The other day I revisited my NEW Music Preview posts and cursed myself for not keeping up with them. I think they’re a super efficient way for me to pass on new music – less than 3 minutes of audio introduces you to 4 new tracks from some VERY different artists. With a little nudge from my boss, I made one for you today…hopefully one of many more to come!
Artists featured in this NEW Music Preview:
Lissie
James Cotton
Jason Isbell
The Boxer Rebellion
Filed under Audio Blog, NEW Music, NEW Music Previews
“Roots & Vine”
I had never heard of this Texas-based band until my boss added this tune into our rotation at mvy the other day. Now I can’t stop listening to the song, which has hints of Mumford & Sons and Zac Brown Band. NPR called their sound an “impossible-to-define stew of country, folk, rock and gospel”. Whatever it is, it sounds GREAT:
Filed under NEW Music, Song Of The Day
“Julie (Come Out of the Rain)”
This is the single from Josh Rouse’s new album, The Happiness Waltz. At first, it didn’t grab me, but the more I hear it, the more lovely it sounds to me…with it’s beautiful pedal steel and subtle harmonies. It definitely makes me want to sit down to hear more of the album!
Filed under NEW Music, Song Of The Day
“Master Hunter”
Here’s another single from Laura Marling’s forthcoming album…I can’t quite express how excited I am to have this CD in my hands! Once I Was An Eagle comes out May 28th.
Filed under NEW Music, Song Of The Day
“Demons”
New music from The National is on the way…Trouble Will Find Me comes out at the end of May and this is the single from the album. Like most of their material, it’s deep and dark with gorgeous layers of sound. Beautiful video too:
Filed under NEW Music, Song Of The Day
Shoestring
Big thanks to S for introducing me to the music of London’s Lyla Foy. She calls herself WALL and she’s recently debuted an EP along with a sweet music video (see below!). There’s a beautiful space in her sound that at times reminds me of Mirah or Lykke Li. Her writing and vocals are compelling and she seems to have a real ear for production…these tracks are pieced together beautifully! Her music video for the EP’s title track is my favorite kind – simple, cute, and strange (watch till the end).
The EP:
The video:
Filed under Check it out, NEW Music
“Diane Young”
I’m a big fan of Vampire Weekend and their new album is sounding awesome. Officially released on May 7th, Modern Vampires of the City is shaping up to be the most dynamic album yet from this young Brooklyn band. They recently debuted the radio single for the album and it remains to be seen if this will fit into the mix at mvyradio . It’s certainly engaging and upbeat from start to finish…but it’s slightly frantic at some moments. These tough decisions are left to our Music Director, PJ Finn…I suspect we may hear from him on this very subject soon!
Filed under NEW Music, Song Of The Day
“The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”
David Bowie is back and certainly as weird as ever! This creepy music video has stuck with me since I first watched it. Gotta hand it to Bowie, it’s a great concept…here he (and director Floria Sigismondi) reverses the roles of famous people and those who are obsessed with them, highlighting how absurd it all can get. Tilda Swinton is a perfect co-star for Bowie, and overall the video is the perfect mix of unsettling and thought-provoking:
Filed under Check it out
“Snake Road”
Here’s another Canadian musician who I really dig. His songs are always very thoughtful and this particular track is really FUN and catchy too. Sexsmith tells a story in this one that I’m sure MANY performers can relate to. In short, at some point in his career he was in a bad way but now he’s trying to clean up his act…this lyric video will spell it out for you:
Ron Sexsmith’s new album Forever Endeavour (what a cool title), is out now.
Filed under NEW Music, Song Of The Day
The Beast In Its Tracks
It was somehow fitting that I sat down and opened Josh Ritter’s new album right before Valentine’s Day. It only took one sentence of the liner notes to grab me -
“My marriage ended on November 1, 2010.”
What’s printed on the thin cardboard sleeve for this advanced release CD is an honest note from Ritter. He writes like a friend, telling us about how he fell apart after his divorce and then met someone new. He tells us that these songs are what came from that experience. He doesn’t apologize for the rawness of the music, but he owns it. And he writes, “Listening to it now makes me very proud.” The Beast In Its Tracks officially comes out March 5th…here are a few songs:
Filed under Check it out, NEW Music
