New from Nada Surf: “See These Bones”

Hey, Friday afternoon inbox surprises don’t get much better than this bolt out of the clear blue sky: a brand new song from New York trio Nada Surf!

“See These Bones” is a layered, lovely, mid-tempo tune that just builds and grows as it ambles along, with lots of backing vocal “oooooohs” and shimmery guitar melodies. This is the final track on their forthcoming 5th album LUCKY, which will be out on Barsuk Records on February 5, 2008.

It’ll be the follow-up to 2005′s elegant, eloquent, melodic indie-pop of The Weight Is A Gift. The new album features artists such as Ben Gibbard (who I think I hear on this track, no?), John Roderick of The Long Winters, Ed Harcourt, and guitarist Phil Wandscher of Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter (whom I will be seeing open for Josh Ritter this Thursday in Boulder). I am excited for this; the sample is a nice way to start the weekend.

See These Bones – Nada Surf

NADA SURF TOUR DATES (with Sea Wolf)
10/13 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
10/15 Columbus, OH – Basement
10/16 Cincinnati, OH – 20th Century
10/17 Louisville, KY – Jim Porters
10/18 Indianapolis, IN – Birdy’s
10/19 Chicago, IL – Schubas
10/20 Chicago, IL – Schubas
10/22 St. Louis, MO – Gargoyle Club
10/23 Nashville, TN – Exit Inn
10/24 Birmingham, AL – Bottle Tree
10/26 Tampa, FL State – Theatre
10/27 St. Augustine, FL РCaf̩ Eleven
10/29 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
10/30 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
10/31 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
11/1 Charlottesville, VA – Satellite Ballroom – UVA
11/2 Baltimore, MD – 8 x 10

The week before the album comes out, they’ll also play some fine little acoustic shows down the West Coast and then hop over to NYC:

1/30 Seattle, WA – The Triple Door (acoustic)
1/31 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge (acoustic)
2/2 San Francisco, CA – Swedish American Hall (acoustic)
2/7 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg

[photo credit Peter Ellenby]

Rogue Wave wants to jam with you; can you come over?

It was a dark and stormy night in May (all the best stories start with dark and stormy) when I got a phone call from a friend: “Hey, I’m heading out to Rogue Wave‘s Oakland studio for a huge jam session for their new album!” Along with thirty of their friends, ranging in age from teensy to old, experienced musican to absolute novice, Rogue Wave staged a melodic cacophony for in their song “Own Your Own Home” on their newest album Asleep At Heaven’s Gate. It sounded like an insufferably cool idea to me at the time, and guess what?

It was.

ROGUE WAVE: The Making of Asleep At Heaven’s Gate

Impressions of the third studio release from this talented Bay Area band are extremely positive. This record could go huge for Rogue Wave if people have their ears on right. It is fresh and musically rich — apparently over 150 instruments were used on the album, and my ears love it.

The album has a jangle and a shimmer a la former Sub-Pop labelmates The Shins or Band of Horses, but I also find it echoing another one of my favorite records lately, The Swimmers from Philadelphia. If you recall, The Swimmers made an album centered around a short story of a man who swims home through a series of his neighbors’ suburban swimming pools, and the entire thing is rife with the feelings of floating, or sinking, or sometimes drowning. Several songs on Asleep At Heaven’s Gate evoke that for me as well.

Much of this album strikes me immediately and viscerally. Example: the first time I listened to it, I was doing sit-ups at the gym and had to keep stopping to drum along on my solar plexus (um, gym talk) to some of these potent rhythms. And while it is not unusual for me to feel like the rhythm is gonna get me, I loved the variety on this album — they experimented with everything from drumming on walls & doors to handclaps and “ass slaps” (according to their MySpace).

The album opens with a newly-rejuvenated Pat Spurgeon machine gun rat-a-tatting his healthy-kidney insides out (he got a transplant in January) on “Harmonium,” which swirls and sounds more epic than anything they’ve done that I can recall. There’s a flow to the whole album, but some standout tracks for me are “Chicago x 12″ (which features Matthew Caws of Nada Surf), the unrelenting “Phony Town,” and the alt-country inflected album closer “Cheaper Than Therapy.”

Zach Rogue says that the band was listening to a lot of Wendy Carlos while they were writing this album — she scored movies like The Shining and A Clockwork Orange. I can hear that ambient influence on songs like the infectious “Like I Needed,” which starts out just creepily enough. “Own Your Own Home” begins with the directive to the crowd heard in the video above, and ratchets up the group-clamoring and feverish strumming to a cult-like din at the end of the song. It’s a combination of celebration & “bust out the grape Kool-Aid.” I love it.

Asleep At Heaven’s Gate is out September 18th on the fine little Brushfire Records label, and they’ll be touring in support of it this fall (some shows with none other than the fabulous Feist).

