Rosie Thomas, with friends Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer
if you aren't already aquainted, and there's a good chance you are not -- please let me introduce you to Rosie Thomas, a songbird that can't be passed by. this woman pours out some of the most beautiful music i've heard in ages, quietly and soulfully composing song after song that tugs on my clothing, bidding me hear more, hear more.

the album was made in the way we dream most creative processes should be -- slowly, in the comfort of our own home, and with good friends eager to do the same. recorded with Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer over a period of two years, the album shines in that home=project kind of way, cradled and cherished and carefully made. i can't help comparing it to one of 2006's favorites, The Weepies, especially in the style of Rosie's addictively strong falsetto. the instrumental work is gentle and pillows that strength, rendering an acoustic backdrop which is often accompanied by strings, piano, and soft percussion. it's really quite enchanting, and worth the break in your day to understand just what i mean.

::::ladies and gentlemen.
Rosie Thomas - Much Farther To Go
Rosie Thomas - If This City Never Sleeps (highly recommended)
more on the hype.

go check out the lovely representation and artwork on Rosie's myspace. you can actually listen to the whole album there, and when you're done, go get it from iTunes. wonderful, wonderful purchase.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  8:31 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment

  new music: Dearborn
it's a rare case when i decide it's important enough to post just one mp3 from a band. but that's how much i believe in the representative single from Chicago's Dearborn, an actual rock group that's been kicking (smashing) some dust around on their local scene. this is rock like you missed it, rock like you've got a burning desire to stand up really fast and take a swinging wreck to your desk and all its contents, exploding your life as you know it. and that's just to kick it off, yo [rebellion]. when i tell you this song instills a passionate vibe, a ripping, shredding, guitar-soloing, smashing vibe -- my computer's on the floor. i'm typing this among the looseleaf papers and scattered electronics that used to line my desk.

truly, though, it's obvious this group has something going for them. their fans rave about their live performance, and as i'm always stressing, that's the most important part of this whole music gig. the people want to see you. the tables are turning on record sales and groups are getting big from their representation on the stage, their antics, their passion. Dearborn has it, just liked we raved over Cold War Kids and Birdmonster. and those groups are nationally touring, getting radio play, with the buzz buzzing like a storm. well, here comes the thunder, let me tell you. Dearborn will blow heads. (was that a good twist? i thought it was. did you like that?)

and, if you nevermind all that, i'll admit i never really thought i'd be calling a rock song catchy. but it is, dammit. the vocals are so good, and they staple themselves to your brain.

::::try it out, see for yourself: Dearborn - Already Down

visit their 'space to say hello (they take good care of their page).
also visit the hype machine as they garner spots on all of your favorite blogs. don't miss out on this song, either. do it.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  7:46 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment

  Camera Obscura - new mp3s i have a friend whose main concern with music is its aspect of "removing" people from their actual surroundings. he feels like, and he says he hears it all the time, the ipod is just a continuation of this possibility -- that now, anytime and anywhere, people can disassociate, merely by sticking little white things in their ears. he quotes a woman as having said, "i love listening to my ipod while i'm with you guys. this music makes me feel like i'm in a movie." and this scares my friend.

my friend would positively hate Camera Obscura. every song they release does something to my senses -- they dissipate, soar off to higher places of intangibility, make pictures and slideshows of sixties photographs, quick reels, dusty and yellowing dresses, people i don't know at their fifteenth birthday parties. and when the song ends, it's so hard to come back down. i have been in a story, alive and elsewhere. why return? ah! this is what scares my friend.

from the "If Looks Could Kill" single:

::::Camera Obscura - Hands Up Baby

this track is the best example i could hope for. slow, surreal, almost ethereal. amazing. it lilts slowly, building, lifting, lighter and lighter until you have found yourself entwined in every note. incredible.

::::Camera Obscura - Alaska

thankfully poppier than the last, this finishes up at a hopeful stride, running along like a brook, bubbly but pensive. the depth that this band is capable of... i'll tell you. it always surprises me.

lift yourself out of the "movie stupor" and we'll bring you to the hype, where you're sure to find the single and other great songs for your listening pleasure. and if this is your first time at disassociation, welcome! we here at NfT like to totally tune everyone out in the name of music all the time. sorry, buddy. (this scares him.)

