It’s that kind of day and trying to jump back into the swing of things so quickly after vacation is hard work.

I might be alone in saying this, but Eric Johnson and the rest of The Fruit Bats have crafted one of the best albums of 2009.  They also performed the song for Craig Ferguson (quickly becoming the best late night host) last Friday and somehow I missed it.

Also: West Coast Tour in January! Dates here: www.fruitbatsmusic.com . Presale here: https://tix.concertmaps.com The band expects Seattle and Portland to be sellouts, so if you live there, ahem, it’s best to get tickets sooner rather than later.

It was a shame that Elizabeth Powell and Co.’s debut LP, Some Are Lakes came out in the cold days of November in 2008.  At that point, most of the music world has turned their attention to year end lists and weren’t so concerned with discussing new, mostly great, releases.  A shame that this album was one of the one’s ignored by the music cognoscenti.

Regardless, their new video, directed by creative Canadian duo WeWereMonkeys, is an excellent excuse to remind PDXers that Land of Talk is playing the Doug Fir on November 4th.  A show not to be missed!

As a bonus, you can hear a much earlier, though far inferior, version of “It’s Okay,” when Elizabeth Powell recorded under the moniker ele_K*.  There’s also a great back story worth reading.  [via]

Fantastic song from their new album Intuit. The video, directed by Stefan Nadelman, is even better.

Ramona Falls is the solo work of Brent Knopf, one third of Menomena; Nadelman previously worked with Knopf on the similarly dark and fantastic video for ‘Evil Bee’ (from Menomena’s Friend or Foe album) which you can see here.

Mp3: Ramona Falls – “I Say Fever”

[via]

Good lord! Another single, another great song that raises the bar yet again off their upcoming third album Romance is Boring. One would think at some point the band has to slow down, but as long as the quality stays as high as it has, then I’ve got no complaints.  The new LP will be released in February of 2010 (via Arts & Crafts).  Highly anticipated, since the Cardiff, Wales outfit seems to do no wrong.

First single off of their new LP Sainthood, and it’s not entirely different from their effort on The Con. That’s a good thing.  The new record is out now and after streaming it for a few days, I’ve got to say, it’s entirely worth picking up.  [via]

Speaking of Spike Jonze, his short film collaboration with Kanye West leaked over the weekend.  It debuted in June at the Los Angeles Film Festival and is sort of a long-form music video for the Kanye track, “See You in My Nightmares.” If you need incentive (or the opposite) to watch the movie in it’s entirety, here’s The Daily Swarm after it premiered:

In the film, Kanye plays himself drunk at a club acting belligerent and boastful, telling starstruck club-goers that the song playing in the club is his. He wanders into a side room where he encounters a beautiful woman. They start having sex and then he passes out on her leopard print dress. When he comes to, he finds himself in the VIP room with his pants down – he was hallucinating and fucking the pillow. The realization startles him and he rushes to the bathroom where he vomits what look like rose petals.

Then it gets weird.

[via]

Frightened Rabbit has become one of those bands that I’ve just listened to over and over and over and over again and just try to get sick of but can’t.  Their songs are full of great hooks and melodies, but it’s always the clever first lines of their songs that get under my skin.  Here, “Swim Until You Can’t See the Land” is an understated effort for the Scottish trio, but all of the hallmarks of a great Frightened Rabbit song are present.

The new video for the Cardiff, Wales outfit, is also the first single off their new album coming in early 2010 (wait, what? already?!?).  The track is both a caper scheme and a love story, and contains all the charm you’d want out of a Campesinos song — it’s catchy, sing-alongy, and high octane. The video premiered on Pitchfork last week, and can be seen here.

These guys are probably one of my favorite bands from Portland and their new album, Salvation is a Deep Dark Well, only solidified that feeling.  I think they really managed to capture the infectious energy of their live show.  They put so much energy into their performances that it’s akin to a giant tidal wave of euphoria.  “Golden and Green” is the opening track from their new album. 

