Song/Video of the Day: Explosions in the Sky - Postcard From 1952

The posting here has been pretty non-existent thanks to first my computer dying for a week and then all aspects of life teaming up to make me extra busy. I'm working on a post recapping the first third of 2013, but in the meantime I thought I'd write something quick.

One of the current things making my life busy is a presentation I'm working on for a class. Reading and processing statistics papers doesn't work too well when listening to music with lyrics, so one of my go to artists in these cases is Explosions in the Sky. I wanted to post the song "Your Hand In Mine," which came on while I was working this afternoon, but apparently I already posted it here. Instead, here's a song called "Postcard From 1952" off of the band's most recent release. The video is a collection of moments and life events that might have been included on a postcard from that year. Like many of the band's songs, it takes a while to build, but the payoff is worth it. I know guitar driven instrumental post-rock isn't for everyone, but I highly recommend spending some time with Explosions in the Sky. The quiet moments before the build up tend to put me in a place of perfect contentment where nothing else seems to matter. I love walking around in cool weather, just zoned out listening to them. When the sound starts to swell, the epic nature of it makes me feel on top of the world and like anything is possible. I made a comment on Twitter the other day that I wanted to nominate Japandroids for "band that most makes you feel like you can do anything." I'd also have to add Explosions in the Sky to that list now. Any other suggestions?

Anyhow, I'm off to continue being busy. Enjoy the video:




Interested in checking out Explosions in the Sky?

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Or just watch the wonderful Friday Night Lights TV show, which they soundtracked

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside

Wow. Just wow.

Every once and a while an album comes around that just stops you in your tracks. That was my reaction the first time I heard the new Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside album, "Untamed Beast," a few weeks ago. Lead singer Sallie Ford brings energy and unbridled brashness that isn't seen very often. In the wrong hands, those two things could go off the tracks and lead to a chaotic mess. But Ford knows exactly what she's doing and oh boy does she do it well. The band's website quotes her as saying "It's time for a girl to infiltrate the boys world of rock 'n roll and grab it by the balls. To me rock 'n roll isn't a genre, it's an energy." Whether it's a genre or an energy, it should consider itself infiltrated and consider its bar raised. Everyone else, the standard has been set.

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside is coming to Iowa City at the beginning of April, and I cannot wait for that show. In the meantime I'll just continue to listen to Untamed Beast over and over and over and over again.

You can stream the entire album here. But if you want a taste first, here's a track from the album:



Interested in checking out Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside?

Artist website
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Another thing I failed to mention is that this album has finally convinced me that Partisan Records is a label to be reckoned with. In 2011, Partisan released Middle Brother's debut, which was my favorite album of the year. In 2012 they followed that up by releasing Field Report's debut and Heartless Bastards newest album, which were my third and ninth ranked albums of the year. I expect to see Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside very high on this year's list. Plus, now with this revelation, I've got a lot of Partisan Records' back catalog to comb through for gems I've missed.

Free Music Update - 2/19/2012

A bunch of really good free music has been popping up lately, so I thought I'd round some of it up into one post for people who are interested.

First, Hanalei, one of my all-time favorite artists just decided to release all of his old albums along with a new album of miscellaneous covers and alternate versions of tracks for free on a new Bandcamp page. Click here to check it out. I wrote about Hanalei a while back if you're interested in reading that. If you're looking for a place to start, "Parts and Accessories" and "We Are All Natural Disasters" are two of my favorite albums (and not just by Hanalei). The former has an alt-country feel with moments of rock interspersed. It also features some of my favorite lyrics of any album. Very few artists can't paint a picture of a time and place as well as Brian Moss does. Often the songs just feel like tiny movies that you're living inside of. "Parts and Accessories" is one of those albums that I could listen to anytime anywhere. Almost anytime I'm in the car for more than an hour or two it gets a listen. On the other hand, "We Are All Natural Disasters," Hanalei's first album, was a solo project that is a bit more in the indie pop vein. Electronic elements make it just a little bit reminiscent of The Postal Service. It was the album that originally made me fall in love with Hanalei.

Next up is Beat Radio, who a couple days ago released a free EP in anticipation of their new full-length which came out today (for the more than reasonable price of $4). The EP, which you can pickup here, features an excellent cover of "The House That Heaven Built" by The Japandroids. While The Japandroids version is a high energy anthemic romp, Beat Radio strips the song down into just acoustic guitar and vocals. While that approach would seem to risk losing the energy of the original, it works surprisingly well, instead highlighting the vocals. That cover was my first exposure to Beat Radio when I heard it a couple months ago, but it instantly turned me into a fan.

