Out the Other

Vetiver - Tight Knit

I was up early yesterday morning being all domestic and making a sausage casserole for brunch, and instead of turning on the TV to keep me company while I browned two pounds of sausage, I turned on the stereo instead.  I'm still pretty bummed that I missed Monday's show because I was without a voice, because there was so much great music released last week, and I've been so busy I haven't had time to write about it yet.

One of the fantastic records that was released last Tuesday was Vetiver's Tight Knit, which I'm listening to right now. For some reason I've never paid much attention to this band, despite the fact that this is their fourth release since 2004.  I even remember that they came through Nashville about two years ago, because there was an amazing poster for their show hanging up in the radio station for ages.  But for some reason their music never made much of an impression on me; or, more likely, I never really listened to it, because I can't imagine that I wouldn't have fallen in love earlier if their other albums are anywhere near as amazing as Tight Knit.

My first introduction to the album was the freely-released promotional mp3 for "Everyday," which is a happy, springy, smile of a song that I could listen to over and over again.  A few weeks after that, I finally listened to the whole album, and it was one of those amazing moments that are few and far between when you listen to a record and the entire thing just sounds like perfection.  I'm serious, I love the entire thing from top to bottom and I knew that the very first time I ran through its ten tracks.  It's hard to even choose which songs are my favorites - from the gentle introduction of "Rolling Sea" to the upbeat "More of This," which made me boogie around the kitchen yesterday to the cats' alarm. "Another Reason to Go" has a casual swagger, while "Strictly Rule" falls into a Santana-esque groove. Every song is wonderful, and relatively distinct as well.

Overall, I think it's the underlying tone of the whole album which is what makes me love Tight Knit so much - for some reason listening to it makes me incredibly happy.  There's an element of optimism that seems laced through the whole thing; that and the one word I would use to describe Tight Knit is peaceful. I'm not exactly sure why, but the whole album has the ability to relax me and put me in a good mood, which is why that word comes to mind.  For example, I think this would be my current go-to calm-me-down album if I were stuck in horrible traffic with a bunch of terrible drivers.

But don't take my rambling word for it, check the album out for yourself.  It's out now on Sub Pop, and you can pick it up online or in person at your friendly neighborhood indie retailer.  Here are two examples of why I love Tight Knit so much:

"More of This"
"Another Reason to Go"

30 Days, 30 Albums - Josh Rouse - Home

I got hooked on Tumblr back in October - not that I needed another outlet on the internet in addition to my two blogs, myspace, facebook and all of that - but the cool thing about Tumblr is that it can be whatever you want it to be, and mine is like an online scrapbook of everything I come across that I think is amazing. Other people use theirs for similar reasons, which is why it's fun to follow other tumblrs, and last week I stumbled across the one that Ryan Adams writes - yes, that Ryan Adams. He's rather well-known for his online ramblings, and this page is no exception - it's full of pictures (of him, of his apartment, of his favorite coffee shop, of random stuff he has) and musical bits (I haven't been paying much attention to that stuff - I just haven't had the time yet) and written things (about being alone on Thanksgiving, and Parker Posey, and other stuff). Basically, he posted so constantly that he overwhelmed my dashboard, so I had to unfollow him and subscribe instead, via my regular ol' blogreader.

Anywho, the whole reason for this ramble is that the loveliest thing that has happened since I started paying attention to Ryan Adams' tumblr is that yesterday he wrote this:

morning foggy. let's pack together...

what shall we listen to? we heard Josh Rouse “Home” a few minutes a go. what a wonderful record.

lemme look.

hang on.

Josh Rouse. Home. I haven't listened to that one in a while.

Josh Rouse and I go way back - not as far back as, say, me and Toad the Wet Sprocket, but I did fall in love with his voice back when I was in college, early on, pre-indie-rock-mode and in the midst of my singer-songwriter-loving phase.  And once you spend a certain amount of time with a voice, that voice starts to feel like home to you.  Josh Rouse has been in that category for quite a few years now.

Home was released in 2000, and it's one of those records it's easy to forget about - it doesn't really have any of my favorite Josh Rouse songs, and I was never crazy for the single-ish "Directions," although I love it more now than I used to.  But overall, Home is an excellent example of how... excellent Josh Rouse is.  Even though his more recent albums haven't felt as transcendent, I will always check out his new material, I will always revist his records, and I will always, always love his voice.

"Parts and Accessories"
"Little Know It All"

30 Days, 30 Albums - The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

I've been on a Christmas kick lately - and actually, I hope to write about a few holiday albums in the next few days so that at least a bit of that listening time can be translated into albums written about for this project - so last night I did my annual Christmas show on the radio version of Out the Other.  To keep things interesting, and to make people forgive me for jumping the gun and doing the show on the very first day of December, I decided to play rather rare-ish new holiday tunes - indie rock original kinda stuff, or newer versions of traditional tunes with a lovely twist.

One of the holiday tunes I played was a cover of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by The Raveonettes, and today at work I was reminded of their most recent album, Lust Lust Lust, which came out back in February. Since I'm shifting into "2008 in review" gear, I put it on, and spent the rest of the morning up to my neck in reverb.

That sounds like a negative thing - and it's not - but listening to Lust Lust Lust today reminded me why I enjoyed the album early in the year but never really kept it in rotation. It's gorgeous - and now that I've heard "Dead Sound" again I'm realizing it might be in consideration for favorite songs of '08 - but there's also something that can get a little dark (and maybe repetitive) about all the echo-ey harmonies and fuzz and booming guitars. This is an album I have to be in the mood to listen to, and unfortunately when I'm in 95% of my moods that are well-suited for a particular album, I fail to remember exactly what album I'm in the mood to listen to and I never dig that record out again. It takes listening to a Christmas tune by the same artist to remind me there are other things in their catalog.

That said, I should really keep Lust Lust Lust within reach, because I have the feeling that I could fall in love with it given the proper time and opportunity. Until then (or at least until Christmas), I might just have Wishing You a Rave Christmas on repeat.

"Dead Sound"
"Blush"

30 Days, 30 Albums - And the Relatives - Animals

Living in Nashville and becoming involved in the amazing music scene in this town has led to a weird phenomenon I'm still getting used to - I'm starting to be friends with some of my favorite bands. Of course its inevitable that I'll be friends with people in bands - because of my hobby and the kind of people I hang out with that's a massive chunk of my social circle right there - but there's a difference between meeting someone, befriending them, and then realizing they're in a band; and hearing a band, loving them, and then becoming friends with the members.

It's bizarre because not only are you still a huge fan of the music these friends are creating, but you also feel weirdly like you have a personal stake in what they're producing - you're rooting for them in a way you've never rooted for one of your favorite bands before. And when they come up with something amazing it's this happy mix of fandom and weirdly enough - pride. There is nothing like the combination of great people and great music.

That said, I'm pretty psyched for the release of the new And the Relatives EP, Animals, which is finally out this week. I stumbled upon them last year when they appeared alphabetically at the top of the list of performers playing last year's Next Big Nashville, and it took just a few minutes on their myspace page to think "wow, they're pretty great." After checking out their set at the festival I was completely sold, and over the past year I've been fortunate enough to see them many times and become friends with the three members of the band - who are as nice as they are talented.

Tonight they're playing a official CD release show over in East Nashville at The 5 Spot (as I just mentioned in the Eureka Gold post), which means this is the perfect time to check out what has excellent odds of becoming one of your favorite Nashville bands. Rumor has it tonight will also be the debut of their new four-person lineup, plus you'll have a chance to pick up your own copy of Animals. 

"Dixie Cups"
"Spoondaddy"

You can still check out an archive of the show And the Relatives guest-DJed back in July - we played five of the six tracks off of Animals back then - but you're better off just picking up your own copy of the EP. If not tonight, it's available digitally all over the net, so hop to it.

30 Days, 30 Albums - Eureka Gold - Eureka Gold

Local band Eureka Gold seems to be doing a great job ascending the list of my favorite Nashville acts these days - I've managed to see them quite a few times in the past six months, and I love them more and more every time they take the stage. Last Saturday I caught them at 12th and Porter opening up for The Protomen, and tonight I'll be seeing them again, since they're on the bill at The 5 Spot for the And the Relatives CD release show.  So if this pattern continues, I'll be an even bigger Eureka Gold fan by tomorrow.

The other big reason I'm falling head over heels for this band is because I've been spending a lot of time lately with their self-titled album, Eureka Gold.  My introduction to the record came in bits and pieces, as I heard mp3s and played tracks on my radio show, but it wasn't until about a month and a half ago that I actually sat down to listen to the whole thing from beginning to end.  To me it sounds pretty diverse - alternately alt rockin' and gorgeously folk and occasionally new-wave poppy - always excellent, but hard to pin down and categorize. 

