There’s no denying that Pennsylvania rockers Dr. Dog are at an interesting crossroads on their sixth studio album, Be the Void. Their steady, consistent rise in popularity seemed bound to increase almost twofold on their previous album Shame, Shame, but as it was met with average reviews, Dr. Dog continued on their path of predictable success. Their career reminds me a lot of other bands I adore: White Denim, Kurt Vile, Spoon — bands who have put out consistently great albums and maintain a strong and loyal fan base, yet all the while are unable to make the next leap in their career.

And unfortunately, Be the Void does little to advance the band in terms of songwriting and overall aesthetic. Which isn’t to say this is a poor record; it’s actually enjoyable for many reasons, but if Dr. Dog are hoping to gain more listeners or breathe new life into their career, they’re sadly mistaken. As a long-time fan of the group, I’ve always had an easy time turning friends on to their music, but it rarely seems as though laypeople, or even people who actively seek out new music, stumble upon Dr. Dog. without fan intervention. I have a hard time trying to explain this phenomena, as their music is incredibly accessible, yet enough digging into their back catalogue can reward one with a great understanding of the band’s surprisingly intricate body of work. Be the Void fits this pattern all too well.

ARTICLE CONTINUELOW

Tracks like “Do the Trick” and “Lonesome” have their unique hooks, while others like “Get Away” and “Turning the Century” meander through four minutes of folk rock predicability. “Heavy Light” flirts with an almost Vampire Weekend vibe, a blissful, breezy pop song that puts an emphasis on the band’s percussion arrangement in a fun manner. But for the most part, Dr. Dog rely heavily upon their signature play between the guitars and the piano, a trick that has lent the band unmistaken attention since their debut record.

Be the Void‘s first single, “That Old Black Hole,” captures the spirit of a gospel chant in a strange, roundabout way. Completely by mistake, as the track nears its end and the hand claps and tempo double upon themselves, “That Old Black Hole” begins to reach out the listeners and invites them into the band’s place of worship. These moments are littered throughout the album; they seem short and subtle, but on the third, fourth, and fifth listens of the album, they begin to reveal themselves and prove Be the Void to be a spectacularly devised record.

It might might ultimately take some fortitude to figure out what makes Dr. Dog different from any other Americana-drenched band out there, but with just enough attention to detail, Be the Void might get stuck on repeat for months to come. It’s neither groundbreaking or a disappointment, but it can easily be summed up, for better or worse, as good.

The Dø – “Tightrope” (Janelle Monaé Cover)

Janelle Monaé is one charming lady, and her music for “Tightrope” is the type of spectacle one can watch and re-watch and hardly tire of. French-Finnish duo The Dø have decided to take a stab at slowing down the R&B dance track and adding a sultry lethargic bluesyness to it. While The Dø’s version certainly lacks the immediacy of Monaé’s, there are times when one desires to chill rather than bust ass, and their cover is a suitable go-to for such times.

BRAINSTORM – Mdou Moctar Covers (Music From Saharan Cellphones)

Portland pop band BRAINSTORM have recently covered two tracks from Nigerian musician Mdou Moctar. To ensure as close of a sonic match as possible, drummer and vocalist Adam Baz romanized the original lyrics and new English-language lyrics were created with the intention of maintaining the original flow and cadence of the song.

Moctar’s songs were first brought to the band’s attention by Sahel Sounds, a blog that releases West African music captured via cellphone SIM cards. This form of data transfer is one of the most popular and economically-sound options in an area where access to computers is limited. Below, you can listen to both BRAINSTORM’s covers and Moctar’s originals.

Young Magic – Melt

Young Magic’ long-awaited debut album, Melt, is out on Carpark Records February 14th and brings with it more of the band’s prismatic magical sound. The record does feature some previously released tracks — like Night In The Ocean and You With Air (for which we love desiger Leif Podhajsky’s cover art) — but this album, as a whole, feels like great romantic ocean swells, with the moonlight collecting and dispersing on their surfaces again and again. One listen to the introduction track “Sparkly” should, at the very least, entice you into diving into more.

