Alex Ebert, Alexander

The dirty yet charismatic leader of everyone's favorite traveling band of vagabonds is releasing his solo debut tomorrow.  After my first listen of Alexander, I am really digging it.  He sticks with the bouncy folk that has made Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros so adored.  An interesting note is that Ebert performed each sound that you hear on the album without the help of any other musicians.  If you are a fan of Ed Sharpe, it is a must that you pick this one up.

Truth

A Million Years

Up & Comers: Lord Huron

Lord Huron released two stellar EPs last year with Mighty and Into the Sun and he is set for a big coming out party at this year's SXSW festival.  His music is like a kick ass, indie Lion King soundtrack.  It is steeped in pleasant island and tribal vibes with distant vocals that are reminiscent of Panda Bear.  Fans of Vampire Weekend, Panda Bear, and Grizzly Bear should check out both EPs and their beautiful cover art HERE.

Mighty
Into the Sun

YAGN's February 2011 Mix

YAGN presents our first monthly mix! Each month we'll take a few tracks that we've posted and add some additional similar tunes to create a mix for that month. This month's mix is a low-key, Americana-themed mix that is sure to get you in the mood for Spring. Enjoy!

Link for Download (You Send It - Only available until March 6)

Tracklist:

01. The Decemberists - Don't Carry it All
02. The Low Anthem - Hey All You Hippies!
03. Shovels & Rope - Boxcar
04. The Ginger Envelope - All Pinned Down
05. Gillian Welch - Wayside/Back in Time
06. Cave Singers - Beach House
07. Castanets - Rose
08. The Tallest Man on Earth - This Wind
09. Typhoon - The Honest Truth
10. Futurebirds - Wild Heart
11. Neko Case - Star Witness
12. Fruit Bats - Blue Parachute
13. Megafaun - Volunteers
14. The Bears of Blue River - Crayola
15. Suckers - It Gets Your Body Moving

Stream the new Middle Brother Album now!

Supergroup Middle Brother's debut album Thanks For Nothing is available for streaming right now on Spinner. Middle Brother features the front men for Deer Tick, Dawes, and Delta Spirit and at first listen, Thanks For Nothing is a pretty solid album from top to bottom. Watch out Monsters Of Folk!

Stream album now

Weekend Mix: 02.25.11

I am going to send you into the weekend with a couple of tracks that I have come across lately and think you all will enjoy.  Have a fun and safe weekend everybody.  We'll see you back here on Monday.

E.S.P. - Sonny and the Sunsets - This track has an old feel to it that is reminiscent of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" with the verses being solo and the chorus a duet.*  Please note that there is a strange voice-over in the track that you must overlook.  More on their MYSPACE.  (*Bob Dylan >> Sonny and the Sunsets)

Crayola - The Bears of Blue River - I am really enjoying what I have heard from this band They have a Daytrotter Session that you can stream or download HERE.  I'm going to keep an eye out for these guys in the future.  More on their MYSPACE.

Bowsprit - Balmorhea - Balmorhea is an instrumental band, much like Explosions in the Sky, but they create acoustic symphonies as opposed to EITS's electric ones.  I don't think they are quite on the level of EITS, but "Bowsprit" is a beautiful track and my favorite that I have heard.  More at their MYSPACE.

Twang

A good friend of the blog recently sent us a dynamite mix with songs featuring the pedal steel guitar, a big favorite around here. We just wanted thank our good friend Andy and post a couple of videos featuring the pedal steel. I know we've had a lot of videos lately, but we've been hard at work on the YAGN February 2011 mix that we'll post for download on Monday. The first person to comment on this post with their favorite song featuring pedal steel guitar will receive a link to download Andy's mix and a healthy injection of twang. Thanks Andy!!!

YAGN Essentials: Deerhunter, Halcyon Digest

Deerhunter has everything in place to keep the casual music fan from checking them out because they seem too strange.  An lp on the cover of their album, Bradford Cox, and his LIFE STORY (which is very odd), all contribute to this perception.  However, don't let these things steer you away.  Halcyon Digest is a great album.  Sample the tracks below and then buy it for YOURSELF.

Helicopter

Desire Lines

Tennis, Cape Dory

Tennis is yet another Fat Possum band.  This husband and wife duo's debut is full of short, happy-go-lucky songs with nautical themes that create a very pleasant listening experience.  Enjoy and check out more HERE.

