Music Under Fire

Above: Your Vegas - Coyle Girelli, (Vocals) Mat Steel, (Guitar) Mark Heaton, (Keys/Guitar) Jon Langford, (Bass) Mal Taylor, (Drums)

This week has a few subtle surprises in store for you. Your Vegas's debut album A Town and Two Cities is out today for digital release only on iTunes. We mentioned them about a month ago, and still stick by highly recommending them. Other notables are The Black Keys whose suave rock style will surely blow you away, Muse with their live CD and the always pleasant Sun Kil Moon. Don't forget to check out Annuals, whose Wet Zoo EP follows up their much talked about 2006 album Be He Me .

Some bigger names this week are Sevendust, Moby, Hawk Nelson and (if you've been living in a cave) R.E.M. with their first studio release in four years.

Also, be on the lookout for China Mountain, a solo project by Anna-Lynne from Trespassers William to be released sometime this month.

MP3: Moby - I Love To Move In Here
MP3: The Black Keys - Elevator
MP3: Annuals - Sore
MP3: Sun Kil Moon - Moorestown
MP3: Your Vegas - In My Head

1969 - Maya
American Babies - American Babies (MySpace) (buy)
Annuals - Wet Zoo EP (buy)
Anti-Flag - The Bright Lights of America (MySpace) (buy)
Apples In Stereo - Electronic Projects for Musicians (MySpace) (YouTube) (buy)
Bad Brains - Build a Nation (Box Set) (MySpace) (YouTube) (buy)
Black Keys - Attack & Release (MySpace) (YouTube) (buy)
Bombing Neverland - Gone Belltower (ReverbNation)
Bryan Scary and The Shredding Tears - Flight of The Knife (MySpace) (buy)
Colour Revolt - Plunder, Beg and Curse (MySpace) (purevolume) (YouTube) (buy)
Experimental Dental School - Jane Doe Loves Me (MySpace) (YouTube) (buy)
Fall Out Boy - Live Album
For Today - Ekklesia (buy)
Four Year Strong - Rise or Die Trying (vinyl) (MySpace) (buy)
Hawk Nelson - Hawk Nelson Is My Friend (MySpace) (YouTube) (buy)
Josh Gracin - We Weren't Crazy (YouTube) (buy)
Lemuria - Get Better (purevolume) (last.fm) (buy)
Make Believe - Going To The Bone Church (YouTube)
Moby - Last Night (last.fm) (YouTube) (buy)
Muse - Haarp Live CD/DVD (Myspace)
Nadja - Skin Turns To Glass (buy)
No Use for a Name - The Feel Good Record of the Year (purevolume) (YouTube) (buy)
R.E.M. - Accelerate (MySpace) (buy)
Razah - Razah (buy)
Sandrine - Dark Fades Into Light (buy)
Search The City - A Fire So Big the Heavens Can See It (MySpace) (buy)
Sevendust - Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow (YouTube) (last.fm) (buy)
Sing it Loud - Self-Titled EP (buy)
Sun Kil Moon - April (MySpace) (YouTube) (buy)
This Is Ivy League - This Is Ivy League
U2 - Ballad of Ronnie Drew (import single) (MySpace) (purevolume) (Last.fm)
Unwed Sailor - Little Wars (MySpace)
Upon Beauty Rests - For The Days We Fear The Air We Breathe (MySpace) (purevolume) (buy)
Vermeer - Self Title EP
Yelle - POP-UP (last.fm) (buy)
Your Vegas - A Town and Two Cities (MySpace) (YouTube) (purevolume) (buy)

What have those skinny, artsy pop-rockers the UK loves so much been up to anyway? The Rakes have been quite busy touring the world over the course of the last year, celebrating their ten-track album, Ten New Messages. The Band is now in Australia for the Australian festival (V-fest).

