A big congratulations goes out to Jack White. With his new record Blunderbuss, he’s managed to score his first #1 on the Billboard Albums chart. Believe it or not, none of his other projects, including The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, have made it to the top of the pile. Perhaps he’s finally reached the sort of fame where a number one record is within his reach, or perhaps there are a lot of bad records out there nobody wants to buy. If you’d like to read my perspective on the new Jack White effort, you can read my review of it here. In terms of today’s edition of Pick Your Poison, there are a few gems in this stack worth perking your ears up to hear. I’ll give gold star status to tracks from Blues Control, The Go! Team’s remix of Frankie Rose, The Maccabees, Mirror Talk, Royal Headache and VHS or BETA. To avoid any confusion I should probably also say the band Los Angeles has a song called “R. Kelly”, and not vice versa. In the Soundcloud section, enjoy streaming tracks from Bear Driver, Castor & Pollux, and New Young Pony Club, among others.
Every Tuesday I like to give you a quick rundown of the new music releases arriving in stores for your purchasing pleasure. That includes both full length records and EPs. Keep in mind I’m not officially recommending any of these (unless you read otherwise), rather simply notifying you of their existence. This week there’s new stuff from Airiel, Ane Brun, Bobby Conn, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dot Hacker, Father John Misty, Howth, Light Asylum, Lower Dens, The Lumineers, Marilyn Manson, Marriages, Norah Jones, Patrick Watson, Ramona Falls, Reptar, Rufus Wainwright, Santigold, Sea of Bees, The Spinto Band, and The Spring Standards. I will make some recommendations in today’s Pick Your Poison list of mp3s and streams. You’ll want to download songs from Brigg Fair, Chicago Underground Duo, Doldrums (as remixed by Young Magic), Joshua Hyslop, Kid Flicks, Paranoid Social Club, and Ty Segall Band. In the Soundcloud section don’t miss streaming tracks from Mystery Jets and The Parlotones. Ladytron’s remix of Karin Park is good too, and it’s another grand meeting of two of my Class of 2012 artists as Lana Del Rey’s “Blue Jeans” gets the Smims&Belle remix treatment with the addition of some Azealia Banks.
Did anyone watch The Simpsons last night? As a hardcore acolyte that has seen every episode of the show more times than I care to count, the big surprise in last night’s new episode was the use of music from Hot Chip and Animal Collective. There have been plenty of bands and music used on the show across its many, many seasons, however I think this is the first time that two prominent indie artists got extensive play on the show. One can only hope they got a new music supervisor and that there will be much more of that sort of stuff in future episodes. Catch a little bit of Hot Chip’s “Boy From School” in this preview for the full episode, and then hear Animal Collective’s “Winter’s Love” via this video clip. I love it when the worlds of my favorite TV shows and my favorite music collide. Also great on last night’s TV and music combo, the smart/emotional use of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” at the end of the latest episode of HBO’s Girls. I’m not an aforementioned girl, however, the moment in combination with the song really spoke to me. Well done. Okay, enough about that, let’s get to today’s Pick Your Poison. Allow me to point out some notable tracks from Alan Watts, Blues Control, Clare and the Reasons, JOhnny Hickman, Monster Rally, Wind Up Radio Sessions, and Wrinkle Neck Mules. Also check out remixes from GRVRBBRS (tackling Active Child), Young Galaxy (tackling Adam & the Amethysts), and Shuttle aka Nate from Passion Pit (tackling Bright Moments). In the Soundcloud section you definitely don’t want to miss streaming a new song from PS I Love You.
I like to keep it short and sweet with the Friday editions of Pick Your Poison, but let me take just a moment to talk about an interesting music news story that popped up yesterday. Depending on your age and affinity with electronica, you may know who The Avalanches are. They made a great record called Since I Left You in 2001, and haven’t done a whole lot since then. There have been rumors abound and word from the group themselves that there will be a new Avalanches record soon. Of course they’ve been teasing us with that since around 2005. A number of artists have admitted to contributing vocals or other elements to the next Avalanches record, some even as recently as a month or two ago, and the hope is we’ll get something new before the end of the year. Who knows for sure though? In the meantime, the group put out a very mysterious Tweet last week with a link and the text saying it “may or may not be a mixtape by Avalanches”. You can stream or download that mixtape here. It’s called “Sleepy Bedtime Mix for Young Ones” and it’s a fascinating listen to say the least. Recommended, even if it isn’t Avalanches. Okay, onwards with this Friday edition of Pick Your Poison. Highlights today include tracks from The Balconies, Bogan Via, Dead Dog, Everest, Kelli Scarr, and Thousand Foot Krutch. Have a great weekend!
