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Mount Eerie - "Stone's Ode"
Last year Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie, the Microphones) put out Lost Wisdom, a collaboration with Eric's Trip's Julie Doiron and Fred Squire, but the dark, multi-textured Wind's Poem (out 8/18 on P.W. Elverum & Sun) feels like the true heir to The Glow Pt. 2 and No Flashlight. As Elverum put it, the collection investigates the "theme of wind and also destruction and impermanence." We asked him about closing track "Stone's Ode."
For people who haven't heard Wind's Poem, can you explain the song and the characters of "Wind" and "Stone"? Basically the idea with Wind's Poem is that this crazy beautiful force of erosion and destruction (wind) constantly wraps around the world and permeates our lives, and is occasionally audible, blowing through buildings and branches. It is an invisible river, and it sings/says poems in a mystery language. So, the counterpart to wind must be "stone" (meaning all solid tangible things) and why shouldn't "stone" sing a hidden song too? So, "Stone's Ode" is about this. It's about the interplay between these two things: shape vs. destroyer of shape. It could also be heard as "person vs. mysterious mortality," or "a sense of stability vs. inevitable impending chaos." It might seem meaningless and overly theoretical to most people, but honestly it is very touching for me to think about these things, and to see a the way a river has carved out a hillside and relate it to my own aging body and surprising failures and joys.
Premature Evaluation: Beach House - Teen Dream
When we meditated on Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally's gorgeous sophomore album Devotion we had the following to say: [Y]ou can't fall back on Mazzy Star or Galaxie 500 references because they've pushed themselves into their own, unique solar system.... (more)
New Jonathan Boulet Video - "A Community Service Announcement"
This dude's the latest signing to Australia's Modular label, landing with a tidy package of promotional offerings: a catchy, moistly breezy indie-pop debut single that couldn't be better titled for a meet-the-artist track; a subtly arresting/marginally tricked-out video; and a... (more)
New El Guincho - "Antillas (XXXchange Remix)"
When we first heard onetime BTW Pablo Díaz-Reixa, aka El Guincho, we were drawn in by "Antillas," a song we described as "a five-minute bundle of clattering loops and sunny harmonies." It was from the self-released Alegranza!, before he'd signed... (more)
Muse To Headline Coachella 2010?
According to Consequence Of Sound, a previously reliable source pins Muse to the coming year's desert fest headlining slot. Glenn Beck just bought a ticket. The dates are April 16-18. Oh and these Coachella headliner rumors? Needs more Pavement.... (more)
Parents Just Don't Understand Horrorcore
From hardcore to heavy metal to gangsta rap, local TV news teams have long warned parents about the terrifying new sounds rotting teenage brains. This week it's San Fran's KPIX on the horrorcore scene. Not all juggalos are murderers, dad!... (more)
