The National’s new album, Trouble Will Find Me, is due out May 20 on 4AD. In the meantime, enjoy the first single from the album, “Demons”, below. I really enjoy this new track and can’t wait to hear the entire album. What do you think?
Tag Archives: the national
[anticipation] Sufjan Stevens//Silver & Gold
On Nov. 13, Asthmatic Kitty will release Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10, a 5-EP Sufjan Stevens Christmas boxset. This will come as no surprise to those that know me, but I am absolutely ecstatic for this new boxset. I LOVE Christmas music and Stevens’ 2006 boxset, Songs for Christmas, Vols. 1-5, has been in heavy rotation around the holidays every year since.
The nearly 60-track collection feature collaborations with Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire and several other friends of Stevens. It will be available in CD and vinyl formats, as well as as a digital download. The vinyl edition, however, will not be available in stores until later this year or early in 2013. You can order a special mail order edition of the vinyl set, but Asthmatic Kitty cannot guarantee it will be delivered by Christmas due to the boxset’s elaborate packaging. The mail order edition will, however, included “special goodies.”
Below, you can enjoy the 12-minute song “Christmas Unicorn,” and the smorgasbord of goodies to be included with the physical forms of the Silver & Gold.
CD Contents:
1. Five CD EPs (Gloria, I Am Santa’s Helper, Christmas Infinity Voyage, Let It Snow, Christmas Unicorn)
2. Christmas stickers
3. Temporary tattoos (non-toxic & safe for children)
4. A paper ornament (self-assembly with directions)
5. An apocalyptic pull-out poster
6. Song lyrics and chord charts (sing along with your friends and enemies)
7. Hallucinogenic photographs and psychedelic graphic design (by Sufjan Stevens, drug-free since 1975)
8. Extensive liner notes (essays by Sufjan Stevens and Pastor Vito Aiuto)
Vinyl Boxset Contents:
1. Five EPs on 6 vinyl discs
2. Christmas stickers
3. Temporary tattoos
4. A paper ornament
5. An apocalyptic pull-out poster
6. A 40-page Christmas songbook with vocal and piano reductions
7. A Christmas coloring book
8. Hallucinogenic photographs and psychedelic graphic design
9. Extensive liner notes
Mail Order Vinyl Boxset Edition Contents:
It’s a surprise!
UPDATE: New track “Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling”
sufjan.com//facebook//twitter//bandcamp//iTunes
(via Paste Magazine)
(31) Days of Good: Day 8
Cover songs are released all the time. When done right, they’re fantastic. When done wrong, not so much. This year had some that really went above and beyond, so I’d like to dedicate today’s GOOD to a few of my favorite covers of 2011.
♪ The Black Keys – Dearest (Buddy Holly cover) [from Rave On Buddy Holly]
More Black Keys:
website
facebook
twitter
iTunes (The Black Keys)
iTunes (Buddy Holly)
♪ Dum Dum Girls – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths cover) [from He Gets Me High EP]
More Dum Dum Girls:
website
facebook
twitter
iTunes (Dum Dum Girls)
iTunes (The Smiths)
♪ Eric D. Johnson – Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree (Dawn & Tony Orlando cover) [from Our Idiot Brother OST]
More Eric D. Johnson:
website
facebook
twitter
iTunes (Eric D. Johnson)
iTunes (Fruit Bats)
iTunes (Dawn & Tony Orlando)
♪ James Blake – A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell Cover) [from Enough Thunder EP]
More James Blake:
website
facebook
twitter
iTunes (James Blake)
iTunes (Joni Mitchell)
♪ Karen Elson – Crying, Waiting, Hoping (Buddy Holly Cover) [from Rave On Buddy Holly]
More Karen Elson:
website
facebook
twitter
iTunes (Karen Elson)
iTunes (Buddy Holly)
♪ Mr Little Jeans – The Suburbs (Arcade Fire cover) [from The Suburbs]
More Mr Little Jeans:
myspace
facebook
twitter
iTunes (Mr Little Jeans)
iTunes (Arcade Fire)
♪ Oh Land – Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National cover)
More Oh Land:
website
facebook
twitter
iTunes (Oh Land)
iTunes (The National)
♪ Snow & Voices – Disintegration (The Cure cover) [from Disintegration – Single]
More Snow & Voices:
website
facebook
twitter
iTunes (Snow & Voices)
iTunes (The Cure)
What were your favorite covers this year?
[on repeat] Oh Land//Bloodbuzz Ohio
Danish singer-songwriter Oh Land (aka Nanna Øland Fabricius) recently dropped quite the impressive cover of The National’s “Bloodbuzz Ohio”. Just as Mr Little Jeans was able to take Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” and make it her own, Oh Land does just that. The original’s guitar has been replaced with light synths, and along with some subtle electric beats and Nanna’s dreamy vocals, a solid cover is born. In fact, if the original wasn’t already such a favorite of mine, I could see myself believing this to be it. I’m in love with this track right now and it’s most definitely a keeper (I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned up on this year’s 31 Days of Good).
♫ Oh Land – Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National Cover) ♫
If you have yet to check out Oh Land’s self-titled LP, which was released earlier this year, or her debut LP Fauna, what exactly are you waiting for?!
For more Oh Land:
ohlandmusic.com
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facebook
[on the rise] The Reminding Ideas
LA locals, The Reminding Ideas, are gearing up for the release of their debut, House of Weather.
The Reminding Ideas started as a solution to a problem. The plaguing idea of writing songs to please others, whether it be labels, bookers, critics, or whoever else, became a barrier of creativity for Soule and Mangum. Pushing those pressures aside, the two started The Reminding Ideas to make music that both satisfied themselves and pushed their own boundaries creatively, musically, and production-wise. They incorporate electronic and classical elements, adding reverb, playing through pedals, mixing programmed and live drums, and orchestrating.
The band’s debut album House of Weather was recorded in Soule’s home studio PeopleMover Sound. Most of the songs were written spur of the moment. They then morphed, changed, shrank, layered.
“We built them up, destroyed them, then built them again. We were learning as we went and flying by the seat of our pants. It was very liberating to have our imagination be our limit. Why not write longer songs? Why not have no chorus? Why not have one line of verse? This is how we worked,” explains Soule.
House of Weather means different things to creators Soule and Magnum. They intended it to mean something personal and different to each listener.
Soule describes, “Ultimately it’s about the Universe, and emotions in the universe. What those emotions are is up to you. It’s up to what you hear and how you interpret that. There are parts of the album where it may seem that we think that nothing is going to go well. Rest assured, everything is going to be all right.” [source: planetary group]
I was lucky enough to get an early listen to House of Weather and I was pleasantly surprised. They have quite a unique sound, which makes if a bit difficult to pin down. One way I can describe it is if Thom Yorke sang lead vocals for The National, along with some of the minimalist elements found in Sigur Rós songs, thrown in for good measure.
House of Weather is due out Oct. 18th, via Orangehand.