New Kevin Devine, "Carnival"

As many may or may not have heard, Kevin Devine's new album, Brother's Blood, unfortunately leaked in February, a full two months ahead of its scheduled release.  As disappointed as Kevin has been in that fact, however, he is still hyped up about its actual coming out party to the general listening public in late April.  Part of that, of course, includes talking to equally excited news folks, such as the good people over at Spin.  Devine recently sat down with them to talk about the new record and similar topics, as well as hand them an exclusive mp3, which all of us fans are free to download.  

"Carnival," a song Kevin claims is about bad dreams, is in fact, a ride of sorts.  The ups and downs, and overall moodiness of the track lends to the bizzaro-world circus feel one may get when imagining nightmare carnivals.  Even if you think you've heard all that Devine has to offer, trust me, I thought the same.  Brother's Blood, especially on "Carnival" and "Time to Burn (Another Bag of Bones)" vastly changes my perception of the artist (but more on that when the time comes).  Go to Spin to check out and download "Carnival," and be sure to follow some of the other links up on the page to download some other exclusive tracks from Kevin.  Brother's Blood is out via either Favorite Gentlemen or Brand New's Procrastinate! Music Traitors April 29th.

New Death Cab for Cutie, "I Was Once A Loyal Lover"

And we're back for another day of this.  As pretty much everyone has figured out by now, Death Cab for Cutie is premiering their new Open Door EP on a track-per-day basis over at Stereogum.  Since the tracks are available exclusively over there, I figured I'd say a little something about each and then provide a link to readers who'd like to go listen for themselves.  Today's song, "I Was Once A Loyal Lover," is another great track, one that I'm glad has seen the light of day.  Where yesterday's "My Mirror Speaks" harkened back to the old days of Death Cab, this song plays to the sound they've developed over the past few years, and refines it with their classic simplicity from the band's onset.  Once again, really glad to have heard this track, and I would definitely put it up there with some of the band's best work in the past five years.

If anyone hasn't been following along all week, you can give the aforementioned track, as well as the others, a listen here.  The Open Door EP is out digitally on March 31st.  For those who would like to pre-order said collection of recordings, go check out deathcabforcutie.com or iTunes.  If anyone wants to wait around for the physical release, it'll be out eventually, via Atlantic.

Matt's Track of the Week: "Sleepyhead"

Song: Sleepyhead

Artist: Passion Pit

Album: Chunk of Change EP

Year: 2008

With everything going on in the world today, from economic crises, to natural disasters, we can't afford to take ourselves so seriously all the time.  Especially when it comes to our choices in music.  This is why my track of the week is "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit.

Now, this is not to say that the group isn't serious about their craft.  You can hear the painstaking attention to detail that went into each and every one of their catchy electronic gems.  Upon hearing this song, however, you can immediately sense its playful nature.  The high-pitched samples and falsetto vocals by singer Michael Angelakos are fun and emotive, making for a song that has substance, but isn't so overly complicated that you have to take anything more from it than the fact that Passion Pit has a knack for writing infectious pop music.  Check it out below.

John's Track of the Week: "Alice Practice"

Song: Alice Practice

Artist: Crystal Castles

Album: Crystal Castles

Year: 2008

Changing things up a bit this week, I decided I would do something about electronic music, since that's usually Matt's thing.  "Alice Practice" by Crystal Castles is one of the standouts off of their self-titled 2008 debut, and funny enough, was an accident (or so they say).  Word on the street is that vocalist Alice Glass was doing a microphone test, and somehow, it spawned what is arguably the best track on the record, along with the attention the band needed to get signed to a label.  Regardless of what you think about semi-yelling female singers, ignore the vocals here and simply focus on the great sound and aesthetic the track provides.

Besides that, I feel that readers should probably know that the band was named after the Crystal Castle from He-Man spinoff She-Ra: Princess of Power, and not the popular Atari game of the same name.  Now that we've got that little bit of nostalgia out of the way, I'd highly recommend checking the deal below, as well as giving a listen to some of their other stuff.  The band is also notable for doing remixes for other artists, Bloc Party being one of them.  Anyone who wants to hear more, please consult their Last.fm page, here.