Marathon
Pigeon

Thursday Throwback: Bell Bottom Blues

"Bell Bottom Blues," featured on Derek and the Dominos 1970 release Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, is by far my favorite Clapton tune. Though Layla... also featured the famous sound of Duane Allman's Les Paul guitar (check out "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" - you'll recognize it immediately), "Bell Bottom Blues" features Clapton playing both the lead and rhythm guitar parts. It is rumored that the song was written about Pattie Boyd, former wife of George Harrison and Clapton. Boyd was also the inspiration for Harrison's "Something," "I Need You," and "Isn't it a Pity." Clapton also wrote "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight" with Pattie in mind - quite the collection of tunes for Ms. Boyd!

Derek and the Dominos - Bell Bottom Blues

Lykke Li - Love Out Of Lust

Really been digging this Lykke Li track off her upcoming LP Wounded Rhymes.

Lykke Li - Love Out Of Lust by LykkeLi

Shovels & Rope - Complicated Type

South Carolina's Shovels And Rope were recently featured on one of YAGN's favorite websites, Daytrotter. Their 6 Song set is phenomenal, but the standout track is "Complicated Type." Check it out below, as well as a link to the full session.

Shovels & Rope - Complicated Type

Shovels & Rope - Daytrotter Session

The Low Anthem, Smart Flesh

The Low Anthem released Smart Flesh, the follow-up to their highly acclaimed sophomore effort Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, yesterday.  The result is a sparsely beautiful and, at times, haunting album.  This Rhode Island based folk group continues to create thoughtful and original music that is so worth a listen.  Check out the track below as well as their website and the NPR Tiny Desk Concert that really turned me onto the band (the performance of "To The Ghosts Who Write History Books" is perfect).

The Low Anthem's Website

Tiny Desk Concert

Hey, All You Hippies!

Wednesday Video - Matt Butcher - Famous Country Singer

Greenville Presents: Matt Butcher from ericanicole on Vimeo.

Up & Comers: Cults

Cults have only released a 7" EP, but are getting tons of buzz all around the net.  The three songs that I have heard are fun and heavy in xylophone. Their sound seems to be influenced by 60's girl groups and is pretty light in it's instrumentation letting the vocals take center stage.  "Go Outside" is a track that begs to be put in your current rotation.  So check them out and prepare to hear tons more about them after SXSW.  Also, be on the lookout for their debut LP out soon.

Go Outside

The Curse

Tuesday treat from Lower Dens - Hospice Gates

Here's a nice little track from the Baltimore band Lower Dens loaded with fuzzy guitars, distant vocals, and a  repetitive drumbeat that lures you in.  They have more songs on their Myspace that you can check out by clicking HERE.  I hope that everyone has had a great Tuesday.  Enjoy the track.

Hospice Gates

New Cotton Jones EP, Sit By Your Vegetables, now available

What a pleasant surprise to learn that Cotton Jones released a new EP available today.  The 4 track Sit By Your Vegetables is available for stream and download (for a measly $3.56) HERE.  The songs are great and definitely worth a the cash.

Suckers, Wild Smile

This New York band builds their songs around synth sounds, pounding drums, sing-a-longs, and raucous vox.  It's a rocking good time that can seem out there at first, but it all comes around.  This one would appeal to fans of Wolf Parade, Yeasayer, TV On The Radio, and David Byrne/Talking Heads (credit to EB for that one).  Check out the tracks below and then sample many more HERE.

Loose Change
Save Your Love For Me

Up & Comers: Young Buffalo

Young Buffalo is a little known band (at the moment) out of the increasingly hipster college town of Oxford, MS.  These three youngsters are making energetic music with three part harmonies and driving, afro-beat drums.  I caught them live at Double Decker Festival in Oxford last year and was pleasantly surprised with what I saw.  Look for their debut album coming soon and enjoy the demos below.  Also, check out some great videos and more free downloads HERE.

New Beat (Demo)

Catapilah (Demo)

Hurt Valley - Monuments

The past few years have seen quite a revival in lo-fi music that recalls the 1960's - layered harmonies, fuzzed out guitars with lots of reverb, and hand claps (I defy you to find a bad song with hand claps). California's Hurt Valley continue in this same vein - they have released two excellent EPs that you can download here on their band camp page. Give "Monuments" off their most recent EP Tessara a listen -


Hurt Valley - Monuments

Akron/Family - So It Goes

Awesome new track from Akron/Family off their recent release S/T II:The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT. If the title is confusing, don't worry - the band themselves admittedly don't know what it means either. Enjoy the track and check out Akron/Family's website for videos, etc.

Akron/Family Official Website

Akron/Family - So It Goes

Beale St. Music Festival to announce best lineup ever?

