free track: dean & britta
In 2008, onetime Luna bandmates Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips wrote music to accompany 13 of Andy Warhol’s iconic four-minute-long screen tests for a Warhol Museum exhibition. Now compiled as a full album plus eight remixes, the songs — for personalities including actor Dennis Hopper, the Factory manager Billy Name and Edie Sedgwick’s husband Paul America — are mostly dreamy soundscapes that make most sense playing alongside the flickering black-and-white silent images the artist shot between 1964 and ‘66. “Silver Factory Theme” recalls the woozy drone of the Velvet Underground, while “Ann Buchanan Theme” is a simple slice of atmospheric drum machines and synthesizes.
The most successful parts of 13 Most Beautiful are the fully realized songs.
“It Don’t Rain in Beverly Hills,” a gently throbbing electro-pop tune, is topped by Wareham’s reverb-heavy electric guitar. “They said you belonged on the silver screen,” he sings to accompany Edie Sedgwick’s sad-eyed stare into the camera. “Oh my God, you are so beautiful.” Phillips’s sweet vocals brighten Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Keep It With Mine,” which is dedicated to Nico. And Wareham happily growls through the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore” as the track’s circular riff surfs a propulsive beat. It’s cocky, gritty, and the perfect soundtrack to footage of a young Lou Reed sipping Coca-Cola in his dark sunglasses like a real rock ‘n’ roll badass.
— Chelsea Brady
Download Dean & Britta, “I’ll Keep It With Mine” (Scott Hardkiss Remix)
At New York’s Webster Hall last Friday night, there were few moments when the floor wasn’t shaking. The messianic, sorta-psychedelic folk collective Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros knows how to get a crowd moving — and swaying, singing, sometimes even crying. You’ve probably heard the song “Home,” the whistle-laden, syrupy-sweet love anthem from the band’s 2009 debut, Up From Below, that proclaims, “Home is whenever I’m with you.” It’s an amazing song, and I’ll admit I was a little disappointed when I first heard the album in full because I didn’t think most of the other tracks were quite as good. I heard their live shows were great — and they sold out three of them, at sizable New York venues — so I had to see what the fuss was about.
For the uninitiated: No one in the band is actually named Edward Sharpe; rather, he’s a character that frontman Alex Ebert (formerly of Ima Robot) created after breaking up with his girlfriend and joining AA. Sharpe was brought to earth to heal and save mankind, so Ebert and co. have essentially made it their mission to do the same. From the variety of instruments (guitars, bass, keyboards, accordion, etc.), size of the band (11 members), enormous, glorious, choruses, and hippie-lovefest lyrics, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros embody equal parts Arcade Fire, Polyphonic Spree, and Hair. OK, OK, I know that sounds a little cult-ish, but consider me converted.
emusic updates: browse
As you may have noticed, we made quite a few revisions to our Browse feature today! Here’s a roundup of the changes -
- A fresh design, which makes album artwork larger and more prominent
- A fresh new Browse homepage that is easier to navigate
- Music Genre and Audiobooks homepages that place a greater emphasis on editorial features
- Browse Editorial is easier to both read and navigate
- You now have the ability to save albums for later directly from browse pages
- A new Viewing menu, which grows as you add filters while allowing you to delete any filters to adjust the results
- Drop-downs for sorting/viewing results for a cleaner interface
- Tha ability to adjust how many albums are displayed per browse page — so now, on those especially massive New Release Tuesdays, you can view 100 albums at once!
free track: menomena
Truth be told, it’s amazing this album’s even out. As Menomena’s drummer/singer (Danny Seim, last heard fronting Lackthereof) admits in the band’s bio, “brutal disagreements, unrelenting grudges and failed marriages” threatened to tear the trio apart in the three-and-a-half years since Friend and Foe. The tension’s clear on every single cut — the group is pulled in countless creative directions, from the skittish drums that cut across “Tithe” to the defeat-and-despair that drives “Dirty Cartoons” off a cliff.