Allow me to use this Thursday edition of Pick Your Poison to remind you about the good ‘ol Facebook page. Yes it exists, and yes I’ve been posting some cool videos and other things over there, including a running feed of stuff that gets posted on the site. Basically if you’re looking for more content (which you should be), go to Facebook and hit “Like” on the page. I’d really appreciate it, and if enough people do it I might just give away some music or concert tickets or something. It’s an ever-evolving work in progress. Today’s Pick Your Poison is not a work in progress. In fact, it’s very good. Tracks I’ll recommend today come from Au, Dope Body, OFF!, Theresa Andersson, Twin Trip, and YACHT.
It totally slipped my mind on Monday. I forgot to ask how your Record Store Day was over the weekend. I hope you lined up and got plenty of exclusive releases. For me, it was a painful Saturday. My local record store was opening early (9AM) to accomodate crowds and people looking to hit other stores that morning, but I wanted nothing to do with it. Okay, so I planned to be there right at 9, but when my alarm clock went off I threw it across my bedroom. Such an hour does not compute with me on a Saturday. After some snafus that included getting shut out of an attempt at Bruce Springsteen tickets to his show at Wrigley Field, I eventually made it to the record store – at 1PM. So yeah, by the time I got there, all the good exclusive releases were gone, and a few straggling 7 inch singles and LPs were left. None of them were what I was looking for, though I should have expected that given how late it was. Still, I managed to uncover unplayed vinyl pressings of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, both of which made the sting of missing exclusives less painful. Then I found out the Flaming Lips were selling a couple hundred copies of their RSD exclusive collaboration album online, so I snatched up a copy that way. It came in the mail earlier today. Looks fantastic. Sounds pretty great too. Anyways, I hope your haul was better than mine. I want to remind you too that just because Record Store Day has come and gone doesn’t mean you should stop shopping at your local independent record store. Do your best to keep music physical – it’s a better format. It’s also less convenient, but still…better. Now on to some Wednesday Pick Your Poison exclusives, and some songs that aren’t so exclusive. Today I’ll give the sonic approval to tracks from Black Manila, The Danks, Jaill, LA Vampires by Octo Octa, Milk Maid, Purity Ring, Qualms and Torkelsen. In the Soundcloud section don’t miss streaming songs from The Daydream Club and Mount Eerie.
If you’re looking for new music this week, there are plenty of new releases out there for your enjoyment. That is, of course, outside of the many Record Store Day exclusives that popped up over the weekend. But if you’re shopping for new music, and because you should go to your local independent record store more than once or twice a year, here’s a quick rundown of some notable releases for this week. You’ll be able to find new full lengths or EPs from the following artists: Anathema, Bad Veins, Brendan Benson, Dandy Warhols, Death Grips, Diamond Rugs, Jack White, James Blackshaw, Jamiroquai, Joe Pug, John Zorn, Johnny Bertram, LP, Magic Wands, Suckers, The Raveonettes, Sarah Jaffe, Theresa Andersson, Tic Tic Boom, Torche, Toro y Moi, Twin Trip, Ty Segall and White Fence, and the Waco Brothers and Paul Church. An exhausting list, but most of those are pretty damn good, so be sure to check them out. As far as today’s Pick Your Poison goes, allow me to shine some spotlight on tracks from Alphanut, Jonathan Boulet, Miró Belle, No Monster Club, Rec Center, The Underground Man and Win Win. In the Soundcloud section you can stream a new song from Fiona Apple, which is quite good.
How was your weekend? Great, I hope. I want to take this Monday to give a brief shout out to something I rarely talk about on this site: sports. Specifically, Chicago sports. With the Blackhawks trying (and failing) to continue their run for the Stanley Cup this year, it’s important to note a couple big things happening on other teams in town. Like how the Bulls are hopefully going to finish first in the Eastern Conference. But really, above all else, something huge happened over the weekend, and I hope people both in and outside of Chicago can appreciate it: Chicago White Sox pitcher Phil Humber threw a perfect game over the weekend. It was only the 21st perfect game in this history of Major League Baseball. This is a huge deal. A pitcher throwing a no-hitter is very impressive too, but the perfect game is probably the greatest thing any single pitcher can do in a career. So a congratulations to Phil Humber on such a great feat, and equally so for being very humble and nice about it. Okay, no more sports talk for awhile. Let’s get to today’s Pick Your Poison. I’ll recommend tracks from Candidate, Don’t Talk to the Cops, Flosstradamus, The M Machine, Mohn, Swansea and Wool. The John Cale and Theophilus London remixes are good too. In the Soundcloud section, be sure to stream tracks from Kidstreet and Sonny & the Sunsets.
