive
Susan Greenbaum - This Life
The Big Sleep - Nature Experiments
The Jealous Sound - A Gentle Reminder
The Phemonenal Handclap Band - Form and Control
The Pines - Dark So Gold
The Soul Rebels - Unlock Your Mind
Virgin Forest - Easy Way Out 

February 7

Air - Le Voyage Dans La Lune
All The Young - Welcome Home (UK)
Bahamas - Barchords DC
Ben Kweller - Go Fly A Kite 
Boy Friend - Egyptian Wrinkle
Chuck Prophet - Temple Beautiful
Dierks Bentley - Home
Dr. Dog - Be The Void
Eight And A Half - S/T
Emma-Lee - Backseat Heroine (CAN) DC
Ezra Furman - The Year of No Returning
Goldfrapp - The Singles
Jenny Owen Youngs - Unwavering Band of Light DC
K Phillips - American Girls
Larkin Grimm - Soul Retrieval 
Liz Green - O Devotion! (Digi US)
Mark Lanegan - Blues Funeral
Maverick Sabre - Lonely Are The Brave (UK) DC
Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks
Paul McCartney - Kisses on the Bottom
Pet Shop Boys - Format (B-sides) (UK)
Raul Malo - Around the World
Richard Marx - Stories to Tell (CD/DVD) 
Roberta Flack - Let It Be (Beatles Covers)
Scott Matthew - Gallantry's Favorite Son
Sharon Von Etten - Tramp
Susanna Wallumrød/Giovanna Pessi - If Grief Could Wait
The Darlings - The New Escape
The Fray - Scars and Stories) 
The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know
Trevor Moss & Hannah-Lou - Quality First... 
Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth 

February 14

Amos Lee - As the Crow Flies (EP)
Andra Suchy - Little Heart DC
Anya Marina - Felony Flats
Anuhea - For Love
Audra Mae & The Almighty Sound - S/T DC
Drew Nelson - Tilt-A-Whirl 
Elizaveta - Beatrix Runs
Emeli Sande - Our Version of Events (UK)
Field Music - Plumb
Heartless Bastards - Arrow
Hey Rosetta! - Seeds (US - Dig) DC
Holly Cole - Steal the Night/Live
Howlin Rain - The Russian Wilds
Isidore (Jeffrey Cain/Steve Kilbey) - Life Somewhere Else
Islands - A Sleep and A Forgetting
Keith Moody - Dreaming Out Loud
Kevin Gordon - Gloryland
Lianne La Havas - Forget EP (UK)
Midnight Lion - Sleeping In the Woods (EP UK)
Phantom Limb - The Pines (UK)
Poliça - Give You the Ghost DC
Punch Brothers - Who's Feeling Young Now?
Rob Morsberger - Ghosts Before Breakfast
Rosie Thomas - With Love
Shearwater - Animal Joy
Sick Friend - The Draft Dodger
Isidore (Steve Kilbey/Jeffrey Cain) - Life Somewhere Else
Sugar & The Hi-Lows (Trent Dabbs, Amy Stroup) - S/T DC
Tennis - Young and Old
The Dunwells - Blind Sighted Faith DC
The Explorers Club - Grand Hotel
The Soft Hills - The Bird Is Coming Down To Earth
Winterpills - All My Lovely Goners

February 21

Andra Suchy - Little Heart DC 
Barna Howard - S/T
Bright Moments - Native
Cursive - I Am Gemini
Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
 Dot Hacker - S/T EP
Fionn Regan - 100 Acres of Sycamore DC
fun. - Some Nights
Grimes (Claire Boucher) - Visions
Hanne Hukkelberg - Featherbrain
Irene Nelson - Sun Generation 
Jim White - Where It Hits You
Kevin Kinney/Golden Palominos - Good Country Mile
Lambchop - Mr. M  
Peter Broderick - It Starts Here
Sara Radle - Same Sun Shines
Sinead O'Connor - How About I Be Me (And You Be You)
The Chieftains - Voice of Ages
The Ting Tings - Sounds From Nowheresville
The Vespers - The Fourth Wall
Tindersticks - The Something Rain (UK)

