Brooklyn’s Chairlift are the latest band to cram into a tiny black cab and drive around London performing a song for The Black Cab Sessions.  Having not released an album since 2008, the electro-pop band has a new album, Something, coming out on January 24th on DMZ.  You may recall Chairlift for its ubiquitous iPod-commercial-worthy song Bruises, which you can listen to way below.  Lead singer, Caroline Polachek, has always had a Brit-lilt to her singing so the London backdrop is perfect for their performance of new song, Ghost Tonight.  We like the spare setting that eschews excess and comparative subtlety of this performance by the band.  That’s no apparition…the girl can sing.  Check it out, and then after another new song, Sidewalk Safari, from the new album before the Bruises nostalgia ensues.

Arcade Fire will perform this Saturday (1/14/11) on PBS’s “Austin City Limits.”  You can check out a preview of the show below in which they perform We Used to Wait.  Apparently, the band’s segment also features Keep the Car Running, Rebellion (Lies), Wake Up, and Haiti.  Don’t miss it, and especially Wake Up, which is one of the best of all-time live.

War on Drugs performed on the Jimmy Fallon Show last night with The Roots’ ?uestlove sitting in.  Check out below the powerfully chugging, wall-of-sound performance of Baby Missiles off their great album, Slave Ambient (we like the J-Fal imitation by the far-left keyboardist). Courtesy of the Audio Perv.

It’s been a great 24-hour period in Concerts in the Realm.  First, Radiohead announced early yesterday that they will play the Santa Barbara Bowl on April 12th.  And today Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks announced a new tour leg in support of their great album, Mirror Traffic, that includes playing at Soho in Santa Barbara on February 27th.  We can’t wait.  Check out the tour dates below and a couple of videos from the band’s visit late last summer to KCRW.  Tickets will go on sale soon at Club Mercy.

2/13/2012 Salt Lake City UT, Urban Lounge
2/15/2012 Boulder CO,  Fox Theatre (tickets on sale, 1/13 at noon)
2/17/2012 Omaha NE,  Slowdown
2/18/2012 Columbia MO, The Blue Note (tickets on sale, 1/13)
2/19/2012 Lawrence KS , The Granada (tickets on sale 1/14)
2/21/2012 Dallas TX,  Granada Theater
2/22/2012 Austin TX, The Mohawk
2/24/2012 Phoenix  AZ, The Crescent Ballroom (tickets on sale, 1/13, 10am)
2/27/2012 Santa Barbara CA SOhO Restaurant and Music Club
2/28/2012 San Francisco CA Slim’s (tickets on sale, 1/15)

Stick Figures In Love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2–JX88tBFE&feature=player_embedded

Brain Gallop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cfZktbDAmw

New York City’s Caveman received a cartload of critical praise and best-listing at year’s end.  And for good reason, as you’ll see in the videos and songs below. Today, the ever-fattening label, Fat Possum Records, announced the signing of the band and a new tour.  Caveman received huzzahs in 2011 for their debut album, CoCo Beware, from the likes of The New York Times and NPR, and for their big-band, big-voiced sound live.  Their sonance is not far afield of Grizzly Bear (a good thing) and soundly out-foxes the fumbling Fleet Foxes. We’re still gauging their lyrical loft, which seems to employ mantra-like repetition. Time will tell.

Check out the band below performing (including all 25 or whatever percussionists) live at The Bowery Ballroom and then the official video for Caveman’s, Easy Water [Sidebar:  what is it with all the official song videos of band members and others diving into and swimming in water?? The last half of the year witnessed at least 15 or more such offerings, including several from some of our favorite bands.  Note to video directors and bands:  the underwater viscous-view was never scintillating, and was overdone at one.  Please stop with the bandwagoneering and move on.]  And after the swim, download a free song (Thankful) and check the tour dates.

TOUR DATES:

01.11 Toronto, ONT: Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
01.12 Detroit, MI: PJ’s Lager House
01.13 Chicago, IL: Schubas
01.14 Madison, WI: High Noon Saloon
01.15 Cleveland, OH: Happy Dog
01.20 New York, NY: Bowery Ballroom
02.15 London, UK: The Macbeth
02.16 Paris, France: La Fleche D’Or – Fireworks Festival
02.17 St Malo, France: La Route du Rock

Black Dub showed up recently on Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show to perform their song, Believe.  Check it out below.  If you love Adele (we don’t, but evidently y’all do), then why wouldn’t you love Black Dub even more?  They’ve got Lanois (and, thereby, God) on their side.  We at Lefort would go hundreds of miles just to watch Daniel Lanois breath, let alone play perfect (albeit spare) guitar accompaniment as on the video below.  Lanois is one of our best guitar and pedal steel players extant (not to mention, producers), and Black Dub deserves a much wider following if Adele is catching-on (how does this happen while on our watch?).  Can you spare a Lanois-brother a dime o’ dollars for a fine CD?  Go check out Black Dub more HERE.  And after check out another great Black Dub song, Silverado. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ9fDH5676c&feature=youtu.be

As hoped-for/predicted HERE, Radiohead just announced they will play the Santa Barbara Bowl on April 12th.  They are the best live band on the planet (apologies Arcade Fire and U2 fans) so don’t miss what will undoubtedly be the show of the year in Santa Barbara.  Ticket details to follow.  They will also play both weekends of the Coachella Festival, tickets for which go on sale on January 13th.

One of our favorites, The Shins have premiered a new song, Simple Song, from theirnew album Port of Morrow to be released in March.  Pitchfork had this info to pass along: “[James] Mercer wrote and performed most of the music on the album, but a few guests helped, including Janet Weiss of Wild Flag, Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse, Eric D. Johnson of the Fruit Bats, and former Shins members Dave Hernandez and Marty Crandall, who are no longer in the touring band. (The current touring band features Plummer, singer/songwriter Richard Swift, Yuuki Matthews of Crystal Skulls, and singer/songwriter Jessica Dobson.)”

Check out the great new song below or the cooler player to be found HERE.

Below is Port of Morrow’s songlist and currently scheduled tour dates.

Port Of Morrow:

01. The Rifle’s Spiral
02. Simple Song
03. It’s Only Life
04. No Way Down
05. September
06. Bait and Switch
07. Fall of ’82
08. For A Fool
09. 40 Mark Strasse
10. Port of Morrow

Opening Tour:

04-13 Las Vegas, NV – Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas – The Pool
04-22 Santa Cruz, CA – Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
04-23 Davis, CA – Robert Mondavi Center
04-25 Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort & Casino

The big-buzz (but unusually low profile) Brit-band, WU LYF, showed up on the Letterman Show last week and played their song, Heavy Pop.  OK, we get it.  We’re in.

Check out the band playin’ like there’s no tomorrow, with drumming to match.  Wow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvsHJjldYW8&feature=player_embedded

Portland’s Blind Pilot showed up on the Letterman Show on Friday and played the title track to their latest album, We Are The Tide. Their album was our No. 12 of 2011, and is highly recommended.  We love the big-band “Portland” sound of Blind Pilot 2.0.  Xylophone, horns, big vocals–all good.  They acquitted themselves very well after some hilarity from Letterman involving his cue card guy.  At a minimum, they got a shirt out of the deal.  Check it out.