The Amazing - Gentle Stream

Push the "late 60's/early 70's" button on your Wayback Machine, don that fringe suede jacket, light the patchouli incense and then close your eyes. Now you're ready for Gentle Stream, the lovingly retro new album from Swedish band The Amazing that British music bible Q hailed as “a gorgeously understated blend of gentle psychedelic pop, tranquil folk rock and gently stoned prog.” Released in Europe last year and finally washing up on American shores this week, this is the kind of music where a track named "When The Colours Change" just might not be about the fall leaves. Songwriter and vocalist Christoffer Gunrup and guitarist Reine Fiske lead The Amazing through extended Laurel Canyon folk/rock jams, the kind of gorgeous phantasmagorical flights of CSN+Y fancy fueled by chiming guitar riffs, Phil-Lesh-styled bass runs and jazzy drum workouts. The wonderfully titled "International Hair" pretty much sums up all that's floating in The Amazing's bongwater, a sunny-side up slice of astral sublimity that makes you pinch yourself even as the Wayback Machine heads into overdrive.

The Amazing - "International Hair" (from the album Gentle Stream)

The Amazing - "Gentle Stream" (from the album Gentle Stream)

Click to read more ...

Lilly Hiatt - Let Down

We're pleased to report that the singing and songwriting gene has once again emerged intact with Lilly Hiatt and her band The Dropped Ponies. The daughter of master songcraftsman John Hiatt, the Nashville-based 28-year-old has been honing her own particular brand of countrified folk/rock and Americana the past few years with guitarist Beth Finney and now with the addition Jon Radford (Drew Holcombe Band) on drums and Jake Bradley (Over the Rhine) on bass, she's assembled a potent and promising outfit to flesh out her songs. The Doug Lancio-produced debut album Let Down has, says Hiatt, a distinctive "self-loathing theme" (hence the title) as well as what she terms a "spacey country" aesthetic. But there's also an edge to even her quietest moments and when things open up with a Crazy Horse kick, as on "Angry Momma", you realize that Hiatt's influences, like her dad's, may begin with the alt-country classic lineage but there's still plenty rock and roll roots not far underground ready to be tapped.

Lilly Hiatt & The Dropped Ponies - "Championship Fighter" (from Let Down)

Lilly Hiatt & The Dropped Ponies - "Young Black Rose"

Click to read more ...

Gary Clark Jr. - Blak and Blu

Austin-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist extraordinaire Gary Clark Jr. doesn't just imbibe the blues, he appears to have the knack for absorbing the heart and -- most importantly -- the soul of the blues as well. Highly-anticipated full length debut Blak and Blu (October 23, Warner Brothers) is equal parts black and blue, an innately gifted modern funk proprietor who just happens to be a riveting and incendiary blues/rock guitar slinger to boot. It's fitting that he chose Jimi Hendrix for his inspired mashup "Third Stone From the Sun/If You Love Me Like You Say" as the groundbreaking icon inhabits the same revolutionary mindset: utilizing the blues as a touchstone for his own bruising,genre-decimating style. Clark co-produced the album with studio heavyweights Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Mastodon, Fiona Apple), Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance) and helps keep the canvas smudged, gritty and mostly stripped clean of production gloss. The blistering, nearly eight minute "When My Train Pulls In" is one of B'n'B's best - heavy and nimble simultaneously, densely packed with rumbling bass and Clark's fuzzed out guitar. And don't neglect "Bright Lights", a near-perfect example of Clark's ability to draw out a song from its blues core and morph it into a monstrous rocker replete with a soulful half-stepped rhythm and a slamming backbeat.

Gary Clark Jr. - "Bright Lights" (from Black and Blue)

Gary Clark Jr. - Ain't Messin 'Round" (from Blak and Blu)

Click to read more ...

