A Random Mp3 Trilogy: Jeffrey Lewis, Tortoise, White Denim
Jeffrey Lewis @ SXSW 2008
The phenomenal anti-folk lyricist Jeffrey Lewis was one of the best discoveries I made during the 2008 blogging season. This newest release with a backing band going by the name of The Junkyard sees him continuing to move away from the increasingly overcrowded lo-fi world and learning to get more multi-dimensional. There are a few oldies repackaged, but there are plenty of new gems as well that I am loving. I think this is a perfect entry point for someone new to Lewis, so if you haven’t hipped to him yet, now is the time:
Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard : Roll Bus Roll
Tortoise @ ATP NY 2008
Tortoise‘s new album called Beacons Of Ancestorship comes out June 23rd. Stereogum premiered the first track from it today and if it is representative of the entire album, this thing is going to be fabulous.. The song starts out as a nice, laid back chiller and then picks up the momentum about halfway through. You never know what to expect when a band takes five years to produce another album, but I’ve got a feeling we’re going to hear one of the greatest bands of the last two decades revitalized and reinvigorated. Check it out:
Tortoise : High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In
White Denim @ SXSW 2009
I noticed when I caught White Denim live at SXSW earlier this year that they were farther towards the psychedelic jambandish side of things than their previous studio work would suggest. I had assumed they let the songs loose more in the live setting, but maybe the band has just moved in that direction as the first single from their next album feels similarly sprawling. Bands like White Denim, Akron/Family, and Crystal Antlers are doing a really great job of finding some weird nexus point between hippie and hipster, and I really dig it. White Denim are looking for a US label right but the new record, Fits, comes out overseas next month:
White Denim : Mirrored And Reversed
- Posted by Davy Minor on May 4, 2009 at 8:48 pm