Considering all of the bickering, and the fact that all three members sing and are self-proclaimed control freaks, you’d think Mines would sound like a loosely linked collection of solo EPs. And yet, it does feel like one cohesive statement; a minor-key descent into darkness, sure, but a cohesive statement nonetheless.
So if this is the beginning of the end for three longtime friends, they’re at least taking it seriously — their focus yields such rewarding details as the slurred sax lines of “Bote,” the prickly piano progressions of “Killemall” and the freaky funk nods of “Oh Pretty Boy, You’re Such a Big Boy.” Now if only some light would peek in the end of Menomena’s tunnel — before it’s too late.
Bethany’s cat, Snacks
We’ve got a modest haul today with some clear standouts and a few bona fide must-get sleepers. Let’s dive into this infinity pool of sound, shall we?
Best Coast, Crazy For You: One of the most anticipated full-lengths of the year (from an eMusic Selects alum!) doesn’t disappoint. Cali girl Bethany Cosentino and co. make a swaddling, swoony splash out of surf pop with plaintive lyrics and heart-clutching sentiment about her love of boys, her cat, Snacks, and the summer. Check out what eMusic’s Chelsea Brady sez:
Like gender-flopped Beach Boys songs, the 13 lazily gorgeous tracks on Crazy for You are obsessed with boys. But love isn’t idealized in Cosentino’s universe — it makes her sleepy (“Crazy for You”), mentally disheveled (“Goodbye”), and apologetic (“I’m sorry I lost your favorite T-shirt, I’ll buy you a new one, a better one” she sings in her flatly clean, Liz Phair-like croon on “Bratty B”). Her real romance is with that essential Cali obsession — the sun — but even that relationship falls a bit far of perfection.
Menomena, Mines: A sweet, tense new album from the Portland trio that we’re lucky exists! I’ll let Andrew Parks explain:
As Menomena’s drummer/singer, Danny Seim, admits in the band’s bio, “brutal disagreements, unrelenting grudges and failed marriages” threatened to tear the trio apart in the three-and-a-half years since Friend and Foe. The tension’s clear on every single cut — the group is pulled in countless creative directions, from the skittish drums that cut across “Tithe” to the defeat-and-despair that drives “Dirty Cartoons” off a cliff. And yet, it does feel like one cohesive statement; a minor-key descent into darkness, sure, but a cohesive statement nonetheless.
Dean & Britta, 13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests: This is a terribly cool project. The former Luna bandmates (and married couple) got together to create some music for a Warhol Museum exhibit. The result is something stunning and simple at once. Here’s more from Chelsea Brady:
Dean Wareham happily growls through the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore” as the track’s circular riff surfs a propulsive beat. It’s cocky, gritty, and the perfect soundtrack to footage of a young Lou Reed sipping Coca-Cola in his dark sunglasses like a real rock ‘n’ roll badass.
The Phil Spector Collection: Here’s a personal obsession, collected for the first time at eMusic. This is where you’ll find—seriously!—58 of the finest songs ever put to tape, all conceived and recorded by the recently convicted Wall of Sound madman/genius Phil Spector. Everything here is pre-1966, so no Beatles or John Lennon or Ike & Tina Turner. Instead, there’s his iconic work with the Crystals, the Ronettes, Darlene Love and more. This is soul-chilling music; you need every song.
Seu Jorge and Almaz, s/t: You may know Mr. Jorge from his role as Knockout Ned in City of God. Or maybe as the red-capped, guitar-strumming, Bowie-covering shipmate in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic. Either way, the Brazilian is a fantastic singer-songwriter and logical descendant of Jorge Ben and Gilberto Gil and their soaring style of pop samba. This new album is his first with the band Almaz and it’s a low-toned affair; his voice is undiminished, but there’s something darker and more mysterious about things. Predictably great stuff.
