A week after Coachella threw its spectacular lineup in all of our misshapen faces, Pitchfork announced the headliners for their annual Chicago festival. R. Kelly, Bjork, and Belle and Sebastian, three not-so-similar but still pretty big names will be headlining the three day event, with many more acts soon to be named to the billing.
In case you've forgotten, whatever happens at Pitchfork cannot happen at Lollapalooza, do to clauses in the festivals' contracts. So for any fans hoping for some combination of those three names - maybe next year.
Tickets for the July 19-21 fest are on sale now, with three-day passes coming in at $120, and single-day passes for a modest $50.
Alright, I missed August. If I was searching for excuses I'd say, "Well, I was on vacation and ..." But in reality, there just wasn't a ton that I loved from last month. Is that a good enough reason to skip it? Probably not. But it happened and we all have to deal with it. So lets recap September and act like we didn't miss anything.
3.) Jens Lekman - I Know What Love Isn't
Jens Lekman is one of those names that comes with easy indie music familiarity. He's consistently producing solid records, but never anything that launches his name to the next recognized level. Basically, he's easy to accept and appreciate, but hard to genuinely love.
So does I Know What Love Isn't necessarily separate itself from the rest of Lekman's catalog? Not totally. The songs are serene, thoughtful, and sweet - just as you might expect - and have a warm kitsch to it all. It's a knocking reminder of the tender swill that comes through the best of Belle & Sebastian, hitting notes of gentle strings and full harmony on tracks like "Become Someone Else's." In terms of a grand scope, I Know What Love Isn't isn't flourishing with daring experiments - you can throw this anywhere in the Lekman discography and it'd fit in shockingly well - but that reminds you more and more how consistently good he has been over the years.
2.) The Killers - Battle Born
Shocking? Maybe.
Despite the booming careers of one of the most popular bands in the U.S., I have been shadily disinterested in The Killers. There's a somewhat guilty part in my heart of my profound appreciation of past tracks like "When You Were Young" and "All These Things That I Have Done," but there was never a personal fondness for their albums. Maybe the fact that Battle Born is actually good is more of a relief than anything; a vindication for why the band can be so popular. But I'd like to think that my praise has some sort of merit.
The album's opening half is surprisingly strong. Yes, there's a lofty exploration of unnecessarily big ideas from Brandon Flowers that can come off as vague cliches, but hell, it's being worked into damn good, catchy music. That description is fairly apt for the album's lead single "Runaways," which - just like "When You Were Young" and "All These Things That I Have Done" - reminds you how amazing the band can be, even though a lot of us don't like to admit it.
1.) How To Dress Well - Total Loss
Tom Krell, aka How To Dress Well, usually fit in a comfortable niche of soulful electro. Never terribly profound or otherwise, he fit into an expanding catalog of internet sub-genres that tired of explanation. So it may have been surprising how well Total Loss comes off, despite adhering to those same aesthetics.
The album, up and down, is terrifically engaging. Combing through Krell's light vocals and warm electronics, it's numbing and sweet, but still daring and exploratory. Take "Cold Nites" and "Say My Name Or Say Whatever"; the former acts as a straight up R&B single, but it bleeds into a dreary sample of someone reminding you that, "The only bad part about flying is having to come back down to the fucking world." And then, splash, you're back in Krell's romantic light. Jarred, but loving it that much more when it's there.
After four years since Glasgow's best band (I can't name any other ones right now), Belle & Sebastian released The Life Pursuit, listeners finally have something new from the group not to the tune of God Help the Girl. so for those of you who will not stop your insistent complaining about the lack of "literary-centric, British indie pop," well, here you go.
B&S's (heh) new album Write About Love is due out October 11, via Matador. You can grab the title-track below.
Yesterday's post wasn't so much an April Fools prank but rather an out-cry of apathy from my part. Today, however, I've put a little effort in on getting you guys something more your time.
In a story from Stereogum, Belle & Sebastian front-man and songwriter Stuart Murdoch made an open call for female singers to work on a project entitled God Help the Girl, accompanied by an LP of the same name. The record reportedly contains nine singers, Belle & Sebastian, and a 45 piece orchestra set composed by Rick Wentworth.
The first single "Come Monday Night," sung by contest winner Catherine Ireton, is available for listen here. The album is due out in the states on June 23 via Matador Records.
Murdoch discusses God Help the Girl.
The Needle Drop, a name I haven't mentioned in some time, has a a couple nice downloads from Swan Lake's recent album Enemy Mine. Band members Daniel Bejar, Spencer Krug, and Carey Mercer are all well-recognized for their work with band's like Destroyer, Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, The New Pornographers, and Frog Eyes, so I guess you can qualify this as Canada's biggest indie supergroup, after Broken Social Scene. Regardless.
You Ain't No Picasso has turned me on to Screaming Females, another low-fi indie act with a great name, putting that list up to around 759 since I've started this. The band's new single "Bell" is accompanied by a super-crappy video that looks like I made it when I was eight. It shouldn't take too much away from the song's impact though. You can pre-order the band's upcoming album Power Movehere.
And finally here's PJ Harvey and John Parish's new video for their single "Black Hearted Love," from the duo's second album A Woman A Man Walked By courtesy of Music is Art.
, listeners finally have something new from the group not to the tune of 