The Wallflowers - Glad All Over

“It's been a while since we've felt this energized and creative," says Jakob Dylan of his first recordings of The Wallflowers after the band's nearly seven-year hiatus. "We haven't changed our stripes so much as we're continuing to redefine the animal." The stark country folk songwriting that marked Dylan's two solo recordings during the break -- one produced by Rick Rubin, one by T Bone Burnett -- has been jettisoned for the rich, rock-driven sound of their earlier "One Light" mid-90's period. Producer Jay Joyce (Brandi Carlile, The Whigs) certainly had a hand in helping shape The Wallflowers return to the full aural textures and spacious arena-friendly power but it's the groove and grit and Dylan's fine return to form as a songwriter -- and loose-gripped bandleader -- that make the Glad All Over (October 9, Columbia) such a welcome and inspired surprise. On "It Won't Be Long (Till We're Not Wrong Anymore)" and our fave "First One In the Car" Dylan sings like an odd mix of famous father, Warren Zevon and Tom Petty as the band kicks hard with a sound that is as much layered key chordings as air-guitar-ready riffs. Catch The Wallflowers next week on Live From the Artists Den on PBS.

 

The Wallflowers - "It Won't Be Long (Till We're Not Wrong Anymore)" (from Glad All Over)

The Wallflowers - "First One In the Car" (from Glad All Over)

Click to read more ...

Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams

Ben Schneider's musical alter ego came from his Michigan boyhood and proximity to the body of water known as Lake Huron, a backdrop of natural splendor and wide open spaces that the 29-year-old songwriter and visual artist taps into for his impressionistic stew of cinematic folk/rock storytelling and tropical polyrhythmic undertow. Majestic new Lord Huron album Lonesome Dream (October 9) is not only one of the best albums we've heard this year, it's certainly one of the busiest albums to boot, a constantly shifting foundation of Fleet Foxes-styled clattering rhythm tapestry draped over songs that spring from Japanese folk melodies, Italian spaghetti western themes, jangling indie pop and crooning Laurel Canyon alt-country harmonies. “As I got older, I got more into world music," says Schneider. "I see it as layers on top of this American folk core.” That arresting stylistic mashup can be heard in all of its glory on "The Man Who Lives Forever" and "Ends of the Earth", songs that shimmy like dusty tumbleweeds along a Calypso parade. Check out the amusing "sub-titled" video for "Time To Run" below.

Lord Huron - "The Man Who Lives Forever" (from Lonesome Dreams)

Lord Huron - "Ends of the Earth" (from Lonesome Dreams)

Click to read more ...

AC Newman - Shut Down The Streets

Wearing two hats -- inventive solo performer and frontman for Canada's indie darlings the New Pornographers -- A.C. Newman has proven to be a reliably unpredictable songwriter and pop visionary. But things get even bigger, darker, bolder and more personal on Shut Down The Streets (October 9, Matador), an album the comes after a period mixed with grief and elation via the death of his father and the birth of his son. It also reflects an embrace of the sheer power of a great pop song, whether addressing a heartthrob or a heartache, bemused by life's little twists or contemplating the essence of what it means to be human. As with all Newman songs, Street's diverse tracks are brimming with witty smarts and brisk and brash pop melodies, as "I'm Not Talking" (with fellow "Porno"-star Neko Case) and "The Troubadour" gracefully demonstrate. "I felt the need to be more clear in the lyrics on this album than ever before," he explains. "Not worry so much about the poetry of it. It felt like the message really had to be clear. At the least, more clear than before."

A.C. Newman - "I'm Not Talking" (from Shut Down the Streets) Free Download

A.C. Newman - "The Troubadour" (from Shut Down the Streets)

Click to read more ...

