The Wheel's Still In Spin

Noah and the Whale – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down

Original Release Date: 16 September 2008 (Cherrytree Records)

Download “5 Years Time” (mp3)
Download “2 Bodies 1 Heart” (mp3)

As I walked to the first class of my second semester, International Sign Language 101, I had my ear buds in place. I was lost in my own world. In the five minutes it took to walk across campus, I began listening to the newest obsession on my iPod – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down by Noah and the Whale.

The album opens with the wavering tone of a harmonium and the fade in of a distant sounding, face paced acoustic guitar riff. After a few finger snaps in beat, the atmospheric introductory music cuts away and Charlie Fink’s voice and guitar are front and center. “2 Atoms in a Molecule” begins with Fink retelling a dream of love. He imagines he and his lover “were inseparably entwined/ Like a piece of rope made out of two pieces of vine.” The full band kicks in and the singer awakes from his dream. He is alone. He laments about the pangs of love. And he asks, “If love is just a game, then how come it’s no fun?/ If love is juts a game, how come I’ve never won?”

I listened to these lyrical lines of lamentation about love and entered the classroom. I removed each ear bud and took a seat near the back of the room, where I usually sat on the first day of class. About two minutes before class began, in walked this woman with shoulder-length, coiled, raven hair. But this beautiful stranger was not the average unknown acquaintance. My crush for her began during my third week on campus.

I had noticed her in the dining hall. A couple times a week, we both ate a few meals at the same time. The first time I saw her, she appeared as an unattainable, attractive woman. From afar, I fantasized about her, but never had the courage to actually speak to her.

New Releases – 26 May 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Black Moth Super Rainbow – Eating Us | CD MP3
Download “Born On a Day the Sun Didn’t Rise” (mp3)
This experimental pop band melds a batch of analog instruments into a unique sound. They equally utilize analog synths and acoustic guitars to give the sound a combination of electronic and folk moods. And all of it veiled with a psychedelic pop catchiness. Eating Us is even more engaging than their previous full-length album, 2007’s Dandelion Gum.

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Two Weeks” (mp3)
Download “Cheerleader” (mp3)
It’s been three years since the last proper Grizzly Bear full-length album. In 2007 they released a 10-track EP of covers and reworked songs entitled Friend. Now, with the release of Veckatimest, the band shows how their chamber folk sound gets more engaging with each release.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “1901” (mp3)
For their fourth studio album, this French band has created another indie rock composition. A few notable singles have carried some of the band’s previous releases. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix definitely has some strong singles – “Lisztomania” and “1901,” for example – but the whole album flows well and also works as a cohesive project.

Shrag – Shrag | CD MP3
Download “Long Term Monster” (mp3)
Download “Forty Five 45s” (mp3)
This debut album collects songs that were released in the UK as singles and adds a few new tracks. For those of us in the States, this is the first time we’ve heard most of these tracks. The five-piece band has a pop punk sound that is influenced by riot grrrl.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

Remebering Jay Bennett (1963-2009)

“I’m still waiting for songs to be written/ Songs that you’ll never hear” – “Drinking On Your Dime” from The Palace at 4am (Part 1) (Jay Bennett & Edward Burch)

Download “It Hurts” from The Palace 1919

I knew Jay Bennett through his music. My introduction to him was through Wilco. When Jay performed, he put his full heart into his energetic performances. He was known for his impassioned presence and versatile musical expertise on stage. Beyond the live shows, he was known for his studio production and engineering skills.

Today I am listening to my Wilco and Jay Bennett CDs, watching old documentaries and performances taped from TV shows, and remembering a man whose musical output has profoundly effected, inspired, and awed me.

Concert Etiquette: If You Don’t Want to Go to a Concert, Please Don’t Go

This sounds like an asinine request, but I genuinely plead with everyone who reads this blog to never go to a concert that you really don’t want to go to. That sounds too simple, but a Disgruntled Dude recently wrecked a concert experience for me.

New Releases – 19 May 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Jim Byrnes – My Walking Stick | CD MP3
Download “My Walking Stick” (mp3)
Douglas Brinkley recently wrote an article in Rolling Stone about Bob Dylan being the last man living in his America, a land of Chuck Berry and Walt Whitman. If that’s the case, Jim Byrnes is the last man living in a similar Canada. Influenced by Gene Autry and Muddy Waters, this Canadian blues musician and actor has released a roots/blues album that may garner him yet another Juno Award.

