I just wanted to give a heads up that French composer Yann Tiersen is going on tour. He composed two of my favorite movies, Amélie & Good Bye Lenin!, and is supposed to be an incredible live performer.

He isn’t touring that many cities in the states (New York, Washington DC,  Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, San Francisco, and LA) so if you have the opportunity to see him, don’t pass it up!

If you are curious what to expect out of a Yann Tiersen show, Brooklyn Vegan brought this MusicOMH review to my attention:

He began his set on grand piano – and his piano pieces are rarely other than delightful. What wasn’t obvious from listening to his albums was instantly so here – it isn’t someone playing melodica or accordion with him as he tinkles the ivories. Oh no. He plays both instruments at the same time.

After each track, rapturous applause greeted him as he shifted between piano, melodica, accordion, violin, viola, bass, guitar and even vocals. A rare chance was afforded to the audience to hear a solo viola piece, Qu’En Reste-t-il? from L’Absente, in which at any moment sparks could have flown from the instrument as Yann fiddled for all he was worth. Here was a man making electricity spark from an acoustic instrument before our very eyes. His playing was enough to make members of his audience weep at its beauty.

Tabarly Soundtrack (2008):

(mp3) Yann Tiersen – Au Dessous Du Volcan

Amélie Soundtrack (2001):

(mp3) Yann Tiersen – Comtine D’un Autre Ete: L’apres Midi

(mp3) Yann Tiersen – Pas Si Simple

(mp3) Yann Tiersen – La Valse D’Amelie (orchestra version)

Good Bye Lenin! Soundtrack(2004):

(mp3) Yann Tiersen – Summer 78 (instrumental)

(mp3) Yann Tiersen – Mother’s Journey

(mp3) Yann Tiersen – Lara’s Castle

Site | iTunes | Amazon | Myspace

click to see dates…

Yann Tiersen – 2009 Tour Dates
Apr 15 – Maison Française WASHINGTON
Apr 16 – Irving Plaza NEW YORK
Apr 17 – Club Soda MONTREAL
Apr 18 – Club Soda MONTREAL
Apr 19 – Mod Club Theatre TORONTO
Apr 21 – Logan Theatre CHICAGO
Apr 22 – Triple Rock Social MINNEAPOLIS
Apr 24 – Blue Bird DENVER
Apr 25 – Urban Lounge SALT LAKE CITY
Apr 27 – Richards VANCOUVER
Apr 28 – Neumo’s SEATTLE
Apr 29 – Wonder Ballroom PORTLAND
May 1 – Great American SAN FRANCISCO
May 2 – El Rey LOS ANGELES
May 8 – Queens Hall EDINBURG
May 9 – ABC 1 GLASGOW
May 10 – Duchess YORK
May 11 – Academy II BIRMINGHAM
May 13 – Junction CAMBRIDGE
May 14 – Electric Ballroom LONDON
May 15 – ATP fest “The Breeders” MINEHEAD
May 17 – Pheonix EXETER
May 18 – Komedia BATH
May 19 – Concorde II BRIGHTON
Jul 4 – Centro de artes e do espectaculos FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
Jul 5 – Casa das artes VILA NOVA DE FAMALICAO
Jul 6 – Centro cultural de Belem LISBOA

The past few weeks, I’ve been listening to a band called Fan Modine. A friend introduced me to their 2004 LP Homeland, and I could tell 30 seconds in that this was an album that I was going to like. Give them a listen if you enjoy the Magnetic Fields, Belle & Sebastian, Arcade Fire, or Stars.

The band has an upbeat indie-pop sound that features some really solid instrumentals. After lead singer Gordon Zacharias helped the orchestral pop duo Hercules with vocals, they returned the favor by producing string arrangements on four songs (including two of the best tracks on the album, “Newstand of the Sun” and “Pageantry.”) There is also clarinet and electric harmonium, among other cool instruments.

