Have One On Her

It feels like a lackluster dupe when I hear Joanna Newsom was born in 1982 and so was I! Some people can truly make the best of what they’re capable of. Her new album Have One On Me is due Feb 23rd and is outstandingly a 3xCD/LP according to her Drag City page which seems to be the only official place she owns. Yet again, the cover art depicts Joanna at the center of a luxury medieval-themed room with abundant furniture surrounding her. So are we going to hear another set of songs as epicly arranged and unbelievably written as her previous milestone 2006’s Ys? Or is she playing another naughty girl trotting across her short-lived fantasies the way she did on The Milk-Eyed Mender?

There are certain factors to Newsom’s artifice. Some come from people around her, aspiring her courageous soul to pursue inhabiting her wonderland as a freak-folk Alice and some are just innate - and in a spiritual way of putting this - God-given. She breaks songwriting boundaries though not complacently. She rides her unicorn wherever she pleases while the listener must follow her path ‘cause otherwise, he/she will be lost in a Walt Disney jungle of confusion. She used to hang out with another songsmith Bill Callahan who has his own lukewarm fantasies about flocks of birds and trees. There is a spirit in Callahan’s eccentric anecdotes that inspires Newsom. Moreover, Van Dyke Parks’s orchestrations fit Joanna’s off-the-wall hands on harp well. I could not have guessed all these overwrought deviations from her pre-Ys era. Maybe I was too young to choose Joanna over her contemporaries. But Ys stays a vigorous turning point in the previous decade's adventures. The raconteur who sings or story-tells a sublime 9-minute opus with likes of “Monkey & Bear” or “Sawdust & Diamonds”, has surely not stayed idle for repeating what she once experienced. So, I foretell Have One On Me must have a lot to say.

“81” is the first tune Drag City unveiled from Have One On Me. I have to say it sounds more settled than Ys and its precedents. Maybe Joanna has grown up as woman this time. It’s appealing the way all Tori Amos and Kate Bush songs are, but we’re anticipating more as we get close to the release date.

[mp3] Joanna Newsom "81"

* Pre-order Have One On Me via Drag City

Keep On Keeping On

Today I feel a bit like sharing the reality with you:

This is hard time! This is where I should just keep on my random anticipation. That’s what I’ve been doing and I don’t regret a thing about music blogging. It has always been my passion and it somehow will be. But a blogger who writes and reviews indie music inside a country like Iran is bound to stay an outcast. We here, are a thousand kilometers from almost anything related to sound. There is almost no live gig. Rooting back up, where do you find a musical event worth scribbling about? There are almost no in-land artists to cling onto. There is no way of finding a sponsor for a single activity and there are of course no advertisements. There is no ground left for an orphan kid called music. All left is political underground hip-hop or pop-trash so void of musical virtues. I have been able to contact some Persian underground talents both inside and outside the country and I’m grateful they have been kind enough to share their thoughts with us. But it’s like living in a cage and watching the room around you get bright in the morning and dark in the evening without recognizing the difference and the reason. I have just never been in the hype of anything. I have only pretended I have!

Every day as I browse the web and wrestle with intense filtering just like any other Iranian citizen, I stay updated with most new quality releases and I try to live with them to their fullest. But the world outside is just unimaginably sad and cruel for music fans. Thank God I’m merely a seeker and not an artist! Iran is definitely a living limbo for music; the rotten land of the impossible. Political times have proven to be a turning point for countries with the slightest taste of freedom. New genres evolve and new audience arises by each major incident. In Iran’s case, it has always been a matter of choosing between the worse and the worst. You either sing traditional hymns, make people mourn and remind them of their imminent struggle with death, or you just sit down, bottle up and wait for a miracle. There are no portals to a new sound, for a diminutive amount of creativity or at least an eager ear to hear. And I look like a desperate soul yearning for a change in minds or situations or anything that clears up a path to music. Seemingly, music is the last thing they ever demand! Same for movies! Same for painting exhibitions! Art in general, is just never the case as an artist is never counted as a living being! And so the hope tunnel gets thinner and so I’m more out-of-words day by day. I still pine for a change; I’m still walking that road. But this shit is getting deeper. I just hope I’m not wasting my time.

