feist!

if you have never heard of leslie feist, well...you obviously have not spent much time perusing mp3 blogs during the last two years. but let's just move forward here. a good start would be to make a bee-line down to the record store to pick up let it die (or just follow that nifty link to purchase it *cheap* at insound).
once you do that, allow yourself to have some time alone with it (after you hear it, you'll be sharing it with everyone and long for that alone time you once had but took for granted). it won't take long for that velvet voice to settle in and make itself comfortable in your life. but don't rush back here just yet. give her some time to mingle around. let's say a year or two. then and only then can you return to this here blog and grab these tracks from her new remix and collaboration buffet, open season. yeah, yeah, yeah. i know. the mp3's i'm posting now will no longer be up in two years, but just shut up - i'm dead serious about this! if this is your first exposure to miss feist, then i am just not permitting you to download these tunes. sometimes you just have to lay the smack down, you know? i better not catch you. dead serious.
as for the rest of you..enjoy these two faves of mine from this somewhat hit-or-miss collection.

MP3: "inside and out (apostle of hustle unmix)"
MP3: "mushaboom (postal service mix)"
from the album: open season (remixes and collabs)
release date: 04/25/06
label: arts & crafts
BUY IT

j. tillman

i've been a strong supporter of j. tillman since day one. okay, well, maybe it wasn't day one but i did fall for his gentle, comforting brand of acoustic balladry nearly two years ago when i saw damien jurado, richard buckner and dolorean at the magic stick in detroit. sometime about mid-set, jurado gave up the stage for his drummer (that would be tillman) to get out from behind the kit, pick up the guitar and share a few of his own songs. it was simply breathtaking.
after just releasing a limited edition (and now out-of-print) pressing of his second full-length solo album, long may you run, j.tillman in january, he's already making rapid progress on the follow-up to that album, entitled minor works. so why would i start to ease up now? especially since tillman's been sending out bulletins to all his myspace'friends' (including me) saying that he was posting tracks from his new work-in-progress. so i'm passing things on here...for my two friends who don't have a myspace account.
oh, and is it just me or is j. tillman the new darling of mp3 blogs in 2006? i mean, even jesus loves j. tillman.

MP3: "darling night"
MP3: "jesse's not a sleeper"
MP3: "crooked roof"
MP3: "with wolves"
from the album: minor works
release date: (still in the works)
label: keep recordings

adem

"it's another concept album. it's about space. and cosmic things. and people" - adem ilhan

yummy.

alright, look. i could sit and write an encyclopedia about how much i love adem, but i don't have time to do that. i'm not really even supposed to be blogging right now (for undisclosed reasons). besides, i'm in a hurry to get these songs into your hands so that you'll all rush out and buy love and other planets. the cinderella story of my 2004 record collection (read: out of nowhere, one of my very favorites), was adem's homesongs, his first outside the realm of his full-time band fridge*. and here is ilhan with a new album that's blowing me away AGAIN! it's been a mainstay in my car stereo and ipod for the past month and likely will be for a long time. much like homesongs, love and other planets is already charming to begin with, but bound to get even better with age. another highly recommended choice!

MP3: "love and other planets"
MP3: "these lights are meaningful"
from the album: love and other planets
release date: 04/24/06 (uk release only)
label: domino
BUY THE CD/LP

*great scott, marty! adem, kieran and sam are hard at work on a new fridge album!

mole harness

a few weeks ago, the always dependable, tastemaking aaron coleman (a.k.a. almost cool) wrote up a review of the new mole harness album, a present from the future. having no previous exposure to mole harness myself, aaron's words would be crucial in my decision to explore mole harness any further or just cast it aside: "uk artist james brewster creates rippling electro-acoustic music that mixes delicate and melodic guitar work with subtle processing in a way that manages to sound original in a world overpopulated with ambient music. it's as if tim hecker has suddenly lightened his mood a bit and teamed up with the instrumental guitar work of jose gonzalez." with a description like that, i was easily swayed and decided to do some digging on my own. as usual, the first thing to do is to visit the artist's official website. so i did. shortly thereafter, i discovered one of brewster's favorite artists is christian fennesz. stop, i've heard enough. that's enough for me to check out the tunes. isn't it for you, too?

MP3: "in a strange sea"
MP3: "parapet and slipway"
from the album: a present from the future
release date: january 2006
label: stray dog army
BUY CD ($14.63 USD)

glissandro 70

MP3: "analogue shantytown"
from the album: glissandro 70
release date: 04/18/06
label: constellation
BUY CD ($13.00)

morrissey

MP3: "life is a pigsty"
MP3: "i'll never be anybody's hero now"
from the album: ringleader of the tormentors
release date: 04/04/06
label: attack/sanctuary
BUY CD ($14.50)

keith fullerton whitman

here we have three 1-minute excerpts from keith fullerton whitman's brand new ep, lisbon. i am forced to only post excerpts rather than complete tracks for one main reason: the entire ep is actually just one, single 41-minute track - a live recording of kfw's october 4th, 2005 performance at lisbon, portugal's galeria zé dos bois (pictured here). as such, i cannot post a complete track or else i would be giving you the entire recording for free. and we all know nothing's free these days. right?
anyway, these excerpts don't come anywhere close to capturing the magic of keith fullerton whitman's performance in lisbon, but they are only intended to give you a small taste of it. this is something that must be listened to in its entirety and all at once. i beg you to.

"this recording...is in my mind the perfect encapsulation of all of these elements into a single lilting piece of static sine-tone harmonics, squared-off electric guitar haze, clangorous room-tone eruptions, and high-end synth freakouts."
- keith fullerton whitman

"at times the performances are somber and gentle, progressing along with a slow grace and subtle nuances, and there are other moments when Whitman destroys that vibe with tension and dissonance."
- neptune records

i don't think i could have said it any better myself - highly recommended!

MP3: "excerpt 1: 8:00-9:00"
MP3: "excerpt 2: 23:30-24:30"
MP3: "excerpt 3: 33:30-34:30"
from the album: lisbon (ep)
release date: 04/04/06
label: kranky
BUY CD (only $9.99)

wilderness

MP3: "emergency"
from the album: vessel states
release date: 04/11/06
label: jagjaguwar
BUY CD ($12.99)

the flaming lips

honestly, how could a new flaming lips album be anything but a lock for 'album of the week' status? it really does deserve it. i've heard a lot of people busting the lips' balls, but this is just a feelgood - damn good! - record. and wayne coyne is one humble, down-to-earth guy who's armed with plenty of valuable wisdom for all of us, which is quite remarkable when you consider the many others like him in the industry who have had the same level of success that the flaming lips have had but who are either complete jerkoffs or are just retarded. die! mystics! die!

MP3: "the yeah yeah yeah song (with all your power)" / video: lo / med / hi
MP3: "my cosmic autumn rebellion"
from the album: at war with the mystics
release date: 04/04/06
label: warner bros.
BUY CD ($15.99)