Au Revoir Simone

Well, it's only been a few weeks, but readers must know by now that I buy a lot of albums made by pretty girls. But honestly, I didn't know how utterly gorgeous are the young women behind Au Revoir Simone until after I bought their debut album, Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation. I merely thought the name had a lovely sound to it and besides, the CD was on sale at Other Music for only 6 bucks.

Well, I'm glad I took the risk. This Brooklyn-based 3-piece play a sweet casio-pop reminiscent of early Stereolab, Ladytron and Juana Molina. They never really stray far beyond 'nice and mellow', but here and there, they do exhibit some of the inventiveness and complexity of a world-class band like Fiery Furnaces. Certainly, a band to keep on the radar.

Some music samples:
"Back In Time"
"Through The Backyards"

In NYC catch them live before they go on tour in Japan:
Friday, October 14th at Pianos, 158 Stanton Street
Saturday, October 15th at North 6th, 66 North Sixth Street, Willamsburg

Bettye LaVette

I often buy albums for no other reason than that they have a nice cover (especially if it features a pretty girl). At least 25% of these gambles have turned out to be great records. I discovered Joanna Newsom, Feist and CocoRosie in this way for example.

Yesterday, in my habitual Tuesday night CD-buying frenzy, I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise by Bettye LaVette caught my eye for some reason. Something about this somber face in a sea of black, an older woman I've never heard of before, intrigued me. Who the hell is she?

A sticker on the album — released yesterday by ANTI- Records (home of Tom Waits, Jolie Holland, The Black Keys and Daniel Lanois) — offered a few clues with two plugs:

"You've got a singer here who is willing to stretch and not content to live in the safety zone. Bettye Lavette's voice is the superb line that connects Lucinda Williams' "Joy" to Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" via numbers by Sinead O'Connor and Joan Armatrading. Those songs never sounded better and neither has one of R&B greatest under-acknowledged vocalists."
- Elvis Costello

"Ache has never sounded so funky. Weary, wise, defiant and vulnerable, Bettye's a force of nature... She's outdone herself on this one."
- Bonnie Raitt

Of course I had to buy it. I will say right now, I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise is one of the best albums of the year. LaVette, who had some minor hits 40 years ago, knows what she's doing. Full of raw emotion and elemental arrangements, if you like old soul music, you will love this album.

Hear for yourself:
"Down To Zero"
"The High Road"

If you buy the album, you'll get to hear a great a cappella Sinead O'Connor cover as well as a biting Fiona Apple cover. Also online for your listening pleasure, are these classic tracks:
"You’ll Never Change"
"Let Me Down Easy"

And if that ain't enough, check out her recent performance on the Late Show with David Letterman.

The Spinto Band

Not very original but still a very solid band from Wilmington, Delaware, The Spinto Band play ultra catchy indie pop reminiscent of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, New Pornographers and especially Pavement. But this 7-piece band has its own thing going on as well, offering unexpected arrangements and rousing choruses. Indie pop doesn't get much better than this. If only their new album Nice And Nicely Done came out with this album four years ago they might have been able to break from the pack. Then again, four years ago, they were still in high school, so they certainly have the time (and the talent) to try something else.

Check out music samples on their flash-based website as well as on the Bar None Records website.

The Noisettes

I don't know much about The Noisettes, but I stumbled upon one of their songs on the Internet recently and wanted to share it.

Their advance single "Don't Give Up" combines the spunk of Karen O. and the riff-rock of AC/DC in a short and dynamic up-tempo jam.

It appears there are a few bands that have (or have had) the name Noisettes or The Noisettes, but this is the one with the feisty black chick on vocals.

You can catch them in NYC next Tuesday, September 27th, 2005 at The Mercury Lounge.

The Duke Spirit

UK band The Duke Spirit play a tough and lush bluesy rock. They lay down some dirty grooves that invoke The Velvet Underground and early Blondie.

There are a lot of similar rock bands out there right now, but it is the husky British warble of singer Liela Moss that takes them a cut above the rest. The first thing you’ll hear is that she sounds a lot like PJ Harvey, but I also hear touches of Nico, Martina Topley-Bird and even Jim Morrison.

Their debut album Cuts Across The Land produced by Flood and former Cocteau Twins leader Simone Raymond was released this May, but as far as I can tell, they haven’t yet made it to the states. They seem like they put on a great live show though. They have the looseness of a great garage band, but the inventiveness of an art rock band. It’s nice when bands have enough talent to be able to loosen up a bit and play purposefully out of tune, slightly off beat. It humanizes them and creates a more intimate and visceral experience. Imagine if similar bands like Garbage had the confidence to do such a thing and cast off their current over-produced sound.

Check out their songs and videos on their website, especially the jangley "Lion RIP" and "Red Weather" which ends with a piece of beautiful crunchy noise.

Their album is out now on Loog Records, which is also home to The Bravery, Soledad Brothers and some other rockers worth checking out.

And if none of this has convinced you so far, check out The Duke Spirit’s gorgeous new video for the song "Cuts Across The Land" directed by Japanese animator Woof Wan Bau.

Celebration

The center of the universe on Sunday night was Union Pool in Williamsburg. TV On The Radio headlined a hurricane relief concert, but the real revelation of the night (for me at least) was an amazingly tight and energetic band from Baltimore called CELEBRATION, who did an intense set of angst-filled new wave rock. You will be hearing a lot about this band in the coming months.

In NYC you have two chances to check them out this week:

September 16, at Beggars & Matador Records 2005 CMJ Party
at Scenic, 25 Avenue B (btwn 2nd & 3rd)

September 17, at the Fader/Adult Swim CMJ
at Lounge, 175 Orchard Street

Check out their myspace page for more tour dates and a song sample.

Also, be on the look out for their debut album produced by David Sitek of TV On The Radio coming out October 11 on 4AD Records.

New blog

Let's make a new blog featuring music we think is cool!