The Last Bison - Quill

If you tried to imagine what mountain music might sound like played by a folk orchestra of fiddles, banjos, mandolins and cellos you might come up with something akin to the music of Virginia's The Last Bison. With hirsute frontman and songwriter Ben Hardesty forging the way, the Chesapeake septet is less sturm and drang and more strum and twang as they take the front porch folk into new realms of sophisticated and intricate string arrangements. "At once epic and intimate", raves The L.A. Weekly, "great outdoorsy and fireside cozy". Drawing comparisons to Fleet Foxes, Mumford and Sons and The Decemberists (and their offshoot Black Prairie) their buzzed fall 2011 debut Quill caught the attention of local radio and music blogs and they recently signed with Universal Republic. As a prelude to a new 2013 album, a four track EP Inheritance, due October 23, features one new song and three re-recorded tracks from Quill including their signature song (and free download) "Switzerland."

The Last Bison - 'Switzerland' (from Quill)

Click to read more ...

Cat Power - Sun

No surprise that Sun, the first collection of original material in six years from Cat Power -- aka Chan Marshall -- is quickly shaping up to be one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the of the year. And the first bits of music from the project aren't exactly tamping down the enthusiasm. Lead single "Ruin" entices with spry, overlapping piano lines that serve as an enticing hook before the song kicks off with an insistent beat, some chunky guitar riffs and Marshall's syncopated vocal delivery. It is, as the song repeats, "bitchin'". New radio track "Cherokee" continues with the pulsing atmospherics and skittering rhythms, competing chord progressions jumbled behind Marshall's cool, distant singing. Self-produced, mixed by Philippe Zdar (of French synth-pop pair Cassius), the album was recorded in hodge-podge style at a variety of studio spaces including Marshall's own in Malibu. Sun drops September 4 via Matador.

Cat Power - "Cherokee" (from Sun)

Cat Power - "Ruin" (from Sun)

Click to read more ...

Colour The Atlas - S/T

Actual surnames once again get the bum's rush with Colour The Atlas, a foursome of British childhood friends who just last year went by The Jess Hall Band (how quaintly retro-sounding). Hall, the group's 18-year-old songwriter and frontwoman and Alex Stone (guitar/vocals) lead the band in creating some of the more interesting fusions of folk and electronica we've heard in a while. The tracks that make up their new EP retain most of the ultra-melodic appeal of their earlier works (the mellow, soulful "Let It Be Known" is a standout) but the new production moves headlong into a more Imogen Heap-styled synth-beat-driven territory, from "The Maker", relying too heavily on some gimmicky auto-tuned vocal effects but lovely nonetheless, to the drum-n'-bass influenced "Snow". If Hall and Stone can keep from getting tripped up on the trip-hop, Colour The Atlas could actually de-evolve into something even more intriguing. The CTA self-titled EP is available digitally in the U.K. now; disc due November 25.

Colour The Atlas - "The Maker" (from the Colour The Atlas EP)

Colour The Atlas - "Let It Be Known"

Click to read more ...

Serena Ryder - Harmony

Harmony may be the "order of the universe" as well as the title of her new album, says Canadian singer and songwriter Serena Ryder, but it's also, she adds, "the merging of symbiotic notes that join together to make the music louder, bigger." If you can wade past the cosmic hyperbole, it's wise just to focus on the "louder, bigger" concept when it comes to Ryder's densely packed and diverse new album. The hip-shaking alt/pop and goose-bump inducing vocals are still very much on display on Harmony (November 27, EMI Canada) but the folky strumming core of Ryder's music has been supplanted by a more daring production edge. Ryder called on two producers for her first new full-length in five years: Jerrod Bettis (Gavin Degraw) and producer/songwriter Jon Levine (Nelly Furtado), both of whom served as multi-instrumentalists with Ryder in her home studio. Lead single, the perfectly titled "Stompa", is all that and more as the song moves from Adele-styled torcher to blistering funk/rocker with a killer bass line. New track "What I Wouldn't Do" is a more traditional Ryder pop/folk track, hand-clapped beats and acoustic urgency married to an infectious chorus hook.

Serene Ryder - "What I Wouldn't Do" (from Harmony)

Serene Ryder - "Stompa" (from Harmony)

Click to read more ...

