Maps & Atlases have released a new song via Myspace titled “You And Me And The Mountain” from their upcoming EP of the same name due out June 15th on Sergent House Records. The four Chicago lads first EP Trees, Swallows, Houses was re-released last year and it’s blend of Don Caballero noodling and tapping, poppy drum beats and wacky vocals made it one of the most fun records of the year. The new song isn’t as instrumentally impressive or wild but is catchy nonetheless. If you wanna hear some of the coolest tapping guitar work, listen to “Every Place Is A House” from their first EP. Here you go.

“You And Me And The Mountain” On Myspace

“Every Place Is A House” from Trees, Swallows, Houses (2007)

Over the last two weeks or so, I have been more or less obsessed with Destroyer’s (aka Dan Bejar of The New Pornographers) latest album Trouble In Dreams. The album is my first experience with any of Bejar’s solo work and I regret not looking into him sooner, as the album is a truly fantastic blend of indie pop and singer-songwriter sensibilities. The opener “Blue Flower/Blue Flame” is an intimate acoustic track that highlights Bejar’s wispy vocals, smart lyrics and terrific compositional skills, as a high guitar lead melodic dances along with Bejar’s croons of “blue flower, blue flame, a woman by another name is not a woman.” Bejar’s voice has the slightest hint of a Jeff Magnum or Colin Meloy accent but his lyrical ability truly shines, especially on Trouble In Dreams. Tracks like “My Favourite Year” or “Dark Leaves Form A Thread” switch from quiet vocal and guitar interplay to full band indie pop antics like that of Sunset Rubdown. I love the album so much, I think it’s my top early contender for best album of 2008, so check it out.

mp3: “Blue Flower / Blue Flame”
mp3: “Dark Leaves Form A Thread”
mp3: “Introducing Angels”

iTunes | Amazon | Myspace

Now that Sparta is on hiatus, I guess the only thing Jim Ward could do was write a solo acoustic EP. In case you’re unfamiliar with him, Jim Ward (nope, no relation to M. Ward) was the singer/guitarist for both Sparta and At The Drive-In. Though Sparta’s music was more rooted alternative rock and post-hardcore, Ward’s solo EP Quiet is full of simplistic, folk-based acoustic pop songs, a la fellow post-hardcore frontman-turned-acoustic artist Dustin Kensrue. I am personally a huge fan of Ward’s voice in Sparta and his emotional croons work just as well over acoustic. Check out the tracks and pick up Quiet if you have a chance.

mp3: “Coastlines”

mp3: “Mystery Talks”

Myspace | iTunes | Amazon

Unless you’re like me and have been anticipating Sun Kil Moon’s new record April, due out April 1st on Caldo Verde, since January, now would be the appropriate time to get pumped. In case you’re not familiar, Sun Kil Moon is a folk group fronted by Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters fame and April will be Sun Kil Moon’s first original music since the 2003 release of their debut LP Ghosts Of The Great Highway. Ghosts Of The Great Highway bore some similarities to the Red House Painters; Kozelek’s signature croon over introspective and intricate guitar lines. But the album leaned more towards folk than anything the Painters had done, with more of an acoustic feel and spectacular lyrics that focus around various famous boxing champions.

4 years, an album of Modest Mouse covers and a Ghost Of The Great Highway re-release later, April is born. The album, which you can stream in full from their myspace, is truly breathtaking and will not fail to disappoint eager fans. Take the opener, “Lost Verses,” an ambitious 10 minute acoustic masterpiece whose noodling guitars and high pitched moans establish the traditional Sun Kil Moon sound, while sounding richer and bolder than anything on Ghosts Of The Great Highway. “Harper Road” is delicately intimate and short but sweet while “Tonight The Sky” is full of dirty, distorted electric guitars and dissonant lead guitar work. The album is simply stunning, showcasing Kozelek’s beautiful voice and superb guitar playing. I can’t say that there’s anything that new here, the songs stick to the Ghosts Of The Great Highway formula of acoustic ballads and the occasional gritty electric song, but the album just has a bold, mature and full sound that I think can be appreciated by fans of Kozelek or just folk music in general. So do yourself a favor and pre-order April and catch Sun Kil Moon on their summer tour. It will make your April Fool’s Day all the more enjoyable.

Stream April On Myspace

From Ghosts Of The Great Highway:

mp3: Gentle Moon

mp3: Glenn Tipton

Official Site | Amazon | iTunes

Though I’m not too crazy about British Sea Power’s 2008 release Do You Like Rock Music?, the album’s first single “Waving Flags” is by far the album’s best track and an early contender for best single of 2008. Although Do You Like Rock Music? has a few gems, too many of the songs on the album are just too generic indie rock sounding for my tastes. But check out “Waving Flags” if you’re into any grandiose, Arcade Fire sounding stuff. Enjoy!

