Video: Cold Specks - 'Blank Maps'

Cold Specks is the moniker of unpronounceable Canadian singer Al Spx. She apparently takes her name from the following line in James Joyce's Ulysses: "Born all in the dark wormy earth, cold specks of fire, evil, lights shining in the darkness". Lighthearted, this music is not. She has an album due out on May 22nd entitled I Predict a Graceful Expulsion but was kind enough to release this video for her upcoming single, Blank Maps.



Due out on May 22nd on Mute Records.

Stream: Tom Waits - "You Can Never Hold Back Spring"

It looks like Spring has finally come to Cleveland. The weather forecasts warm temperatures from here on out. Here is a nice tune from the inimitable Tom Waits entitled You Can Never Hold Back Spring. 

2-02 You Can Never Hold Back Spring by oldjoytree

Also, if you weren't aware that Heath Ledger based his Joker performance on Tom Waits, this video clip from a 1979 interview should leave no doubt in your mind. 

Passed Over: Ben Howard - 'Only Love'

Somehow this one slipped through the cracks last year but, fortunately, I've been turned on to it now. It's by UK artist Ben Howard.

Ben Howard - Only Love


While you're at it, check out this amazing video of Ben performing the song live for a surprise flashmob.

Stream: Fiona Apple - 'Every Single Night'

 After just a short 7-year hiatus, Fiona Apple returns with a new full-length album, due out on June 19th. It's another mouthful of an album name, The Idler Wheel is wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords will serve you more than Ropes will ever do. Here is a taste of things to come, with her lead-off single, Every Single Night.

Download: Wintersleep - "Resuscitate"

Wintersleep has a new album set to be released on June 12th entitled Hello Hum, but they've given us a little taste of what's to come with a song from that forthcoming release. It's called Resuscitate and it showcases their new electronic leanings. Check it out:

Wintersleep - Resuscitate

Here's a video of Wintersleep performing a song from their 2010 release, Weighty Ghost.

Video: Cloud Nothings - "Stay Useless"

Check out this new video from Cleveland's own Cloud Nothings. It's a trippy animated affair for the title track of their recent LP Stay Useless. 

Stream: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes - "Mother"

Spinner brings us a stream of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes' new song Mother that was written for an album commissioned by Every Mother Counts. Check it out below.

Listen to "Mother"

Stream: Gotye feat. Kimbra - 'Somebody That I Used to Know (Jr. Blender Dub Remix)'

This remix of Gotye's smash 2011 hit was actually released a while back, but I just heard it on today's Morning Becomes Eclectic. One of my favorite of the plethora of remixes of this song that are out there.

Gotye feat. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know (Jr. Blender Dub Remix)

Thanks to Peter Yong for the illustration. 

Stream: Horse Feathers - "Cynic's New Year"

NPR is streaming Horse Feathers' new album Cynic's New Year over at NPR Music. Hear it now before it's out on April 17th.

Stream: POP ETC (Formerly The Morning Benders) - Mixtape

So, UK Band The Morning Benders has changed it's name to the unpronounceable POP ETC and released a new mixtape for streaming on Soundcloud to introduce the new name. Apparently "bender" is a derogatory term for homosexuals in their native England and they didn't want to be associated with that name anymore. I can respect that.

Check out the very synth-heavy release below.

Video: Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers - "I Can't Go For That (Hall & Oates)"

Just in case you missed this:

Review: Quantic & Alice Russell With The Combo Barbaro - Look Around The Corner (2012)

DJ extraordinaire Quantic has teamed up with chanteuse Alice Russell on a fantastic release that blends touches of latin jazz, bolero, funk, boogaloo, doo-wop and motown into a delicious blend of hard-charging soul music. Apparently he's been spending quite a bit of time down in Colombia exploring the style known as Cumbia which accounts for the heavy latin flair. I've been listening to this release quite a bit since it found its way onto my playlist and the standout track, so far, is clearly the Latin/Motown/Soul song I'll Keep A Light In My Window. This song could be an anthem and rallying cry for the socially-minded among us. Take a listen:
Quantic & Alice Russell  - I'll Keep A Light In My Window


Songs featuring Alice Russell are interspersed throughout with the straight-up instrumentals that are Quantic's bread and butter. My favorites so far have been the vocal tracks, but that's not to say the instrumentals aren't up to his usual standards. Check out Una Tarde En Mariquita as a great example of the cumbia style.
Quantic & Alice Russell - Una Tarde En Mariquita


The huge breadth of musical styles and genres that are integrated seamlessly on this album is really impressive. Check out Su Suzy which leads off in sincere Latin Jazz but then swings wildly into doo-wop when the vocals come in. Craziness.
Quanti & Alice Russell - Su Suzy



Boogaloo 33 is a danceable motown/boogaloo number, complete with hammond organ and a horn section.
Quantic & Alice Russell - Boogaloo 33


It's really a great album, all around, and is highly recommended. I'll close with a mini-documentary performance of I'll Keep A Light In My Window. Skip to 1:20 if you don't want your illusions about Alice Russell's speaking voice shattered.

Available now on TRU THOUGHTS records. Buy it here.

