Bolster Your Holster

My favourite track off of the great new Sigur Rós album Valtari just received a video treatment. The video for Varúð, like the previous video, is a very static feeling video. An Icelandic looking painterly landscape that subtly changes as the song swells past the choral piece. More and more characters then develop and release light as the song explodes in Sigur Rós fashion.

A minimalist approach to allow the power of the song to dominate. This is one of my favourite songs of the year, so expect it to be near the top of the year end list. And anticipate a few more videos for the rest of the album as this is part of a mystery film experiment.

- Shaun

I have already seen this on 2 of my favourite blogs and therefore hesitant to post it. But it is just too amazing to not put up. This is a very powerful and empassioned performance of Faithful Man, by Lee Fields, a highlight from his new album of the same name. It is also a song that I have been listening to a lot recently and is on my upcoming April Playlist. It is a crushingly raw version, and the camerawork and video editing make it a mandatory watch. This amazing performance is care of Yourstru.ly. And the rest of the album is incredible as well, so make sure you check that out. It is Soul music at its finest.

- Shaun

You know that feeling, when you know something is coming, and then it announces, and you were more excited then you anticipated for the anticipation. Well this is one of those moments. Sigur Rós has announced their new album, their first studio album in 4 years. It is entitled Valtari (which means Steamroller) and will be released May 28th. Which will be a fantastic week for me. I will be seeing Bon Iver 2x a few days before, and then it will be all Sigur Rós for the remainder of the year (sorta joking). But to make me even more excited, they released a new video of their new song “Ekki Múkk” which is very much a Sigur Rós track. The track is a gorgeous atmospheric build, but I will let you listen to it on your own. The album is more centralized around electronics and strings claims Jonsi, so expect a lot of pretty moments. Check out the new song below.

“i really can’t remember why we started this record, i no longer know what we were trying to do back then. i do know session after session went pear-shaped, we lost focus and almost gave up…did give up for a while. but then something happened and form started to emerge, and now i can honestly say that it’s the only sigur rós record i have listened to for pleasure in my own house after we’ve finished it.” – georg

- Shaun

One of my favourite releases from 2008, that I discovered in January of 2009, was the debut album by the Portlandian band Blind Pilot. 3 rounds and a sound was the first album from one of the first of many great bands from that region that picked up folk sensibilities, old instrumentation, and harmonies and blended it into a new sound. They also did a bicycle tour in support of the album, and we ended up catching their show at the 2009 Sasquatch Festival, and being blown away by their live performance.

This past 2 weeks they have released 2 new trailers for their forthcoming sophomore album “We are the Tide”, as well as release the mandatory “free single for an email”. The two trailers hint at a sound very similar to the first album, but perhaps even a bit more polished. We had the opportunity to see a few side stage performances at the Calgary Folk Music Festival this Past July, and especially loved their collaborations with the Portland Cello Project and The Minotaurs. We are hoping to road trip it out to Oregon to see them this September, so be sure to check out their current tour dates and preorder their album at their site.

Here are the preview trailers, enjoy

Sigur Ros emailed out a new video featuring what seems to be new music and hints at a new release called INNI. Details are very scarce, but it looks and sounds very Sigur Ros-ish. And that is always a good thing.

Check it out here.

UPDATE: Apparently INNI is a film that is to be screened at an event affiliated with the Venice Film Festival. Not as awesome as a new album would be, but still looking forward to it.

I don’t know about my dreaming anymore….

All that I know is that I am falling, falling, falling, falling,

I might as well fall.

The newest single from James Blake’s Fantastic forthcoming LP is Wilhelm’s Scream.  Today a video for the song was released on the interwebs.  The video itself is a fuzzed out electronic feeling trip.  And so is the song.  The above lyrics are sung in a sweet and soulful falsetto.  Somber at times.  Hopeful at others.  But as the song degrades and progresses into a mash of electronics, reverb, and then ultimately breaks apart, so does the video.  This is one of the big standouts on an album that haunts you to the core.  It reminds me of Jamie Lidell at times and yet it sounds like nothing else really.  This is a ballad for the new century.  Hazy and disjointed.  Haunting and beautiful.  A pure hybrid of organic and electronic.  The self-titled debut LP comes out on February 8th.  So keep an earball open for it.  And if you somehow missed his amazing cover of Feist’s “Limit to your Love” check it out below as well.  And put on some quality headphones or make sure your sub is turned on.

The Wilhelm Scream
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVgEaDemxjc&w=640&h=390]

Limt to your Love
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOT2-OTebx0&w=640&h=390]

As mentioned previously, it looks like the next release from one of my favs “Noah and the Whale” is going to be of a happier variety.  But when you are referring to Noah and the Whale.  Happier does not necessarily equate to happy.  But from the 2 songs available for listen thus far it is definitely a departure from “First Days of Spring”.  L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. is the first official single from “Last night on Earth” which is due to be released in the UK on March 7th.  The official video is available for your viewing pleasure below.  Let us know what you think.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGUEelmzxo&fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1]

-Shaun