This week was all about Broken Bells. Granted, I think I will forever be interested in anything Dangermouse, or in this case, Brian Burton, is a part of, but this is really one of the best yet. He’s paired up with James Mercer of The Shins. I’d have to say this is one of the better new things I’ve heard recently, and the artwork for the album is very awesome.

Grateful Dead was my second most listened to artist this week, something I’d never expected to happen. I could never get into them, and found them very corny, but Ian told me that’s because I never listened to Workingman’s Dead. So once I did, I moved on to Live/Dead, and then just this past week American Beauty. I’m far from a dead head, but I’m not at all opposed to getting down to them.

For a while I only had M.Ward’s Post War on my computer, which is by the way is very good, but I downloaded Transfiguration Of Vincent, which I hadn’t listened to since 2005, and I was enjoying that. He’s got such a distinct voice.

The Strange Boys are a band I caught wind of on Jeff’s blog. They are sloppy and fun and sound like a couple of guys who you’d like to see play in a crowded house show. Actually, I’d like to see that happen in a big way.

Dirty Projectors I’m sure you all know and love. I can almost always turn to them when I’m unsure of what I should be listening to. Make it a priority to see this band live.

Squeeze falls in next. Almost everyone loves them because almost everyone loves Tempted but I was determined to know more about them that. So I got Singles 45’s And Under because that’s what my Uncle Tim had when I was younger, and that was what I first knew about Squeeze. Some of their music still holds up, and some of it…well, you know.

I seem to always underestimate Why? Which is a shame to end all shames. But man, Alopecia is one of the best albums, like ever. It has so much to offer. Yoni has got so many great ways of arranging his words, and the way he half speaks his lyrics yet still the melodies are prominent, and good. If you walk away with this with one album, Alopecia should probably be it.

And finally I rounded it off with Tame Impala, a few dudes from Australia. Certainly psychedelic, they sound like the 60’s came to visit and dropped them off as a gift. I can’t help but hear the yelps of John Lennon popping through the vocals. Listen for a wild time.

As always, if your feeling like a bad boy, add me on last.fm

This is a great album from duo group She & Him (She being Zoey Deschanel and Him being M. Ward). She & Him has many of the components I look for in a musical group: great vocals, raw acoustics, a good mix of upbeat and relaxed rhythms…

Zoey sings most of the vocals, if you have heard her voice (perhaps in Elf?) you will recognize her unique sound. Her voice is very raw and untrained- giving it lots of charm and energy.

There isn’t a song on the album I don’t love! I never shuffle through She & Him.

Here is a video of one of my favorite songs from the album, ‘Change is Hard’

If you like She & Him check out some of M. Ward’s solo stuff- a lot different but also great!

The first single from She & Him’s (Zooey Deschanel being She, and M. Ward being Him) sophomore album, Volume Two, has been released online for free (how nice of them!) and thankfully, it doesn’t disappoint.

Nothing about In the Sun indicates a massive shift from the sunny, folksy upbeat tracks of Volume One, but it’s catchy and has a bit of a group singalong bit in the chorus which is always alright with me.

The summery sounds of this song may not match the weather outside right now, but between this and my copy of (500) Days of Summer, June doesn’t seem entirely out of reach.

Volume Two is released on 23rd March in the US, and 5th April in the UK

She & Him – In the Sun (download)

First, since it has been a while since you’ve heard from us, we’d like to send you wishes for a very happy new year from Great River Radio – and we hope it has begun well for you.  The show has taken a break over the holidays and during January while we paid attention to the other responsibilities in our lives and work.  As of yesterday, students are back on campus and we begin the spring march toward commencement in May.

Our first show of 2010 is one we’ve been working on for many weeks.  Since fall 2009, as we wound down the first decade of the 21^st Century,  media outlets cultural critics have been full of discussions of the best, not only of the year, but of the last 10 years.  Great River Radio has some opinions on music, as you know – we express them regularly on the show.  Last fall, we began our own discussion about what WE considered to be, not just the best, but the most influential music, artists and phenomenon of the decade.  And this week we are going to share those observations with you.

This Great River Radio show is going to be pretty personal, reflecting our vision and taste for the music that we’ve played on the show, rather than the entire world of music.  You won’t be hearing Beyonce, in spite of the fact that she won six Grammys last Sunday.  But you will be hearing from artists as various as Radiohead, Atmosphere, The Hold Steady, Sigur Ros, Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, Rufus Wainwright, The Shins, LCD Soundsystem, Joe Henry and Jack White and others.

We’ll also be talking about a few of the most significant developments that affected music in the last 10 years, including the importance of digital music, the soundtrack phenomenon and other culturally important industry developments.

We think you’ll like this show as a review of the decade in music – and a chance to hear some great songs from Great River Radio’s favorite artists. It will be epic!

