A few noteworthy releases today: M. Ward, Foo Fighters, and (surprise!) Stars

News of three releases today that I found to be of interest:

M. Ward‘s debut solo album Duet For Guitars #2 (tricky, naming your first album something with a #2 in it….) is finally back in print, re-released today by Merge Records. Originally out in 1999 on the Co-Dependent label and then also re-released in 2000 by M’s friend Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) on his Ow-Om label, it’s been out of print for a few years now. If you, like me, may just be hearing about Ward for the first time with his superb Post-War album last year, delve into the rich back catalog.

The Foo Fighters have re-issued The Colour and The Shape today for the ten year anniversary, with the addition of 6 bonus tracks. Coming on the heels of the news of their 6th album forthcoming this fall (rumored to be called Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace) this is an exciting week for Foo fans.

Also, an eagle-eyed reader sent me the news that Arts & Crafts has unexpectedly digitally released the new Stars album In Our Bedroom After The War today, three months in advance of the physical release date.

Feel something with Jesse Harris

I first decided to take a listen to Jesse Harris when my little brother recommended him to me recently. After several years of my brother being heavily into Japanese pop and questionable Final Fantasy music (the game, not the band), I’m finding lately that our tastes are becoming more in-line. Plus I love him, so I try and move his suggestions to the top of the long “to listen” list. On this one, Brian — definitely a good call.

Jesse Harris is from New York City, and is probably most famous these days for being the guy who wrote much of the ubiquitous, breathy Norah Jones album Come Away With Me, and won a whole boatload of Grammy Awards (the year I was there, actually). Feel is his newest album in a string of seven, coming out July 10th on Velour Recordings.

And what an album it is – luminous, fresh, and full of interesting percussion (which is the first thing I noticed). I hear tones of everything from clean Beatles pop, to Graceland-era Paul Simon, tones of the gentle banjo-plucking of Sufjan, to even hints of my beloved David Gray. I think this is a great songwriter album, catchy and nuanced, and it’s getting repeated spins in my car this summer. I highly recommend this one, and I love how the album art looks the way the music feels.

Feel – Jesse Harris

After All – Jesse Harris

In equally excellent news, Jesse Harris is also the man behind the entire soundtrack for Ethan Hawke’s new film The Hottest State. Jesse wrote all the songs in a continuous suite, which are then sung both by him and also artists such as The Black Keys, Bright Eyes, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, M. Ward, Emmylou Harris, and Feist. That anticipated soundtrack will be out August 7th on Hickory Records.

Somewhere Down The Road – Feist

Crooked Lines – M. Ward

Jesse Harris: tour dates & more tunes here

If we can’t have a great music festival on Alcatraz, this’ll do

The Noise Pop peeps have done it again. In conjunction with Another Planet Entertainment, they’ve just announced an outdoor fall music festival on Treasure Island, the other mysterious land mass in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. It’s been so long since I’ve been out there, it’s just this exit on the Bay Bridge that I always used to speed past. But come September 15 . . .

THE FIRST TREASURE ISLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL
SEPT 15-16, 2007

Modest Mouse
M. Ward
Thievery Corporation
Spoon
Gotan Project
DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist
Built To Spill
M.I.A.
Ghostland Observatory
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

…and others to be announced. In addition to the above acts, there will also be a second stage featuring up and coming local bands. According to the press release, “It is the first music-based event of this scale and scope to take place on the man-made island that was originally built to house the 1939 World’s Fair.”

(I also just found out that parts of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were filmed on Treasure Island, which just ratchets up its rad factor in my book)

There’s some stiff competition that weekend on the festival scene: I’ll be at the Monolith Festival, and it’s also the weekend of Austin City Limits (and somehow Spoon is playing at all three). But how cool is that for all you fans of good music back in my old stomping grounds? Good job on this one, festival organizers.

TREASURE ISLAND FESTIVAL SAMPLER
The acts they’ve lined up are a refreshing blend of indie rock, international beats, and electronica/hip-hop.

Summer – Modest Mouse
Chinese Translation – M. Ward
Un Simple Historie – Thievery Corporation
Rhthm & Soul – Spoon
Mi Confesión – Gotan Project
Erase You (feat. Chris James) – DJ Shadow
What’s The Altitude (feat. Hymnal) – Cut Chemist
The Plan – Built To Spill
Amazon – M.I.A.
Stranger Lover – Ghostland Observatory
Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Slow on the uptake: M. Ward on Conan tonight

I got an email earlier today from Merge Records and just now got to it – but this sounds cool:

M. Ward will be performing on Late Night with Conan O’Brien TONIGHT Thursday, May 17th.

M. Ward will be joined by an impressive band of friends including Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Jim James, Mike Coykendall, Than Luu, & Adam Selzer to perform “Chinese Translation” from Post-War
(note: my #1 last year!)

Don’t miss this just-for-TV slice of musical magic positioned just a little later than what will no doubt be an action-packed season finale of The Office!

(Team Pam! Team Pam!)