New Death Cab for Cutie, "My Mirror Speaks"

Now THIS is why I first started listening to Death Cab for Cutie.  Continuing our coverage of the song-per-day Stereogum premiere of DCFC's Open Door EP, we've got track three, "My Mirror Speaks".  Here, Ben Gibbard's voice seems to pick up some of its lost youth, the guitar in the background is bright and moving, taking the listener into a vast and open scenery.  To be honest, this song may be one of the band's best in years.  If you were a big fan of The Photo Album, you'll pretty much fall in love with this one.  Perhaps the next record can be more like this?  We can hope.

If you missed the details the past two days, you can listen to the latest track, "My Mirror Speaks," as well as the first two over at Stereogum.  Today's post is up here.  If you'd like to pre-order the album in digital form, you can do so at deathcabforcutie.com or iTunes.  The Open Door EP will be released online March 31st, with the physical album to be in stores via Atlantic sometime soon.

New Department of Eagles Video, "No One Does It Like You"

Well this took quite awhile.  Trust me though, I'm not complaining.  By now, most readers know all about Grizzly Bear side-project, Department of Eagles, and their contribution to "best of" lists everywhere last year, In Ear Park.  The most notable, and universally liked song from said album is, of course the subject of the video below, "No One Does It Like You".  It's been about six months or so since In Ear Park came out, but I'd say this odd video is still welcomed as it would have been at the album's release.  For anybody who hasn't heard the song, check the deal on the video below, and if you like it enough, also grab the song link, courtesy of Stereogum.

Department of Eagles- "No One Does It Like You"

New Death Cab for Cutie, "A Diamond and A Tether"

As promised, we're putting up the link to Stereogum's article about Death Cab for Cutie every day this week.  For those who missed yesterday's events, DCFC is premiering each of the five songs off of their forthcoming Open Door EP, on a day-by-day basis, over at Stereogum.  Since our relationship with the band isn't nearly as cozy, nor existent, we're simply sending people over there to check it out, as well as provide limited commentary on the track.

Today's new song, "A Diamond and A Tether," sounds like Death Cab gone folk, or at least Ben Gibbard gathering friends around a campfire.  The usual melancholy attitude flows through the track, with Gibbard harping on regret, amongst his other life difficulties.  It's pretty good, and definitely fits in well as a companion to last year's Narrow Stairs, rather than being included on it.  Check the deal at Stereogum here, and if you're interested in owning the album, remember to check out the pre-order at deathcabforcutie.com or Itunes.  The Open Door EP is out digitally on March 31st, with the physical release becoming available via Atlantic sooner or later.

New Death Cab for Cutie, "Little Bribes"

I'm sure most of the readership here frequents Stereogum, but in the off-chance some of you don't, they're having a special feature this week- premiering each of the five tracks from Death Cab for Cutie's forthcoming The Open Door EP, one by one.  Today, they've posted up the opening track, a number called "Little Bribes".  Anyone who has heard/seen Ben Gibbard's live show over the past two years will probably recognize it as "Casino Blues"; that song that didn't sound like Death Cab but was still a good listen.  It's very similar to the earlier versions, just more produced, obviously, so no complaints here as of yet.  

We'll be updating the site here with a link each day, as well as increasing traffic to Stereogum by directing people to their site.  Enjoy the track, and be sure to stop in all week for updates on the album, as well as our resuming our regularly scheduled broadcasting, now that vacations and traveling are over.  For those who want to pre-order The Open Door EP, check out either deathcabforcutie.com or Itunes.  The EP's out March 31st digitally, with its eventual physical release via Atlantic sometime in the near future.  Here's the link to Stereogum for today's song.

