Fleet Foxes Ticket Giveaway on May 5th Edition of "Fear of Music"

If you needed even more incentive to listen to Fear of Music, here is something: the May 5th edition of the show is set to giveaway a free pair of tickets to see the Fleet Foxes live! This group's self-titled debut album was one of my favourites from last year, and found placement in multiple top ten lists, including being ranked as the best album of 2008 by Billboard, Mojo, Under the Radar, and Pitchfork Media. Remember to tune in this Tuesday, from 1-2:30pm for a chance to win Fleet Foxes tickets, available through University of Windsor radio, CJAM 91.5 FM.

Listen to the Fleet Foxes on their myspace page or check this out.

Play List: April 28, 2009

"Slint's "Good Morning, Captain" to be turned into children's storybook - fans of the group rejoice, children it is read to will undoubtedly suffer from nightmares for the next fews months."

Primal Scream – Kill All Hippies (XTRMNTR)

Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career (My Maudlin Career)
Allen Toussaint – Blue Drag (The Bright Mississippi)
Bob Dylan – Life is Hard (Together Through Life)

Akino Arai – Wanna be and Angel (Live in Paris, April 10th 2009)
A R Rahman & MIA – Oh...Saya (Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack)
Shihoko Hirota – Reach out to the Truth (Persona 4 Soundtrack)

Johnny West – Love Song for the Human Race (If I Had a Quarter…)
Johnny West – You Won’t Bond with the Vine, but I Can’t Cut You Loose (If I Had a Quarter…)
Slint – Good Morning, Captain (Spiderland)

Japandroids – Wet Hair (Post-Nothing)
The Bird and The Bee – Love Letter from Japan (Rayguns are not for the future)
Two Fingers – Ke-man Rhythm (Two Fingers)
William Shatner – The Transformed Man (The Transformed Man)

Giueseppe Ielasi – “track 3” (Aix)
The Buzzcocks – Sitting Round at Home (A different Kind of Tension)

The Western States – Backslider’s Wine (Bye and Bye)

Album Pick of the Week: Johnny West - If I Had a Quarter...

As much as pop songs have done to glorify love, there has also been a fair share of material detailing the hardships, breakdowns, and heart aches caused by romantic entanglements. Johnny West's ridiculously long titled new album, If I Had a Quarter for Every Time Someone Stuck a Gun in my Face, I'd At Least Have Enough Change to Buy a Few Chocolate Bars, follows this examination of the less favourable side of love. It is the sound of a man whose heart has been torn out, ripped apart, eaten, and shat out – only for the man to find a reason to press on. Consider this John's very own Blood on the Tracks: an in depth examination of the sadness, anger, jadedness, and even strength found in the ending of a relationship. As with the rest of John's music, this album is rife with seeming contradictions that somehow manage to cohere together: it is both his most vulnerable release yet also one of his toughest sounding too, with West delivering songs like the venomous “Love Song for the Human Race” and the heart wrenching “Is You My Lover Still?”, perhaps the saddest and most (conventionally) beautiful song the man has ever wrote. As usual, John's new album also mixes the absurdly funny with the strikingly maudlin, and is accessible despite its apparent indulgences (the title of the album is evidence enough of this). Then there are the songs, which in tune with the rest of John's unintended trilogy (consisting also of The Chicken Angel Woman with a Triangle and An Absence of Sway) are remarkably and consistently amazing. "Getting into Character" bridges the gap between alt-country and solo Lou Reed, "Abandoned House Burning Down" sees John reaching prime-era Neil Young type prose, while “Sad Excuse for a Muse” is a great "fuck you, I don’t love you or need you in my life anymore" statement, every bit on par with “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better”, “Idiot Wind” or “Go Your Own Way.” Though not as beautiful as An Absence of Sway nor as perfect as The Chicken Angel Woman with a Triangle, If I Had a Quarter… is another great release which poises West at both his most vicious and his most emotive. Proof that though whatever he is put through, Johnny West is still capable of releasing amazing music.

Listen To: Abandoned House Burning Down, Is You My Lover Still?, Getting into Character

RIYL: Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Modest Mouse, Silver Jews

Mr. West Comes To Save Windsor!