YOUNG MAGIC TOUR DATES
* = w/ Bear In Heaven, Doldrums
03/14 – 03/17 Austin, TX SXSW
03/29 Bloomington, IN The Bishop *
03/30 Columbus, OH The Basement *
03/31 Cincinnati, OH MOTR Pub *
04/01 St Louis, MO The Luminary Center for the Arts *

Field Music

Yet another album to come out February 14th, 2012 (a big day for the music world, it seems) will be Field Music’s upcoming record, Plumb. Stream it now in its entirety, on NPR! Plumb is no double-disc feature like the band’s last album, Measure (thank God, although Measure had its moments of brilliance)… but expect more of the same indie pop catchiness Field Music has brought before, emphasis on rad basslines and plenty of falsetto.

PLUMB TRACKLISTING
Start The Day Right
It’s Okay To Change
Sorry Again, Mate
A New Town
Choosing Sides
A Prelude To Pilgrim Street
Guillotine
Who’ll Pay The Bills?
So Long Then
Is This The Picture?
From Hide And Seek To Heartache
How Many More Times?
Ce Soir
Just Like Everyone Else
(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing

Field Music – A New Town by memphisindustries

“Tapping back into symbolic power and the mystical meaning of these things is, I think, a really important practice… on a personal level, it’s just looking at the inner meaning of things more.” – Taraka Larson

Lucky Dragons

The back-and-forth ebb-and-flow found in this track, “Existers,” found in all layers and all elements, compresses and decompresses like winds and waves, like sand and fog. It swirls around your head like a musical tornado slowly engulfing your mind and sneaking its way in… but in the most tranquil, most peaceful of ways. It feels a bit Buddhist and thoughtfully, quietly disengaged, and the description below, about the forthcoming LP, Existers, seems to fall in line with that interpretation.

ABOUT EXISTERS
FROM THE PRESS RELEASE
EXISTERS is a 21-minute long mini-album of brand-new songs by lucky dragons, produced in cooperation with artist / designer Jesse Hlebo of Swill Children. EXISTERS resist without intervening, subsist without consuming. They are everything about living except life, showing the effects of attention on a thing over time. “EXISTERS harkens to all things slow, delicate, and sharp–music for drifters, onlookers, and aliens of the everyday… By largely replacing the acoustic instrumentation and field-recorded sources of those records with the crackling pulse of modular synthesizer and alien sharpness of spectral processing, EXISTERS is both the wall and the push against it, a direct impression, a tribute to the boundary and how the boundary can be crossed.”

LUCKY DRAGONS TOUR DATES
1/27/12 Los Angeles, CA, Black Box
1/28/12 Los Angeles, CA, Mahasukha Meditation Center
2/15/12 Troy, NY, EMPAC
2/16/12 Brooklyn, NY, Release Party, 285 Kent
2/17/12 New York, NY, Release Party, Printed Matter
3/10/12 Los Angeles, CA, The Smell

Breezy Nix

Relatedly, Luke Fischbeck of Lucky Dragons has been spreading the word about this awesome record label, New Other Thing. This 16-minute track by Breezy Nix, entitled “Oerwouden,” is like a singing bowl tapping, wind chiming, spirit channeling mega good time, certainly worthy of repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat…

Listen to Breezy Nix’s “Oerwouden” – DOWNLOAD MP3

oOoOO

oOoOO have a new EP, Our Loving Is Hurting Us coming out April 10th, 2012, on Tri Angle Records. “NoWayBack” guest stars Butterclock (one of two tracks on the record to do so), and has a slow-motion percussive quality for one to drool over.

OUR LOVING IS HURTING US TRACKLISTING
1. TryTry
2. Springs (featuring Butterclock)
3. Starr
4. Break Yr Heart
5. NoWayBack (featuring Butterclock)

Future Blondes

This track, “VILA’GOK 1,” is unfortunately not available for download — but it is does celebrate Houston-based Future Blondes at some of their danciest yet. This track was a part of their last LP, limited to 100 copies — but it will be re-released when possible.