Pre-Screening: The Decemberists

Album: The Hazards of Love

Artist: The Decemberists

Label: Capitol Records

Due Out: March 24th

In their humble beginnings, The Decemberists were folky and at times fragile. They consistently released outstanding albums, but aside from Colin Meloy's ever-present dark sense of humor and theatrics, they had very little edge. With The Crane Wife, however, the band started moving in a direction that showcased their wide array of rock influences, accented by the traditional non-rock instrumentation that they had previously relied so heavily upon, to create a sound that was, in Meloy's own words, "massive". This goes double on their newest release, The Hazards of Love.

The album starts with a rising instrumental, "Prelude ", which introduces the first full song of the album, "The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)". Similar to the "Crane Wife" series on the last record, it lays out the story, and contains elements that will later be repeated throughout the album. The next two tracks, "A Bower Scene" and "Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)", seem to be almost sister songs. They introduce the alternating, male and female narrative that is loosely present from beginning to end (female vocals by Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond), as well as intense overdriven guitars, which are a near-constant aspect of this record.

The next track, "The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)", continues where the first installment left off, but is immediately more memorable. It's a catchy and urgent song that cautions about exactly what the title suggests. This is followed by the short and haunting banjo and string interlude, "The Queen's Approach", and then one of the album's more beautiful moments, "Isn't It a Lovely Night". It's a duet between Meloy and Diamond that comes off like a song from a musical. Its romantic, Italian-style accordion conjures images of an intimate moonlit stroll through the greenery. It's definitely one of the brighter moments as well. Next is one of my personal favorites "The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid". It's one of the loudest and most interestingly crafted on the album. Most notable is the background vocals which are reminiscent of the opening moments of the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind" during the chorus.

After "An Interlude", "The Rake's Song" keeps up the energy with pounding percussion, muffled screams of "alright!", and a steady guitar line. If this is the only song you hear off of Hazards before delving into the full album, you will have a pretty good feel for the general idea. The tense, "The Abduction of Margaret", follows in that vein, but never fully opens up. Rather, it teases you with glimpses of the full potential in small flare-ups until the final seconds, and leads directly into the melodic but thrashing "The Queens Rebuke / The Crossing". Still riding this wave, no pun intended, "Annan Water", brings back the energetic "The Chimbley Sweep"-style accordion of their early releases for one of the album's highlights.

More churning guitars continue on "Margaret in Captivity", and then, "The Hazards of Love 3", the loudest of the "Hazards" song series. Next, we have the interesting placement of "The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)", which is basically the hook of the original, surrounded in a massively layered cocoon of sound. It effectively puts a close on the main themes and leaves only a single loose end to be tied by a proper final track. With a western lap-steel interlude in the middle, the forward-looking closer, "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)", is exactly what the album called for. It's nothing too extravagant, but beautiful nonetheless.

If I can give any recommendation for the first time you listen to this album, I would listen to it loudly. There are so many small details and melodies that can only truly be appreciated at higher volumes. As a whole, I'm extremely impressed. In some ways, I'm glad I didn't really know what to expect going into this one. I hadn't even heard any of the new songs that were posted on the band's Myspace in recent weeks. But being that the album is very much a single story played out over its entirety, it was good to hear it all at once without preconceptions. This is without a doubt in my top three for this year. The Decemberists have never been a band to disappoint the listening public, and this album is no exception. In fact, it's near-perfect.

Rating: 9.0/10.0

Best Track: "The Rake's Song"

New Modest Mouse, "Satellite Skin"

Modest Mouse dropped down their new-ish track, "Satellite Skin" on The Late Show David Letterman's recently.  I say new-ish only because it's existed for about a year, but this is the best I've heard of it thus far.  Still, I'd have to say I'm intrigued by this one, as it sort of sounds a bit like 2000's The Moon & Antarctica, along with portions of Good News for People Who Love Bad News.  I feel that these albums, more than the rest, showcase Issac Brock as a vocalist and center each track completely on him and the lyrics he presents.  Their other albums, in my opinion, are much more full band-oriented.  But, like I said, maybe it's just me.  Still, this track is engaging and entertaining, while still a bit subdued, and will peak your interest if you're a fan of Modest Mouse.  Check out the video below.