End of the Week Wrap Up (2/01/13)

Wow there was a whole lot of killer new music out this week and I didn't get to touch on it all, so I wanted to do quick little recap on some highlights that never got posted.

Again a great week for new releases but none more exciting than the new one from Local Natives for me. This was one of my most anticpated for 2013 and it delivers. It's hard to pin down a favorite track right now because it changes daily but if your looking for something quiet check out "Colombia" HERE or maybe something a little more uptempo listen to "You & I" HERE.

Speaking of hotly anticipated albums Night Beds debut 'Country Sleep' is streaming over at Pitchfork now in advance of the Feb. 5 release date. You'll be finding this on everyone's 'best of list' at the end of the year guaranteed. Stream it HERE

Shovels and Rope made their television debut on David Letterman the other night, playing an emotional version of "Birmingham" that I think thoroughly impressed the host. Watch it HERE

High Highs debut album 'Open Season' came out this past Tuesday and among the many sweeping, dreamy tracks is the single "In a Dream." Listen HERE

Wake Owl  released this week what I would call a bit of a folk masterpiece with their phenomenal 5-song EP 'Wild Country'. You can stream all five tracks over on their Soundcloud page HERE

I've been waiting quite some time for this debut album from Trixie Whitley. It's called 'Fourth Corner' and it finally hit stores this week, and it's packed full of gritty soul & blues inspired tunes like only this talented young voice can deliver. Check out the album track, "Need Your Love" played on a rooftop in Belgium at Studio Brussels HERE.

New Music: Caveman- "In the City"

Some mornings you open your inbox and you find a little treat sitting there just waiting for you. Today that happened in the form of brand new music from the band Caveman. The band just unveiled their new single called, "In the City" along with details of their new sophomore self titled release which comes out this April 2nd via Fat Possum.
To celebrate the new disc the band will be hitting the road at the end of February with dates covering most of the U.S.
Click HERE for all the details.

http://www.cavemantheband.com/

Adam Green & Binki Shapiro- "Just to Make Me Feel Good"

Adam Green, formerly of The Moldy Peaches and Binki Shapiro (Little Joy) have paired up for a new self-titled album out via Rounder/Concord Records.  Although charming and sweet sounding the disc explores the uglier side of relationships and heartaches that follow.
Case in point is the hazy lovelorn gem, "Just To Make Me Feel Good," which was written while both were both going through breakups.
They just unveiled a new video for the track below.


http://www.myplaydirect.com/adam-and-binki

'Song of the Week' : Local Natives- "Heavy Feet"

I've been hot onto LA band Local Natives since their stunning 2010 debut, Gorilla Manor. The album received a lot of buzz and the band went on to subsequently tour with bands like The National. Being big fans of both I was pretty excited to learn that The National's Aaron Dessner would be producing and collaborating on the bands second LP, Hummingbird which sees it's release today via Frenchkiss.
The group takes a big leap forward on the new disc, with a much more subtle, mature, and even refined approach, where you can make the connection that it's not dissimilar to The National's jump from their albums Alligator to Boxer. You can hear it most evident on tracks like the lead single "Breakers" the slow and haunting "Columbia" and the enchanting "Heavy Feet" which gets this weeks (Song of the Week) honors.

http://www.thelocalnatives.com/

New Video: Daughter- "Still" / Debut LP out April 30

Towards the end of 2011 I discovered the music of UK songstress Elena Tonra, aka Daughter. I was quickly smitten with her two EP's and upon seeing her and her band perform live, it only sealed the deal for me. The London-based trio are now gearing for the release of their debut full-length, If You Leave, on April 30th via Glassnote and they just premiered it's first video for the single “Still” watch below.


http://www.ohdaughter.com/

Indians Debut LP 'Somewhere Else'

I was already pretty excited about Indians debut album, Somewhere Else which hits stores tomorrow Jan. 29th via 4AD. Now I just learned that Søren Løkke Juul, a.k.a. Indians will be heading out on tour with Night Beds for a run of dates this coming Feb. & Mar.
Couldn't think of a much better pairing of young talent than that.
Check out Indians latest single "I Am Haunted" which is also available as a free download below.


http://www.heyiamindians.com/

Get to Know: Penny and Sparrow

If it seems like I've been writing a lot about Austin area musicians lately, you would be dead on the money. It's just that I've been finding so much good music brimming out of Central Texas that once I find one artist, another 2-3 seem to follow. One of my most recent discoveries and also one of my favorites, is a duo called Penny and Sparrow who I found via Bandcamp. The pair of ex-roomates Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke just released a gorgeous new LP called Tenboom earlier this month, and it's a real stunner from top to bottom. Two songs that I'm absolutely hooked on are, "Brothers" and "Duet" the latter of which features some lovely female vocals by Stephanie Briggs.
Give them a try below.


http://pennyandsparrow.com/
http://pennyandsparrow.bandcamp.com/

Hymnalaya- "In My Early Years"

I found this lovely tune, "In My Early Years" from the Hymnalaya's via a post from their friends and fellow Icelanders, Of Monsters and Men. Man am I glad I checked it out. They have a new album coming out on Feb. 8th which will be available as a free download via their website. 
You can also grab the single for free now.




http://www.hymnalayamusic.com/

New Frightened Rabbit- "If You Were Me" (acoustic)

The folks over at NME just premiered an acoustic version of a new Frightened Rabbit track, "If You Were Me" that didn't make the cut for their upcoming disc, Pedestrian Verse. The new album hits stores this Feb 4th and only if you buy the extended version of the LP will you find the extra track. You can pre-order Pedestrian Verse now via the bands website.


http://frightenedrabbit.com/

More Things I Missed out on in 2012

So every year I inevitably miss out on tons of great music recommended to me by friends, fellow bloggers, music sites, and put quite simply.. people a lot cooler than me in the know. Last year was no different, but thanks to a most excellent local radio station hear in Austin KUTX, I've been catching up on three new artists the past few weeks. All three were bands/artists I heard of during 2012 but for whatever reason never sat down and gave a proper listen to. So here's what I found.
 
Kopecky Family Band. These guys are my latest obsession. Heard them on the radio one day last week and about 20 minutes later I was in my living room downloading their album Kids Raising Kids and going crazy over each new song I discovered. Their song "Hope" has been one of my favorites, you can check out a very cool video for the track below.
Kopecky Family Band "Hope" from AK Hottman on Vimeo.
 
Shovels & Rope. Some foot stomping goodness out of South Carolina. Here's one I completely kicked myself on. I've heard their name mentioned so many times last year but never did the proper clicking to check them out. Their album O' Be Joyful is out now and I can't get off of their track "Birmingham." Here's a mighty fine live version that captures the spirit of the pair from a performance at 89.3 The Current.


and lastly Ryan Bingham. My good friend Rob has been recommending I listen to him for a while now, and again I dropped the ball. Heard him in the car the other day on KUTX and was immediately sold on this raspy voiced Texan. Check out his killer track, "Beg for Broken Legs" off of his latest LP Tomorrowland. 


Special thanks to KUTX here in Austin for all the good tunes I've found this past month!!

'Song of the Week': The Saint Johns- "Your Head and Your Heart"

Actually found this one quite randomly via iTunes recently and it's been completely blowing my mind for the past week. The duo of Louis Johnson and Jordan Meredith apparently have been together for 5 years now and they have two self produced bedroom ep's under their old name 'Augustine.' The pair has recently been down in Nashville, TN. writing & recording a full length that hopefully features this gorgeous track, "Your Head and Your Heart." 
You can grab it now for free via their website as part of a 4 song live sessions EP.  I highly suggest you jump on it.

http://www.thesaintjohns.com/

Trixie Whitley "Need Your Love"

I've been following Trixie Whitley for a few years now, from her solo work and Ep's to her collaboration with the Daniel Lanois led project Black Dub. Like many fans of the soulful singer, we've been looking forward to her debut disc and that time has finally arrived. Whitley's forthcoming debut album Fourth Corner hits stores this January 29th in the U.S. and February 11 overseas. Check out the new single "Need Your Love" for a taste of what's to come.



http://TrixieWhitley.com

High Highs new single "In a Dream"

High Highs"Once Around The House"