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  8:15 AM  |  view comments (3)  |  post a comment

  The Broken West, out tomorrow
as a seemingly appropriate backlash to recently dominating sub-genres of indie pop (i love to get technical), i seem to be running into quite a bit of alt-folk and alt-country, or at least a lot of "indie rock" with those undertones. this is how it came to be that now it is my turn to write about The Broken West, who sold me with one song.

these happy-poppy-jangly go-getters are a product of 60's pop, tambourine lovers, sing-along vocals and the very best of Beatles-to-Wilco guitar work. it's lovely stuff, really -- song after song is classically arranged, delivered confidently and maturedly, leaving an aftertaste a little like the better side of Jacob Dylan. this old-time aspect runs them with a crowd that's refreshing, where they can stand up alone out of the sea of electronic beeps and blips. i highly recommend taking a bite out of their organic sound and newcomer originality. they've followed the greats and they've successfully got something to show for it.

since I Can't Go On, I'll Go On comes out tomorrow, i'll whet your appetite to persuade you that this is a worthy purchase.
::::the word spread fast.
The Broken West - So It Goes - this is the song that sold me.
The Broken West - Shiftee - a great example of their influences, and how they pull it off.

- head to the hype for a generous helping to their bigger tracks, especially "Down In The Valley," which is the song everyone's listening to.

- their myspace is their only working site at the moment (another band made them change their name - they were originally The Brokedown. i like their new one better) - - look them up to hear songs without downloading. good tactic. then BUY. their new indie label will help you (heart Merge records).

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  8:15 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment

  PBJ: an acronym for two wonderful things.
i know what's in that bag. sandwich makings.
having produced one of the catchiest songs i have ever heard, Sweden's Peter Bjorn and John are now finding their way to the US for a few lucky shows and finally, finally, a US release of their album Writer's Block. i know, i can't wait either. that'll be showing up February 6th (scarily not too far off) on "Almost Gold Recordings." the release will also include an awesome bonus disk.

for anyone not up on the loveliness that is this Swede sensation, please! i invite you to take a listen, at any of the following locations:

- their cute myspace
- the hype, because they give you tracks.

now, peanut butter jelly time.
yes, i said that.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  1:17 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment

  single craze: New Young Pony Club's "Ice Cream"
i almost never use one-sheets to write reviews, except to educate myself briefly about the origin of the band. but listen to this line:

"...a sound reminiscent of a hybrid version of Kelis meeting Blondie mashed up with Talking Heads and LCD Soundsystem."

no kidding! but, seriously? no kidding. it's one of the most accurate descriptions of influences and sound-alikes that i've ever come across. meet New Young Pony Club. meet the newest UK dance pop sensation.

two preliminary band members and one catchy tune lead this moniker to grow to a decent five-member band and release a non-stop dance party EP, teasing us with only three separate songs and two remixes of the track that made it all happen, "Ice Cream." apparently, the Brit kids just gobbled this one up, and they went soaring in popularity as copies of the song flew off the shelves. if you don't already know this song, i think you'll be surprised -- pay good attention to that description up there, however, and you literally already know what it sounds like. reciting monotone lyrics, a speaking voice like Shirley Manson's (how could i possibly mention her two days in a row?) projects out of the speakers, sits next to you and stares into your eyes while the rest of the night moves on around it, people writhing like angular snakes, fitting their body parts to the beat in the rainbow-flashing club. everyone has to move, and yet she's entrancing. it's easy to see why they chose a sexed-up Alice In Wonderland meets Charlie and the Chocolate Facory theme for their female-predominent band. they're young, hot, and obviously excited about the whirlwind of recognition. (just look at their faces.)

it's all over the internet, but considering the video made me want to run out to Sugar Heaven and gorge on treats (i'm a gummi lady myself), here's an extra little treat off their EP so you know what else they do with their musical profession.

::::lick your lips and get ready.
NYPC - Ice Cream
the treat (bonus):
NYPC - Get Dancey
- - we do! we have! and we will.

pleeeease do all of the below:
- visit the fun little myspace
- ask the hype for all of the very good remixes floating around.
- BUY this EP, especially if you DJ.

-watch the video! they're adorable, although a little robotic. cute outfits?

