New Music Tuesday - 11/01/2011

The Beach Boys - Smile Sessions

Known as the "most famous unreleased album of all time," Smile was supposed to be released right after Pet Sounds, 45 years ago. Considering Pet Sounds is commonly considered their greatest album, one has to wonder to the style and quality of its followup. A number of the songs intended for the album, eventually ended up on other releases, but the "lost" album itself remains highly regarded. The entire Smile Sessions includes that album, outtakes (wooo?) and some re-released material. The only thing I really want, though, is the album itself.
"Heroes and Villains"

The Decemberists - Long Live the King EP

Their last album was titled The King is Dead, so I guess this is an apt name for a followup EP. Songs from this release seem to have been continually leaked out, one song every few days, over the past two weeks or so. Listening to those tracks, it does seem that the band has held onto the slightly more accessible sound they exhibited on their last full album. I think it works well for them.
"Burying Davy"

Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials

Oh, Hallelujah!!! Florence Welch is, in my mind, the queen of orchestral, artsy, almost operatic pop. She's also the best example that, from time to time, the general public can pay attention to and appreciate good music, even if it's only in one-off circumstances. This one's been streaming over at Pretty Much Amazing, and it is just that. I don't foresee a "sophomore slump" for this one!
"Shake It Out" music video

Idle Warship - Habits of the Heart

This is a side project of Talib Kweli, Res and Graph Nobel; though I'm only in it for the Kweli. I've only heard one song so far, it's definitely different from what we've gotten from Talib as either a solo artist or with BlackStar. It's seems a little lacking on the Kweli, relegated to odd grunts and sounds in the background. Hopefully, he's a little more present on the full-length. Otherwise, I don't know why he's a part of this.
"Rat Race"

Kele Okereke - The Hunter EP

So much drama lately with this guy and the other members of Bloc Party. First, it was reported that the band was auditioning new lead singers, since, this being his second solo release since the band went on hiatus, Kele didn't seem interested in re-joining. This act apparently blindsided him, he had not been told, but the other band members denied doing anything. To be honest, I can't really imagine Bloc Party without Kele. That said, while his solo work is pretty enjoyable, he needs them, too.
"What Did I Do" music video

Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu

I guess this is the weird, out-of-left-field collaboration for 2011. I've taken the opportunity to check out an early stream of the album and...um...I'm not sure I get it. There's a couple of decent songs, but it's definitely more of a Reed vehicle than Metallica. That shouldn't bother me, I'm not a Metallica fan, but I am a Lou Reed fan. The mix of Reed's talky style and the heavy guitar work of Metallica, however, just comes off strange. I'll give it one thing, the album artwork is timely.
**Since this work includes Metallica, there are no songs streaming on You-Tube without their audio disabled...I'm guessing we can thank Lars Ulrich for that, stream the album here.**

Pink Martini & Saori Yuki - 1969

I didn't even know about this until a few days ago, but was excited to find out about the new release. Pink Martini is one of my favorite jazz-pop bands (not that I listen to much) and...I've never really heard of Yuki before. I assume though, that she must be pretty awesome for such a great band to work with her!
"Mas que nada"

Hooray for Earth and Cymbals Eat Guitars in Indy

Following the epic but disappointingly short Asobi Seksu show in Bloomington, I headed an hour north to Indianapolis for another night of great music.

My day began early in order to participate in the Indianapolis Green & Clean in preparation for Indianapolis' holding of the next Super Bowl. This was followed by lunch with a friend who will soon be relocating. A little bit of shopping after, then I headed over to meet up with the friend I would be attending the concert with.

After hanging out for the afternoon, we headed to the concert. My first thought upon entering the venue, the White Rabbit Cabaret, was that it seemed too posh for the show that would later be there. Heck, it's an actual cabaret, with cocktail tables, lush colors and fluffy furniture. Once the show started, however, the vibe completely changed.

The first act was Hooray for Earth, a synth-pop band that simultaneously reminds me of Cut Copy, Yeasayer and all that chillwave that's been going around. They didn't have the most energized presence on stage, though their drummer was awesome to watch (goodness, I love me some drummers). The show, overall, was good, but they didn't stray far from the sound on their album.