They're also hard to pin down because at this point Eureka Gold's live act and their record feel like distinct facets of their sound - I think because most of what they play at shows these days is new material, rather than tracks from the record. In fact, the band is in the process of working on a new album that should be ready sometime next spring - and judging by how fantastic the songs sound live, you can bet I'll be keeping tabs on the album's progress and trying to nab a copy as soon as possible.

"No Bricks"
"Tell the Birds"

And one more for good measure:

"Red Still"

If you haven't seen them yet, tonight is an excellent opportunity - like I said, they're on the bill with OTO favorites And the Relatives at The 5 Spot. The Glib and Modern Skirts are also playing the 21+ show, and the cover is only $5.

30 Days, 30 Albums - Lykke Li - Youth Novels

The other day RCRD LBL said that "Lykke Li is basically one iPod commerical away from being the Feist of 2008." You know, not so much, because I can't even pronounce her name let alone imagine someone's grandma saying it aloud (grandmas know about Feist now, right?), but when I stop to think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if an iPod commercial could have the ability to launch the Swedish songstress into orbit alongside Canada's gift to counting. Surely "Dance Dance Dance" is catchy enough to anchor an ad campaign, and surely Youth Novels is full of enough gems to carry Lykke Li to stardom.

"Dance Dance Dance" is definitely what managed to hook me - and I'm almost praying that it doesn't get picked up and iPod-ed to death, because right now it's a serious contender in the "favorite songs of 2008" competition.  Ubiquity could only make me sad, but then again, the tune has brought me so much happiness that I feel like everyone else deserves to hear it too. 

The rest of Youth Novels doesn't feel quite as revelatory and nearly perfect as "Dance Dance Dance," but with time I think the whole album could earn a spot in permanent rotation. It's a big enough accomplishment that a female vocalist has won me over to such an extent - it's no secret that I'm MUCH pickier when comes to female vocals, but I find Lykke Li's girlish singing to be charming and appropriate to the music (it might be that in some way she reminds me of Karen Peris of the Innocence Mission, who has one of my favorite female voices). I could do without some of the whisper-talking on tracks like "Melodies & Desires" and "This Trumpet in My Head," but the rest of the record balances the sugary-sweet with little punches of rhythm and hugely addictive melodies. It's poppy and bright, simple but filled with interesting flourishes, sweetly melancholy and above all else insanely charming.

"Dance, Dance, Dance"
"Breaking It Up"

Youth Novels is full of borderline-dance-y tracks, so it's no surprise that a number of the tunes are getting mixed and remixed all over the internet. I still dig the originals most of all, but that's just a little PSA for those of you who feel like hunting down more Lykke Li.

30 Days, 30 Albums - Little Joy - Little Joy

Little Joy, how did you know I was due for a dose of lo-fi shuffle?

Seriously though, just the other day I was complaining about how I totally don't love anything new lately, and then I saw Little Joy pop up on Exit/In's concert calendar (they're playing Exit/In next Friday, November 21). I had seen mentions of their self-titled album, Little Joy, making their way around the blogs, so last Tuesday I decided to give the album a listen. I haven't really stopped since.

If the name is ringing bells, it may be because this is a side project Fab Moretti, drummer of the Strokes - a fact that has been earning this group a fair number of mentions. Really though, the pedigree of the band - which also includes Rodrigo Amarante of Brazil's Los Hermanos and Binki Shapiro (reportedly Moretti's girlfriend) - might get this album on your iPod, but it's the half hour of lo-fi, shuffly bliss that will reassure you that it deserves its spot.

For some reason, when I listen to this brief little collection of eleven songs, I keep picturing playing it in the background during a low-key cocktail party - it sounds like it belongs in a genre I'd like to dub "hostess music," aka perfect for sipping and chatting. So I suppose it's a appropriate that the group takes its name from the cocktail lounge down the street from their home, right?

"The Next Time Around"
"No One's Better Sake"

These two songs are a great taste of what you can expect from this album, but it's still 100% worth hearing the whole thing, so go pick up a copy now. Fair warning though - about half of these songs will get stuck in your head. And while you're picking things up, why don't you nab a ticket to see Little Joy at Exit/In next week? Something tells me the show is going to be a treat.

