New Music Tuesday - January 27th, 2009

It was a rough week last week with a very big fall and a week of recovery, but with lots of help over the weekend I quickly forgot the pain and remembered the fun. I am not going to get all sappy on you, but I do have the best friends in the world as was proven on Saturday night. Don't worry the sappy blog is coming, but closer to my actual moving date later in February. Onto to this week, there was only one album I really want to review so I did. Other stuff is some confirmed bands at our favorite festivals and some new tracks to check out if you can. 

CD REVIEW:

Franz Ferdinand: Tonight

It has been a little while since we have heard from this power pop Scottish band. Their last release in 2005 was their sophomore album, which was okay. It lacked a lot of what their debut in 2004 had, which was catchy pop danceable tracks. So I was hoping that some time off would bring back that magic that made their debut such a great album. Their first track off the album "Lucid Dreams" has been out since the middle of last year and has been featured on the video game Madden 09. 

The album is a great improvement on their sophomore release and will certainly be heard in the clubs. With tracks like "What She Came For" and "No You Girls" will certainly be played often through the summer months so be prepared. The album isn't all catchy pop tracks though, "Katherine Kiss Me" is a acoustic delivery from lead singer Alex Kapranos. It is certainly a good track not the greatest. 

The album is good certainly, not sure how many people are going to become Franz Ferdinand fans if your not already. Buy it eventually it's a good album to have in the collection for the right moments.

FESTIVAL NEWS:

It has been confirmed that Peter Bjorn and John and Sun Kil Moon will be playing at this year's Sasquatch Music Festival. Rumored to be playing are Kings of Leon and Animal Collective. 

NEW STUFF!

The Cool Kids have released a new video for a new track called "Pennies" check it out on Pitchfork. 

Lady Sov. had to cancel her mini tour to the US due to some Visa issues. But expect a world tour once her new album drops later this year.

She & Him is working on the follow up to the great album Volume One, even though Zooey Deschanel is engaged now, got damn I still think she's wicked and I am looking forward to her and M. Ward's next album

Dan Deacon is going on tour with a backing band....this show is going to be insane!!!!!!! Trust me I was sober at his last show in Calgary and had my mind blown away, with a band to enhance his show...CRAZY! Check out shows in Canada on May 10th in Toronto (come visit) or in Montreal on May 11th. 

Finally, the Mae Shi are playing at Broken City this Friday. They are awesome and so is their show. Come down and check it out. It's not on the Broken City events calendar but it is still on the bands website, so it may not happen. If it doesn't it is still going to be a good time at Broken City. 

Till next Tuesday.

--Dave

Correction

Good Tuesday Everyone!

What a day! Obama is now President, and new music came out. However, due to a sprained wrist and busted up face, etc. New Music Tuesday is happening for one reason. I had a comment on my best of 2008 post from Andy Moor, whether or not it was the real Andy Moor, who really really knows as it's the Internet and I am a skeptic. However, Mr. Moor pointed me in the right direction as I made an error in my mention of Mia Clarke and Andy Moor's great album Guitargument. Andy Moor is not the DJ Andy Moor as I had previously mentioned but Andy Moor of the band The Ex. 

So two positives came out of this comment. 1) Andy Moor commented on my blog real or not pretty sweet, and he corrected my error so we can all have the correct knowledge. 2) I started listening to The Ex, and they are good!!! Check them out! http://www.theex.nl/home.html.

Well that is all I can really do as I am pretty sore from my fall, I'll write a good post when I heal up. 

--Dave

New Music Tuesday - January 13th, 2009

Good Evening NMT Readers!

Last week I told you all that I couldn't properly review the new Animal Collective album because it wasn't officially released and although the leak has been out for almost a month now, that's just not right. But the day has arrived and the review, well it's good... very good. I have some new FREE music for you again this week from an indie-pop band called Office. And....well that's pretty much it, probably some brief news clips of interesting music tidbits.

