Frightened Rabbit has been out on tour wowing crowds with their new album Pedestrian Verse.  The band has now released an EP entitled Backyard Skulls EP, containing alternate versions of two songs from Pedestrian Verse and a new track, Norland Wind, which is their cover of a Scottish folk song.  Listen below to superb alternate versions of (the anti-brimstone) Holy and The Woodpile songs from their album, and go buy the Backyard Skulls EP.   And the band has graciously gifted fans their 2011 Frightened Rabbit EP, which you can grab HERE.

Holy:

The Woodpile:

The lofty Low will be in Cali next week in support of their mesmerizing new album The Invisible Way. You can catch them at the Troubadour in LA on April 2nd and at Great American Music Hall in SF on April 3rd.  Thalia Zedek opens both shows and tickets are still available for LA HERE and for SF HERE.  They will also do an  in-store at Fingerprints in Long Beach on April 1st at 7:00pm.  Admission is free and will be on a first come, first serve basis.  To prepare, check Low out below singing in tongues on Holy Ghost for BeatCast OffBeat Sessions.

I feel the hands but I don’t see anyone. It’s there and gone. Feeds my passion for transcendence. Turns my water into wine. Makes me wish I was empty.  Some holy ghost keeps me (hanging on, hanging on).

Indeed.

Detroit’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. will soon release  a new EP entitled Patterns featuring all new songs.  To kick things off, the band has released  new song If You Didn’t See Me (Then You Weren’t on the Dancefloor), which you can listen to below.  The song starts out all weepy, George Harrison-guitar and then morphs into an upbeat, uplifting ditty.  In support of the EP, the band has announced a handful of shows, including the El Rey on May 16th and San Francisco’s Independent on May 17th.  Tour and tickets info can be found HERE.

We love the crystalline, spare-pop of Toronto’s Snowblink and are still enamored by their sublime 2012 album Inner Classics on Arts & Crafts. Daniela Gesundheit’s lucent vocals combine with Dan Goldman’s winning ways with wires (guitar strings, electronics, you name it) to create perfect song-soundtracks.  Speaking of which, the duo’s new video for Inner Mini-Mississippi is the perfect soundtrack for the current Spring Break set.   Check it out below followed by a stream of Inner Classics.  Warning:  the video features gratuitous, heartwarming hula-hooping.  The band is out on tour and the dates are at bottom.

Tour Dates (with Zammuto as indicated):

03/28 – Northampton, MA @ The Iron Horse
03/30 – Middletown, CT @ Wesleyan University #
03/31 – Montreal, PQ @ Il Motore #
04/01 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison #
04/03 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Ladies Literary Club #
04/04 – Evanston, IL @ SPACE #
04/05 – Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Festival #
04/06 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry #
04/07 – Northfield, MN @ Carleton College #
04/08 – Grinnell, IA @ Grinnell College #
04/10 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom #
04/12 – Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center #
04/14 – Annadale-on-Hudson, NY @ Bard College #
04/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo Gallery
04/18 – Kittery, ME @ Buoy Gallery
04/19 – Portland, ME @ Space Gallery
04/21 – Guelph, ON @ Ebar
04/23 – Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theatre
04/24 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange
04/25 – Calgary, AB @ Palomino
04/28 – Vancouver, BC @ The Railway Club
# Zammuto

We are big fans of Canadian band Bahamas (led by the multifaceted, honeyed-voiced Afie Jurvanen). Check the band performing Southern Drawl off their first album Pink Strat for HearYa.  Sweet sounds and song.

Yoni Wolf, of the fantastic and fantastically under-appreciated band Why?, is one of our favorite lyricists-songwriters.  A few years back Why? unleashed a stentorian, stereophonic one-two via their twinned-albums, Alopecia and Eskimo Snow.  In late 2012 Why? released another one-two via their Sod in the Seed EP and new album Mumps, Etc., both of which have added greatly to their beguiling discography.  The band is now located in Wolf’s native Cincinnati after a long stint in Oakland, and is now out on tour in support of Mumps, Etc.  We’ll write more soon about this great band and, in particular, the weight and worth of Wolf’s wordsmithing, but to get a feel for Wolf and the band check out the vignette below of them performing their song Shag Carpet on Minneapolis’ Radio K.

It’s getting harder and harder to keep up with all the young buzz bands coming out of the UK these days (Palma Violets, Daughter, etc., etc.). The latest is band Peace, who have made their mark with critics/fans both across the Pond and at SXSW. After listening to their debut album In Love, we understand the allure. They combine some of the best that British rock has offered: Oasis, Stone Roses, Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, etc., and add a dollop of the Beach Boys (check out the harmonies on California Daze below) and Nirvana (check out the Follow Baby official video below) . They have largely managed to make their own sound (the Oasis-influence is prominent though).  If the lead track off the album, Brighter Than The Sun, is any indication, Peace is going to take over the world.  That’s right–expect World Peace (apologies Metta).  Time will tell if they continue to evolve.  Check out some of their songs below or go over and stream their new album at NME

We are huge fans of Noah and the Whale.  The band largely strikes all the right chords with us, and their The First Days of Spring album remains one of our all-time favorites.  NATW has now released their official video (below) for song There Will Come A Time off of their impending new album, Heart Of Nowhere.  Evidently the video is a trailer for a short film directed by bandleader Charlie Fink that will accompany the release of the album on May 6th.  We like the building, anthemic feel of the new song and can’t wait for the new album.  Check the video below.  After is the new album’s songlist.

The Heart Of Nowhere songlist:

‘Introduction’
‘Heart Of Nowhere’
‘All Through The Night’
‘Lifetime’
‘Silver & Gold’
‘One More Night’
‘Still After All These Years’
‘There Will Come A Time’
‘Now Is Exactly The Time’
‘Not Too Late’

Yesterday we posted a performance by the great Low at Saki’s for A.V. Club. Today A.V. has released a couple more songs from their new, Jeff-Tweedy produced album The Invisible Way.  The new album is receiving near-universal raves, and these performances are so good we have to repeat ourselves and post them anew.  First check out Clarence White (ostensibly an homage to the late Byrds member, but also Charles Heston–huh?) that builds bountifully as if a song by Low’s Alan Sparhawk’s Retribution Gospel Choir.  Then check out one of the highlights from the new album, Plastic Cup. So high, but so Low.  At bottom you can download new song Just Make It Stop.  Don’t let it stop.

Low plays “Clarence White” live at Saki

Low plays “Plastic Cup” live at Saki

We’re used to mixologists grafting new sounds onto/into/with the music elements of a song. But what we haven’t heard so much is a lyrical mashup in which two songs’ lyrics are combined and a (mostly) new melody tacked on.  Until now.  The UK’s delectable Daughter held sway with us for a good part of 2012, and on Tuesday this week they finally released their fantastic new album If You Leave (get your copy HERE).  As if that wasn’t enough, they are back with a mesmerizing addition to their discography. Listen to the band as they played live yesterday (for BBC Radio One) their mash-up of Bon Iver’s Perth and Hot Chip’s Ready For The Floor.  Brilliant.  You can listen to the full Daughter/BBC Radio One session HERE.