When I first heard Summer Camp’s “Ghost Train” via GvB last year, I couldn’t help but love this infectious track — coming off as innocent as can be, with that dreamy chorus that was stuck in my head for weeks. The only problem was I knew absolutely nothing about them, as they followed that awful trend of being one of those mysterious bands that no one knew absolutely nothing about. It’s something I hope is not followed in 2010, because it quickly killed any interest I had in them…well, at least until I saw this video over the weekend.
The video that was released, according to Stereogum, borrows scenes from the 1969 X-rated film Last Summer. There also seems to finally be some information in regards to the band, which is the creation of a London-based duo Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey. There also seems to be a 7″ in the works via Moshi Moshi that is currently available for pre-order. That seems to be about it, but I honestly don’t feel like digging anything else about them. Though, you can read all of that bloated NME hype from last year if you wish!
Before watching this video, The Morning Benders were absolutely nowhere near my radar. It’s a testament to how downright gorgeous this song is, because now I find myself digging through emails to see if there’s a promo of their upcoming album, Big Echo. Thankfully, I was able to find it and now I can’t wait to sit down and listen to it.
From what I’ve been able to round up with a quick glance, the band is a four-piece originally from San Francisco, who’ve recently relocated to NYC. In this Yours Truly video session, the band gathered the ‘Big Echo Orchestra’ which consists of a bunch of friends, including a couple of notable Bay Area faces — Christopher Owens of Girls and John Vanderslice.
I’m not sure if the mini-orchestra features in the studio track, but it definitely elevates the song in the video recording to fantastic levels. It almost guarantees that I’ll be playing this one repeatedly throughout the day.
Big Echo is set to be released on March 9th via Rough Trade. Their Spring tour includes a date in Utah on April 5th at Club Velour in Provo.
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.
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.
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.
Here’s a sweet little video of the two performing the song live above a house terrace in LA. The announcement has been made of a co-headlining tour with El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees. Ms. Assbring seems to never tour anywhere remotely close to me, so the list of dates is a bit disappointing. One of these days, though! It shall happen!
The last time I heard any kind of news about Lucky Soul’s follow-up to their 2007 debut, The Great Unwanted, was back in March of last year. The band released a downloadable MP3 for the first single “Woah Billy!” to coincide with the news of the upcoming record, so I figured we would probably see something before the year ended. Fast-forward to today and we’re still waiting for A Coming of Age to grace us with it’s presence. Thankfully, that day is quickly approaching as we can expect the Ruffa Lane release to be out sometime in March.
To make the wait a little easier, a new video has surfaced for a track called “White Russian Doll” and from the looks of it, seems to borrow a similar “on the fly” filming approach that Camera Obscura’s great “French Navy” video showcased so effortlessly. So far, it looks like Lucky Soul is well on their way to avoiding the sophomore slump, as everything I’ve heard so far has been excellent.
I haven’t kept up with Dinner with the Band since its initial first season as a web-only series in 2007, but now only a couple of years since, the show finds itself as a brand new IFC Original Series. Combining two of my favorite things, cooking shows and music, for what should be (on paper at least) a wonderful idea for a television show.
The concept of the show involves host and chef Sam Mason, who invites different bands to come and cook interesting and “edgy” (as they’ve coined it) types of food recipes or or as the website says “intellectual food.” Whatever, food is food. Past episodes have included bands like Matt & Kim, Tokyo Police Club and Les Savy Fav.
A great idea, yes, but most episodes are very hit and miss as most guests have no business talking about food outside of how they make their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Like I’ve said before, it still caters to a very niche audience, but at the same time stands as one the show’s strengths.
One key to success is finding good talent to come on the show, which is the case with Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett) making an appearance. While of course it makes sense for him to be on there (he’s releasing his highly anticipated third album Heartland on January 12th), it also allows me to take care of two subjects in one post. Pallett describes Heartland as “a fully orchestral record, designed to exist simultaneously as an album, a 45-minute piece of orchestral music and a set of songs for looped violin and voice.”
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