NEW MUSIC REVIEW:

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion:

This review has been waiting in the wings for a little while now, critics love Animal Collective and for good reason. They are a fresh band with a truly different take on music and their arrangements, the trouble with a new sound is that is can be hit and miss on whether or not it is good. So far though with albums like Strawberry Jam and Sung Tongs they haven't missed by much when they do miss. 

I am here to tell you that Merriweather Post Pavilion is not a miss at all! It is a hit straight to the bullseye.  From the first track to the last all the songs have a great melody to them and the two man band plays off each other so well that it is an album that can be listened to in it's entirety without having to skip tracks. One half of Animal Collective for those who don't know is the great artist known as Panda Bear aka Noah Lennox whose last solo album as Panda Bear was Fever Pitch was the 2007 album of the year for many many many critics. 

I was very happy with this album, I was introduced to Animal Collective a little later on in their musical journey with their 2007 release Strawberry Jam which I liked a lot! This album has some differences to what they created in Strawberry Jam but they did it so well. Tracks like "Also Frightened" and "Lion In A Coma" really highlight this album for me, they both just have a tremendous melody to them and can be put on repeat and enjoyed over and over again. - Buy It!! A great true start to the year of Album Reviews, please ignore the sub-par review from last week. 

FREE MUSIC!!:

Formed in 2000 indie pop band Office began to put albums out in 2001 with their debut release simply called Office. Well the band has seen some line up changes over the years and saw some success on good old iTunes and made the US festival tour appearing at SXSW, CMJ and Lollapalooza. Well, that should bring you up to speed to reach now 2009. Now, they have decided to put things on hold for a while and in doing so they decided to release their new album Mecca for free. Go here: http://ordinaryoffices.blogspot.com/2009/01/mecca.html follow the instructions, the download is kind of a pain as you can only download one track at a time. But the album is pretty solid. 

NEWS CLIPS:

Well the world of music has been buzzing since the beginning of the year. Here's new stuff that has happened in the last little while. 

Lady Sovereign is releasing a new album finally this year in April. While she is doing that some dude from Degrassi: The Next Generation is rapping with Lil Wayne....what?!

Fleet Foxes is going to be on SNL this week. Obama's inauguration is going to be off the hook with Bono, Jay-Z and many others attending. 

Blitzen Trapper, Girl Talk and Bonnie "Prince" Billy are all announcing their tours and guess what...none of them are coming to Calgary. 

Finally, Dan Deacon is looking for interns and none of you will qualify. My Morning Jacket has released a new EP on iTunes and no one cares after their horrible release last year. Pavement might reunite which we have been hearing for a while now and Thom Yorke has allowed the Grammy's to use his face in their ad campaign...it's only a matter of time now for the sell-out callers to start being heard and I will silence them pretty quick by point back to the amazing...no that wasn't big enough...AMAZING release In Rainbows. 

Well till next week folks. 

--Dave

New Music News

Well we got some festival music news to tell today.

Pemberton Music Fest 2009

Sadly, but probably wisely it was announced today that the Pemberton Music Fest 2009 will not be going ahead. As the organizers pointed out they needed to meet many logistical changes regarding security, garbage and transportation. They did not have the time to secure acts and revamp their plans so they decided to postpone this year's event and build on their plan to bring a bigger and better Pemberton Music Fest 2010!!! Probably a smart choice and I look forward to seeing the 2010 line up. 

SXSW 2009

I couldn't find a free fancy photo for SXSW so use your imagination. For those not in the know, SXSW takes place down in Austin, Texas so bring your guns and 4 bys. But, today came the initial announcement of the first wave of confirmed bands for this years festival taking place on March 13-22. Some of the highlights are: Ra Ra Riot, Ben Harper, Primal Scream, Peter Bjorn and John, Dead Prez, Kid Sister, Killer Mike, Crystal Method, Shad and my personal favorite Buck 65. Pretty solid so far, looking forward to the usual great additions that SXSW always brings. 

It is that time of year where the best festivals are announced and those we care less about are announced later. Stay tuned for updates as they happen. 

--Dave

A New Year, Computer, Music and More!!!