30 Days, 30 Albums - J. Tillman - Vacilando Territory Blues

I've been fighting a cold (and losing) recently, and as a result I've been spending lots of time snuggled in bed under multiple blankets and comforters.  This morning, sitting at my desk with that floaty-head feeling that always accompanies a cold and immediately follows obscene amounts of sleep, I realized that I was feeling much better - but also much crappier.  Better because I felt healthier (and that means the cold is officially on its way out); crappier because all I wanted was to be back in bed.

I put on J. Tillman's new release, Vacilando Territory Blues - what I wanted was something quiet, something peaceful, something subdued. And listening to the album did something wonderful - it somehow captured a bit of that wrapped-in-blankets feeling that I was missing today.

Tillman is a member of Fleet Foxes, a band that seems well on its way to becoming a household name with the release of their self-titled full length debut, Fleet Foxes, earlier this year (at least a household name in... you know, households with music blogs). But while that record is lovely, and I may actually write about it this month, there's something about Tillman's music that connects with me in a way Fleet Foxes haven't yet.  I think it really started when I included "My Waking Days" in my Whistle While You Work Mix about a year and a half ago - hearing that song was the first time I realized Tillman was a singer who had the ability to make my heart stop.  And everything I have heard by him before that and since has been wonderful in a similar way - his voice and his music feel like being wrapped in a warm pile of blankets on a freezing cold, rainy day. It's that sense of comfort and warmth with a hint of something dark and chilly and sad haunting the edges.

"Vessels"
"Steel on Steel"

Vacilando Territory Blues is available digitally now, but the record will see a physical release in January - hopefully the powers that be will realize this one deserves to be on vinyl.

30 Days, 30 Albums - Paul Simon - Paul Simon

A few days ago, I had a grade school science-y flashback while listening to Paul Simon's "Peace Like a River."

I recently played a cover of the song by Spoon on my radio show, and on the air I tried to describe how one section of the song really gets to me - I think it's the bridge.  The melody does something in my head, in my heart, in my chest - somehow the pattern of notes touches something, presses on something, lights something up. It's one of my favorite things about music, how little moments in a song can reach into you and do that - whatever "that" is - and pretty much every guest I've had on the show to DJ has shared a song that has one of those moments.  They'll say "shhhhh - I love this part," and I'll know exactly what they mean.

So I was trying to think of a way to describe this. And the term that floated up out of a haze of schoolishness filled with things like "mitosis" and "pythagorean theorum" and "Mohs scale of hardness" came this: resonant frequency. I looked it up to be sure:

An object exposed to its resonant frequency will vibrate in sympathy with the sound.

That's exactly how it feels. Those bits of songs, those perfect passages, those patterns of notes that feel like magic - they're at my heart's resonant frequency.

"Peace Like a River"

Pretty much all of Paul Simon, the self-titled album from 1972, is as brilliant as "Peace Like a River" - after all, it's the record where you can find "Mother and Child Reunion," "Duncan," and "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard." I'm fairly certain that Graceland will always be my favorite Paul Simon album (and one of my top five favorite albums ever), but rediscovering this one about a year ago has helped remind me again and again that he is one of the few artists I would seriously consider severing a limb to see live. I'm not sure how it's possible that I haven't seen him in concert yet - I just know I can't even imagine how it will feel when my heart and his voice are finally in the same room, at the same time.

Another recent favorite off of this album:

"Paranoia Blues"

30 Days, 30 Albums - Frightened Rabbit - Liver! Lung! FR!

It's no secret that I fell head over heels for Frightened Rabbit this year, and The Midnight Organ Fight has been one of my favorite and most-listened-to albums of 2008. I got to see them for the first time at SXSW back in March, and then was thrilled to see them land in Nashville a few months later - they're just as fantastic live as they are on their album.  Sadly, although they were just on tour with the Spinto Band, they wrapped up their leg of the tour just before Spinto Band hit Nashville - but I still have hope that they'll be in town again sometime soon.

In the meantime, the band has released a live album - Liver! Lung! FR! - that does an excellent job capturing what Frightened Rabbit sounds like on the stage. While Organ Fight isn't anything remotely nearing over-produced or excessively glossy, the live versions of the songs still have somewhat of an added quality - a touch of messiness, imperfection, the occasional feeling they're about to collapse. Much like the subject material of the songs, if you'd like to think about it that way. It's that humanity and vulnerability that I feel first captivated me about this collection of songs, and it's the reason I remember standing transfixed and exceptionally happy while watching them perform at Exit/In.

"The Twist"
"Head Rolls Off"