Four mp3s strapped to the back of a bomb.  My bomb.  Welcome to the Payload.

Antony and the Johnsons – Epilepsy is Dancing
Last month the unmistakable Antony Hegarty released The Crying Light, his third full length and the follow up to his excellent Mercury prize winning I Am a Bird Now (2005).  While I Am a Bird Now was stuffed with cameos and collaborations- Devendra Banhart, Lou Reed, and Rufus Wainwright come to mind- The Crying Light is distinctly Mr. Hegarty’s show.   Here is the lead single ‘Epilepsy is Dancing’.

Antony and the Johnsons – Epilepsy is Dancing

Benjy Ferree – Fear
There are concept albums and then there are concept albums.   Rock and roller Benjy Ferree dedicates his latest album Come Back to the Five and Dime Bobby Dee Bobby Dee to the tragic memory of Bobby Driscoll, the forgotten child actor who played Peter Pan in the 1953 Disney feature and after brief success eventually fell into a life of drugs and passed away at age 31, poor and homeless.  Are you depressed yet?  Don’t worry, the story is much more bleak than the music.

Benjy Ferree – Fear

Foals – Balloons
Dance punk!  Dance punk!  Dance punk!

Foals – Balloons

Julie Doiron – No More
No more!  No more!  Wait…I want more!

Julie Doiron – No More

Related posts:

1. Antony and the Johnsons – Another World It’s been 3 long years since Antony and his...

Finally after months and months of watching everyone else’s darlings soak in the 2008/early 2009 limelight- *cough* Fleet Foxes *cough* Animal Collective- one of my own personal favorites is back in action!  I’m referring of course to the brilliant John Vanderslice!

Really?  You’re not familiar with the man?  And you call yourself a human being?  Hmmm.  Well, here is a refresher course, ya’ bolthead!   Not only is Vanderslice  ‘one of the most imaginative, prolific, and consistently rewarding artists making music today’ and ‘the most important songwriter of the moment’, but he is also  ‘the nicest guy in indie rock’.  The dude is aces.  And unlike abortion, the death penalty, and how comedians will finally figure out how to satirize Barack Obama, this issue is NOT open for debate!

Ah, so here we are now a year and a half removed from Mr. Vanderslice’s last album, the strikingly straightforward and confident Emerald City.  Even with only 9 tracks and no trademark Vanderslice bleeps and bloops to be found, the record still garnered a solid 80 on Metacritic- earning it the distinction of being the San Francisco songwriter’s best reviewed album.  Congratulations, Johnny boy!  What else do you got cooking in your metaphorical and/or analogous music kitchen?

Today we found out.   John Vanderslice will  make his return on May 19th, 2009 with his 7th official studio album, Romanian Names (you’re moshing!).  Oooh and that’s not it! Adding even more excitement and intrigue is the news that, after nearly 10 years on Seattle’s Barsuk Records, Romanian Names will be released by Jagjaguwar/Secretly Canadian imprint Dead Oceans.  That’s right, people-  the man just became even that more indie.

According to the official press release, our boy has started playing new songs at recent live shows, giving hometown San Francisco audiences first dibs on the new jams.  Check out the slamming video four ass-kissing paragraphs above for the internet’s first look at new Vanderslice material.  The track is called ‘Too Much Time’ and if I may say so, it is just as beautiful and dreamy as anything off Emerald City.  The footage was recorded at Great American Music Hall as part of a concert celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Vanderslice’s recording studio Tiny Telephone.  The people surrounding him playing fancy instruments are the 30-piece Magik*Magik Orchestra.  I know a close friend who prefers Vanderslice’s earlier, more rocking tracks (‘Pale Horse’, ‘Me and My 424′) to his recent pop leanings but personally I think the man is on some top serious, next-level roll the last handful of years and this video just confirms it.

Now all we need is some new The National music- oh that’s right!  I forgot to tell you guys!  Oh man, I’m so forgetful.  What a forgetful jones!  On February 17th The National are releasing an exclusive, unreleased track called ‘So Far Around the Bend’ as part of the Dark Was the Night double cd, super compilation on 4AD- proceeds will go to benefit HIV/AIDS research.  I have the track on my hard drive (I’m an important music blogger, remember?) but unfortunately I can not share it with you (I’m not important enough to not get sued).  But I can say this- it’s pretty good.  Definitely sounds like a b-side/compilation track but it is still solid as a rock.  A gold rock.  With diamond moss growing on one side and radioactive pill bugs chilling beneath it (radioactive material is as valuable as gold and diamonds, right?  Right?).  The double album/triple vinyl also contains exclusive new tracks from Ben Gibbard and Feist, Andrew Bird, the Books, Bon Iver and many more super indie people.