A Lion Named Roar - Foreign Land

Louisville's A Lion Named Roar walks the fine line between ultra-melodic alterno-pop and jangle-rich indie rock on their new Foreign Land EP (November 27): for every edgy echo of The National or The Killers we get an equally potent hook shot of The Fray or The Script. The sing-along choruses that dominate tracks like "All I Know Is Changing" and "This Won't Last For Long" have both an artisan's skill and a journeyman's sweat built into their core, songs that sound like they would be at home on both discerning radio playlists and the noisy din of local club stages. While hardly arty, groundbreaking stuff, Foreign Land delivers in full on its modest mainstream goals. When it's good it's very good as on "Remember Me", a winning mix of large-scale melody, pulsing rhythmic undertow and frontman Chris Jacksons soaring tenor.

A Lion Named Roar - "Remember Me" (from Foreign Land)

A Lion Named Roar - "This Won't Last For Long" (from Foreign Land)

Click to read more ...

Dinah Thorpe - 12

To say that Toronto indie chanteuse Dinah Thorpe defies easy categorization is to misunderstand the word "easy". Listening to 12, Thorpe's provocative and supremely artful new album officially arriving stateside next week, everything -- and we mean everything -- seems to come rather easy, actually, to this chameleon-like songwriter and instrumentalist. It's just that any concept of genre barrier means nothing. Country? Pop? Moody cabaret? Folk? Jazz? It's all up for grabs in this remarkable production. Thorpe has drawn comparisons to Laurie Anderson -- for her smart, theatrical spoken-word tracks set to an electro-beat pulse (see: "Weird", a "song" unlike any you'll hear this or any year). Also, Beth Orton, for the droll, simply laid out alto vocals and spare folk-tronica structures behind songs such as "Every Bit Hurts" and "In The Country". In the end, however, comparisons come down to just so much drivel when searching for the right words to define or describe an artist -- and we do mean artist -- like Thorpe and her 12 fascinating songs. Peel back the layers, dig below the surface -- and then...just keep peeling and digging. That's half the fun. See what we mean when you tackle "Dolly Parton" -- a brilliant bit o' surreal alt-pop that takes a banjo-backed ditty and turns it into the oddest, most understated blues boogie imaginable.

Dinah Thorpe - "Dolly Parton" (from 12)

Dinah Thorpe - "Every Bit Hurts" (from 12)

Click to read more ...

Ed Tullett - Never Joy

Nineteen-year-old Ed Tullett's assured and disarmingly original debut album Never Joy (December 4, Equal Vision) is one more stunning example of the remarkably innovative music coming out of the current British acoustic neo-folk scene. Drawing on the glistening guitar work from the likes of Alexi Murdoch and U.K. folk pioneer John Martyn, Tullett adds an ethereal atmosphere with snaking, unpredictable melodies, odd time signatures and a distinct vocal style that often combines an eerie and airy falsetto in harmony with a lower register. No surprise that Tullett submitted a winning remix entry in Bon Iver's recent Stem Project, the Brighton-based performer brings that adventurous attitude to his own sophisticated compositions. This is the kind of album that makes you rethink exactly what "folk" music really is and just how far boundaries can be expanded. The mesmerizing "Mezzanine" and gorgeously moody "Faker Death" just scratch the surface of one of the most intriguing and accomplished debuts of 2012.

Ed Tullett - "Mezzanine" (from Never Joy)

Ed Tullett - "Faker Death" (from Never Joy)

Click to read more ...

Brooke Sharkey - One Dress

To understand the diverse and eclectic influences at play on Brooke Sharkey's debut album One Dress (December 5, U.K.) it's helpful to know a couple of background tidbits. Like the fact that while being a native Londoner, Sharkey spent her teen years in France: hence the French chanson twist and Edith Piaf cabaret theatrics woven into her bi-lingual songcraft. Or that she busks her way around the flower markets in London while not gracing the stage of the small folk clubs, a skill that incorporates her affinity for acoustic gypsy-folk strains and imbues her songs with a fun, free-wheeling feel. Sharkey's sweet, supple vibrato and guitar strumming are backed by a potpourri of mandolin, violin and accordion throughout her lighthearted, unpretentious and smartly outfitted Dress. The chamber pop delicacies on display in "Saturday Morning" and "That Swing" exemplify the "incredible voice, amazing control and grace" rightly heralded by The Observer. Watch the clever video for "Our Ways" below.