Their show in Sydney was bumped up an hour due to a scheduling glitch, which left a lot of fans in the dark, but the band promises to help a few fans who missed them see them again by contacting them on via MySpace. The Rakes will continue their tour through Australia in the beginning of April and continue their world tour to Moscow from there.

Upcoming tour dates:

Apr 1 2008 - The Arena(With Jesus & Mary Chain) Brisbane
Apr 2 2008 - Enmore Theatre(With Jesus & Mary Chain) Sydney
Apr 3 2008 - Palace Theatre(With Jesus & Mary Chain) Melbourne
Apr 5 2008 - Showgrounds - V Festival Melbourne
Apr 6 2008 - The Esplanada - V Festival Perth
Apr 26 2008 - B2 Moscow

We know its tough for anyone to go too long listening to their favorite band's songs while they're on tour, leaving their fans waiting for them to hit the studio again. This is what remixes are for. Below are a few remixes as well as their song "Retreat", which I must have somehow skipped over in the past year. Many of these songs are from The Rakes Remixed album released in late September of last year, but hopefully these will keep you entertained while you're searching for something familiar. Of course the Phones remix is topps...

MP3: The Rakes - Retreat
MP3: The Rakes - All Too Human (Filthy Dukes Remix)
MP3: The Rakes - Binary Love (Loving Hands Remix)
MP3: The Rakes - We Danced Together (Sebastian Remix)
MP3: The Rakes - The World Was A Mess But His Hair.... (Tronic Youth Remix)
MP3: The Rakes - Retreat (Phones Remix)

Listen to The Rakes on iTunes or visit them on their MySpace and Official Website.

Among other things to occupy my time, March Madness is upon us and the boys above (Hood) seem to be avid hoops fans as well.

Come Saturday, I feel almost exhausted with the amount of entertainment around me, but alas, a drive in the car can fix that in a heartbeat. Below is a mix of songs I've skipped over in the course of the past week, but intended on getting back to in the car. There are a few older ones in here, and a few I haven't paid as much attention to as I should have. Here's my quick mix for the weekend, most notably DCFC's "Cath..." (track 4 from their upcoming Narrow Stairs) - a live acoustic session on BBC6, LCD Soundsystem's "Big Ideas" from the Movie "21" out in theaters, and Fields, who I just can't seem to kick listening to. Get in your car and drive around a bit. Enjoy...

MP3: Death Cab For Cutie - Cath (live acoustic) (preorder)
MP3: The Gutter Twins - I Was In Love With You (buy)
MP3: LCD Soundsystem - Big Ideas (buy)
MP3: Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos - Skeleton Key (buy)
MP3: Stars - Window Bird (buy)
MP3: The Shins - Girl Sailor (buy)
MP3: The Whip - Sirens (buy)
MP3: Hood - Any Hopeful Thoughts Arrive (buy)
MP3: Fields - You Don't Need This Song (buy)

Its all about the power these days, regardless if it comes in elf or cat form. But really none of what I'm telling you right now would make much sense if you weren't familiar with either party to begin with. Let's take a quick crash course...

Cat Power, whose umpteenth album Jukebox, Charlyn 'Chan' Marshall's second covers album, was released mid-January, has been a controversial one this year. While critics such as Filter, Prefix Magazine and Rolling Stone have been raving about this album, other notables such as Pitchfork, Blender and Spin were just a few who were not as impressed. Her vocals play the killer here - there's no one out there who comes close to her smooth-sounding pipes.

Once every review, good or bad, is churned out, Cat Power can be expected to turn up on many 'best of' lists at the end of this year. She's a solid artist with a lot of background and experience, thus has put that all behind Jukebox, and it shows. Let's also not forget the large amount of publicity she's recieved. It says a lot when your album is being sold in Target.

MP3: Cat Power - New York (buy)
MP3: Cat Power - Metal Heart (buy)

But really for me , I prefer the crew left out of the spotlight this year so far. I'm talking about Elf Power, from Athens, Georgia. "Odd name" you're probably thinking. Yes, odd, but 'no' to the other question you may be pondering. They did not copy their name from Cat Power. In fact, Elf Power's first release was a year earlier than CP's Dear Sir (1995). Curse of Yoth-Bal-Tzar was released back in 1994 on cassette. The chance of them being aware of each other is not even a reality.