A few years ago, main man behind Fan Modine, Gordon Zacharias, assembled a 5-piece band in Carrboro, NC, featuring Ash Bowie (Polvo, Libraness), Jeremy Chatelain (Jets to Brazil, Cub Country), Chuck Johnson (Shark Quest, Idyll Swords) and Lee Waters (Work Clothes, Lud). The band hasn’t released an album since Homeland, which means it’s been 5 years since they’ve released new material, but their Myspace says that a third album is in process “slowly.” Homeland is Zacharias’ sophomore album (debut is Slow Road to Tiny Empire), and he purportedly started work on the album while working as a “professional dog walker” in downtown Manhattan. The album was recorded in 5 different places across the US, including New York, LA, New Orleans, Western Massachusetts, and North Carolina.

Homeland (2004):

(mp3) Fan Modine – Newstand of the Sun

(mp3) Fan Modine – Pageantry

(mp3) Fan Modine – Waiting in the Wings

site | itunes | myspace

I’ve been listening extensively to Beirut’s two upcoming EPs, March of the Zapotec and Realpeople Holland (2/17). Zach Condon, Beirut’s frontman, has shifted his sound once again from previous albums–Zapotec features a new Mexican folk music style, while Realpeople Holland is Condon’s electronica side-project. In fact, it’s such an odd mix, that originally the electronic EP was just called Holland, and Condon was going to release it under the name Realpeople. He decided to release both under the Beirut name after a friend advised him, “You should trust your music enough that people should be able to enjoy them both in their own way.'”

Zapotec was partially recorded in a small town outside Oaxaca, Mexico, where Condon traveled last year after canceling his European summer tour. In his two weeks down there, he played with a funeral band, in which he says in a Pitchfork interview, “The entire town plays in the band. It was pretty interesting. It ended up being 17 people.”

I think both EPs are fantastic, but slightly favor Realpeople Holland. My favorite tracks on the two EPs include, “La Llorona” (Zapotec), “My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille ” and “The Concubine” (Holland).

For those who are new to Beirut, they are based in Brooklyn, New York, fronted by 22 year old Zach Condon, and have two LPs to their name–Gulag Orkestar (2006) & The Flying Club Cup (2007). Both albums are amazing, with Gulag Orkestar having a lo-fi Eastern European sound, while Flying Club Cup is more on the French Pop side. When Metromix asked Condon in an interview what part of the world he wants to explore next, he responded “Probably nowhere. I feel like everything’s jumbling together in my head. I feel like I’ve explored all the palettes and now it’s time to look inward for inspiration.”

Beirut should be announcing more tour dates soon, so I’ll keep you up to date (they just announced they are playing at this year’s Coachella festival). Below is a video of Beirut debuting “The Concubine” at a last minute secret show in Greenpoint. The band contacted the venue, Coco66 at 4pm to request the space and took to the stage at 10pm.

March of the Zapotec / Realpeople Holland EPs (2009):

Beirut – La Llorana

Beirut – My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille

The Flying Club Cup (2007)

Beirut – The Penalty

Gulag Orkestar (2006):

Beirut – Postcards From Italy

Beirut – Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)

Lon Gisland EP (2006) :

Beirut – Elephant Gun

Site | Myspace

In 2007, Animal Collective released what I consider to be one of the best albums of the decade, Strawberry Jam. Met with opposition from some fans, Strawberry Jam saw the band bidding farewell to the tribal shouts and bursts of noise that had made some tracks on early albums Sung Tongs and Here Comes The Indian sound like they were dancing on the line between insanity and genius. Yet at the same time, the album reaffirmed the strange flirtations with pop music that the band had begun integrating into their sonic weirdness on Feels and Sung Tongs. Strawberry Jam was simpler instrumentally, relying on samples or repetitive guitar progressions, and more lyrically focused, displaying vocalist Avey Tare’s best work to date. Animal Collective’s 2009 effort Merriweather Post Pavilion once again asserts the bands groundbreaking ability to combine pop with a mess of psychedelia and electronic music.