February 28

Alabama 3 - Shoplifting for Jesus (UK)
Amelia White - Beautiful and Wild
Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) -Lung of Love
Anais Mitchell - Young Man In America
Anna Vogelzang - Canary In A Coal Mine
Beth Jeans Houghton - Yours Truly Cellophane Nose
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden
Céu - Caravena Sereia
Cold Specks - S/T (UK)
Dead Fingers (Kate Taylor/Taylor Hollingsworth) - S/T
Elliot BROOD - Days Into Years
Erin Passmore (Rah Rah)- Downtown EP
Fanfarlo - Rooms Filled With Light DC
Jay Farrar/Jim James/Will Johnson/Anders Parker - New Mutlitudes (Woody Guthrie Tribute)
Gabriel & The Hounds - Kiss Full of Teeth
Joy Askew - Drunk On You
Julia Nunes - Settle Down
Loreena McKennitt - Troubadours on the Rhine (Unplugged)
Lyle Lovett - Release Me (Covers LP) DC
Magnolia Memoir - The Perfect Crime DC
Memoryhouse - The Slideshow Effect
Mona - S/T
Nneka - Soul Is Heavy
Pink Floyd - The Wall (Deluxe)
Plants and Animals - The End of That DC
PT Walkley - Thriller
Rose Cousins - We Have Made A Spark DC
School of Seven Bells - Ghostory
Shellee Coley - Where It Began
Sophia Knapp - Into the Waves
Sophie B. Hawkins - The Crossing
The Cranberries - Roses
The White Buffalo - Once Upon A Time in the West
The Wooden Sky - Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun
Water Liars - Phantom Limb
We Have Band - Ternion
Xiu Xiu - Always

March 6 

Alex Winston - King Con
Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself
Bowerbirds - The Clearing
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
Dry The River - Shallow Bed (UK)
Elika - Always the Light
Elvis Costello - Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook (CD/DVD)
Gabriel & The Hounds - Kiss Full of Teeth (UK)
Good Old War - Come Back as Rain  
Idina Menzel (Wicked, Glee) - Live: Barefoot @ The Symphony
Jack Wilson - S/T
Jodie Marie - Mountain Echo (UK) DC
Julie Lee & The Baby-Daddies - S/T
Julia Holter - Ekstasis
Kaiser Chiefs - Start the Revolution Without Me
Lissy Trullie - S/T
Magnetic Fields - Love at the Bottom of the Sea
Nite Jewel - One Second of Love
Now, Now - Threads
Rocco DeLuca - Drugs N' Hymns
Said the Whale - Little Mountain
Team Me - To the Treetops 
The Owsley Brothers - Cobalt
Tim Fite - Ain't Ain't Ain't
Todd Snider - Acoustic Hymns & Stoner Fables
Tyrone Wells - Where We Meet
Wallis Bird - S/T 
Yellow Ostrich - Strange Land

March 13 

 Dave Barnes - Stories to Tell
Delilah - From the Roots Up (UK)
Delta Spirit - S/T 
Drowner - S/T
Elisa - Steppin' On Water DC
Katy Perry - Teenage Dream: Complete Confection (Deluxe)
Lucero - Women and Work
Ruben Stoddard - Letters from Birmingham
Shooter Jennings - Famiiy Man
Susanna Wallumrød- Wild Dog (Scandinavia)
The Decemberists - We All Raise Our Voices to the Air/Live
The Swell Season - S/T (DVD Documentary) 
Tribes - Baby (U.S.)

March 20

Adam Lambert - Trespassing
Al Jardine (Beach Boys) - A Postcard from California
Ayo - Billie-Eve 
Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear) - Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP
Esperanza Spalding - Radio Music Society
Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) - Between the Tides & the Times
Lost In the Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs
Margot & The Nuclear So and So's - Rotgut, Domestic
Spiritualized - Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
The Shins - Port of Morrow
Thomas White (Electric Soft Parade) - Yalla!
Vacationer - Gone
Yukon Blonde - Tiger Talk