Elf Power consists of seven musicians, with Andrew Rieger with the vocals in the forefront. Their latest album In A Cave, released just this past week on Tusday, leans more towards a folk/rock approach. Songs such as "Quiver and Quake" and "Softly Through The Void" are pleasantly upbeat, melodic and would perfectly compliment a tall glass of lemonade in the summer. Trust me on this.

MP3: Elf Power - An Old Familiar Scene (buy)
MP3: Elf Power - Spiral Stairs (buy)
MP3: Elf Power - Midnight Crawls Out (buy)

Elf Power takes the advantage for me and I urge you to check them out. Whether everyone may either truly enjoy Cat Power, or just use the chic name as an indie music name-drop, we will all know the truth. The power of the Elf reigns this time around.

Visit Elf Power on MySpace then pop on over to Cat Power on MySpace to listen to some samples.

Silversun Pickups recently visited Hawaii, which is where lead-vocalist, Brian Aubert's family calls home. The family's Hawaiian dwelling dates back to his grandfather, who Aubert claims inspired him.

This clip is one of the more entertaining videos I've seen in quite some time. You can't help but put yourself in the host's shoes and ask yourself whether you really know what you're talking about or not. Perhaps this host sits around listening to Barry Manilow all day, and has no clue as to who Silversun Pickups are. Either way, the sarcasm of Brian Aubert and the cluelessness of the host make for quite the knee-slapper. Enjoy!

You have to believe us when we tell you, there's nothing horrid about Nightmare of You, as their name may imply. They're lyrics are mainly about being over obsessive about women, but their style is light and poppy, and will surely liven up your week.

The New York City-based band has just posted a new song on their MySpace page, which is actually one of their older B-sides called, "You Don't Have To Tell Me". The song sounds just as good as anything else I've heard from them. And while we're at it, here's the demo of NMOY's "I Want To Be Buried In Your Back Yard" (video below), called "Yuengling".

MP3: Nightmare of You - You Don't Have To Tell Me
MP3: Nightmare of You - Yuengling

As more tour dates are posted month by month, NMOY continues to grow in popularity and their tour has been eating up the East Coast slowly, but surely. They've really played a ton of shows in the past month or so in the Northeast and it continues as it moves South in April. The band plans on a full US tour, so no matter where you are, they will be near. Don't be lethargic, go and support one of MUFs favorite bands!

Buy Nightmare of You On iTunes!

Video: Nightmare of You - My Name Is Trouble


Video: Nightmare of You - I Want To Be Buried In Your Back Yard

Although these guys don't have a million friends on myspace, facebook or any other site, Circuits certainly do get around (in a good way).

The amicable foursome from the UK joined forces back in 2006 and haven't looked back. In fact, they have already released more than five singles and an EP in that short span. With a sound they say,

combine[s] the edginess of New Wave with echoes of Elvis Costello, fond looks over their shoulders to The Specials and the in-your-face power of the The Clash. Think The Police if Sting had been a fighter not a tantric lover.

I personally see a lot of Art Brut in their sound, but see for yourself.

MP3: Art Brut - Direct Hit

Video: Circuits - Exit Strategy & The Choir Invisible

Circuits are on the move. With the release of their debut full-length album, Bright As Midnight, they are currently in the midst of a 10-day tour of Japan, where it released March 5. We'll keep an eye on them to see when UK buyers and North American fans can get a piece of this.

Check out this video of them recording Bright As Midnight.

You may know Jon Foreman from Switchfoot, but don't let that get in the way of your obscure indie music tastes. Jon Foreman's plan has been going as promised, an EP for every season in the the year with six songs each. And since spring is here, there should be no surprise we would hear something no from Jon himself.