It’s not the best song, by a long shot, but it gives you a great idea of their sound — a curious amalgamation of bluegrass, the dark Southern Gothic literary tradition, a dash of raucous irish folk, all performed with a punk rock abandon.

According to Rolling Stone, the multitracked harmonies in the cover song aren’t multitracked harmonies at all. Thom sang the song with his brother, Unbelievable Truth singer Andy Yorke. It’s the first time those two have ever appeared on a song together.

The song is part of the benefit album for Mark Mulcahy.  Ciao My Shining Star drops September 29 on Shout! Factory. The single “All For the Best” is out now s a super-limited 7″ single on Mulcahy’s own Mezzotint label.

Let’s start the day off right, shall we?  Red Fang are from around these parts and it’s always nice to listen to a band that’s not afraid to put some oomph into their rock.  I haven’t had much exposure to them, but a friend of a friend passed along this video and I nearly lost it.

Pitchfork.tv just posted this new video for St. Vincent’s standout track “Marrow.”  This is Annie Clark at her finest.

“By the middle of the decade, outlets for videos dried up, and budgets for them shrunk, only for the art to be revitalized by the Internet, the art of the viral video, the fanmade video, and the ubiquity of YouTube. We at Pitchfork even carved out our own place to host and display high-quality videos, Pitchfork.tv,” they write.  And it’s true!  I’ve always admired the music videos’s cockroach-like approach to life.  How it’s managed to stay a viable art form is beyond me.

Very solid choices all around.  Hard to argue with their top choice.  It even kicked off a decade’s obsession with all things Lego. More enjoyable than the video is listening to Michel Gondry talk about the process of creating this treat.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Honestly, these guys are my favorite new band this year.  Maybe it’s because they sound so familiar, like a warm Talking Heads/Arcade Fire/Sigur Ros blanket, or maybe it’s just because their album is enjoyably uplifting.

“Fugitive” works as a reminder of how likable David Gray is.  The mid-tempo tune has some nice guitar work in the middle portion of the song and Gray’s vocals go down like warm gravy.

The new album Draw the Line is out September 22 on Downtown Records; he’ll perform “Fugitive” for David Letterman on September 25.  His tour begins in Boston on October 23.

Luckily, Tracy was cool enough to catch his secret show here in Portland and couldn’t say enough good things about his performance.

TOUR
October 23, 2009      The Wang Theatre       Boston, MA
October 24, 2009     WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden     New York, NY
October 26, 2009     Massey Hall     Toronto, ON
October 27, 2009     Tower Theatre     Upper Darby, PA
October 29, 2009     Chicago Auditorium Theatre     Chicago, IL
October 30, 2009     Orpheum Theatre     Minneapolis, MN
November 01, 2009     Paramount Theatre     Denver, CO
November 02, 2009     Kingsbury Hall     Salt Lake City, UT
November 04, 2009     Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall     Portland, OR
November 08, 2009     Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium     San Francisco, CA
November 09, 2009     Orpheum Theatre     Los Angeles, CA

The first single off the new Clipse record is bangin’.  The duo’s 3rd studio LP, Till the Casket Drops hits streets on October 20.

This is one of two music videos Heath Ledger had been working on prior to his death.

From the press release: “The video was fully conceived down to the last detail but unfinished when Heath passed away in January of 2008. In the interest of fully realizing Heath’s final work as a visual artist, THE MASSES (a film and music company which Heath was a partner in) finished the video in his honor, with the support and advocacy of Isaac Brock.”

According to Peter at Slashfilm, “When the news first came out, Terry Gilliam was reported to be the animator, which turned out to be false. But you can see some very evident Gilliam influence in the clip regardless — those trumpets emerging from clouds are just one little touch of Gilliam’s very recognizable style.”

The idea behind the video is to bring awareness to illegal whale hunting.  The animated video does just that, in a horrifying manner.  Still, great Modest Mouse tune, with a great video to match.

No one’s gonna argue that U2’s latest album was a disappointment both commercially and artistically.  It was released into the wild and landed on the doorstop with the dull thud of a UPS package.  People justifiedly treated it indifferently as well. 