March 27

Adam & The Amethysts - Flickering Flashlight
Amadou & Mariam - Folila
Clay Aiken - Steadfast
Joan Osborne - Bring It On Home
Justin Townes Earle - Nothing's Gonna Change...
Leona Lewis - Glassheart (US)
Macy Gray - Covered
Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again (UK) DC
Miike Snow - Happy to You
Oberhofer - Time Capsules II
Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks 
Poor Moon (Fleet Foxes) - Illusion EP
Sankofa - The Uptown Strut
Susan Justice - Eat Dirt
The Pierces - You & I
Young Prisms - In Between
Zeus - Busting Visions

March TBD

Barnaby Bright - Castle Rock
Cowboy Junkies - The Wilderness
Neon Trees - Picture Show

Beyond

Aaron Freeman (Ween) - Marvelous Clouds (4/10)
Adam Cohen - Like A Man (4/3)
Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls (4/10)
Bear In Heaven - I Love You, It's Cool (4/3)
Ben Howard - Every Kingdom (4/3 U.S.) DC
Brendan Benson - What Kind of World (4/24)
Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream (4/10) 
Carole King - TBA (4/10)
Clarence Bucaro - Walls of the World (4/3) DC
Curtis Stigers - Let's Go Out Tonight (4/24) 
Ed Vallance - Volcano (4/10)
Eight and a Half - S/T (4/10)
Emeli Sande - Our Version of Events (6/5 US)
Eric Hutchinson - Moving Up Living Down (4/17)
Graham Coxon - A+E (4/3 UK)
Grand Duchy (Frank Black) - Let The People Speak (4/10)
Great Lake Swimmers - New Wild Everywhere (4/3)
Greg Laswell - Landline (4/3)
Hannah Cohen - Child Bride (4/23)
Jenny Gillespie - Belita EP (4/10)
Jill Barber - Mischievous Moon (4/3 US)
Kat Edmondson - Way Down Low (4/10)
Lianne La Havas - S/T (5/17 UK) DC
Lightships (Teenage Fanclub) - Electric Cables (4/3 UK)
M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion (4/10)
Madonna - M.D.N.A. (4/3)
McKenzie Eddy - Slow Your Horse Down, Son (4/24)
Megan Reilly - The Well (4/24)
Meiko - Between the Sheets (5/15) DC
Nanci Griffith - Intersection (4/10)
Norah Jones (w Danger Mouse) - Little Broken Hearts (TBA)
Pat Green - Songs We Wish We'd Written II (5/22)
Patrick Watson - Adventures In Your Own Backyard (4/30)
Quantic/Alice Russell - Look Around the Corner (4/3)
Rascal Flatts - Changed (4/3)
Rebecca Pidgeon - Slingshot๏ปฟ (4/17)
Ren Harvieu - Through the Night (4/10 UK)
Rita Wilson (Mrs. Tom Hanks) - AM/FM (5/8)
Robert Francis - Strangers In the First Place (5/22)
Rufus Wainwright - Out of the Game (5/8)
Simone Felice (The Duke & The King) - S/T (4/3)
Simone White - Silver Silver (5/8 UK)
Soso -That Time I Dug So Deep (5/1)
Theresa Andersson - Street Parade (4/24)
Various - Kin: Songs of Mary Karr & Rodney Crowell (4/3)
Various - Tribute to Fleetwood Mac (6/19)
Vicci Martinez (The Voice) - Vicci Martinez (4/3)
Warren Haynes -  Live@ Moody Theater (CD/DVD) (4/3)
Young Hines - Give Me My Change (4/10)

All titles and dates subject to change!

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MUSIC NEWS / NEW MUSIC

Friday
Jan272012

Watch: Jo Hamilton - "Liathach"

One particularly smitten critic described the music of Jo Hamilton as “sophisticated, sensuous, complex, layered and utterly beguiling." And we certainly won't argue with that. We'll just wonder why Hamilton's dramatic art/pop hasn't made more of an impression in the U.S. The "Liathach" video shows us why her songs have such an impressive sweep, Hamilton's voice practically a force of nature as she steers the track's hymnlike splendor into otherworldly territory. It was a year ago that we caught up with Hamilton's trajectory as she released an expanded version of her album Gown. Now she's added another wrinkle with a limited edition DVD Gown Illuminated available at her site, featuring a full in-studio concert, her Gown videos (including this one) and "behind the scenes" footage.

Jo Hamilton - "Liathach" (from Gown)

Click to read more ...

Friday
Jan272012

Rachel Sermanni - Black Currents EP

Rachel Sermanni - Like Laura Marling, nineteen-year-old Scottish neo-folk songwriter Sermanni has won praise for her exceptionally mature and artful music, taking acoustic melodies and expanding them into cinematic pieces of uncommon depth...new four-track EP was produced by Ian Grimble (Travis, Daughter) and is being promoted via the excellent Communion family of artists co-managed by Mumford and Sons Ben Lovett // Release: Black Currents EP (January 31, U.K.) // Sounds like: Sermanni finds that sweet spot between refreshingly unadorned directness and artful ornamentation, quiet laments and soaring orchestration all centered around a darting sand-textured voice that moves from tumbling lyricism to moments of serene, sweeping grandeur...

Rachel Sermanni - "The Fog" (from the Black Current EP)

Rachel Sermanni - "Breathe Easy" (from the Black Current EP)

Click to read more ...

Friday
Jan272012

RADAR: Teddy Geiger

Like a lot of artists, Teddy Geiger has seen his fair share of major label highs - a "next big thing" Top 10 album Underage Thinking when he was all of 16 -- and lows -- shelved follow ups, getting dropped as quickly as he was signed. And like many, he's now on the D.I.Y. path, reaching out to fans to help fund a new album, his first new music since the 2010 EP Living Alone, and give him control over his music. His dollar goal now achieved, Geiger will release his new album The Last Fears via the fan-supported Pledge Music this spring. It's been six years since his "For You I Will" became a hit single when he was just 16 but it's clear from new songs like "Fall Away" he hasn't lost his ability to pen a memorable folk/pop melody and deliver it with a minimum of fuss and pretense.

Teddy Geiger - "Fall Away" (Acoustic)

Click to read more ...

Thursday
Jan262012

Listen: Megan Reilly - "Sew the Strings Inside Your Heart"

It's been five years since we've heard from Megan Reilly, the Memphis-raised, New Jersey transplant whose two albums -- 2003's Act of Tessa, 2006's Let Your Ghost Go -- had critics and fans raving. A break from music coincided with motherhood and now Reilly returns April 24 with "The Well", a new album produced by and featuring veteran guitarist (and Bongo) James Mastro. We've always been fond of Reilly's intimate, nocturnal balladry and her delicately quivering voice that sounds like it could be wafting from some 1950's Tennessee truckstop jukebox. But her fine new song "Sew The Strings Inside Your Heart" indicates that Reilly is equally at home with a rougher, decidedly more electric edge to her twang. Stick around for Mastro's fine guitar work at the end of the song.

Megan Reilly - "Sew the Strings Inside Your Heart" (from The Well)

Click to read more ...

Thursday
Jan262012

RADAR: Young Hines

After Brendan Benson overheard some demos being played by a painter working at his house, Georgia songwriter Young Hines now finds himself with a debut album Give Me My Change arriving April 10 via Benson's new imprint Readymade Records. Lead track "Rainy Day" has an eerie Beatle-ish ring to it, a vintage acoustic strum-fest feted with some of the most gorgeous harmonies you've heard in a while. The Lennon comparisons help define Hines' particular influences, but we're guessing there's a lot more than Brit Invasion nostalgia to be found on the forthcoming longplayer. We first heard Hines singing backup on Benson's new song "Keep Me" (listen here) a couple of years ago -- and we're looking forward to the brief series of Benson/Hines live dates kicking off at the end of April in Nashville.

Young Hines - "Rainy Day" (from Give Me My Change)

Click to read more ...

Thursday
Jan262012

RADAR: Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons

Around these offices there isn't a more eagerly anticipated 2012 album than the new one from Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons. The Appleton, WI songwriter's '09 album Death Won't Send A Letter we touted as "perhaps the finest album by a newcomer this year...music that touches the soul and raises a few hairs on the back of the neck at the same time." Chisel has said a new album was completed last fall -- and we know that he's already booked a performance on Letterman for June 4. So, a late May release perhaps? Will touring buddy Brendan Benson -- who recorded his new album at the same studio in Nashville -- make an appearance? Stay tuned. One new song that we know will be on the album will be "Never Meant to Love You (But It's Too Late Now)", a track he played with humorous Dylan-esque style at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival.

