We’ve previously noted up-and-comers Alt-J, which will release its debut album, An Awesome Wave, on September 18th on Virgin.  One of the more pleasurable songs off it is the Yeasayer-ish Fitzpleasure.  Check out the song below as nicely reworked by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James with some nicely added Jamaican-dub percussion and other elements.  Alt-J’s original follows.

Fitzpleasure–Jim James Mix: [audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/altJFitzpleasureJimJamesRemix.mp3|titles=altJFitzpleasureJimJamesRemix]

Fitzpleasure (original):

Comprised of Britt Daniel (Spoon), Dan Boeckner (Handsome Furs, Wolf Parade) and Sam Brown (New Bomb Turks–who?), new “supergroup” Divine Fits hit the Jimmy Fallon Show hard last night.  Check ’em out performing Would That Not Be Nice off their just-released album A Thing Called Divine Fits.  A list of tour dates follows the video.

Tour Dates:

September
4- Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Echo
5- Toronto, Ont. @ Lee’s Palace
9- New York, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
October
6- Nashville, Tenn. @ SoundLand Festival
8- San Diego @ Hard Rock Hotel
14-San Francisco, Calif. @ Treasure Island Music Festival
16- Pawtucket, R.I. @ Met Café
17- Boston, Mass. @ Royale Nightclub
18- Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
19- Northampton, Mass. @ Pearl Street
21- New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall
22- Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
24- Columbus, Ohio @ Newport Music Hall
25- Chicago, Ill. @ Logan Square Auditorium
26- Indianapolis, Ind. @ Deluxe
27- Asheville, N.C. @ Moogfest
28- Raleigh, N.C. @ Lincoln Theater
29- Atlanta, Ga. @ Terminal West
31- Austin, Texas @ Stubbs
November
2- Tucson, Ariz. @ The Rock
3- Pioneertown, Calif. @ Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
4- Los Angeles, Calif. @ Fonda Theater

We’re tempted to just get on with Woods’ official video for Cali in a Cup by stating:  “All other 49 states, suck it!!”   But that would be way too pithy and precise for us.  We’ve written about this charmer before, but check out Woods jangling down the coast and playing at Fernwood in Big Sur.  Ever feel like you were born on the wrong coast?  This ain’t no Jersey Shore, boys.

We got distracted and turned our backs briefly.  And look at what can slip by if you don’t stay focused.  We watched bemused last night while LA upstarts Milo Greene regaled the Conan crowd with their song 1957 until the 3:11 mark (nicely done) when the band began speaking in tongues.  And thereafter all was forgiven.  From these parts anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL8K4dEltGs&feature=em-uploademail

The great Warren Zevon fell asleep permanently nine years ago today.  While he was one of our best songwriters (he penned several of our all-time favorite songs, including The French Inhaler), Zevon was also a great live performer (we fondly remember a raging, rollicking show at the Roxy in ’78 in support of his excellent Excitable Boy album).

An example of his performance acumen can be found in his powerfully poignant rendering of Mutineer on the Letterman Show on October 30, 2002, the last time he appeared on television.  Following Zevon’s terminal mesothelioma diagnosis, Letterman devoted an entire show to Zevon who was one of the host’s favorite musical guests.  That night Warren played a few sterling songs and spoke about his illness and included some comedic flourishes.  He noted, “I may have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years.”  It was also during this show that Zevon offered his now-oft-quoted advice in the face of inevitable death: “Enjoy every sandwich.”

But the most memorable portion of the show was when the wizened Zevon sat at the piano and bravely sang a beautiful rendition of his bountiful ballad, Mutineer.  The juxtaposition of his diminished vocals and the rebellious lyric can’t help but affect. Check it out.  Warren, we pray you’re still floating and that we’ll see you again.