TUNES: Since I’ll be drawn and quartered if I post any of the new goodness from Rogue Wave, I’ll have to go with some of the old goodness. This is a nice little set from one of my favorite record stores, the warehouse/Mecca of Amoeba Records on Haight in San Francisco:

ROGUE WAVE
Live @ Amoeba Records, 1/21/06 [thx]
Are You On My Side
Bird On A Wire
Sewn Up
Odorono (The Who cover)
Publish My Love
Endless Shovel
Catform
Love’s Lost Guarantee

ROGUE WAVE AMOEBA ZIP

Something old = something new from Nada Surf

Those guys on the very high lifeguard chairs are Brooklyn alternative-rock trio Nada Surf, and they may be up there talking about how they’re fixin’ to re-release their 1996 five song EP Karmic, from their days before signing with Elektra. Out June 12 on Hi-Speed Soul Records, the EP will also include a bonus track, “Pressure Free,” previously only available on 7″.

From the press release, “Nada Surf has managed to survive the wonder of their one big hit [Popular], build an estimable army of loyal fans around the world, and thrive through the commitment to the craft of making pop music that’s indelible, warm, and uniquely their own.” Amen, I second that sentence. Nada Surf is currently in the studio working in their 5th full-length album out this fall.

Pressure Free – Nada Surf

AOL, like, totally wants to go to the next Cold War Kids show with you

I am a little confused by the AOL Music Indie Blog. The first time I heard of it, it just sounded like a non-sequitur to me, like a math equation that does not compute. AOL = indie?

They are using their gigantic corporate conglomerate muscle and huge subscriber base to draw these great podcasts from a wide variety of (mostly) smaller independent artists.

I suppose I could just enjoy and keep my mouth shut, but I just have to admit my hesitancy in having AOL be my source for, like, a Josh Rouse interview. Isn’t that what smaller labels and independent radio stations are for? The performances are great so I can’t complain, but I have to admit that the concept kind of rubs me the wrong way.

I know, I know – get over it, and listen to these:

RECENT PODCASTS (the links are to mp3 of podcast) -

M. Ward
(performing Chinese Translation, To Go Home, Paul’s Song)

Cat Power
(performing Love & Communication, John John, Satisfaction, Ramblin’ Man)

Noel Gallagher
(performing It’s Good To Be Free, Whatever, Slide Away)

The Lemonheads
(performing No Backbone, Why Do You Do This To Yourself, My Drug Buddy)

Nada Surf
(performing 8 songs — now that’s just crazy talk: Concrete Bed, What Is Your Secret?, Always Love, Hyperspace, Blizzard of ’77, 80 Windows, Happy Kid, Blankest Year)

José González
(performing Crosses, Deadweight on Velveteen, Lovestain, Heartbeats)

Josh Rouse
(performing Quiet Town and Givin’ It Up)

Jamie Lidell
(performing Game For Fools, What’s The Use, Multiply)

Monday Music Roundup

So I woke up Sunday morning to a thick dusting of snow on Pikes Peak and surrounding mountains. Breathtakingly beautiful, yes. But I really do not know if I am ready for winter again. I kind of like my flipflops.

Well, the bright side of the picture as we are now into Fall and cruising towards shorter days and longer nights: more downtime to listen to music? Here’s a few to start your week off in style.

Kings Horses
Jet
The melodic influences of the Beatles (and their latter-day disciples Oasis) are brushed in wide, vivid strokes all over the new forthcoming album (Shine On, due Oct 3) from Aussie rockers Jet. Where before you probably knew them best for the tambourine-shaking, fatty bass line, Lust-For-Life ripoff “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” (which was used once in Alias where Sydney was dressed up like a kickass punk rocker with a mohawk, Docs, and a short plaid skirt, so she’s always the “girl” I think of when I hear that song), their newest effort is a lot prettier, with harmonies, woo-woo-woo backing vocals, strings, and expansive guitar lines. First single “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” carries the torch of previous rowdier songs, but there is a lot more depth this time around. Sounds pretty good to me, I’ve been listening to it all weekend.

Sometimes
Howie Beck, featuring Matthew Caws of Nada Surf
Toronto singer/songwriter Howie Beck was someone I hadn’t heard of until recently, and I admit I took a listen because of the people he has worked with: Feist, Josh Rouse, Jason Collett (Broken Social Scene), and Matthew Caws (Nada Surf). Those are all positive associations to my ears, but as I listen to more of Howie, I hear that he is a talented and polished musician in his own right. The shimmering, sure guitar melodies on this track, blended with the honest lyrics, make for an enjoyable introduction. His self-titled album was re-released last week in the US on Ever Records, a follow-up to his 1999 album Hollow, which was highly acclaimed by the British press following its release on Easy!Tiger in the UK.