The second act, Cymbals Eat Guitars, managed to insert a lot more energy into their set and, I think, did more to pull the songs beyond how they sound in their releases. The band takes many cues from '90s indie rock. Unlike other indie revivalists like Yuck, they turn the genre a little bit on its head. There's a fair amount of experimentation that really sets them apart. Their set definitely had some interesting moments not directly related to their music. About halfway through, the lead singer confessed to experiencing heart palpitations and had to lay down a few moments...on the stage. It was a little strange, but the keyboardist filled the awkward moment with a little small talk.

I had purchased the vinyl of Cymbals Eat Guitars's new album, Lenses Alien, between the sets and decided that I wanted it signed. I headed to the merch table after the show, chatted a bit with the gorgeous lead singer and nervously asked for them to sign my album. They were so gracious to that request. The drummer actually ran around once trying to find a Sharpie and then again to find the keyboardist for him to sign.

Yay!

Two great bands, both definitely worth the time to check out!

Goth Beyonce

Of all the musicians you'd think would cover a Beyonce song, The Horrors should probably be towards the bottom of the list. Yet, they did. The British band covered her "The Best Thing I Never Had" and it's kind of awesome! For some background, The Horrors made their name in punk goth, but have gone more towards a synthy, '80s sound...but still goth. All in all, nowhere near the same type of music Beyonce makes.

The Horrors

Beyonce

The Black Keys do it again

Proving for perhaps the millionth time that simpler can often be better, The Black Keys released an amazing music video for their new single "Lonely Boy" today.

The clip features a man, obviously channeling after-school dance shows from the 1960s, dancing and lip-syncing to the song. Pay attention at about 30 seconds in, someone peeks out of the office window and quickly darts away. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but I find it somewhat amusing.



Just think, this guy, after The Black Keys themselves, as well as producers and other studio techs, was the first one to hear this incredible song. And got to listen to it enough times to memorize it! I'm a little jealous...

New Music Tuesday - October 25, 2011

Deer Tick - Divine Providence

On this album, the band claims that they were attempting to create something more aligned to their live performances than to their existing recorded material. Having never seen them live, I wouldn't even able to begin to make a solid comparison. I do know, however, that if the live is apparently so much better than the recorded, and I know the recorded is good, this will probably blow my mind!
Listen: "The Bump"

Justice - Audio, Video, Disco

Finally, the full-length is here. Much as I love playing around with remixes, this is what I really wanted. I feel like this is the album that proves that Justice can do more than just remix or remix-sounding music. Everything I've heard here so far is so...epic-sounding. Music's reached a point where the remix is almost becoming king (see: Skrillex. SBTRKT) where even artists that produce amazing original music, like Yeasayer, are jumping on the band wagon. It's nice to see a band that could so easily go in that direction choosing to do something else.
Watch: "Civilization"

Kathryn Calder - Bright and Vivid

This girl is an amazing part of two amazing bands; The New Pornographers and Immaculate Machine. While both of those bands have a fairly distinct jangle pop sound, her solo work is more based in a singer-songwriter, introspective, personal style. It can be easy to assume, being the niece of band founder A.C. Newman, that her sweet gig in The New Pornographers was based on nepotism. But she has proven that she can hold her own as a solo artist as well as Neko Case or Newman himself.
Watch: "Who Are You?"

Mark Sultan - Whatever I Want, Whenever I Want It

As one half of King Khan & BBQ Show (he was the BBQ Show), he produced some of the best bare bones, wild, throwback garage rock you can find. Then, they teamed up with The Black Lips and things just got even more amazing. Going in the other direction, and going solo, he better be able to hold onto all the awesome he's been a part of for the past few years!
Listen: "Calloused Hands"

She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas

I usually can't stand Christmas albums (nothing against the holiday, just its music), but this is something I think I can get behind. Something about Zooey Deschanel and Christmas music just seems so right. Most Christmas albums, even by artists I otherwise love, I just set aside and pretend never happened (I'm looking at you, Bob Dylan), but I have a feeling I'm really gonna dig this.
Listen: "The Christmas Waltz"

Stevie Jackson - (I Can't Get No) Stevie Jackson

Goodness, the title of this album is horrible, but I think I may be prepared to forgive it since Stevie is a part of the incredible Belle & Sebastian. 15 years with that band and this is somehow his first solo album. I hope he's bottled up enough awesome in that time to make something as amazing as his group work.
Listen: "Man of God"

