Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me

Out today on Drag City, Joanna Newsom’s Have One On Me is a triple LP of amazing depth and beauty.

And that’s really it.  I mean, I could try and explain this feeling that keeps me glued to my headphones.  This transcendental stillness that makes me feel like I’m both floating and sinking.  I could go on about the amazing bravery it must take to make a collection of songs that seems so driven by intuition and instinct.  The sort of courage it must take to make two hours of intimate, oft-abstract music, and then to try and organize that into something coherent.

I could do all of those things, but I’d just be keeping you from heading on over and having a listen.

So, after the cut, courtesy of NPR, I present you with the whole album.  I’ve also separated out “Baby Birch” – my current favorite.  Enjoy!

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Preview: She & Him – Volume Two

She & Him stopped by the BBC’s Radio 6 for an interview and performance of two songs – “Thieves” and “Gonna Get Along Without You Now” – from Volume Two (Out Mar. 23rd on Merge).  You can hear the BBC session by going here and skipping ahead to 1 hour, 41 minutes.  For some more details on the record,  you can visit Stereogum.

From the sound of things, fans of the first record (which, it seems, is just about everyone) will love what’s in store for them.  For those of you in a rush, visit Stereogum to hear “Thieves” right now.  You can find “In the Sun” below for your listening and downloading pleasure…

[audio:https://www.shh-listen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/02-In-the-Sun.mp3|titles=02-In-the-Sun]

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Preview: Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago

Out February 23rd on Matador, Shearwater’s sixth album The Golden Archipelago – is a stunning, dramatic work that merges Art Rock, whispy Folk, nature sounds, and a soundscape of complex, shifting harmonies that move like light on leaves.  From the outset, the album’s “Leaves Eclipse the Light” has an earthy, hypnotic quality that evokes the sense that we aren’t so much beginning an album as we are flowing into a more magnificent space.  Though there are more frenetic moments – “Corridors” and “Castaways” for example – the album seems content to speak in an intimate, frank voice that is just for you alone.

And perhaps that’s best… at the suggestion of the folks over at NPR, I’ve given this album a couple of listens through nice headphones, and it really is immersive and grand.

The Matador review tells us, and I sincerely echo:  “The results are singular, revelatory, and demand to be appreciated as a whole. Islands under siege, islands of impenetrable solitude, islands of the world and islands of the mind – all are here in The Golden Archipelago, whose shores and reefs flicker and beckon, even as they crumble under rising seas. “

You can hear the whole thing after the cut, courtesy of NPR, and you can download a couple of songs, too!

Enjoy!

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Preview: Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back

I’m back from my dissertation-induced exile to let you know that the The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. is streaming a preview of the forthcoming Peter Gabriel album Scratch My Back.  The idea behind the album is straightforward: For each song that Peter Gabriel covers, the artist whose song it was will cover one of Peter’s songs.  That album, to be released at a later date, is called I’ll Scratch Yours.  For the moment, though, we get to enjoy a release that is remarkable not only for its breadth, but for the speed at which Gabriel – a noted perfectionist and long-time studio noodler – has produced it.  Needless to say, covering tracks by Elbow, Radiohead, and Regina Spektor, among others, is a fairly bold career move at this stage in Gabriel’s career.  Fortunately, it all mostly works, and the result is a decidedly intimate, engaging album full of challenging interpretations of songs both familiar and strange.

Go ahead and use the player below to hear the whole album (courtesy of The Guardian).  Also, you can download a copy of Gabriel’s cover of Bon Iver’s “Flume” by following the link below the player.  Lastly, the album’s out on February 15th in the UK, and March 2nd in the US.  Enjoy!

As an added bonus, enjoy this cover (not on the album) of Vampire Weekend’s “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” featuring Peter Gabriel and Hot Chip: [audio:https://www.shh-listen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/capecodkwassakwassa_vampireweekendcover.mp3|titles=Peter Gabriel and Hot Chip – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa]