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SOAK – “Knock Me Off My Feet” Video

We last heard from Bridie Monds-Watson, the Irish singer-songwriter who performs as SOAK, in October. She released her first track in three years, “Everybody Loves You,” along with a butterfly-filled music video. Today, she announces her new album, Grim Town, with its lead single, “Knock Me Off My Feet.” The song confronts Monds-Watson’s love/hate relationship with her small town, a freeing, yet claustrophobic environment. “You can be the best person to yourself, and the worst person to yourself,” Monds-Watson says in a statement. Its Jak Payne-directed music video flashes footage of a NASCAR race, Monds-Watson behind the wheel and standing alone at an empty race track.

The forthcoming album is “a dystopia that I’ve created in my brain: me on the inside, processed into a pretend location,” she explains. “The way I could wrap my head around a lot of what I was going through was to make it feel like something quite physical and real. Once I had the idea of the album being an actual location, exploring the dynamics of this town and what it would look or sound like felt like the right way to give my mental state a personality.”

Stereogum is streaming a new SOAK song. Listen HERE.

#SOAK #Knock Me Off My Feet #Videos #Music #Music Videos #Stereogum #Listen #Bridie Monds-Watson #Irish Music #Everybody Loves You #NASCAR #Dystopia #Dystopian Music #Words Music Art

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Ryan Adams – “Doylestown Girl”

Earlier this week, Ryan Adams announced his ambitious plans to release three albums this year. He disseminated the info about two of the albums, called Big Colors and Wednesday, via some political journalists’ Twitter feeds.

The first of those albums to be released is Big Colors — it’s due out in April via Pax-Am/Blue Note/Capitol — and he debuted the first song from it on the Philadelphia radio station WXPN. Its choice of premiere locale seems intentional: The song is called “Doylestown Girl,” named after a nearby Pennsylvania town in Bucks County.

Stream the new Ryan Adams song, via Stereogum, HERE.

#Ryan Adams #Doylestown Girl #Stereogum #Soundcloud #Music #Rock #Indie Music #Indie Rock #Pax-Am #Blue Note #Capitol #Big Colors #Wednesday #Politics #Pennsylvania #Bucks County #Words Music Art

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The Anniversary: Fever Ray Turns 10

As the Knife, siblings Karin and Olof Dreijer made instant goth-electro classics. From Deep Cuts’ breakthrough hit “Heartbeats” to singles like “We Share Our Mother’s Health” on Silent Shout, their music was bright and sharp, sinister and playful. The Knife made deranged club albums that demanded collective exuberance. Silent Shout won six Swedish Grammys when it was released in 2006 and was critically acclaimed in the United States, becoming a popular go-to at loft parties and in art school dorm rooms, kicking off indie’s electronic turn.

Stereogum looks back on the tenth anniversary of the Knife's “Silent Shout” album. Check it out HERE.

#The Knife #Silent Shout #Stereogum #The Anniversary #Swedish Bands #Swedish Music #Karin Dreijer #Olof Dreijer #Music #Words Music Art

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Joy Williams Covers Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy the Silence’

Americana vocalist performs the ‘Violator’ track live in front of an audience

Joy Williams will undertake a U.S. tour in February in support of her upcoming album Front Porch. While no release date has been set for the LP, she has shared the tracks “Canary” and “The Trouble With Wanting,” and this week unveiled a live cover of a Nineties gem: Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence.”

The track off Depeche Mode’s 1990 LP Violator has become a favorite of Williams, who has been performing it as an encore at her concerts. Here, in a recording she’s billed as “Live From the Front Porch” that originally appeared on Spotify, Williams plays the song in front of an audience, transforming the brooding dance track into a yearning acoustic number with cello, mandolin and acoustic guitar.

Via Rolling Stone: Joy Williams covered Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence." Hear her version HERE.

#Joy Williams #Depeche Mode #Enjoy The Silence #Covers #Rolling Stone #Video #Live Performances #Listen #Great Covers #Synth Pop #Eighties #Canary #The Trouble With Wanting #Nineties #Words Music Art

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White Out

Frost

The day she was born was one of frost rather than snow, yet her father chose seol, snow, as one of the characters for his daughter’s name. Growing up, she was unusually sensitive to the cold and resented the chill embedded in her name. But she liked to tread the frost-covered ground and feel the semifrozen earth through the soles of her sneakers. The first frost, as yet untrodden, has the fine crystals of pure salt. The sun’s rays pale slightly as the frost begins to form. White clouds of breath bloom from warm mouths. Trees shiver off their leaves, incrementally lightening their burden. Solid objects like stones or buildings appear subtly more dense. Seen from behind, men and women bundled up in heavy coats are saturated with a mute presentiment, that of people beginning to endure.