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  7:53 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment

  Review: The Last Kiss Soundtrack
though i will not be persuaded to see the film, i was neverthless tipped off to what Zach Braff managed on his "second film" soundtrack. "how silly of me to have forgotten," i thought, while i prepared myself to check it out. "he knows some great artists. he'll have picked some great tunes. Garden State? hello? The Last Kiss Soundtrack? has a ring to it, right? how dumb was i, to have forgotten..."

and then came the opening notes of Snow Patrol's "Chocolate."

as i skipped to number two, i was confronted by Joshua Radin, a song in the exact same vein as Bright Eye's "Lua" topped with Iron & Wine sprinkles (complete with female accompaniment). it was cliche. it was expected. it was damn disappointing.

onwards i went and my hopes were shot. as i passed by each decent choice, rolling my eyes at Coldplay (no no, i'm actually a fan, but you do remember Garden State's opener, i assume? "Don't Panic," my favorite Coldplay song ever), nodding at Cary Brothers, raising an eyebrow at Imogen Heap, quietly (and ineffectually) singing along to Ray Lamontagne... and, you know, finding a few random good tracks that will last me two weeks, like Athlete's "El Salvador" (a little to the tune of that Sublime song), and Remy Zero's "Prophecy," which (although it opens with the same vocal notes as Guster's "Satellite") sounds SO MUCH like Garbage that i literally googled it to see if they covered Shirley Manson or something. i was actually impressed with the Fiona Apple pick..

oh, hell. it dawned on me somewhere towards the middle of Rachel Yamagata's "Reason Why." Zachary, oh Zachary. if that is indeed your full name, hear me now! you failed in making another Garden State. but i can tell you why. that soundtrack was an accidental masterpiece. it marked a shift in the music industry, shined a dusty yellow spotlight onto the independent music industry and offered to let everyone take a better look, old and young alike. and it's named after New Jersey.

me? i know what he was going for. but i guess i can't take it this time. i'll plug the tracks i don't know into a playlist, loop them a few times, get used to their catchiness and potential (they're good songs, don't get me wrong) -- but i've been had. Garden State ruined ol' Braffy for me. give me the Snatch Soundtrack anyday. even the Hercules Soundtrack, give me that! but run-over acoustics, musicians that are friends, and "hip" and "trendy" sounding music is a thing of the past for the Scrubs dude. i'm disillusioned.

::::i never said i didn't like the songs themselves! it's the compilation. you know me. check these out, as a reward for sitting through my rant:
Joshua Radin - Star Mile - - explained above, this track is mellow and acoustic in the vein of Iron & Wine and some Bright Eyes.
Remy Zero - Prophecy - - again, starts off like Guster's "Satellite," throughout sounds exactly like Garbage. it's good.

Bonus. because i like you a lot.
Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk (Reprise) - - i was happy with this addition. you can either win well or fail miserably with Rufus. this was a win.

i don't want to dissuade you from buying the album. i am merciless, especially when something should succeed another thing i've loved for a long time. you'll probably love it. check out the full tracklist and buy it here. the film? i don't know. ask someone else i guess.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  8:21 AM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment

  seeing as we're officially a Boston blog (check the sidebar for the alliance, we're quite the blogging fam') i feel it is my official duty to tell you all to mark your calendars for some really exciting turn-outs.

TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT NfT favorite Annuals will be playing at the Paradise with the lovely band The Dears. doors at 7 pm, 18+, all that good stuff.

March 29 -- lookin' that far ahead, you betchya -- is NfT's #1 Album Of The Year pick, The Long Winters. i cannot even tell you how fucking ecstatic i am. i am so happy i had to swear. it's at Great Scott, and doors are 9 pm, and it's nice and cheap. so you have no excuse not to go. (i'm ticketmastering.)

total cuties Headlights at the Middle East, April 22nd (thinking ahead!

OTHER great picks can be found at our tourfilter user page, or in the little box we have going on in the left-hand column of your screen right this very minute. these are shows we like, recommend, or are going to. if you have any questions about a band you see on the list at any time, let me know and i'll help you out with some tracks and info and other goodies. we of course love hearing from you and all of that, but moreover we believe in seeing bands live, and i personally believe it's the future of money-making in the music industry. oh, you mean bands have to be able to perform? hell yes.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  1:49 PM  |  view comments (1)  |  post a comment

  new music: Abernethy
Abernethy - College Grove
this stretch before us -- January to April -- is one of the worst. nothing really to look forward to. a lot of introverted exploration, a lot of confusion, a lot of... depression. it seems appropriate, of course. we are mammals, and many hibernate in the wintertime. we put on weight, watch as the clouds of precipitation roll in, and we sit in our caves and boohoo.

i have no remedy for this period. instead, i have some good, solid, creepy music, full of the stuff that will help you sit these mopey feelings down and cathartically tune them into sound.

meet canadian Abernethy. what appears to be a family affair for one headlining musician takes on a rich level of closeness with music and a relationship with sound that runs with the best of Gregorian chants. his trademark is a low, penetrating harmony, a beautiful vocal symphony like you would hear in Moody Blues -- eery and wonderful. it is an other-worldly look into music now, a study of the underlying quiet that pervades when the dance party is done. even in his lightest moments (which i've given you), you can hear this suspicion, a feeling that something lies more importantly beneath. they often pay homage to past artists by borrowing one-liners: "she don't make time anymore," "something in the way she moves me," and others. you might have fun going through the album and picking them out. i recommend this album to you, but be of good constitution -- and be able to accept what this winter time is for. you're supposed to mope. wring it out with Abernethy.

::::it's very, very good.
Abernethy - Astronaut : piano-heavy opener -- bright, commanding.
Abernethy - Unforgettably Young : possibly my favorite. it sounds old, seasoned, and tells a story. lyrics, vocals and instruments come together so nicely here. highly recommended.

visit their myspace and tell them i said hello.
check the hype, chart their progress, READ this lovely write-up of their past album's "Everyone Who Knows You" here, right here, at Said The Gramophone. and tell them i said hello, too.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  7:56 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment

  Of Montreal: "No Conclusion"
believe it or not, Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer doesn't come out until the exact same day as yesterday's artist, The Bird And The Bee -- January 23rd. to be released separately to the LP is a lovely little EP called Icons, Abstract Thee, and it's a slightly stripped-down effort that both gets your foot tapping, but doesn't leave you sunburnt, like only they can sometimes manage. it appropriately smells like album rejects, but what wonderful throw-aways! from typical band efforts in "Du Og Meg" to simple, one-chord progressions in "Derailments In A Place Of Our Own," the release is well worth your time.

by far, however, the best damn song on this EP is the 9 minute, 42 second "No Conclusion." lately i've begun to appreciate these longer compositions, finally able to tolerate length (as long as the song is worth the extra time). this one progresses and morphs masterfully. each song tends to loop into eachother with crying, urgent violins, and this rises with the same ebb and flow of emotion, wringing out an extremely mature and thoughtful song while still maintaining their addictively poppy and electronic standpoint. they're probably one of the only bands that could ever launch into a song with "Tonight I feel like I should just destroy myself," and still sound like they're having the time of their lives. a lot like Hissing Fauna's "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal" (11:53), this takes their normal pop masterpiece onto a whole higher level.

::::i'll give up the goods: Of Montreal - No Conclusion
starts to get really, really good around 5 minutes. just you wait.

the release date on the EP isn't set in stone, so i can't give you a link for preorder, but i know you're loyal to your favorite bands and you'll all grab it when it comes out. the lyrics end like "i never ever wanted to write this song, i always thought things would change somehow, and we would all start getting along.." so maybe i can start a huge, awful rumor that they're considering breaking up, and if you don't buy the EP they'll blame their fans and split. gasp! now you have to buy.
check them out on the hype. it will serve you well.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  5:29 PM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment

  Review: The Bird And The Bee. finally.

one of my very favorite discoveries of '06 was the collaboration of Greg Kurstin and Inara George. now that the release date for their album draws near upon us, i'm excited to give you a little preview of the goods. because, my god, is it good.

The Bird And The Bee is no accidental moniker. this music is rich with seduction, playful teasing, and sexual energy. from pop-along to swaggering blues, every note is soaked and dripping with coquettish swoon. it all begins on an addictively catchy turn with "Again & Again," slowly playing out from a tease to an all-out pop song. "Birds & The Bees" reminds me fantastically of Psapp, as does much of the album. they often combine a folky pace with pop notes, keyboard tricks and appropriate electronic elements. it's all so well-done, and best of all, you can tell how much they had fun making it.

they're already garnering a lot of attention, so watch out for this duo -- they'll make your 2007 headlines, i'm here to tell you. it's all so delicious.