J Roddy Walston And The Business, s/t: Do you like bar rock? What about the Hold Steady-style bar rock? And getting beer spilled on your Converses? Then this raucous crew is your new favorite thing. Each song is a rumbling, leg-stomping burner. I sense a Miller Lite licensing opportunity in their future.
NA in the UK: Sir Paul!
Hold still, dammit
Today’s New Arrivals herald the arrivals of Paul McCartney’s solo and Wings catalog in the UK and the EU. Joe already ran down these records when they hit the site in the US, but I would feel personally remiss if I didn’t pitch in my own enthusiastic/under-informed two cents. From the still-underrated, pastoral proto-indie-pop masterpiece Ram to the Grammy-nominated, Nigel Godrich-produced song cycle Chaos and Creation in the Backyard of 2007, the legendary Macca’s run of post-Beatles records is deeper, richer, and more consistently intriguing than he’s ever given proper credit for. Start with Ram if you haven’t yet heard it. It is a revelation.
Here is a rundown of ALL the McCartney records we received this weekend:
Paul McCartney:
Ram
Red Rose Speedway
Tug of War
Flaming Pie
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
Unplugged
Wings:
Wings Greatest
London Town
Back to the Egg
Wings At the Speed of Sound
free track: pinker tones
There’s something kind of weird about the Pinker Tones. But eccentricity is what makes this electro-pop group from Barcelona so fun. The band serves up another offering of charming chaos on their latest album, full of steadily percolating synth-driven music and provocative lyrics in both Spanish and English.
Download Pinker Tones, “Samplame”
emusic selects on tour!
Now that you’ve had a few days to enjoy the latest eMusic Selects releases, I thought we’d close out Selects week by letting you know when Strand of Oaks and Family Band will be coming to your town! Details after the jump.
Get Home from Johnny Woods on Vimeo.
Hopefully by this point, you’re already enjoying our two latest Selects albums, Miller Path by Family Band and Pope Killdragon by Strand of Oaks. Conveniently enough, one of our selects alumni, Hooray For Earth just completed a video for “Get Home” — which was my favorite song from their Momo EP (which, after Selects, got picked up by the indie label Dovecote). Since this week is about All Things Selects, it seemed like a good time to share with you what one of our recent faves was up to. As is always the case with Hooray For Earth, the video is beyond top-notch.
This past weekend, eMusic’s Access + Rewards program flew eMusic member John and his fiancee Foy to Chicago, with VIP passes to the Pitchfork Music Festival. Not only did they to enjoy thrilling sets by LCD Soundsystem and the reunited Pavement, but their VIP access allowed them skip the crowds and get up close to the action.
Near the end of the weekend, we interviewed John and Foy about their Pitchfork experience. See what they had to say after the jump — and check out eMusic’s Access + Rewards page for your chance to win!
As you may already know, this week is eMusic Selects week, and we’ve got two fantastic new releases joining the Selects roster: The Family Band, Miller Path and Strand of Oaks, Pope Killdragon. As if all that’s not enough, we’ve got a little something extra for you: Family Band has given us a ‘bonus track’: an incredible cover of Jack Nitzsche’s “Marie.” Their take on the song is gorgeous, Kim Krans’s voice sounding wounded and delicate as it glides through the song’s heartbreaking lyrics. By the time the strings come in, the song’s magic is already in full effect. It’s as remarkable as anything on their debut.
Download: Family Band, “Marie”
today! emusic selects!
Today, we welcome two more excellent bands to the eMusic Selects roster: Strand of Oaks and Family Band. What’s striking this time is how similar in mood and tone the two records are — both are stark, imposing, a little unsettling and truly visionary. We couldn’t be more proud to be working with them.