Harper's shared an excerpt from Han Kang's new book, “The White Book.” Read it HERE.

#Han Kang #The White Book #Fiction #Harper's #Harper's Magazine #Reading #Excerpt #Books #Read This #Words Music Art

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Deerhunter – “Plains”

Deerhunter has released “Plains,” the latest single from their upcoming album “Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?" This is an upbeat, danceable piece of dreamy sophistipop. It’s driven by an arsenal of auxiliary synth percussion rather than a harpischord, as on the album’s previous singles “Death in Midsummer” and “Element”; what results is something that has a lot in common with 2010s Destroyer.

According to a statement from the band, “Plains” is inspired by James Dean’s time filming his final movie, 1955’s Giant, in Marfa, Texas in the months before his death. Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? was partially recorded and written in Marfa. Bandleader Bradford Cox participated in a residency at the Marfa Myths Festival with Welsh singer-songwriter Cate LeBon, who co-produced and performs on the album, last April.

Stream a new Deerhunter song, via SPIN. Listen HERE.

#Deerhunter #Plains #SPIN #SPIN Magazine #Stream #Listen #Music #Indie Music #Rock #Sophistipop #Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared #Marfa #Texas #Element #Destroyer #PushPlay #Words Music Art

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David Mitchell Just Wants The Earth To Last (And Liverpool To Win The League)

David Mitchell is the author of seven novels, including bestsellers Cloud Atlas, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and The Bone Clocks, and was born on January 12, 1969. To mark his 50th birthday, Rose Harris-Birtill sent him ten interview questions on his birthday wishes, his fictional alter-ego, and his next book.

Literary Hub interviewed author David Mitchell. Read it HERE.

#David Mitchell #Rose Harris-Birtill #Literary Hub #LitHub #Authors #Author #Author Interview #Cloud Atlas #The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet #The Bone Clocks #British #British Authors #Ten Questions #10 Questions #Writers #Writing #Words Music Art

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Video: Beirut – “Landslide”

Beirut are preparing to release their fifth album, Gallipolli, on February 1. Today, the band has released a new single from the upcoming record, along with an accompanying video. “Landslide” harks back to the band’s Gulag Orkestar days, with swells of urgent percussion and Zach Condon’s soaring vocals at the fore.

The music video for the new track was directed by Eoin Glaister and stars Ian Beattie as a hapless knight engaging in all sorts of physical comedy. Magic keys are involved, as are stubborn horses and imprisoned damsels. Game of Thrones fans will recognize Beattie as having played Ser Meryn Trant in the first five seasons of the show. “Landslide” is the third single from Gallipolli, following “Corfu” and the album’s title track.

Stream a new song by Beirut at SPIN. Hear it HERE.

#Beirut #Landslide #SPIN #Music #Indie Music #Listen #PushPlay #Ser Meryn Trant #Gallipolli #Corfu #Words Music Art

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First Listen: Pedro The Lion, 'Phoenix'

Phoenix is the first Pedro the Lion record in 15 years, though David Bazan, songwriter and sole constant, never went anywhere. Under that moniker, starting in the mid-1990s, Bazan interrogated the strength of conviction and the nature of belief. After four albums, he retired the name, but continued making music, working through the personal thorns of faith and fidelity in his early solo output.

Throughout his career, Bazan's untangled the interconnectedness of the bonds forged in relationships, but segmenting his discography under different names wasn't without consequence. Following his Pedro days, Bazan crisscrossed the country on living room tours and released new material direct-to-consumer with his Bazan Monthly series. He also put out half a dozen albums under his given name, as well as one each with bands Headphones and Lo Tom. "I've made music under many brand names," Bazan said during his recent Tiny Desk. "It was a dumb idea. Don't do that if you're trying to make songs over your life."

NPR Music is streaming Pedro the Lion's new album, “Phoenix.” Listen to it HERE.

#Pedro the Lion #Phoenix #NPR #NPR Music #Listen #Stream #Live Stream #David Bazan #Indie #Music #Songs #Album #First Listen #Words Music Art

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The Nervous Breakdown — Episode 559 — Tommy Pico

Now playing on Otherppl, a conversation with Tommy Pico. A poet, performer, and screenwriter, his books include IRL, winner of the 2017 Brooklyn Library Literary Prize, Nature Poem, winner of a 2018 American Book Award, Junk, and the forthcoming Feed (Tin House Books). Originally from the Viejas Indian reservation of the Kumeyaay nation, he co-curates the reading series Poets With Attitude (PWA) with Morgan Parker at the Ace Hotel, co-hosts the podcast Food 4 Thot, and is a contributing editor at Literary Hub.