Here are some legal mp3s from Johnny V’s back catalogue.

John Vanderslice – White Dove from Emerald City

John Vanderslice – The Kingdom b-side/vinyl-only track from Pixel Revolt

(mp3s hosted by JohnVanderslice.com)

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You may never be as rocking as John Lennon or as punk as Iggy Pop but you can still wear the same t-shirts as them!

InvisibleLimb.net and WornFree.com are teaming up to bring you a special Valentine’s Day giveaway! Two lucky winners will receive one Worn Free shirt of their choosing and hopefully a hug or two from their significant other (although we’d love to, Invisible Limb can not provide the hugs- it’s a legal thing).

Worn Free features designs originally worn by influential rock icons like Joey Ramone, Debbie Harry,  Janis Joplin,  Kurt Cobain and many others.  Nowadays their shirts can be seen in films, tv series, and worn by high profile personalities like Ellen Page, Ryan Gosling, Gary Oldman (!), Robert Downey Jr. and not to mention the amazing Daniel Johnston(!).  If those names sound too ritzy for you, fret not- you need not be a rock and roll icon nor a Hollywood celebrity to appreciate these sweet threads (I am neither and I still totally moshed while browsing their catalog).

To enter the giveaway, simply send an e-mail to richard@invisiblelimb.net with the subject “Worn Free Giveaway” and a short description of your most rock and roll moment/story. Winners will be chosen on February 13th!  Until then check out their site and start thinking about which awesome shirt you’ll choose with your prize winnings.

Read more about Worn Free’s killer selection of rock and roll shirts- as well as some of our favorite designs- after the jump!

New Rock ‘n’ Roll T-Shirt Line Based on Designs Worn by Legends like John Lennon and Frank Zappa Launches

If a picture is worth a 1,000 words then the designs by Worn Free are worth millions. Boasting slogans and images that are part of our social history, worn by legends such as John Lennon and Frank Zappa, and created by modern artists like Robert Crumb and John van Hamersveld, Worn Free T-shirts are not only fashion statements, but cultural signposts, part of a shared revolutionary, radical past that are as cool today as they were in the turbulent ‘60s and ‘70s.

“These images are part of our living history,” says designer Steve Coe. “They have meaning, not just to fans of these artists, but to everyone.”

Each shirt comes with an individualized sticker hang-tag which tells the history behind the images and includes a photo of the star wearing it. This time, the revolution will not be televised, but worn proudly on your back, combining art, pop culture and rock & roll into a line of hip, but subversive, T-shirts that make history come alive.

Here are some Valentine’s Day themed designs followed by our personal favorites.

More designs @ www.wornfree.com

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I first caught Say Hi’s Eric Elbogen opening up for Nada Surf at the El Ray in Los Angeles back in 2005 (or was it 2006?) and after a few songs I was convinced.  The dude is pretty good at what he does:  electronic/bedroom pop with apparently the right amount of distorted guitar necessary to warm up a crowd of Nada Surf fans.    Back then he was playing under the expanded- and much sillier- monicker Say Hi to Your Mom.  While the name has changed over the years, the music has stayed pretty consistent.   Funny, I actually always thought of him as a much deserving younger brother to David Bazan of Pedro the Lion and now they are both label mates on Seattle’s Barsuk Records (and also consecutive Limb post subjects!).

While he has yet to create his “break out” album, Elbogen has a handful of pretty good full lengths under his belt over the past 7 years- I’d say his best so far has been 2005′s Ferocious Mopes (“Girl Number 2!”).  Judging solely by the recently leaked track, ‘November Was White, December Was Grey’, his up coming record Oohs and Aahs is more of the “pretty good” and not yet “woah, stop the car!”.  Although to his credit, I’m not sure I or anyone knows exactly what a “woah, stop the car!” song sounds like.  But if we hear it, we’ll be sure to tell you.