Even schilling for Blackberry can’t help the Irish lads.  Still, this song and video were one of the album’s bright spots.  Relatively, speaking of course.  It’s a not bad song with clunky/awkward lyrics.  So there ya go.

Kid Cudi teams up with Ye and Common to drop this track, with a sample from Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face” and what sounds like classic Ye beats. Can’t stop listening. [via]

I’ve been digging the hell out of BMSR lately.  They’ve got a summery, psychedelic vibe going.  It’s a bit trippy, but when the windows are down and the sun is out shining, those distorted vocals and heavy hitting drums connect on all the right spots.  The video itself feels like one of those old family home movies from the 70’s that turns decidedly dark (but still funny).

According to Stereogum the video (which looks shot somewhere on the west coast but specifically the Oregon coast and more likely Northern California) was directed Matthew Lessner.  The video, much like the song, has recognizable features to it but it’s strange and weird just the same.  It showcases the synchronized dancing (single ladies dance from Beyonce?) of the Dirty Projector ladies in light blue jumpsuits and Dave Longstreth is some sort of llama herder.

This is the third single off Lily Allen’s sophomore effort.  It’s not exactly radio-friendly with the chorus and all, but it’s certainly the most hummable and infectious song on It’s Not Me, It’s You.

Admittedly, I haven’t listened to this album as much as I thought I would, but it’s still an enjoyable spin.  I wonder if it came out in the springtime, if it would have had more buzz surrounding it.  The problem with Lily Allen is trying to separate her obnoxious celebrity life with her very, very good musical life.

It’s all apart of my quest to help these guys become the biggest band in the world. Mwaahahah. No, but seriously, The White Rabbits have it going on. Some people reduce them to being Cold War Kids-esque and well, fine, okay. But it’s like comparing Mean GirlsLindsay Lohan to whatever she’s doing today. See where I’m going with this?

It’s Frightening is out now on TBD Records.

The jam of 2008 and still kinda rad in 2009 finally gets an official video. The scary clip is directed by Ray Tintori and the animation at the end was directed by Superjail co-creator Christy Karacas. It’s sorta three videos in one. Also, I think the quote the drop in the beginning is Nietzsche and not Mark Twain. Anyone? [via Stereogum]

Best new artist this year; most exciting band to come down the pipes in a few.  Check out Catbirdseat for more deets on getting your hands on their excellent record Hastings Sunrise.

It’s a beautiful day out and I’ve decided to enjoy my vacation back in Boston by hitting some golf balls; plus I’m a little wrecked from the amazing Viva Voce show last night.  They tore up Great Scott’s and represented Portland well.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s an amazing Yahoo! video shoot of Patrick Watson performing in a pinata shop in LA. One of the songs even features his new megaphone suit that I was trying to tell you about the other day when he played in Portland.

“We wanted to create folk science fiction music, like in The Twilight Zone, where there’s a normal situation with a twist,” Watson recently explained to Yahoo!. “There should be an innocence to it, a sense of a humble, grounded story with a subtle twist.”

And that’s pretty much the best description of his ethereal psych-folk-pop that I would be able to come up with.  Of course, I didn’t come up with it, he did.  But the quote perfectly encapsulates how his music is at once familiar and nothing like you’ve heard.

Here he is with his bandmates performing “Big Bird Small Cage.” It’s one of the standout tracks from the new album.

After watching them perform in the pinata shop, I hope Vincent Moon gets them to do a Blogoteque takeaway show sometime in the near future.

Patrick Watson – “Fireweed”

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart is out now via Slumberland. It’s one of a few albums that have been on heavy rotation this entire year.  And if you twisted my arm, I would say that this, along with Apollo Ghosts’ album are the two best albums of the year so far.

The band is on the road again and this time they’ll be making their way to Portland, when they play Backspace on July 23.