This week we celebrate the release of his Spring EP which Jon seems to move each EP towards the feeling of the season. This EP is an enlightened one, carrying forward the same acoustics he's been doing so well over the course of the past half year. They're all actually amazingly done, whether you like Switchfoot or not, these EPs take his career in a different direction and will add some clout as a solo artist.

MP3: Jon Foreman - The Cure For Pain (from the Fall EP)

Spring EP Track Listing:

1. March (A Prelude to Spring)
2. Love Isn't Made
3. In My Arms
4. Baptize My Mind
5. Your Love Is Strong
6. Revenge

Preview on iTunes

Winter EP Track Listing:

1. Learning How To Die
2. Behind Your Eyes
3. Somebody's Baby
4. White as Snow
5. I Am Still Running
6. In Love

Preview on iTunes

Fall EP Track Listing:

1. The Cure For Pain
2. Equally Skilled
3. Lord, Save Me From Myself
4. The Moon Is A Magnet
5. My Love Goes Free
6. Southbound Train

Preview on iTunes

Visit Jon on his MySpace page and listen to some more samples as well as on iMeem.

Another week and yet another truck load of intriguing releases. This week we've put together another long list that includes artists such as the B52's, Elf Power, Gnarls Barkley, Panic at the Disco, The Raconteurs and many more. Check out the links we have provided and enjoy the rest of the week.

MP3: Helvetia - Old, New Bicycle (buy)
MP3: Gnarls Barkley - Charity Case (buy)
MP3: The Raconteurs - Salute Your Solution (buy)
MP3: Elf Power - Spiral Stairs (buy)

Another Day Late - News Said It's Raining In New York EP (buy)
B-52's - Funplex (buy)
Boys Noize - Oi Oi Oi Remixed (buy) (myspace)
Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted (buy) (youtube)
Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings (buy)
Crash Romeo - Gave Me The Clap! (buy) (myspace)
Daniel Lanois - Here Is What Is CD Release, Digitally released 15 Dec 2007 (buy)
Day 26 - Day 26 (myspace) (Imeem)
De Novo Dahl - Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound (buy) (myspace)
Elephant Man - Let's Get Physical (myspace) (mtv)
Elf Power - In A Cave (buy) (myspace)
Excepter - Debt Dept. (buy)
Fight The Scene - Never In Season (myspace)
Firewind - The Premonition (buy) (myspace)
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple (buy) (youtube)
Head of Femur - Great Plains (buy) (myspace)
Helvetia - The Acrobat (buy) (myspace)
Holiday Parade - To You. From Us. (buy) (last.fm)
Jon Foreman - Spring EP (buy)
Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life (buy) (myspace)
Miguel Migs - Those Things Remixed (myspace)
Morrissey - Greatest Hits (buy)
Museums - Can We Meet In The Middle (myspace)
Panic at the Disco - Pretty. Odd. (buy) (myspace) (youtube)
Pennywise - Free to the People (myspace)
Plants And Animals - Parc Avenue (buy) (myspace)
Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-la-la Band - 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons (buy)
Singer - Unhistories (buy) (review)
Spitfire - Black Leather EP (buy)
Spitfire - Cult Fiction
Teenage Rehab - Goodbye Sanity EP (buy) (myspace)
The Heavy - Great Vengeance and Furious Fire (buy) (myspace)
The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely (buy) (myspace) (youtube)
The Secret Theatre - Follow Me EP (myspace)
Under Byen - Siamesisk (buy) (myspace) (fan site)

E for Explosion, the offshoot of JamisonParker minus Parker Case, is set to release their debut album, Reinventing The Heartbeat, on May 5 through Eyeball Records.

Jamison Covington, Dai Britain (keyboard), Josh Elmore (bass) and Christian Hayden (drums) worked with Dave Trumfio (Earlimart, Grandaddy, Billy Bragg & Wilco, My Morning Jacket, etc...) to complete this 12-track new wave/emo album.