Brooke Sharkey - "His Voice" (from One Dress) Free Download

Brooke Sharkey - "Saturday Morning" (from One Dress)

Click to read more ...

Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace

Released in the U.K. last August, Paloma Faith's Fall to Grace (December 4, Epic) is about as far from understated as you can get, a big wet lipsticked smooch of an album that's overloaded with overwrought drama, oversized melodies and a gleefully over-the-top production from the legendary Nellee Hooper (Bjork, Soul II Soul). You could draw dotted line connections to many in the crop of classic/modern British female vocalists -- from the larynx-busting sweep of Adele to the retro-pop 60's pop-soul stylings of Duffy and the late Amy Winehouse -- but Faith is her own odd but oddly lovable creation. What make this glitter-and-glam-fest work is the impressive array of self-penned songs, thick slabs of audacious pop balladry mixed up with spritzes of dance beats, Shirley-Bassey-styled theatrics and a voice so malleable and sinfully rich you can practically scoop it up and serve it as a dessert. "Picking Up the Pieces" was the extra-cheesy "anthemic splendor" that got us hooked last April but there's lots more to feast on here, notably the deep noirish groove of "Let Your Love Walk In". Videos below.

Paloma Faith - "Let Your Love Walk In" (from Fall To Grace)

Paloma Faith - "Picking Up The Pieces" (from Fall To Grace)

Click to read more ...

Coldplay - Live 2012

After five studio albums, more than a decade's worth of live performances and the challenges of maintaining critical relevancy in an era of flavor-of-the-moment fleeting fandom (and increasingly short attention spans), Coldplay continues to soldier on. Worldwide tour on the heels of 2011's Mylo Xyloto found the stadiums and arenas packed and the disciples hanging on every word and note though we have to wonder if the gadgetry and bombast (the Xyloband wrist bands, laser light show, confetti) are more about the spectacle than the music. But, hey -- it's 2012, not 1972. The bigger question is can a band that staked it's reputation on melodic, un-ironic grand-pop music deemed heartfelt and sincere connect amidst the mayhem, the endless crowd sing-a-longs and the accepted stage posing ("You're incredible, thank YOU!"). Well, one answer would be yes, absolutely. At some point the music celebrity stratosphere only accepts so many applicants -- and Coldplay, bless their earnest little hearts, are in that realm. Like it or not, the stakes are higher, the approach simply has to be bigger and slicker. Impressive new DVD film Live 2012 (November 20, Capitol), directed by Paul Dugdale (Adele Live @ Royal Albert Hall) gets the sights, sounds and backstage conversations right, bringing the viewer into the moment without distracting gimmickry or pretense. And the music's pretty good, too. Watch the "Paradise" video below...

Coldplay - "Paradise" (from Live 2012)

Coldplay - "Us Against the World" (excerpt) (from Live 2012)

Click to read more ...

Sophie Auster - Red Weather

It probably doesn't hurt that 25-year-old Brooklyn singer/songwriter/actress Sophie Auster has a few genetic things going in her favor. Her dark-eyed, model-ready good looks for one, her famous literary parents -- Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt -- for another. But Auster has worked to carved out her own career in music and her new EP Red Weather (November 13), arriving nearly a decade after she recorded her first, indicates she's put all that time -- and experience -- to good use. Auster has embraced writing and performing, working with legendary guitarist and songwriter Barry Reynolds (Marianne Faithful, Rufus Wainwright) and laying down her own self-produced tracks. "I think that I gravitate towards something that’s a little bit more gritty," she says of her new songs. "I always wanted to get some kind of dirty thing in the music. I wanted my voice to contrast some of the musicality of the songs." While Auster gets her musical pulse racing on "Wicked Word" and the Fiona-Apple-ish "Run Run Run", we're drawn to the more subtle, smoldering ways of "Square Moon", a track penned by Reynolds and Antony Hegarty, and the chamber pop grace of "Pretend Song".

