Grant Manship

A Few MP3's from Swan Lake's Enemy Mine

Everyone's favorite indie supergroup, Swan Lake, will be releasing their newest album Enemy Mine on Jagjaguwar on March 24th.  Lucky for us, the band are offering up 3 tracks from the album (each showcasing a different member of the band) to give us a glimpse into the results of their most recent collaboration.

• Swan Lake - "Spanish Gold, 2044" from Enemy Mine
• Swan Lake - "A Hand At Dusk" from Enemy Mine
• Swan Lake - "Spiders" from Enemy Mine

Shugo Tokumaru - Clocca

Liars Remix Fol Chen

In what is definitely one of the more interesting quotes describing a band's sound that I've read in a while, the LA Times said, "Fol Chen sounds a bit like Sufjan Stevens if he'd been raised by David Koresh instead of Christian-hippie parents in Michigan." If that doesn't pique your interest (which seems hard to imagine) maybe getting a Liars remix of that sound will. Check out the remix below and pick up the record which hit stores today if you're so inclined.

• Fol Chen - "Cable TV" from Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made (Liars Remix)

Favorite New Release of the Week

Various Artists - Dark Was the Night

How do you write a review for an album like this without filling it with hyperbole?  I don't know that it's possible because quite frankly, this is an unbelievable collection of music.  Dark Was The Night is a double album showcasing the individual and collaborative talents of a majority of the most interesting artists making music today.  You have the likes of the Dirty Projectors, David Byrne, The Books, Jose Gonzalez, Feist, Ben Gibbard, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, The National and Yeasayer and that's only the first half of the first disc!  I'm not going to bother trying to pick favorites or list which songs I think are the best.  If you ask me, we have a 31-way tie for first.

Aside from being full of wonderful artists making incredible music the album has a more important purpose.  It serves to benefit the Red Hot Organization which is an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture.  Dark Was The Night has been said to serve as a sort of follow-up to 1994's No Alternative from Red Hot which featured bands like Nirvana, Sonic Youth and the Smashing Pumpkins.  To top it all off, it's produced by two of Cincinnati's favorite sons, Aaron and Bryce Dessner. 

What more could you possibly ask for?  Nothing from the way I see it so with that being said, go out and buy this thing!

New MP3 from Papercuts

I was a big fan of Papercuts' Can't Go Back and it looks like my affinity for the follow-up isn't going to be any different.  I definitely hear a little bit of The Zombies in the dusty preview we've been given which you can hear below.  If you hear a little bit of a Beach House vibe in this track (or others on the album) it's because Alex Scally helped with some of the arrangements.  Enjoy!

• Papercuts - "Future Primitive" from You Can Have What You Want

School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep

Peter Bjorn and John - Nothing To Worry About

Footage from the Final Silver Jews Gig

The Professor alerted me to the existence of some nice, albeit bittersweet, footage of the first and last song of the final Silver Jews gig which took place a few days ago (Jan. 31st) at Cumberland Caverns. If you missed the show (or if you were lucky enough to be there and want to relive it) you can check out both videos below.

P.S. For those of you who weren't lucky enough to attend there's talk the show was filmed for a potential DVD release by Drag City.