There's a Brown Bird Tribute Album Coming

Originally started as a fundraiser to help pay for Dave Lamb's medical care before he passed away from leukemia in 2014, this two disc album is now a tribute to Lamb and his band Brown Bird. It will now be used to raise funds for Sweet Relief which offers financial assistance to career musicians facing illness, disability, or age related problems.

One truly unique aspect of this tribute album is that it features Lamb's friends, fans, and collaborators. That might take some of the bigger names out of the mix, but you get interpretations of his songs by people who truly care about the man and the music. Of course, Brown Bird's influence was pretty far reaching, so we still get versions of songs by names such as The Devil Makes Three and Joe Fletcher. The first track we can hear is "My Mind is An Altar" by South China, which is made up of former Brown Bird members Jeremy and Jerusha Robinson. You can hear that song below.

To pre-order your copy of the two disc A Light I Can Feel: A Tribute to Brown Bird, head over to Burst and Bloom Records. It should be released on March 24. As always, for everything Brown Bird related check out their website.

that dog - "Ms. Wrong" (Outtake)

Photo via Facebook

Before that dog release their absurdly long awaited new album hopefully this year, they're going to be releasing Totally Crushed Outtakes at the end of the month. These are alternate versions of songs recorded back in 1995 for Totally Crushed Out (see what they did there?) Three of the songs are alternate versions ("Ms. Wrong," "Silently," and "One Summer Night"), and the fourth is the never before heard "Punk Rock Lobster." "Silently" started out as acoustic with Beck on banjo and a steel guitar. So far we can only listen to the alternate version of "Ms. Wrong." This version is about a few steps slower than the album version and a whole lot sludgier. For those of us that have been waiting decades for anything new from that dog, this is fantastic. 20 years ago we would have been buying these at $10 a pop as the b-side of an import single.

Totally Crushed Outtakes will be available at the end of March. You can pre-order it in various bundles through Hello Records. For more on that dog, check out their Facebook.

First Listen, Part Two: More New Releases for February 24

And onto the second round!

Artist: Sarah Bethe Nelson
Album: Oh, Evolution
Quick Description: New album from a buzzworthy singer-songwriter.
Why You Should Listen: Her first album was great.
Overall Thoughts: I loved Sarah Bethe Nelson’s last album, a fuzzy indie affair with some solid songwriting and some solid depth. Her new album does what we always want from a second album in that it expands on the sound and style we loved on the first album without abandoning what worked. And there is some zagging on this record, to be sure, but it all works and might be a better cohesive unit than her debut on first listen. I’m looking forward to spending more time with this one.
Recommendation: Highly recommended this week.

Artist: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Album: The Tourist
Quick Description: Indie act with their latest.
Why You Should Listen: This is a band that's always had a solid track record.
Overall Thoughts: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah pioneered the truly independent nature of “independent” music a decade-plus ago with the release of their first album. They continue to be a somewhat strange band with a sound that’s often emulated but never quite duplicated, and while I feel like there have been some diversionary paths CYHSY has taken over the years, this album feels more in line with what got them “famous” to start. A return to form? Too soon to say on first listen, but it was a definite surprise.
Recommendation: Probably worth a listen.

Artist: The Feelies
Album: In Between
Quick Description: Latest from the rock mainstays.
Why You Should Listen: You're a fan, and they have a legacy of sorts.
Overall Thoughts: The Feelies are a band that comes with a fair amount of history at this stage, and it’s difficult to listen to them without taking that along for the ride. The new album is one that basically sounds as I’d expect. For fans of the band, that might be a good thing. For a listener like me with a lot of other things to hear? There’s nothing here that makes it stand out and requires you to take notice.
Recommendation: Good for fans, not a priority otherwise.

Artist: Rhiannon Giddens
Album: Freedom Highway
Quick Description: Latest from the talented singer-songwriter.
Why You Should Listen: Rhiannon Giddens is an essential act at present.
Overall Thoughts: We love Rhiannon Giddens here, and Freedom Highway continues to impress with a nice mix of genres and concepts throughout the album that’s combined with some solid musicianship. The most impressive song is still the finale of the album, but I felt like this was, on a whole, a quieter and perhaps more introspective affair than what I’ve gotten used to from Giddens. Overall? Great listen.
Recommendation: Might not work for everyone, but a great listen nonetheless.

Artist: No Joy
Album: Creep
Quick Description: Fuzzy, melodic indie rock.
Why You Should Listen: Band with a lot of potential.
Overall Thoughts: A Discover Weekly find that I wanted to highlight if only because it’s a unique EP with some interesting soundscapes going on. While the EP never reaches the heights that “Hellhole” does, the whole thing is worth a listen on a whole and No Joy might be a band to keep an eye on.
Recommendation: A good quick listen.