The album draws influence from Animal Collective member Panda Bear’s 2007 release Person Pitch, which had Panda Bear utilizing minimalist samples under lush vocal layering and harmonies reminiscent of the Beach Boys. Panda Bear takes a much larger role on Merriweather Post Pavilion than he did on Strawberry Jam, playing main vocalist for most of the songs on the album. Avey Tare has his solo vocal performances also, but the vocal harmonies between the two members is where the album finds its beauty and strength. Songs like “Also Frightened” and “Bluish” feature the vocalists perfectly weaving their voices into one spine-tingling wail. Gone also are the cacophonous screams and screeches that Avey used on tracks like “Grass” or “For Reverend Green.” The instrumentation is once again minimalist in its approach, employing simplistic ethereal keyboard lines, steady rhythms, strange samples and thumping bass. The recording is heavy on reverb, which accentuates the soaring vocals and catchy rhythms and is certainly reminiscent of many of the tracks on Person Pitch. Though a bit less varied than Strawberry Jam, the album flows perfectly while managing to change both the tempo and mood from song to song. The opener, “In The Flowers”, begins as an intimate combination of Avey’s cryptic whispers and quiet piano before exploding into a intense mix of heavy drums and accented keys. “No More Runnin” is based off of a bouncy piano line while the rhythms on “Taste” vaguely resemble reggae. “My Girls” is easily both the album’s most accessible and best track. “I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things, like a social status! I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls!” cries Panda Bear at the end of the song, backed by an infectious bass line and triumphant drums. “Summertime Clothes” is Avey’s highlight, with him delivering verses full of cryptic lyrics and then exploding into a beautifully catchy chorus with Panda Bear. The album’s closer, “Brothersport”, is a wild mix of “Comfy In Nautica” sounding samples, animal noises and Panda Bear’s poppy melodies.

Merriweather Post Pavilion is a near perfect execution of a psychedelic pop album. It seems as if the band has abandoned the stranger elements of their past work and focused on creating an easy to listen to, cohesive album. Like I said, I believe that Strawberry Jam is the group’s best execution and combination of the older strange psychedelic influence with their ever-improving ability to write pop songs, but I would not be surprised if Merriweather Post Pavilion is eventually regarded as Animal Collective’s best work. It is a truly breathtaking album and a fantastic way to start off the year. Animal Collective have now proved that not only can they create some of the strangest genre-bending music of the past decade, but also that they are superb songwriters. And their unique take on pop has created an album that will be remembered for years to come. Check out Merriweather Post Pavilion, out now on Domino, and catch the band on tour this spring-summer.

Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009):

(mp3) Animal Collective – My Girls
(mp3) Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes

Animal Collective World Tour
01-21 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
01-22 Chicago, IL – Metro
01-23 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre
01-24 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
03-04 Oslo, Norway – Rockerfeller
03-05 Lund, Sweden – Mejeriet
03-06 Copenhagen, Denmark – Amager Bio
03-08 Cologne, Germany – Gloria
03-09 Heidelberg, Germany – Karistorbahnof
03-10 Fribourg, Switzerland – Fri-Son
03-11 Luzern, Switzerland – Konzerthaus Schurr
03-12 Florence, Italy – Viper Room
03-13 Rome, Italy – Teatro Studio
03-14 Milan, Italy – Rolling Stone
03-16 Strasbourg, France – La Laiterie
03-17 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
03-18 Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
03-19 Lille, France – Aeronef
03-20 Nantes, France – L’Olympic
03-22 Bristol, England – Trinity Centre
03-23 Nottingham, England – Rescue Rooms
03-24 London, England – The Forum
03-25 Leeds, England – TJ’s Woodhouse Club
03-26 Liverpool, England – Static Gallery
03-27 Dublin, Ireland – Tripod
03-28 Belfast, Ireland – Stiff Kitten
05-11 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
05-12 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
05-13 New York, NY – Terminal 5
05-14 Boston, MA – House of Blues
05-15 Montreal, Quebec – Metropolis
05-16 Toronto, Ontario – Sound Academy
05-18 Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Hall
05-19 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom
05-20 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
05-24 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Ballroom
05-25 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
05-26 Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre
05-27 Big Sur, CA – Henry Miller Memorial Library
05-29 Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern
05-30 Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
05-31 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theater
06-01 Albuquerque, MN – Sunshine Theater
06-02 Boulder, CO – Boulder Theatre
06-04 Dallas, TX – House of Blues
06-05 Austin, TX – Stubbs
06-06 Oxford, MS – The Library
06-08 St. Petersburg, FL – State Theatre
06-09 Fort Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
06-10 Orlando, FL – Club Firestone
09-12 Monticello, NY – All Tomorrow’s Parties

