Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Odds & Ends

I've got a few good recommendations for everybody from some of the other great blogs out there.

First up is Captain's Dead, which has a live set that Neko Case played for KEXP in Seattle last month. The show has six songs from the highly anticipated Middle Cyclone, which Case will release March 3 on Anti- Records. My bet is this one will be even better than Fox Confessor and factor highly into the best-of 2009 lists. My only concern is that the tour stops announced so far in 2009 don't include Tucson, but I don't think she can bypass her old home. Plus, it's my guess that a stop in D.C. will lead to another NPR broadcast.

Next I'll direct everbody to I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, a favorite of mine for quite some time, to hear Bon Iver covering Feist's "The Park." As Heather says, "it’s unexpected, and uncanny."

And the good folks over at Spin have an exclusive new song from the Felice Brothers, which suggests the upstate New Yorkers have another gloriously ramshackle blend that sounds like the Old Weird America of Dylan & The Band in Woodstock.

And finally a nugget from my inbox: the new single from The Thermals. The Portland band will release their new album on Kill Rock Stars on April 7. This is power pop of the highest quality, a little like Weezer when Rivers only knew of the color blue. I'd love to see these guys tour with Bishop Allen...

DOWNLOAD:
The Thermals - Now We Can See

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I listened to the Bon Iver cover. Let me just say that "the Park" is probably one of my favorite songs of the decade. I don't think this cover was necessary. She blew that song away. I didn't here anything new with Bon's version, not that it wasn't pretty. He just needs to sit down and write some more songs like "Skinny Love" the rest of For Emma... was (gulp) forgettable, not that it wasn't pretty. For a cover that really does something special listen to Nina Simone's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues."
G.T.