Sweet Love For 2009

So 2009 is actually shaping up to be quite a year, and it's still only February. Not only are there a ton of great new albums from reputable artists, but there are also some great new groups (and more are on the way!) A key element to the success so far, however, is this compilation album:
Dark Was The Night, the brainchild of Aaron and Bryce Dessner (both members of indie rock greats The National), is a Red Hot Organization compilation released on the 4AD label to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. Also, it's pure genius. It's like they read my mind when gathering these 31 exclusive tracks spread across 2 CDs or 3 LP records. If you like the same music I do, you're likely to immediately recognize about 50% of the artists just from the tracklisting and then recognize another 45% when you actually hear the songs, as there's a lot of solo work here from members of notable bands. Not only are the brand new tracks representative of the best work from each artist (a lot of which happen to be my personal favorite musicians), but about half of the tracks are duets(!!!) I can't really think of anything I enjoy more than hearing two extremely familiar voices pair up to create something greater than the sum of its parts. My favorite tracks from the album include "Knotty Pine," an unexpected collaboration between Dirty Projectors and David Byrne, "Cello Song," which features the vocals of Jose Gonzalez crooning over the electronic sample-based pop of The Books, and "Service Bell," a chilling interplay between Leslie Feist and Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear. I don't think I've ever heard another compilation album that's quite as strong.

Aside from that, I've found more information about some important albums that are due this year and heard some more rumors of things to come that sound very interesting:

1) Hold Time, M. Ward's follow-up to the acclaimed Post-War, will be here on February 17th. It's already gotten good reviews, so keep your ears out for this one.

2) Black Moth Super Rainbow's Eating Us is set to follow their Dandelion Gum and will be released May 26th.

3) It's official: Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear's proper follow-up to one of my favorite albums, Yellow House, is scheduled for release also on May 26th. It will supposedly feature guest appearances by minimalist composer Nico Muhly (who, incidentally, provided the score for "The Reader", possibly my favorite movie of the season) and Victoria Legrand of Beach House.

4) On May 19th, Sub Pop will release a collection of rarities from Iron & Wine, and I'll finally be able to hear that really long ballad song that everyone's been talking about. There will also be some Postal Service, Flaming Lips, and New Order covers, so get excited!

5) In addition, Patrick Wolf, Swan Lake, Akron/Family, Metric, Royksopp, Echo & The Bunnymen, Alela Diane, Vetiver, Phosphorescent, and Architecture In Helsinki will also be releasing new albums this year (some of which should be out before the end of the month.) Crystal Antlers, after a couple of introductory EPs, will release a debut this month as well. Blind Man's Colour, a band gaining popularity through covers of Animal Collective's "Taste" and "Brothersport" and which has a very similar sound (from what I heard from a fellow BSR program), will be releasing a debut album and EP as soon as a record label will sign them. I think someone better get on that...

I'll keep y'all posted on any news, as long as you'll keep your fingers crossed for a new Sufjan, Panda Bear, and Joanna.

March Of The Zapotec And Realpeople Holland

Another item from the list of things to look forward to has arrived: the double EP from Beirut, March Of The Zapotec and Realpeople Holland, though the second disc should actually just be called Holland and credited to Realpeople, another of Zach Condon's musical projects. The rationale for this is that the two EPs are completely different from one another, and Holland is completely different from most of what Beirut is known for.


March Of The Zapotec continues Condon's experimentation with foreign music that began with his trip to the Balkans that inspired Gulag Orkestar and continued through to Western Europe in The Flying Club Cup. This one takes place in Mexico, and while it maintains the typical Beirut sound, I feel like it lacks a lot of the charm and good songwriting that was found on the aforementioned recordings. In contrast, Holland, though it shakes the foundation of what we've come to expect from Zach and is more electronic than anything else, actually retains the charm and is full of beautiful, emotional tracks. It's almost as if Condon was torn between what was expected of him, the traditional world-influenced folk music, and what he actually wanted to make, the synth-pop. He ended up making a little of each, but you can easily tell where his efforts and excitement were focused. "My Wife, Lost In The Wild" is a gorgeous, melancholy piece that is of the same vein as the previously released "My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille," only better, while "No Dice" is an incredibly catchy rollercoaster of a track that moves farthest away from the rest and still captures the emotion inherent in Beirut's music without taking advantage of any of Condon's vocals or typical instruments. I have so much respect for him right now because of his ability to convey the same essence in two vastly different genres of music, and I'm excited to see in which direction he'll go next.