YVETTE

We’ve known YVETTE for a while, and dudes have been grinding harrrrrd, playing DIY shows galore throughout Brooklyn and New York like they don’t need to sleep or eat. The duo — consisting of Noah Kardos-Fein and Rick Daniel — make noise rock with mad percussive chops. This new track, “Cold Sweat,” is definitely the most acessible material from them so far, and the decision certainly bodes well for their future. For starters — love from Pitchfork and Stereogum, which seems a bit unlikely — but really what’s important here is that this new track has a bit more polish on it and a better recording job, giving those who wouldn’t normally be into this type of dirtiness something to actually “get.” Below, “Cold Sweat” from their upcoming Erosion/Cold Sweat 7″ (out physically March 27th on God Mode and digitaly February 14th) along with the older “With Fangs,” from their self-titled EP from way back in 2009.

Listen to YVETTE’s “Cold Sweat” – DOWNLOAD MP3

Listen to YVETTE’s “With Fangs” – DOWNLOAD MP3

Extra Life

Extra Life are like the scab you hate to have but can’t stop picking at, and kind of miss once you’ve picked it completely away. They’re the type of band Karla Hernandez describes as
“like an abstract painting where a viewer’s eyes have a hard time focusing on one point,” and John Gillanders describes as “a downright batshit-insane and utterly creepy vibe.” This new track, “Righteous Seed,” is a preview from their upcoming album, Dream Seeds.

Dream Seeds will be the band’s third full-length album, and will be a concept album — seven songs on the a series of nightmares which involved little children. The goal, according to the press release, is to “look to the subconscious and to the young, in search of innocence, morality and even prophecy.” Evidently, frontman Charlie Looker is a elementary school teacher, which seems to parallel the themes in the song themselves, in some strange way…

As most outlets and writers, myself included, rushed a bit prematurely to start and finish their 2011 year end features, there were albums which passed without enough recognition. Atop the list of great December releases is Molly Nilsson’s incredibly nostalgic and ethereal album History.

And shame on me for not realizing the album’s potential success, as Nilsson’s been on a solid run of releasing one to two new albums a year – a pace that’s apparently only strengthened this Swedish singer-songwriter’s craft. For the most part, the album floats along in almost complete ambivalence to the rest of the world, a sound that seems completely removed from the rest from its peers. I mean that in the most flattering sense, however, as Nilsson crafts tracks which are completely engrossing and puzzling. She appears neither referential nor aware that there are other band’s trying desperately to perfect the sound she has already mastered.

There are tracks comprised of almost all electronic components, which are ambitious and borderline faux-disco anthems. Others, like “I Hope You Die,” are more organic and traditional in a sense, but both tracks, and the rest of album as well, have dusty and industrial feel. “City of Atlantis,” one of the undoubted standouts from the album, falls within that more electronic range of songs on History. The opening minute of the track is devoted almost entirely to haunting synthesizer keys, paced at a feverish rhythm compared to the rest of the album. Especially buried eight tracks into the album, it’s a delightful and tangential break on an album that can become a little repetitive in spots. “I Hope You Die,” as I previously mentioned, falls on the opposite end of History‘s spectrum. It’s dream pop at its finest, a fine balance of lyrical longing (“the ruins of my heart stands like a coliseum”) and Nilsson’s glowing vocals. While it’s certainly not a love song, there’s a certain romantic element to all of her songs. Whether it’s explicitly stated or whether it is the way each song is produced, I couldn’t help but long for Nilsson or any other woman I’ve ever loved without actually knowing. It’s mysterious but infectious, an industrial-sounding mixtape that’s perfect for long winter nights.

If there is one thing to be said about History, it’s that it is completely beautiful. The serene and sometimes macabre landscapes which Nilsson paints are unmatched in their execution, the combination of which had me enraptured with this album for weeks on end. I’m a little disappointed I missed this a month ago when it premiered, but hopefully strong word of mouth will help promote this gem of an album.

Battles

To kick it off are two from the almost infallible Battles, as a part of their upcoming Drop Gloss 12″ series. These two tracks, remixed by Gui Boratto and The Field, are on opposite ends of the dance spectrum yet form a satisfying whole: one keeps your dance spirit jumping; the other drones you into blissful, breathy submission. And given enough time, both turn into the other, become either of the above.

[a1]
“WALL STREET”
(GUI BORATTO REMIX)

[b1]
“SWEETIE & SHAG”
(THE FIELD REMIX)

And, of course, being the visually-minded minds that they are, Battles have been sure to include the Drop Gloss album art packaging as extension of their similarly-minded gushy, pile-centric existing branding.