It’s no surprise that all of the music on Family Band’s Miller Path was written in a cabin in upstate New York. The music is spare, minor-key and wintry, evoking the best of early Cat Power, Beach House and even Lightning Dust. Kim Krans’s voice is haunting, gliding ghostlike over delicate, finger-picked guitar, singing sad lullabies and warning of bad things to come. The song “Fantasy” breaks my heart every time I hear it — and it’s free today, so you can listen for yourself! This is truly a potent, staggering debut, one that I haven’t been able to stop listening to since I first heard it. The record digs deep: early on, Krans sings the ominous, powerful line, “It’s hatred that makes the horse run strong,” and the rest of the record seems given over to exploring that idea. In their revealing interview with Jayson, they explain the origin stories for many of these songs — and the backstory for “Hatred” is particularly chilling. We’re thrilled to have Family Band as part of the Selects program.
Family Band, Miller Path (Free track: “Fantasy”)
Jayson talks to Family Band about the record.
Some of you may remember Strand of Oaks. Essentially the project of one man — Tim Showalter — their debut, Leave Ruin was an in-house favorite. If I can be so bold to make this claim: Tim’s follow-up for Selects, Pope Killdragon, is even better. He’s moved further afield from the folky leanings of his first outing into darker, stranger territory. Vintage synths color the songs in place of banjo and strings, and his voice has taken on new shades of longing and regret. When he sings “This year I’m gonna work on stability” in “Sterling,” he sounds like a man trying to convince himself as much as others. The record is a loose concept, its lyrics referencing both each other and earlier Strand of Oaks songs. He even manages, in “Daniel’s Blues,” to turn Dan Aykroyd into a genuinely tragic figure. A bold, striking, singular work, Pope Killdragon is the sound of a songwriter fully coming into his own.
Strand of Oaks, Pope Killdragon (Free Track: “Bonfire”)
I talk to Tim about the record.
Let us know what you think of them!
pitchfork fest recap
(video by dephot)
History has played a clever trick on Stephen Malkmus. That much became apparent near the end of Pavement’s perfectly ragged and utterly winning set at the Pitchfork Music Festival, when he sang, “I was dressed for success/ but success it never comes,” and about 50,000 people sang it right along with him. Even the crown prince of irony couldn’t have seen this one coming.
tomorrow
SLX. Get Psyched.
eMusic subscriber Chris Wolf enjoys a private lesson with Andy McKee courtesy of eMusic’s A+R program
So as many of you may know, eMusic has a very cool Access + Rewards program where subscribers can enter in to win giveaways, concert tickets, and one-off, unique events. Recently, one lucky member and guest won free tickets to acoustic guitar phenom Andy McKee’s July 13th concert at Lincoln Hall, Chicago. But that wasn’t all; afterward, that lucky member was treated to a one-on-one lesson with the virtuoso himself. That lucky member’s name was Chris Wolf; we caught up with him afterward and he debriefed us on the experience. Read our interview with him after the jump, and check out the photos from the event at our Flickr page.
Continue reading ‘eMusic A+R Debrief: lesson with Andy McKee’
seven twenty
S L X
what we’re listening to
Remember, during the halcyon days of the video store, the “Staff Picks” shelf? The place where employees got to lobby for their favorite films, and the place where you could go for a reliable selection when you just weren’t sure what you wanted to watch? We’re taking that principle and running with it: Starting this month, eMusic is proud to present this regular, monthly roundup of our editors’ current faves. Whether it came out 30 years ago, or was just released last week, if we’re listening to it, and if we’re excited about it, you’ll find it here.
Catch the first edition here, and look for the next installment next month!
Every Tuesday, the mix is fairly predictable: a number of long-anticipated new arrivals and a smattering of cool surprises. Today, however, we’ve got the reverse: there are a smattering of known quantities, and a whole barrage of under-the-radar stuff that sounds extremely promising. We’ll do the big stuff up here, the small stuff after the jump.
I will warn you: there is a lot. A feast for curious ears, some might say. I might say. I did say. Anyway.
The Avalanches, Since I Left You: This one gets bold, italics, everything. A modern classic. This has been unavailable digitally for years due to various disputes but, oh my God, it showed up today, and it sounds just as incredible as it did ten years ago. Soaring, soulful, un-toppable, everything that could possibly be right about sound-collage music. If you somehow do now own this, this is the record you need to buy today.
