Got a Girl - "You and Me (Board Mix)"

Somehow I missed out on this when it came out 5 months ago. Apparently Dan the Automator has an upcoming project called Got a Girl which is a collaboration with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, of Scott Pilgrim vs the World and Death Proof. Whenever an actress decides to sing, it's always a bit iffy, but Mary Elizabeth Winstead actually pulls it off quite well. Got a Girl is more on the lines of Automator's work with Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By and Pillowfight. Mary Elizabeth comes across like a 60s French lounge singer over Portishead if DJ Andy Smith had a bigger role. It looks like an album was supposed to have been released by now, but so far I can't find any information on a release date.

For more information, follow Got a Girl on Twitter.

Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones - "Long Time Gone"

I only listened to this song so I could mock it on here. I mean... Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones? I have nothing personally against Norah Jones, I just side with Rodney Anonymous on her music. And Billie Joe Armstrong? Green Day are the most contrived punk band of all time. So when I saw they were releasing an album of Everly Brothers duets? This has the makings of "Accidental Racist." But, it's actually really good.

Norah Jones has some country cred with Little Willies, and Billie Joe has a shockingly good twang to his voice. Norah takes the slight lead, but the harmonies are far, far better than they should be. I mean... Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong??? This cynical music snob owes them both an apology for how much I mocked this in my head before actually listening.

Foreverly comes out November 25 on Reprise Records. Check out the first single, "Long Time Gone" below.

First Listen: New Releases for October 22

The slowest week for new releases since we started this up. It will give me a chance to recap some stuff I missed later this week.

Best Coast - Fade Away: Best Coast comes back with a summery-sounding EP that kind of throws a wrench into the whole "I don't really care for Best Coast" thing I had going. It's just the right length, the EP is fun and quick, and if Best Coast is a band you've been kind of down on, this might be a good entry-point to give it another shot.

Ryan Hemsworth - Guilt Trips: Ryan Hemsworth's debut album is a nostalgia trip for me. You might not have a lot of love for the mid-to-late 1990s techno that didn't hit the radio (Orbital et al) but I sure did, and Guilt Trips gives a fairly modern take on that sort of sound. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, but it turns out that this sound is classic in a sense, and Hemsworth hits all the right notes on the matter. Definitely worth a listen if you're looking for something different than the glitchy bass drops that have permeated the electronic landscape.

The Chambermaids - Whatever Happened Tomorrow

Back in 2003, siblings Neil and Martha Weir formed the Shut-Ins with the help of a drum machine. When they brought in a live drummer they changed their name to The Chambermaids and shortly after that added a second guitarist, bringing their ranks up to four.

In September, they released Whatever Happened Tomorrow, their third full length, on Guilt Ridden Pop. It’s some of the drone-iest shoegaze I have ever heard, but with shockingly pop hooks. It’s not quite as poppy as The Stratford 4 and leans more towards My Bloody Valentine and earlier Catherine Wheel. The record is unbelievably lush yet sparse at the same time. It’s less a wall of sound rushing at you than a swirling, twisting vortex of sound. The whole thing creates a unique and original sound out of familiar pieces. That is, until “China Blue,” the 5^th track, comes along and sweeps you away.

Whatever Happened Tomorrow is available now on Guilt Ridden Pop. Head on over to The Chambermaids’ Bandcamp to hear and purchase the album, and for some more info about the band.

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys - Toys of Future Past

When folk/punk/burlesque/noise/cabaret/steamcrunk act Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys decided to record the fabulous Soft Time Traveler, they took to Kickstarter and asked fans to chip in for various rewards. One of which was picking a song for them to cover. This option was chosen 22 times, which leads us to Toys of Future Past.

