Caught In The Trees is album number eight for the Seattle singer-songwriter Damien Jurado, and his fourth for Secretly Canadian specifically. For this album he got a couple of close friends and musicians to help craft the set of songs, Jenna Conrad has appeared on one of his records before, here she plays cello on many of the songs, shares a writing credit, and duets on one she penned herself. Long-time collaborator, ever since 2002’s I Break Chairs, Eric Fisher also contributed to the writing and recording process, and J. Tillman mixer Kory Kruckenberg is on Engineering duties (there are other contributors, but they are unknown to me). My previous experience with Jurado’s work is limited to two albums from relatively early in his career, Rehearsals For Departure had a loose and poppy feel, often undercut by a melancholy tendency, Ghost Of David was a masterpiece of bare-bones fragility and desperateness. Caught In The Trees is like neither at a glance, but live with it a bit and Jurado’s inherent skill as a songwriter shows through. Continue Reading

Ambivalence - it‘s what every musician dreads. There’s surely no more spirit-sapping feeling than having done absolutely nowt to invoke even a modicum of emotion in the perked-up ear sockets of the listening hoards. For sure The Kooks, The Enemy, Pigeon Detectives et al may knee-jerk bowels into the dispatch position but, Christ, at least they’re stirring something deep within; reaffirming music’s ability to unite and segment, engage and enrage, love and detest. To merely stick public opinion in neutral is, quite frankly, unforgivable and instantly forgettable.

Continue Reading

Frightened Rabbit

Thanks to the enterprising souls behind London’s newest and most evocatively named inner-city festival, Concrete & Glass, a drizzly Thursday night spent bar-hopping in Shoreditch suddenly looked less like a punishment for a past life’s misdeeds and more like a chance to hear some genuinely exciting live music. TLOBF staked out a prime spot at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, cameras and pencils in hand. Continue Reading

In the lead up to the release of career retrospective ‘Trying Hartz (First Fruits 94-04)’, those good people over at Secretly Canadian are giving away a free download EP of live and session material… So if Daniel Smith and his merry bands celebratory songs and Frank Black-esque yelp is your kind of thing you could do a lot worse than head over to here.

Watch out for a full review of Trying Hartz on TLOBF in the near future.

Secretly Canadian singer-songwriter and all round awesome dude Damien Jurado is heading over to the UK next month with Jenna Conrad and Eric Fisher for a 4-date tour. The shows come in support of Jurado’s new album Caught In The Trees which is released by the influential US indie on October 27th. What’s more, Jurado and his band will be joined on the tour by Sub Pop’s Tiny Vipers. Result!

Those dates:

November
3 - Bristol, The Cooler w/Tiny Vipers  7.30pm, £11 adv [tickets]
4 -  Manchester, Night & Day Cafe w/Tiny Vipers  7.30pm, £11 adv [tickets]
5 - Glasgow, Stereo w/Tiny Vipers  8pm, £10 adv [tickets]
6 - London, Union Chapel w/Tiny Vipers  7pm, £12 adv [tickets]

Also, check out a session Jurado did at the recent Green Man Festival for our friends over at Black Cab below..

War On Drugs

UPDATE: We’ve had official news from Rough Trade this morning:

THE HOLD STEADY’s Autumn UK tour has had to be postponed because lead guitarist, Tad Kubler has been hospitalised with pancreatitis.

THE HOLD STEADY are currently rescheduling the tour and hope to have the new dates fixed in shortly.

In happier news, the support band for the tour; Philadelphia’s War On Drugs are not only sticking to their planned headline dates at the Norwich Arts Centre and Brixton’s Windmill they have also added in a few more shows to their itinerary - just to make those flights over from the States worthwhile. We urge you to go and check these guys out, mainly because they’re fucking brilliant. What better reason is there? Dates are:

September 30 - London, Club Fandango @ Dublin Castle onstage 8pm [details]
October 1 - London, Club Uncut @ Borderline w/Ladyhawk + The Dudes onstage 8pm [details]
October 2 - London, Instore @ Pure Groove 6.30pm, FREE ENTRY
October 2 - London, Bloomsbury Bowling Alley w/The Dudes onstage 9pm [details]
October 3 - Norwich Arts Centre [details]
October 4 - Bristol, The Louisiana onstage 8.45pm [details]
October 7 - London, The Windmill [details]

War On Drugs’ debut album Wagonwheel Blues is out now via Secretly Canadian and is fast becoming one of TLOBF’s albums of 2008. Read our glowing review here, plus a wonderful interview with frontman Adam Granduciel here.