Cory Chisel - "Never Meant to Love You" (live at 2010 The Newport Folk Festival)

Cory Chisel - "So Wrong For Me" (live at 2010 The Newport Folk Festival)

Stream the full Newport performance at NPR...

Click to read more ...

Thursday
Jan262012

Watch: Benjamin Francis Leftwich - "Pictures"

When we took a listen to modern Brit folkie Benjamin Francis Leftwich last spring and his debut Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm we decided that "the intimacy of Leftwich's voice, reminiscent of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and William Fitzsimmons, lends the album a certain mystical tranquility." That's certainly true of Leftwich's new single (and video) "Pictures". We're not quite sure what the surreal, slo-mo images have to do with anything, but they do lend an ethereal atmosphere behind Leftwich's spirtitual lyricism. More DC here.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich - "Pictures" (GZUS Remix)

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Jan252012

Erin Passmore - Downtown

Erin Passmore, the co-founding, song-writing multi-instrumentalist member of fine Canadian indie band Rah Rah takes a solo turn with Downtown, an eight-song EP of adventurous alt-pop arriving April 28 via Hidden Pony. With producer Matt Lederman (Holy Fuck, The Besnard Lakes) at the helm and musicians from the Montreal community, Passmore fleshed out her collection of stripped naked demos, veering from melodic Feist-ian songcraft ("Monster") to pensive acoustic reflections ("Captain") to sharply barbed tracks that bristle with just the right touches of rock-riffed dynamics (the title track, "Fall"). But our favorite is the opener "Into the Woods", an inspired stunner that manages to sound both intimate and epic at the same time, Passmore's upfront and center voice a warm, impassioned complement to the grand instrumentation building, then crashing around her.

Erin Passmore - "Into the Woods" (from Downtown)

Erin Passmore - "Downtown" (from Downtown) Stream the full EP here...

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Jan252012

Listen: Patrick Watson - "Into Giants"

Montreal alt-popster Patrick Watson and band (aka Patrick Watson) return this spring with Adventures In Your Own Backyard (April 30, Secret City), another album of sophisticated and theatrical songs that follows up '09's acclaimed Wooden Arms. Harnessing both whimsical charm and an intricate arrangement, lead track "Into Giants"plays like a cross between Paul Simon's "Rhymin' Simon" period and David Byrne at his most playful (with some Sgt. Pepper-ish brass to boot) -- an achievement even more impressive since the album was recorded in Watson's apartment.

Patrick Watson - "Into Giants" (from Adventures In Your Own Backyard)

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Jan252012

Kami Thompson - Love Lies

Kami Thompson - Long-awaited, oft-delayed full length debut from the London-based singer/songwriter boasts some studio assistance from father Richard Thompson, brother Teddy, half-sisters Martha and Lucy Wainwright and Sean Lennon...culled from half-written songs over the years and then polished before recording in New York with producer/bassist Brad Albetta and Ed Haber, the LP arrives stateside after a U.K. release last fall // Release: Love Lies (January 31 // Sounds like: intelligent alt-pop with a folk heart, Thompson's songs tap into her famous family's love of classic roots-centric songwriting and dramatic edge... traipsing easily from honkytonk to sleek melodic pop to distinctly British acousticism, Thompson's voice has a weary non-commital aura while emitting flashes of sultry heat...a nice antidote to the sing-songy, cutesy, Target-commercial pop fluff that many American female songwriters have been peddling lately...

Kami Thompson - "Little Boy Blue" (from Love Lies)

Kami Thompson - "Don't Bother Me" (from Love Lies)

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Jan242012

DC January 24 New Release Recap

Lots to consider this week as you contemplate parting with some funds for this week's spate of new releases. From the hi-energy pop/rock of Nada Surf and Hold Steady's Craig Finn to the smart adult pop of Madi Diaz, Ingrid Michaelson or Alexz Johnson to the alt-pop indie finesse of Cheyenne Marie Mize, Laura Gibson and John K. Samson of The Weakerthans, we've got something for you. Try a 70's Laurel Canyon country/folk excursion with Sweden's fantastic First Aid Kit, ogle the 75+ Bob Dylan covers in the charity-supporting Chimes of Freedom box, or dig the beat-friendly vibes of Polica. Find out what the late Heath Ledger found so irresistable about fellow Aussie Grace Woodroofe, imagine what the rockin' flamenco guitars of Rodrigo y Gabriela might sound like with a Cuban big band or get a taste of what's new with Austin songwriter Dana Falconberry. Need more? Really? Check our full list below.