M. Ward vinyl rip

Thanks to Kevin, who rocks all sorts of goodness over on his blog So Much Silence, I’ve added an audio rip of that limited 7″ remix from M. Ward and Jim James. Kevin is the master of vinyl ripping, so you get all that snap, crackle, and pop at no added charge. Thanks Kevin!

Head over to the original post for the mp3.

A splash of Southern Comfort with M. Ward

The freezing walk to the mailbox was all made worth it yesterday afternoon by the discovery of a very cool flat package containing a 7″ limited-run vinyl from FADER Magazine/blog in a partnership with Southern Comfort. Part of a new series this whole year to release “up-and-coming” artists on limited edition vinyl, the first in the lineup contains:

Side A: Magic Trick (Kansas City Remix) (Thanks Kevin!!)
M. Ward with Jim James

Side B: Soap
Ladyhawk

Post-War (from whence comes the lovely harmonies of “Magic Trick”) is an album that sounds all rich and scratchy and warm –an effect which is doubled on a record player– and I derived great joy from sitting in front of my stereo listening to this small gem. The remix takes out the drums and remixes the vocals a bit more distinctly so the harmonies don’t mesh as seamlessly. It also brings forward the bittersweet harmonica line, giving the overall effect of a Kansas City backporch BBQ. You can win your own copy here. Oh, and check the solo M. Ward shows added. San Francisco gets all the fun. Come to Denver, “M.”!

AOL, like, totally wants to go to the next Cold War Kids show with you

I am a little confused by the AOL Music Indie Blog. The first time I heard of it, it just sounded like a non-sequitur to me, like a math equation that does not compute. AOL = indie?

They are using their gigantic corporate conglomerate muscle and huge subscriber base to draw these great podcasts from a wide variety of (mostly) smaller independent artists.

I suppose I could just enjoy and keep my mouth shut, but I just have to admit my hesitancy in having AOL be my source for, like, a Josh Rouse interview. Isn’t that what smaller labels and independent radio stations are for? The performances are great so I can’t complain, but I have to admit that the concept kind of rubs me the wrong way.

I know, I know – get over it, and listen to these:

RECENT PODCASTS (the links are to mp3 of podcast) -

M. Ward
(performing Chinese Translation, To Go Home, Paul’s Song)

Cat Power
(performing Love & Communication, John John, Satisfaction, Ramblin’ Man)

Noel Gallagher
(performing It’s Good To Be Free, Whatever, Slide Away)

The Lemonheads
(performing No Backbone, Why Do You Do This To Yourself, My Drug Buddy)

Nada Surf
(performing 8 songs — now that’s just crazy talk: Concrete Bed, What Is Your Secret?, Always Love, Hyperspace, Blizzard of ’77, 80 Windows, Happy Kid, Blankest Year)

José González
(performing Crosses, Deadweight on Velveteen, Lovestain, Heartbeats)

Josh Rouse
(performing Quiet Town and Givin’ It Up)

Jamie Lidell
(performing Game For Fools, What’s The Use, Multiply)

M. Ward: Scene From #12 EP

Now THIS makes me feel nice and happy today. As you may recall, I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with M. Ward‘s latest release, Post-War, and have been on a spirited jaunt to seek out his earlier material. I love the warmth of his songs and the way so many of them just envelop you with a sense of immediacy.

One of his earliest solo releases, the Scene From #12 EP (2000, 62 TV Records) is currently not commercially available, but it’s a seamless little collection of four songs that make me contentedly smile. I think you’ll be happy if you enjoy these along with me today:

01. Scene From #12
02. Wild Minds
03. Carolina
04. Going Away

SCENE FROM #12 EP AS ZIP FILE (re-upped June 2010, by request)

Buy Post-War if you haven’t already.

M. Ward: “I write songs out of a burning desire to create something good.”

I wanted to draw y’all’s attention to an excellent interview with M. Ward in the Chicago Tribune, reviewing his fantastic new Post-War album. If you recall, I posted a track (“To Go Home,” a Daniel Johnston cover with background vocals by Neko Case) from his new album a few weeks ago, and now his Post-War album is out — and it is mind-bogglingly good.

The Trib reviewer (Greg Kot) masterfully uses his words to capture the rich mood of the album: “Ward folds his skills into songs of unusual depth and the kind of humid lived-in atmosphere once routinely found on old Roy Orbison, Billie Holiday and doo-wop records. Ward’s albums live in the room in which they were created; the listener can almost feel the presence of the musicians through the speakers.” He is spot-on in expressing what I would want to say, and “humid” is a great word to describe the album. There is such a permeating sense of substance and immediacy to these tracks.

I’d say this album is definitely in the running for my top 10 list this year; it’s got the weight & beauty to sustain multiple listenings over the years.

I appreciate the depth of musical styles that Ward blends together, from the warm ragtime post-war sound of last-call tunes like “Afterword/Rag,” to the harmonies of the Beach Boys (notable on tracks like “Magic Trick,” co-written with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James) and the gentle folk storytelling of “Chinese Translation” (video here). Several of my friends are raving about it too (here or here), and the accolades are well-deserved.

Use some of your eMusic songs for this month to pick up this bad boy. Not an unworthy song in the bunch.