Happy 4/20 to you and yours. Today is a holiday for many, and if it is for you, I hope you enjoy indulging in the many…benefits a day such as today has to offer. Just be careful, and keep an eye out for authority figures. It’s also Friday, which means the weekend and fun lined up. Make the most of it and visit with friends or family. They surely miss you. Of course there’s always an edition of Pick Your Poison to whet your whistle. I’ll offer up highlights from The Driftwood Singers, Keep Shelly in Athens’ remix of Jonquil, Kool A.D., The Leg, Mornin’ Old Sport, The Neighbourhood and Pure Bathing Culture. In the Soundcloud section there’s a couple good remixes by the Scissor Sisters and Odd Future’s The Internet, taking on Ladyhawke and Lana Del Rey, respectively.
A couple quick points of business for you this Thursday. First up, consider this your weekly reminder that Faronheit has a Facebook page. I’m starting to post some extra content like videos and random songs that I love, in addition to the normal feed of what gets posted here on the site. Go check it out, click the “Like” button if you would, and I’ll love you forever. Secondly, I want to make a mention about a specific track in today’s Pick Your Poison. Those with keen eyes will notice that Mr. Tom Jones has slipped into today’s pile. Before you react weirdly to it, I just wanted to justify its presence here. In a nutshell, I wouldn’t hesitate to post a Tom Waits mp3 in this list, so it stands to reason that Tom Jones covering Tom Waits holds up too. So that’s just a little FYI in case you were wondering. Oh, and Tom Jones does a surprisingly decent job with the Tom Waits song too. I don’t know if I can fully recommend it, but you may want to check it out, should curiosity get the best of you. Things I’ll definitely recommend today come from Beast Make Bomb, Carina Round, Exray’s, The High Strung and North Lakes. In the Soundcloud section there’s some great streams of songs from Kindness and Mogwai, along with a pretty dope Current Value remix of Bjork’s “Solstice”.
Music fans, may I remind you that this Saturday is a very, very important day. Once a year (technically speaking…let’s ignore part deux in November), much hype is made about trekking out to your local independent record store and buying something. It is the phenomenon we otherwise know as Record Store Day. To help inspire you to actually get out to your local store, many labels and artists have planned for exclusive releases to be available for that one day only. Additional details, along with the list of Record Store Day exclusives, can be found very easily at RecordStoreDay.com. Have a look at the list, find something amazing to buy, and then wake up before your local record store opens and try to pick it up before it gets wiped out. The last couple years I’ve waited in 45 minute lines out the door of Reckless Records in Chicago trying to get some good stuff. Typically I only get one or two things out of the dozen or so I really desire, either because there were so few copies created or everyone else got to them before me. Still, it’s a fun time, a great way to meet some real music fans, and a great way to support brick and mortar independent record stores. Don’t forget! This Saturday, April 21st! In the here and now, today’s Pick Your Poison recommendations are for tracks from Coke Weed, The Doc Marshalls, Hot Panda, Phoebe Jean & The Air Force, and Twin Cabins. In the Soundcloud section you’d be wise to stream songs from Dead Mellotron and Win Win. Amtrac’s remix of Chromatics is solid too.
On Tuesdays I typically like to give you a rundown of all the new records coming out that you can purchase and hopefully enjoy. This week is no different, but I do want to take a brief second to highlight a record that came out a couple weeks back that’s very much worth your time and cash. NYC artist Natalie LeBrecht has been performing under the name Greenpot Bluepot for quite a few years now, and her reputation for creating otherworldly and dynamic songs has steadily earned the attention of many. One of those people is Animal Collective’s Avey Tare, who agreed to co-produce the new Greenpot Bluepot record with LeBrecht. The final product is Ascend at the Dead End, a very freak-folk, vocal-based album that is unlike almost anything you’ll hear these days. She’s one part Bjork and another part Cat Power, and but in the end such descriptions don’t do Greenpot Bluepot justice. You need to hear the record for yourself. Naturally then, here’s a full album stream for your listening pleasure. Oh, and if you’re interested, you can buy the album here.
Now, I promised I’d tell you about this week’s album releases. In stores today, you’ll find new records from Allo Darlin’, Battles (a remix record), Horse Feathers, Lushlife, Maps and Atlases, Moonface (Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown), Sidi Toure, and Spiritualized, among others. Azealia Banks was supposed to release an EP today as well, however due to her changing management a few days ago, that has been delayed for a bit. She’s apparently planning to re-record some of the tracks to help give them a better fidelity now that she’s come into some money. Good for her, I say. Good for you is today’s Pick Your Poison. I’ll recommend tracks from Andy the Doorbum, Cadence Weapon, Conner Youngblood, Death Grips, Ican Ican’t, Jesca Hoop, and King of Prussia. And hey, in the Soundcloud section you can hear a new song from The Walkmen.