The 22 tracks chosen run the gamut from obvious (Tom Waits’ “The Piano Has Been Drinking”) to obvious jokes (Barnes & Barnes’ “FishHeads”). The ones in the middle tend to be the best, including an absolutely inspired version of Tori Amos’ “Happy Worker.” It’s a track from the Toys soundtrack, but the Army of Toys give it a slinky, evil reggae vibe. Neil Young’s “The Loner” trades Young’s trademark guitar work for Rachel Jayson’s viola. They also cover fellow Boston band The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library’s song “The Saint of Glass Worms,” which was actually inspired by Walter Sickert. This cover might have created a universe destroying worm hole. Pretty much the only song that sticks with the original's formula is Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight," but why would you mess with perfection?

At 22 songs long, not every one is great. But, 22 songs is a lot of songs, especially when you’re recording the 18 song Soft Time Traveler. I still implore you to give it a listen.

You can stream and purchase Toys of Future Past over at Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys’ Bandcamp page. For more information, head on over to their website. They’re playing a three night stand in Boston for Halloween, but right now the only date I can find is November 2 at Cuisineen Locale in Somerville. Below is a video for them covering "Paint It Black." It's not on the album, but it is bad ass.

This Is a Thing That Exists - Dolly Parton rapping on Queen Latifa's show

Apparently Queen Latifa has a daytime talk show now? Anyways, she had her Joyful Noise costar Dolly Parton on the show. How fantastic! Everyone LOVES Dolly! What song will she sing? "9 to 5?" "I Will Always Love You?" I bet "Jolene." Oh, man, I'll never get sick of seeing Dolly sing "Jolene." But, no. I guess because Queen Latifa became famous as a rapper, they thought it would be hilarious for Dolly to come out in a blonde afro wig and rap. Well... it's not. At all. Especially since half the rap is about her boobs. This is a 67 year old woman.

This Is ANOTHER Thing That Exists - Kelley Deal on Lil Bub's Big Show

Lil' Bub's Big Show is apparently the new Space Ghost Coast to Coast, complete with the interview subject starting out on a tv screen. The last episode featured legendary musician/record producer Steve Albini, so of course this week features Kelley Deal of the Breeders. Not only is Kelley on the episode, but she premieres a new solo song, "Shirtcrush," which apparently the adorably deformed cat not only plays on but produces. "Shirtcrush" is a throwback to the 90s lounge scene, with mostly acoustic guitars and keyboards giving off an island vibe, right up until a killer guitar solo by Kelley. 

This Lil' Bub meets 90s indie rock legends thing is starting to hurt my brain.

J Mascis and Sharon Van Etten - "Prisoners"

When I think of John Denver covers, J Mascis doesn't exactly come to mind. Nevertheless, here is a video for his track off the John Denver tribute album, The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver. I expected this to fall into his more acoustic work, but it's a plugged in version that would fit right in on a J Mascis and the Fog album. Sharon von Etten provides backing vocals, and of course there are multiple guitar solos that would melt the glasses off John Denver's face. The video features Aimee Mann and Jon Wurster as Denver fans that find love on a John Denver dating website. And puppets, because why the hell not, right?

"Prisoners" by J Mascis and Sharon Van Etten from Aimee Mann

First Listen: New Releases for October 15

In a slower week than we've had as of late, there seems to be a common theme...

The Avett Brothers - Magpie and the Dandelion: Many have heralded this album (songs of which came out of the same sessions as last year's The Carpenter) as the next Migonette from the Avett catalog. While I'm still waiting for the next Emotionalism, this is now the third album in a row where the Avetts seem to be happy to fill a more roots/bluegrass-oriented spot next to The Lumineers or Mumford and Sons as opposed to the mix of bluegrass, punk, and rockabilly that their earlier works had. While I and Love and You was a worthy, superlative breakthrough, it appears the Avetts are sticking with what broke them through as opposed to what worked about their sound, which means you get a handful of great songs and a few more unmemorable moments. I wanted more, I wanted different.