For fans of: Quantic, Bajka, Alabama Shakes, Thievery Corporation

Review: M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion (2012)

M. Ward hasn't put out a solo album since 2009's underwhelming Hold Time, instead making time with Ben Gibbard's favorite girl, Zooey Deschanel, playing backup to her nasally, irritating warble. I don't know if he finally got tired of playing second fiddle or whether he's tapped that well dry but he's about to release a brand new solo album that, thankfully, only features Deschanel on one song. Titled A Wasteland Companion, the 12-track LP features a host of other guest performances by the Portland singer-songwriter’s talented friends, including John Parish, longtime collaborator/Monsters of Folk bandmate Mike Mogis, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, and recent tourmate Howe Gelb. It's a return to form for M. Ward, similar in strength to 2006's Post War, but not quite reaching the heights of, what I consider his masterpiece, Transistor Radio. 

The album leads off with a soft-spoken peon to second chances entitled Clean Slate. It's M. Ward at his best, voice un-processed and without overproduction. 

M. Ward - Clean Slate

Track #2 is the lead-off single that's been making the rounds on college radio, Primitive Girl. It features the double-tracked, processed M. Ward vocals featured prominently on Hold Time and over-production with backing vocals that I'm not terribly fond of. 

M. Ward - Primitive Girl

Track #3, Me and My Shadow, starts off strong but then devolves quickly. Track #4, Sweetheart, features  the erstwhile Mrs. Gibbard and that's all I'll say about that. 

Skipping ahead to Track #6, The First Time I Ran Away, we find another great song. We return to the soft-spoken vocals, but now with a bit more in the way of backing instrumentation and vocals. A lovely song. 

M. Ward  - The First Time I Ran Away

Next we have the title track, A Wasteland Companion, which starts out a straight-up blues affair which shifts to a atmospheric guitar instrumental half-way through. My second favorite of the album. 

M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion

The next four tracks are middling efforts, with a low point at Crawl After You, my least favorite of the album. This is quickly followed, however, with the closing track, and my favorite of the album, Pure Joy. Great strummed guitar with a lovely chorus with backing vocals and a walking bass-line. Fantastic. 

M. Ward - Pure Joy

This is a short album, clocking in at a paltry 36 minutes total, with the longest song being only 3:42 and the majority being under 3 minutes. Clearly quantity is not a reflection of quality, however, as this is a great album, overall. 8/10

I'll leave you with a solo performance of Chinese Translation from Hold Time. More of this, please. 

Out April 10th on Merge Records. Buy it here.

For fans of: Josh Ritter, Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, Joe Pug

Review: The Lumineers - The Lumineers (2012)

It is somewhat appropriate that this band shares their name with a brand of dental veneers. Go see one of their live shows and it will become obvious why. Just check out the giant grins plastered across the faces of the audience members. The Lumineers play stompy-clappy roots Americana that just can't help but pick you up and carry you along. You may recognize The Lumineers from their appearance on my 2011 picks with their song Ho Hey (special thanks to Fuel/Friends for the recording). That happened to be a soft pick for 2011 since they had not released an actual album in 2011, but the song was just too good to not include, considering how many plays it had in iTunes on my computer. Now they have finally released a full-length album, just a few months too late. I can imagine I'll find a few tracks to include on next year's list though.

Here is the studio recording of Ho Hey from the album.
The Lumineers - Ho Hey

They really manage to capture the same live feel to it. Impressive.

They often manage to sound a bit like Mumford & Sons, likely due to the lead singer's tendency to stomp a kick-drum while strumming out his songs. There's only so many ways to play kick-drum, I suppose. Check out Classy Girls, which starts out slow blue-grass and flips into a rollicking stomp-clap number, complete with kick-drum, halfway through.
The Lumineers - Classy Girls


In Big Parade, the pattern is reversed with the kick-drum keeping steady-time through most of the beginning of the song before dropping out briefly towards the end before coming back in at the end for a big finish with the same shouted back-up vocals we heard in Ho Hey.
The Lumineers - Big Parade


They change things up quite a bit with Slow it Down, a heart-rending ballad strummed out on echo-laden electric guitar. The aching vocals are a perfect counterpoint to the insistent electric guitar. I love how the emotion and pace ramps up towards the end.
The Lumineers - Slow It Down


I'll close with a great impromptu performance of the lead off track Flowers In Your Hair played in the stairwell of the Bar Bar Bus Bus of Portland, Oregon.

Out now from Dualtone Music Group. Buy it here.

For fans of: The Head & The Heart, Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, Campfire OK.

Video: The Tallest Man On Earth - "Little Brother" (Live in Cape Town)

Continuing to catch up on promising new music from the past few months, here is a surprisingly listenable audience recording of Kristian Mattson (The Tallest Man On Earth) debuting a fantastic new song during one of his two recent sold-out shows in Cape Town, South Africa. I can't wait to hear a better recording of it.

Stream: Michael Kiwanuka & Dan Auerbach - Lasan

This has apparently been out since mid-March, but I just came across it today. Dan Auerbach (of the The Black Keys) teamed up with Michael Kiwanuka on a predictably soulful track called Lasan. Soundcloud stream below.