Tout est noir mon amour

Mark Lanegan has been making awesome music for a while now. We talked a bit about his last album (Hawk) in which he paired with Isobel Campbell and gave us one of my favorite songs of 2010: "Come Undone." I haven't heard his new album "Blues Funeral" from beginning to end yet, but judging by his single I'm confident it's going to be awesome.

Enjoy "The Gravedigger's Song":



Photo by Anna Hrnjak, courtesy of www.marklanegan.com.

Emmylou and Gram, June and Johnny

Long time Last Choice favorites First Aid Kit (see here) released their second LP "Lion's Roar" earlier this year. They've already released a couple of singles to very high (and deserved) praise.

"Emmylou," is a folksy, country twang gem of a song. Meant as a tribute to country music's two unforgettable couples, Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons and June Carter and Johnny Cash, the video was filmed at Joshua Tree National Park on the anniversary of Gram Parsons' birth. Parsons spent the last few years of his life in Joshua Tree under the influence of LSD, where he played music, searched for UFO's and eventually died of an overdose. Following his wishes, two of his closest friends stole his dead body, brought him back to Joshua Tree, doused him in gasoline and lit him on fire. They were eventually caught by police, but since there were no laws against stealing dead bodies at that time they were just fined $750 for stealing the coffin and for leaving 35 lbs of ash in the desert. If that's not the most awesome story of death and friendship ever told then I don't know what is.

Here's First Aid Kit with "Emmylou:"

If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour...

you're going to see some serious shit.



Chicago (Carl Sandburg)

Hog butcher for the world,
Tool maker, stacker of wheat,
Player with railroads and the nation's freight handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the big shoulders.

The city of big shoulders aka the windy city aka the second city has a strong history of solid hip hop and cubs baseball (I couldn't resist). Rockie Fresh is no exception and is going to blow up this year. Along with Macklemore, he's my pick for XXL's freshman and that alone should launch him from LC to NPR. This week he released a much anticpated mix tape and you can download it free here. The trailer, my favorite track and a stream of the whole shabang is below.


Trailer-



Favorite cut-
Never Never by Thissongissick.com

Now you'll never need to leave LC again-
Rockie Fresh - Driving 88 by Thissongissick.com

Some days I can't even dress myself

Of Monsters and Men are dreamy folksters from the quirky reaches of Iceland. They won Iceland's 2010 Músiktilrauni festival and a slot on Iceland Airwaves, where they've picked up since. I heard them recently on an Austin station, and I'm sure they'll be getting more press soon.

Here is their song "Little Talks" performed on KEXP's Living Room Sessions. It's a nice little duet exploring loneliness and insanity.

Keep Austin DUMB

C. Baum (left), not M. Pierce (right)

This one by courtesy of GKS, generous host of last year's Last Choice presxsw party.

Corey Baum (who performed at the aforementioned bash as Taber Maine) and Michael Pierce are DUMB. They have released a set of seven tracks entitled Don't Worry About The Pool Party via Bandcamp. As their e-mail address suggests, they rock BIG TIME.

Please download and learn the lyrics to sing along as you jump at their shows. And cross your fingers that they're not booked for a potential re-do of last year's LC event. I think they'd be just what we need.

Change the sheets and then change me

I was talking to my friend Katie this morning about how good this album is and had to post something about it. Kathleen Edwards just put out her latest full length "Voyageur." It's a beautiful album dealing with love and loss and new possibilities. She divorced last year, so a lot comes from that.

She started dating Justin Vernon (better known as Bon Iver), and this album is co-produced by him. I think it was even recorded in his studio in Wisconsin. You can definitely hear the influence, but it's still a Kathleen Edwards record through and through. Thoughtful lyrics and catchy choruses.

The single for the album is "Change the Sheets." The video is just ok, but it features Austin extensively. Enjoy:

Piñata, Aguardiente, y Gin Boarding

Party supplies is a Fools Gold producer whose's created a lot of great party music in the past year. There's a stream of conciseness mixtape coming soon (boom or bust I think) details here. Anywho, here's his latest release sure to cure the Mondays or get everyone dancing (even if they haven't heard this one yet). I'm also guessing the video is a stab at Lana Del Rey, which I'm all for.

Are we happy and effective

In George Lucas' future perfect happiness is achieved by foregoing sex and imbibing mind-altering drugs. Given the likely end of the world when the Mayan's calendar expires, I've been in sort of a dystopic mood. In that vain, Memory Tapes recently released a video for Trance Sisters based on George Lucas' first film, THX 1138 (this would be the sexless, drug hazed future film staring Robert Duval). I enjoyed Memory Tapes' 2011 effort and the video delivers everything I'd hoped for. The trailer for the original is below.

Memory Tapes 'Trance Sisters' from Ooh Brilliant on Vimeo.

Dawes Deer Spirit

Middle Brother is John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit. They got together in 2010 and put out an awesome self-titled record in 2011.

All of them really good lead singers and primary songwriters in their respective bands, they've drawn comparisons to Crosby Stills and Nash — which might be premature. But their style of southern-folk-rock is right up my alley.

This is my favorite track off the album... thanks to KXT 91.7 (Dallas) for the video.

I Got That Honey That Sugar That Spice

Wolf here. Actually it's S. Rat. I've just always wanted to say that. For my first post of the last year, I chose a group who's album is one of my most anticipated of the winter. Chiddy Bang is releasing their debut album Breakfast on 28th Feb. Aside from setting world records, their early work, mix-tapes, and remixes have been solid outings (you may remember a famous MGMT sample from a while back). Anywho, the first video single dropped this week and is called Ray Charles. The track kills and the video is a slick trip through hip hop history. Blues Bros totally count.

Beware nosebleeds

Boise natives Youth Lagoon released their debut album "The Year of Hibernation" at the end of September. They have a pretty cool, dreamy, nostalgic sound that seems great for winter days... even those that don't particularly feel like winter.

They just released their video for the song July, one of my favorites of the album.

Everyone's New Girl Crush

Laura Stevenson was the keyboardist for Bomb the Music Industry, but her solo stuff departs strongly from their DIY punk ethos. I keep listening to her album Sit Resist over and over, enjoying the textures and harmonies. It's shoegaze-y without becoming boring and weird-girl indie without being annoying. I'm smitten.

Fun fact: her grandfather composed "Little Drummer Boy."

Here is the video for "Master of Art" off the album.