Wavves, Kind of the Beach: I pronounce his name so that it rhymes with “Aaaah,” and sometimes I like to shake my fist at the sky and just yell, “WAVVES!” in anger. I wasn’t buying the last one, but he’s stepped up his game on King of the Beach. eMusic’s Vvijith Assar says:
King Of The Beach gives the caked-on grime a much-needed power wash, and the change is remarkable — now the hostility cribbed from Nirvana and Yo La Tengo’s textural influences — previously obscured by distortion — ring through clearly. The signal-to-noise ratio has improved in a metaphorical sense as well — on Beach, Williams builds choruses by repeating moments that, in the past would have been fleeting. Most of them boast a newfound percussive propulsion, thanks to the recent addition of Jay Reatard’s former rhythm section.
School of Seven Bells, Disconnect from Desire: Second record from justly-beloved ethereal-pop outfit that remind me (and no one else) of Curve. Kinda. And a bunch of other bands from that era. Anyway. I should leave the talking to eMusic’s Alex Reynolds:
Disconnect From Desire, kicks off with the best My Bloody Valentine homage in years: squealing-banshee synth samples, futuristic, industrial sonics and droning, fuzzed-out guitar riffs. But this Brooklyn trio — featuring identical twin singers Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and ex-Secret Machines guitarist Benjamin Curtis — are more than just shoegaze purists; they’re one of the most exciting electronic-pop bands around, and they prove their mettle with a collection of 10 tuneful tracks that mix the forward-thinking sensibilities of Radiohead with the goth-romance of Joy Division.
Al Green, Love Ritual: WHOAH. Al Green rarities from the prime years, 1968 – 1976. Finding any information about this compilation online has been difficult to the point of being out-and-out puzzling. What gives? As you might expect, the music here is fantastic.
Admiral Radley, I Heart California: New project from Jayson Lytle and Aaron Burtch from Grandaddy and Ariana Murray and Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart. I haven’t listened to this yet, but eMusic’s Kyle Anderson loves it. He writes:
The album is a buffet of druggy guitar and aching melodies. While the hooks err more on the side of Earlimart’s latter day work (they definitely match the strength of the hooks on 2007’s overlooked Mentor Tormentor), the genre-bending schizophrenia is pure Lytle. The title track is an Elton John-piano-fueled ’70s AM radio relic, while “Sunburn Kids” turns MGMT’s freaked-out studio funk on its ear and “Lonesome Co.” manifests as a lazy alt-country jam.
Chatham County Line, Wildwood: eMusic faves Chatham County Line return. Our Peter Blackstock says:
Wildwood is squarely in keeping with the North Carolina ensemble’s four previous efforts, owing as much to folk-rock tunefulness as to bluegrass traditionalism. Banjo, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass and guitar help to lay down the foundation, but the key component of the quartet’s identity has always been its vocal approach. While high lonesome has its place in their aesthetic (as is clear when leader Dave Wilson reaches for the stratosphere at the end of the sorrowful “Alone In New York”), their singing is generally more likely to recall the SoCal ’70s country-rock heyday (as on “Crop Comes In”), or perhaps the backwoods soulfulness of The Band (see “Saturdays And Sundays”).
Crowded House, Intriguer: Hey now, heeyyy now. I always thought Crowded House were unfairly considered One Hit Wonders — Neil Finn is not a flash-in-the-pan, he’s a solid songwriter with a knack for subtle hooks. eMusic’s Melissa Maerz writes:
On their sixth album, [Crowded House] don’t really need the whole world anymore — they just want to play for one another. At least that’s the cozy vibe one gets from Intriguer, an intimate, old-friends set put together by Finn, his long-time collaborators Nick Seymour (bass) and Mark Hart (keys/guitar), and a few family members. Finn’s wife Sharon and son Liam even lend ethereal vocals and psychedelic guitar, respectively, to the highlight “Isolation,” which floats on ’50s-style earth-angel dreaminess. Much of the charm lies in the minor details, like the Korg microsynth on “Saturday Sun” or Liam’s pastoral guitar on “Falling Dove.”