In comparison to JamisonParker, E for Explosion doesn't waver far. The pleading lyrics of Covington still stand in the forefront, although the lyrics have matured slightly from the "biting bullets and watching phones for no apparent reason" -style that is certainly depressing. The rest of the background sound is typical of JamisonParker, which stuck to a melodic guitar, faint bass and an in-sync drum that didn't go crazy. Here are a few tracks off of their Paper Flowers EP.

MP3: E for Explosion - Paper Flowers Never Die
MP3: E for Explosion - I Explode

Also, here are the track listings for Reinventing The Heartbeat.
1. Sunday
2. Reinventing The Heartbeat
3. Behind Every Breath
4. Echoes
5. Lies Lies Lies
6. Paper Flowers Never Die
7. See You Soon0
8. You Know Who You Are
9. Unit 402
10. Antarctica
11. I Explode
12. Saving Lives
13. I Ain't Lost If I'm With You

First off, let me say that I was not expecting something 8:36 long and this is something most bands do not do since they want to get their point across for what the rest of the album sounds like. If I were to take anything from this song and make an album based on just this one song, I would stand by the fact that this album is not upbeat, nor is it going to be over the edge with poppiness or catchy hooks, like many bands do to throttle their stardom. Death Cab, having more than a following may just further showcase each instrument, which is something that has been overlooked on the course of their past two albums.

"I Will Possess Your Heart" would make me look so right if this were the case for Narrow Stairs. The song is really just your classic DCFC intrumental, like that in "Stability" from the Stability EP (which is their longest song - 12:22 to be exact). It only takes a mere four minutes and thirty-six seconds until we hear Gibbard chime in, yet the song still does not pick up.

I'll get straight to the point - you'll love this if you're a DCFC fan, but it is by no means better than FIVE of the songs on Plans. I'll even name them: "Soul Meets Body", "Your Heart Is An Empty Room", "Brothers On A Hotel Bed", "Summer Skin", and "I Will Follow You Into The Dark". For me, Death Cab's best songs have generally been around three and a half minutes.

I'm not quite sure the purpose of making this song their single, since it ranks up there with other songs I would put at the end of an album (this song falls second in their track listing), but I can appreciate the slowed down instrumentation they used, although it wouldn't surpass one of my favorites "Transatlanticism".

The song eventually picks up at 6:46, but alas, it is too long for me. Perhaps their plan is to throw everyone off with this song and leave the true gems on the album to be heard later, afterall, it IS the singles that are killing the artists, isn't it? Cough, Cough!

"I Will Possess Your Heart" may be the "Yellow" of Parachutes - 6.9 out of 10.


Stream the song on WINDOWS MEDIA or REAL PLAYER


Lyrics
How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me
It's like a book elegantly bound, but in a language that you can't read - just yet You gotta spend some time--love, you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find--love, I will possess your heart (x2)

There are days when outside your window, I see my reflection as I slowly pass
And I long for this mirrored perspective, when we'll be lovers, lovers at last
You gotta spend some time--love, you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find--love, I will possess your heart(x2)

I will possess your heart (x2)

You reject my advances and desperate pleas
I won't let you, let me down so easily, so easily

You gotta spend some time--love, you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find--love, I will possess your heart (x3)

I will possess your heart (x2)

You may not have been listening to us when we told you, but The Helio Sequence are one of our favs of the year so far with their near perfect album Keep Your Eyes Ahead. Just to make things easy for you, the name of their album is also the title of this video. So let's just throw all of our eggs in one basket, shall we?

I've been teetering over which song is my favorite from this album over the past month, but right now I'll go with "Shed Your Love", which is one of those relaxing laid back songs you play at night to wind down. If you hate music, you most likely won't like these guys, but otherwise this is a must buy. You'll be kicking yourself when I put it in my top ten come year end and you finally come to grips...

Buy The Helio Sequence on iTunes or visit their official site or their MySpace page.

