moment2moment: Nat Baldwin's "Let My Spirit Rise"

Roll your eyes and say, "white boys be tryin' to be spiritual again," but if James Blake can do it, Nat Baldwin, bass player for the Dirty Projectors, certainly earns his marks on People Changes, especially the closing track, "Let My Spirit Rise."

Baldwin lays it all bare, falsetto and quivering upright bass, the bones. Like waves, the bass froths and rumbles hinting at a vast ocean underneath our toes. A man begs for salvation on horizon-less seas, begs that one day he will be forgiven. Violins gently glide in, a guiding light in the dark. Playfully we've explored our hearts and by the end, maybe we can transcend this mortal coil.

Listen:
"Nat Baldwin-"Let My Spirit Rise"

Look:
Nat Baldwin on Western Vinyl

soundslikeavisual: How To Dress Well's "Suicide Dream 3"

Yourstru.ly Presents: How To Dress Well "Suicide Dream 3" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

The folks over at Yours Truly have just posted this glorious session with Lo-Fi R&B superstar Tom Krell of How To Dress Well. Last year's wonderfully moving Love Remains is a broken and clattering snapshot of loss reverberating out of a canyon, but the upcoming EP, Just Once, finds Krell exploring orchestral arrangements and stunningly clear vocals. Witness "Suicide Dream 3" above.

Listen:
How To Dress Well-"Suicide Dream 3 (Orchestral Version)"

Look:
Pre-order Just Once over at Love Letters Ink

albumreview: Cults' Cults (2011)

Cults are too surreal of a girl-group homage to belong in this universe. They're probably the number one band in a David Lynch film or the some gargantuan pop duo who rose to fame if The Beatles had never existed.

Shrouded in a certain level of anonymity, they forgo the White Stripes theatrics and give us a genuinely wonderful self-titled debut, Cults, that is engaging, moving and catchy as all hell on Sunday (or any day).

Buzzing internet singles "Go Outside," "Abducted," and the monstrous, "You Know What I Mean," could come off as mere lo-fi reflections of Phil Spector's pop glory, but instead Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion inject a bit of eeriness and instability to the mix, keeping us on our toes.

Whether it's the Jim Jones samples, warbling synths below the standard guitar, bass and drums or Follin's Lolita-esque vocal stylings, something just isn't quite right. The sugary pop hooks belie the insidious underbelly of love and devotion. Cults hit the ground-running with Cults, but it remains to be seen if everyone joins the congregation. Heaven's Gate is waiting and we're all invited.

Listen:
Cults-"Go Outside"
Cults-"Oh My God"


Look:
Cults official site

playingwithtoys: Everything Could Be Fine cassette

Records are for posers, reel-to-reel is for the real deal, eight-track is for the freaks and cassettes are for? Sometimes music just sounds great on that jittery medium. I used to make mixes off of KROQ back in the day on my Sony Walkman and go ride my bike around the neighborhoods of Orange County singing my head off.

Nowadays I mostly wear out an already worn copy of Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut and a few Blanket Truth albums on tape. However, I immediately snatched up Sun Glitters' electro-storm of a debut Everything Could Be Fine on the late 80s kid analog. BUT unfortunately a little gaff at the factory delayed the delivery by more than a month!

The label head of We Get By and Sun Glitters' own Victor Ferreira were kind enough to quell my queries and insure they didn't just, "take the money and run." I happily received it a few days ago and am eager to experience Everything Could Be Fine in a whole new way.

Listen:
Sun Glitters-"Too Much To Lose"

Look:
original 8.Bit Samba review
Sun Glitters on bandcamp

Show Reports: Allo Darlin' Cancelled!

Say it ain't so! Nearly a week before London's favorite local band were to grace Los Angeles, I got wind that something had gone terribly awry. Ticketweb refunded me the cost of the ticket and scoping out their facebook page confirmed the sad news.

Alas visa issues are a constant problem for smaller bands looking to break any shore. One would assume Radiohead has no problems crossing ponds, but the government is stingy on both ends and full of bureaucratic bullshit.