Artist: Scott H. Biram
Album: The Bad Testament
Quick Description: Solid old-style country folk.
Why You Should Listen: This feels extremely classic.
Overall Thoughts: I don't have a ton to say about this, but if you contrast this with Mount Royal from yesterday, you'll get both sides of a lovely coin. Biram carries a great authenticity with his music on this album, and if you like a lot of what we feature here...
Recommendation: ...you'll love this.

Artist: Xiu Xiu
Album: Forget
Quick Description: Latest from the popular indie group.
Why You Should Listen: You're a fan and/or want a challenge.
Overall Thoughts: I don’t know a lot of Xiu Xiu, but I will say that this album feels a lot weirder than I thought it would. I don’t know what I expected from it, but as someone who has a high tolerance for strange and difficult music, this completely failed to connect with me on a whole.
Recommendation: In a busy week, skip this one.

Also out this week:

* Crystal Fairy - Crystal Fairy

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys - Wake Up Your Head

Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys have just released their RPM Challenge album for 2017. The RPM Challenge challenges artists to create an entire album in the 28 days of February. This time constraint is impressive, especially considering how involved Wake Up Your Head is, even by normal Walter Sickert standards.

Wake Up Your Head is weird. The album is described as "... a dystopian holiday excursion; this time exploring the possibilities of life underground after the nuclear obliteration of the surface." The album started as a series of improvisational one take recordings, and then tinkered around with to make actual songs, much like late period Sonic Youth did it. I'll let Walter Sickert explain the thoughts behind the album:

"I worry about the future a lot, not for me as much as for my two year old. I think of the horrific way in which our planet is treated, how humans are seen as dollar signs and votes to those in power. Those who would rather guarantee the prosperity of their companies and bloated egos over the health and safety of the people they were elected to serve. 

When the most powerful people in our government believe in a mandated Armageddon, when they believe human rights, the environment, climate change and education take a backseat to profit; it becomes easy to imagine a future where our children are forced to deal with a cataclysmic existence brought on by greed and a disregard (or even hostility) towards education. 

That's where this album begins, vignettes of a world at war, scratching at the stars for natural resources long since exploited on our own planet. The album continues to life and love in a fallout shelter, to adventures in memory erasure, and the questionable malleability of reality. It highlights the time after the reemergence of humanity where roving gangs of scavenger children cannibalize adults in retaliation for generations of suffering and where new religions are born amalgams of the little surviving pop culture and mysticism of the days before the final war. 

It’s not a record about the end of the world I swear! 

No seriously... It's about the start of our world right now. It's about all of us standing up for what's right and fighting for the future we believe in, the future we want for our loved ones. It's about never letting fear stop us, but instead, using it to fuel our resolve to organize, to build community, and elect officials that fight for the people not for gold and castles."

Wake Up Your Head is a lot more quiet and reflective than previous releases by Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. "FALLOUT SURVIVAL GUIDE" is "Revolution 9" level weird and experimental. It's immediately followed by "THE KINGDOM KIDS (STOP ADULTS)" which could be the band's attempt at a mainstream rap song? "WITCHCRAFT" is my personal favorite and has a Mike Patton doing free jazz feel to it.

Wake Up Your Head is available now for free (although you should know that any money they make off this album will be donated to Planned Parenthood) on Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys' Bandcamp. If you're in New York City, you can catch them at The Bowery Electric on April 29. They play Once Ballroom in Somerville, MA on May 4.

Sheer Mag - Compilation LP

I swear this is a positive review. I really do like Compilation LP by Sheer Mag. Anything I say negatively is purely me being a grumpy middle aged man telling the kids to get off his lawn.

All of the information in Sheer Mag's press release refers to them as punk. I don't really hear the underground punk in this, but, like I said, I'm a middle aged white male. The music is edgy and noisy, but I don't know if I'm finding it hard enough to be punk. But this is a new generation that looks at Blink 182 and Reel Big Fish as "old school" punk. You'll see in the video below that the music doesn't come close to matching the pits that apparently happen at their shows, but in the 90s people used to beat the shit out of each other to Letters to Cleo, so what did we know back then?

Ok, old man grumbling aside, Sheer Mag's collection of their first three EPs, Compilation LP, is fairly great. They have this great groovy sound, like someone mixed 70s soul and proto-punk. Think of what would have happened if Death and The Jackson 5 ever jammed together. The guitars are just dirty and fuzzy as fuck with post punk drumming. The vocals are a mixture of barked out and sung with actual melody. I don't mean separately, like a Linkin Park song or something. Somehow Suzi Quatro manages to do both at the same time. It's a really interesting turn for something considered punk, but punk is supposed to confuse us old fogies, so job well done!