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Jan242012

Listen: Grace Woodroofe - "Battles"

The New York Times music critic John Pareles describes Grace Woodroofe having "a voice made for melancholy and danger". That quality that comes into hazy focus in the cool vibed and slinky "Battles", an imaginative role-playing lament from her new album Always Want. Riding atop a skittering and jazzy drum-n-bass flair, Woodroofe's smoky voice beckons with a distant and detached air as she sings "I never thought I'd be a middle aged waitress" over and over. More on Always Want on DC here...Free "Battles" download here.

Grace Woodroofe - "Battles" (from Always Want)

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Jan242012

Lyle Lovett - Release Me

Lyle Lovett - After 25 years of major label releases, it's only fitting that the legendary Texas songwriter's final project carry the title Release Me. But true to form, Lovett makes what is admittedly a mixed bag -- a couple of holiday favorites and some interesting covers that he's been playing live over the years -- into something worthwhile...k.d. lang duets on the showstopping title track // Release: Release Me (February 28, Lost Highway) // Sounds like: what could have been simply a somewhat disjointed (but 14-track generous) collection of songs nonetheless offers up multiple reasons why Lovett's cross-genre hopping -- country, gospel, folk, pop, jazz, blues, bluegrass -- makes for such an enjoyable and unpredictable listen...

Lyle Lovett - "Isn't That So" (from Release Me)

Lyle Lovett - "Baby It's Cold Outside" (w/ Kat Edmondson) (from Release Me)

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Jan242012

Dana Falconberry - Though I Didn't Call It Came (EP)

Songwriter Dana Falconberry's Though I Didn't Call It Came (January 24, Crossbill) is a digital four-tracker that serves as something of a preview of a full length project due later this year. Like the upcoming album, most of the EP's songs were recorded in a church sanctuary near her home in Austin, TX but unlike her more recent stripped down acoustic and mostly solo affairs, Didn't Call heralds a more orchestrated and dreamy sound for Falconberry. With string arrangements by keyboardist and co-producer Christopher Cox, the revealing centerpiece track "Petoskey Stone" (video below) and lovely folk ballad "Possum Song" are transformed into sophisticated chamber pop vignettes of velvety vocal harmonies, plucked harp lines and intricately layered instrumentation.

Dana Falconberry - "Petosky Stone" (from Though I Didn't Call It Came)

Dana Falconberry - "Possum Song" (from Though I Didn't Call It Came)

Click to read more ...

Monday
Jan232012

John K. Samson - Provincial

Many albums have a biographical feel, but few are imbued with as vivid a sense of both time and place as Provincial, the debut longplayer from John K. Samson (January 24, ANTI-). Best known as the founder, frontman and songsmith for critically lauded indie band The Weakerthans, Samson drifts from rough hewn folk to loose, rough and tumble alt/rock, transforming and fleshing out songs from a pair of earlier EP's while adding a handful of new tracks. Songs such as the prairie anthem "Highway One West" and punk gloried "When I Write My Masters Thesis" ignite with an R.E.M-meets-Neil Young fervor while "Heart of the Continent" and "Letter In Icelandic from the Ninette San" (named after his Manitoba town) scurry amidst toe-tapped rhythms and layers of acoustic guitars, vivid lyrical portraits and raw landscapes of uplift and despair seen through the eyes of someone who lives there.