Sophie Auster - "Wicked Word" (from the Red Weather EP)

Sophie Auster - "Run Run Run" (from the Red Weather EP)

Click to read more ...

Amy Winehouse - At The BBC (Box Set)

Over the course of her all-too-brief career, Amy Winehouse's live performances ranged from the rhapsodic to the wretched, a commanding and charismatic performer riddled with the excess of ego, drugs and self-destruction. Sixteen months after her tragic death, Winehouse is now remembered in her best light in Amy Winehouse: At the BBC, an expansive 4-disc box set for the U.K. market that has been trimmed, at least for now, to a 2-disc set for America. The full Brit box contains 3 DVD's and one CD, including the Tribute to Amy Winehouse from Jools Holland DVD, featuring ten performances from Holland's praised BBC show "Live With..." as well as an excellent 14-track BBC One Sessions Live at Porchester Hall (2007) DVD. The remaining two discs make up the U.S. release: a 14-song BBC sessions CD as well as the rather amazing The Day She Came to Dingle DVD documentary featuring interviews and a 20-minute, six-song concert from 2006 (watch the preview below). See the full track listing for both the U.K. and U.S. releases and videos after the jump

Amy Winehouse - "Know You Now" (Live) (from At the BBC)

Amy Winehouse - "Take The Box" (Live) (from At the BBC)

Click to read more ...

Ari Hest - The Fire Plays

"We tend to fall into the trap of thinking too much about where we expect to be in our lives instead of embracing where we are," says New York songwriter Ari Hest. "I am a black belt in such thinking." That double sided psychological challenge is summed up in the lyrics "I play with fire/and the fire plays with me" from the title track off Hest's fine new The Fire Plays (November 13). It is also, not surprisingly, the most personal of his seven albums. Produced by Gerry Leonard, The Fire Plays has Hest's husky vocals and distinctive way with a flawless melody on prime display coupled with introspective lyrics that have been described as a "journey of self-exploration." "We focused on how they were going to both musically and lyrically connect," reflects Ari. "I wanted people to hear it and feel like they opened a window into someone's thought process." Hest's desire to mentally "keep it simple" spills over into his songwriting, too, as he succinctly lays out one beautifully focused song after another. Our picks: the piano-centric title track along with "Know Where", a haunting song that slowly builds to a powerful chorus.

Ari Hest - "The Fire Plays" (from The Fire Plays)

Ari Hest - "Knows Where" (from The Fire Plays)

Click to read more ...

Ben Kyle - S/T

Five years after Twin Cities alt/country band Romantica released their well-received album America, frontman Ben Kyle returns with his self-titled solo debut, a feat made even more rewarding considering the many starts, stops and reboots along the way. "For me it wasn’t about getting the next marketable product out to keep the train rolling and the career climbing, so I could spend more years on the road," says Kyle. "But it was about not settling for something that my heart wasn’t behind 100%, and making sure I made a record that I felt was beautiful and that I believed in." For that to happen, the Belfast-born husband and father of three opted to step out on his own from the band while keeping his feet still firmly planted at home. The resulting Ben Kyle (November 13) ended up using four separate pedal steel players, all of the member of Romantica and some guest fiddle from Carrie Rodriguez and Jessy Green to create an elegant album of hushed Americana and meditative folk. For starters, listen to the lustrous "Mercy" and "The Turf Club", a gentle ode to the St. Paul music venue.

Ben Kyle - "Mercy" (from Ben Kyle)

Ben Kyle - "The Turf Club" (from Ben Kyle)

Click to read more ...