Paul McCartney - New: As someone who was never really able to get into the Beatles for whatever reason (people are still strangely horrified that my favorite Beatles song remains "And Your Bird Can Sing"), listening to a new Paul McCartney album at this point doesn't seem to make a ton of sense. He's enlisted a bunch of new producers on board and has some new songs and it's an attempt to sound modern and, well, I guess it works? There's just not much to say about it, and it feels like prime Bob Lefsetz bait - old musician who needs just a few hit singles puts out a huge album instead. I dunno.

The Dismemberment Plan - Uncanney Valley: I came into indie rock a little too late to really get into The Dismemberment Plan, who haven't put out an album as a group since 2001. As it stands, they were never completely my cup of tea - I enjoyed The Dismemberment Plan is Terrified well enough, but it felt like stilted, strange rock music to my ears that were, at the time, coming into being with lots of Apples in Stereo albums. So Uncanney Valley is an album I approached with both a lot of expectations and no expectations at all, and with that in mind, it's an interesting listen. It sounds like what I feel like Dismemberment Plan should sound like while still feeling very out of place. I'm picturing a lot of people who have close to a decade on me age-wise singing songs with call-and-response verses and about cocaine from a space bar and wonder if I've fallen into a bizarre time warp. Why I'm thrown by this, but find Ben Folds Five coming back after a decade-plus hiatus to sing "if you can't draw a crowd / draw dicks on the wall" charming and fun, I couldn't tell you. Listen to this album, make a decision on your own, I suppose.

Tristen - Caves: The only reason I know Tristen is because Ken came back from a concert she opened at and he was blown away. I loved her previous album as a result, and this was pretty highly anticipated for me. Unfortunately, Tristen has put the folk guitar aside in favor of a synth-heavy project that may work for some ears, but not for me. The Haim-ification of the musical landscape continues, I guess. Ken might have more to say about this later on this week, having told me Tristen is coming along as the "alt-country Taylor Swift," but as for me...

Cults - Static: As ubiquitous as "Go Outside" became, Cults never really did it for me. A little too reverby, a little too shoegazey. The sophomore effort, Static is more of the same in some regards, but still a step forward musically. I like a lot of what I'm hearing in a way I didn't expect, still find some of it a little...frustrating. I expect this to be a bit of a breakthrough for them, in any regards.

The Head and the Heart - Let's Be Still: The Head and the Heart took their debut self-released album to Sub Pop and made some waves, and this is possibly one of the more anticipated indie rock releases this fall. While the band takes up similar headspace to The Civil Wars in many regards, this album feels much more quiet and understated than I had expected, and this might not be much of a breakout for the band (assuming that's even what they're looking for). Overall, not a bad album in any regards, just not anything that sticks in my head on first listen.





Also out this week:

* Four Tet - Beautiful Rewind
* An album by a group of Seattle grunge musicians that you surely know and already have an idea as to whether you want to hear it or not.

Forgotten Fridays: Forest for the Trees - "Dream"

In 1997, the "electronica is the Next Big Thing" movement was in full effect. The Prodigy had released Fat of the Land, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart. The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim were getting some solid attention, and we all know that Beck's Odelay was an unexpected breakthrough a few years after "Loser." The song that grabbed me out of the multiple singles we got out of this era, however, was a minor hit by electronic group Forest for the Trees.

Forest for the Trees was headed by producer Carl Stephenson, who is probably best "known" for his producer credits on Beck's Odelay. The Forest for the Trees project was signed to Dreamworks, and the self-titled debut album lead off with the single above, "Dream," a spacey pop-electro piece that featured a lot of Eastern instrumentation combined with, well, bagpipe. It's truly a weird song, but fits in with the strange radio experimentation we saw right before rap-rock ruined everything. The album itself is a mishmash of samples and Eastern music and mysticism and electronica tropes that shouldn't work, but mostly does. Of course, it's not on Spotify, but I did dig out the CD today and it holds up.

We never got another album from Forest for the Trees. Word is that Stephenson had major anxiety issues, and a second album was shelved completely, never to be seen again. I'm not even sure if Stephenson is active in the music industry anymore, but I always loved this album and hoped we'd get more.