The OTHERPPL podcast interviewed poet Tommy Pico. Listen to it HERE.

#Tommy Pico #The OTHERPPL Podcast #The Nervous Breakdown #Podcast #Poet #Poetry #Morgan Parker #Poets With Attitude #Viejas Indian #Listen #Poems #Words Music Art

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Daily Dose: Stella Donnelly, "Old Man"

Beware of the Dogs is out March 8

Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the PasteMusic Team.

Australian singer/songwriter Stella Donnelly has announced her debut album, Beware of the Dogs, out on March 8 via Secretly Canadian. The news arrives with a new single, “Old Man,” and its accompanying ‘90s-inspired music video, which you can watch below.

Donnelly first caught our attention with her stunning #MeToo anthem “Boys Will Be Boys,” a song that puts victim-blamers in their place, from her 2018 EP Thrush Metal, which we named one of the year’s best. On “Old Man,” the album opener off Beware of the Dogs, Donnelly serves up more of that biting critique with extra helpings of humor and ballsiness. “Oh are you scared of me old man, or are you scared of what I’ll do?,” she sings, almost teasing, but meaning business. Another timely lyric follows: “You grabbed me with an open hand. The world is grabbing back at you.” Donnelly sings sweetly, but the men in her songs—ranging from a mean boss in “Mechanical Bull” to the powerful desk-dwellers in “Old Man”—are anything but. Donnelly sticks up for herself with grace and wit, and if this first single is any indication, Beware of the Dogs will be a smart, satirical introduction to what’s sure to be an exciting career in music.

Stream a new Stella Donnelly song, via Paste. Hear it HERE.

#Stella Donnelly #Old Man #Beware of the Dogs #Music #Paste #PasteMusic #Listen #Australian #Singer/Songwriter #MeToo #Boys Will Be Boys #PushPlay #Words Music Art

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Shoegazing with Troy James Weaver

There are scant few bits of non-musical media that fans of shoegaze music would consider essential canon. There’s the 33⅓ book about My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. There’s a 2014 documentary no one really watched called Beautiful Noise. I think The Perks of Being a Wallflower references a song by Ride maybe. And most famously, there’s Lost in Translation, the 2003 film featuring Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray looking sad to a hazy soundtrack of My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and the Mary Chain, and Kevin Shields solo tracks.

But that was about it, right up until this March, when Wichita’s Troy James Weaver put out the delightfully bleak and brutal Temporal (Disorder Press, 2018). “Set to a shoegaze soundtrack,” goes the synopsis, “Temporal is the story of one tumultuous summer in the lives of three teenagers in Wichita, KS.” As a lover of both shoegaze and indie lit, this seemed like an obvious new favorite. And you know what? It was. I loved this book.

I spoke with Weaver a little bit about the writing of Temporal and the role that the different kinds of music referenced therein play in the larger narrative.

Troy James Weaver discussed his latest book Temporal with The Nervous Breakdown. Read it HERE.

#Troy James Weaver #Temporal #The Nervous Breakdown #Shoegaze #Beautiful Noise #The Perks of Being a Wallflower #Ride #Wichita #Kansas #Author Interview #Books #Bookworm #Book Lover #Read This #Words Music Art

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Knock Knock Turns 20

At the end of the 1990s, Bill Callahan gathered a small group of children to sing along with two songs for his new “album for teenagers,” Knock Knock. The way Callahan told it at the time, he didn’t record in the booth with the selected members of the Chicago Children’s Choir, whose giddy voices accompany his drawled, deadpan musings in “No Dancing” and “Hit The Ground Running.” Instead, the 30-something songwriter stood just outside the glass partition, mouthing along. “They wanted to see me sing,” he explained.

In the two decades since the release of Knock Knock, Bill Callahan has been increasingly acclaimed for his refined exploration of adult concerns. After abandoning the Smog pseudonym to release music under his own name starting in 2007, his records have focused on the thorny questions that accompany getting older. What does true companionship look like? Where do I find peace in this world? How can I be productive while acknowledging the joke that is existence? His answers mostly arrive in his delivery, a voice that’s grown deeper and truer with every record he’s made. Take things slow, he seems to say. Listen closely. Breathe.

Stereogum revisited Smog's “Knock Knock” album after 20 years. Read it HERE.

#Smog #Knock Knock #The Anniversary #Bill Callahan #Stereogum #Album Reviews #Music #Words Music Art

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John Wray: Godsend

An eighteen-year-old American, hungry for purity, moves to the Middle East and studies Islam at a madrasa, discovering what she yearned for in America. Belief determines behavior in Pakistan, where simplicity and honesty replace the hypocrisy she fled from. Disguising herself as a young man, and joining the Taliban, she lives a lie while searching for what is true. John Wray discusses writing about the extremes of subjectivity, and breaking the reader of expectations.

