Introducing…The Record Club – Plus, A Guide to New Albums Streaming Now For Free

24 Jan

Stream full albums for free…

…join in a discussion on twitter with similarly enthusiastic music fans and psych explorers   

  …tweet reactions with the hashtag #RECORDclub

Click here to listen to Cate Le Bon’s CYRK…the 1st must-hear LP of 2012 
Then tweet about it at the #RECORDclub.

The Record Club is the latest venture in The Future Heart’s ongoing explorations of the worlds where music and social media collide.  Commentary on new albums will be tweeted @FutureHeartDay.  Wait right there – I know what you’re probably thinking, “this sounds like Spin’s recent project to ‘reinvent the album review’ with @spinreviews… or the album-reviews-in-140-characters that preceded Spin, by @1000TimesYes‘ and others.” 
   Well, kind of….
        …but not really…

Whereas Spin seeks to “be an exhaustively definitive listener’s guide… for virtually every album… that matters in 2012… within the confines of a 140-character tweet…” The Record Club is the exact opposite.  It’s by design selective, not exhaustive (what’s the point considering today’s music climate: curious listeners are already overwhelmed with what to check out next).  Rather than be “definitive” (as if that’s possible, especially when limited to 140), The Record Club will rip the notion from Bob Dylan’s backpages that to define “good and bad…quite clear, no doubt, somehow” is a “pathway led by confusion boats.”  In this spirit, special notice will be given to over-looked and under-rated albums – that is, the gems the self-appointed gate-keepers don’t deem to “matter.“  The Record Club will spotlight the blog-buzzed works deserving the hype too, though this isn’t about reinforcing the flavor of the week copied from someplace else on the web.  It’s about discovery and wonder, and you and me…

The Record Club forgoes being a definitive guide to be a selective discussion that is somehow infinite: an open-ended, interactive way to discover interesting new music streaming for free online and share your thoughts.  Afterall, my opinions are no more “definitive” than yours…

There’s no ratings involved in The Record Club, but it’s implied by their selection that all albums chosen are my take on the best new music (to borrow a phrase from another music criticism behemoth).  Maybe I’m wrong.  That’s where you come in loyal Psych Explorations readers and @FutureHeartDay followers…

All Record Club tweets will come with a link to listen to the full album, for free.  Take a listen and then join in a discussion on twitter with similarly enthusiastic music explorers by tweeting your reactions of the whole album or specific songs with the hashtag #RECORDclub.  Then check this blog and @FutureHeartDay to read what other are tweeting. 

Now, let’s get this party started.

Of the forty or so 2012 albums I’ve listened to so far, two distinguish themselves…by far:

  1. Cate Le Bon’s CYRK – released last week
  2. Bang Bang Boogaloo’s Beyond Beyond is Beyond contemporary psych comp – officially out today as a free download

CYRK is the new year’s first must-hear album. 

That’s not just my opinion.  Cate’s sophomore trump is one of just three new albums to have a consensus rating of “universal acclaim” (according to metacritic.com - they tally its score at 81%, the same as First Aid Kit’s The Lion’s Roar and Bill Ryder-Jones If…), and several reviews even discuss its standing as an early frontrunner for album of the year:

  • KCRW: “The earliest contender for album of the year 2012 is the next level second release from one of the most original new voices to emerge in years.”
  • Pop Matters: ”Although Cyrk‘s general air (and its January release) could lead to Cyrk being overlooked for such showier stuff as 2012 progresses, at least we can thank Le Bon for imparting such hope and intrigue for a new music year.”
  • Consequence of Sound: “Her haunting, Welsh-infused vocals stand as the driving force behind an album… poised to bring Le Bon a breakout year.”

Listen for yourself.  It’s streaming at Paste and KCRW (if/when those expire try here or here).