::::just like they do, here's a teaser of the whole pie.
The Bird And The Bee - Again & Again
The Bird And The Bee - La La La

Bonus:
The Bird And The Bee - I Hate Camera - really lovely pop.

their album comes out January 23rd, and i HIGHLY suggest you all go out and buy it. every single song on the album is worth it -- and will be completely stuck in your head. this will be playing in my headphones non-stop for the next month, i'm telling you right now.
also, tell them hi on their myspace, and listen up on the hype.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  1:08 PM  |  view comments (4)  |  post a comment

  i want to be in your living room. (with these mp3s.) i don't know. all i can say, kids, is that when you burn out, you burn out. nothing does it for you until something does it for you, and that's just it. that's how it goes.

what did it for me happened just a few days ago. i was standing in my dad's living room, having just given him Annuals's Be He Me for the first time. he sat at his desk and decided right there that he liked what he heard -- "oh i like this shan, i definitely like this" -- and it was the feeling i got at that moment that made me remember. accomplishment, auditory goodwill. that's what did it for me. and it's always what continues to do it for me, even when mp3s don't work and i sleep three hours a night and it's more work just to scrimp out reviews than it is to sit there, like my dad, and declare my approval of a sound. the thing is, i feel great knowing i can give you guys that sound. i feel good that my work isn't wasted, that it's read, that someone somewhere is looking up and telling me, even just in their heads, "oh i like this shan, i definitely like this."

what's always the drawback for me is the pixelated coldness, the unfeeling and lonely environment of cyberspace. it's a void that we turn to desperately for contact, and somehow it makes us float farther away. my issue with the blog is that i'm the woman in the big black space reading her proud little ditties into the microphone, spotlight on, papers rustling on a cold hard podium -- but i want to be in your living room. i want to make you a mixtape, come to your house and plop on your floor while i change discs for you and put on that album from that new band that's going to make your day, month, year-end list (sigh). those of you who've seen me and you and everyone we know will remember the cringe-worthy yet touching "WARM: 3-D and TOUCH in the DIGITAL AGE." it's an odd story, and mostly irrelevant here, but the script did its best to say, Hey. We don't know each other anymore. What do we do.

and for now, there's nothing i can do except pull together and remember that there are those of you out there who are really reading, and that's as damn close to your living room as i can ever get.

::::imagine me on the floor in front of your cd player (if it's perched, work with me here). this is my 3-song mixtape -- new material from artists you know or don't.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Yankee Go Home
- i'm really excited about the new material trickling out from CYHSY, because they weren't my favorite band in the entire world, and i did feel like they had a lot of room to grow. it's nice to see evidence of that growth and more of a concentration on subtleties, and other such notes. important: this track is from the February issue of UNCUT, before anyone gets uppity about my posting it. just let me know if any toes are stepped on and we'll immediately take it down.

Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
this Brit rock sensation (about as big to them as Franz Ferdinand is to us, though FF are gods over there) is taking away that stripped-down, repetitive Strokes feel and replacing it with a little more maturity, a little more... oh, hell. they're going more pop. and i like it. i like it a lot.

Softlightes - Heart Made Of Sound
this is a repost, but it's very much on purpose, because this is a band that i'll be pushing at you from all angles. this single is amazing -- sometimes the piano is just literally breathtaking. original post here.

in the meantime, have you all heard any of Bloc Party's Weekend In The City? we can't post any of it here (yet) but hot damn! you're going to love it. look for some stuff through the hype, i'd say. remember, i'm Miss Advocator of The Whole Album, so just wait until you can hear all of it consecutively, as you were meant to. this is one of those bands that really deserves to get big big big.

hey, you know i love you all, don't you? it wasn't you. it was all me. i needed to catch up on a year and half's worth of movies, or something. but i'm back.

allllllllso. let us know if there are server issues, any problems with getting the mp3s, etc.

Labels: mp3s, reviews

  shan  2:22 PM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment