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New Titus Andronicus video: Number One (In New York)

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Video: Titus Andronicus – “Number One (In New York)”

From A Productive Cough, out March 2 on Merge.

There’s a thin line between pretense and ambition and anybody shooting for the latter risks ending up with the former instead. I mean, how many 10-minute epics can one band record?

Then again, no score and seven years ago Titus Andronicus proved with “A More Perfect Union” that overambition can yield damn fine results. And here they are, at it again, with another big statement. This time, instead of referencing the Civil War, Billy Bragg, and Bruce Springsteen, our bearded hero Patrick Stickles tackles the inward struggle of coping with life in the age of our orange fuhrer.

I know, that doesn’t sound very enticing. But neither did the idea of a concept album about Abraham Lincoln and escaping New Jersey and…girls and stuff, but The Monitor was pretty fucking awesome.

Stickles is like a rock and roll combination of Walt Whitman with Rakim. Look at this verse and then think back to that “Rapping, deconstructed” video everybody was passing around a couple years ago:

The villains have taken their vengeance
I regret to say they’ve collected the evidence
Repent and pretend every entrance is open to tenants with references
Declare myself president of the emptiness, say I’m Rembrandt of dancing on the precipice
Eleven years in and trying to stay relevant
But based on what’s left of the remnants of my intestines
I would guess I’ve ingested the medicine

Those are some dense-ass lyrics for indie rock! Might not be your cup of tea, but you gotta respect it.

Titus Andronicus: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New First Aid Kit video: Fireworks

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Video: First Aid Kit – “Fireworks”

From Ruins, out January 19 on Columbia.

First Aid Kit is back again, this time putting those sibling harmonies into a promtastic re-imagination of the 1980s. As someone who attended high school formal dances in those years, I can attest to the verisimilitude of the overall vibe of this video.

Sure, you can point out certain anachronisms. Klara and Johanna’s hairstyles, for example, are from opposite ends of the decade. And the “I want to believe” poster is inspired by the “X Files” which debuted in 1993, and there weren’t any teenagers left in America with feathered hair in 1993.

But still, so much of this video feels absolutely correct. Especially the slow dancing, swaying back and forth with the girl’s hands on the boy’s shoulders and the boy’s hands on the girl’s hips. I don’t know if that’s still how kids slowdance today, but that’s totally how we did it back in the day.

We, however, were never abducted by aliens.

First Aid Kit: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Belle and Sebastian video: I’ll Be Your Pilot

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Video: Belle and Sebastian – “I’ll Be Your Pilot”

From How To Solve Our Human Problems EP 2, out January 19 on Matador.

If you’re a Belle and Sebastian fan who is concerned that the band has gotten a little too disco-y lately, this new song ought to reassure you. Acoustic guitars and an oboe take the spotlight in this amazingly sweet lullaby from a parent to their kid.

It’s tough to become a grown up
Put it off while you can
I tell you that when you land
In the real world, it’s like quicksand

That’s true. John Cougar once said to hang on to 16 as long as you can, and he wasn’t wrong about that either. Changes come around real soon.

Belle and Sebastian: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Hot Date video: MN Goddess

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Video: Hot Date – “MN Goddess”

From Spaces, out January 19 on Bandcamp.

Hot Date is a Saint Paul, Minnesota duo featuring Nora O’Brien on vocals and Eric Carranza on everything else. “MN Goddess” is an airy song about a certain type of midwestern woman (“if you’ve seen one you know what I mean”). While the video was shot in the summer, the song has wintery chill.

She doesn’t dress like all those ladies
That you see in magazines
Still when the north wind claws around us
She’ll be doing alright by me

Those of us in the Upper Midwest are very familiar with the north wind. Especially this time of year.

And of course Hot Date sells its own line of well-designed Minnesota Goddess merch.

Hot Date: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Johnny Marr and Maxine Peake video: The Priest

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Video: Johnny Marr and Maxine Peake – “The Priest”

This is a cool spoken word piece about living on the streets of Edinburgh based on Joe Gallagher’s diaries that were published in The Big Issue under the pseudonym James Campbell.

“Arite there pal, what you doin’ here?”
“Tryin to sleep.”
“I’ve missed ma train n ma pals huv all fucked off n uv got naewhere tae kip… You homeless then?” he asks.
“Yep.”
“You look oot ay it,” he says. “Are ye kitted up?”
“No, I am just very tired and it’s after two in the morning.”
“I hud a bit o’ coke earlier on.”