Sweet Lady
What Made Milwaukee Famous
So these guys are completely NOT out of Milwaukee, rather their name is a nod to a lyric from Jerry Lee Lewis, which is all good in my hood. What Made Milwaukee Famous are from Austin, Texas, and have a bright, fun, singalong pop feel to their music (rather than the grey and snowy Schlitz-drinking soundtrack I had expected). Toe-tapping and fantastic, this song really wants to be the first track on your next mixtape. From the Barsuk Records re-release of their Trying To Never Catch Up album (August 2006, recommended).

She Moves In Secret Ways
Polly Paulusma
Thank you again to the free music from Facebook. I doubt I would have otherwise ever stumbled across Polly Paulusma, a British singer-songwriter with both smarts (Cambridge, Ph.D program) and vocal cords to love. Her charming folksy sound and earnest timbre reminds me a bit of Aussie Missy Higgins. This song has a rich, melodic, catchy, coffeehouse-show feel, lovely for the first chills of autumn. Also listen and tell me if parts of the melody and humming voices aren’t completely reminiscent of the best parts of “Trapeze Swinger” (Iron & Wine). This is off her self-produced 2004 album Scissors In My Pocket.

Supernatural Car Lover
Robert Pollard
I’ve joked here before about Bob Pollard‘s prolific songwriting (sometimes right up there with Ryan Adams in terms of quantity), as well as his wildy varying quality. You kind of never know what you are going to get. Following the eclectic From A Compound Eye, which he just released earlier this year, his new album Normal Happiness seems to exude a more upbeat, accessible, “normal happy” vibe. Most of the tunes on this album clock in at somewhere around 2 minutes, and they pack a fast and tuneful punch. This particular cut has the ability to stick in your head for days at a time. Normal Happiness is due Oct 10 on Merge Records.

You can either a) attend this show or b) donate a kidney to Rogue Wave

You liked their Descended Like Vultures CD last year? Yeah, me too. Well now you can give a little something back to the band that gave you such good listening last year. Kudos to these guys for organizing this and for all the caring (and really good) musicians who are contributing their chops for this show. Wish I could make it.

Rogue Wave Benefit Show

On Saturday September 30th 2006, San Francisco band Rogue Wave will host a benefit concert at The Independent to raise money for their drummer Pat Spurgeon, who is in desperate need of a kidney transplant.

The benefit concert will feature performances by Rogue Wave, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Ryan Miller (Guster), John Vanderslice, and other special guests. Daniel Handler (AKA Lemony Snickett) will MC the event.

Pat was born with one kidney and it failed. He had his first transplant in 1993, which served him well until now. After 13 years, it has started to deteriorate. He has been on dialysis since April and is hoping desperately to find a donor. Some of their friends have gotten tested to see if they are a match, but Pat has yet to hear good news.

Provided he finds a donor, there will be an enormous amount of costs that both Pat and his donor will incur. In a logical world, medical insurance would cover his donor’s and his expenses after the procedure, but it does not; so he and his family must carry the financial burden. The expenses can be huge. We are trying to raise money for costs like: donor’s travel, care, bills, lost work wages, etc., as well as Pat’s expenses, care, bills, etc. while he is in recovery.

If you cannot attend the show, we encourage you to donate whatever you can by visiting www.roguewavemusic.com.
(Note from Heather: I just gave a little bit and wow! I feel like a better person)

Thank you for your love and continued support,
Rogue Wave
(Zach, Pat, Gram, Evan)

SUPER SHOW:
9/30/06 The Independent
628 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA 94117
Doors: 8:30pm; Show: 9:00pm
Tickets available now on www.ticketweb.com

New Nada Surf: “I Like What You Say”

Wow, two Nada Surf mentions in one week for me, that’s some kind of record. Following hot on the heels of the lovely Beatles cover by the shimmering indie-rock New York trio, we have a new song as well.

This is from the upcoming soundtrack of Ashanti‘s new movie (meaning: listen to this song now because, seriously, how many of you are actually gonna go see Ashanti in the theaters?) John Tucker Must Die. The soundtrack also includes People in Planes, OK Go (covering The Zombies’ “This Will Be Our Year”), All-American Rejects, Ben Lee (with his grand little “Float On” cover), and The Caesars.

“I Like What You Say” – Nada Surf
(expired)

By the way, Ashanti’s character in the movie is named Heather. Represent.

All you need is . . . a bunch of fantastic Beatles covers

I have obsessively been clicking over at the Contrast Podcast site for the last 24 hours or so, waiting for the unveiling of this week’s podcast (to which I contributed a track & a spoken intro piece). Our theme this time is really superb, so carve out an hour of your day to spend with your favorite bloggers as we all pick our Favorite Beatles Covers.

