Lots of music videos popping up lately — too many to keep up with as a matter of fact. Conveniently, most of these come courtesy of Pitchfork, among other places. I guess you could call this a lazy attempt at a blog post, but it’s better than nothing.

The videos can be viewed after the cut, and include new stuff from Jonsi, St. Vincent, Spoon, Toro Y Moi and Massive Attack.

Jonsi :: “Go Do”

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Tags: Jónsi, Massive Attack, Spoon, St. Vincent, Toro Y Moi

Saw this trailer over the weekend and was genuinely surprised to find out that this documentary about the very private songwriter — or most dubiously known as “the most miserable man in rock” — has been in the works for nearly ten years.  Directed by Kerthy Fix and Gail O’Hara, the film seems to primarily focus on the period of Merritt’s time between the releases of 69 Love Songs (1999) and Distortion (2008).

From the many horror stories I’ve heard/read in regards to most interviews with The Magnetic Fields frontman — mostly due in part to his very oft-putting, dry sense of humor and the fact that most of the time he seems to generally not care at all — it’s particularly interesting to have the chance to see a more genuine and open side of the very odd songwriter.

All things considered, it seems to be a big year for Merritt, as The Magnetic Fields are currently touring in support of their recently released 9th studio album titled Realism, along with the announcement of a limited-edition vinyl boxset of 69 Love Songs. Check out the trailer below along with a random assortment of Magnetic Fields covers.

MP3: The Antlers :: “Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing (Magnetic Fields cover)”
MP3: The Arcade Fire :: “Born On A Train (Magnetic Fields cover)”
MP3: The Divine Comedy :: “Famous (Magnetic Fields cover)”
MP3: The Lucksmiths :: “Deep Sea Diving Suit (Magnetic Fields cover)”
MP3: The Shins :: “Strange Powers (Magnetic Fields cover)”
MP3: Woodpigeon :: “Asleep and Dreaming (Magnetic Fields cover)”

Tags: Stephin Merritt, The Magnetic Fields

Before even listening to this quartet from Minneapolis, I had only known One For The Team solely because of its frontman Ian Anderson, who’s blog (MFR – Minneapolis F*cking Rocks) I happen to visit quite frequently for over a year now. Besides running his successful blog, Anderson also wears many different hats, among them being running his own label at Afternoon Records and author of the book “Here Come The Regulars” which discusses the ins and outs of running a record label on a shoestring budget.

Back to the band, who released an EP titled Build A Garden in April of last year, are set to release their new full-length titled Ghosts next month on March 16th. Listening to a few tracks last night, the band showcases their infectious brand of powerpop, the likes of which I’ve been sort of craving as of late.  One interesting little tidbit is that the album was recorded in San Francisco at John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone Studios.

Check out the tracks for yourself below, along with tour dates here. Though, the dates revolve more around the east coast, maybe the band will find their way over near us sometime in the near future.

MP3: One For The Team :: “Every Little Thing”
MP3: One For The Team :: “Best Supporting Actress”

Tags: One for the Team

One of my favorite discoveries of 2008 came in the form of this bright, soulful teenager from Hampshire, England.  Laura Marling made her mark that year by releasing her excellent debut at the young of 18, Alas, I Cannot Swim, amongst a couple of notable appearances on tracks from Noah and the Whale (“Five Years Time”) and Mystery Jets (“Young Love”) — the now 20-year-old singer-songwriter is set to release not one, but two new albums in 2010. The first of which titled I Speak Because I Can, is due out on March 22nd (UK/Europe) / April 6th (US), with the second album tentatively scheduled to be released sometime in September.

A video for the single “Devil’s Spoke” has been made available from the new record, which Marling explains is “more band-based and more raw” and focuses on themes of “responsibility, particularly the responsibility of womanhood”.

Even better news is amidst a forthcoming UK/US tour is a date here in SLC on May 26th at Kilby Court. While not confirmed on her website, one could assume it’s legit since it’s on the venue’s site.

MP3: Laura Marling :: “Ghosts”
Video: “Night Terror”
Video: “New Romantic”
Video: “Ghosts”
Video: “My Manic & I”
Video: “Cross Your Fingers”

Tags: Laura Marling

Since the announcement of Have One on Me, Joanna Newsom’s follow-up to 2006’s flawless album Ys, Drag City has made available a few streams via their website.  The first of which, “‘81″ resulted in the site being completely overloaded, with the second track titled “Good Intentions Paving Company” was made available earlier today.

While I miss the quality string section that was prominent on Ys, the jazz leanings of this newest stream along with the general sparseness and stripped down sound of “‘81″ puts the focus squarely on Newsom’s vocals, her ability of which seems to have vastly improved by leaps and bounds. It feels more mature and focused — makes me kind of curious how someone listening to her now for the first time would think compared to her earlier work.

I’m sure we’ll hear more as the February 23rd release date quickly approaches, but considering it’s going to be a a triple album (3x-CD/LP), this already appears to be epic. Though, I do worry about how much filler this could contain, unless it’s just jam-packed with 7-minute tracks of awesome.  Will it be able to stand proudly against another triple album like 69 Love Songs?  We’ll find out soon enough!

Streams:
Joanna Newsom :: “‘81″ [alt. link]
Joanna Newsom :: “Good Intentions Paving Company” [alt. link]

Tags: Drag City, Joanna Newsom

“I got excited by the idea of making dance music that’s liquid in the way it flows back and forth, the sounds slosh around in pitch, timbre, pan… Dance music that sounds like it’s made out of water, rather than made out of metallic stuff like most dance music does.”