Surfer Blood - Tarot Classics

Not enough, not enough! I know I excel in hyperbole, but this really such a great band! They produce some of the best indie rock out there; it's just barely tinged with a tiny bit of surf rock, but not enough to make you feel like you have sand in your butt. They released their debut more than two years ago, so I was kinda hoping for a full-length right now. But, le sigh, I guess this will have to do.
Listen: "Miranda"

Tom Waits - Bad as Me

Ah, Tom Waits, with his gravelly, aged voice. Just enough blues and jazz thrown in to make sure it's really something you will not hear anywhere else. I've already spun this one a few times. First through Tom Waits website for which I had to wait (pun definitely intended) for a code to listen to it. Just a few days before it came out, NPR also made it available to stream online, so I've been listening there as well. It's good...really good. He's one of those few artists who's avoided abandoning his appeal and aesthetic the older than he gets.
Watch: "Bad as Me"

Asobi Seksu at The Bishop

Friday evening, I took another trip the beloved town of my alma mater, Bloomington, IN. The reason for this trip was to see the band Asobi Seksu.

The band is a part of what I would consider to be a second wave of dream pop. The first wave came in the '80s; while some bands were using synthesizers to make punk-inspired New Wave, others were using it to create the hazier, fuzzier dream pop, think The Jesus and Mary Chain. There was a recent surge in the style, with bands like Dream House, Wild Nothing and M83, but Asobi Seksu precedes them by about 10 years.

After spending some time playing card games with friends, I headed to the show. I was able to catch the tail-end of the opening band, White Birds; after which I immediately wished I had caught more of. The band had a little bit of a Fleet Foxes vibe about them. While they certainly were not reinventing the wheel with their music, the vocals and harmonies were excellent, and they really caught my ear. However, I only caught about a song and a half of them, but they deserve some more listens, I think.

After what seemed like the shortest set up I've ever seen (no sarcasm, it really was a quick set up), the main act went on. To be honest, I've never been obsessive about Asobi Seksu, so I didn't have many set expectations for what I was going to get from the show. The performance was well worth the travel, though. The band had amazing energy and I was amazed at how crisp the singer's vocals came out live. They have all the signature fuzziness of dream pop, but seeing them live definitely showed them to be more influenced by older bands (they even covered a song from The Jesus and Mary Chain) than a precursor to more modern sounds.

The only disappointment with the show is that it was too short. The Bishop is right beneath a comedy venue and the band was forced to end after about 30 minutes because an act was going on upstairs (not acceptable). So...The Bishop and The Comedy Attic really need to work something out. As a final act of defiance, though, the guitarist let a piercingly loud guitar chord go on for about five minutes. So...take that comedy!

Taken before the show actually started...surprised I had time!

 

 

 

The show, by the way, was not the last of the weekend, more on that tomorrow!

50/50

I'm a little late on recounting my Tuesday movie night, but I caught a good show, so I simply must tell you about it.

This was a little bit of a different week for me. I had initially been planning to go to the local independent theater to catch !Women Art Revolution, but some friends wanted to see 50/50 at a larger theater and I couldn't pass it up (for, you see, I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

The movie, also starring Seth Rogen, is about a man with an unpronounceable spinal cancer as he deals with the changes in his relationships with his friends, girlfriend, parents, psychologist and pot-smoking fellow cancer patients. As the movie progresses, he begins to deal more and more with the possibility of his own mortality.



The movie's surprising in a lot of ways. Most of those surprises center around Seth Rogen. Going into the film, I felt as though he could easily make the movie all about him or his character, as it seems to be the case in many of his films. It wasn't however, while his was a major character, the film never delved far from focus on Joseph's character. In that same sense, I was surprised by the maturity of the movie. There were plenty of laughs, but it never felt like they were using cancer as a source of cheap jokes or crude humor (well...not that much).

If you hate everything Seth Rogen, I think this would be a good one to check out to get a different side of him.