Oh for fuck’s sake. It’s gonna be a long night.

Johnny Marr provides the instrumentation, Maxine Peake narrates, and Molly Windsor stars in the video that was shot in Manchester. Johnny Marr’s third solo album is due in the spring.

Johnny Marr: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Phoebe Bridgers video: Would You Rather ft. Conor Oberst

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Video: Phoebe Bridgers – “Would You Rather” (ft. Conor Oberst)

From Stranger In The Alps, out now on Dead Oceans.

Playing “would you rather”
When it comes to fire
You always say that you’d prefer to drown

You were still in the ambulance
When the cop suggested
You’re the one who tried to burn it down

Whoa! That’s a self-contained short story right there.

It might sound like just a simple, pretty, acoustic duet there’s a lot going on in here.

Bridgers told The Fader that she wrote the song about her brother Jackson, who directed the video and said:

“I wanted to represent the almost telepathic bond between siblings that Phoebe and Conor sing about with televisions because sitting in front of the TV was one of the main places we bonded as kids, second only to long road trips. This song beautifully shows that knowing someone means knowing all of their darkest and most gruesome childhood fears and nightmares, but friendship and time can turn those negative emotions into something useful. As we get older and grow as artists, I’m glad this friendship can manifest itself in new ways, even as the nightmares and fantasies of our childhood fade away.”

Phoebe Bridgers: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Jonathan Wilson video: Over the Midnight

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Video: Jonathan Wilson – “Over the Midnight”

From Rare Birds, out March 2 on Bella Union.

What’s Jonathan Wilson been smoking? Is this supposed to be trippy? Looks like he’s embracing his prog side visually while musically going for the same slick vibe that made the War on Drugs album so unconvincing.

I don’t know about this. Maybe it’ll grow on me…

Jonathan Wilson: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Bully video: Running

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Video: Bully – “Running”

From Losing, out now on Sub Pop.

Been six months that you turned thirty
Quit smokin’ and cleaned up the worry
I procrastinate, manic compulsive
Distract myself with trips to Chicago

This sounds so good. Rumbling bass line, distorted guitar riff, tough vocals. Comparisons to Juliana Hatfield and Kurt Cobain might be obvious but not they’re not unwarranted. Hey, we love the 90s too.

Bully: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Neil Young video: Already Great

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Video: Neil Young + Promise of The Real – “Already Great”

From The Visitor, out now on Reprise.

Seems somewhat appropriate to celebrate Boxing Day with Neil Young.

I’m Canadian by the way
And I love the U.S.A.

Good old Neil. Hasn’t stressed too much about refining his lyrics in a couple decades, has he? That’s okay because the sentiment is righteous and so are the guitars. Willie Nelson’s kid’s band seems to have reinvigorated Neil and inspired him to dig back into his ragged glory.

This sounds like a band. The harmonies in the chorus are straight up CSNY 1974. The chanting, later on, unfortunately, is a little more Greendale or Living with War.

I still wish Neil would spend a little more time on the craftsmanship of his songwriting, but that’s never gonna happen, so at least he’s giving us gnarly guitar tones. Which is more than you can say for most people of his generation.

Neil Young: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Regrettes video: All I Want for Christmas

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Video: The Regrettes – “All I Want For Christmas is You”

The absolute best part of this godawful year of 2017 for me was discovering the Regrettes. I’ve tried not to gush too much about them on here because I don’t want to come across as a weird old man losing his shit over a bunch of teenagers, but people who know me in real life know that’s pretty much exactly what I am.

Feel Your Feelings, Fool became my default lawn-mowing album this summer, and it stayed in the headphones to become my leaf-blowing album this fall. These very exclusive dadrock titles are awarded to only one or two entries per year. Previous winners included Fear Fun in 2012 and Muchacho in 2013. It’s getting more and more rare to give a full album repeated listens lately, but doing so can reveal hidden charms of songs you might have wanted to skip over at first.

Very few records warrant multiple close listens but this Regrettes album does. Frontwoman Lydia Night wrote and recorded these songs when she was 15 years old, and that’s insane. The songs are well written. The lyrics are smart. The arrangements are interesting. The harmonies are pretty. The production is cool. The attitude is badass. Night just turned 17.

So anyway, that’s my latest obsession. The Regrettes. And here they are covering the best song Mariah Carey ever recorded, and the best holiday song written since “Last Christmas.” Ho ho ho.

Merry Christmas, everybody. Let’s hope the new year brings us all together.

The Regrettes: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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