[mp3] Vic Chesnutt "You Are Never Alone"

* Buy Vic Chesnutt's North Star Deserter via Amazon

(Just) x 2

Justin Ripley’s “Europeans” was a tune cool enough to be featured in our Cornerturners mixtape. He’s a man of fewer words, but he has finally set up his Bandcamp page and of course he has recorded 9 brand new songs that we better check out. The album is called Just Just! He’s still very much in love with his lovely wife but he’s still very much smart-minded to write simple indie pop songs. “Nunya Business” is a lazy-cool opener with a hand full of chops on the guitar. “Nail on the Head” as well includes Justin’s witty fun lyrics and an easy-listening sound that you can find almost anywhere on the album. His voice is sometimes as reckless as Stephen Malkmus, so better picture him as a ground as mundane as Pavement but then pretty much tender and less confusing. Though he's still not much interested in publicizing I guess. I had to attach a photo to his last.fm page to clear some stuff out. Thank God he mails me sometimes, so have a nice time Justin!

[mp3] Justin Ripley "Nunya Business"
[mp3] Justin Ripley "Nail On the Head"

Great Are the Sounds of All That Live and All That Man Can Hold

The Courage of Others, the new album by Texas 70s-style rockers Midlake got released three days ago and according to Tim Smith the frontman, they didn’t like their 3rd effort to sound like 2006’s The Trials of Van Occupanther. So there are no “Roscoe”s or “We Gathered In Spring”-like hits and Smith's voice does not use its flexible features. He’s mostly baritone and serious. There are more acoustic intentions comparing to their other works but still you hear all those meditative melodies as if you’re camping in the middle of the woods. I found so much beauty in the opener and to be honest, I didn’t find such solemn anywhere else on the disk. By the way the album art is just horrible! (It's not what you see in the pic. That's the single! You ain't seen nothing yet!) You really ought to be a curious eye to find this appealing when picking up the item in a music store, but what can you do when you hear the sympathetic flute on “Acts of Man”?

[mp3] Midlake "Acts of Man"

* Buy Courage of Others
* Midlake official / MySpace

N° 3

Sincerely Yours records unveils two tracks off jj’s third effort, sincerely called N° 3. The Swedish neo-Balearic popper duo pursues their dreamy lightweight twee pop without forcing a big touch on their sound or the delicacy in their instrumentation. Once again, this short delight of an album is infused with sweet breezy romance and resonated earnest femme vocals. Apparently N° 3 is the outcome of a vacation that includes losing virginity to insanity and looking for moments of clarity (at least that’s what Sincerely Yours says).

[mp3] jj "Let Go"
[mp3] jj "My Way"

* Photo: "Chair" by Niloufar Banisadr
* Both mp3s link to the official label's website and are in .zip format
* Preorder jj's N° 3

Surfer Blood - Astro Coast

What intensifies my zest for Surfer Blood (from Florida and knowing they don’t surf) is their mélange of whatever that used to be cool in the 90s and early 00s. They have the utensils that are their craft in guitar melodies, and their insatiable passion to depict a beach postal card without sounding lavish and prestigious (though to a very large extent alternative rock). John Paul Pitts, the frontman, hopefully has a versatile lung and he can remind us of many great vocalists at the same time and consequently this very aspect of his leads to Surfer Blood sounding like Holiday rock ‘n roll darlings, although their main inspirations were not all necessarily surf bands.

Astro Coast is among the albums that may not suit its own zeitgeist, but this is probably why you really want to try it. I can easily name Apples In Stereo and Silversun Pickups as bands that solely remind me of the 90s and nothing more. I have my favorites but their existence does not stretch out into this century. But in case of Surfer Blood, due to its lush indie rock root and how they manage to make the best of their own songwriting ancestors, we can’t selfishly declare their sound long gone or stereotyped or anything. Although the inspirations are rather strong and vary song by song, Astro Coast is not the kind of album that grows boring and dull by repeated listens.

“Floating Vibe”, the opener and its buoyant breezy riffs may not be as wry and ramshackle as a Pavement song, but it surely makes you think of their early 90s jaunty moments. “Swim” is a sporty and lively tune drawing very careful inspirations from Pixies. “Take It Easy” lends its pure afro-pop essence from probably Vampire Weekend and John Paul Pitts sounds a lot like My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. But mainly he’s pretty much close to The Shin’s James Mercer for the rest of the disk. “Neighbor Riffs” is again a Doolittle-style instrumental that serves well as a short break and stretches its Pixies mood to the opening guitar line of “Twin Peaks” which unintentionally compels me to like it having David Lynch in my mind. “Slow Jabroni” comparing to other works is a bit monotonous but I suppose it’s a must to have such works on the tracklisting. All in all, Astro Coast seems complete on the content and the order it is presented. It doesn’t look like an album that needs a pushing factor. But then again, in the habit of most 2010 albums so far, Astro Coast is not trying to comprehensively waste all the sweat on one sole hit. This is somehow why I don’t listen to Weezer that much. Instead, the talent, the mood and the innate charm is speckled throughout the whole album.

