Seattle’s Deep Sea Diver is Jessica Dobson (The Shins), Peter Mansen, John Raines and Michael Duggan. The band is releasing its new record History Speaks today. Sound on the Sound has posted a new video of the band diving deep into two songs. Check it out below and watch out for the band opening for The Shins on their tour in June 2012.

Perhaps its our French-Canadian ancestry.  Perhaps there’s something special in the Canadian water that its musicians are lapping up.  For whatever reason, we’ve found ourselves repeatedly drawn to the music coming out of Canada these days.

Our latest Canadian find is a scintillating slice of (North) Americana straight outta Ontario.  The Wooden Sky hails from Toronto and is preparing to release a new album, Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun, on February 28^th on Black Box Recordings.  We were introduced to the band last year via a captivating five-song EP of straight-ahead Americana featuring the deep vocals of leader Gavin Gardiner.  While the new album includes townloads of twang and folk, additional facets, textures and styles have been layered onto the mix (horns here, ’50s doo-wopisms there, organ here, a wall of guitar there, etc.) by the band, Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire) and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh .  Make no mistake though–The Wooden Sky’s two mainstays are low moods and high harmonies.  And that is a sure-fire mix for us, particularly when done so well and so convincingly.

The new album kicks off impressively with Child of the Valley, with its horns and harmonies and ’70s guitar-play, before rolling into the arresting country love song, Angelina.  The first single off the album, Malibu Rum, is a loping, minor-masterpiece with its reverberating vocals, harrowing harmonies and big-sound production (check out the video way below).  Bald, Naked and Red and City of Light are other impressive highlights of the album.  But the most moving song (one which completely took us out when we first heard it) is Your Fight Will Not Be Long, an ode to a dearly-departed.  After the sad story is sung, horns (Shaun Brodie on trumpet and Tom Richards on trombone) enter half-way through the song and masterfully conjure the mourn.  But as the song plays on, the horns turn to “relief” and joy before fading into seeming resolve.  A more fitting musical epitaph we have not heard.  There are many other gems to be found on the album (the rocking I’m Your Man, the addicting The Night Goes On and On), which is one of the early highlights of 2012.

To check it out, you can stream the new album over at Paste Magazine HERE.  In addition, you can  download “Malibu Rum” at Paste Magazine here.  And make sure to check out their performance of Malibu Rum on the Kitchen Session video way below.  But then next Monday support the band by picking up the album HERE.

The band will embark on a two-month tour of North American in support of the new album, with a visit to the West Coast and California in early April.  A full list of dates is below, followed by the Kitchen Session.

Tour Dates:

2/24 – Ottawa, ON @ Ritual Night Club
2/25 – Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle
2/29 – Charlottetown, PEI @ Hunter’s Ale House
3/01 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capitol Bar
3/02 – Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar
3/03 – Halifax, NS @ The Seahorse Tavern
3/05 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
3/22 – Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah
3/23 – London, ON @ London Music Hall
3/24 – Windsor, ON @ FM Lounge
3/25 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
3/27 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
3/28 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
3/29 – Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre
3/30 – Saskatoon, SK @ Amigo’s
3/31 – Calgary, AB @ Palomino Bar
4/02 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
4/04 – San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah
4/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
4/07 – Sacramento, CA @ Luigi’s
4/09 – Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
4/10 – Victoria, BC @ Lucky Bar
4/12 – Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore
4/13 – Nelson, BC @ The Royal
4/14 – Edmonton, AB @ The Pawn Shop
4/16 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange
4/18 – Sault Ste Marie, ON @ Lop Lop Gallery
4/19 – Sudbury, ON @ The Townehouse
4/20 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
4/21 – Peterborough, ON @ Red Dog Tavern
4/27 – St. John’s, NL @ The Ship
4/28 – St. John’s, NL @ The Ship
5/08 – Boston, MA @ Radio
5/09 – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
5/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
5/11 – New York, NY @ Pianos

As we posted three weeks ago, legendary folk-troubadour, Woody Guthrie, is getting his due (again) courtesy of a new supergroup comprised of My Morning Jacket’s Jim James (billed as Yim Yames), Son Volt’s Jay Farrar, Centro-Matic’s Will Johnson, and Varnaline’s Anders Parker, who have teamed up and dreamed up music for more Woody Guthrie lyrics.  The result is a new group and album entitled New Multitudes.  The album comes out February 28th, but you can stream it now over at Conan’s site (Team Coco) HERE.

Musically it’s all over the map with everything from psychedelic rockers, to folk , to spare soul-inflections and even some “wimowehs” seemingly from The Token’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight on Yim Yames’ Changing World.  Go over to Team Coco and check it out.

We at Lefort admit we are slothful and so are happy to occasionally sit back, take a listen and ride the coattails of others.  So it is that we welcome guest blogger, Derp, to Lefort.  Take it away then, Derp.

Derp

You know, Lefort, your coverage of indie, country, soul, punk, reggae (wait, where’s that anyway?), jazz and traditional rock is all fine and good, but where are the electro sounds?  You’re failing to cover the most exciting genre happening in music today, a genre which appeals to both the young and the old (that would be you, monsieur).  I can help with that.  Let’s start with some of the most accessible artists and tracks in the genre, and then we can get into some more challenging material in due time.

Without further adieu, first check out Austrian artist, Parov Stelar.  The stellar Stelar uses swing music as his foundation and then layers onto it modern dance and/or electro beats for a combo that is unique and addictingly enjoyable.  The result is the sub-genre, “Electroswing.”  Check out Catgroove below, which is quintessential Stelar that employs a jazzy swing number, with a driving beat above and below it, and a resulting modern dance feel.  You and your readers will also likely enjoy the inventive solo dancing by “Forythe” in the accompanying video.  Afterwards, check out Stelar’s Chambermaid Swing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRtHYiWmsoA

Next up is Berlin’s Robot Koch.  First check out recently-released Nitesky, with its lyrics and melancholy sound.  John LaMonica’s vocals complement the tone of the song perfectly.  The song may remind your readers of The Antlers and their album, Hospice, with its mournful sounds.  But Nitesky is less depressing and, instead of causing me to think about death, reminds me of people naturally coming and going from one’s life.  Listen in at 2:03, when Robot Koch drops in a marching beat and causes my foot to start tapping and my head nodding along in agreement.  Nitesky is found on Robot Koch’s album, The Other Side.

After Nitesky, check out Robot Koch’s Hard to Find.  Hard to Find has a sort of lurching, marching beat that feels like it could be the background music to a great car chase or perhaps a scene of a lion chasing down and mauling a gazelle–something primal and vicious, but managing to be beautiful in the process.  If you like what you hear, go over to Sound Cloud in the embed below the video and check out more Robot Koch.

Album & EP Tracks by Robot Koch

Next up check out the song, We Can Make the World Stop, which is a “glitch” track by the aptly named LA group, Glitch Mob.  Glitch Mob is well known for songs such as Animus Vox, Drive It Like You Stole It, and Between Two Points, but this song adds some great aggression to the electronic sound.  Afterwards check out Animus Vox.

Moving on to some more adventurous and challenging sounds, check out LA’s Flying Lotus and their song Do the Astral Plane.  This song is just a straight up dance jam.  The ratchety, clicky-clack beat is topped with a smooth sampling of violins and bass.  Fun to listen to and impossible not to move something to it.  Flying Lotus has more challenging and rewarding material to dive into, but this is a good intro to one of the most talented artists in the genre.

I’ll be back to bring you more electronic in the near future.  Until then.  Derp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXdwb_lUKvs

We loved Plants and Animals’ last album, “La La Land,” with its riffs and sonorities and connections to the Central Coast (specifically the Kon Tiki Inn in Pismo Beach).  Now comes their new album, “The End of That,” to be released next week.   Recorded in a French mansion, The End of That began with the band coming into the session with the material already written (as opposed to their former sprawling, in-the-studio songwriting process).  As a result of that or the mansion, we hear a more intimate sound with added piano and plenty of acoustic guitar, but with plenty of the band’s multi-part rockers.

The album is streaming over at Paste HERE.

M. Ward has just released the “video” below for the first single from his forthcoming album, A Wasteland Companion, out April 10 on Merge Records, Bella Union, Spunk.  Ward also plays Soho in Santa Barbara on April 14th.  You can pre-order the new album HERE.

Busy times at Radio K.  Two up-and-coming acts recently performed in Studio K.   First check out Swedish sister duo, First Aid Kit,  performing their song Hard Believer.  And then check out Brits Wild Beast performing unplugged their Best of 2011 song Loop the Loop first on Radio K, and then after an alternative (and possibly more compelling) take at WNYC.

We meandered down to Muddy Waters at the last minute on Friday and were rewarded with a pleasant surprise and some promise. The surprise was catching Evan Koga’s opening set.  Koga was last seen at Muddy Waters and Soho in the up-and-coming LA band, Chief, which has unfortunately disbanded. With his forceful Dylan/Pettyisms and deft electric guitar jangle and playing, Koga continues to show great potential.  Evan told us he’s putting the finishing touches on an EP, which should be released near-term.  We look forward to it.

The promise of the evening was shown by LA band, Milo Greene.  As you can see in the video below of them performing their popular song, 1957, this green young band crafts interesting songs and delivers them with energetic aplomb.  They will have to take care not to become too “slick” in the future, but if they keep evolving and progressing as songwriters and performers, resist the mainstream and manage to eclipse their influences, they will have a bright future ahead of them.  After 1957 check the band performing the set-closer at Muddy, a great and driving cover of Sufjan Stevens’ majestic Chicago.  And after, check out the band performing an unplugged set for NPR.

Nada Surf recently performed “unplugged” for KEXP at the Triple Door in Seattle, and KEXP has just released TEN VIDEOS.  Check out Always Love below and then go over and check out the other nine videos at the KEXP Blog HERE.

Congrats to Bon Iver for taking home a couple of “unwanted” Grammy awards last weekend.  In the aftermath, three great new video sessions have been released/re-released this week, the first two of which should sate those fans who have missed the smaller, more intimate “cabin-sounds” of the band’s 2008 album, For Emma, Forever Ago.

The first release is a 4AD Session at AIR Studios, with stripped-down, intimate versions of the songs performed just by Justin Vernon and the criminally underrated Sean Carey (known on his fine 2010 solo album as S. Carey).  Check out the duet as they perform the following songs:  Hinnom, TX; Wash.; Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me; Babys; and a far-preferred version of Beth/Rest.  At times the influence of George Winston is unmistakeable.  Afterward check out La Blogotheque’s just re-released sessions with “Bonnie Bear” in June 2008 HERE. Finally, at bottom check out a jam session with Justin Vernon and The Roots on the song Perth on the Jimmy Fallon Show.