Catch us live today, Feb. 2 at 4-6 p.m. (CST) via the KUST stream: http://www.stthomas.edu/ustclubs/kust/KUSTLive.html

Chat or AIM in the studio: kustradio

Brian/Dan

Playlist
Since You’ve Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson (background)
Fireflies-Owl City (background)
Guarantees-Atmosphere (background)
Easy Silence-Dan Wilson (background)
Your Little Hoodrat Friend-The Hold Steady
I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow-The Soggy Bottom Boys
New Slang-The Shins
All My Friends-LCD Soundsystem
Wake Up-Arcade Fire
First Day of My Life-Bright Eyes
Savane-Ali Farka Toure (background)
Sabali-Amadou and Mariam (background)
Staraflur-Sigur Ros
Comfy in Nautica-Panda Bear (background)
My Girls-Animal Collective
Ragged Wood-Fleet Foxes
Ten Thousand Words-The Avett Brothers
World Keeps Turning-Tom Waits (background)
Jesus, Etc.-Wilco
Going To A Town-Rufus Wainwright
None of Us is Free-Joe Henry
Sunshowers-MIA (background)
Paper Planes-MIA
Portland, Oregon-Loretta Lynn and Jack White (background)
The Same Boy You’ve Always Known-The White Stripes
15 Steps-Radiohead (background)
Everything In Its Right Place-Radiohead
For The Widows In Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti-Sufjan Stevens

I didn’t mean to do it, but this is Bright Eyes all over again. Most of them anyway, plus M Ward. OK, that makes this Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins and Monsters Of Folk. Like the album though, it’s Jenny Lewis all over, the Rilo Kiley singer’s pure tones rendering all things beautiful – and slightly sarcastic. Here she takes her sweet heart of the rodeo on a grapple with the buffeting forces of religion and hypocrisy, coming out bloodied but unbowed and with a nice country ballad to show for it. Everyone wins.

Junior says: “It’s quite pretty, isn’t it, Mummy?” She wasn’t talking to me. Conceding it’s “slow”, she turns her attention to the cover, noting that the ladies with Jenny are twins, because “they have the same handbag”.

Best bit: Jenny demurs, leaving The Watson Twins to trill the accusing “not your wife”.

Monday morning.

I guess I’m lucky in that Monday morning has no special significance for me.   It’s not the start of my work week since my work week never really ends- or starts, for that matter.  It doesn’t harken the reminder of having to be somewhere that I’d rather not be.

It just is.

Just another day.  Another chance, another opportunity to rise and do what I do.

An endless continuum of being and doing.

That’s one of the charms and curses of doing what I do, this lack of a defined barrier between what is and isn’t work.  For some, it could be an awful thing to be constantly trapped in your own world of work.  I understand that and there are days when the last thing I want to think about is my work.  But, fortunately,  those days are few and far between.

For the most part, I am happy to live an endless work week, rising early to rub paint on canvas and board.  To solitarily try to capture something I can’t quite see or describe.  To go to sleep with the rhythm of an image in my head and to wake, eager to try to find it once more in the new light.

So, it’s Monday, somewhere in my work week.

In the spirit of today, here’s a neat version of Buddy Holly’s Rave On from M. Ward.  Enjoy your day…

Better late than never?

Most spun albums of 2009, in no particular order:

1. Bell X1** – Blue Lights on the Runway
2. Avett Bros – I and Love and You
3. Built to Spill** – There is no enemy
4. Metric – Fantasies
5. M Ward – Hold Time
6. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
7. Fruit Bats – Ruminant Band
8. Andrew Bird** – Noble Beast
9. Heartless Bastards** – The Mountain
10. Dark Was the Night – Various

Honorable mention:  Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus, Face a Frowning World – Various, Bonnie Prince Billy** – Beware, Portugal the Man – Satanic Satanists.

**Saw live.

She & Him are returning with a follow-up to 2008’s Volume 1 with an aptly named Volume 2, which hits stores March 23rd. The new single, “In the Sun” is less overtly-classic sounding, and more contemporary than their former tunes. Looks like the super-duo may be refining their own original sound after all.

She & Him are also hittin’ the road to promote the new record. Catch them at one of these fine establishments:

March 15 – Largo – L.A.
March 25 – El Rey Theater – L.A.
March 27 – Trustees Theater – Savannah, GA
March 29 & 30 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
April 15 – The Glass House – Pomona, CA
April 16 – Coachella – Indio, CA

I dig it. You?

-V-

She and Him:

I have a Crush on Zooey Deschanel.

“One day you’ll be cool. Look under your bed, it’ll set you free. “

How do you follow-up an album like ‘Volume One’? Simple – you make ‘Volume Two’. She and Him’s debut was probably the most unexpected delight of 2008 and now the duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward will be releasing their new album on April 5th via Double Six records. The first single, ‘In The Sun’, is available to preorder on 7 inch today, backed by a cover of The Ronettes /The Beach Boys ‘I can hear music. The song is great so lets hope the album is just as fab. You can hear it below.

Photo courtesy of userserve-ak.last.fm

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s superpower duo She & Him will release their accurately if unoriginally titled sophomore album Volume Two on March 23. Get a sneak peek with their first single, “In The Sun.”

Deschanel’s recognizable, homey lilt tops some fuzzed out beach guitar riffs — eternally happy. Everything you’d expect from this group, and hopefully to be continued when the album is fully released.

