New Iron & Wine

Yo everyone, sorry I've been absent from posting here for so long, but I've been sucked into this black hole of listening to the new Agalloch, Enslaved, The Ocean, Intronaut, and Yelawolf albums on repeat and I can't derive satisfaction from anything that's not brvtal (yes, Yelawolf is pretty brvtal). Anyways, here's a great new song from everyone's favorite bearded indie folkster Iron & Wine. Check out "Walking Far From Home," from the upcoming Kiss Each Other Clean over at Sam Beam and company's myspace.

For those of you who were praying for Beam to return to the whispering dude + acoustic guitar + lo-fi recording quality that he ditched on 2007's The Shepherd's Dog, that ain't going to happen, if this new cut is any indication. Against one of his typically pretty melodies and evocative lyrics, Beam colors a single repeating chord progression with a schizophrenic array of instruments. The shoegaze churn that opens the track quickly gives way to piano, with new sounds dropping in every few seconds. "Walking Far From Home" even features one of Beam's most unrestrained vocal performances ever during the coda, as he lets loose with a high-flying, joyous falsetto against Queen-like harmonies. I'm so stoked for this album.

The Tallest Man on Earth new EP

Swedish folk singer The Tallest Man on Earth isn't content with only coming out with a perfect album this year, The Wild Hunt (get it now if you haven't heard it!!!). A few days ago, Kristian Matsson quietly released a five-song EP entitled Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird. In addition to his typical running-through-the-fields fingerpicking and whiskey-scratchy voice, new details include the electric guitar that fuels "The Dreamer," an anthemic song that matches the intensity of Wild Hunt closer "Kids on the Run."

Iron & Wine does New Order

I'll tell you right now that there's no lurking darkness to Sam Beam's cover of New Order's "Love Vigilantes".  The only tell is the recognizable sweet sorrow in the words, a story magnificently written from the standpoint of a soldier coming home.  This may not be your Sunday gospel, but nonetheless Mr. Beam does poetic justice to an '80s goodie, creating his own atmosphere of calm after the storm.

One of my favorites from the shaggy folksman: "Love Vigilantes"

S. Carey

Bon Iver fans: you will like S. Carey, who just so happens to be the drummer for that group. Carey is releasing his first solo album, All We Grow, this coming Tuesday. At first, Carey merely seems to be mining the stripped down instrumental/multitracked vocal formula Justin Vernon perfected on For Emma, Forever Ago, but pretty soon he expands his sound into Sigur Ros layers of stomping percussion, fluttering woodwinds, and echoing pianos. One of the most surprising releases of the year.

Stream All We Grow here. By the way, S. Carey is embarking on what should be an excellent tour with Swedish troubadour The Tallest Man on Earth (coming to the Somerville Theatre October 1st!). More dates here.

Six Organs of Admittance

Six Organs of Admittance is the psychedelic folk project of vocalist and guitarist Ben Chasny, who is also a member of Comets on Fire (read my post about them here). Chasny's secret weapon when it comes to songwriting is layering; his tracks are composed of relatively simple instrumental and vocal passages that come together to create dense atmospheres. A prime example is "Bless Your Blood," off of The Sun Awakens. What begins as a simple acoustic guitar progression builds into a swirling expanse of eerie, double-tracked vocals, whispering percussion, and spaced out electric guitar leads. Recommended for anyone who likes Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, or any other grab-a-guitar-and-head-for-the-woods group you can think of.

Six Organs of Admittance - "Bless Your Blood"

Throwback Thursday - Nick Drake

This Thursday, I'm going to try my hand at throwin' it back with some Nick Drake. He was a gifted singer-songwriter who released three excellent albums in the late '60s/early '70s but was not appreciated during his lifetime, dying of an antidepressant overdose in 1974. After a few solid years of my guitar teacher talking about Drake and even teaching me some of his songs, I finally bothered to actually listen to him a few weeks ago. I was absolutely floored. In this age of Bon Ivers and Iron & Wines, I can't really understand why more people haven't heard of/don't listen to him. If any of his albums came out today for the first time, they'd probably be racking up 10.0 scores on Pitchfork and appearing as often as Animal Collective and Andrew Bird in Tufts students' iTunes libraries.

Here's a cut from Nick Drake's 1972 album "Pink Moon," his last record and arguably his masterpiece. Clocking it at around only 28 minutes, "Pink Moon" is a stark, stripped down trip through 11 songs composed entirely of acoustic guitar and vocals, with one brief piano overdub appearing in the title track. "Which Will" is the fourth song on the album, featuring amazingly beautiful yet technically virtuosic fingerpicking and hushed vocals. Like in many of his songs, Drake's voice initially smooths over the heartwrenching isolation of his lyrics, culminating in the lines, "Which will you take now/If you won't take me."

Nick Drake's music is sort of a subliminal undercurrent in our pop culture, genius that can easily be missed and forgotten if you don't recognize it right away. In the last few weeks, I've heard his work in Wes Anderson's film "The Royal Tenenbaums" (GREAT movie, by the way) and in an At&t commercial while I was getting a haircut. He's influenced tons of today's musicians, even getting namedropped several times by the likes of prog-metal mastermind Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth. Check this guy out, immediately.

Nick Drake - "Which Will"

The Tallest Man on Earth

Swedish artist Kristian Matsson, better known as the Tallest Man on Earth, is back with a new album, this time critically acclaimed and exemplifying serious maturity in the singer/songwriter. The Wild Hunt surely includes some of this year's most compelling folk music. And with good reason. Matsson's gruff vocals meet crafty finger-picking and vigorous strumming. In "King of Spain", a lively pace reminiscent of galloping hordes provide foundation for sassily romantic and pensive lyrics. It's far from a narrative but as the Tallest Man digs deeper into his languished fantasy he projects a song of earnest and daring.

The Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain