PopMatters profiles brothers Nels and Alex Cline.

Today both are well-regarded composers, pushing their respective instruments—guitar for Nels and drums for Alex—into genre-crossing experiments that touch on rock, jazz, classical, and ethnic music. But with both releasing new albums in February on the Cryptogramophone label, there is no mistaking one’s work for the other. Nels Cline’s Coward layers electric and acoustic guitars over one another, in an entirely one-man exploration of the instrument’s potential. Alex Cline’s Continuation showcases an acoustic ensemble’s interplay, his compositions interpreted by pianist/harmonium player Myra Melford, bassist Scott Walton, cellist Peggy Lee, and violinist Jeff Gautier, as well as himself.

Daytrotter's Wednesday session features in-studio mp3s from Ezra Furman and the Harpoons.

McSweeney' Voice of Witness oral history series is seeking donations.

Free and legal album downloads at Amazon MP3:

Mieka Pauley: Elijah Drop Your Gun
Various Artists: Alive Records Natural Sound Free Digital Sampler
Various Artists: Amazon Presents Green Hill Music Digital Sampler
Various Artists: Badman, Has It Really Been 10 Years?
Various Artists: Best of Nuclear Blast: 20th Anniversary Compilation
Various Artists: The More You Listen The More You Hear: A Koch Records Jazz Sampler
Various Artists: One Little Indian Presents (2009 sampler)
Various Artists: Open Remix
Various Artists: Stax Sampler
Various Artists: This Is Daptone Records
Various Artists: This Is How I Roc: 2008 Yep Roc Label Sampler
Various Artists: Worn & Grazed: A Park the Van Sampler

In the Guardian, Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn examines the importance of the Zero Boys. (via)

The Zero Boys records are not just incredible punk records, but fascinating artifacts from four midwesterners who created a mighty racket to be heard above the stifling boredom of young adulthood in America's heartland. However punk has changed in the intervening years, frustrated kids will continue to relate to punk rock, and Zero Boys give them a great example of how exciting punk rock can be.

The New Yorker features a new poem, "A Street," by Leonard Cohen.

The New York Times interviews Cohen about his practical and spiritual reasons for touring.

CNET's Digital Noise blog: "Spotify could become the best music service ever."

CMJ's Relay blog interviews singer-songwriter Beth Orton.

100 BANDS in 100 DAYS chronicles a New Yorker's concert quest (via).

LaundroMatinee features in-studio video and mp3s from O'Death.

FabChannelAfter considerable listens, I think I’ve twigged on to why I’m so taken with The Golden Spike, the debut album from Leeds’ Sky Larkin’s. The crackling pop-punk energy, barely contained in the power trio configuration, the odd and wiry yet undeniably accomplished guitar work, the raspy vocals that can’t quite conceal the sweetness underneath - they remind me of Land Of Talk. A more youthful version, to be sure, with more exuberance and less anxiety, but the parallels - now that they’ve occurred to me - are obvious.

And, of course, after I’d written that, I did a little archive digging and discovered that in my first post about the band, way back in August 2008, I said the first taste of the band “grab(bed) me in a way that I don’t think I’ve been grabbed since I first heard Land Of Talk”. Technically, though, I was only using LoT as a chronological reference point and not necessarily as a stylistic one, as I’ve now done. But I actually completely forgot I said that and the preceding paragraph was written completely ignorant of that original observation. Okay, I’m boring the life out of me now. Moving on.

Read more at Chromewaves →

MP3: Sky Larkin - “Fossil, I”
MP3: Sky Larkin - “Molten”

Emmy The Great talks to NME about some of her lyrics and reveals the story of her “first love”. Drowned in Sound also has a two-part interview with the singer.

Details on the debut full-length from Florence & The Machine are still forthcoming, but this pre-order listing at CDWow seems to hint at July 6th release date, or thereabouts. Much more confirmable is the April 28 release of the A Lot Of Love, A Lot Of Blood EP, which collects her singles to this point and an unreleased track.

MP3: Florence & The Machine - “Kiss With A Fist”
Video: Florence & The Machine - “Kiss With A Fist”
Video: Florence & The Machine - “Dog Days Are Over”

Spinner talks to PJ Harvey and John Parish about their working history together. Their collaborative album A Woman A Man Walked By is out March 30.

Magnet takes it upon themselves to identify the five most overrated and underrated Radiohead songs.

And finally, an incredulous shout-out to Zoilus’ Carl Wilson, who will be appearing on The Colbert Report next Wednesday night to talk about his 33-1/3 book Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey To The End Of Taste. All instigated, if you didn’t know, by the Green Goblin 2. What a strange, strange thing.

mariontognoni

A few weeks ago I was chatting with Phil from SSLYBY, and he casually tossed in a “hey go check out this song” link at the end of one of our exchanges. I did indeed go check the song out, and it turned out to be a very a good one. As the band was from Missouri, I assumed they were just friends of Phil’s, and he was hipping me to some music that not many were aware of. Foolish me! You see, the very next day, my MBV compatriots at Said the Gramophone posted a glowy, 2-song entry about them. THEN, I found out they were just featured on this new eMusic compilation. So they’re not just a friend’s friend’s band from Missouri– they’re a great, established band whose stock seems to be already on the rise.

The band I’m talking about is Jumbling Towers, and they’re currently putting the finishing touches on their brand-new album, which is to be released at some point in the near future, I should imagine (you can download their older EP, Classy Entertainment, for free here).

I don’t know how many spins these tracks have gotten out of me in the last few weeks, but it’s somewhere between “A LOT” and “A WHOLE HELLUVA LOT.” Really great songs. I look forward to hearing a lot more from this band.

(”Kanetown” is a new song; “11” comes from JT’s 2007 self-titled album which can be had from iTunes).

Gentleman Reg - “We’re In A Thunderstorm” Being a longtime fan of Gentleman Reg Vermue, it pleases me to tell you that his new record, Jet Black (a joke title I assume, considering Reg’s platinum physiognomy), is out this week on Arts & Crafts (Three Gut, you’re gone but not forgotten).

Buy Jet Black at Amazon. [Vinyl] [MP3]

Cymbals Eat Guitars “And The Hazy Sea” The most obvious thing about Cymbals Eat Guitars is that their epic, widescreen indie rock bears a striking resemblance to that of Built To Spill and early Modest Mouse. The most impressive thing about them, however, is just how comfortable they sound playing around with a sound those bands defined on albums like The Lonesome Crowded West and Keep It Like A Secret. This isn’t just a case of some young band wearing their influences on their sleeves, and offering up a lesser version of their favorite records — these are strong, creative players stretching out and finding their own niche within a rich yet largely unmined aesthetic territory. The band use more or less the same musical palette and techniques to convey scope and sprawl, but they navigate the suggested space differently. Whereas Modest Mouse simulated the feeling of driving down endless interstates and Built To Spill express the inner life of an introvert on a monumental scale, Cymbals Eat Guitars’ songs tend to be more dramatically volatile, and move like the tides of a vast ocean of emotion.

“And The Hazy Sea,” the opening track on their debut album Why There Are Mountains, elegantly transitions from moments of screaming intensity and gentle, placid movements marked by shimmering guitar leads, fluid bass grooves, and tinkling keyboards. The composition is all drift and sudden catharsis, but despite its odd shape, the piece overflows with melodic flourish. The keyboard parts are particularly lovely in the way they seem to sparkle like sunshine on the ocean, and clever in that they offer melodic counterpoint without cluttering the song with redundant timbre and texture a la the guitar overdub overkill of Built To Spill.

Buy it from iTunes.

Nardwuar Interviews No Age