With strikes by city workers, stacks of garbage piling up in the streets, and an ever increasing unemployment rate, it's refreshing to be reminded that Windsor still holds some good things. Local musician/genius/religious leader Johnny West has released his second album this year! Check out exclusive Windsor retailers Dr. Disc and Phog to pick up his new amazing release, If I Had A Quarter For Every Time Someone Stuck A Gun In My Face, I'D At Least Have Enough Change To Buy A Few Chocolate Bars, free of charge! Also, check Johnny out at johnnywestmusic.wordpress.com for more info on this amazing release and the rest of his incredible discography.

To get your musical tastebuds salivating, here's a live performance of Johnny with Adam Fox, in a wonderful rendition of his 2008 track "A Well Thought Out Escape."

Play List: April 21, 2009

"This Friday is the 2009 Jammy Awards; will Fear of Music pick up its first award ever? - probably not."

Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Everything with You (Pains of Being Pure at Heart)

Boris – Pink (Pink)
Oliver Schroer – Camino Overture (Camino)
Can – Moonshake (Future Days)
Fortunately, Everything Dies – Pong as a Sole Video Game Experience. It’s tragic! (Forunately, Everything Dies)

Bill Callahan – Jim Cain (Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle)
Bill Callahan – The Wind and the Dove (Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle)

Booker T. – Hey Ya (Potato Hole)
Edison – The Blue Bike (What Ships are Built For)
Joshua Redman – Ghost (Compass)
Mishi Donovan – My Stone (Storm Beauty)

The Foreign – Entropy (Elemental)
Nat King Cole feat. TV on the Radio –Nature Boy Re: Generations)
Montage – La symetrie Du Coeur (Hibernation)
Antlers – Kettering (Hospice)

Meat Puppets – Two Rivers (Up on the Sun)
The Handsome Family – Darling My Darling (Honeymoon)
Brother Ali – Good Lord (Truth is Here)
Finale – Motor Music (A Pipe Dream and a Promise)

Pomegranates – Beachcomber (Everybody, Come Outside!)

Album of the Week: Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle

Bill Callahan lost me a few years ago. Though I enjoyed his previous work under the moniker of (Smog) back in the late 1990s/early 2000s (especially note worthy is the excellent Knock Knock from 1999) his later albums began to meandering too far into lo-fi dredges and confusing experimentation, culminating in the clusterfuck of Woke on a Whaleheart, notable both as the first album released under Callahan’s given name and as being a completely discombobulating listen. It was a classic case of too many good ideas being executed in the wrong way, which resulted in a half-assed attempt at some sort of musical statement (what ever that statement was supposed to be). Yet like a good prodigal son, Callahan has truly returned to form and has created one of the greatest albums of the year and of his career, Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle. This record returns to his lamentations on loss and heartbreak, with a musical landscape of minimalist stripped-down soul that manages to evoke fellow mope-rockers Leonard Cohen and Will Oldham. Lyrically, Eagle sees Callahan at his peak, crooning lines like “Your love is the king of the beasts/And when it gets hungry it kills to eat” and “I’m not saying we’re cut from the same tree/Like two pieces of the gallows” that are every bit as wistful as they are utterly despairing – even the repeating avian imagery of his lyrics avoids a clichéd representation of freedom (sorry Antony) but instead alludes to the predatory nature of love, hate, and life. Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle is an incredible and moving album; from the sombre opening of “Jim Cain” to the nine-minute long “Faith/Void” in which Callahan cleverly delivers a mantra to proclaim “Its time to put God away” it proves to be a completely essential listen.

Listen To: Jim Cain, Wind and the Dove, My Friend

RIYL: (Smog), Will Oldham, Leonard Cohen

Play List: April 14, 2009

"Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the album Doolittle by Pixies - undoubtedly, the monkey on the album cover is long dead by now."