Mini soundtrack:
Pearl Jam - "Yellow Ledbetter"

The Walkmen - "New Country"

Radiohead - "High & Dry"

New Music Tuesday - 10/18/2011

Kimya Dawson and Friends - Thunder Thighs

I can't hear Kimya's music (regardless of the project it's a part of) without the movie Juno playing in my head. Sure, she existed long before the movie, but she just seems to embody that aesthetic. What I've heard of this latest release is no different. It's simple and kinda cutesy.
"Driving Driving Driving" video

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

I'm so glad I didn't have to wait long between this and the teaser EP Anthony Gonzalez (AKA M83) put out a couple of weeks ago. I heard the track "Midnight City" a few months back and was a little disappointed (OK, a lot) that the album it was on was yet to be released. I've spent the time sense getting a little acquainted with his past albums, but that's just upped the anticipation for this one!
"Midnight City"

My Brightest Diamond - All Things Will Unwind

I missed the chance to see this artist live back in March. She (Shara Worden) performed as a part of the MusicNow Festival. I, however, didn't realize until after the event that Shara Worden was My Brightest Diamond (thunks head). Shara produces music with a strong classical sound, a bit like a female Antony and the Johnsons. A friend introduced me to her music, but it took a while to get into, but totally worth it.
"Be Brave" video

Real Estate - Days 

This should have been released two months ago, it's a perfect summer album. Staying true to the sound on their first album, the music feels nostalgic and summery. It's like the audio equivalent of a vintage beach video. I guess it's better fitting, though, to put it out in October, so that it gives us a taste of the summer that most of us are probably already starting to miss!
"It's Real"

Video: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Senator"

The inimitable Jack Black stars as the titular senator is this new video from Stephen Malkmus. It's a pretty funny clip, we get to watch Black stretch his goof muscles out. It's somewhat disappointing that, at no point in the video, the senator doesn't get what he wants...

New album from The Black Keys!

This is something I thought was a way's away. I knew that Dan and Pat were recording a new album, but didn't think it would actually be released until well into next year. Monday, though, I learned that the album, titled El Camino, would be released in fewer than two months!

The duo announced the album with a hilarious video featuring Bob Odenkirk from Mr. Show:


To go along with the faux car commercial is a website showing the El Camino for sale with some information on the condition of the car. There's also a phone number, which takes you to a pre-recorded message from drummer Pat regarding the vehicle.

The album artwork isn't as striking as that for Brothers, but the band shows that they're still willing to go against the norm when it comes to promoting and packaging their work. With most bands simply posting an ad on a website and visiting a few late shows, this definitely stands out.

I already know what may very well be topping my year-end list in January!

Restless

Tuesdays have become my official movie night; I've started to make a habit of heading to the local theater to catch mostly independent films and documentaries. I go on Tuesdays (or try to), since it's only $6!

Tonight, I saw Restless, a film by Gus Van Sant.



The movie stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Alice in Wonderland) and Henry Hopper (Dennis' youngest son). Henry is Enoch, a boy who likes to crash funerals and memorial services. At one of them, he meets Annabelle (Wasikowska), a terminally ill girl. They quickly fall for each other, but he of course has to deal with her impending death. Also, there's a Japanese ghost...for good measure.

The film has gotten lukewarm reviews, but I quite liked it. I think it's mostly due to Mia's charm. The movie also had a pretty good score; with music by Sufjan Stevens, Pink Martini and Bon Iver!

Mini soundtrack:
Sufjan Stevens - "Wolverine"

Pink Martini - "Sympathique"

Bon Iver - "Wisconsin"

New Music Tuesday - 10/11/2011

Andrew Bird - Norman score

Norman is a movie about a young man faking cancer in order to deal with his own father's terminal illness. The movie's been making the film festival rounds for more than a year now and will be getting an official (albeit limited) release later this month. Tomorrow, the film's score, created by Andrew Bird, will be released. I'll try to wait to pass judgment on the score until I can hear it in the context of the film. Hopefully, it will be showing at my local theater!
Trailer

Björk - Biophilia

Björk is known for having a more...interesting...song-writing process, and a more interesting style of music than most of what's out there. She was inspired to create this album after hearing of the concept of 'musicophilia,' the mind's empathy for music. Biophilia is, therefore, the mind's empathy for nature. Each of the songs touch on some aspect of nature. The album's also been released as a series of apps. That may be the first thing I download to my new iPhone this weekend!
"Crystalline"

Paley & Francis - Paley & Francis

Black Francis (Frank Black) was the frontman for legendary alternative rock band Pixies. Reid Paley was frontman for the "blues rock band from hell" The Five. This isn't their first foray together, Francis produced Paley's debut solo album and Paley often supported Francis on tours. This is their first duo album, though. It should be a promising mix of great punk and alternative rock, through a fairly more mature set of eyes.
"Curse" (live)

