Iron & Wine

"Walking Far From Home"

This past week's Black Friday saw the release of Iron & Wine's much anticipated new single "Walking Far From Home". The new record, 'Kiss Each Other Clean' by Sam Beam & Co. will FINALLY see the light of day on January 25th. After listening to the new track it seems as if he has re-imagined the restraints of "Folk" music yet again; his last effort "The Shepard's Dog" being a bit of a departure from the early work. If the new track "Walking..." is a true sign of what the lies in wait with the full length; it looks as though Beck might have some competition in the world of reinventing yourself.
Check out "Walking Far From Home" below.

Iron & Wine - Walking Far From Home by acid stag
       

Sufjan Stevens

Plays Jimmy Fallon

By now Sufjan Steven's rapid cult of fans already knows of and most likely have seen his performance on friday's Jimmy Fallon show. If by some chance you haven't seen it or even more remarkably, if you've never heard of him, it is a must see. He made his television debut with the performance of "Too Much" off of his latest release 'The Age of Adz', Sufjan and his army of musicians are covered in neon colored feathers, stripes and I believe a foil hat or two. This new record marks a stylistic change for Sufjan, having been years since his previous effort, including a short hiatus due to his battle with a mysterious nervous system disorder; however his followers can breathe easy as it seems he is back in full force.
 

The National

"Conversation 16"

The much loved Brooklyn based band, The National, released a new video for "Conversation 16" directed by Daniel Arthur. The release of the video was most likely a promotion for the bands November 23rd reissue of their highly acclaimed "High Violet", originally released earlier this year. Reissuing an album a mere six months after it came out is a bit surprising, however it is still an absolutely fantastic record, arguably the best of their career. The now double disc version contains the entire original album and a second disc featuring a few unreleased tracks and B-sides but mostly alternate takes and some live staples.
Check out the darkly dramatic and zombie riddled "Conversation 16" below...


The National - Conversation 16 from Daniel Arthur on Vimeo.

Found via We all want someone to shout for

Arcade Fire

"The Suburbs" ...A Short Film

Yesterday Arcade Fire released what their calling a "Short Film" for their track "The Suburbs" directed by the legendary Spike Jonze. The "Film" was shot in Austin, Texas with a group of bicycle riding and toy gun weilding teenagers who live out a modern version of the film Red Dawn.
Definately worth checking out...

Astro Fang

A couple days ago a video link showed up in the inbox from Dayton, Ohio natives Astro Fang, with the intriguing title of  "Super Rat". This DIY video features a psychedelic floating cat, claymation & live footage all interwoven together. The unique combination coincides perfectly with the equally interesting influences of the band, who's incredible sound could be described as the sound of Black Sabbath covering Black Flag while trapped in a copy of the old school Nintendo's Mega Man video game.

Check out Astro Fang here.

"Super Rat"

MONA

Giveaway 'Beach House' Cover

The Nashville four piece MONA just released a cover of the Beach House track "Walk in the Park" via Soundcloud. This news comes just a day after they were featured alongside the likes of Arcade Fire & Robert Plant on 'Later...with Jools Holland'; making their TV debut (hopefully will be online soon). They will be returning to the UK for a brief tour through part of December supporting the release of their second single "Trouble on the Way" on the 13th, once again a limited 300 copy vinyl release.

Go see them, before you can't afford to.

  

Mona - Walk In The Park by DawBell
"Trouble on the Way"

The Decemberists

Announce US/UK tour dates-

The official dates for the North American & European tour have been released; beginning a few days after the January 18th release of the surprisingly Alt. Country influenced 'The King is Dead'. Supporting the US leg of the tour will be Wye Oak & Mountain man.
Also, here's a short trailer for the album...