Rumors are swirling around the 2011 lineup of Beale St. Music Festival here in Memphis, but I have it on good authority that there will be some great bands gracing this year's stages.  The festival usually draws only one or two good bands each year so this would be a huge step forward.  The dates are April 29 - May 1 and the official lineup will be announce on March 3.  But for now, the rumored bands are:

Wilco, The Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons, MGMT, Cee-Lo Green, The Flaming Lips, The New Pornographers, Lucero, Manchester Orchestra, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gregg Allman, Amos Lee, and more...

Come on up to Memphis for the festival and enjoy a fun weekend of good music, food, and friends.

Wilco - Shot in the Arm (Alt. Version)

The Avett Brothers - Denouncing November Blues

Mumford & Sons - Roll Away Your Stone

Typhoon - The Honest Truth

Really digging this track and you will too.  Spin it.

The Honest Truth

Arcade Fire to play Memphis

Fresh off of their Album of the Year Grammy win for The Suburbs (a well deserved win for an incredible album), Win Butler and crew are making a stop at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis on their upcoming tour.  The date is Thursday, April 28th and there is no info yet on when tickets go on sale.  Go see them if you can; they are a must-see.  Click HERE to see all of the announced tour stops.

The Suburbs

Big Boi & Black Keys - Everlasting Shine Blockaz

A little something to start off your weekend! My two favorite songs off two of my favorite albums last year. Boy stop.

Wick-It The Instigator - Everlasting Shine Blockaz

The Felice Brothers - New album out this spring

Good news Felice Brothers fans -- they signed to Fat Possum Records and will be releasing a new album this spring.  They are also hitting the road and might be coming to a venue near you.  Check the tour schedule here and go see them if you can, you will be happy that you did.

Love Me Tenderly

YAGN Essentials: Cotton Jones, Tall Hours in the Glowstream

YAGN Essentials is a new feature highlighting albums that we think are must haves.  If you have them already, then maybe these posts will make you revisit them.  If you don't have them yet, get a feel for the music then go out and get it.

Cotton Jones is high up there on the list of YAGN favorites.  The band's main components are former Page France members Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw.  Nau's vocals can never do any wrong in our opinion and they don't on this album.  Also, check out their incredible live session on Halfway House here.  And as a Presidents' Day Weekend treat, I included a download of a personal favorite of mine (EB and I always play this track on our road trips) -- the Daytrotter version of Cotton and Velvet.

Somehow To Keep It Going

Glorylight And Christie
Cotton and Velvet (via Daytrotter)

Radiohead, The King of Limbs

Radiohead is releasing the first ever "Newspaper Album" (not too sure what that means) for download in a little over one day.  It will be available on Saturday in WAV ($14) and MP3 ($9) formats.  The pricier physical album will be shipped on May 9th complete with 2 clear 10" vinyls, a CD and copious amounts of artwork and will include a digital download in either format ($48 with the MP3 download and $53 with WAV).  Who's excited?

Well, Radiohead has decided to be generous and offer the download early. Go and get it today!

Click to pre-order the album

Paranoid Android

Futurebirds - Wild Heart (Stevie Nicks Cover)

Athens, GA natives Futurebirds uploaded an amazing cover of Stevie Nicks' "Wild Heart" to their Soundcloud page - click the link below to stream the track. If you like what you hear, make sure to check out their website and their debut LP Hampton's Lullaby - one of my favorite albums of 2010.

Futurebirds - Wild Heart

*thanks to my good friend Andy for the rec - follow him on twitter @agoldennugget

Freelance Whales, Weathervanes

I must admit that I was a bit late to the party with Freelance Whales, but I finally made an appearance.  Their sound is delicate yet deeply textured and addicting.  I recommend this for fans of Illinois era Sufjan Stevens.  If you haven't joined the party quite yet, check out the samples below then go grab some more here.

Generator ^ Second Floor

Hannah

Thursday Throwback: One of Us Must Know

Released on the iconic double album Blonde on Blonde, One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later), shows Dylan at the height of his controversial evolution from fresh faced folk singer to full fledged front man. Although Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited introduced the electric guitar and organ that helped define Dylan's sound during this period, Blonde on Blonde took this sound to the next level. Recorded in 1965 in both New York and Nashville (One Of Us Must Know in NYC), Blonde on Blonde was released in 1966 just prior to Dylan's mysterious motorcycle crash and subsequent exile in upstate New York. A sprawling apology to a lost love, One Of Us Must Know features Robbie Robertson on guitar, Levon Helm behind the kit (at the time, members of The Hawks) and Al Kooper's famous Hammond B3 Organ. Dylan's wailing harmonica serves as both the intro and outro to this outstanding track.