LISTEN: Post-War – M. Ward
(one of the most beautiful songs on the disc; honey rich, lovely, moody, sexy, fantastic. Begs to be listened to –really listened to– with your eyes closed)

Monday Music Roundup

Color me tickled pink.

I had such an interesting, surreal time at the Radio & Records Triple-A Summit in Boulder on Friday. I got to meet a lot of interesting record reps and label folks, came home with a huge stack of new CDs to listen to, and learned about some cool radio stations and programming in the U.S. right now.

The day was this weird combination of folks who truly KNOW and LOVE music (I had more fantastic conversations in 18 hours than I have in the last 18 weeks) right smack alongside the business side of things, this pushing of music as a commodity. I saw the side of marketing and branding and distribution and all the things that are undoubtedly necessary in today’s world to have music be heard, but also seems in a weird way (to my naive and idealistic mind) to somehow contrast the beauty and art contained in a great song. But it’s necessary, so there you go.

It also felt a bit conspicuous being a blogger alongside radio programmers. I love radio, I love a good radio station, there is fantastic variety and quality on a lot of these stations. But I felt as if I might get run out of there at any moment because a blogger is kind of the anti-radio-programmer: instead of me waiting for a radio programmer at a big station to add the artists I feel passionately about, now with the internet and mp3 blogging, I can just go right to my computer, find cool new stuff, create a playlist, and essentially be my own programmer. So I am not sure how the two fit side by side. I think that a lot of folks there may have felt the same way: there was certainly a lot of warmth and interest towards what I do, but I was very aware of the dichotomy and wondering how, in the future, the two will intertwine.

The best thing about the day was that I found enough fodder for dozens of posts about new artists. Musicians were milling about, I got to talk to several on your behalf, hear about their musical philosophy, how their records were created, their backstory and their songs. It was beyond cool.

Here are some of the best new songs that caught my ear from the event:

Balancing The World
Eliot Morris
I believe this recommendation came about from a conversation wherein I was saying something about Counting Crows. The name of this artist immediately followed, and if you like Counting Crows, please give Eliot Morris a shot (I also hear some reminiscence of Matt Nathanson here). Uplifting, intelligent pop at its best. Check him out on MySpace – his album What’s Mine Is Yours comes out August 15th on Universal and I will definitely pick it up. The new release features collaborations with Dan Wilson of Semisonic and David Lindley (Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, James Taylor). Funny, I just noticed that he is on tour with Counting Crows. Well, good pairing I guess.

You Made It
DJ Shadow feat. Chris James
From DJ Shadow‘s upcoming release The Outsider (Sept 12, Universal), and featuring Chris Martin Chris James of Stateless, this sounds like nothing I would have ever thought I’d hear from DJ Shadow. The electronic effects are restrained; this is mostly an acoustic guitar based song over a subtle, tense beat with soaring, melodic vocals. Very nice. DJ Shadow is currently on the road, through Asia and the UK (with one rad stop at the Greek in Berkeley, opening for Massive Attack in September).

I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)
Sandi Thom
Please be aware before you listen to this that it will stick in your head and you may find yourself singing it all day long, with its clever lyrics of nostalgia and being born in the wrong era. I saw Sandi Thom perform at the luncheon on Friday and I was impressed. She’s in her early 20s, a rosy-cheeked, passionate Scottish-Irish vocalist who was quite charming. There was a definite rootsy vibe and strength to her demeanor. Her accompaniment on this tune was a guy sitting on and playing an amplified wooden box, which fascinated me. Check her out on MySpace and her album Smile . . . It Confuses People. She plays Atlanta tonight and has a handful of U.S. dates coming up. I liked her and would see her again.

Fire Island, AK
The Long Winters
Okay, so one of the best sessions for me was the Rate-A-Record deal on Friday afternoon. Moderated by my friend Bruce, ten “mystery tracks” were played for us and we had these little handheld boxes that let us rate the songs on a scale of 1-10 and then discuss them. I could do that every single day of my life and be content. Sitting around and talking about music with real people (as opposed to blogging about it) was stimulating. This was one of the toe-tapping tracks that I liked (others hated), from The Long Winters‘ third release on Barsuk Records: Putting The Days To Bed. The Long Winters are doing what I think every band should do by offering 5 full-length mp3s on their website, if you want to hear more. “Members Emeritus” of their band have included Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies.

Timely note: Nada Surf just sent a post on MySpace saying that The Long Winters are playing a secret show tomorrow in New York City. They say, “If you are interested in attending a free Long Winters show on August 8th in NYC (and are at least 21), send an email to secretshow@barsuk.com and we’ll send you all the details.”

To Go Home
M. Ward
Another one I liked from the Rate-A-Record session, from M. Ward‘s forthcoming album Post-War (August 22, Merge Records). Where the Eliot Morris track above is pleasant and melodic and everything fits together, this track is thrumming and thumping with borderline dischordant piano in the background – but somehow it still all works together in a very compelling way. If you’d like to check out more from M. Ward, eMusic has a good selection of stuff from him. He is also currently on tour, and SO WORTH NOTING: The 3 California dates are supported by the formidable Mike Watt.

More music from the conference to come. Stay tuned.