You can watch the video for "Fan the Flames" below. Compilation LP is available now. You can get your copy at Sheer Mag's Bandcamp. For more info on the band, check out their website.

First Listen Part One: New Releases for February 24

SO MANY NEW RELEASES.

As a quick note, I am keeping up with the Future albums. I delayed it last week because he was putting out an album this week, and now I'm delaying this week because he apparently has ANOTHER album coming out Friday of this week. So yeah, I'm aware of it.

Album of the Week

Artist: Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge
Album: Mount Royal
Quick Description: Gorgeous rootsy folk music.
Why You Should Listen: If you like the sort of stuff we get excited about here, you need to listen to this.
Overall Thoughts: The one problem with the amount of folk-style music we cover here is that there does tend to be a lot of sameness to the music. This isn't a bad thing at all, but when an album jumps out at you the way Mount Royal does, it forces you to pay attention. For me, the guitar playing is sneaky gorgeous, and the vocals are just as solid (especially as a music listener who tends to struggle with male folk voices). Lead track "Bone Collector" sets a solid base for what to expect, and I think my favorite song on first listen was "Sleeping By Myself," but, ultimately, I just wanted to hear the whole thing again and I can't wait to do so. This album needs to shoot to the top of your list this week.
Recommendation: One of the best of the early year so far.

Artist: Funeral Advantage
Album: Please Help Me
Quick Description: New EP from a favorite here.
Why You Should Listen: Funeral Advantage is getting better and better at what they do with every release.
Overall Thoughts: The title track from the album, as Ken noted, is perfect, and the rest of the EP isn't too shabby itself. A solid listen with a lot of good hooks throughout, this is a band to watch, and I hope this is the hint of more music coming from the band in 2017. If there was any justice in the world, "Please Help Me" would be their coming out party.
Recommendation: A fun listen working both the retro and modern sound.

Artist: Los Camposinos!
Album: Sick Scenes
Quick Description: Latest from the indie rock party animals.
Why You Should Listen: You've been keeping up with them since their breakout.
Overall Thoughts: This will always be the band that did "You! Me! Dancing!," which is a bit of a shame because they've done so much since then, but it's hard not to compare this band against such a good song. I feel like this is a standard Los Camposinos! album, which is great in and of itself, but... am I sensing a bit of emo in this? I dunno. Either way, a solid listen.
Recommendation: Good listen, but will be largely dependent on how much of a fan you are of the group.

Artist: Dirty Projectors
Album: Dirty Projectors
Quick Description: New album from the somewhat-experimental indie group.
Why You Should Listen: Dirty Projectors always do something interesting...
Overall Thoughts: ...even if it doesn't really work. I remember when they sort of broke out with Bitte Orca, but they've never grabbed me since then. I can't say I've kept up with them much since then, but this album feels more electronic and mainstream, which might not be what you're looking for from this band. On the other hand, if you've never been into them before, this might be the record to change your mind.
Recommendation: I didn't love this, but you might.

Artist: drchan
Album: Southside Suicide
Quick Description: Is it punk? Is it psych? Is it something else entirely?
Why You Should Listen: Whatever you think this might be, it's not.
Overall Thoughts: I hate to review this and give away the plot, because I honestly looked into this because of the group's name and the titles of the songs on this album. Whatever I expected and whatever I got are two entirely different things, as this was a really great record. The first song kind of hits right away with some solid instrumentation and a great melody, and I continued to be impressed throughout the entire album. Honestly, on first listen, drchan has a new fan in me, and I'm very excited to explore their back catalog and spend more time with this album.
Recommendation: One of the best of the week. Don't ignore this.

Artist: Old 97s
Album: Graveyard Whistling
Quick Description: Old 97s continue to be their old reliable selves.
Why You Should Listen: You've been happy with their recent output.
Overall Thoughts: Old 97s are a good band. I want to get that out of the way. A lot of their early stuff is essential alt-country, but it has to be said that the recent albums have felt very samey and of limited inspiration. I hate to say that, but there seems to be a formula that's working for them and it's just not wowing me. I want more "Bird in a Cage," I want more "Won't Be Home." I feel like it's been a long time since we got there. This isn't bad, it's just not great.
Recommendation: It's fine.

Artist: Wesley Stace
Album: Wesley Stace's John Wesley Harding
Quick Description: John Wesley Harding comes out from behind the curtain a bit.
Why You Should Listen: This is some solid, classic-sounding pop rock.
Overall Thoughts: I don't pretend to know why John Wesley Harding recorded this under his real name, but the influence of The Jayhawks shines through here and we get some really solid pop music out of this deal. I enjoyed this album, and I expect that if you're into some pretty radio friendly pop rock, this might be your jam. It's not going to blow your mind, but it's not trying to do that. It's just trying to be comfortable and familiar, and it works in that regard. If there's more to it than that, I'll leave it to Stace.
Recommendation: Worth a listen in a busy week.

