I imagine most of the independent-minded music world will be focused today on the release of M. Ward’s new album, Hold Time. But for my money, the real reason to wake up this morning was to bask in the melodic, groovy glory of a different new release: Vetiver‘s Tight Knit. Hopefully the leap to indie titan Sub Pop will bring Andy Cabic’s vision to a wider audience, for Cabic is, without question, one of our best and brightest. Tight Knit proves that he’s only gaining confidence as a musician and a songwriter. It’s rare to hear music that is so firmly rooted in the past without feeling like mere mimicry, however exceptional that mimicry may be. Cabic doesn’t put on any airs, and the result is one of 2009’s most exhilarating and refreshing batch of new songs.
A full confession: this album also happened to arrive at a much-needed moment in my life, as I am separated from My One True Love for another few weeks and am, more pressingly, dealing with the day-after blues of having had to fly back home without her. But this record has lifted me out of my sorrowful state and provided me with a few anthems to make me smile instead of frown. Visit the Sub Pop website or the band’s MySpace to listen to “Everyday,” which just so happens to be one of those anthems.
Thank you, Andy Cabic and Vetiver, for somehow managing to put this silly, sad boy in a happy mood again.
I thought I should let everyone know that I did not, in fact, send my collection of old-school rap cassettes to the dump. While I was still planning on trashing them up to the very last minute, once I had my furniture loaded onto the truck I felt confident that space wasn’t going to be a problem (thanks to my dad everything fit—albeit just barely) and I decided that I better not do something I might later painfully regret. I tell the world this because more than one friend has let me know that they almost called me after reading that post in order to demand that I not commit such a ruthless act of pop-cultural, childhood-memorial suicide. So everything is okay, concerned readers. The rap tapes are fine. But don’t worry. That bug didn’t spread. My old writing is still in the trashcan, where that shit belongs.
On the heels of the release of their new record, Skeletal Lamping, the Of Montreal gang is back in town tonight, playing Roseland. This time around, they’ve made the very wise decision to have Love is All open for them. I got to know Love is All when they stayed at my old house earlier this summer and they are nicer than nice. They also happen to be my favorite live band at the moment. I usually don’t dance at rock shows, but you can bet your bippy that I will be doing just that when they take to the stage. The new record, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night, comes out on November 11th. I’ve had it for a while, and dig the shit out of it! Don’t believe me? Check out their first single, “Wishing Well,” right here.
As for Of Montreal, I have also been spinning Skeletal Lamping for a while, and after a bit of initial shock, I’m starting to find my groove with it. Kevin is really swinging for the fence on this one. At times it feels like the journal entries of a sexually inexperienced teenager who is acting out his fantasies lyrically, and at others it feels like a genuine contemplation of adult themes. Of course, lyrics aside, the album is an assault of sonic and melodic genius, confirming Kevin’s place as one of the more gifted and inventive musicians of our generation. Here’s a cover of a song by some dude named David Bowie:
As a clever pre-release marketing campaign for the new Okkervil River record, The Stand Ins, Will Sheff chose some of his favorite artists to record YouTube-ready cover versions of his new tracks. David and I shot this one the other day. I haven’t heard the original, but I think Mr. Wingo represents quite nicely with some more of that Ola Podridian magic:
(If I ever figure out how to upload something to YouTube that doesn’t feel like it’s floating in a pixelated, gelatinous tank of water, I’ll die a happier man.)
Ever since I saw Matt Wolf’s incredible Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell in Sarasota, I’ve been dying to get my hands one of the tracks that plays early in the film. The newest reissue of old Russell material, Love is Overtaking Me, is being released by Audika Records on October 28th, and it has the song that I’ve been dying to hear for many, many months. You can stream “Close My Eyes” at the Audika Records MySpace page. I’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop for the past twenty-four hours and I don’t see myself getting tired of it anytime soon. I have a ton of digging to do with regards to Russell’s incomprehensibly eclectic back catalog, which I promise to do if, and when, I ever make it past this song.
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