Apparently it’s been decided:  The War On Drugs’ new album Lost in the Dream is the album of the year.  Their new album is gaining near-universal high-praise, and we are firmly seat-belted into that bandwagon.  As with their last album, Slave Ambient, Adam Granduciel and band have delivered a superb and moving collection of songs that slow-build and brood and release all down the line, led by Granduciel’s updated Knopfler-Dylan-Springsteen mien.  The band is now out on tour in support of their superb new album, and you can get a feel for their captivating live act below as they perform songs from the new album at WFUV and the World Cafe.  Their impending tour dates are at bottom, and we will be at the Troubadour in LA on 4/4.  Look us up; we can’t wait for the show.  To hear the full WFUV session, you can go HERE.

Red Eyes:

Eyes To The Wind:

Under Pressure:

An Ocean Between The Waves:

03-18 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
03-20 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
03-21 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
03-22 Pittsburgh, PA – Altar
03-23 Chicago, IL – Metro
03-26 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
03-28 Seattle, WA – Neptune
03-29 Vancouver, British Columbia – Biltmore Cabaret
03-30 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
04-01 San Francisco, CA – Independent
04-04 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
04-05 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
04-06 San Diego, CA – Casbah
04-07 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
04-08 Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
04-10 Columbia, MO – The Blue Note
04-11 Cincinnati, OH – 20th Century
04-12 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
04-13 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
04-14 Toronto, Ontario – Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
04-17 Boston, MA – Paradise
04-18 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club

The music blogosphere has (again) jumped on the Future Islands bandwagon following their recent performance on the Letterman Show (see below).  We can’t make up our minds about Future Islands and the musical merit thereof, and so we’re reaching out to you for a straw vote.

On the plus side, Future Islands write some devouring ditties, and lead singer Samuel T. Herring certainly gives everything he’s got on stage between his vocal gravel and grift, and prowling prance.  And he’s been doing it for years.  We’ve seen the band a couple times, including before 100 or so fans at Muddy Waters here in Santa Barbara a few years back (when they were first atop that bandwagon).  Even in front of that small crowd, Herring strutted and raged maniacally throughout the band’s set.  So A+ for effort.  And afterwards out on the sidewalk, Herring was the consummate gentleman, gracious and giving to fans.  We were taken aback though by Herring’s recurring schizophrenic shifts (mid-songs) from croon to mania, and left scratching our heads about the genuineness and drive behind the band.

Fast forward a few years, and Future Islands is back with a new album Singles that is again garnering critical huzzahs.  And then they made their late night debut on Letterman, and that performance gained them repeated “best-ever-on-TV” raves.  So watch below, and let us know your thoughts ’cause we ain’t thinkin’ straight on the matter.  Is Herring’s a performance that is forged from the heart and bared well via his unique delivery?  Or is it just that:  performance theater without genuineness to support the antics?  Does Herring strike you simply as one of those theater kids you couldn’t stand in high school?  With his Jack-Black-does-Morrissey-impersonating-Marlon-Brando-in-On-The-Waterfront facade on Letterman drive you to drink or cause you to run to your digital emporium?

Three years later, we still can’t make up our minds.  Watch below and make the call for yourself.

As mentioned repeatedly, we are hopelessly enamored with the heady and hip-y sounds found on the impending Sylvan Esso (Amelia Meath from  Mountain Man and Nick Sanborn of Megafaun).  To get a feel, check out their scintillating live performance below of opening track Hey Mami from their session at the Mood Sound Lab.

In support of his first solo album, Everyday Robots, the great Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) appeared on Jimmy Kimmel at SXSW (where the show is set all week).  Watch below as Albarn, backed by a crack band with strings, performed up-tempo Mr. Tempo and ballad Lonely Press Play off the new album (which will be released on April 28th).  Check ’em out below.

