Bradford Cox is keeping busy

And that makes me a happy bunny. After releasing the best album of last year, Parallax, Cox has announced some tour dates for Atlas Sound (still waiting for the European dates) and contributed to music collaborations.

A new Deerhunter track called "Curve" is one of the songs on a compilation album organised by Blonde Redhead. The album is called We Are the Works in Progress and it was released yesterday. All proceeds made of the compilation will go directly to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund and Architecture For Humanity organisations to help rebuild Japan after the 2011 tsunami. Listen to the beautiful, instrumental track below.



Bradford also did an acoustic version of Leonard Cohen's "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" as a part of the Vimeo series "Old Ideas With New Friends" which honours the new album Old Ideas by Cohen. It's probably one of my favourite cover songs ever, take a listen below.



And finally, the original:

Winter

I'm one of those people who really loathe winter, mainly because I can't stand the cold weather and the never-ending darkness wears me out. I'm always feeling chilly and tired (because I don't get to see the sun while at work) and spend my evenings under a blanket counting down the days until summer gets here.

So I often forget how beautiful it is outside during midwinter. But yesterday I forced myself outside for a walk in the freezing cold air and I was reminded of how amazing a snowy landscape can be. And even though I'm crap at taking pictures, I had to take a few snapshots with my phone (sorry about the bad quality). So all you fellow sufferers, quit complaining about the cold weather for a moment and go outside - you might be pleasently surprised.

 

I love our beach (but I love it even more during the summer time).

Better, but still disappointing

Just as I wrote a post about Memoryhouse's song "The Kids Were Wrong", they go and share another track from their forthcoming album, The Slideshow Effect. "Walk With Me" sounds better than their previously released track but is still a bit disappointing. It has a mellow sound to it and I really like the background vocals. But for some reason Denise's way of singing annoys me even more than it did on "The Kids Were Wrong". I don't like her abrupt enunciation and I wonder why her singing doesn't annoy me on their debut EP. Has she changed her style or am I just going mental? While I'm struggling with these questions, you can listen to the song below.

Wild Nothing return with a new track

Wild Nothing are working on a new album to be released later this year and they've shared a tasting from the album, called "Nowhere". The track features guest vocals from Twin Sister's Andrea Estella.

I have mixed feelings about "Nowhere". I'm glad Wild Nothing are recording a new album but I'm not sure if I'm happy with the direction they're going at with this track. I'm not too pleased with the country feeling of the song but Jack Tatum's and Andrea Estella's voices go well together. (OT: It's a shame about Twin Sister really, they showed so much promise with their Color Your Life EP, yet failed with the debut album In Heaven.) Nevertheless, I hope Wild Nothing will release the new album soon. Listen to "Nowhere" below.

New Andrew Bird song!

One of my favourite singer-songwriters, Andrew Bird has released the first song "Eyeoneye" from his upcoming album. The album itself, called Break It Yourself will be out March 6.

The song sounds like... Andrew Bird. Which makes me happy because he rarely lets me down. It's a great tune - his voice sounds as good as ever and I love the whistles! I can't wait to hear the new album. And you won't be able to wait either after you've listened to "Eyeoneye" below.

Eyeoneye by Andrew Bird

(Not so) Great expectations

The first time I heard of Memoryhouse was back in April 2010 when I was introduced to their track "Sleeping Patterns". I instantly fell in love with it and the four-track EP, The Years. Ever since I've been waiting for them to release a whole album of beautiful, dreamy songs and I was really excited when I found out their debut album will be released on February 28.

A new track called "The Kids Were Wrong" from the upcoming album, The Slideshow Effect, was released on Memoryhouse's website last December. I was really looking forward to hearing it but sadly I got disappointed. I was completely underwhelmed by it. It's an okay song but that's about it. What ever happened to the dreaminess and lightness of their debut EP? "The Kids Were Wrong" is an upbeat pop song but unfortunately not a very good one. It's not original in any way and Denise's voice sounds stuffy, even annoying at times.

I hope that the whole album won't be a miss. You can listen to "The Kids Were Wrong" below.

Monday

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