Say Hi – November Was White, December Was Grey

(pre-order album)

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In poking around the web, reading old reviews, it appears there was a significant tide of backlash against David Bazan’s previous project Pedro the Lion towards the latter end of its life.  It started right around the time the concept album Control was released and continued heavily through the release of their last official album Achilles Heel.  This trend is interesting to me, mostly because first of all I’m not sure I understand it and also because it seems to be continuing today even up to Bazan’s last official release, the Fewer Moving Parts EP in 2006.

The criticism usually concerns the heavy handedness of Bazan’s lyrics and his deeper, more monotone vocal delivery first featured around the Winners Never Quit album.  Personally, I find the dark stories of lust and murder in Control and Winners Never Quit to be a highly entertaining strength- I’ve listened to both of those albums hundreds of times over.  As for Achilles Heel, sure, I can understand the overall rejection more with that album- ‘it isn’t fun to listen to’- but strangely enough it is my favorite Pedro album.  It reminds me a lot of John Vanderslice’s Emerald City in that all the extra fluff has been stripped and what is left is a solid, non-flashy record that has no stand out tracks or singles, but as a whole is probably the best of each musician’s career.  I only need to  hear the very first seconds of ‘Arizona’, ‘Discretion’ or especially ‘Start Without Me’ (yes, especially that one) and I get chills.

I’m going to skip Bazan’s all-synth side project Headphones because the coverage on that album was so minimal I would have to reach even further than I already am here.

So this takes us to the solo artist’s most recent record, the Fewer Moving Parts EP.  Here is what the prestigious Pitchfork had to say:

The thing is, Bazan’s once-sharp songwriting has dulled considerably since 1998′s understated but utterly endearing It’s Hard to Find a Friend. Whether humorously skewering standards of beauty (“winter legs give me heart attacks”) or nakedly hanging his bleeding heart out to dry on songs that addressed his Christian faith, Bazan’s early work never buckled under the weight of its self-importance. It was just spare indie rock unafraid to admit to some serious heartache. But, after a few regrettable dalliances into concept records like Winners Never Quit and Control, Bazan eschewed any semblance of subtlety for clobbering listeners with a message. And in that department, Fewer Moving Parts leaves you pretty battered.

So he is too self-important?  He needs to be more unassumingly clever?  Or maybe it’s that only unknown artists waiting to be discovered can get away with trying anything conceptual or well thought out?

The reviewer then goes on to pick apart Bazan’s lyrics on the EP by posting them plainly at face value, stripped off all context, not acknowledging the added impact of their slow twisting  revelation (basically what makes Bazan’s story telling so effective).  That tactic makes me laugh because stripped of all context and their original medium any artist’s lyrics will appear to be “cloying” and in “avoid-at-all-costs territory”.

The truth (or shall I say my truth) is somewhere in the middle.  Fewer Moving Parts is nowhere near the top of Bazan’s best work, however, it contains two great tracks that rank near the very top of the aforementioned list.  Those tracks are ‘Fewer Broken Pieces’, the autobiographical tale of going solo and letting his friends down in the process, and the immoral ‘Cold Beer and Cigarettes’.  What disappoints me about this two year old EP is its production.  Too many of the songs still sound like demos and I have to agree with Pitchfork when they point out the odd choice to include acoustic versions of each track on the same disc.  They sound so alike that either the acoustic songs are very finished or the finished songs are very raw- and I have to side with the latter.   It also adds to the already clumsy feel of it all.

The other thing that bugs me about the EP is that it’s been two years and we haven’t gotten the full length yet!  Sure, maybe I am unecessarily blaming the poor EP for something beyond its control but, hey, I want more music.  The good news is that Bazan is expected to release his first solo full length sometime in 2009 (much better news than The National announcing their follow up to Boxer is set for 2010).

David Bazan – Cold Beer and Cigarettes

(buy album)

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It’s been 3 long years since Antony and his Johnsons birthed their first breakout album, I Am a Bird Now, but do not give up hope weary listener:  help is on the way!  On January 20th, the unique and unmistakable Antony Hegarty will release his official follow up (and 3rd full length overall), The Crying Light.   Said to be inspired by ‘his relationship with the elemental and natural world’, the much awaited record should be a contender for best of 09 honors come December.  It also has a hauntingly scary cover (see above).

