Live: Justin Townes Earle + The Tarantula Waltz at Kägelbanan, Stockholm 2011.11.17

words by Johan Alm

MP3: Balto - "Gravestones"

If you've been reading this blog (or followed me on Twitter) you'll know that I'm a big fan of the American folk rock band Balto and their debut album October's Road which was released earlier this year. October's Road was recently re-released in the UK with two brand new bonus tracks included; "Gravestones" and "Chasing A Lie".

They're both demos for songs that'll appear on Balto's upcoming second record, but you could hardly tell that they're demos from the songs themselves since both are very good, and "Gravestones" in particular is stronger than anything that appeared on the original October's Road. Balto leader Daniel Sheron has relocated from New York to Portland and "Gravestones" was recorded there by Philippe Bronchtein (aka Hip Hatchet), who played on October's Road, with all instruments played by Sheron himself.

Damien Jurado announces new album, shares MP3

Seattle singer-songwriter Damien Jurado has announced the release of his tenth studio album via Secretly Canadian on February 21, 2012. The record will be called Maraqopa and it was recorded with Richard Swift who handled Jurado's last record Saint Bartlett, which was released in 2010.

Listen: Markus Hulthén - "Visa Från Svedmyra"

Here's brand new that you probably haven't heard before, I know I hadn't until this morning when I found Markus Hulthén's "Visa Från Svedmyra" on the excellent blog No Modest Bear. It's a beautiful little folk rock instrumental with psychedelic organ touches. For me personally it's even more interesting seeing as I grew up about ten minutes from Svedmyra, which is a suburb of Stockholm.

Video: Black Lips - "Raw Meat"

Here's another band with that's been releasing a lot of videos from their latest album; the Black Lips' Arabia Mountain was released on Vice in June and a couple of days ago they released the video for "Raw Meat". The video features the band playing a couple of not-so-exemplary cops as well as Leo Fitzpatrick (from The Wire) and model Janell Shirtcliff.

The video was directed by Phil Pinto and produced by Rachelyn Remz-Porter together with Urban Outfitters as part of their UO Music Video Series. Watch the video below.

Video: Timber Timbre - "Swamp Magic"

Canadian folk act Timber Timbre released the overlooked Creep On Creepin' On in April this year via Arts & Crafts and they've already released a few videos for tracks from the album, but here comes another one. This one's for the creepy instrumental "Swamp Magic" and it's a pretty damn weird animated piece of film. It was directed and animated by Joël Vaudreuil. Watch it below.

Listen: Veronica Falls - "Back Page"

Veronica Falls' self-titled debut lp was released last month and it's definitely a good one, despite not being terribly original it shows that a collection of good songs is more than enough to satisfy the listener. The band released "Bad Feeling" as a single in early October and with it came the b-side "Back Page", which you can listen to below, via Listen Before You Buy. It's a good track, and it would've worked just fine on the album.

Download: Korallreven - Ra Ra Rave On [mixtape]

Korallreven's debut album An Album by Korallreven was released in the US today (Europe/UK yesterday) and to celebrate the release Korallreven have unveiled a new mix tape titled Ra Ra Rave On which premiered on self-titled earlier today. I'm halfway through it right now and I'm enjoying what I'm hearing.

Video: WU LYF - "We Bros"

WU LYF's debut Go Tell Fire To The Mountain was released earlier this year to critical acclaim, but also a lot of criticism. They've now unveiled a video for "We Bros", one of the stronger tracks on the album, and you can watch it below.



(via Pitchfork)

[also published on One Thirty BPM]

MP3: Niki & The Dove - "Mother Protect" (Goldroom Remix)

Niki & The Dove's new Sub Pop The Drummer EP is one of my most recent discoveries, making me regret to taking the chance to see them during one of their several Stockholm shows this spring. The band has announced a new show at Debaser Medis in Stockholm on January 7 though, so I guess all isn't lost.

Listen: J Mascis - "I've Been Thinking"

Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis released the excellent Several Shades Of Why in March this year and "I've Been Thinking" was included as an exclusive bonus track on the Japanese version of the album, but now it's being released to the rest of us as the b-side of the 7" single for "Circle". "Circle" is a cover of a song by Edie Brickell that Mascis has been performing live throughout the year, and "I've Been Thinking" wouldn't have been out of place on Several Shades Of Why. The single will be released via Sub Pop on November 22.

MP3: Dirty Beaches - "Paris 3am"

Alex Zhang Hungtai aka Dirty Beaches posted a new instrumental track on his blog this morning, titled "Paris 3am". Sounds good to me, check out the track, and read what he wrote about it below.

Full album stream: Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler/The Dream

Earlier this year the San Franciscan garage rockers in Thee Oh Sees gave us Castlemania and tomorrow they've got a second album coming out, titled Carrion Crawler/The Dream, on In The Red. Carrion Crawler/The Dream is without a doubt stronger than Castlemania and it is possibly the best album Thee Oh Sees have released so far, and their discography is overall very strong.

Watch: Ryan Adams - "Lucky Now" (live on Nordic television)

Ryan Adams is currently touring Europe in support of his new album Ashes & Fire and on Friday he guested the Swedish-Norwegian talkshow Skavlan. Adams, dressed in a Ratt t-shirt and leather jacket, performed the single "Lucky Now" from the couch during the show, and you can watch the performance below. He also guested a Danish show where he performed the same track, this time with a backing band, and that performance is available here.