There might not be a more aptly named single than the new one from High Highs, “In A Dream.” The track is the second single from their hotly anticipated debut long player, Open Season. The new album gets a release digitally on January 29th via Rocket Music, with a physical release to follow soon after. Give it a spin below and also check out this great live performance of the track from last years CMJ music fest.




http://www.highhighs.com/

New Music: Youth Lagoon- "Dropla"

After his hyped up debut The Year of Hibernation, Trevor Powers aka Youth Lagoon is back with his 2nd effort,  Wondrous Bughouse via Fat Possum. The LP doesn't hit stores until March 5th but you can now hear the first single, "Dropla" which was unveiled earlier today.



http://www.facebook.com/youthlagoon

Tom Odell- "Another Love"

Tom Odell is a young 21 year old singer-songwriter out of the UK and his breakout track "Another Love" has garnered comparisons to artists like Jeff Buckley and Chris Martin. His debut EP From Another Love is out now in the UK with a full LP slated to come out later this year. Not sure yet on the details of a US release date just yet, so stay tuned.


more at http://tomodell.com/

New music: Junip- "Line of Fire"

The José González led project, Junip will be releasing their sophomore album this April 23 via Mute, and they just unveiled the first single, "Line of Fire” which is available as a free download on their soundcloud page.

http://www.junip.net/

Ivan & Alyosha - "Running For Cover" (LIVE version)

Already a fantastic song, now here's a killer LIVE version. "Running for Cover" recorded LIVE at Avast. The track is from the bands forthcoming debut album All The Times We Had out Feb 26th via Dualtone. Gonna be a big year for these guys.

Tim Noyes of Aunt Martha announces solo LP

Tim Noyes of Aunt Martha is releasing his debut solo effort and he just premiered the first track "Saturday” via Relix.
Here's a little from Tim on why the album just has his name attached .... "Hey Friends. An album update for you. After a lot of back and forth, what was initially planned to be the next Aunt Martha record is going to be released under my name instead. This feels like the right thing to do, partly because the songs... sound different, but mostly because Brian and Garrett (the original band of men) didn't play on them. Aunt Martha is the three of us, and while I'm really proud of these new songs, I don't want to call them what they're not."
The new disc will be titled In Hands and it hits stores this February 19.

 

http://www.timnoyesmusic.com/
http://www.auntmarthaband.com/

Hayden-"Old Dreams"

I've been obsessing over this single "Old Dreams" from Toronto Canada's, Hayden. I first caught onto his music back in 2007 w/his Field & Town LP, and upon digging further into his back catalogue became a big time fan of his work. Hayden is now unleashing his 7th full length titled Us Alone via Arts & Crafts which hits stores this Feb. 5th.
You can stream "Old Dreams" along with another brand new track called "Rainy Saturday" below.



More Hayden at http://wasteyourdaysaway.com/

Liz Lawrence- "Give Me Comfort"

Found this talented 22 year old singer-songwriter Liz Lawrence out of the UK via a bandcamp recommendation. She just released her brand new album Bedroom Hero this month and it features this most excellent track, "Give Me Comfort." The album is available now through the end of the month for name your price on her bandcamp page. Grab it while you can.




http://www.lizlawrencemusic.com/

East Cameron Folkcore- "Salinger's Dead"

Ever since moving to Austin a few weeks back I've been on a hunt for local music to check out. I've been real impressed with the local scene so far including this brilliant new track I found called "Salinger's Dead" from East Cameron Folkcore. The single comes from a new album the group has on the way titled, For Sale, due out this February 5th.


Here's a little more on the band Via MTV's the Hive: East Cameron Folkcore‘s Allen Dennard has never been a big Salinger fan, but he can credit the author with saving his life. “I read The Catcher in the Rye when I was in high school and it upset me,” he told Hive. “I remember throwing the book across the room when I was done. I remember feeling very hopeless and bitter.” Still, when the author passed, he was inspired to write “Salinger’s Dead” because he was desperate “to get honest about the reasons behind my drinking” and “to recall what it was that upset me so much about the book.” ...
“I just started playing this chord progression I’d been working out and within a couple minutes the song was born,” said Moore. “Not many songs come this easily, and usually when they do, I’m pretty skeptical and just throw them away. But I played it for Allen and the band, and it was well-received, so we started playing it.”

http://eastcameronfolkcore.com