Antony has just released a very short teaser video for his upcoming EP Another World (October 7, Secretly Canadian). The teaser is, as mentioned, short and also confusing, but the song, the title track, is quite lovely and will please any and all fans. The song is also the first single from the highly anticipated full length The Crying Light, which will be released January 2009.
This performance was recorded on September 20th at the Farm Aid benefit concert and finishes with the inimitable Mr Young's cover of The Beatles "A Day In The Life". And from the sound of his set, the 'old man' had a damn good day.
Pink Floyd's keyboardist Richard Wright passed away on Monday. In his memory here is a live performance of one of the best contributions to the Pink Floyd canon, "Echoes", live in Hakone, Japan, 1971.
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the walkmen you & me ra ra riot the rhumb line okkervil river the stand ins girl talk night ripper the stills oceans will rise the uglysuit the uglysuit rodriguez cold fact fefe dobson watch me move giant sand provision loudon wainwright III recovery friendly fires friendly fires damien jurado caught in the trees the broken west now or heaven the new year the new year
Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, and several more who sit a rung below on this particular musical ladder now have to make room to welcome William Fitzsimmons to the upper rungs, rungs which lead into the quiet introspective sky of this musical realm. Fitzsimmons music more closely resembles Sam Beam's (Iron & Wine) earlier uncomplicated work, whereas on Beam's latest effort (The Shepherd's Dog) Beam displayed a more surefooted confidence, on his early discs things were kept simple and some would feel, more pure. There is an honesty and purity to Fitzsimmons on this his third record, perhaps a bit too much piano though, as I think his voice sounds fantastic when set against the warm wood and metal of an acoustic guitar (or banjo), the piano being just too cold for him (maybe a quiet reedy organ would be a perfect fit for the next record).
If I could climb cat-like into a big heavy leafed tree to curl up in a cool nook to sleep... this is the music that would be my drowsy purring soundtrack. Released on September 30th, Fitzsimmons The Sparrow and The Crow offers 12 songs, of which "Goodmorning" stands out with it's lovely circular descending melody driven by the acoustic guitars.
The first album in ages to literally make me feel good. A song like"Willow Tree" (the lead off track) makes me smile and cry (okay, sniffle a bit) at the same time, but you may wonder how a song that provokes tears can inspire feeling of happiness, as well? It's simply the fact that rarely does music magically alter my brain chemistry so extremely... and so well.
Calgary's VanGaalen can sing in Neil Young's quaver, but without the fragility which Young naturally inhabits, VanGaalen's voice is stronger and more varied, matching his many creative interests. In the lovely, and perhaps haunted, track "Cries of The Dead", VanGaalen builds a lyric out of what I imagine is the many hours he has spent in his basement studio hearing his neighbours, like ghosts, in his headphones. A stellar song from an astonishing album titled Soft Airplane, one which I predict will win the next year's Polaris Prize.
The youtube video above is one of three promo videos which Chad did entirely on his own, you know, just for fun.
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