No sample mp3s from the Crying Light have been released so in the meantime I’ve attached the title track from Antony’s 2008 EP Another World.  I highly recommend this release as it is not only a great holdover for fans but it features some great songs.  Most notably the track ‘Shake That Devil‘ which is AMAZING.  Trust me, it’s amazing.

AMAZING.

Antony and the Johnsons – Another World

(buy this album)

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While I was busy curating the world’s most important music blog, the world’s most awesomely titled folk punk band Andrew Jackson Jihad were quietly releasing a 7 song EP follow up to their delightful 2007 release People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World.  That is a lot of world for one sentence.  It’s also a lot of good news for fans of the Pheonix band (including that one dude who posted a comment on my last post).

Only God Can Judge Me isn’t as furiously strummed and shouted as their People full length but all the goods are still in tact (sharp lyrics, great use of stand up bass).  It’s definitely a worthy follow up, if not a nice look at the more emotional side of the band.  Here is the third track, ‘Growing Up’, which has curse words so be careful playing it in front of your children.

Andrew Jackson Jihad – Growing Up

(buy this album)

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Speaking of friends, Barnett is finally making music and touring again with his new band of friends called Fun with Friends.   I haven’t heard any actual recordings from this new band of friends (unless those random demos and covers on his Myspace are samples) but I can’t imagine their sound be too far removed from the good old days when I would insult Barnett’s Phil Ochs tribute album, he’d defend himself by saying it was recorded on Gene Autry’s 4 track and besides who cares what I think because he makes music only for himself, then I’d say if you make music only for yourself you should stop releasing albums that are stocked at Tower Records and buy a cabin in the woods, grow a beard, and play your songs to the forest.   You know looking back, it may not have helped that I reminded him of our online argument when asking for that CD-R of demos.  Hmmmm.

I’m not really sure what the lineup for Fun with Friends is but I do know Barnett is going on tour under the name alongside Sean Bonette of Andrew Jackson Jihad and David J of Novi Split, who has also performed as part of Kind of Like Spitting for years.  Will they play new songs or take turns playing their own bands’ songs?  Will they all be one band or come out one at a time?  No one really knows, I suppose.  But nonetheless here are the dates!

Fun with Friends 2009 Tour Dates

Jan 1.)  Seattle (Healthy Times Fun Club)

Jan 2.) Portland (The Artistery)

Jan 4.) Sactown (The Java Lounge)

Jan 5.) Sacramento  (Bigfoot Ranch)

Jan 6.) Santa Cruz  (The Crepe Place)

Jan 7.) Long Beach  (TBA)

Jan 8.) San Diego (The Boat House)

Jan 9.) Phoenix  (Trunk Space)

Jan 10.) Tucson (Dry River)

And here are some delicious mp3s from each artist!

Kind of Like Spitting – Team Reasonable

Purchase Kind of Like Spitting’s split EP with Lemuria ‘Your Living Room’s All Over Me’ at Amazon.com

Andrew Jackson Jihad – Brave as a Noun

Purchase Andrew Jackson Jihad’s ‘People Who Can Eat People’ on Amazon.com

Novi Split – Leaving It

Purchase Novi Split’s ‘Pink in the Sink’ on Amazon.com

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The jam in question is called “Tons” and while it isn’t as obviously clever of a choice as that one Death Cab track it does have a repeating lyric that inspires celebratory glee (“We’re having tons of fun”).  The song is taken off El Boxeo’s record Awake & Dreaming, which is a fact you may have not known.

That’s all you’re going to get today so Happy New Year!  And you’re welcome for the hot pic/boner!

El Boxeo – Tons

Purchase El Boxeo’s ‘Awake & Dreaming’ at Amazon.com

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Luckily for me, I don’t really have to put much effort into this thing at all.  Naturally and easily, my list will always be pretty different from everything else out there in music blog internet land.  For starters, I don’t get nearly as many promos as other blogs, which means there are dozens of great albums I’ll never have to worry about avoiding due to ‘Best Of’ over-saturation (ignorance is bliss!).  I can just post the 5, 6 or 9 albums that I really enjoyed that year and move on.

The other reason why this list will be a little varied from what one might see on other blogs is that I am a unique, insightful, enlightened music listener.

So with that, let’s dive in!

