Tag: Music

Happy New Year! — A 2010 “Retropackle.”

Hey, everyone!  Happy New Year!  I hope that you have a good one, and that you’re surrounded by good food, friends, and music.  It’s been a long year over here (the epic dissertation struggle continues), and I haven’t always been the most attentive (you’re top of the list of New Year’s Resolutions!)… but I wanted to thank everyone for all their love and support.  I’ve been positively blown away by the amount of excellent music that has been sent my way, and the… well, legitimacy, I seem to have stumbled into.

So, in 2011, I’ll be stepping up to keep things rolling around here.  And I hope that you’ll be there, too!  And since it’s customary, follow me for some things I’ve loved this year, as well as some things I’m looking forward to in the New Year!

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Music for a Rainy Day: The Wilderness of Manitoba

One of the hazards, as well as the great joys, of running a site like this is that you quickly accumulate more things that you “just have to mention!” than you can possibly mention.  And so it is that many truly excellent bands and musicians end up resting beneath the vast expanses of “new” that fall everywhere like snow.  And thus it is that this section – “Music for a Rainy Day” – is born.

Unlike the “Things I Should’ve Mentioned,” the “Mailbag,” the “Now Playing,” or the “New Music/Out Now,” this section is a home for all that wonderful stuff whose only crime is that it came along when I was busy making other plans… conversely, all of this accumulated music now makes for many excellent surprises on rainy days!  As is the case with a band that I’ve been literally intending to talk about all year (thanks, again, Slowcoustic for the excellent recommendation!): The Wilderness of Manitoba.

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Two New Iron & Wine Tracks for RSD: Black Friday

If, like me, you’re someone who can’t wait for Iron & Wine to release Kiss Each Other Clean on January 25th, then take heart!  Iron & Wine released a limited-edition 12″ for Record Store Day’s own Black Friday Celebration.  The single features “Walking Far From Home,” which is also on Kiss Each Other Clean, as well as two tracks: “Biting Your Tail” and “Summer in Savannah.”  You can hear “Walking,” and find a link to “Biting,” after the cut:

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Listen to the new Pains of Being Pure at Heart Single

Need a pick me up?  Then head on over to Pitchfork and listen to the new single “Heart in Your Heartbreak” from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.  The vibrant, poppy track will be released by Slumberland as part of a 7″/digital single on Dec. 14th.

If their forthcoming album – Belong – sounds this good when it’s released in March, then we’re all in for an excellent Spring!  Check it out!

(And let’s not forget the awesome “Say No To Love,” which was released this Summer!)

Recommended: Black Prairie

Admittedly, I’m a little late to the party on Black Prairie.  But boy, what a party!  The band, which is comprised of 3/5 of the Decemberists, as well as two other folk musicians from Portland, OR, works with an amazing combination of musical styles (string band, folk, bluegrass, etc.) to produce something that just gushes out atmosphere.  What becomes clear, right away, is that the band’s songs (which are heavily weighted towards the instrumental) are born out of a love of genre, authenticity, and antiquity.  Watching them perform on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic (which you can see below), you see a seriousness and a joyfulness that makes for some excellent music.

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