Foxes, Worms, Black Metal, and Much Ado About Streaming

I am reminded once again of just how awesome NPR Music is.  It had been a while since I checked out the site and on my return I found several amazing things.  For starters you can hear the entirety of the new Fleet Foxes record, Helplessness Blues, which is very very good...ok it's pretty amazing.  Here's The Plains/Bitter Dancer which is one of my favorite tracks from the album...

If you want more stream the whole record here, or do yourself a favor and pick up one of the best records of the year on vinyl while you still can.

I was also quite surprised to see some live audio of Portland, Oregon's Agalloch and San Francisco's Worm Ouroboros.  This was headliner Agalloch's first performance ever in New York City.  Having missed their stop in Boston this year I was rather glad to have the opportunity to hear them play live, and to top it off the entirety of both sets are available for download.  Head here to stream or download Agalloch's set, and here for Worm Ouroboros'.  Agalloch are often described as post black metal or post folk metal, which is not a bad way of putting it.  They borrow the crescendoing, layered, and atmospheric approach of post rock and metal and apply the practice to raw, gloomy metal.  Agalloch mix clean and harsh vocals and make use of acoustic guitars just as much as blast beats...and that is cool.  Here's Black Lake Nidstang from their latest record...

Worm Ouroboros are a female-fronted, atmospheric metal band.  They write lush, haunting tapestries of songs that incorporate medieval voicings and monstrous doom riffs.  Here's a sample, Riverbed...

Quality metal on NPR?  Indeed...and in fact NPR is also offering a first listen to Aesthethica, the second and latest from Liturgy, a very interesting black metal band from Brooklyn, NY.  They've dubbed their particular brand of music "transcendental black metal", and I must admit that I have not heard anything quite like it.  Liturgy explore all kinds of sounds, from noise to harmonized clean chanting vocals, offering an unusual and unconventional style - even to black metal ears.  I highly recommend listening to the album as a whole, here, but here's Returner...I like it more and more each time I listen...

Oh and if you didn't get to catch PJ Harvey on tour you can stream her entire performance from San Francisco here.  You can also choose to download a shortened version of the concert, which due to licensing restrictions, contains only songs from her new record Let England Shake.

Enjoy!

Three [Knights and] Maidens...and a King

Things have been insanely busy.  I write this somewhat reluctantly, knowing that this blog is not getting my best at the moment, but also being ok with that.  There's some really great things happening in the music world right now...

PJ Harvey's Let England Shake will be available in physical form on Tuesday February 15th. If, like me, you don't want to wait to hear it but also don't want to illegally download it, you can stream the album online for free at NPR Music here.  I've listened to it in its entirety twice so far and I am loving it.  While it is unmistakably PJ Harvey, it also sounds fresh and inspired. Musically it feels like a merger of all things PJ, and lyrically it may be her most elaborate and focused work. The themes of “Let England Shake” are of a national and global scope, a clear departure from the themes of White Chalk. Each song was born of words and vocal melodies then transformed via composing and adding layers of instrumental components. PJ spoke about the new album, her lyrics, the process of creating the album, and plans for the film version of the record in this fantastic interview with Spinner.

Adele also has an album due this month.  On the 22nd “21” marks Adele's second full-length release. Compared to her first album, “19”, one can hear how she is maturing; it is reflected in her voice, lyrics, and songwriting talents which are just incredible on “21.” She certainly owes much to the music of the 60's and 70's, but it is clear that she is paying homage, not riding a trend; Adele's songs are soulful and honest. The official Adele website is featuring new content every day as a countdown to the album's release. You can find interviews, live videos, and behind-the-scenes studio clips on the welcome page. Like PJ's forthcoming album, you can stream “21” at NPR Music here.

Need more?  There is a third lovely lady releasing a record this month...Lykke Li.  The follow-up to Youth Novels will be available on the 28th. NPR Music apparently dropped the ball on this one, fortunately Lykke has us covered. Several new tracks from the album have been officially and legally uploaded to SoundCloud here. Production on Wounded Rhymes is bigger, cleaner, and stronger than that of Youth Novels. And while a bit more, dare I say, conventional and poppy than Youth Novels, Wounded Rhymes keeps just enough of what makes Lykke's music so charming. It's refined and well conceived, but still energetic, exciting, quirky, fun, and provokes emotion...just what one would seek from a Lykke Li record.

Of course a new album means a tour...which makes this spring something very special. To top things off, not only will we get the opportunity to see the three aforementioned sirens perform across the globe, Kaki King will also be on tour.  I am very excited to see her again; I've already purchased tickets for her show at the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA on April 2nd. I caught her last year downstairs at The Middle East supporting Junior and it was amazing: a thoughtful set-list and a very organic live performance.  While I am pretty sure appreciating three of these four fantastic femmes puts me awfully close to being considered a hipster I just don't care.  Good music is good music...also I don't have a moustache or a tattoo of one.