I’ll tweet one comment for most Record Club picks - just enough to start a discussion.  But CYRK gets one tweet per song (partly because it’s the inaugural Record Club, but mostly because there’s no way I could limit my awe for this album to 140 characters).  UPDATE See those tweets after the tracklist below.  Later this week I’ll tweet about select cuts from Bang Bang Boogaloo’s Beyond Beyond is Beyond - a great compilation of contemporary psych artists including Hopewell, Citay, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Buffalo Killers, Outrageous Cherry and others (free download).  Also on the #RECORDclub horizon: The Flaming Lips with Plastic Ono Band, Richard Davies and Eric Matthews’ Cardinal reunion album, Hymns (streaming here), Radiohead, possibly of Montreal (undecided – take a listen and let me know what you think) and others…

CYRK tracklist: 1. Falcon Eyed 2. Puts Me To Work 3. Cyrk 4. Julia 5. Greta 6. Fold The Cloth 7. The Man I Wanted 8. Through The Mill 9/10. Ploughing Out parts (1 and 2)

Now is not a good time to leave me on my own
I neither will then be a good time
I’ve always loved the movement of the trees
Find me a place where I can watch the breeze

I’m counting the minutes 1, 2, 3 and 4… 

…Find me a place where little birds fly by

Her playground, her courtyards are out of this world
You can realign light but you can’t tame the girl
And her eyes are the size of lagoons all dreaming and wild

In the morning the universe shines from under her skin
The delicate pattern of places she’s been
Her baby days coiled up inside her like ribbons all tied
Greta be good to yourself for goodness sake

You existed in moonlight/ before you were born
On the turn of each calendar/ inside and outside
Observatories clocked you in stars/ they were holding so dear
Greta be good to yourself/ you’ve always been here

Grow your hair longer/ It’s easy to in summer
When the days fold under

If it pours in the daytime/ We’ll have to stay indoors
I’ll milk the time you sat with me

What I hoped for most
Was to be his greatest host
He’d make my hands his home
The man I wanted

“Where is the pain?,” I weeped/ “How does the opposite feel?”
Well you will never show me

Autumn was so nice
We’re rolling into winter
The pleasure is all mine
Still feels more than twice
The man I wanted

When I saw you die the death
Whilst beating animal
I ran to approach the poachers’ nest
To strip them of their epaulet

You really are the maddest beast
I’ve ever seen before
Three hundred pounds wrapped in my cave
We going to an island

I packed you up with trophy bones
And bridged you on the peak
We stayed to watch the ships come in
And drank to when the chase felt good

I really could not leave him there
They put him through the mill
I rode back home to tell my friends
The moon it makes the wine taste sweet

Once I heard the reason
To fall outside of season
A gentle, gentle coast
Towards the lookout post
On the last day of the year
I’m just happy to be here
Looking at the leaves of time
In my mind

In my mind plans are real
Ploughing out across the fields
Holding court for miles around
Finding out it’s only sound

Once I heard the handle
It’s part strong out the tangos
The gentle, gentle shift
Sent toward him tender drift
And on the worst day of his life
He’d still love more things than I like
Taping melodies of times
In his mind…

When it goes off we’ll be the last bomb down, down here
My love is wrong you’ll be the ringing in my ear
Steering me right…
…Still we never say we die

Have something to say about Cate, Cardinal, Citay, CYRK, Hopewell or any of the songs on these albums?  Tweet with hashtag #RECORDclub.

Want more?  Download Cate’s “Puts Me To Work” for free (and legal), or buy the full album from iTunes, Amazon, Insound, The Control Group or eMusic.  CYRK is available on limited-edition vinyl, 300 hand-numbered copies available from The Control Group and Insound.

Watch Cate’s “Fold The Cloth” video on vimeo, or at promonews.tv with notes from its director, Ryan Owen.  And once again, you can download Beyond Beyond is Beyond for free.

Since I can’t get enough, here’s some other thoughts.
Seemingly every review of CYRK fixates on three reference points:
  1. Her connections to Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys
  2. Her recent tour opening for St Vincent (Annie Clark being so taken, she invited Cate to sing during St Vincent’s sets)
  3. …and, most of all, the similarly of her singing to Nico’s

Yes – especially in her lower register, Cate’s non-American accent, melodic phrasing, and flat, chilly yet idiosyncratic enchanting delivery remind of the German singer’s solo and Velvet Underground work.  But the musical touchstones dig much deeper than the Super Furries and the Velvets.  Cyrk - which means ”circus” in Polish – is like the Big Top of cool noise, a record collector’s wet dream of sounds ala Syd Barrett, Olivia Tremor Control, Os Mutantes, Stereolab, Faust, Pavement, Can, Broadcast, et al.  To reduce CYRK to the work of others in your vinyl collection though is to hear it only on the most superficial level.  All of these songs have their own personalities - without being smothered by the pretentiousness of “persona” so rampant in contemporary culture.  She doesn’t put out, she lures you in with her music’s unique charm. 

