From their lastest release, Tight Knit. Directed by Jonathan Krisel, and outstanding costume design by Hilary Olson.
From their album, Bits.
Directed by Jade Harris
From Sera Cahoone's Sub Pop release, Only As The Day Is Long.
Directed by Andy Bruntel
Video for "Keechie" from No Age's Nouns (Sub Pop)
Video for "Miniature Birds" from Grand Archives taken from their s/t debut out now on Sub Pop.
New video from CSS from their forthcoming LP Donkey (Sub Pop)
Directed by Jarrod Tallman
No Ones Gonna Love You from Band Of Horses' Cease To Begin (Sub Pop).
Band of Horses
Cease to Begin
2007 | Sub Pop
Band of Beards, I mean Band of Horses' sophomore release Cease to Begin
segues nicely from their last record with the opening track "Is There a
Ghost". That track could have sat well on Everything All the Time.
However that dreaded sophomore slump has wormed its way into the
subsequent tracks. This album has proven that I can still have a
love/hate relationship with a piece of music. Ok, well maybe hate is
too strong of a word. Listening to the lyrics though sometimes I had to
shake my head. "Ode to LRC" is a perfectly acceptable song, catchy
even, until Ben Birdwell starts to sing out the words "..the world is
such a wonderful place..la tee da." Then it feels strained and cliched.
Maybe he just rushed through the song, or he was having an amazing day
when he wrote it, but the word choices are jarring from his usual
lyrics that feel a little grittier. That's the problem with some of the
songs, bordering on a mediocre approach that seems to only hover on the
surface and not go further.
But
then I have the love part of the album too that still makes me want to
listen and give them a try. Birdwell's voice still holds that sad, soft
quality to it, and it has a sharp uniqueness to it that still draws me
to listen to him. I'm also a sucker for songs you can clap along to and
stamp your feet ("Lamb of the Lam (In the City)"). The accessibility
towards a wider audience is here, and yet it is obvious that they are
still trying to do a "Band of Horses" album and not completely re-work
their material into something foreign for them. I can respect that.
Overall the album is polished, but in that over scrubbed way. I'd
recommend "Is There a Ghost", "Marry Song" and "Lamb of the Lam (In the
City)".
-Elana Rintala
(Looking for something similar? Try these bands: Neko Case, Wilco, and Neil Young.)
Iron and Wine
The Shepherd's Dog
2007 | Sub Pop
When the first single off Iron and Wine's latest release The Shepherd's
Dog hit the web several months ago, there was this odd shock that Sam
Beam was letting go of the hushed, dreamy folk-type music that he had
done well up to that point. The single "Boy With a Coin" first off
sounded more produced than what I was familiar with. However, even with
the addition of the hand drums and clapping, the song didn't come off
as this poppy piece that I was expecting to hear. That is until I
finally was able to listen to the whole album.
There is a
blending of the slow, melodic folk music with a very present Indie Rock
sensibility. Sam Beam's voice still has that masked quality to it but
is surrounded by a much more fuller sound. Sometimes the layered
effects of Beam's soft voice with the band work, sometimes not so much
as they inadvertently muddle each other. I found this to be the case
with the first track "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car". I did enjoy the
upbeat, sunny quality to the song, but I found the actual mix was, at
times, drowning out what I find to be one of the best qualities about
Iron and Wine, his voice.
The second track "White Tooth Man"
mixes bluegrass pickings with a world music beat. Although an odd
pairing, the end result is very fluid and feels right. Maybe it's the
drumming. "The Devil Never Sleeps" is an upbeat number that
incorporates electric guitar and a piano for the combined effect of
some 70's classic rock jam that feels like an unspoken force on this
album. Following that classic vein, "Peace Beneath the City" adds some
psych elements. There's something about it that kept making me think I
was going to start hearing "Black Magic Woman" or "Planet Caravan"
though.
"Resurrection Fern" and "Flightless Bird, American
Mouth" work best for me for not straying so far from what Iron and Wine
used to be. Soft meandering tracks where the vocals, although subdued,
really stand out and complete the songs. Although this really is a new
direction for Iron and Wine, it is not so different as to turn away
older fans, and is more approachable for a somewhat wider audience. I'd
recommend: "White Tooth Man", "Resurrection Fern" and "The Devil Never
Sleeps".
-Elana Rintala
(Looking for something similar? Try these bands: Tom Waits, Modest Mouse, and Nick Drake)
Directed by Adam Bizanski
Dntel's "The Distance" features guest vocalists Arthur & Yu. The song is taken from Tamborello's new album Dumb Luck (Sub Pop).
The second video from their latest full-length Drums and Guns. If you really got into Thom Yorke's The Eraser then this album is right up your alley.
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