Blue Giant, Blue Giant: Blue Giant are alumni of our eMusic Selects program but, in truth, they were stars before they ever got to us. Comprised of members of Viva Voce and the Decemberists, the apply the tunefulness of both bands to this country-rock project. eMusic’s Amanda Petrusich writes:
Blue Giant’s scrappy indie-rock is surprisingly countrified, a collection of knee-slapping, low-country laments infused with pedal-steel yawns and indebted, at least in part, to Gram Parsons’s enduring notion of “cosmic American music.” [They're] very much a West Coast band, and its endlessly addictive, self-titled debut mostly avoids the gothic foreboding — creeping kudzu, poisoned whisky, rising rivers — that animates its southern counterparts. There’s plenty of earned heartbreak here (“When my love is gone, it’s gone for good,” Kevin Robinson promises), but tracks like “Clean the Clock” and “Blue Sunshine” are also open, ecstatic stompers, as bright and burnished as the Pacific Ocean.
Kenny Rogers, Kenny Rogers & the First Edition: Last night, TBS showed the Seinfeld rerun where a Kenny Rogers Roasters opened up across the street from Kramer’s apartment and he couldn’t sleep because of the blinding red light from the sign, so he traded apartments with Jerry, which caused Jerry to start acting like Kramer, and which caused me to ask, “What the fuck ever happened to Kenny Rogers’ Roasters?” That was just one of many strange enterprises Rogers was involved in — the other was this (kinda?) alt-country/psych-country outfit that spawned a cult favorite, “I Just Dropped In to See What Condition My Condition Was In” (not on here) and “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” (on here). Definitely going to check this out today.
Big new titles today in the UK and EU! The most divisive MIA record ever, School of Seven Bells, the return of Martina Topley-Bird, mother-and-daughter folk from Eliza Carthy and her mom Norma Waterston, and tons more. Let’s start with:
MIA, /\/\ /\ Y /\ – MIA is the kind of pop figure who doesn’t seem to feel comfortable unless she’s positive she’s irritating somebody; when people around her start praising her too highly, it seems to only provoke her more. Thus, this record. Which will probably make everyone angry. Messy, loud, purposefully abrasive, schizophrenic, this is in some ways her most provocative record yet. Chelsea Brady writes:
On /\/\/\Y/\ all of M.I.A.’s multiple personalities get aired out: paranoid raver (cautionary nursery rhyme “The Message”), digi-pop-star (deliciously slick “XXXO”), dancehall toaster (bouncy love song “It Takes Muscle”), and astro stoner (blippy daydream “Space”). The Diplo-produced “Tell Me Why” woozes like a delirious Animal Collective jam, while the hardcore “Born Free” rides an urgent Suicide sample as M.I.A.’s voice booms from beyond, like it’s being broadcast from the PA system of a menacing prison.The cultural grab-bag can rub ears raw, but discomfort isn’t a side effect of M.I.A.’s music, it’s a prerequisite.
RIP Harvey Pekar
Horrible news out of Cleveland today — Harvey Pekar, one of America’s finest writers and storytellers, has passed away at the age of 70.
It’s hard to know where to begin when writing about someone who’s work has been as profound, funny, insightful and astonishingly consistent as Harvey’s. Best known for his American Splendor comic (and the phenomenal movie, starring Paul Giamatti, it spawned), Pekar was great at leavening hardened, hilarious, world-weary cyncisim with little dashes of hope. To say that I related to his point of view would be an incredible understatement. I am truly sad right now.
We at eMusic were lucky enough to have had Harvey write for us several years ago. I’d invite you to take some time to read two of his Dozens and enjoy some of the music Harvey loved.
