The Boys are Back in Town

2013 should be a good year for these fellas.

Don't Save Me

Really digging this song/vibe from Haim, an up-and-coming indie group comprised three sisters from California. Toby turned me onto them. I played it for Sela though and she compared it to Country music. They definitely seem to be very "now," but don't come across as inauthentic. Let me know what you think.

Grand Salvo

Stumbled across these guys (this guy?) last week thanks to this sterling review and have been listening to their latest album (Slay Me In My Sleep) ever since. Three songs into the album I knew I was listening to something special and held my breath through the course of it, waiting for it to take a misstep. Bbut it never did. The only musical touchstones I can think of for this band are Sufjan and Bon Iver -- very bold praise, that might even fall short. This is Grand Salvo's sixth album, and you get the sense that the first five were needed to get to this perfectly honed masterpiece. An ecstatic, sentimental album wrapped around a narrative of long lost love (an elderly woman is visited by the ghost of her childhood crush). This album hits me in all the right spots. Listen to the whole thing straight through if you can.

Check out my favorite song: "He raises her gently gently into a chair. She tells him how to make a sling for her arm using a tea towel. As he works she marvels at his face"

This Looks like a Zoo for Hipsters

So reads the top comment for this amazing video and song -- an old one by Parlovr, who have just released a new album Kook Soul. Be sure to check them out.

I Remember Me

It's easy to forget that the Silver Jews weren't a Pavement side project, more the other way around. Some people are turned off by Berman's vocals, which, admittedly, wouldn't earn him a spot on American Idol. But as he said in another song, "all my favorite singers couldn't sing." The same holds true for me. I don't want to hear a technically perfect guitar solo and am not impressed by someone who can reach notes that others can't. All that is good and fine but, by itself, its about as interesting as a block of wood. It doesn't tell you anything else, offers you no insights.

So with all that said, check out this beautiful ditty from 2001's Bright Flight. It's a mournful story about lost love and trying to hold onto things that have changed, about remembering yourself as you were during a period of your life and knowing you can't get back there. Powerful stuff, which is reinforced by the tenderness of his voice and, as always, the powerful, simple, and personal lyrics ("The moon was worn just slightly on the right / And they slow danced so the needle wouldn't skip / Until the room was filled with light.") Try not to be moved.

I Remember Me

Her Name's Rebecca Trollop...

"...and I fall right in her trap. Bang. It's disgusting." Bloody lovely song from this British Gent.

Pomegranates

Finally, the Pomegranates new album Heaven has arrived (you can stream it here for the moment). After a couple listens, it seems like a solid addition to the band's already terrific catalog. It'll probably take about a month to know where it really stands, but I'm hoping for the best. Check out this excellent live footage from Audiotree Live: