Word is coming in regarding last weekend’s annual Newport Folk Festival.  In addition to Glastonbury, Newport’s on ye olde bucket list.  Amongst others at Newport, the group known as Lucius (which we had previously only heard murmurings about) garnered buzz-aplenty.  Though the video’s not from Newport, if their awe-inspiring performance below of their song Two Of Us On The Run doesn’t catch your ears and serve to justify that buzz, then we can’t help you.  We will have to investigate the luscious Lucius further and report back.  Enjoy.

“Here’s a temporary earth,
In case you don’t get out.”

One of our favorite singer-songwriters, Damien Jurado, continues to enthrall with his spiritual music-adventures.  This year’s Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son album (Secretly Canadian) is the latest in a string of stunningly good Jurado albums produced by the vaunted Richard Swift.  While we love many of the songs off of Brothers and Sisters, the kitchen-sink-and-beyond production overwhelmed us (and many of the songs).  Thankfully, Jurado has hence provided multiple vantages of the Brothers and Sisters songs performed unplugged and comparatively unadorned.  Such is the case below in the Ballard Sessions video in which Jurado and surrounding throng movingly perform Metallic Cloud.  Temporary.  Got it.

Metallic Cloud

Here’s a temporary fix,
In case you don’t come down.
Metallic cloud,
Voice in the crowd.

Cheer yourself up,
There are three to be seen,
Geodesic eyes,
And your life on rewind.
Your name was on fire,
So we pulled the case.
How does it taste?
With your mouth from your face.

Here’s a temporary earth,
In case you don’t get out.
Melodic rain,
Your own choke chain.

Drove yourself here,
So you might as well stay.
You want to be amazed,
And see the sky on delay.
Keep a close eye,
For the ship in the sky.
Resurrection signs,
Do the numbers align?

Zodiac pain,
And the birds flew away,
Colours don’t change,
When your life gets strange.

Quite a while ago we had grown weary of the groupsing thing coming out of the Northwest and elsewhere.  Too many cherubic faces singing in unison about uninteresting universes.  Distance can make the heart grow fonder, though.  And it doesn’t hurt the groupsing cause if you toss in a children’s choir and brass for days, and sing an encouraging verse.  To wit, check out the witty Ages And Ages below as they sing Divisionary (Do the Right Thing), seemingly with the entire populous of Portland on tap.  As for the encouraging verse, as the band says:  “This song is about keeping yourself right even amidst darkness and negativity. For the official video [Ed.–following the live video], we decided to portray this struggle through the story of a bunch of young kids who set out to make things right, but lose a part of themselves along the way. They may have started off on the same path and with good intentions, but their struggle reveals varying agendas and leads them in very different directions.”  Hmm.  What part of those words reminds us so much of current and historical world conflicts?  Hmm, let’s see….  Regardless, if you need a lift this Saturday (or any other day), this song might fill that need.  Check it out live and in studio below.  The song’s lyrics follow.

Divisionary

Do the right thing do the right thing
do it all the time do it all the time
make yourself right, never mind them
don’t you know you’re not the only one suffering

I see you up again wandering so diligently
crossing your t’s as though it weren’t irrelevant
they say formality, this is what they really meant:
they can be the walk and we can be the pavement

Do the right thing do the right thing
do it all the time do it all the time
make yourself right, never mind them
don’t you know you’re not the only one suffering

So what you’re up against all the disingenuous
They wave you along and say there’s always room for us
But we know better than that to take’em serious.
Still don’t let’em make you bitter in the process

And when the light is up, this is how oughta be
We’ll make it alright, they’ll come around eventually
They say it’s nothing but that ain’t the reality
They may take us on but they can never take us easy

Cuz they ain’t moving, they’re just moving around
So if you love yourself, you better get out now

I hear a higher calling
Better here than there I guess
so long

East Coast/Big Sur jangle-rockers Woods have in recent years provided some of the most ebullient and brilliant ear-candy to grace the Lefort Jukebox.  Our infatuation with the band and its chiming, Beach Boys-limning sounds began in 2011 with their stirring live set at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.  It wasn’t long thereafter that their stupendous 2012 song Cali In A Cup (a place we’re particularly partial to) caught our ears.  Most recently, we’ve been enamored with their latest album, With Light And With Love, and the summery songs thereon (but especially Tambourine Light).  Now comes yet another great track (New Light) off the album and the newly-released official video for the song, which you can check out below.  The delightful animated video is based on some of bandleader Jeremy Earl’s drawings. With Light And With Love is out now via Woodsist.