Pixies – Debaser (Doolittle)

Bat for Lashes – Sleep Alone (Two Suns)
Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program – Shinelight (Brother From Another Planet)
TV on the Radio – Mr. Grieves (Young Liars)

Super Furry Animals – Lliwiau Llachar (Dark Days/Light Years)
Super Furry Animals – The Very Best of Neil Diamond (Dark Days/Light Years)
James Hill and Anne Davison – Rachel’s Reel (True Love Don’t Weep)
Feurmusik - Dreadnought (No Contest)
Pixies – Gouge Away (Doolittle)

Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 – Underground Sun (Ole! Tarantula)

Venetian Snares – Pussy Skull (Filth)
Slim Twig – Patty Ann (Contempt!)
Johnny West - Symbolism Therapy (Out-Takes, Misfits, & Other Things)
Teenage Fanclub – Here Comes Your Man (I Need Direction)
Pixies – Tame (Doolittle)
John Doe & the Sadies – Are the Good Times Really Over for Good (Country Club)

Releveler - Charm (Incident)
The Felice Brothers – Penn Station (Yonder is the Clock)
Papercuts – Future Primitive (You Can Have What You Want)

Pixies – Hey (Doolittle)

Album of the Week: Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years

Proving the age-old maxim “if its not broken, don’t fix it” the Super Furry Animals bring in album number nine sounding a bit like, well, the Super Furry Animals. That’s not a bad thing though considering this Welsh group has provided the world with some of finest pop songs in their past fifteen years together. Dark Days/Light Years sees SFA continue with their usual progressive pop sound, with influences ranging broadly from krautrock to Steely Dan, so don’t expect anything new out of this record. However, do expect all the things distinctly associated with the band: silly song titles (“Crazy Naked Girls”, “White Socks/Flip Flops”), catchy choruses (“Helium Hearts”), psychedelic experimentation (“Cardiff in the Sun”), and of course, wonderfully emotive pop songs (“Lliwiau Llachar”). The album does all come down to the songs, which are what really give this album merit. The tracks seems more thought out then the splash-dash Hey Venus! of 2007, while exceedingly more experimental and full of life than 2005’s Lovekraft. Dark Days/Light Years may not break any new ground for the group, but neither will it turn any established members of their fan base away. An accessible pop gem.

Listen To: Lliwiau Llachar, Cardiff in the Sun, Helium Hearts

RIYL: Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Islands, The Beta Band

Play List: April. 07, 2009

"Weirdest album cover ever? - Perhaps so (and does anybody else think the guy looks a LOT like Tom Waits?)"

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Joshua Redman - Uncharted (Compass)

Black Moth Super Rainbow – Don’t You Want to Be in a Cult?

Micachu - Just in Case (Jewellery)
Johnny West - Piecemeal(Out-takes, Misfits, & Other Things)
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – Richland Women Blues (A Stranger Here)

Beastie Boys – Stand Together (Check Your Head)
Japandroids – Heart Sweets (Post-Nothing)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - Ako Ba Ho (Vodoun Effect)
Myles Bigelow – In the Hips (The Good Life)

Storsveit Nix Noltes – Krivo Sadovsko Horo (Royal Family-Divorce)
Storsveit Nix Noltes – Trakijska Racenitsa (Royal Family Divorce)

Cymbals Eat Guitars - What Dogs See (Why There Are Mountains)
Lhasa – Risng (Lhasa)
Stompin’ Tom – My British Columbian Home (The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom)

Nat King Cole – Day In-Day Out [Cut Chemist remix] (Re: Generations)
P.O.S. – Goodbye (Never Better)
Wir – Looking at Me (The First Letter)

Horde of Two – August (Guitar & Bass Action)

Album of the Week: Stórsveit Nix Noltes - Royal Family - Divorce

If you're expecting Stórsveit Nix Noltes to share atmospheric musical tendencies with the likes of fellow Icelanders Bjork or Sigur Ros, forget it. This 11 piece group's latest album, titled Royal Family-Divorce, combines traditional Icelandic folk with elements of hot-jazz and funk. The result is a sound of frenzied time-signatures and energetic rhythms, just as fierce and chaotic as the multi-headed dragon that adorns their album cover. SNN are also supposedly a fierce live act and are set to open up for the Animal Collective on their upcoming tour - don't let this line-up fool you though - both groups sound completely different. If AC are the sound of euphoria, then SNN is the sound of drunken revelry.

Listen To: "Wedding Rachenitsa", "Krivo Sadovsko Horo", "Trakijska Rachenista"

RIYL: Gogol Bordello, Sforzando, Balkan Beat Box