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In addition to the two other great albums currently streaming, the pick of the litter is the eponymous new album from Sisyphus (Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux, and Serengeti).  We’ve been enamored by this amalgam since we first heard about it.  Sisyphus has begun streaming its self-titled debut album, which will be released on March 18th on Asthmatic Kitty.  We love the intelligence and breadth of the entire album.  Listen to the trio’s superb avant-hip/hop-experimental-soul melange below.  About the project, Stevens has said:  “We have so little in common but we have deep love for each other and we are pushing that stone together.”  Advisory:  there will be “obscenities.”

At bottom, check out a new Stevens-endorsed video featuring Sisyphus’s affecting booze track Alcohol.  The song and video may be more effective than an Al-Anon meeting.  Add that to Kendrick Lamar’s Swimming Pools (Drank) and Al-Anon has two powerful new songs at their disposal.

You can also stream the album over at CBC HERE.

(www.asthmatickitty.com)

Last night at Carnegie Hall, The National’s Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner, and Bryce Dessner were joined by Sufjan Stevens on stage and Iggy Pop, New Order, and Patti Smith performed at this year’s Tibet House US Benefit Concert in New York City.  Proceeds from the concert benefit the Tibet House US, a nonprofit educational institution whose mission is to help preserve and restore Tibetan civilization and culture.

One of the highlights of the evening was the combination of two of America’s best artists when Sufjan Stevens joined The National dudes onstage for rending readings of This Is The Last Time (hear Stevens show his formidable vocal worth on the song beginning at 3:24) and Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks (with Stevens again aiding).

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Brit-band Warpaint have earned their rock ‘n roll stripes and are regularly heralded for their live shows (including mesmerizingly gifted 10-15 minute song stretchouts).  They’ve been favorites of ours for quite some time.  The band made their late-night debut last night on Conan and performed a shimmering version of Love is to Die off of their eponymously-titled second album released in January.  Check it out below.

Warpaint now heads to SXSW to kick off a long tour in support of their album (which you can buy HERE), including headlining shows and opening slots for The National and Nick Cave.  And festivals.  Speaking of which:  Southern and Central California?  Once again, Corpchella advises you to “suck it and see.”  The band’s tour dates (exclusive of Southern and Central California) are listed at bottom.

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It’s stream-time and we’re alerting you to the two best albums currently available for listening until next week when they are officially released.

Paramount amongst the current streams is Lost in The Dreams, the new album from Philadelphia’s The War On Drugs.  With every release leader/songwriter Adam Granduciel and associates have upped the musical ante, and especially on their last album, Slave Ambient , which was one of our Best Albums of 2011.  As previously warned, the band will soon release Lost In The Dreams, which you can stream at NPR HERE.  As you will hear, Granduciel and the group have done it again.  For those who love/loved Dire Straits, Boys of Summer-Don Henley and Bruce Springsteen, The War On Drugs have taken those influences and made them their own.  These are long songs that subtly build and build.  And then they build some more before resolving.  Come along and join the 21st century with The War On Drugs.

Next up is Broken Social Scene’s main-man Kevin Drew and his new album Darlings.  One of our favorite bands, Broken Social Scene (which has included Feist and Emily Haines from Metric, not to mention mainstay Brendan Canning) has made some difficult but extremely rewarding albums.  As you will hear on Darlings, Drew has stepped out of BSS mode a bit by simplifying and stripping down the new songs to their essence and delivering them comparatively unadorned (including as compared to his outstanding 2007 solo debut album Spirit If…).  The musical rewards resulting from Drew’s efforts on Darlings are rich indeed.  You can listen to it now over at NPR HERE.

Converse has underwritten one more pastiche in their Three Artists, One Song series.  The Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simonon have combined with soulsinger Frank Ocean, Diplo and the West Los Angeles Children’s Choir on a great new song entitled Hero.   The track features Ocean’s ’60s soul-croon on top of Diplo’s mix, flavored with the vocals and shimmering/cutting instruments of Jones and Simonon, all as leavened by the sweet sound of the West Los Angeles Children’s Choir.  Superb.  Check it out below.