Happy New Year NMT Readers! 

This year NMT is brought to you by a sweet ass new MacBook! Ahaha amazing. So I hope you all brought in the New Year with a good time and a smile on your face! There is a lot to look forward to this year. Changes in life both big and small, new bands to discover, old bands to rediscover, concerts to see, music festivals to go to  (Pemberton year 2? Reading? Sasquatch? CMJ?) and so much more. In this edition of NMT I will bring you some new music as always, some free music and a new website that I am very addicted too.... and get your mind out of the gutter. Also if anyone out there in NMT land would like to write a contributing article every now and then let me know as it would be nice for a different perspective every now and then. 

ALBUM REVIEW: 

Well....it's pretty early on in the new year.....not a lot of releases so far this year being only 6 days and one Tuesday in.....Well I am going to search something out to review to start the year off, I mean something half decent had to be released today right? RIGHT?! Ok, I am searching...searching....nothing yet. Wait! Well I think I found something. Here we go.

Glasvegas - Glasvegas

I enjoy Scottish bands, not sure why maybe the accent keeps me spellbound or maybe it's because those Scots that make music focus so hard on their music because well other than drinking and a caber toss or two what is there to do? So I checked out the self-titled album for Glasgow natives Glasvegas. New to me this band reminded me of a band I had heard before right away, but couldn't put my finger on it. This album has a pop element to it, and although it just got released in North America it has been out in the UK for a while and has received glowing reviews. But as with everything it can't last and now the band faces harsh criticisms much like Vampire Weekend did after everyone got sick of them. 

Glasvegas covers simple topics in the music. Death, despair, melancholy rather poppy emo stuff. "S.A.D Light" is the highlight track on the album with a great drum backing. Other then that, it is kind of bland. Fairly typical elements and sadly as I was researching the band I found a horrible cover of Nirvana's "Come As You Are". Sadly, this was not the best start to the year, but there are some great albums on the way. 

I was going to review Animal Collective's new album that was leaked at the end of December last year, but I didn't think it was right to listen to the leaked release. Although the vinyl came out today I didn't have the cash to grab it. But Pitchfork gave it a great review so we will see.

MUSIC NEWS:

So as most of you know I work at Apple and as many of you know Apple loves music. So today at Macworld a giant convention of a ton of Apple nerds, they held a regular keynote that happens every year. In this keynote they usually announce new products and stuff that is exciting for those of us who love them. Well, this year was no different. Today, for us music lovers Apple has made iTunes even better, yes it's possible. They announced today that they are going DRM-free! If you are not sure what DRM-free means, it means now when you buy an album or songs on iTunes you can burn it to a disc and it isn't protected. YEAH!!!!

Also, someone made a Jay-Z and Radiohead mash-up. It's not good.

FREE MUSIC:

Canadian Folk rockers The Acorn have released a holiday EP and another one of recordings that they did, obviously. Check out www.paperbagrecords.com and follow the links to download (legally) so free tunes. They are good so make sure to check it out. 

MUSIC WEBSITE:

Holy crap this website I am about to tell you about is amazing, seriously amazing. You won't believe it till you check it out. But, I need to give this a proper introduction. In Calgary we don't always get the bands we want to roll through town, which is why I am moving to Toronto. But, sometimes even Toronto doesn't get the bands we want. So how will you ever get to experience some great live tunes from some of the great indie bands. Thanks to Amsterdam for bringing us more goodness. At the famous Paradiso club, many live acts roll through and the amazing staff at Melkweg Amsterdam bring us full live concerts via the good old information super highway. 

Bands ranging from The Black Keys to Kate Nash have their full concerts on www.fabchannel.com. Fabchannel.com has brought me hours of entertainment, some great concerts and as I explore more I am sure some new bands will be discovered. 

Well, a rather poorly written NMT to start the year I must say. Not up to snuff, but I will get back to my regular ways soon enough. At least I got the blog updated on Tuesday so points for that. 

Hope have all enjoyed your holidays and I look forward to another year of bringing you new music. 

--Dave