As much as I support the hype around Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, I’m a bit surprised that more people haven’t been talking about Andrew Bird’s superb new album, Noble Beast. It releases today, and is likely going to be my favorite of this year–Noble Beast displays Bird’s progression as a musician, both instrumentally and lyrically.

It’s hard to pick only a few favorites off the album, but some tracks that I do find myself seeking out are “Oh No” “Masterswarm,” “Effigy,” “Not A Robot,” But A Ghost,””Anonanimal,” and “Natural Disaster.” Although I still think Mysterious Production of Eggs is Andrew’s best album to date, Noble Beast is definitely a close contender.

I find it really interesting that Bird maintains a column on New York Times’ “Measure by Measure” blog, where he writes extensively about his process, both in his head and the studio from before, during, and after the recording Noble Beast. For those who are interested in music, his posts are a must read. It feels like we sometimes take for granted the production side of things and only care about the finished product–whether it be a movie, album, book or any other form of art that stems from ones imagination. The inside access Bird provides on this album makes me appreciate his music on a whole new level.

Here is an except from one of his posts:

We [Martin Dosh] discuss a lot of things to help us get the songs just right — like not hitting cymbals because the crashes can be “cheap thrills.” Instead we favored the dark, walloping sound of the toms. Often times the choice becomes: Do you give the song what it wants? Or do you go against its demands? “Oh No” seemed to be asking for a 1970s Jackson Brown or Fleetwood Mac type of dead snare drum sound. That “everything’s gonna be just fine” sort of beat. The pitfall of approaching it like this is that your song can get hijacked by someone else’s record collection. I personally feel that the world has had its fill of 70s light rock. So we’re forced to be more creative. Not a bad alternative, though sometimes, you just say, “Why fight it? This just feels too good.”

Noble Beast (2009):

(mp3) Andrew Bird – Masterswarm

(mp3) Andrew Bird – Effigy

Useless Creatures (2009):

This is an instrumental record that Andrew worked on during the recording of Noble Beast. He calls it his “indulgent” record, and it comes with the deluxe edition of Noble Beast. He says in his latest post, “The piece on Useless Creatures I’m most excited about is called ‘The Barn Tapes.’ Three summers ago I had an engineer friend come out to my barn in western Illinois with an old quarter-inch tape machine. We opened all the doors and windows, hooked up my violin to six amps placed throughout the barn, put microphones inside and out and made four hours of ambient loops…“

(mp3) Andrew Bird – The Barn Tapes

Website | iTunes | Amazon (Useless Creatures) | Myspace (stream entire album)

Andrew is incredible live. See him if given the opportunity.

Jan 25 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of the Living Arts
Jan 28 – New York, NY – Carnegie Hall
Jan 30 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
Feb 3 – Washington, DC – 930 Club
Feb 4 – Atlanta, GA – The Variety Playhouse
Feb 6 – Orlando, FL – The Plaza Theatre
Feb 7 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
Feb 12 – Austin, TX – The Paramount Theatre
Feb 13 – Albuquerque, NM – The El Rey Theater
Feb 14 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theater
Feb 15 – San Diego, CA – SOMA
Feb 18 – Los Angeles, CA – The Orpheum Theatre
Feb 19 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
Feb 20 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
Feb 21 – Portland, OR – The Roseland Theater
Feb 23 – Seattle, WA – The Moore Theater
Feb 24 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
Feb 25 – Murray, UT – The Murray Theater
Feb 26 – Denver, CO – The Ogden Theater
Feb 27 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown
Mar 15 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
Mar 17 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
Mar 21 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
Mar 22 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
Mar 23 – Oxford, MS – The Lyric Oxford
Apr 3 – Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Apr 4 – Montreal, QC – Le National
Apr 5 – South Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
Apr 7 – Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Music Hall
Apr 10 – Chicago, IL – The Civic Opera House
Apr 11 – Minneapolis, MN – The State Theater