Bob Dylan - One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)

Dark Dark Dark - Daydreaming

I have recently been enjoying the music of several female-fronted bands. Great acts such as Wye Oak, Heartless Bastards, Beach House, Mountain Man and Sharon Von Etten have really caught my attention of late. Minneapolis natives Dark Dark Dark create beautiful, haunting music that will remind you of the acts above. Give them a listen.


Dark Dark Dark - Daydreaming

Bonnaroo 2011

The 2011 Bonnaroo lineup has been released (old news) and it is really strong.  It is hard to believe that Bonnaroo has been around for 10 years.  And this year's lineup proves that this isn't your early 2000's jam festival anymore.  This year's festival is slated for June 9-12 in steaming hot Manchester, TN (as always).  The lineup includes:

Arcade Fire, The Strokes, The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, Mumford & Sons, Lil Wayne, The Decemberists, Iron & Wine, Girl Talk, Explosions in the Sky, Beirut, Big Boi, Ratatat, Deerhunter, The Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (perhaps with a special appearance by Jim James), The Walkmen, Sleigh Bells, Freelance Whales, Justin Townes Earle, Deer Tick, Smith Westerns, The Head and the Heart, Phosphorescent, and many more...

Sign me up.

Smith Westerns, Dye It Blonde

Smith Westerns are buzzing right now, loudly.  They are opening for Wilco for 5 shows this Spring and are getting some well deserved press for the guitar-driven rock on their sophomore album.  These Chicago teenagers released the album through the Oxford, MS label, Fat Possum Records, which has some strong artists on their resume these days that I will be posting about soon.  Enjoy these tracks and go pick up the album here if you like them.

Imagine Pt. 3

Fallen In Love

New Panda Bear Track

I'm sure most of you have had a chance to check out this song already, but its just so damn good I had to post it here. By far my favorite of Animal Collective's members, Noah Lennox delivers the goods on Last Night At The Jetty off his upcoming release Tomboy.

Panda Bear - Last Night At The Jetty

Blake Mills - Hey Lover

Dear Ya'll:

I was in the movie theater last night when I received this text from Ben: "We're getting the blog back together." Needless to say, I was quite excited at the prospect! Its good to be back delivering the kind of high quality musings on music that I'm sure you have all been missing - how did you know what was cool for the past few months??? My return post features a track* by Blake Mills, whose debut Break Mirrors earned quite a bit of praise last year. Mills is an accomplished guitarist that has played with artists such as Band of Horses, Elvis Perkins, and Cass McCombs either on tour or as a session guitarist. This version of Hey Lover, which was featured on YAGN favorite Daytrotter, is a shuffling and swampy good time that showcases Mills' unique delivery. Good stuff here.

Its good to be back!

Blake Mills - Hey Lover (via Daytrotter)

*Features a few colorful words. Don't play this one in Sunday school.

The Head and the Heart, Self-Titled

EB and I went to see Dr. Dog at Minglewood Hall here in Memphis this month and I decided to give the two opening bands a preview before we went to the show.  What I discovered was that Dr. Dog chooses great openers.  Buried Beds was the first opener and they were pretty entertaining.  The Head and the Heart followed them and they were really good.  They had more fans in the crowd singing every word than I would have ever imagined.  I was sick as a dog and they even had me getting into their show.  They call Seattle home and are making a name for themselves with a sound full of harmonies, bouncy pianos, downhill drums, and sing-a-longs a plenty.  This would appeal to those that enjoy The Avetts, Blind Pilot, Dawes and any sounds that are easy on the ears.  I strongly recommend the entire album available for download by clicking here.  I had a difficult time deciding on just two tracks to post as a preview below, but here they are...

Rivers and Roads

Ghosts

And we are back...

I had been thinking about getting the blog back together for some time now, and finally decided to pull the trigger this evening.  It feels good to be back.  A lot has changed since we last posted - mainly our headquarters moving from Colorado to Memphis and soon to be Savannah (back in the sweet, sunny South).  You will also notice that the blog has undergone a bit of a face lift.  We are completely open to any comments or suggestion regarding the layout and content.  

Our new vision is more of a community with the blog -- people sharing their thoughts, what they are spinning at the moment and things of that sort.  Also, this is a place to stop by and give a listen -always go out and buy it if you like it.  We are here to tell you about the bands and tracks that we are digging.  We aren't going to tell you what you shouldn't be listening to because we all have Pitchfork to tell us what isn't indie enough for our ears (I love you guys).

So, check it out, follow us, come back for more and give us some feedback.  We have a lot of new stuff in store for you guys.  Check back soon for a band that both you and your honey can enjoy with Valentine's Day just passed.  For now, enjoy some Thin Lizzy to celebrate our return...

Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town