Nashville alt-country heroes Lambchop were last seen on late night TV in 2004 when they played Conan (it was their second appearance on that show; in ’99 they backed Vic Chestnutt). So Friday night’s Fallon performance of “Gone Tomorrow,” from the band’s Mr. M, was a rare treat. Watch it below.
Japandroids’ raucous sophomore LP is one of our favorite albums of the year so far, an achievement all the more notable because, as they told us in a recent Progress Report, they basically broke up before Post-Nothing came out. Good thing that decision didn’t stick. Celebration Rock is out 6/5 via Polyvinyl, but you can now stream the whole thing at NPR.
Last month Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel announced his plan to transition to female, having lived with gender dysphoria for much of his life. On Friday, the singer made her live debut as Laura Jane Grace at a San Diego show opening for the Cult. According to Rolling Stone, Grace is a few weeks into her hormone replacement therapy, and the band performed a bunch of new songs slated for Against Me!’s next LP, Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Watch fan-shot video of “Don’t Lose Touch” from the concert below.
The Bravest Man In The Universe, soul legend Bobby Womack’s first album of original songs in 18 years, is out next month. It’s produced by Damon Albarn and XL’s Richard Russell. We’ve already heard “Please Forgive My Heart” and the album’s title track, and today we’ve got “Dayglo Reflection,” a jazzy duet with Lana Del Rey. Speaking to NME about the collab a little while back, Womack said of LDR: “She’s one of a kind. I’ve never sung with a girl like that before.” Hear their song below.
Sir Antony (which is what we will all be calling him one day) wrote a song about the coral reef, and how we must make the requisite choices to preserve its beauty OR ELSE, for the film project CORAL REKINDLING VENUS, a “major work for fulldome digital planetariums by acclaimed artist Lynette Wallworth.” You can hear it soundtracking the eco-film’s trailer (and download it) below. From the Vimeo description, the film is “an extraordinary journey into a mysterious realm of fluorescent coral reefs, bioluminescent sea creatures and rare marine life, revealing a complex community living in the oceans most threatened by climate change.” It looks beautiful, and sounds nice with “RISE,” which has Antony representing the cause via typically tearjerking piano-based operatic gravitas. If you care to get real about the endangered beauty of the underseas for a moment and are unafraid to show emotion, this is your link:
This week we revealed our 25 favorite albums of 2012 so far, always a controversial topic. But you also found time for some passionate debate about whether I’m allowed to post a Dave Matthews Band song on this blog. (BTW, I am.) Let’s take a look at your thoughts on the above, and see whose scored highest and lowest.
As revealed by Angus Andrew in a recent Progress Report, Liars are experimenting with some new textural territory, mining more electronic sounds and beats. We got a sense of that on the first single, “No. 1 Against The Rush,” but it’s even more apparent on the newly surfaced “Octagon,” a track a lot of people are going to compare to Radiohead (just a heads up). Hear it below.
(via Listen Before You Buy, h/t Michael_)
WIXIW is out 6/5 on Mute.
Since we heard the wailing “(There’s Nothing Worse in the World Than A) Crying Girl,” a little while ago, nine-member L.A. soul-punk ensemble Jail Weddings has since put out there Four Future Standards EP. Here’s another cut from that, the swinging love ode “Good Book.” Double entendres galore! Download below.