If you are a fan of Feist, Rilo Kiley, or Camera Obscura you should check out The Concretes. In an industry that is more or less dominated by males, it’s nice to come across good female led bands. Victoria Bergsman vocals bring to mind Jenny Lewis with maybe a hint of Nico. She left The Concretes in 2006 to pursue a solo career, but the band is still together and released Hey Trouble in 2007.

Although In Colour, which was a follow-up to the band’s 2004 self-titled debut, has received mixed reviews, I personally enjoy its charming sound. I can definitely understand why some critics were harsh on the album– it does have some hit or miss songs, and at times the lyrics leave a bit to be desired–but the lush instrumentals and harmonies make this a keeper. On In Colour, you’ll hear glockenspiel, vibraphone, clarinet, and a variety of string and brass assortments.

“On The Radio” is by far the catchiest song on the album–the beginning piano chords sound like they would be at the opening of a Broadway musical. Other highlights on the album include “Fiction,” “Ooh La La,” and “Songs They Sing.”

The Concretes are based in Stockholm, Sweden. Victoria Bergsman, Maria Eriksson, and Lisa Milberg formed the band in 1995, but they gradually grew to eight band members. When Bergsman left the group in 2006, Milberg took over as lead vocals for the band.

In Colour (2006):

(mp3) The Concretes – On The Radio

(mp3) The Concretes: Song for the Songs

S/T (2004):

(mp3) The Concretes – Say Something New

Site | iTunes | Amazon | Myspace

It is not very often that you get to hear a band that features the singing saw and bouncing ping pong balls as percussion. Julian Koster (a former member of Neutral Milk Hotel) brings a bunch of unusual instrumentaiton to his latest release as The Music Tapes. I would recommend this band for any fan of Neutral Milk Hotel if you don’t mind more lo-fi recordings and lots of banjo strumming. The Music Tapes is part of the Elephant 6 Recording Company (one of the founding members being Jeff Mangum) whose bands include Apples in Stereo, Beuluah, Elf Power, and of course Neutral Milk Hotel.

The new album spotlights Julian Koster’s songcraft and distinctive vocals, his almost religious devotion to the singing saw, and numerous contributions from other musicians in the Elephant 6 orbit. As on previous efforts, recording was done using an array of antique hardware, giving Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes a timeless, texturally rich sonic palette. It is the sound of Julian’s world poking through the curtain surrounding objective reality.

Also, you might want to check out his new album that is fully streaming at the Merge Records Website that is a singing saw album full of Christmas classics, but I’ve got Jingle Bells as an MP3 for you too.

MP3: The Music Tapes – Cumulonimbus (Magnetic Tape for Clouds)

MP3: The Music Tapes – Nimbus Stratus Cirrus (Mr. Piano’s Majestic Haircut)

MP3: The Music Tapes – Jingle Bells

The Music Tapes | Elephant 6

Prepared piano is a piano which has had its sound altered by placing objects (preparations) between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers (Wikipedia). German experimental musician Volker Bertelman uses this prepared piano technique to create his original and intersting compositions. John Cage coined the term and pioneered the technique, but Volker expands on the idea and creates a blend of classical and indie pop sensibility. Along with prepared piano, Hauschka incorporates strings, horns, and synthesizers to create music that sounds like a cross between Múm and Philip Glass. He has released several albums over the past few years, and his newest album Ferndorf was released a couple months ago. I haven’t had much time to listen to his older stuff, but I can tell you that his most recent album is a great collection of music.

To learn more about how Volker uses the prepared piano, take a look at this Wired interview from earlier this month.

So I had the idea to invent some stuff on the strings, to get a kind of electronic sound on top of the piano sound, and that’s actually where the whole thing started. I found out that paper sounds like a high hat, and then I used beer bottle caps, three of them, on one rope, and they sounded suddenly like a tambourine. So I had on certain tones a tambourine, and then I had some high hats, so I was thinking in a kind of band arrangement, you know?

Two MP3s can be found in that interview, but I will post them here in case you never get around the reading the article.

MP3: Hauschka – Blue Bicycle

MP3: Hauschka – Freibad

Hauschka | MySpace

For all those Radiohead fans out there, I recommend keeping a very close eye on Mike Fish, also known as Dakotafish. Though his music is a more instrumental based than Radiohead, a little folkier, I won’t be the first person, and definitely not the last, to acknowledge how similar his vocals are to Thom Yorke. It’s eerie.

I am extremely impressed with the four tracks on his self-titled EP, and if Fish’s debut is as memorizing as this EP, I could easily see him becoming a leading musician in the indie scene. His blend of beats and guitar rifts, mixed with various electronic and orchestral arrangements makes for a unique sound that fits perfectly with his vocals.

In the summer of 2007, Mike Fish formed the Dakotafish project in San Diego (they are based in Encinitas, California). He plays many of the instruments heard on the EP, but Jennifer Argenti and Manuel Rhueda help with the strings and drums, respectfully (Aaron Sterling played drums on the EP.) Fish seems like a really cool guy, which can easily be seen in the FAQ’s he coincidentally wrote and answered. He is also a talented photographer, and you can see some of his pictures here. The EP packaging was beautifully done, and the aesthetics on their own make this worth physically owning.

Fish said after taking his EP to the Amoeba CD store in Los Angeles, “As a friendly rocker behind the counter took it away, I felt a little like I was looking at the last scene from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ You know, with the guy wheeling the ark into that huge government warehouse amongst thousands and thousands of other buried and lost artifacts?” Don’t allow that to be the fate of this EP. Check it out.

Self-Titled EP (2008):

(mp3) Dakotafish – Landlocked

(mp3) Dakotafish – Teenage Years

This is a neat 30 second Obama ad with Fish’s music in the background.

Site | Paypal (direct EP purchase, with limited edition print) | iTunes | Myspace

As of late, I’ve been really digging the music of Michigan based band Mason Proper. Their album Olly Oxen Free came out in September and is one of the best releases of the year. Their music has a chill, lo-fi experimental feel to it, and songs like “Safe For the Time Being” bring to mind a more mellow Born Ruffians.

This album as a whole is really solid. Pretty much every song has a catchy hook, and the band does a great job of keeping things simple, while keeping a unique sound that’s not quite like anything I’ve heard before. My favorite tracks include “Fog,””Lock and Key,””Out Dragging The River,””In The Mirror,” and “Safe For The Time Being.”

When Culture Bully asked the band in an interview if they were cautious writing new music in fear of sounding too much like stuff that’s already out there, Visger responded “Oh, absolutely. We’ve got a very developed personal palette of signature tricks at this point, so I don’t think we have to worry about it consciously very much, but if something sets off our pastiche alarm we don’t do it.”

Mason Proper formed in Alpena, Michigan in 2004, originally under the name Patterns in Paris, and is made up of singer Jonathan Visger, Zac Fineberg (bassist), Garrett Jones (drummer), Brian Konicek (guitarist), Matt Thomson (keyboards). In 2006, after releasing their debut album the The Early Years and Moth, they signed to New York based label Dovecote.

Olly Oxen Free (2008):

Mason Proper – Out Dragging The River

Mason Proper – Lock and Key

(video) Mason Proper performing “Fog” live on Lansing’s Impact89FM

Site | iTunes | Amazon | Myspace