Artist: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Album: Flying Microtonal Banana
Quick Description: The prolific indie psych band has their most accessible record to date.
Why You Should Listen: You've been a fan so far but wish they were a little more straightforward.
Overall Thoughts: I find myself enjoying this band, but I find them to be a little hit-or-miss. This latest album feels more like a hit, and might be friendlier to the ears if you've been avoiding them so far. The same sensibility is throughout the record, but the result here is one I really thought was cool and inviting, and I'll definitely spend more time with them.
Recommendation: Yes, it's a shift of sorts, but you'll probably dig it.

Also out this week:

* Pissed Jeans - Why Love Now

Pete International Airport - s/t

Pete International Airport is a new project from Pete Holmstrom of The Dandy Warhols, and also features members of Mercury Rev, Brian Jonestown Massacre, and The Warlocks. Think about what you think that sounds like for just a minute... and you're most likely exactly right.

Pete International Airport the album is absolutely perfect for old school fans of The Dandy Warhols. The main difference is take out some of the poppier moments and add a whole boatload of trippy psychedelia. (Normally I feel bad comparing a side project to the members' main band so much, but they got their title from a song off The Dandy Warhols Come Down which just might be the most Dandy Warhols move of all time...) The openng track, "Sweetheart Tattoo," is pure classic Dandy Warhols in a groovy slacker kind of way. "21 Days" is almost hard rock, and might be the closest to a radio single on the album, if that was still a thing. As the album progresses, the songs seem to lose their traditional structure more and more and get stranger and more experimental. This is both frustrating and compelling, but I lean more towards compelling.

The new self titled album from Pete International Airport will be available on April 7 via Little Cloud Records. You can pre-order the album in various formats and packages now via Bandcamp. However, you can stream the album right now, also via Bandcamp! 9Ah, the magic of the internet!) For more on Pete International Airport, follow them on Facebook.

Kingsley Flood - "Try"

Normally we don't tell you about a new video for a song that's been out for a few months, especially when we've already covered the album. But, this is Kingsley Flood,who we love, and it's a particularly engaging video, so there you go! Kingsley Flood recently released a video for "Try," the second song on last year's spectacular Another Other. The video features frontman Naseem Khuri running in slow motion through the streets of Washington DC with a backdrop of a variety of street murals behind him. You eventually realize he's being chased by an assassin, dressed like a "man in black" style secret agent. The main focus of the video are the beautiful murals, and it exists as a reminder of how much art we walk by and miss every single day.

You can watch the video for "Try" below. For more on Kingsley Flood, be sure to check out their website. If you haven't checked out their latest album, Another Other, yet, make sure you do so immediately.

Al Scorch - "Everybody Out"

Photo by Alexis Ellers

Bluegrass has existed in it's main, traditional form for decades. Most bluegrass artists tend to be traditionalists and keep it in the same form it's always existed as. Sure, there are a bunch of progressive bluegrass bands out there (which the media has dropped the ball by not calling nu-grass), but they ignore tradition for a new sound.

Eneter Al Scorch. Al Scorch does traditional bluegrass, but with a bizarre, unique, almost menacing sound. I'm sure his new song, "Everybody Out," will get lumped in with the freak folk guys, but those bands are more about wearing flowers and pretending your band is a cult. "Everybody Out" is just... weird. And that's before you even get to the puppets and face paint filled video for it. It's rare that we get an artist that takes traditional folk and bluegrass and does their own thing all over it without attempting to reinvent the genre, but that's what Scorch does.

You can watch the video for "Everybody Out" below. Al Scorch's latest album, Circle Round the Signs, is available now via Bloodshot Records. For more on Scorch, check out his website.

Ric Gordon - Just Can't Get Enough

Last month, Russian Winter Records was moving their office and discovered a box of the 1979 debut EP from Ric Winter, Just Can't Get Enough. They decided to digitize the album, as well as sell the original 1979 copies of the album.

Who even knew there was a punk scene in Kansas City, Missouri back in 1979? One of my favorite things about this original wave of 70s punk is how surprisingly diverse it was. Ric Gordon probably wouldn't be considered punk just a few short years later after the scene went more hardcore or artsy, but Just Can't Get Enough is a great snapshot of just how great and poppy punk could be when it started out. Songs like "Rock-N-Roll Lady" and "Just Can't Get Enough" live in the world that's more polished than early Ramones but more raw than Cheap Trick. And then you get a song like "People Run, People Hide" that somehow hints at post punk and new wave.

You can listen to "Rock-N-Roll Lady" below. You can get a copy of Just Can't Get Enough as a download, CD, or the original 1979 vinyl at Bandcamp.