I think it’s important to read that statement from Dan Snaith before diving into this new track “Odessa” from the newly announced album Swim.  Snaith’s psych-pop project Caribou has primarily been known to lean towards the psychadelic (beautifully crafted, I might add), at least since I started listening with 2007’s Andorra — a fine album, as evident with it winning 2008’s Polaris Music Prize.

The one thing I’ve noticed while playing this track at work, is just how instantly replayable it is.  It’s definitely a dance track from the start, and forgoes any of the current fad of going lo-fi.  The sounds feel completely organic, while the production is of surperb quality.  Not sure who is doing duties on vocals, but upon my initial listen I was convinced it was Erlend Øye of Kings of Convenience/The Whitest Boy Alive. Hell, upon second glance one could even mistake this track as a Junior Boys-produced KoC track.

What do you folks think?  Swim is expected to be released on…ahem…4/20 here in the US on Merge.

MP3: Caribou :: “Odessa”

Tags: Caribou, Merge

Kicking off this week’s new album releases on Groundhog’s Day, we have Toro Y Moi’s Causers of This, which is a very worthy debut amongst the ever-growing amount of bands coming down the pipe of similar ilk.

Also garnering a lot of buzz is Midlake’s The Courage of Others, the follow-up to to 2006’s The Trials of Van Occupanther. I’ve yet to hear this one myself, but I did enjoy their previous album to some extent, so I’m definitely looking forward to checking it out soon.

The Soft Pack (formerly The Muslims) and The Album Leaf round out the rest of the recommended releases, with the surprise of the week coming in the form of The Brunettes and their latest titled Paper Dolls.  I only say this because I had no idea they were even working on a new record, let alone having it come out this week.  If you enjoy listening to some very sweet, sweet pop songs, than I’m sure you’ll find some enjoyment out of it.

Looking at these releases, you pretty much have a nice sampling of a wide arrange of different genres of music.  From post-rock to indiepop, it’s all here to be discovered.

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Tags: Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba, King of Prussia, Midlake, Mount Eerie, Salvador Santana, The Album Leaf, The Brunettes, The Heligoats, The Soft Pack, The Weekly Graboid, Toro Y Moi, U.S. Girls

Lali Puna is a band that had seemingly disappeared over the last couple of years (six years to be exact) since the release of Faking the Books back in 2004.  It’s puzzling to be honest, as I quite liked that album and fondly remember purchasing it along with Of Montreal’s Satanic Panic in the Attic when visiting a friend in Berkeley during the summer of that year.  It was a time when I was more adventurous when it came to buying music, and picked it up solely based on Markus Acher’s (of The Notwist) involvement.

With the announcement of Our Inventions (which will also feature The Notwist frontman once again), comes this lovely track called “Remember” which plays like a breezy haze of electro-bliss as Valerie Trebeljahr’s soft-spoken vocals asks “Will you remember me?”

Ah, they really don’t make them like this anymore, do they?  You can expect the forthcoming album to hit on April 6th via Morr.

MP3: Lali Puna :: “Remember”
MP3: Lali Puna :: “Faking the Books” from Faking the Books (2004)

Tags: Lali Puna

It only took a little more than a year and a half, but it’s with a sigh of relief to report that The Radio Dept.’s oft-delayed third record Clinging To A Scheme will finally see the light of day on March April 20th in North America (frustrating!) and the 21st in Europe.  The CD/LP will be available via Labrador.  Now that we actually have album art and a tracklist to gloss over, it’s actually starting to sink in and feel more official that this is finally happening.

To add to the great news, a stream (MP3 available below) of the track “Heaven’s On Fire” was made available through the band’s official site, which joins “David” – the single from the previously released 4-track EP in June of last year – as the first songs that we’ve been able to hear so far.

What else needs to be said?  I’ve already on record as saying that this is my most anticipated album of 2010, and while I’ve anxious/nervous to hear the final product, I’m confident that when April comes around that we’ll be back here singing its praises in unison.

MP3: The Radio Dept. :: “Heaven’s On Fire”
MP3: The Radio Dept. :: “David”

Tags: Labrador, The Radio Dept.

Sorry for not having the Graboid up last week, but I’ve included those releases (Spoon, Surfer Blood, Editors) in with the already incredibly amount of great releases that are available this week. So much good amazing stuff to choose from, that one would be hard-pressed to decide where to spend their hard-earned cash.

Two albums that I’m extremely excited about and will surely be picking up at some point this week are Beach House’s awe-inspiring third album Teen Dream and The Magnetic Fields’ Realism.  I haven’t had a chance to listen to all of Realism yet (which many have dubbed the yin to Distortion’s (2008) yang, but Teen Dream is so good it hurts.  Early candidate for album of the year?  Too early for that kind of talk, but it is sure to be in the discussion when that time comes.  It is definitely that good, people.

Also worth mentioning are a number of great releases, too numerous to single out any one in particular, from the likes of Basia Bulat, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Boy Genius, and Four Tet.

As always, feel free to recommend anything I may have missed.  What releases are you most excited about?

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Tags: Aziz Ansari, Barton Carroll, Basia Bulat, Beach House, Boy Genius, Cars & Trains, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Citay, Dinowalrus, Editors, EELS, Four Tet, Fucked Up, Gigi, Home, Los Campesinos!, Major Stars, Oh No Ono, Pit Er Pat, Retribution Gospel Choir, Robert A.A. Lowe & Rose Lazar, Slow Six, Spoon, Surfer Blood, The Happy Hollows, The Magnetic Fields, The Weekly Graboid