Have One on Joanna

It's been a while since Joanna Newsom gave us the epic, otherworldy Ys, but she's back this year with new album Have One on Me.

She's not gone electro or grime, but thankfully still inhabits some medieval parallel world where the harp is cooler than the guitar. I don't know what to expect from the album, but I'll take a guess a songs about animals, family members and constellations.

Business as usual then.

You can hear new song 'Kingfisher' at the Drag City website:

http://www.dragcity.com/

Broken Bells

I'm worried about James Mercer. Well, maybe that should read...I'm worried about The Shins. It's clear to me that James has had a bit of trouble working with the rest of his band - two fired, no music in a while - and needs another creative outlet. Maybe he doesn't trust the ability of the rest of his band?

So, leaving the traditional guitar pop scene behind, he's teamed up with all round genius Danger Mouse to form Broken Bells. Basically, it still sounds a lot like The Shins, but DM has added a groove missing from James's recent output.

So far, we've had 'The High Road', and now 'Vaporize', both of which have melodies to die for. At this rate, Mercer might not need to return to his day job.

http://www.brokenbells.com/

http://www.myspace.com/brokenbells

Pretty Living

You don't get much pretty living in some parts of Glasgow, but Peter Parker, residents of that fair city, are the glamorous exception.

Wiping herself clean of the ashes of 90s indie heroines LungLeg, Jane McKeown recruited two more femmes and one token chap to form Peter Parker (guess where they got the name? That's right, he was the first Protestant medical missionary to visit China).

They're armed with whip-smart pop tunes, angular punky riffs, and mighty Janet Weiss-style drumming - and plenty of humour and attitude to boot.

If you need more than my seal of approval, 6Music's Marc Riley had them down in Manchester's palace of glittering delights for a lovely wee session recently.

Songs, blogs and gigs after the jump:

http://www.myspace.com/peterparkerglasgow

The Middle East

Yeah! Getting political on yo' asses! Big goings on between Israel and the Palestinians!

But wait, there's also a really quite talented bunch of Aussies called The Middle East, and they play rather lovely folk-pop with echoes of Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear and Arcade Fire (if they calmed down and weren't so right-on about everything).

Check them out here:

http://www.themiddleeastmusic.com/home

and here:

http://www.myspace.com/visitthemiddleeast

Floating, beguiling harmonies. Much less intense than the West Bank.

P.S. I do like Arcade Fire, but there's nothing wrong with chilling out now and again.

Album review - Spoon

This one's good.

No, that's not the whole review but it's a good place to start. Transference comes across like a cross between Spoon's more recent output, and the more stripped and spacey sounds of Girls Can Tell. There's all sorts going on in here, it's a real headphones record - noise drops in and out of songs, a couple of tracks change direction entirely then abruptly stop, and there's even the use of the classic fade-out......

Britt Daniel's band normally trade on grooves, but there's a lack of balance on Transference which makes for a destabilizing record. This, however, is a good thing. It's art with an emotional hit - Daniel's cryptic lyrics require continued listening until you hear the beat of his heart, and then the record hits you with its force.

There's a subdued nature to the opening tracks, and then Spoon hit their stride from 'Written in Reverse' onwards, reaching an apex with the brilliant 'Goodnight Laura' (one to play over the closing credits of the next Nick Hornby adaptation?) and standout track 'Out Go the Lights'.

Transference benefits immensely from sounding like a record that's not changed much from the demo versions, and the fact that the guys sound like they're loving being in each other's company.

It's a terrific achievement, deserving of critical and commercial acclaim. The former is guaranteed, the latter is likely to prove elusive once again. I'm not sure the band will care about that, and neither should we.

End of Year Lists

Some folk regard lists as lazy journalism. I don't, I see it as a wee reminder of some records you may have missed, or forgotten about, over the course of twelve months. My list is a completely personal choice, so please don't see it as in any way "definitive"! Here goes....

1. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
2. The Antlers - Hospice
3. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
4. Codes in the Clouds - Paper Canyon
5. St Vincent - Actor
6. Mission of Burma - The Sound The Speed The Light
7. Oneida - Rated O
8. J Tillman - Year in the Kingdom
9. Magnolia Electric Co - Josephine
10. The Leisure Society - The Sleeper

11. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is
12. Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions
13. Mew - No More Stories....
14. Telekinesis! - Telekinesis!
15. Wilco - Wilco (the album)
16. The Dodos - Time to Die
17. Woods - Songs of Shame
18. M Ward - Hold Time
19. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
20. DM Stith - Heavy Ghost

21. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
22. Port O'Brien - Threadbare
23. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
24. A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
25. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
26. The Very Best - The Very Best

Yep, a top 26. The number that all good lists should run to.....

Transference

Listen to the new single from Spoon below:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120830261

it's the first off their new album Transference, which by the sounds of it will be a damn fine way to start off 2010.

Take some time to have a look around the rest of the NPR site, it's really rather good.