…

Jessica Lea Mayfield – ‘With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt’

Every dreamy, reverb-drenched moment of Jessica Lea Mayfield’s debut full length is a revelation.  With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt is an album with surprisingly dark tones and bittersweet lyrics, however, they work beautifully with Mayfield’s accessible country/bluegrass sound and serve as exciting proof of the big game potential stored inside this Ohioan’s petite outer frame.  The 19 year old singer-songwriter has big things ahead of her- this solid 12 song collection not only hints at it but it shows us first hand.  The goods are here and ready to be heard.

Jessica Lea Mayfield – Kiss Me Again

Purchase Jessica Lea Mayfield’s ‘With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt’ on Amazon.com

…

Nada Surf – ‘Lucky’

There isn’t much I can say about Nada Surf other than that they are just a solid band.  The Proximity Effect, solid.  Let Go, super solid.  The Weight is a Gift, some pretty solid songs on there.  Lucky, solid.  So much solid going on here.  ‘See These Bones’ probably has the most awesome harmonies I’ve heard this year (for real, the song has about 4 awesome chorus melodies in it).  If you still haven’t gotten into these dudes do it now!  You’re only looking dumber by every minute you resist!

Nada Surf – See These Bones

Purchase Nada Surf’s ‘Lucky’ on Amazon.com

…

Mount Eerie featuring Julie Doiron and Fred Squire – ‘Lost Wisdom’

As a huge Mount Eerie/Microphones/Phil Elverum fan, it pains me to admit that on occasion the wiley Mr. Elverum lives up to his reputation and enters that dangerous “difficult listening” territory.   I’m referring of course to the moments when his prolific output and re-recording and tinkering of old songs lead to one-off EPs and mini-albums of sprawling, unfocused genius ramblings (I’d include his Old/New Songs of Mount Eerie and Dawn records on that list).  Then there are the brilliant, more centered releases like the Singers EP and No Flashlight which rank at the top of my favorite Mount Eerie/Microphones albums list.  I guess what this introductory paragraph is trying to say is that Elverum’s latest release, Lost Wisdom, is my new favorite Mount Eerie record.

With the help of Eric’s Trip alum Julie Doiron and guitarist Fred Squire, Elverum puts the evil inner-genius aside for 23 minutes and lets the songs stretch their joints and breathe a little more.  What we get is sparse arrangement, beautiful male-female vocal harmonies and a slow, revealing documentary-like view into a unique collaboration of musical talents.  Doiron’s voice and Phil’s blend seamlessly, so well that I am almost sad she can’t be on every Mount Eerie album following Lost Wisdom.  And Squire’s guitar playing adds a nice subtle layer to the session.  Regardless if you are a fan of difficult genius Phil Elverum or friendly accessible Phil Elverum, this record is a must.  Go out and regain this wisdom.

Mount Eerie – Voice in Headphones

Purchase Mount Eerie’s ‘Lost Wisdom’ on Amazon.com

…

Honorable Mentions:

Here is a quick list of albums that rocked almost as hard as the ones above.  Almost.

M83 – Saturdays = Youth
Hey!  What happened to all that slow-building, atmospheric electronic stuff?!  Oh, you replaced it with awesome 80′s style pop?  Nice!

Here is the video for the record’s first single ‘Kim & Jessie’.

Purchase M83′s ‘Saturdays = Youth’ on Amazon.com

…

Bon Iver – ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’
Ok so when I said this list would be different, I lied.  Here is one album that is on everyone else’s list and deservedly so.  The only reason Bon Iver’s high falsetto and dirty guitar strumming get an honorable mention rather than an official bonafide spot on my year end list is because I wish every song on the album was as great as ‘Skinny Love’.

Bon Iver – Skinny Love

Purchase Bon Iver’s ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ on Amazon.com

…

Wolf Parade – ‘At Mount Zoomer’

Everyone went crazy over Apologies to the Queen Mary but Wolf Parade’s follow up At Mount Zoomer seemed to slip through the cracks a bit.  IMO, it’s every bit as good if not better (did I just type ‘IMO’?).

Wolf Parade – Language City

Purchase Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zoomer at Amazon.com

…

More honorable mentions:

Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell

The National – The Virginia EP

Mock Orange – Captain Love

Jennifer O’Connor – Here With Me

Horse Feathers – House With No Home

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