Bookworm interviewed author John Wray. Listen to it HERE.

#John Wray #Author Interview #Author #Books #Bookworm #Book Lover #Reading #Listen #PushPlay #Words Music Art

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First Listen: Toro y Moi, 'Outer Peace'

Chaz Bundick is all about the level up. Since his debut album in 2010 under the moniker Toro y Moi, the talented producer's music has shown up in diverse collaborations — everywhere from Nosaj Thing to Travis Scott tracks. It's evolved accordingly: from mellow, lo-fi dreaminess to fuzzy, psychedelic guitar jaunts to dancier, funk-crunching material that finds solace in the idea of leaning into your own listlessness. Two years out from his last project, 2017's Boo Boo, the chillwave crusader has transitioned into a full-fledged vocalist and groove operator who shares his sonic keys to finding Outer Peace.

Bundick says he drew influence from the accessible dance music of Daft Punk, the innovative synths of France's Wally Badarou and recent trips to places like Mexico City and Northern California when creating the new project. Those fingerprints are all over this record.

NPR Music is streaming Toro y Moi's new album, Outer Peace. Listen HERE.

#Toro y Moi #NPR Music #Outer Peace #Live Stream #Chaz Bundick #Nosaj Thing #Travis Scott #Production #Boo Boo #Wally Badarou #Listen #Words Music Art

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Tiny Changes to Earth

It is December 5th, and I am standing on the catwalk of Rough Trade in New York City, listening to three hundred people sing along with the house music as loud as they would with a band. They are singing Frightened Rabbit’s “Modern Leper,” and they are singing with deafening conviction. Tonight is a memorial for the band’s frontman, Scott Hutchison, who died by suicide earlier in 2018.

In May last year, I was visiting Memphis when I received a string of texts from friends telling me that Scott was missing and soliciting prayers for his safety and hoping for the best. A day after I’d heard about his disappearance, I woke up to a message that Scott had passed away.

I put my headphones on with Frightened Rabbit’s album Pedestrian Verse on infinite loop and sprinted through the dew-heavy air of my still-sleeping neighborhood until the sidewalk stopped. Five years ago, when it came out, this record had accompanied me on the nightly walks I took when anxiety and chronic insomnia made sleeping impossible. From two to three a.m. I would jitter through my cul-de-sac to where walkways disappeared into a gravel highway shoulder and meander for miles in an attempt to wear off a panic attack by attrition. Each song was a small relief that made me feel like I could breathe again. I replayed “Acts of Man” over and over, waiting for the soft comfort of the gentle, plodding piano to loosen the knot in my chest.

The Oxford American features a new essay by Julien Baker. Read it HERE.

#Julien Baker #The Oxford American #Frightened Rabbit #Pedestrian Verse #Essays #Read This #Words Music Art

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Blackstars

Michael Gonzales reflects on the deaths of a dear friend, and a bookworm he idolized: David Bowie.

Last October, when it was announced that the SoHo bookstore McNally Jackson would moving in June, 2019 from its Prince Street location after 14 years (a decision that now seems to have been reversed), two people immediately came to mind: genius artist David Bowie, who in his lifetime was a frequent customer, and my late buddy Brook Stephenson, who worked at the shop for 11 years before his sudden passing on August 8, 2015. A few months before he died, over that year’s Memorial Day Weekend, I crashed at his Crown Heights crib while visiting from Philly. The neighborhood had changed a lot in the year since I’d moved, and Brook joked how one bar owner wasn’t very nice and welcoming to “the indigenous peoples” in the hood.

Only 41 when he died on a Saturday evening at a friend’s wedding reception, in my imagination he was taking pictures, one of his many passions sandwiched in between writing, traveling, cooking and drawing. Later I heard he had been dancing when he suddenly collapsed, foiled by an unknown heart problem. It was early Sunday morning when I heard the bad news from photographer Marcia Wilson. Although Marcia and I were friends, we rarely spoke on the phone, so my Spidey sense began tingling the moment I peeped her name on the caller ID.

“I was wondering if you had heard about Brook?” she began. Though I rarely cry, even in the presence of death’s stupid face, for the rest of the day and most of the week I was in a fog, shocked that yet another really good friend was gone.

Michael A. Gonzales, writing for Longreads, explores the deaths of a dear friend, and David Bowie, in this powerful piece. Read it HERE.

#Michael A. Gonzales #Longreads #David Bowie #Blackstars #Death #Loss #Remembering #Essays #Goodreads #Words Music Art