Shearwater- Leviathan, Bound

Shearwater is the side project of Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff of Okkervil River. In Shearwater the songs are quieter and mostly piano-based, and Meiburg handles the vocals. The sound is completely different from OR, you would never know it was the same two guys at the helm. Meiburg is overeducated like Sheff with a master's in geography. He's a bird freak thus the name of the band.

This is from Shearwater's upcoming album Rook, to be released this June (and leaked well before, I guess I don't have to keep repeating that...)

MP3 Shearwater - Leviathan, Bound (from 2008's Rook)

Easter songs

How about some rabbit and bunny tunes for Easter?

MP3 Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins - Rabbit fur coat (From 2005's Rabbit Fur Coat)
MP3 Magnetic Fields - Let's pretend we're bunny rabbits - (from 1999's 69 Love Songs)
MP3 Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit (from 1967's Surrealistic Pillow)
MP3 Of Montreal - Bunny ain't no kind of rider (from 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?)
MP3 Echo & the Bunnymen - Lips like sugar (from 1983's Echo & the Bunnymen) When we saw Coldplay in Paris in 2002, they covered this song as an encore and Chris Martin said it was his favorite song ever.

The Breeders - Bang On

Musicblogland is all abuzz with anticipation for the new record from this important late 80s/early 90s band featuring Kim Deal of Pixies and Tanya Donnelly of Throwing Muses (which she founded with her stepsister Kristin Hersh). This advance cut sounds great.

MP3 The Breeders - Bang on (from the upcoming Steve Albino-produced Mountain Battles)

She and Him - I should have known better (Beatles cover)

She and Him is the collaboration between indie rocker M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel, beloved most recently from her hilarious turn as Andy's crazy ex-girlfriend in Weeds.

MP3 She and Him - I should have known better (Beatles cover, from 2008's Volume One)

British Sea Power - Waving Flags

British Sea Power are definitely an acquired taste. They apparently play live surrounded by real trees onstage or something like that. They go by the single names Yan, Noble, Hamilton and Wood. OK, obviously they're a little weird.

MP3 British Sea Power - Wavings flags (from 2008's Do You Like Rock Music?)

Drive-by Truckers - Two daughters and a beautiful wife

Atlanta-based (via Alabama, mostly) Drive-by Truckers are considered simultaneously an alt-country, alt-rock and a blues band. Well, so were the Allman Brothers, right? Beautiful boy-girl vocals (my favorite kind), banjo and pedal steel on this sad song. Above live on Conan.

MP3 Drive-by Truckers - Two daughters and a beautiful wife

MP3 Drive-by Truckers - The Righteous Path (both from 2008's Brighter than Creation's Dark)

Shout Out Louds - Tonight I have to leave it

The Shout Out Louds are yet another good band from Sweden, which really has too many good bands considering how small it is: The Hives, The Knife, José Gonzalez, Peter Bjorn and John, the Perishers, I'm From Barcelona, Taken by Trees (Victoria Bergsman), Lykke Li, El Perro Del Mar (Sarah Assbring), etc. They all sing in English, in lots of different styles.

MP3 Shout Out Louds - Tonight I have to leave it (from 2007's Our Ill Wills)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Weapon of Choice and Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n Roll (Punk song)

I do enjoy the dark drone of a band like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club from time to time. They were quite good when I saw them at the TLA in 2003 (I refuse to call it the Fillmore Philadelphia because there is no such place!) I love all the "genres" Wikipedia puts this band into:

	Garage rock revival Folk-rock Blues-rock Neo-psychedelia Post-punk revival Noise rock

BRMC are unusual in that they have two frontmen, the guitarist and the bass player, who trade off lead singing duties pretty much 50-50. Their drummer has had serious drug problems and basically left the band during the making of their third record, 2005's Howl, which without him ended up sounding like a folk album, a complete departure from their well-established sound.

MP3 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Weapon of choice (from 2007's Baby 81)
MP3 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Whatever happened to my rock 'n roll (Punk song) (from their 2001 self-titled debut)

Rogue Wave - Chicago x 12

Moody, compelling song with lovely melodies and singing by Oakland, CA-based Rogue Wave. Pitchfork's typically convoluted description: "[Chicago x 12] ends with a cut-tempo coda featuring whale-song guitars and gets there with guitar- and keyboard-soaked verses powered by snares on every beat." FYI, a real rogue wave is a scary thing!

MP3 Rogue Wave - Chicago x 12 (from 2007's Asleep at Heaven's Gate)


Rogue wave, Ocean Grove, New Jersey

Vampire Weekend - A-Punk and M79 on SNL

I know they are hyped to death but they deserve it. Vampire Weekend on SNL last night. Above is A-Punk, click here for M79. Each with full string quartet, and the band is confident and having fun. I'm sorry to contribute to the hype but this is good stuff. Incredible the hate this band generates on a site like brooklynvegan, it's quite amusing.

Also see yesterday's NYT article about the incredible Brooklyn music scene.

Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes

Santogold is an unclassifiable artist from Brooklyn whose debut album comes out April 22nd (and will undoubtedly leak sooner). Anneliese and I saw her open for Architecture in Helsinki last year in Philly, she is an extremely charismatic performer.

MP3 Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (from the upcoming, as-yet-untitled debut album)

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - REM Medley

La Blogotheque presents Stephen Malkmus (ex-Pavement) and his band the Jicks fooling around trying to play a bunch of old REM songs--Don't Go Back to Rockville and 7 Chinese Bros. from 1984's Reckoning, and Driver 8 and Good Advices from 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction. One problem is that no one in the world, including Michael Stipe, has a clue to the lyrics of these songs.

Arcade Fire for Obama - "Heroes" (David Bowie cover)

The lovely Arcade Fire rocked Cleveland for Obama last night. Here they are covering Bowie's "Heroes."


MP3 David Bowie "Heroes" (from 1977's "Heroes")

Wilco - Hate it Here on SNL

Wilco played SNL last night and though I'm not a big fan of the new album, they are definitely one of the best bands in America and boy can they play.

What Light is my favorite song from the new reoord.

MP3 Wilco - What Light (from 2007's Sky Blue Sky)