Forest Fire........it's what you need.

Forest Fire is just one of the ass kicking bands coming out of Brooklyn these days. Seriously, Brooklyn is the new Scotland, which was the new Montreal, which was the new Austin, etc... Survival is their debut album on Catbird records, it is freaking cool. The kind of album you play on purpose when people come over, just to have them ask you "who is this?" You reply: "oh,...(asume pretentious stance) it's Forest Fire, they're from Brooklyn" (make sure to sound as matter of factly as possible).
The album was recorded over an 8 month period on both coasts with a rotating cast of players. Which perfectly matches the feel on the album. It's what an album should sound like if you had a bunch of musician friends and you just got together at random, with no agenda, pressed record and jammed. The album was previously available as a free download from their website, a la In Rainbows. That window has past, but you can still stream the whole album for free at: http://www.catbirdrecords.com/forestfire/ . Start with the two first songs, sounds intuitive, I know. They are the best on the album in my opinion, especially Fortune Teller. With lyrics like: "my aurah's yellow like a coward" and "I'm gonna melt some faces with gatling gun social skills" you can't go wrong. The song also features simple downstroke only guitar chords, which I'm a sucker for. Here's a video for your viewing pleasure, but please LISTEN TO THE SONG FIRST, AT THE LINK ABOVE. It makes the video easier to swallow. Forest Fire...it's what you need.

brand new Wrens!!!!....

well...........kinda.

Yeasayer performance of "Tightrope"

Fresh off the Dark was the Night post; this is a video (taken from Pitchfork) of Yeasayer doing an acoustic intimate version of "tightrope", the song they contributed to the compilation. The video was shot by Vincent Moon, the man behind the "la blogotheque" series, as well as the "Mirror Noir" Arcade Fire film (more on that to come). It really is a cool take on the song. The video also features the Brothers Desnner. do it. do it.

Dark was the Night

"Dark was the Night" is a compilation put out by the Red Hot Organization. The double disc album was compiled and produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. Started in 1989,The Red Hot organization's mission is to raise money to help fight HIV and AIDS around the world.

Buzz on this project picked up a few months ago, gaining steam until it's Feb. release date. I literally had a post it note reminding me on my desk. It was touted to have previously unreleased tracks by; The Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Spoon, The National, Beirut, Ben Gibbard and Feist (together), the Decemberists, etc, etc.... Just pick someone "cool"; they're on the album. The hip meter was pegged. As I've said so many times before "you had me at Arcade Fire". The anticipation was almost too much to bare. Admittedly, I had built this thing up so high, it never had a chance to get over the bar. Needless to say, when I finally got to listen to it, I was left a little disappointed. New tracks by the heavy hitters I was anticipation so much..(see list above), were less than outstanding, a few withheld. Realizing I had set the album up for failure, I wanted to spend more time with it before forming a concrete opinion.

The first couple listens were conducted on the treadmill at work. As I was increasing the mph, I found myself pushing the next track button with more and more frequency; trying to find a song with the bpm to match my footsteps. Realizing this, I then started to listen to it before I went to bed, lying in the dark with my headphones on, or threw my computer with the itunes visualizer on my monitor. After that, I started to really appreciate it's mellow tempo. My favorite tracks were not by the bands I had anticipated, instead songs by Yo La Tengo, Yeasayer, The New Pornographers, and the Dirty Projectors stood out. Even some bands that were new to me; Riceboy Sleeps and Stuart Murdoch, I found myself listening to with more frequency. There are some straight up misses, i.e.; The Kronos Quartet.

Bottom Line: While I think the album does not equal the sum of it's parts; it can certainly sit in the shadow it casts and kick out some great tunes. I recently saw this album at Borders for 13 dollars, absolutely worth the money. Plus, the money is going to a good cause (if your into that kind of stuff....you know, causes and shit.)

Fanfarlo album now available!!

Just a update to let no one know that "Reservoir", the debut album by Fanfarlo is available from their website www.fanfarlo.com , where they personally will be sending the albums out in the mail. You can also get it for cheap at itunes. Well worth it, hop on board before your mom knows who they are.