The song’s lyrics follow the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqWqyjUsCAw

Warren Zevon–Mutineer:

“Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Hoist the mainsail – here I come
Ain’t no room on board for the insincere
You’re my witness
I’m your mutineer

I was born to rock the boat
Some may sink but we will float
Grab your coat – let’s get out of here
You’re my witness
I’m your mutineer

Long ago we laughed at shadows
Lightning flashed and thunder followed us
It could never find us here
You’re my witness
I’m your mutineer

Long ago we laughed at shadows
Lightning flashed and thunder followed us
It could never find us here
You’re my witness
I’m your mutineer

I was born to rock the boat
Some may sink but we will float
Grab your coat – let’s get out of here
You’re my witness
I’m your mutineer
You’re my witness
I’m your mutineer
I’m your mutineer…”

Cat Power released a new album, Sun, this Tuesday.  Now comes a bonus track, Fire, which is included in the iTunes bonus version of the album.   It may be over favorite new track from Cat Power given its spare reverberations and Chan-forward vocals.  Check it out over at Quiet Room I Need You Now.   Sad and sultry in one song.

Since most are back in school or at work, here’s a good opportunity to relive the great outdoors that you hopefully partook of this summer.  Check out Band of Horses performing Slow Cruel Hands of Time (with a majestic Jackson Hole backdrop) off of their impending new album, Mirage Rock, which will hit on September 18th.  Superb song and setting.

One of our favorite artists, Aimee Mann, has a new album coming out on 9/18 entitled Charmer, her first album release since 2008.  Check out Ms. Mann playing along with funnyman John Hodgman and actress Laura Linney in the charming official video for the title-track off the new album, as directed by the talented Tom Scharpling.  We hope to catch Mann and/or Laura Linney (ideally both) on tour this fall in support of the new album.  The lyrics follow the video.  You can buy the new album HERE.

“When you’re a charmer
the apples fall
and you’re quite the little collector
you got ‘em all

When you’re a charmer
people respond
they can’t see the hidden agenda
you got going on

But when you’re weak it’s the Holy Grail
you’re two for one, it’s a fire sale
and that’s a wall that you cannot scale
so you’re forced to burrow under

When you’re a charmer
the world applauds
they don’t know that secretly charmers
feel like they’re frauds

When you’re a charmer
you hate yourself
a victim of sideshow hypnosis
like everyone else

and then your thinking goes black and white
and you’re all hunger and appetite
this is a battle you cannot fight
no, you only can surrender
no, you only can surrender”

Through repetitive experimentation in college and graduate school we found that our best bet while prepping for final exams was to hit repeat on Joy Division, The Fall or Husker Du.  While others were aghast, we would let the white noise wash over and soothe, but could also take a brief break and embrace a bit of brilliance before getting back to it.

Husker Du (Bob Mould, Grant Hart and Greg Norton) was at the heart of our music appreciation from ’83 to ’86, and their speed-dialed songs are forever stamped in our minds.  Their albums New Day Rising, Flip Your Wig, and Candy Apple Grey formed a tenebrous triumvirate that still reverberate in our ears.  If you don’t know all of these fine albums, you’ve simply flipped your wig.

And then the band broke up, and songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart went their separate ways.   Mould put out a couple of solo albums and then a few more as a part of the band Sugar.  While each release had outstanding moments, in general the material never hit the hallowed heights of Husker Du.  We were heartened, however, to catch Mould’s solo set at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival last fall, during which he blazed solo on his trademark blue Stratocaster.  You could tell the lad still had it in spades.

Fast forward to yesterday when Mould released a brand new album, Silver Age, supported by Jon Wurster on drums and Jason Narducy on bass and background vocals.  Silver Age is being roundly praised for its “molten, melodic energy” and “sculpted energy.”  We’ve frankly still been a bit skeptical about the need for the new album.  Until last night.

Mould, Wurster and Narducy showed up on the Letterman Show last night, and scorched the stage with mid-’80s energy on the album’s first single, The Descent, and explained the need.  Check it out below.  As usual with Letterman, Dave’s and Paul’s reaction is always telling, and while Mould can be seen in the background smiling in relief, Dave can only exclaim:  “Now we’re talking.  That’s what you want.  No more calls.  What a treat!”  Despite being at it forever, Mould refuses to back off and shows that he’s still got a lot to say in his silver age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieb_T9ylY4o&feature=player_embedded

The xx will release its new album Coexist on 9/11.  You can listen to their scintillating sophomore effort and track its world domination via the wicked widget below.