John K. Samson - "Letter In Icelandic from the Ninette San" (from Provincial)

John K. Samson - "The Last And" (from Provincial)

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Monday
Jan232012

Listen: Alexz Johnson - "Skipping Stone"

We've been pretty much hitting replay with regularity on "Skipping Stone", the sumptuous, soulful slow-dance from Vancouver-raised, NYC transplant Alexz Johnson. Mixed by Greg Wells (Adele), "Skipping Stone" is equally tender and defiant, nuanced and incendiary, Johnson's pleading vocals a remarkable revelation to first-time listeners. Self-released five track Skipping Stone EP, streeting tomorrow, offers a promising glimpse of what's in store-- listen to the EP sampler and watch the "Skipping Stone" video below.

Alexz Johnson - "Skipping Stone" (from the Skipping Stone EP)

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Monday
Jan232012

RADAR: Philco Fiction

Dark, chilly electro/pop dappled with sunny rays is the forecast for Philco Fiction, a Norwegian indie trio led by frontwoman Turid Solberg. Lush, plugged-in soundscapes, off-kilter rhythms and oddly engaging melodies set the broad stage for Solberg's airy vocals on tracks that are as unpredictably diverse as they are inviting. If Bjork had set up shop with Prince in Minneapolis we might get sounds like this: simmering beats, rich keyboard funk/pop and decidedly arty, usually twisty melodies that dart and flit in and out of moods and atmospheres with graceful ease. At turns fanciful and intently, artily intimate, the trio's impressive late-2011 album Take It Personally is a gloriously messy mish-mash of ideas and attitudes, from the echoing piano lines and ticking beats of "Finally" to the stuttering, lushly outfitted pop/funk (Janet Jackson meets Lykke Li?) of "Help!" to the 7-minute ambient prog/pop centerpiece "Portrait of Silence" . No U.S. release set -- stay tuned.

Philco Fiction - "Finally" (from Take It Personally)

Philco Fiction - "Portrait of Silence" (from Take It Personally)

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Friday
Jan202012

Fanfarlo - Rooms Filled With Light

Fanfarlo - Esoteric London-based indie outfit fronted by founder Simon Balthazar revels in adventurous and intricately textured alt/pop quirks -- imagine if David Byrne had graduated recently from some British art school...sleek and sophisticated -- let's call it "twee free" -- sophomore album follows up the '09 Reservoir, an album we described as "appealingly ramshackle with a buoyant, kitchen-sink charm...(translating) 80's influenced 'new wave' pop with a decidedly progressive, smartsy, artsy bent" // Release: Rooms Filled With Light (February 28, Atlantic/Canvasback) // Sounds like: over-caffeinated poly-rhythms are deeply embedded in the Fanfarlo DNA, percolating beats and Philip Glass-ian minimalism merging into jumpy, edgy chamber pop ripe for future improvisation...fortunately, the melodies are equally deft and nimble, breathless choruses and hook-laden lines sinking happily beneath the glittering instrumental surface...

Fanfarlo - "Replicate" (from Rooms Filled With Light)

Fanfarlo - "Deconstruction" (from Rooms Filled With Light)

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Friday
Jan202012

Watch: Two Loons For Tea - Strongest Man In the World

Lots to like here in this new video, from the song -- "Strongest Man In the World" from Two Loons For Tea, aka Sarah Scott and Jonathan Kochmer -- to the lovely animation by Seattle artist Benjamin Rowe. New music from the talented Loons is on the horizon according to their Facebook updates -- it's been almost five years since their last album Nine Lucid Dreams, the project from which "Strongest Man" was taken. Patience, we are reminded, is a virtue. Yes?

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Thursday
Jan192012

RADAR: Air Review

Air Review's grand scale music seems at odds with their "indie folk/rock" tag, as if the Dallas alt/pop quintet were ready to burst a few buttons of a constricting jacket. Reminiscent at times of fellow Lone Star faves Alpha Rev, this is clearly a band with big ideas and an equally big stage in their future, mega-watt amps pumping jangling guitars and arena monitors blasting the harmonious sing-a-long choruses to the minions. Last November's four track EP America's Son followed up a couple years of regional gigs, a promising '09 debut album, fan-spread word of mouth and some promising youtube videos -- most notably "My Automatic" (watch below) -- feeding the critical buzz. "Dulcet, tender, hypnotic," opined Huff Post's 'Dog Eared Music' critic. Stay tuned.

Air Review - "America's Son" (from the America's Son EP)

Air Review - "Low Wishes" (from the America's Son EP)

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