Photograph by Andrew Paynter

We've really lucked out this week at MUF finding so many great bands little known to the world. Another one to add to the list is The Photographic, who hail from Louisville, Kentucky. Since I'm a bit of a instrumental rock junky, this one was a perfect ending to my week.

The Photographic consist of only two - guitarist Jamey See Tai and drummer Chad Blevins. If you fancy the melodic instrumental groups, need I mention the overly referenced Explosions in the Sky, you will throroughly enjoy The Photographic. However, these Louisians do not simply sound like EITS, but resound only more like their later albums, particularly their work on the Friday Night Lights Soundtrack. Their delicate guitar work and moving rhythms separate themselves from the rest of the field.

Where Explosions in the Sky demostrated their harder material in their beginnings and then moved to quieter ambiences, The Photographic, differs in that they separated the fat from the meat right from the start on their spectacular first album, Pictures of a Changing World. Their looping and layering techniques are what makes the duo capable of delivering a massive sound with only the talents of two at hand. What I'm getting at is they're just plain great.

I highly recommend listening to these guys if you took interest in our post about This Will Destroy You earlier this year. The Photographic's debut album, Pictures of a Changing World was released on March 11th and is available for download on iTunes.

MP3: The Photographic - Directions
MP3: The Photographic - Secure

Visit The Photographic on their MySpace Page and purevolume.

This is a bit different than other articles we've done for our 'Bands You Must Know' series, since this band has bit more experience than many others we stumble upon. The New York City based French Kicks have been around since 1999, but are certainly no exception to this list.

The wheels are set in motion and French Kicks seem to have things prepped just right for their upcoming fourth studio album, which will be released on April 1st. With Spring now in the air, and a tender warmth flowing through our blood, their new album Swimming has already made an impression on me with the release of "Abandon", a song I was truly stunned my first listen through. If this song is any indication of what to expect, then get your dirty paws ready come the turning of this month.

"Abandon" captures that same upbeat tone set in their previous efforts, with a small tweak of tighter production. The vocals from Nick Stumpf are sordid, yet uplifting like that of the Shout Out Louds' Adam Olenius. The drums are poignant like those of militant marching beat and the melodies and harmoinzing glues it all together. It somewhat reminds me of one of my favorite songs from last year, "Lake Michigan" by Rogue Wave. This track is amazing and needs to be on your next playlist. We also recommend listening to "Also Ran" (below).

MP3: French Kicks - Abandon (buy) (from Swimming 2008)
MP3: French Kicks - Also Ran (buy) ( from Two Thousand 2006)
MP3: French Kicks - One More Time (buy) (from The Trial Of The Century 2004)
MP3: French Kicks - When You Heard You (buy) (from One Time Bells 2002)

Buy more French Kicks music on iTunes! You can also visit them on their MySpace page, Last.fm and iLike.

Here are their upcoming tour dates, including one stop in our home of Philadelphia:

Apr 1 2008 8:00PM - Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Apr 4 2008 9:00PM - Middle East Club (Upstairs) Cambridge, Massachusetts
Apr 5 2008 9:30PM - Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 8 2008 8:00PM - Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Apr 15 2008 8:00PM - Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Apr 24 2008 8:30PM - Rock N Roll Hotel Washington DC, Washington DC
Apr 25 2008 9:00PM - Local 506 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Apr 26 2008 9:00PM - The Earl Atlanta, Georgia
Apr 27 2008 9:00PM - Grey Eagle Asheville, North Carolina
May 15 2008 8:00PM - Doug Fir Portland, Oregon
May 16 2008 8:00PM - Chop Suey Seattle, Washington
May 18 2008 8:00PM - The Independent San Francisco, California
May 19 2008 8:00PM - Blue Lamp Sacramento, California
May 22 2008 8:00PM - The Echo Los Angeles, California
May 23 2008 8:00PM - Casbah San Diego, California

Video: French Kicks - Trial Of The Century