California folk rockers Dawes have finally announced the release of their second album Nothing Is Wrong and decided to share a track from the album in exchange for an e-mail address. Nothing Is Wrong will be released on June 7 via ATO Records and you can check out the artwork above and the tracklist below. The first track to be released from the album is track number two; "If I Wanted Someone", which really shows some promise for the album and feature great production. Download it below.
Dawes have been busy lately, with frontman Taylor Goldsmith working with Middle Brother and the whole band backing Robbie Robertson in support of his new album How To Become Clairvoyant. The closing track on Middle Brothers self-titled debut album, which was released on March 1 via Partisan Records, was "Million Dollar Bill" and it also seems to make an appearance on Nothing Is Wrong (check the tracklist).
Tracklist for Nothing Is Wrong:
1. Time Spent in Los Angeles
2. If I Wanted Someone
3. My Way Back Home
4. Coming Back to a Man
5. So Well
6. How Far We’ve Come
7. Fire Away
8. Moon in the Water
9. Million Dollar Bill
10. The You Laugh
11. A Little Bit of Everything
If you don't already know that Beady Eye are Oasis minus Noel Gallagher chances are you won't ever listen to the album, and you won't be missing that much. Different Gear, Still Speeding was released in late February here in Europe and I finally reviewed it for One Thirty BPM and my review was published today, check it out here. In short Different Gear, Still Speeding is far from amazing, but it's a decent album and more consistent than expected. Fans of latter day Oasis should definitely appreciate it.
New Orleans rapper Curren$y finally released his first album of 2011 today after the delay of Muscle Car Chronicles from mid-March to early May. The album, or mixtape or ep depending on who you're listening to, is called Covert Coup and was produced by The Alchemist in its entirety and features guest appearances from Freddie Gibbs, Smoke DZA, Fiend and Prodigy from Mobb Deep.
Curren$y released two of last year's best hip-hop albums in the Ski Beatz-produced Pilot Talk and Pilot Talk II and judging by Covert Coup he's continuing his winning streak, plus he's got the aforementioned Muscle Car Chronicles and a third instalment in the Pilot Talk series planned. Curren$y has been kind enough to release Covert Coup for free and you can download it here in your choice of all kinds of lossy and lossless formats.
In celebration of stoner holiday 4/20 (check Wikipedia if you don't know what it is) Partisan Records recording artist Deer Tick are giving away the track "Smoke Off" for free. "Smoke Off" was released last year as a limited edition bonus track on Deer Tick's The Black Dirt Sessions under the name "The Great Smoke Off" and it is a hilarious Woody Guthrie-style tale of, well, a great smoke off. Check it out below.
In early March I posted Brooklyn indie rockers Cymbals Eat Guitars' cover of Guided By Voices' "Gleemer (The Deeds Of Fertile Jim)", which was recorded for a Guided By Voices tribute album called Sing For Your Meat. Sing For Your Meat was released on Record Store Day, the past Saturday, and also includes a cover of "Everywhere With Helicopter" by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit among others. The song is also included on a bonus 7" vinyl that comes with the vinyl edition of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's excellent new record Here We Rest. Their version is great, and you can listen to it right here, below.
If you haven't heard Here We Rest yet you should do yourself a favour and check it out, and if you want more detailed reasons you can check my review of it for One Thirty BPM here.
In late March it was revealed that Bon Iver actually would release a second album four years after the amazing For Emma, Forever Ago and today full details on the album were released; artwork, release date and tracklist. The album will be called Bon Iver, Bon Iver, although most publications and press releases have written simply Bon Iver Justin Vernon himself confirmed the title.
It will be released on June 21 via Jagjaguwar, who handled the reissue of the originally self-released For Emma, and it was recorded and mixed at April Base Studios in Fall Creek, WI and will, according to the press release, expand "the group's sonic palette beyond the rustic acoustics of the debut into a lush landscape of silky electric guitars, beautifully intricate keys, and subtle horn and string sections while keeping the ghost choirs and densely layered vocals intact".
Check out the city-name-heavy tracklist and a 51 second long album teaser which was released last week below, and the album cover above.
Seattle folk rockers Fleet Foxes guested Later...with Jools Holland earlier tonight and performed "Grown Ocean", the closer on their upcoming second lp Helplessness Blues. Check out the excellent performance below.
UPDATE: The band also performed "Sim Sala Bim" and "Bedouin Dress", videos here.
The band released a music video for "Grown Ocean" earlier which you can view here and if you haven't done so yet you can download the title track of the album here. Helplessness Blues will be released by Sub Pop on May 3.
In March The National released "Think You Can Wait" on the soundtrack for the film Win Win and it was announced that it would be the first of two previously unreleased tracks that would make soundtrack appearances during the spring. The second track is "Exile Vilify" which will be on the soundtrack for the video game Portal 2 and it was released to online retailers today. Check it out below.
In connection with the upcoming release of their sixth studio album, Circuital, on May 31 Kentucky-band My Morning Jacket have also unveiled their new fan club concept under the name Roll Call. Roll Call includes a bunch of treats (pre-sales, exclusive merch - the usual) and among these are MMJ's Self-Hypnosis series which will include exclusive music that will only be released to the members of the fan club.
The Self-Hypnosis series is described like this on the Roll Call website: "The Self-Hypnosis Series will begin an exploration into the core of each individual heart, mind, body, and soul that joins the Roll Call fan club. Based on a desire to help each individual fan reach a state of emotional bliss, a new algorithm was recently developed at Removador HQ. It can sense listeners temperature and emotional climate at the time of listening-thru any listening device, be it speakers or headphones, and cater a listening experience truly unique for each listener. MMJ will carefully handcraft and carve pieces of music that will provide a vehicle for the listener to enter a new gateway of self exploration and understanding based on their current state of mind at the time of each listen."
The first track to be released from the series is "Octoplasm" which you can stream below and if the above description sounds like hippie bullshit it's probably what you'll think of the track too, but otherwise you might just enjoy it. Keep in mind that this isn't a regular release and shouldn't be taken as a cue as to what Circuital is going to sound like - for that you should download an mp3 of the title track here, or watch the band perform it on VH1 Storytellers here.
I attended a concert by one of Sweden's biggest artists today at Cirkus here in Stockholm, and took a bunch of pictures during the show and you can view a couple of them below (completely unedited). If you're not from Sweden chances are you won't be familiar with Hellström's music but he's huge in Sweden, and not without good reason - he combines what made '72 Rolling Stones and '75 Bruce Springsteen so great, with some The Smiths added for good measure. Plus his lyrics connect with people and there aren't many artists who release a great debut and will evolve and get better by each release ten years into their career - and Hellström does exactly that.