Woods is also out on an international tour this summer.  You can check out the tour dates at bottom and buy tickets HERE.

Tour Dates:

07-27 Chicago, IL – Wicker Park Festival
07-28 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
07-31 Seattle, WA – Neumos **^
08-01 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Fox Cabaret **
08-02 Portland, OR – Pickathon
08-03 Portland, OR – Pickathon
08-05 Big Sur, CA – Woodsist Festival Big Sur *SOLD OUT*
08-09 San Francisco, CA – Brick and Mortar / Official Outside Lands Afterparty ** / ***
08-10 San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands *SOLD OUT*
08-12 Visalia, CA – Cellar Door ***
08-14 San Diego, CA – Casbah w/ Little Wings ***
08-16 Pioneertown, CA – Woodsist Festival Pioneertown ***
08-17 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom ***
08-19 Marfa, TX – El Cosmico
08-20 Austin, TX – Holy Mountain
08-21 Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
08-22 Chattanooga, TN – Sluggo’s

08-30 Birmingham, England – Moseley Folk Festival
08-31 Dorset, England – End Of The Road
09-02 London, England – Dingwalls ****
09-03 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
09-04 Groningen, Netherlands – Vera
09-05 Vlieland, Netherlands – Into the Great Wide Open
09-06 Brussels, Belgium – Atelier 210
09-07 Strasbourg, France – Troc Café
09-08 Zurich, Switzerland – El Lokal
09-09 Lausanne, Switzerland – Le Romandie
09-10 Biarritz, France – L’atabal
09-12 Valada, Portugal – Reverence Festival
09-13 Madrid, Spain – El Sol
09-14 Barcelona, Spain – Caprichos de Apolo
09-15 Toulouse, France – La Dynamo
09-16 Paris, France – Eldorado Festival
09-18 Bergen, Norway – Phonofestivalen
09-19 Angers, France – Austin Psych Fest / Levitation
09-20 Belgium, Leffinge – Leffingeleuren
09-21 Tilburg, Netherlands – Incubate
09-22 Bristol, England – The Lantern
09-23 Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
09-24 Belfast, Ireland – McHughs
09-25 Glasgow, Scotland – Broadcast
09-26 Newcastle, England – Think Thank
09-27 Liverpool, England – Liverpool Psych Fest

10-24 New York, NY – NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts w/ Joshua Light Show

** with Steve Gunn
^ with Foxygen
*** with Skygreen Leopards
**** with Marissa Nadler

Sharon Van Etten and her Best Album of 2014 contender, Are We There, have been garnering deserved adulation around the globe.  And last night the artist and band hit another big-top moment when they made their Late Show with David Letterman debut.  Check out Van Etten and superb band below all spruced up and delivering Every Time The Sun Comes Up with confident aplomb.  On this album-closing song Van Etten seems to attempt to leaven the heaviness of Are We There with lighter, off-the-cuff lyrics (such as the bleeped “I wash your dishes, but I still [merde] in your bathroom.”).  Delivered with her confidently powerful and inventive vocals, however, Van Etten masks well the flippant, smirking nature of the song’s lyrics (for an unmasking, see Van Etten’s miming during the KEXP performance of the song below).  Watch the performance on Letterman below, followed by the song’s official video (which we somehow missed when released in May).  And do yourselves a favor and pick up Are We There.

At bottom (though it may deserve to be on top), check out SVE’s full session on KEXP on which she performs Taking Chances, the terrific Tarifa, Break Me, and Every Time The Sun Comes Up.