James Blake - Enough Thunder EP

Blake is having a pretty decent year. His music is at an intersection of two of very popular styles of music; dubstep and folky, soulful, minimalist music. He released an incredible full-length earlier this year to much well-deserved hype. I had the chance to listen to the new EP yesterday and it is certainly a great (if not frustratingly short) followup. It includes one of the best collaborations I've ever heard, with Bon Iver.
"Fall Creek Boys Choir" (with Bon Iver)

Markéta Irglová - Anar

Irglová is one-half of The Swell Season, the Irish/Czech duo first brought to prominence by the movie Once, which I admittedly still need to see (probably before the upcoming documentary on the duo). This is her first solo effort, following two albums with The Swell Season and the Once soundtrack. It will be interesting to see how she fares on her own.
"Crossroads"

Radiohead - TKOL RMX 1234567

Radiohead's most recent album, The King of Limbs, can be considered fairly divisive among fans. Regardless of whether the album's your favorite, though, they are one of the few bands that manages to be original and surprising, even after considerable commercial success. This remix album has artists such as SBTRKT, Caribou and Jamie xx putting their own spins on the songs from the album. Remixes are always a mixed bag for me, some seem to enhance the original music, while others degrade it. Hopefully, the group of artists here have done right by Radiohead.
"Lotus Flower" (SBTRKT Remix)

Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire

Ryan Adams is a bit of an anomaly. He seems to be able to transition seamlessly between multiple genres of music. He's built his name on alt-country, but has several releases with a more traditional rock feel to them. Just last year, he released a heavy metal album, Orion, that somehow didn't seem out of place. Ashes & Fire sees him going back for more of the alt-country style he started with. Although he's made great music in several genres, this seems to be what fits him best.
"Chains of Love"

Tim Hecker - Dropped Pianos

The music on Dropped Pianos actually precedes Hecker's most recent album, Ravedeath, 1972. The recordings here were the "piano sketches" that went into the final product of that album. Being an early prototype of the music, it has been described as having a much different, darker mood. We don't often get to see the early work that goes into the final albums released by musicians (usually just in the form of demos that show up on b-sides releases), so it will be interesting to compare and contrast this to the final product of his earlier release.
"Sketch 5"

Yuck - Yuck (Deluxe Edition)

Yuck became the poster-children of the new wave of early-90s indie rock. They definitely seemed to have ushered in a new era, even seeming to preempt the re-emergence of many of the artists that they were influenced by. I kinda despise deluxe editions of albums, though. There's a lot of music that I love, but not much that I'm willing to buy twice. It is nice, however, to see bands get big enough to warrant a re-release of an album. If I'm able, I'll just try to get my hands on the extra songs this is being released with.
"Milkshake"

Congratulations Paul McCartney!

Sir Paul McCartney got married earlier today to Nancy Shevell, an American trucking heiress (who knew that existed?) This was his third marriage; his first, famously, was to Linda Eastman, who passed away in 1998. His second, infamously, was to Heather Mills, they divorced in 2008.

It's well-known that his first marriage was a mostly happy one, only ending when she lost her battle with cancer. His second marriage, unfortunately, didn't end well, so I hope that this one is a good one for him, he deserves it.

Both bride and groom wore creations by McCartney's fashion designer daughter, Stella.

Sydney Morning Herald

Goodbye Steve Jobs

On Wednesday, the world lost a true pioneer whose vision for technology, business and product design made huge rifts in several industries, including the music industry. My iPod(s) and the iTunes software have been almost constantly by my side for six years, I don't think I could live without them.

flickr.com - Chrystian Cruz

Goodbye Steve Jobs and thank you for making it easier to organize my obsession.

Space Oddity as a children's book

This is one of the coolest things that I've seen recently. Andrew Kolb, a graphic artist, used David Bowie's "Space Oddity" as the inspiration for a children's book. The book follows the path of the song. It was available as a free PDF, but I wish this was a physical release, I'd buy it in a second!

The original PDF was redacted after a rights complaint, but the author is supposedly working with a publishing company to get the rights to use the lyrics and publish the book!

Read the book here (the images are a bit small, but the entire book is there).

I'm guilty of this

Of course, my categories are a little different: the minimalist, almost ethereal sound of James Blake and the more traditional drum beats of Magnetic Man.

Yellow Ostrich's First Official Video!

The band Yellow Ostrich has been around for a little while and steadily gaining steam. They have a very unique sound and are one of the best examples of what musicians can do with unconventional techniques; definitely one of my favorite newer bands this year. Only recently, however, have they released their first official video for the song "WHALE."