On Monday editions of Pick Your Poison, I typically like to regale you with tales of interesting or important shows in and around the Chicagoland area that are worth your time seeking out. That is, if you live here of course. Today is a particularly special edition of that, because the two shows I’m going to mention are Chicago-centric in every way possible. Quintessential Chicago is what I’d call them, so if you’re interested in learning more about the city and its music scene, go see these bands play or at the very least listen to the music samples I’m providing to you below.
First of all, if you don’t know the Waco Brothers, you don’t know country music and you don’t know Chicago. Ok, so Chicago isn’t nearly Nashville or Dallas when it comes to country, but that doesn’t mean great country music can’t be made here. Of course it’s anything but traditional country, and the Waco Brothers have achieved something of a legendary status for their crazy live shows that are more punk rock in style than anything else. For their new record Great Chicago Fire, they’ve collaborated with Nashville legend and auteur Paul Burch. If the title track is any indication of what to expect from the entire album, it’s going to be a real treat when it’s released next Tuesday 4/24. In celebration of that, the Waco Brothers and Paul Burch will be playing a record release show next Thursday, April 26th at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn. The show time is 8:30PM and tickets are $15. Buy tickets here.
Secondly, I hope you’ve heard of JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound. If there’s one Chicago band that’s truly breaking out in 2012, it’s these guys. They unleashed their latest album Want More last fall to critical acclaim, and have been touring almost nonstop since then. They played nearly a dozen shows at SXSW this year, and I feel privileged to have seen the very last one, taking place at 1AM on a Saturday night. The crowd was completely worn down. The band was completely worn down too, as it comes with the territory of playing 3-4 shows a day for 3-4 days in a row. Yet everyone persevered and summoned up the energy for one last hour of pure musical enjoyment. There was magic in that show, in part because there’s magic in this band. They’re soulful, funky and fun, quickly on their way to becoming not only a Chicago treasure, but an American one too. On Friday, April 27th, they’ll be rolling through town for one of their biggest shows to date – headlining at Metro. It’s an all-Chicago bill that night too, in the best way possible as rising stars Gold Motel and Blah Blah Blah will be opening. Soul Summit DJs will be spinning in between sets as well, to keep the party going. And what a party it will be. Having looked over the full concert calendar for that day, I will officially guarantee you there will not be a better show happening in Chicago that Friday night. If you’re around and need something to do that night, come on out and we’ll have some serious fun. Have a listen to the latest JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound single “Sister Ray Charles” to help push you in the right direction. Or watch the video for the song. Perhaps their dynamic cover of Wilco’s “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” will be more your speed. The show on the 27th starts at 8PM and tickets are only $12. Buy tickets here.
As for today’s Pick Your Poison, I’m pleased to recommend tracks from Air Traffic Controller, The Bombay Royale, Higgins, Co Pilots’ remix of The Naked and Famous, Old Bricks, School Knights, What Hearts and Wymond Miles. In the Soundcloud section, don’t miss streaming songs from Royal Headache, Supreme Cuts, Tim Hecker, Yuck and SBTRKT’s remix of Frank Ocean.
I’m happy to say we’ve reached another weekend. Breathe that sigh of relief, assuming you don’t have to work. Grab a glass or bottle of your favorite beverage, sit down and perhaps enjoy some good music? As usual, Pick Your Poison has you covered. Today I’m recommending tracks from Brother Dege, Channel Cairo, Diamond Rugs, Island Twins, Prinzhorn Dance School, Sleep Party People, and These United States (who coincidentally play a sold out show at Metro with Trampled By Turtles tonight, Chicago friends). In the Soundcloud section I’ll advise you to stream songs from Crystal Fighters, Henry Clay People, Me and My Drummer, and Neneh Cherry’s cover of Suicide. Have a great weekend! (Oh, and by the way, be on the look out for weird stuff – it’s Friday the 13th!)
On the record, I hate allergy season. Pollen counts are at dangerously high levels across much of the country right now, and those of us with allergies are suffering because of it. I’ve been a sloppy, congested mess all week long and am none too happy about it. I’m grateful that I’m not one of those hay fever-type people, sneezing like I just fell into a mountain of pepper, but it’s still sheer frustration of trying to keep my airways clear for an extended period of time. If you’ve got allergies, I hope you’re faring better than me through this time of year. Thankfully my ears are working just fine, and I hope yours are too for the sake of today’s Pick Your Poison. There are some strong tracks today from Anabot, Cheers Elephant, Deep Time, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Elisa Luu, Modern Time Machines, Sonreal and Warm Weather. In the Soundcloud section there’s plenty worth streaming too, with tracks from Friends, The Paper Jets, and Simian Mobile Disco.