Last month Spoon rocked the rock world by dropping their first magnificent song, I Pay The Rent (one of our favorites of the early summer), from their impending new album They Want My Soul.  This week the band has redoubled its effort with two new soulful releases designed to knife into your life and demand you fork over the payment.  We are in!  Earlier this week Spoon debuted its official video for the new album’s lead single, Do You.  Check it out first below (and watch out for frightening King Kids).  As a follow-up, leader Britt Daniel and the band then released the audio of spare, synth-and-harp-enhanced rocker, Inside Out, which you can listen to at bottom.  All three releases off the album are highwater marks for this summer’s music, and bode incredibly well for They Want My Soul (which has quickly become one of our most highly anticipated releases of 2014).  You can pre-order it from the band directly HERE.

Last week the incomparable Jenny Lewis gave us the superb second sample (Just One of the Guys–our Song of the Week) off her impending new album, The Voyager.  The Voyager is her first solo album since 2008’s stupendous Acid Tongue.  Despite a stellar discography, The Voyager may well be one of her best albums to date, with outstanding, personal songwriting that is riddled with miraculously-memorable melodies.  Lewis brought in Ryan Adams and Mike Viola to produce the album, together with a host of talented musical help.  Do yourselves a favor and go listen to the whole album streaming over at NPR HERE.

And in case you missed it, listen to the telling title track below.  The Voyager will be released next week on Warner Bros. and you can pre-order it HERE.

Simply put, Jenny Lewis is an indie-pop genius of significant substance.  As a part of the justly-revered Rilo Kiley, and Jenny & Johnny and in other get-ups, she’s crafted one of the best discographies in modern rock ‘n roll.   Lewis has been away for awhile in the Postal Service and elsewhere, but is finally returning with a new album entitled The Voyager.  After hearing/watching the video below for new song Just One of the Guys, we can’t wait for the new album’s release.  Listen and watch below as Lewis performs yet another deceptively bright-sounding, melodic-gem while being “air-backed” by the likes of nobodies Anne Hathaway, Kristen Stewart, and Brie Larson.   Cute video, even better song.  It’s our Song of the Week and bodes incredibly well for The Voyager, which will be released on July 29th on Warner Bros.  The song’s worthwhile, heavy lyrics follow the video.

Just One Of The Guys:

“All our friends, they’re gettin’ on
But the girls are still staying young.
If I get caught being rude in a conversation
With a child bride on her summer vacation.
No matter how hard I try to be just one of the guys
There’s a little something inside that won’t let me.
No matter how hard I try to have an open mind
There’s a little voice inside that prevents me.
how I live. it got me here
Locked in this bathroom full of tears.
And I have begged for you and I have borrowed
But I’ve been the only sister to my own sorrow
No matter how hard I try to be just one of the guys
There’s a little something inside that won’t let me.
No matter how hard I try to have an open mind
There’s a little clock inside that keeps ticking
There’s only one difference between you and me
When I look at myself, all I can see
I’m just another lady without a baby
No matter how hard I try to be just one of the guys
There’s a little something inside that won’t let me.
No matter how hard I try to have an open mind
There’s a little cop inside that prevents
I’m not gonna break for you
I’m not gonna pray for you
I’m not gonna pay for you
that’s not what ladies do
oh when you break
when you break
oh when you break
oh when you break.”

We were thrilled in June when the New Pornographers released our Song-of-the-Week, the title track from their soon-come album Brill Bruisers.   Now comes our second taste from the album, Dan Bejar’s driving War On The East Coast, along with a video directed by Thom Glunt.  About the video, the band’s A.C. Newman said, “We were going for some mid-nineties second-tier Britpop attitude. In the past, I’ve never really wanted to be in the video. But with this, we wanted to have fun and fully be IN the video.” Check it out below and get ready for Brill Bruisers.  We can’t wait.

Avi Buffalo was covered in one of the first concert reviews to appear on The Lefort Report back in 2010.  So, in addition to the band being phenomenally talented, we have a soft spot for these Long Beach denizens.  Leader Avi Zahner-Isenberg has been off honing and exhibiting his enfant-terrible instrumental skills these past few years, but the band will soon (finally) release their sophomore album, At Best Cuckold.   In advance of the album, the band has released the new video for the first single off of the album, So What.  Watch it below in which Avi dreams/wanders across varied terrains (including the Oceano dunes?) in the thrall of a ravishing brunette.  Check it out below.  Another jangle-gem from Avi Buffalo that bodes well for the new album on Sub Pop.