Out the Other

Father John Misty - Fear Fun

Tuesday marked the release of my favorite-so-far album of 2012, Father John Misty's Fear Fun. It's certainly the album that I've listened to the most this year - though "listened to" isn't really the phrase I'd use. I feel like I've cocooned myself in this record for the last month - wrapped myself in it, buried myself in it, woke up to it and gone to sleep to it and had dreams where its songs were stuck in my head. This sounds a bit like obsession and maybe it is, but sometimes albums sync up with your life just perfectly, and for a month or two they're almost the only thing you want to hear.

Father John Misty is Joshua Tillman, who I had been in love with for quite some time even before Fear Fun cast its spell over me. A former Fleet Fox with an already impressive solo catalog under the moniker J. Tillman, the singer first whistled his way into my heart about five years ago with "My Waking Days," a hushed and captivating tune from Long May You Run, J. Tillman that I included on my Whistle While You Work mix. The more heard, the more I wished I could swap out every Ray LaMontagne CD and mp3 and record in the world for something by J. Tillman - here was a talent ten times as large making music ten times as beautiful, that would appeal to the same fans, but that deserved one hundred times the fame of LaMontagne.

Today is actually Tillman's 31st birthday, and in very hobbit-like fashion, we are the ones who are receiving the gift. In fact, it's as if Father John Misty is the birthday party version of J. Tillman - the musician I fell in love with in "My Waking Days" is still there, but he's been doing birthday whiskey shots. Now that he's tipsy, he's a little bit bolder, a little bit braver, confessional and sentimental in all the right ways but clearly having as much fun as anyone else in the room. Tillman's voice still has that touch of haunting fragility, but he sounds uninhibited now - like the slightly-soused birthday boy is standing on his chair to sing his heart out, and if he falls - well, that's the Fear Fun of it.

"Fun Times In Babylon"
"Misty's Nightmares 1 & 2"

Fear Fun is out now on Sub Pop Records. Stream it on Spotify then get it on vinyl, and by all means follow @FATHERJOHNMISTY on Twitter - he is a delight.

The Features @ Mercy Lounge this Saturday!

Some things change, and some things stay the same. This month, I kicked off my ninth calendar year here in Nashville, which means it's been more than 100 months since the first person I met in town said "The Features are my favorite local band." And for nearly that same length of time - since the first time I heard "Walk You Home," and certainly since I first saw them perform at Exit/In - I've been able to say the exact same thing.

It's not that other Nashville bands haven't earned my love and adoration. It's just that the Features consistently churn out pop perfection - song after excellent, catchy song. I've seen them dozens of times, I've listened to their albums endlessly, and I still can't imagine getting sick of seeing them on stage or hearing them in my headphones. Even in a year like 2011, where my interest in music dropped to a dangerously low level, their newest album Wilderness was a beacon in the fog of mediocrity and 101.1 The Beat Jamz I found myself surrounded by. (Hey, I lost my gig as a DJ and did a little musical branching out.)

This Saturday, The Features return to the Mercy Lounge for what will almost definitely be a sold-out show (last I heard there were only about 40 tickets left). It'll be my first show of 2012 and an opportunity to hear some of the Wilderness tunes live again - they haven't been in rotation for very long, and I've only seen the band once (at the album release) since I scored a copy of the album last year. Maybe I'll get to hear "Offer Up" live for the first time? Fingers crossed.

So where will this show put my Features live tally? I lost count ages ago. And while it may baffle some that I continue to see the same band, over and over, dozens of times, my only explanation is that it never gets old. I go to almost every Features show in Nashville for the same reason I could listen to their catalog on repeat for a full day and not get sick of it. Nearly nine years after I first moved to Nashville, I feel the same way about my favorite Nashville band as I do about this town - it just feels like home.

"Offer Up" (from Wilderness)
"Walk You Home" (from The Beginning)

Something To Look Forward To

A selection from Saturday's page from A Year Of Sunshine.

The grand essentials of happiness are, something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
     - Chalmers

I would also add - something to look forward to. Things I'm currently looking forward to: the Features at Mercy Lounge this Saturday, the release of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close on the 20th, SXSW and spring!

Spoon - "Something to Look Forward To" (from Kill the Moonlight)

SXSpelunking: New (To Me) Bands Playing SXSW

SXSW is just a little over two months away, and I'll be making my return in 2012 as a legitimately badged representative of SoundLand, the music festival I coordinate. (HOORAY!)

Having taken two years off from South By and the better part of a year off from new music in general, it's no surprise that the first three rounds of announced acts playing the music portion of the fest are chock full of a shitload of unfamiliar names. So I'm checkin' 'em out, one by one. Let's dive in, shall we?