So this evening The War On Drugs are playing in a pub. And not just any pub. The William Cobbett pub which, judging from the amount of people crammed in is apparently the only pub open on a Wednesday in Farnham and quite possibly the whole of Surrey. Sadly though, it seems the William Cobbett’s clientele of “gosh we’re pretending to be dirty indie kids, but really we’re just very upper-middle class and twee”, are not here for the band though, as I hear one of them saying “yeah apparently there’s a band on tonight” as they fight their way through the crowds to meet their super cool pals, no doubt named ‘Tilly’ or ‘Wills’. Which is a shame, as War on Drugs are the kind of band these indie kids could do with a good dose of. Continue Reading

Just announced, Frida Hyvönen will be releasing her new album Silence Is Wild this Autumn. Co-produced by Jari Haapalainen who worked with Frida on her debut Until Death Comes, the album will get its Scandinavian release on October 29th via Licking Fingers with our friends at Secretly Canadian handling things everywhere else on November 4th.

You can download the first single ‘Enemy Within’ for free from Licking Fingers’ website.

Frida Hyvönen on MySpace

The War On Drugs. Photograph by Travis Newman

The War on Drugs‘ debut LP Wagonwheel Blues was released last month to quiet acclaim. This website called it an “incredible debut…accomplished, mature, understated”. Pitchfork rhapsodised about its “enormous first impression…they craft a big sound for their big ideas, so that Wagonwheel Blues fills the space between horizons”. From its woozily euphoric opening bars, the record carves out a path that links Springsteen’s bittersweet narratives to Eno’s textural noodling. Main man Adam Granduciel’s voice has been compared, not sacrilegiously, to Dylan; he also carries the lion’s share of musical composition and execution, with support from Philadelphia man of mystery Kurt Vile (shimmering 12-string guitar as well as the usual six-string), Dave Hartley (bass), Kyle Lloyd and Charlie Hall (both drums). On the eve of their first European tour, TLOBF caught up with Granduciel, who’s sweetly boffiny, scarily focused and as puppyishly excited about the tour as we are. Continue Reading

Damien Jurado

Jagjaguwar and Dead Oceans, the consistently fine spin off labels from Secretly Canadian have oodles of interested signings and new releases coming up - so, in a condensed form, heres everything in one bite sized-ish post. Here goes…

Bon Iver

Signed in the US to Jagjaguwar (4AD in the UK) Bon Iver appeared on New York radio station WMYC this week. You can stream the appearence below, which features mega performances of ‘Creature Fear’ and spine tingle inducing rendiditon of ‘Flume’. Plus a chat about the album, which to be fair doesn’t really reveal too much. Just the same old “so I hear you recorded this in your fathers log cabin” etc etc.. Still worth it for the songs though - listen below:

If mp3’s are more your bag, then you can still grab the A-M-A-Z-I-N-G live session from Daytrotter.

mp3:> Bon Iver: ‘Flume’ [Daytrotter Session]
mp3:> Bon Iver: ‘Lump Sum’ [Daytrotter Session]
mp3:> Bon Iver: ‘Re Stacks’ [Daytrotter Session]
mp3:> Bon Iver: ‘Creature Fear’ [Daytrotter Session]

Also, watch this recent footage of Bon Iver and labelmates Bowerbirds perform Sarah Siskind’s ‘Lovin’s For Fools’ shot at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Hopefully they’ll perform it together at Shepherds Bush Empire next month - Bowerbirds are supporting Bon Iver at the sold out show on 11th September. Speaking of Bowerbirds, Brooklyn Vegan has some real nice shots of a recent show of theirs, here.

Women

Jagjaguwar will release Women’s self-titled debut full length on October 7th, 2008 throughout the world (January, 2009 release in the UK, and Canadian label Flemish Eye is releasing the record in Canada.) The band will tour the U.S., Canada and Europe in support of the album throughout 2008, and tour dates will be announced soon.

The band’s debut was recorded by Sub Pop and Flemish Eye artist Chad VanGaalen over 4 months on ghettoblasters and old tape machines in his basement, an outdoor culvert and a crawlspace. Sometimes light and spacious, at other times eerie and dense with an ominous weight, Women hint at the Velvet Underground, Swell Maps or This Heat; a lo-fi masterpiece cloaked in layers of vibrato and guitar wash.

mp3:> Women: ‘Black Rice‘
mp3:> Women: ‘Group Transport Hall‘

These Are Powers

After witnessing the chaos and energy of a These Are Powers live set, Dead Oceans were immediately enthralled with this band, and after a long courtship and some hot and heavy dating, they have finally announced the start of a long and fruitful union. First, Dead Oceans will re-release Taro Tarot and Terrific Seasons in October 2008, followed by an LP of new material in the first part of 2009. The band will support the re-releases with tours of both North America and Europe this autumn.

mp3:> These Are Powers: ‘Cockles’

Secretly Canadian have a couple of decent releases coming up too.. David Vandervelde’s sophomore album Waiting For The Sunrise is released next week in the States (22nd Sept in the UK) - fairly decent easy listening fare. Look out for a review soon. Also, Damien Jurado is set to release his new LP Caught In The Trees on 9th September in the States (27th Oct in the UK) - judging by the lead track ‘Gillian Was A Horse’ we’re in for some what of a treat. I can never understand though why we have to wait so long for UK release dates..

Oh - and one last thing, Dead Oceans new signings The Donkeys will release their staggering self-titled debut on September 8th. It really is quite fantastic - download an mp3 below and see for yourselves. Country-rock at its very finest. Look out for a review nearer the time of release.

mp3:> David Vandervelde: ‘I Will Be Fine’
mp3:> Damien Jurado: ‘Gillian Was A Horse’
mp3:> The Donkeys: ‘Walk Through A Cloud’

Bodies of Water is a four-piece from Los Angeles, including the married David and Meredith Metcalf, that have been drawing comparisons with Arcade Fire, Mamas and Papas and even Portishead. A Certain Feeling is their second effort to be released by the Secretly Canadian label in a year and it certainly has its moments.

Opener ‘Gold, Tan, Peach and Grey’ begins with a sombre Delgados-like harmony before exploding into its first fist of “oh oh ohhh’s” racing along with the music building up a keen momentum. Horns join in leading up to the finale that sees Meredith’s voice takes over and merge with the final round of “oh oh ohhh’s” in the song’s climax. The momentum is kept in style with ‘Under the Pines’ which is an undoubted highlight. A circling organ leading into a great guitar riff staves off any vocals for a good two minutes, but you’re allowed thirty seconds to breath as it all calms down a bit before kicking off again in the beefy chorus. “Under and under and under and under the pines” they shout in glorious fashion. Continue Reading

As a child, I had Wagonwheel Blues. As all the other kids on my lunch table chowed down on their disgusting, plasticy, not-fit-for-human consumption ‘treats’, I was exiled for turning my nose up at said chocolate-covered biscuit, and not joining their ‘Wagonwheel Club’. Well, sod you, mean seven year-olds, cos I have my own Wagonwhell club now, with some handy advice on lifestyle choices to boot. And it’s a damn fine club too.

Wagonwheel Blues is the debut release from The War On Drugs, and certainly sets the bar at almost sky-scraper level for their future releases. They don’t have a cute female singer, they don’t sing about dancing or re-hash failed relationships, and I’m pretty sure they don’t wear skinny jeans or T-shirts that are splattered in fluro-vomit. They are, however, very proficient at their instruments, write cracking songs, and are some of the very few musicians who can be compared to Bob Dylan in a good way. Continue Reading

Throw Me The Statue may be Scott Reitherman’s latest band, who nabbed their strange moniker from an old mixtape title from long ago, but the Californian band, now based in Seattle is anything but a messy hodge-podge. The fuzz-electronic aficionado is an export from El Granada, CA. He first started fooling around in his bedroom and creating Baskerville Hill Records with his two friends before hooking up with Secretly Canadian this fall. 

The hand-clapping pop gem “Lolita” is the sound of a bedroom tinkerer busting out of his shell with a full band in toe. Reitherman’s music may have been born in solidarity but songs like “Yucatan Gold” don’t hesitate to get out on the dance floor with what the DJs like to call a “banging track.” 

Hands get dirty, vocals peak, and melodica, accordian, glockenspiel, and lots of drums fill your hears on many tracks. It’s the lo-fi lyrical craziness of Jeff Mangum and Guided by Voices dancing with chugging rock fellows, The Long Winters.  Moonbeams will be released in February but you should definitely check out this band. 

Their live show was a great surprise when they played before Jens Lekman. You’ll definitely be hearing more about the slickest Roland droning this side of the Mississippi on “About to Walk.” Moonbeams is bursting at the seams with fun. It makes sense to feature a topless girl diving into a lake on the cover because this is pure summer music.

mp3:> Throw Me The Statue: “Yucatan Gold”

Well, it’s Friday morning (hooray!) and I’ve opened my email to a whole host of news from Secretly Canadian… so, as I’m feeling a little more alive after two cups of tea, here’s the skinny…

Pride is the third album by alt-folk original Phosphorescent (aka Matthew Houck) and will be released on October 22 by Dead Oceans, the new Austin, TX-based label which is also home to Bishop Allen, Citay, Dirty Projectors, Evangelicals, The Explorers Club and Iran. There’ll be a UK tour in late November and early December as main support to TLOBF faves Akron/Family. UK dates as follows…

November
24   Brighton, The Pressure Point
25   Bristol, The Croft
27   Aberdeen, The Lemon Tree
28   Glasgow, The Beat Club
29   Newcastle, The Other Rooms
30   Manchester, Phoenix

December
1   Leeds, The Faversham
2   London, Cargo
4   Nottingham, The Social
5   Coventry, Taylor John’s House

Sunset Rubdown release their third album, Random Spirit Lover, in the UK on 8th October 2007. It was recorded earlier this year at the Breakglass Studios in Montreal with Jace Lasek (of The Besnard Lakes).

The band was originally the solo bedroom recordings of Spencer Krug, but has since evolved into a full-fledged band, involving the contributions of fellow Montreal residents Jordan Robson Cramer, Michael Doerksen, and Camilla Wynne Ingr.

A prolific and talented musician, Krug is also a member of Frog Eyes and Wolf Parade, and, in the fall of 2006, he collaborated with Dan Bejar of Destroyer and Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes to form Swan Lake, recording their first album for Jagjaguwar called Beast Moans. Jordan Robson-Cramer is currently the brain behind Magic Weapon as well as a member of Miracle Fortress, and Michael Doerksen produces his own solo work under the name of Deep Sleepover.

Wow… now that’s an impressive line-up…

Last, but certainly not least, we’ve got a bit of an update on Jens Lekman, a firm TLOBF favourite. Jens’ new album Night Falls Over Kortedala (read our review here), which has already topped the charts in his native Sweden, is released on October 8 in the UK on Secretly Canadian. Read all about it in today’s Guardian and our interview with him here.

November
27 Manchester, Sacred Trinity Church
28 Leeds, Holy Trinity Church
29 Sheffield, The Plug w/Josh Rouse
30 Manchester, Academy 2 w/Josh Rouse

December
1 Glasgow, QMU w/Josh Rouse
3 Gateshead, The Sage 2 w/Josh Rouse
4 Nottingham, Rescue Rooms w/Josh Rouse
5 Bristol, Academy w/Josh Rouse
7 Oxford, Academy w/Josh Rouse
8 Brighton, Concorde 2 w/Josh Rouse
9 London, Shepherds Bush Empire w/Josh Rouse
11 London, The Luminaire **SOLD OUT**
12 Dublin, Whelans

Links
Phosphorescent [myspace]
Sunset Rubdown [official site]
Jens Lekman [official site]