Tour Dates:

01-25 New York, NY - Beacon Theatre *
01-28-29 Boston, MA - House of Blues *
01-31 Montreal, Quebec - Olympia De Montreal *
02-01 Toronto, Ontario - Sound Academy *
02-02 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre *
02-04 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre *
02-05 Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theatre #
02-06 Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre #
02-07 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre #
02-09 Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater #
02-10 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre #
02-12 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern #
02-13 San Diego, CA - House of Blues #
02-14 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater #
02-18 Seattle, WA - Paramount Ballroom #
02-19 Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall #

03-04 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar Street
03-05 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
03-07 Birmingham, England - Birmingham Institute
03-08 Bristol, England - Bristol Academy
03-10 Manchester, England - Manchester Academy
03-11 Leeds, England - Leeds Academy
03-13 Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
03-14 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
03-16 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo

* with Wye Oak
# with Mountain Man

Young Galaxy

At times this jazzy slow jam brings to mind Everything but the Girl & Daft Punk however the members of Young Galaxy definitely leave their own mark. They seamlessly switch back and forth vocal duties, which only adds to the near trance you've been put in. If you find yourself in Montreal on December 4th, they can be caught at Metropolis w/ Stars.

Boy & Bear

Hailing from Sydney, Australia is a fantastic band who call themselves Boy & Bear. With a wide range of influences, from 'Fleet Foxes', 'The Shins' to 'Iron & Wine' and even a splash of 'Beirut', they have crafted themselves a very unique folky sound. Their debut Ep, entitled With Emperor Antarctica is a solid album, which they will be touring the UK in support of for the next few weeks... Unfortunately there are no North American dates planned yet.  

Boy & Bear-"Blood to Gold"


Also, Great video for "Rabbit Song"

Iron & Wine

Kiss each other clean 

After a three year hiatus Iron & Wine are set to return in January(the 25th) with a new album, entitled Kiss each other clean. This much has been known for a while now, along with the first single "Walking far from home" set to be released on Black friday as part of a mini Record Store Day. The new info on the matter is a short trailer released by the band featuring some of the new music... check out the teaser below...

Also, the track list for Kiss each other clean:

1. Walking Far From Home
2. Me And Lazarus
3. Tree By The River
4. Monkeys Uptown
5. Half Moon
6. Rabbit Will Run
7. Godless Brother In Love
8. Big Burned Hand
9. Glad Man Singing
10. Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me

Gayngs

A little late on this but, the indie super group Gayngs filmed some fantastic footage in member Justin Vernon's secluded Wisconsin studio. Also, released about the same time last month was their Daytrotter session featuring some equally wonderful performances.

Warpaint - Yours Truly Session


After recently dropping their debut Lp "The Fool", LA's Warpaint stopped by Yours Truly for a few excellent performances. The footage is beautiful and the band sounds unstoppable; check out "Undertow" & "Bees" below.

Yourstru.ly Presents: Warpaint "Undertow" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Yourstru.ly Presents: Warpaint "Bees" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Broken Bells - Alt. Video

Apparently the duo of James Mercer and Danger Mouse(aka Brian Burton) have more to offer than the hook laden music of their side project 'Broken Bells'. Given their latest video offering, an alternative version of their single "The Ghost Inside" that is based around a vintage 'Hall & Oates' video with similar timing and some creative mouth swapping, they also moonlight as a comedy troupe.

  

The Decemberists 

January is already shaping up to be a good month, with the release of a new Decemberists album entitled "The King is Dead", out 1/18. There is no word yet if it will be yet another concept album, although one would make that assumption. The band has released a single that will be on the aforementioned album called "Down by the Water"; while heavily tinged with alt. country, it still comes through with definite Decemberists sensibilities.

Here's the track list:

01 Don’t Carry It All

02 Calamity Song
03 Rise to Me
04 Rox in the Box
05 January Hymn
06 Down By the Water
07 All Arise!
08 June Hymn
09 This Is Why We Fight
10 Dear Avery

The Decemberists-Down by the WaterDown By The Water

La Sera

After hearing La Sera's single "Never Come Around", one would not expect a song filled with beautiful harmonies & melodies to be paired with, to say the least a mildly disturbing video equally filled with dismemberment. The band is a lovely side project from Vivian Girl's member Katy Goodman; who just finished a Force Field showcase at the CMJ Marathon last week, sharing the stage with one of our favorites Wild Nothing.
Anyways, if your still in the Halloween spirit... here's the blood soaked video for "Never Come Around"



La Sera