Yay!

So Defensive...

This is a subject that creeps back up for me, usually around major awards' ceremonies, but it showed up again this past week. It concerns the level of defensiveness that some fans of more popular music artists seem to exhibit at any level of (mostly imagined) criticism of that artist. Don't get me wrong, I realize that not every Bieber fan freaks out when someone else wins the Grammy and not every Lady Gaga fan is sending death threats to Adele.

I do find it interesting, though, that I seem to see these reactions more around popular artists and more within the past couple of years (thank you, perceived Internet anonymity). Some cases:

• When Arcade Fire won Record of the Year at this year's Grammys over some more commercially successful artists, many fans couldn't comprehend how a band that they hadn't heard of could possibly be any good. I admit, this one's really mild, just pisses me off.
• At the same Grammys, Esperanza Spalding was awarded Best New Artist, which prompted some Justin Bieber fans to deem it appropriate to send her death threats via Twitter. 
• After the nominations for this year's VMAs were announced, it turned out Adele had amassed more nods than Lady Gaga. The Little Monsters (Gaga fans), thusly felt it appropriate to attack Adele via Twitter.
• Just this past week, Rihanna was filming a video on a farm in Ireland. True to Rihanna form, the shoot was fairly revealing, so the farmer that owned the land asked her to cover up. Reasonable request, it is his property and his prerogative to not see Ri-Ri breasts. Rihanna fans, however, were not too happy about it. The farmer has since been receiving hate mail from Rihanna fans.

So, news flash for fans of mainstream music (mainly those under the age of 15): not everyone is going to like the same music as you and not everyone is going to coddle those musicians. Learn to deal with it and accept that we all have different tastes.

When the band that wins is one you're unfamiliar with, don't take it as a threat to the band that didn't win, take it as an opportunity to discover some new music.

Finally, realize that nothing on the Internet is truly anonymous and you may come to regret what you wrote about Esperanza Spalding once you realize you no longer enjoy the Biebs (it happened with me and NSync, it will happen to you, too)!

New Music Tuesday - October 4, 2011

Damon Albarn - Kinshasa One Two

Albarn is one of those incredibly prolific musicians who's touched just about every genre. He's done everything from Britpop to electro-tinged hip hop. This time, he traveled to Africa (Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo to be specific) to record, with Tout Puissant Mukalo, an album that heavily incorporates the music of that country.
"Hallo"

Feist - Metals

Oh, Leslie, it's been too long. Four years since The Reminder and the relatively "breakout" song "1234." Feist makes music that's fun to listen to, but that doesn't seem to lose its interest after just a few months. It's great to see her back and true to form. This is one of those squeal-worthy releases. Sqqqquuuuuueeeaallll!!
"How Come You Never Go There"

MGMT - Late Night Tales

This isn't a release of new material from the band. Late Night Tales is a series of releases that allow an artist or musician to showcase the music that has influenced them or that they love. They're always an interesting look into what's inspired an artist, and usually include some big surprises. Looking at their tracklist, it appears that MGMT has been inspired by post punk, electronic and indie rock...who knew? (sarcasm intended)
"All We Ever Wanted Was Everything" (Bauhaus cover)

Loney, Dear - Hall Music

Loney, Dear doesn't make the most exciting music, but his has always been a good listen for a lazy day. He makes good, simple pop music, which I guess is a requirement for the Swedish these days.
"Young Hearts"

Prince Rama - Trust Now

An ex got me into Prince Rama, I guess it's a wonder that I still listen to them, but I found their music to be quite intriguing. Yes, the music is kinda weird. There are psychedelic elements, but there seems to be chant-y, almost prayerful, elements. And, as their name somewhat implies, there's an element of Indian music. They're not easy to get into, but definitely make for an interesting listen.
"Portaling"

Various Artists -The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams

When Hank Williams died in 1953, he left with a trove of unfinished songs to his name. For this release, a number of current artists recorded some of the "lost" songs he left behind. The artists compiled to finish Williams' lost work include Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Jack White and Sheryl Crow, among several others. Today, it's better to think of this homage to a great artist than the hate spewed by his own son earlier.
"How Many Times Have You Broke My Heart" (Norah Jones)

Cut Copy - "Blink and You'll Miss a Revolution"

We all knew this day was coming. Our primitive relatives, lacking the natural ability to make amazing music, will steal our bodyparts in order to do so...



Damn dirty apes...