I know Elizabeth was looking forward to making it back out to Cali and with the cancelation of the entire West Coast and South West I can only shake my fist bitterly at the East Coast. The band says they are trying to reschedule and I hope all goes well because they deserve all the success they can get. When they make it back to California everyone will be better for it.

Updated tour schedule:

24 May Vera Project Seattle, WA - (CANCELLED, to be rescheduled)
25 May Holocene Portland, OR - (CANCELLED, to be rescheduled)
27 May SF Popfest at Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, CA - (CANCELLED, to be rescheduled)
28 May Echo Los Angeles, CA - (CANCELLED, to be rescheduled)
30 May Casbah San Diego, CA - (CANCELLED, to be rescheduled)
31 May Rhythm Room Phoenix, AZ - (CANCELLED, to be rescheduled)
01 June Centre for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, NM - (CANCELLED, to be rescheduled)
03 June Chaos in Tejas Austin, TX - (CANCELLED, to be rescheduled)
08 June Mercury Lounge New York, NY
09 June TT The Bears Boston, MA
10 June Il Motore Montreal, QC
11 June El Mocambo Toronto, ON
13 June Schubas Chicago, IL
14 June The Bishop Bloomington, IN
16 June Black Cat Washington, DC
17 June Kung Fu Necktie Philadelphia, PA
18 June Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
19 June Brighton Bar, Long Branch NJ

Listen:
Allo Darlin'-"My Heart Is A Drummer"

Look:
Allo Darlin's official site

MNDR @ The Echoplex 05.17.11

Couch surfing as I may, I need to see LA and all its splendor (or squalor) whenever I get the opportunity. So after day two of my new job I called up a hip friend in the music biz (as they say) to see what was going on that evening. Turns out a huge dance night at The Echoplex (below The Echo) was going down. How could I say no?

Unplanned and underprepared, we arrived just in time for MNDR. Easily mistaken for my local librarian or a devious cat lady, Amanda Warner, is an electro-pop singer with better chops and less bullshit than some of her more Target-brand peers.

My friends' raved about her pre-show, and like Candian glitter-pop boy Diamond Rings, Warner engaged the entire crowd throughout. It was clear there were some devout followers in attendance that night. And all I can declare is that Warner knows what she's doing and next time she performs locally, you can sign me up, I am now part of the MNDR converted.

Listen:
MNDR-"Cut Me Out"

Look:
official site of MNDR

albumreview: Bon Iver's Bon Iver (2011)

Justin Vernon has learned a thing or two since hanging out with Kanye West and other hip hop superstars. This is 2011, and one cannot just fingerpick woefully alone in the forest anymore. Bon Iver is groovy record. Not to say you couldn't see this coming.

"Holocene," "Michicant," "Calgary," hell, nearly the entire record sounds like For Emma, but with a bigger budget and silkier production. "Towers" uses a swelling undercurrent of horns to represent the bubbling and complicated love of the song's protagonist. "Minnesota, WI" has Vernon getting his sexy Chris Martin swagger on with banjos and slide guitar aplenty. "Holocene," flows with a sensitive lilt before bouncing to life with a stomp and handclaps. Perfect motivation to make it to the top of the mountain.

I have a feeling some folks won't like this follow-up much. It's difficult to pin down, the hooks never simple. Epic 80s closer, "Beth/Rest," features those yamaha electric keyboards stolen straight from a Peter Cetera record or Jackson Browne's Running On Empty. Vernon particularly enjoyed wanking on the cheesy guitar solo that begs us to dig out our lighters and raise 'em high. It's most definitely a power ballad, but feels oddly appropriate at the end of a deeply exploratory journey.

Like Helplessness Blues, Bon Iver is not a picturesque folk record with bohemian nostalgia or dusty longings for the "good old days." Despite the cleansing feeling I get when listening to it, I'm still not sure what to make of it. Vernon and company threw down another gauntlet for us musicians, bloggers and listeners. Are we prepared to step up to the challenge?

Listen:
Bon Iver-"Calgary"

Look:
Bon Iver's official site