British Sea Power- “Waving Flags”

In celebration, albeit somewhat late celebration, of his announcement of a new album this year, I thought I’d do a small little write up about one of my favorite songwriters, Dustin Kensrue, singer/guitarist of california experimental rockers Thrice and as of last year, solo acoustic act. Kensrue’s 2007 solo album Please Come Home is a delightful mix of acoustic folk and a little bit of blues, layered underneath Kensrue’s emotional croons. Though the lyrical content of the some of the songs can be preachy (Kensrue’s lyrical work on Thrice’s Vheissu also took a very unexpected Christian tinge), the album is overall a beautiful example of how versatile Kensrue is and how well his voice works over acoustic. And although the music could most accurately be compared to more pop sounding singer songwriters like Jack Johnson or John Mayer’s acoustic work, don’t let that deter you, the album can be enjoyed by fans of any acoustic work. To the straight up, fast paced blues tale of addiction and adrenaline “Blood & Wine,” to the bouncy, folksy “Consider The Ravens,” a parable of maintaining faith in the hardest situations. I’m also going to take this opportunity to give you guys a couple mp3s from the 2007 Thrice release The Alchemy Index, Vol. 2: Water. If you’ve ever heard Thrice’s older material, forget what you know and download these mp3s. You’ll recognize Kensrue’s moans but Water is a beautiful, relaxing blend of atmospheric guitars, echoing piano, shimmering vocal harmonies, computerized drums and volume swells so definitely check it out if you’re a fan of atmospheric type music.

From Please Come Home:

“Please Come Home”

“Blood & Wine”

“Consider The Ravens”

From Thrice’s The Alchemy Index, Vol. 2: Water:

“The Whaler”

“Digital Sea”

Myspace | Official Site | Amazon | iTunes

Many of you may recognize the name Glen Hansard, singer of Irish band The Frames and more recently, star of the movie Once. While I’m only vaguely familiar with The Frames’ material, a couple months ago I actually got his collaboration (from my mom, funnily enough) with Once co-star/pianist Markéta Irglová called The Swell Season and it quickly became one of my favorite albums. The album is an absolutely beautiful blend of quiet piano, guitar and cello interplay and the perfectly complimenting voices of Irglová and Hansard. In addition to being featured at both Coachella and Bonnaroo this year, the song “Falling Slowly” was featured in the movie Once and has been nominated for both an Oscar and a Grammy. While the song unfortunately lost at the Grammys (to “Love You I Do” from Dreamgirls), I’m really hoping that the two artists pick up an Oscar this Sunday, they sure as hell deserve it. If you like The Mountain Goats, Damien Rice, any kind of folksy, mellow stuff, definitely check out the mp3s and tune in on Sunday to see if they take home an Oscar. Enjoy!

From The Swell Season:

“Falling Slowly”

“Drown Out”

“Leave”

Myspace | Amazon | iTunes

Hey, thanks to anyone who tuned in to the wvau radio show today from 2-4 PM. It was a fun show and I hope if you tuned in, you liked the music you heard. Keep checking the blog all this week for spotlights about some of the bands we played. And to those of you who didn’t tune in, it’s easy, you can listen from anywhere. All you need is a computer; just click the large banner located on the left side of this page and our show should stream in iTunes. We feature a lot of music we post about on the blog in addition to other favorites of ours and even some up and coming DC area bands. So I hope you’ll tune in next weekend if you wanna hear some cool tunes. Even send us an IM at radiowvau if you have a request. Anyway, here is my playlist for the day, Dave’s will be coming soon {UPDATE: David’s playlist added, click “continue reading” to see all}

These United States – First Sight

Destroyers – Introducing Angels

Lior – I’ll Forget You

James – Laid

Band of Horses – Ode to LRC

Belle and Sebastian – Your Secrets

Aloha – Passengers

Liam Finn – I’ll Be Lightning

Cold War Kids – Hospital Beds

Jon Brion – Didn’t Think It Would Turn Out Bad

Nas- Memory Lane (Sittin’ In Da Park)

Grizzly Bear- Easier

Sun Kil Moon- Somewhere [Version 2]

Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová- When Your Mind’s Made Up

Cat Power- Speak For Me

Continue reading →

Chances are, if you’ve been reading any kind of indie blog over the last couple weeks, you’ve heard the name Vampire Weekend. With all the hype surrounding the band, I was sure I was going to be disappointed by their January release Vampire Weekend. But, as much as I hate to subscribe to the whole Pitchfork hype, the album is a solid chunk of music, especially for a debut LP. I don’t know if I really buy the whole “Afrobeat influence” that has been cited as one of the band’s defining characteristics (along with the fact that they’re all from Columbia University, indietastic!) but their music is a mix of Sunset Rubdown or Architecture In Helsinki pop antics (though definitely more subdued), vocal yelps and croons akin to Maps And Atlases, impressive and eclectic drum beats ranging from tribal bongo beats to poppy snare and cymbal combos, and reverb-caked bursts of guitar, organ and bass reminiscent of The Strokes. Take “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” for example, an undeniably catchy mix of bouncy guitar and bass, backed by a tribal tom-based drum beat or “I Stand Corrected,” whose echoing piano, volume swells and rhythmic drums never fail to get me tapping my foot. The album has an incredible amount of variation, all while retaining a distinct sound and flow. So check out their debut Vampire Weekend and stay tuned to see if they succumb to the sophomore slump (Bloc Party, anyone?)

“Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”

“Oxford Comma”

“M79”

Myspace | Official Site | iTunes