Miracles of Modern Science, a New York based orchestral pop group, has released their new EP (here) today as a "pay what you want" album. I was introduced to the band about three weeks ago by We Listen For You. Rather than your standard guitar, bass, and drums, they use mandolin, violin, cello, standup bass, and drums. At the time We Listen For You shared the track "Singularity," which was a great introduction to a band exploring what pop music beyond the usual fare. The album is worthwhile on its own merits, but the fact that their doing something different gives even more reason to check it out.

Today I also got an email that Eric and Magill, an indie folk duo originally from Wisconsin, are releasing a free EP (via Bandcamp). I know I've heard the duo's music before, but I just realized today that one of the members is from the now defunct Decibully, another band I used to listen to. I haven't given the new EP a listen, but you can't beat free, and I'm guessing it should be an enjoyable listen.

Lastly, if you haven't picked up the Hilang Child EP that I talked about last month, what are you waiting for??? The EP would almost certainly have made my top albums list last year if I had found it before the year ended. As is, it's one of my go to late night albums when I'm unwinding before bed. The Hilang Child facebook page (which is up to 152 "likes" after being under 100 last month!) has mentioned that they have a couple live acoustic videos coming up soon. I'll continue anxiously awaiting anything new to come from them.

This should be enough free music to tide those of you cash-strapped music lovers over for a little while. There is a lot to enjoy there, so hopefully everyone can find something of interest.

Valentine's Day with The Magnetic Fields

Being single, Valentine's Day doesn't do much for me, but it is a great excuse to listen to The Magnetic Fields' ridiculously ambitious three volume album "69 Love Songs." As frontman Stephen Merritt (quite correctly notes), the album isn't an album about love but rather an album about love songs in all of their many forms. Just from song titles like "I'm Sorry I Love You," "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing," "Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits," and "I Don't Believe In The Sun" you can already tell the album runs across a wide range of emotions and states related to love in its many different forms.

A few months back, I read the exceptional "Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records" by John Cook. The book proceeds somewhat chronologically through the history of indie label Merge Records, usually while focusing on one band at a time and largely doing so through interviews and pictures. The Magnetic Fields had a chapter focus on them, as did bands like Spoon, Arcade Fire, Superchunk, and Neutral Milk Hotel. In the Magnetic Fields chapter, the origin of 69 Love Songs is discussed. Apparently Stephen Merritt was drinking by himself at a piano bar when he decided he would write a musical revue called 100 Love Songs that would cover every kind of love song. When he realized that would be too difficult logistically, he decided to do it for an album, and eventually whittled the number further to 69 love songs.

When the idea for 69 Love Songs (at this point including a 76 page full color booklet) was pitched to Merge Records, there was conflicting excitement and worry between the two heads of the label (two members of the band Superchunk). The Magnetic Fields' previous album had sold only 17,000 copies, so trying to produce and actually sell such an ambitious project with a base audience of that size seemed pretty optimistic. As a compromise, Merge offered to sell the discs separately with only 2,500 box sets made, which included all three of the albums and the booklet. However, the idea and finished product garnered a good deal of media attention, and the album (both versions) ended up selling out almost immediately.

The whole story, along with other anecdotes about The Magnetic Fields, Merge, and their many amazing bands is worth the purchase of "Our Noise". The album has also inspired plenty of other creative homages. The picture on the right is one panel from a comic by Huw "Lem" Davies from a site called 69 Love Songs, Illustrated, which has endeavored to have various artists illustrate each of the songs on the album. I chose this one because it has one of my favorite lines "The only stars there really are were shining in your eyes // There is no sun except the one that never shone on other guys // The moon to whom the poets croon has given up and died // Astronomy will have to be revised." The whole thing is an incredibly cool project to look through, and I could spend countless hours doing so. Most of the songs have been completed and they are hoping to finish the project this year. If they ever get the rights to sell this as a physical book, I would love to buy a copy.

In another project, 69 Minnesota musicians each recorded a song from the album. You can actually download the whole thing for free here. I just discovered the project and haven't had a chance to listen yet, but you can't beat free!

Lastly, there is a series of books called "33 1/3" in which authors pick a classic album and discuss it in a short book. There is one about this album (here) that I'm sure would be an interesting read. Another thing to add to my list.

And since we've made it this far without any actual music, here is "The Book Of Love." Enjoy your February 14th.