This particular 12″ drops February 7th in North America, and you can subscribe to the entire series at BLEEP.

Making Friendz

Making Friendz is the project of Tami Hart, a New York-based musician who created this collaborative project as a way to stretch beyond her punk roots and into dance territory. This first remix, for “Something To Believe In,” was done by Brother Bruno, aka Bruno Caviello of Light Asylum. This remix is some fun stuff.

Listen to Making Friendz’ “Something To Believe In” (Brother Bruno Remix) – DOWNLOAD MP3

Blood Orange

Taking time out of his production schedule (where he works with such notable figures as Theophilus London and Solange Knowles), Devonte Hynes of Blood Orange is going on tour with Florence On The Machine. This remix by Mike Simonetti is a R&B-funk party that feels schizophrenic sometimes, but that’s part of why it’s so interesting, really. Tour dates below.

ABOUT MAKING FRIENDZ
FROM PRESS RELEASE
Making Friendz is a sweet, sweaty mixture of lo-fi punk and glossy pop, R&B and disco, rooted in the spirit of Hart’s collaboration with fellow artists and friends. Formerly signed to Mr. Lady Records, Hart recorded two full-length albums by the time she was 21, and was awarded an impressive 8.0 on Pitchfork for her album What Passed Between Us. By 22, Hart consciously moved away from the “folkie” image her critics had constructed and began her foray into noisepunk. She played guitar and sang in Gangway (bandmates included members of Band Wives who would later become No Age) and played with Coach whips, Abe Vigoda, K.I.T., eventually touring with Mika Miko. In 2005, Hart moved to New York City and started a two-piece garage band, Winning Looks, which Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) recorded and pressed a limited 7” of. Most recently, Hart has been playing bass for JD Samson’s latest band, MEN.

BLOOD ORANGE TOUR DATES
Apr 14 – Santa Babara Bowl, Santa Babara, CA
Apr 15 – Coachella Festival, Indio, CA
Apr 17 – Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV
Apr 18 – Mondavi Center – UC Davis, Davis, CA
Apr 20 – Comerica Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
Apr 21 – The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
Apr 22 – Coachella Festival, Indio, CA
Apr 27 – Hennepin Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
Apr 28 – Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
Apr 29 – Peabody Opera House, St. Louis, MO
May 1 – Palladium Ballroom, Dallas, TX
May 2 – Verizon Wireless Theatre, Houston, TX
May 3 – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA
May 8 – Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
May 11 – Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
May 12 – Borgata Spa & Resort Event Center, Atlantic City, NJ

The dual headlined tour dates between American metal mega-giants Mastodon and Swedish metal mega-giants Opeth have finally been fleshed out. The “Heritage Hunter Tour” has tapped the overtly satanic Swedish band Ghost as the openers, with Mastodon and Opeth alternating the closing act throughout North America.

And here are the dates:

(M) Indicates Mastodon closes the show
(O) Indicates Opeth closes the show

04/04 – Portland, ME @ State Theater (M)
04/05 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theater (O)
04/06 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis (O)
04/07 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre (O)
04/09 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory(M)
04/10 – Wallingford, CT @ The Dome (M)
04/11 – New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom (M)
04/13 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre (M)
04/14 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection (M)
04/15 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE (M)
04/16 – Knoxville, TN @ TN Theater (O)
04/18 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom (M)
04/19 – Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom (O)
04/20 – San Antonio, TX @ Back Stage Live (O)
04/21 – Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street (O)
04/23 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium (O)
04/25 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues (M)
04/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre (O)
04/27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre (O)
04/28 – Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort (M)
04/30 – Seattle, WA @ The Paramount (O)
05/01 – Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theatre (O)
05/03 – Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Center (O)
05/04 – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall (M)
05/05 – Saskatoon, SK @ The Odeon (O)
05/06 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre (O)
05/09 – Washington, DC @ The Fillmore (O)
05/10 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore (M)
05/11 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues (M)
05/12 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade Music Park (M)

“Sometimes when you’re feeling actually darked out you, maybe want to do the opposite; you don’t want to indulge too much in the darkness… it’s just the ebb and flow.” – Aaron Chapman