Every track develops by its own logic, and there lies the brilliance of Cate and her band.  Some of the rhythms are played loose, others stiffly jib and jab at your ears.  There’s hooks galore, but they rarely end where they seemed to be bound.  And though the song forms often stray into unforeseen territories, it’s remarkably focused for such a playful, wide-eyed, unruly album.

Cate supposedly writes her songs in the dark.  That’s not surprising, still CYRK glows with quirkily crafted arrangements, paced with a variety of moods, tempos and sonic colors.  The entire album passes before the listener can attempt to process sense of it.  Listening to it is as laid-back as as watching the breeze – to paraphrase the title-track – but it’s existential exuberance entices close, repeated listens.  Most of all, Cate’s catchy and off-kilter melodicism makes this album hard to forget.  It’s infectious and addictive.  The songs stick in your head, even if your brain can’t quite comprehend them . . . . craving obsession…

The new album scene so far this year has been dominated by female singer-songwriters.  For some perspective, compare how far off course Cate is from these:

Wilco Weekend Recap

23 Jan

UPDATE January 25th Wilco’s “Dawned on Me” and iTunes Session promo continues with today’s unveiling of a new music video on youtube.com/wilco and at popeye.com.  To promote the “Dawned on Me” Popeye video and the iTunes live EP they’ve also created a new website: wilcospinach.com. 

According to the press release, the ”new video combines song from America’s foremost rock band with a return to classic animation in the first hand-drawn Popeye cartoon in more than 25 years…Well, Blow Me Down! [The] King Features and dBpm Records … video is directed by Darren Romanelli, the fashion and pop culture innovator who conceived the collaboration between Wilco and King’s flagship character…As one of the earliest animated characters, introduced in 1933 by Fleischer Studios, Popeye has become one of the most enduring and iconic cartoon characters of all time and is forever entwined in the evolution of animation. The music video marks the first new Popeye cartoon since “Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy,” the 3-D CGI primetime TV special and deluxe DVD release produced by King Features Syndicate for Popeye’s 75th Anniversary in 2004. In what has become a primarily digital world, this new video marks the first hand-drawn, frame-by-frame rendering for Popeye cell animation since the Popeye and Son series from 1987…In this new video, Popeye vies for Olive Oyl’s affections with his usual nemesis, Bluto, and with a new challenger, Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy.”

This is Wilco’s second music video for their latest album, the Grammy-nominated The Whole Love.  In advance of the album’s release, Wilco released their Mark Greenberg-directed “Born Alone” video on September 6, 2011  - their first video since the ’90s (watch it here) - but it was overshadowed by a clip of Tweedy covering the Black Eye Peas uploaded that same day.  Additionally, Jeff’s adolescent son Spencer Tweedy directed an unofficial video for the album’s (almost) title-track – watch that here.

Original post (January 23rd)…

Wilco Weekend Recap

Leading up to Wilco’s appearance on TBS’ Conan tonight and their new iTunes Session live EP release tomorrow, @FutureHeartDay hosted Wilco Weekend - posts and tweets of the finest Wilco videos, articles and full show downloads.

Among the downloads – one each for every year of the past decade:

Other Wilco News as of late:

  • After two succesful years, Wilco’s self-curated and self-headlined Solid Sound Festival will take a year off in 2012.  Instead Wilco will perform a benefit for Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art – the site of the fest. According to wilcoworld.net, Solid Sound will return to the North Adams, Mass venue on June 21-23, 2013.  The exact date of the benefit this summer hasn’t been announced but will be revealed first to MASS MoCA members. More info and how to donate to become a member here.
  • iTunes Session was recorded at Wilco’s Chicago loft a few weeks ago (circa their “Incredible Shrinking Tour of Chicago“), the 8-song digital EP was mastered by Bob Ludwig with iTunes sound quality especially in mind.  Pre-order and more info here
  • Nels Cline, John Scofield and Derek Trucks are joining Warren Haynes’ Tommy Bolin Tribute
  • Wilco is on a wish list reportedly created by Obama’s campaign to support his re-election 
  • As it turns out Popeye isn’t just strong because he eats spinach, but also due to it being Wilco brand:

Five months after releasing their turning point masterpiece Summerteeth, Wilco played their first of four concerts for the Austin City Limits studio audience.  Only five songs from this show aired on the 2000 ACL episode, which was split with Bela Fleck: I Got You (At The End Of The Century), Misunderstood, Can’t Stand It, Christ For President and California Stars (season 25, episode 10). The uncut 70 minute performance – full of Summerteeth tracks – was among the videos tweeted for Wilco Weekend.  For comparison, check out Wilco’s return to the Austin City Limits studio in 2004 (aired ’05) and 2007. 

On November 30, 2011 Wilco filmed their last ACL show – yet to air.  Watch “Dawned on Me” from that show below, check out muzzleofbees’ Instagram pictures here and here, and dig photos by Brooklyn Vegan.  The full program will air February 4th.

← Older Entries

Now on Tumblr

Click here to go to FutureHeart.tumblr.com...


...and "like" the new Facebook page here...

Watch the Black Keys on "Colbert," "Letterman" and El Camino release show webstream

Watch Mariachi El Bronx play "Revolution Girls" on Letterman.

Beck remixed Feist's "How Come You Never Go There" - hear here...

Radiohead posted both sides of “The Daily Mail”/“Staircase” single on their YouTube channel

Acade Fire set up a website for new interactive music video "Sprawl II"

New Rolling Stones music video for "Some Girls" '78 outtake "No Spare Parts"

Upcoming Film:
...On the Road with The Flaming Lips

The Dawn of App Music with Bjork, Gruff Rhys, Polyphonic Spree, more

WATCH Brian Eno and Laurie Anderson perform at Occupy Wall Street - Plus, Details on
Occupy This Album and Occupy Musicians

HEAR Alex Chilton "The EMI Song (Smile For Me)" from upcoming "Free Again-1970 Sessions"

Sean Lennon Lends Voice to Flaming Lips' 6-Hour Long Charity Song

Download "The Soft Bulletin" and
"Dark Side of Moon" Live

Download Pink Floyd Shows, Including 1st Ever "Dark Side" Performance

Watch Pink Floyd "Dark Side" Live '74 Video, Tributes on Jimmy Fallon

MGMT Cover Bauhaus, Curate Psych Mixtape of the Year

Stream Wilco's "Whole Love" Deluxe Bonus Disc, Two Full Recent Shows, more..

Stream New Olivia Tremor Control Tracks and Reunion Tour Show

WATCH New Cymbals Eat Guitars video "Keep Me Waiting" from new "Lenses Alien" (Hear the Entire Album Here)

WATCH Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor new music video for CANT sideproject, “Too Late, Too Far”

HEAR Five songs produced by Danger Mouse from The Black Keys’ 7th album, "El Camino" out December 6th

HEAR Four Charlotte Gainsbourg songs produced by Beck from double album "Stage Whisper" out Dec 13th

Beck to Produce Philip Glass Remix Album; Hear Glass's "Greatest Hits"

Beck Plays First Concerts in 3 Years

Bridge School Benefit Webcast (Neil Young, Beck, Arcade Fire, more)

Watch Bridge School '80s, '90s Videos

WATCH Aphex Twin and his "Remote Orchestra"

Trey Anastasio Winter Symphony Tour

Dr. Dog 2012 Tour Dates
Yellowbirds' Daytrotter Sessions and New Music Video (Twin Shadow guests)

Tag Your Name in 6 Hour Song on Soundcloud

Flaming Lips "Strobo Toy" On Sale; Wayne Coyne Explains 6 Hour Song

Flaming Lips 24 Hour Halloween Song in a
Real Skull....

It Was 20 Years Ago Today

Follow twitter/FutureHeartDay

The Soft Blog Archive

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 50 other followers