The album may not be an instant grower, but in case you miss the sunnier side of the Pixies and Pavement, Astro Coast most probably serves you well. Manage your exceeding expectations from music and let the summer begin.

[mp3] Surfer Blood "Swim"

* Buy Astro Coast via Insound
* Surfer Blood on MySpace

Top 10 Beach Boys Songs

Here comes the surf deities the way you'll probably never experience again in your youth in another lifetime. Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys were the permanent suntan lotion band of the 60s. They brought our fathers joy, hope and some kick-ass holiday/surf music with timeless vintage qualities. I wasn't born in their heyday and I'm not an American. But from a million miles away while listening to these guys, I can smell the sand. Here's my top 10 Beach Boys songs excluding Brian Wilson's solo works:

10 In My Room
09 God Only Knows
08 Surfin' USA
07 Sloop John B
06 Wouldn't It Be Nice
05 Surfer Girl
04 Good Vibrations
03 I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
02 Here Today
01 I Get Around

No Joy

Carrying on having my weakness for Montreal-based acts (albeit I’ve never been even close), No Joy is a psychedelic-shoegazer band from the city and their lo-fi arrangements can slightly bring me to The Besnard Lakes but they also have their own mid-90s My Bloody Valentines inspirations as well. The band is gearing up to go in the studio to record their first EP to be released this summer.

[mp3] No Joy "No Summer"

* Thanks to Laura Lloyd from Machette Records for sharing
* No Joy on MySpace

The Magnetic Fields - Realism

Stephin Merritt declared firmly that the new Magnetic Fields album will be a flip-side to the band’s impudent Jesus and Mary Chain-style industrial pop 2008 work Distortion. Whatever it signifies, Merritt still gets his songwriting inspirations from sitting in loud gay disco clubs and going through flying conversations over and over. So we’re supposed to deal with a clean and calculated set of songs. And fortunately what you had heard on paper is ostensibly what you get on the band’s 9th studio album Realism.

The disk is a maneuver of 60s folk instrumentations. Merritt has refrained from using any synthesizers. The only song that features some electronic mix is “The Daddy Polka”. This is quite what we expect from the guy who abruptly throws out 69 delicious witty folk tunes under only one name, and then becomes partially personal by starting all his song titles with an “i” and then asks his fans to keep the volume knob down for an entire record. The expected! The Magnetic Fields were never a band to convey what their listeners wanted to hear.

The orchestrated folk on Realism pursues a set of rules, or at least that’s how it’s turned out. 1st, There are no two instruments with strings that play on more than one song. 2nd, The songs refuse to be personal and pretty much 69 Love Songs style, there are 3 different vocalists in order not to distract you from the fact that Merritt is once again the wunderkind behind all the 13 tunes. 3rd, Merritt was also inspired by two Judy Collins albums in the mid-60s Wildflowers and In My Life. And 4th but not the least, why do you insist on building up analogies when MF have already mentioned how they wanted their new record to sound like? So what are all those ratings and stupid comparisons? Realism is not meant to be an album to have hits with likes of “Book of Love” and “I Don’t Believe You” (although the opener “You Must Be Out of Your Mind” slightly brings us back to the latter duo to its similar string section).

And finally, it’s Merritt’s minimal and somewhat nihilistic points of view that keep us all going. There are hootenannies and tea parties and the songs do not pass the threshold of 3:26 and you can’t believe how soon Realism sums itself up. I guess that’s why experiencing the Magnetic fields is just never enough.

* But Realism via Nonesuch

Free Energy

Summery laid-back 70s-style rock ‘n roll newcomers Free Energy are here to make you feel cocktail-ish and suntan-pining human beings when the chill outside can almost break your bones. Their eponymous LP Stuck On Nothing is produced by DFA Records’ James Murphy (who brought us YACHT and LCD Soundsystem material in 09) and will be released on Feb 23rd. Gummy conventional Weezer-y rock with a heap of positive vibes and feel-good sea side dreaming. Winter heralds an upcoming warm summer already.

[mp3] Free Energy "Dream City"
[mp3] Free Energy "Free Energy (Video Edit)"
[mp3] Free Energy "Dark Trance"
[mp3] Free Energy "Something In Common"

* Free Energy on MySpace
* mp3 links provided by Girlie Action