- Ellen

She & Him – In The Sun (download)

She & Him new single "In The Sun"

PREVIEW: LISTEN to “In the Sun”

Looks like we will never see the end of She & Him extravaganza, not that we are complaining. She & Him, better known as the creative duo made up of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, started their takeover of the indie music scene in 2008 with their debut album Volume One. Barely two years later, following Deschanel’s success with (500) Days of Summer (like we need to remind you) and Ward’s side-project Monsters of Folk, the pair will be releasing their sophomore album. Appropriately titled Volume Two is set to drop March 2010, however She&Him have already released the first single from the album on pitchfork.com. On top of the single release this week, the duo was also announced to be part of The Coachella line up this coming April. It appears Ward and Deschanel are only getting started.

–Irina Dvalidze, Multimedia Editor

She & Him have released the first track from their album to the public! The song will be the first single off of their upcoming album, Volume Two.

The 7″ of the single will be out on February 23rd. Volume Two will be out March 23rd. Both on Merge.

The mp3 for the single, “In The Sun”, is available below. The b-side to the single is a cover of The Beach Boys’ “I Can Hear Music”. Now, the song is great. A perfect example of a great, innocent ditty ‘going anthem’ as I like to say. I’m eager to hear the rest of the album.

Website
MySpace
Pre-Order single 7″
Pre-Order LP

(M. Ward – Post-War)

Thanks Captain Obvious: Covers Mixtape XXII

I Am Fuel, You Are Friends: Hello Blackbird, Hello Starling

Muzzle Of Bees: Muzzle of Bees + 91.7 WMSE Podcast :: Volume 35

Cover Lay Down: Woodpigeon Covers (Abba, Bjork, Pink Floyd, Gordon Lightfoot, Magnetic Fields and more!)

Knox Road: Phenomenal Video Saturday: The National

Slowcoustic: Matthew Ryan Gets RAW With New Video Series

Largehearted Boy: Book Notes – Kathleen Rooney (“For You, For You I Am Trilling These Songs”)

Lay All Your Love On Me (ABBA Cover) – Woodpigeon

Roll Away Your Stone (Mumford & Sons Cover) – Laura Marling

Undertaker – M. Ward

I Want For Nothing – Wye Oak

Image from here

New albums are coming out this year from MGMT, The New Pornographers, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Ted Leo, Santigold, and so many other people I’m dying to hear from. But I am beyond doubt most excited about She & Him’s sophomore release Volume Two. Volume One was released March of 2008, and I bought it on a whim. And oh was I so happy I did! I must have listened to that album nonstop for ages, and am still constantly returning to it! The mix of 60s girl-pop, country twang, and light-hearted folk completely won me over. It’s cozy, yet still full of sunshine. The album rises and falls with excellent bubblegum tunes like “I Was Made For You” and bluesy croons like “Take It Back.” In summary, I couldn’t sing Zooey Deschanel’s and M. Ward’s praises enough (by the by, M. Ward’s latest solo release, Hold Time, from February 2009 is completely stellar, you must check it out), and have been aching for a follow-up record ever since. Volume Two is being released March 23rd and, just like the previous album, will feature eleven original tunes and two covers. I’m much more interested in the new cover songs than the last, as these come from NRBQ and Skeeter Davis; they seem better fits than The Miracles or The Beatles. And bonus for me: I may even be seeing She & Him a few days after the album release at the Savannah Music Festival, while I visit my sister at SCAD!

Wonderfulness.

And another treat! Just found this: In The Sun! First single maybe? Seems a little heavier than what we’re used to from them, but the piano’s sweet, the backup vocals are fun, and the forward motion is excellent. I’m definitely into it!

She & Him’s “In The Sun,” from Volume Two.

The “She” is Zooey Deschanel and if you’ve seen her in Elf, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford or Yes Man, you know she’s not just another actress-turned-singer; the girl can sing. Paired with “Him,” M. Ward,  it’s the perfect indie folk duo. Volume One debuted in ‘08 and Volume Two is due out March 21, 2010. The feel is very mellow, retro, even. All 13 tracks have Deschanel on vocals, singing to an anonymous him.

Favorite Tracks:

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here: All of Volume One has a sing-songy vibe to it and this quirky love song is no exception.

Why do you let me stay here
All by myself?

Why don’t you come and play here?
I’m just sitting on the shelf

Take It Back: Slow and soulful, the singer begs her lover to leave her alone so she can move on.

I don’t wanna wonder whether you love me
I don’t wanna wonder whether you care

So don’t try to woo me
Don’t try to fool me
Oh, I know all of your tricks

She & Him Volume One also has covers of Smokey Robinson’s You Really Got a Hold on Me and The Beatles’ I Should Have Known Better and closes with a rendition of Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

Listen to She & Him @ http://www.myspace.com/sheandhim

M. Ward – Poor Boy, Minor Key

Play it on Lala.

Crappy live video…

Play this one until the end…

M. Ward Poor Boy, Minor Key