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Allah-Las
from: Los Angeles, CA
mp3: "Catamaran"

"Ooh la Allah-Las." I think I actually said that aloud as I trudged through the mediocre start of the alphabet and finally clicked to check out "Catamaran." More than twenty acts deep into my quest, they were the first band to smack me across the face with goodness - of the jangly, shuffling '60s variety. My rambling notes lumped them in with Black Lips and King Khan, but deemed them "way more ear-friendly." I also noted that "'Catamaran' is fucking awesome," which as you can hear, it is indeed.

Anamanaguchi
from: Brooklyn, NY
mp3: "Airbrushed (RAC remix)"

I had heard of Anamanaguchi prior to spotting them on the SXSW bands list, but I had never actually heard them. Nor did I realize that they were a chiptune band (for the uninitiated, chiptune - which I tend to accidentally call bitchip - is a genre that employs the sound chips from vintage computers and video game consoles) until I checked them out. Supposedly they're a rare kind of chiptune band that also employs live guitars, bass and drums over the electronic stuff, which in their case comes mostly from a hacked NES and Game Boy. The original version of "Airbrushed" is a bit manic for my taste, but the RAC remix brings a kind of dreaminess that makes my heart jump up and slide down a flagpole to a chorus of pixelated fireworks.

You Can't Win, Charlie Brown
from: Lisbon, Portugal
mp3: "I've Been Lost"

I'm a sucker for a handclap. And a clever name. Above all else, I'm a sucker for an international band playing SXSW - in part because they came a long way, but mostly because they are entirely unlikely to travel to Nashville at any time in the near future.

Yukon Blonde
from: Vancouver, Canada
mp3: "Fire"

Yukon Blonde has a little Local Native, Fleet Foxy thing going on, and god knows there are enough bands copying that familiar formula these days. But it only took one verse and a chorus of "Fire" for me to be tapping my toes and whistling along to the "wooooh-wooooh ah-ah-ah" harmonies. I haven't dipped any deeper into their catalog, but this one song is enough to make me bummed I missed their show at 3rd & Lindsley here in Nashville two months ago. In my opinion, this sounds catchier than anything on the last Fleet Foxes record.

The Zoltars
from: Austin, TX
mp3: "Party at the Batcave"

As a rule, I try to avoid "lo-fi scuzz-rock" - it's a genre that's likely to get you kicked in the head here in Nashville (no really, I'm way too old for shows where kids still actually crowd surf). And I was about to write off The Zoltars as "not my thing" until I got to the chorus of "Party at the Batcave." I'm sorry, I mean "Bat cay-ay-ay-ave." Catchy as SHIT. God help us, this song is going to be stuck in our heads until 2013.

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More coming soon, when I have another good batch of gems. Is there anyone I should definitely check out?

Victory

This book, published in 1884, will be my daily devotional in 2012. From the January 3 page:

Defeat may be victory in disguise:
The lowest ebb is the turning of the tide.
          - Longfellow

The Walkmen - "Victory" (from Lisbon)

Out the Other: Volume 3 - 06.29.11

In which I preview Foster the People at Cannery Ballroom and request that Wilco release their new album on my birthday.

Download Out the Other, Volume 3

The playlist:

1. Foster the People - Miss You (Torches)
2. Canon Blue - Indian Summer (Des Moines) (Rumspringa)
3. Shabazz Palaces - Swerve... The Reaping of All That Is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding) (Black Up)
4. SBTRKT - Hold On (SBTRKT)
5. SBTRKT - Go Bang (SBTRKT)
6. My Morning Jacket - True Love Way (Rave On Buddy Holly)
7. Modest Mouse - That'll Be the Day (Rave On Buddy Holly)
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Vocal Chords (It's a Corporate World)
9. Wilco - I Might (The Whole Love)
10. Handsome Furs - Repatriated (Sound Kapital)
11. Handsome Furs - Cheap Music (Sound Kapital)
12. Foster the People - Houdini (Torches)

Feedback? Hit up @outtheother.

Out the Other: Volume 2 - 06.23.11

Download Out the Other, Volume 2

In which I play great new releases from this week, like Bon Iver, Viva Voce and Digitalism and talk about how I'm too old for bands that could directly lead to me getting kicked in the head.

And yes, I know I need to learn how to talk into a mic that isn't wrapped in foam.

The playlist:

1. Bon Iver - Minnesota, WI (Bon Iver)
2. Bon Iver - Holocene (Bon Iver)
3. Bodies of Water - Open Rhythms (Twist Again)
4. Gomez - I Will Take You There (Whatever's On Your Mind)
5. Nucular Aminals - Gay & Gay (Nucular Aminals)
6. Viva Voce - Analog Woodland Song (The Future Will Destroy You)
7. Viva Voce - We Don't Care (The Future Will Destroy You)
8. JEFF the Brotherhood - Ripper (We Are the Champions)
9. Making Friendz - Situation (Social Life)
10. Digitalism - Forrest Gump (I Love You, Dude)
11. Digitalism - Encore (I Love You, Dude)
12. Battles - Inchworm (Gloss Drop)
13. Cults - Go Outside (Cults)