Since everyone and their grandma feels the need to record a Beatles cover at some point in their career, we had a lot of fodder to choose from. Beatles = great. Covers = great. An hour of this shizzle? Even better.

Contrast Podcast 15: Beatles Covers (the podcast as one big mp3)

PLAYLIST
(00:00) Salad – It’s For You

Tim from the face of today

(04:11) Low – Nowhere Man

Scleem from Spleendid

(07:16) Sparks – I Want To Hold Your Hand

Paul from They Tell Us That We Lost Our Tails …

(10:59) Elliott Smith – Yer Blues (live)

Chad from Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands

(16:24) Nina Simone – Here Comes The Sun

Michael from The Yank Sizzler

(20:09) Laibach – Get Back

FiL from Pogoagogo

(25:12) U2 – Happiness As A Warm Gun

Taylor from Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good

(30:11) Chris Eckman – Yellow Submarine

Merz from Mars Needs Guitars

(36:07) Mich̬le Arnaud РJe Croyais

ZB from So The Wind Won’t Blow It All Away

(39:03) Abra Moore – Blackbird (live)

Cindy from Adzuki Bean Stash

(43:55) Al Green – I Want To Hold Your Hand

Chris from Culture Bully

(46:17) LaSalle – While My Guitar Gently Weeps (live)

Bethanne from Clever Titles Are So Last Summer

(51:42) Marilyn Manson – Come Together (live)

Marcos from Mind Booster Noori

(57:27) The Chameleons – Tomorrow Never Knows

Colin from Let’s Kiss And Make Up

(01:04:17) Nada Surf – All You Need Is Love

Heather from I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS

(01:08:22) Cornershop – Norwegian Wood

Tom from Other People’s Toys

(01:11:37) The Fall – A Day In The Life

Jamie from The Run Out Groove

My thanks go out to Bruce at Some Velvet Blog for unearthing the little gem that I contributed to this bacchanalia.

Some random musical ephemera for today (a.k.a. “Odds & Ends,” but I thought I’d mix it up a little)

The ten best albums of ALL TIME, according to a British poll released yesterday:

1: Definitely Maybe – Oasis
2: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
3: Revolver - The Beatles
4: OK Computer – Radiohead
5: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – Oasis
6: Nevermind – Nirvana
7: The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
8: Dark Side Of The Moon – Pink Floyd
9: The Queen Is Dead – The Smiths
10: The Bends – Radiohead

Those crazy Brits. See the full article here.

Ûž Speaking of those reigning champions, Scatter O’Light has a little live Oasis set and a lovely picture of some Italian soccer players. Mmmm. But where’s Batistuta? I don’t even know who he’s playing for these days, but there was a time when he and I were tight.

Ûž Dodge is on this mad cover song rage, and has more versions of “God Only Knows” than you can shake a stick at. Also on the recent agenda: Dylan’s Girl From The North Country, Cohen’s Hallelujah, The Pixies’ Where Is My Mind, Elvis’ Suspicious Minds, The Smith’s There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, and Blue Oyster Cult’s cowbell classic (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. It’s covers galore. He is out of control, folks.

Ûž On an avian note: The Byrds are prepping a huge box set. And the Black Crowes are officially releasing some of their “lost” material from the Tall Sessions and the Band Sessions, which Justin had up over at Aquarium Drunkard because he ROCKS like that.

Ûž Jennings at rbally has an amazing Van Morrison bootleg from Fillmore West in San Francisco, circa 1970, nine years before wee Heather was even thought of. But I wish I could have been there.

Ûž Pearl Jam has a new video for Life Wasted. I tried to watch it and all the gory bloody heads (a la the new album art) kind of turned me off, but the concept is way cool: “In its latest bid to show its progressive side, popular band Pearl Jam has just released its latest music video, “Life Wasted,” under a Creative Commons license. That means, according to Creative Commons creative director Eric Steuer, that anyone will be able to ‘legally copy, distribute and share the clip’ for noncommercial purposes. Steuer thinks that this is the first music video from a major record label to be so licensed. But either way, it’s a great step forward for those who believe that content can be both protected and shared, something the record companies and the movie studios usually don’t seem to believe.”

And this is a really great in-store video from this weekend up in Seattle with Nada Surf performing “What Is Your Secret” (complete with forgotten lyrics and laughter).

I love the immediacy of YouTube, as well as the educational value. For example, in addition to great in-store musical performances, I also learned that Lindsay Lohan is apparently a firecrotch. What an adjective.

Ûž Finally, this is one of the funniest articles I have ever read: Baghdad’s love affair with Lionel Ritchie:

“Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. ‘I love Lionel Richie,’ they say. Iraqis who do not understand a word of English can sing an entire Lionel Richie song.”

That is beyond excellent.