Clues – Clues | CD MP3
Download “Remember Severed Head” (mp3)
Download “Perfect Fit” (mp3)
This Montreal indie pop band incorporates a diverse accumulation of explosive instruments. In the hands of another group of artists, this music would take the form of noisy art rock. Clues, however, blend their layers, feedback, and energy into seamlessly riveting indie rock with alluring melodies.

Iron & Wine – Around the Well | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “The Trapeze Swinger” (mp3)
This is a 2CD or 3LP collection of outtakes, b-sides, covers, home recordings, and limited-released tracks from Sam Beam and company. The first half gathers unreleased home recordings. The second half pulls together the b-sides, songs from movie soundtracks, and other songs. Throughout the compilation, Iron & Wine’s signature mellifluously tranquil style saunters across all 23 tracks.

Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard – ’Em Are I | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Roll Bus Roll” (mp3)
Lewis has released another album of original songs in his punk singer-songwriter style. These upbeat, acoustic tunes are punctuated and energized by the onslaught of his ceaseless vocal style. In addition to the bass-and-drum backing band, The Junkyard, this album adds occasional guest spots from fellow anti-folk musician Herman Dune, guitarist J Mascis, and banjoist Emily Lacy. This rounds out as a damn solid acoustic punk album.

White Rabbits – It’s Frightening | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Percussion Gun” (mp3)
With a versatile six-member lineup that can include 2 drummers, White Rabbits sophomore album is percussive and rhythmic. Produced by Britt Daniel (of Spoon, a band White Rabbits has toured with), It’s Frightening fluently melds the 2 lead singers, multiple instruments, and layers of drums into an indie rock album that is both engaging and captivating.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

New Releases – 12 May 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Bricolage – Bricolage | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Bayonets” (mp3)
Download “Turn U Over” (mp3)
After releasing 2 singles, this Glasgow foursome has produced a shimmering piece of indie pop. These songs exude a jangly catchiness as they approach the edge of post-punk without ever fully going of that precipice.

Steve Earle – Townes | CD 2CD Deluxe Edition Vinyl MP3
Download “To Live Is To Fly” (mp3)
There is no living musician who could capture the spirit of Townes Van Zandt better than Steve Earle. On this album, Earle justly and deservingly pays tribute to his mentor and friend. Like so few “tribute” albums, Townes both conjures its subject and allows for appreciative interpretation.

Photons – Glory [EP] | CD
Download “Where Were You Last Night” (mp3)
Available as a pre-release from Insound (it will see wider distribution on June 23), this is the first of 3 EPs that Photons will release in 2009. Each of the EPs comes packaged with an issue of the “We Are Photons” comic book. The 8-piece band mixes bassoon, clarinet, and glockenspiel with the guitars, keyboards, and layers of vocals to create a short set of scrumptious ear candy.

The Wooden Birds – Magnolia | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “False Alarm” (mp3)
Andrew Kenny is no stranger to mellow indie rock. He fronted American Analog Set and has been a supporting member of a basketful of bands including Album Leaf, Her Space Holiday, Styrofoam, and Broken Social Scene. These singer-songwriter-styled songs have a mellifluous tone draped with engrossing pulses and a well-defined low end.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

New Releases – 5 May 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Akron/Family – Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “River” (mp3)
This is an amazingly diverse album that is impossible to pigeonhole. It jumps from funk to psychedelic rock to soul to folk infused goodness to gospel, with any mixture within a single song. Throughout the album, they drop catchy hooks and keep each song driving with a fierce energy.

Double Dagger – More | CD MP3 | Directly from Thrill Jockey
Download “The Lie/The Truth” (mp3)
This three-piece band pulls off a rare feat in punk music; they don’t have a guitarist and it isn’t missed. The intense drumming and staccato vocals are supported with the distorted bass playing of Bruce Willen. The combination of feedback and chordal tones in Willen’s bass potently takes the typical place of its six-string counterpart. But the overall capacity of this album is acutely powerful.

Electric Owls – Ain’t Too Bright | CD MP3
Download “Magic Show” (mp3)
Andy Herod, taking a break from The Comas, recorded this delectable indie pop album. With ten tracks of luscious arrangements to the acoustic-based songs, this music sounds like a blend of Neutral Milk Hotel and Cloud Cult.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.