We’ve mentioned Wye Oak and Luxury Wafers here before. Now, comes the excellent news that Wye Oak have visited the fine folks over at Luxury Wafers to lay down some live tracks. You’ll find two live videos (including an unreleased track “My Neighbor”), and four live mp3 tracks for download on their site. I’ll put a small taste after the cut, but you should head on over and check it out!
Sometimes, we need a break. As someone who is nearing the end/seventeenth fresh start of his Ph.D. thesis, this statement applies to me most of the time. In moments like this, I like to turn to bands like The Album Leaf, Sigur Rós, and similar masters of ambiance. But every now and again, I need something new to help me take the edge off. Enter: Message to Bears.
Message to Bears is actually Jerome Alexander, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from the U.K. Those instruments, myspace tells us, are “acoustic guitars, pianos, glockenspiels, samples, drums, loop pedal, melodica, toy piano, harmonium, [and] voice.” The result is a collection of beautiful, gentle acoustic songs that curl around you like a misty, English twilight (as I am currently experiencing one, I stand by this claim as 100% true). The melodies evoke a sense of wistful nostalgia, and remind me of staring into a deep, night sky.
Taken from the debut album Departures (Out on Dead Pilot Records and iTunes), “At the Top of this Hill” and “Running through Woodland” evoke dramatic, melancholic landscapes. The former, through children’s voices, recalls long-gone days of youthful innocence, and the latter conjures a forest crowned by grey clouds. Absolutely lovely, and both very effective in their own way.
I’ve also included “Unfold” from EP 1. To me, tracks likes this make me feel that I’ve stumbled into someone’s diary. Even wordless, they are clearly attempts to capture very particular moods and impressions. Just the sort of thing to help you relax by replacing your troubled thoughts with other, softer ones. Come on in and have a listen, won’t you?
It’s months like this that I’m really thankful for all the excellent music blogs out there that keep me well-stocked with new and interesting things. From Slowcoustic to The Yellow Stereo, Stereogum to Gorilla vs. Bear, I really am spoiled for choice. I’m also still digging my way through those excellent shows over at KEXP and Wolfgang’s Concert Vault. All in all, it’s been a great couple of weeks for music! And so, in this slightly shorter edition of “Now Playing,” I’ll pass on some of the great things that have come my way. Let’s begin!
It’s easy, sometimes, to think of radio as a dead medium. The sort of thing that can get you through a visit to the dentist, or an elevator ride, but not much else. In a post-Buggles world, what good can radio really bring us? Well, of course, there’s rather a lot of good to be had out there. I’ve looked at, and featured, NPR’s excellent All Songs Considered on this site before. But there’s so much more to be found in local stations across America (and the globe) – perhaps none so striking as Seattle’s KEXP. The site features an enormous amount of live, in-studio recordings and interviews, as well as news and video (they’ve even got a nifty iPhone app). As someone who lost faith in radio during the ClearChannel consolidation years, I find it very reassuring to know that stations like this have managed to survive.
You really should take some time to rummage around their site. After the cut, I’ll highlight some of my favorite live recordings, and give you a few tips from their upcoming performances list. Hint: Jónsi tomorrow!
Continue reading “Other Stuff You Might Like: Live Performances from KEXP”