04/28 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace %
04/29 – Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room At Crofoot %
04/30 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern %
05/01 – Columbus, OH @ The Summit %
05/02 – Nashville, TN @ The End %
05/03 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl %
05/04 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 %
05/05 – Baltimore, MD @ Talking Head Club %
05/06 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Barbary (Early Show) %
05/07 – Lemooyne, PA @ Champion Ship
05/12 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom %
06/18 – New York, NY @ Cake Shop #
07/10 – New York, NY @ South Street Seaport % (FREE)
07/18 – Chicago IL @ Pitchfork Fest
07/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
07/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Rickshaw Stop *
07/23 – Portland, OR @ Backspace *
07/24 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret *
07/25 – Seattle, WA @ Capital Hill Block Party

% w/ Zaza
# w/ Crystal Stilts
* w/ Girls

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the other thing.  If a Fraggle Rock movie ever gets made, these guys have to do the opening theme song.

I realized how much I was going through Starfucker withdrawal.  They’ve been busy prepping their second album (and touring the country), which I’m upset Indy Week didn’t ask Josh about during their recent interview, and have been laying low on concerts around town.  Still, when you’ve seen a band like four or five times over the course of the year and they were one of your breakout acts in 2008, it can get lonely without them.

The followup record is an EP or mini LP named Jupiter, which is set to first be available on the Badman Recording site, and general retail on May 5.  It’s only about 25-minutes and 10 songs of the band’s favorite live tunes, set to acetate.  Do bands still record on acetate?  No, no they do not.

Starfucker – “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper cover)”

M. Ward’s latest album Hold Time has been slowly growing on me as I let the songs slip over me.  It’s going to be a perfect summer backporch kind of affair – a little more subdued than his previous efforts.

And due to his cover of “Rave On” I’ve spent the past month or so digging back into my Buddy Holly albums and rekindled that love affair.  So, regardless there’s that. It took no time at all to realize I much prefer the Buddy Holly version of this song.  M. Ward’s feels too syrupy, too low key.  With Holly you get a coiled beast bursting at the seams – full of youthful energy and emotional confusion.

M. Ward (feat. Zooey Deschanel) – “Rave On”

Buddy Holly and The Crickets – “Rave On”

I’ve had this song from Thao Nguyen with The Get Down Stay Down stuck in my head for several days.  I could only remember a few lines of the chorus (mostly the shake it up part) and the melody.  I was googling and everything.  Finally, in a quiet moment when I wasn’t thinking of the song it came to me the last time I heard the song and it clicked which song it was.

I hate when this happens.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also: Dark Was The Night is the standout compilation for what seems to be the year of the compilation.

These guys have easily put out one of the finest records in 2009. It’s been on constant rotation since February and I can’t imagine it leaving anytime soon.

They’ll also make their first TV appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly (he still has a show? How is that possible?) on Weds. April 1st – that same night they will also play their first show in Los Angeles at Spaceland. So if you’re in LA make it a point to get out and catch them.

woxy.com just posted the session they recorded with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at SXSW 2009 — including new song “103″ — for free download here.

Metric’s Fantasies is out 4/14 via Arts & Crafts in Mexico, Last Gang in Canada, and by Metric themselves in the States. You can get more info about pre-orders and the various bundles at the band’s website.

If a person could marry the sound of another’s voice, I would offer to spend an eternity with Neko Case’s vocal chords.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“I have been an admirer of the beautiful art of Walter Robot from afar for a while,” confessed Death Cab for Cutie bassist Nick Harmer in a press release about the video, which premiered Monday. “Working with them on this video is an amazing dream come true and I am in awe of the stunning video they have made for us.”

This is one of the better videos I’ve seen in quite sometime.  The melding of visuals and music is so spot on, it makes you remember why music videos could be so powerful in the first place.

The debut music video from Company of Thieves, is inspired by Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. The video for the song “Oscar Wilde” was filmed at Sycamore Elementary School in Kokomo, Indiana, over the course of just one day in December 2008. It includes over 60 props which were mostly bought from flea markets and vintage stores.  If you like the song, it’s available for free download.