A provocative caption, non? Aaron Rose is making a film featuring Cat Power’s songs. In the meantime, Rose and Matador Records have released the film teaser way below. Here is Rose’s explanation for the upcoming film, which features BMX sisters (Jade and Hazel Altheide) from Albuquerque:

“Here is a short teaser for a long-form film I’m making for Cat Power. The
film stars Jade and Hazel Altheide, two female teenage BMX riders who live
just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. As you will see they both totally
rip. This production has a pretty funny story actually. On a Thursday
morning in September I got a call from Gaby Basora, who designs a really
cool fashion line from New York called Tucker. I had never met Gaby or
her team before. They proceeded to tell me about these two girls they had
heard about in New Mexico who ride BMX bikes and how they were great and
really stylish and would I be interested in going to make a movie about
them. There was a catch though. We needed to start shooting the next day!
None of us had ever met Jade and Hazel or their family, and really had no
idea what the landscape in New Mexico would be like, but heck, I’m always
down for an adventure. I agreed to do it and the next morning we were on a
plane with cameras and gear to go shoot this movie. I had no idea what it
was gonna be.

When we arrived, we met the Altheide family, quickly got our gear together
and hit the trails. All I can say is wow! The girls were absolutely
beautiful and the surrounding landscape (as you can see) was beyond
magnificent. Coincidentally, as we were making this, Cat Power had
just dropped her new record SUN. I was listening to it on the rental car
radio as we cruised through the mountains of New Mexico and it just really
fit the vibe of what we were making. If you’ve ever been to NM, you know
How much sun they have…TONS! The song featured in this video is called
“Nothin’ But Time” and I think it just fits perfectly. The way Chan screams
“I wanna live!” just fits the freedom of jumping bikes and bombing down
hills so perfectly. It was a match made in heaven. The upcoming long-form
film will include the entire eleven minute version of “Nothin’ But Time”.
We’re making it now. So excited to get this out. Stay tuned.”

On November 13th, Sufjan Stevens will release another box-set of 58 Christmas-related songs entitled Silver & Gold.  Prior to that date, Stevens has made two of these songs available for streaming/download (kind of like getting an early peep into Santa’s closet, er bag):  the pithy Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling and the epic Christmas Unicorn.  Once again Stevens’ musical genius entices on all fronts.  Yes, even in this setting.  Bravo!  And amen!

The concept is explained on Stevens’ record label’s site as set forth below.  Go HERE to pre-order the recording.

From Sufjan and crew in “explanation”:

“Christmas is a drag. Year after year, winter upon winter, we find ourselves “going through the motions of merriment,” possessed by a fervent celestial fever, conquered, squandered, beaten, broken, reduced to that clammy, pre-pubescent spoiled brat kid of our childhood, throwing a fit on Santa’s lap, faced with the hard-candy facts of reality, knowing for certain we will never really get what want for Christmas.

Or in life, for that matter.

This is the true horror-show catharsis of Christmas: the existential emptiness that perseveres in the heart of modern man as he recklessly pursues his search for happiness and comes up empty handed.

And yet, against all odds, we continue to sing our songs of Christmas. If Christmas is the holiday of “worst case scenarios” then its carol has become its most corrupted currency, intoning rhapsody and romance with mistletoe and Marshmallow Fluff, placating the public with indelible melodies propagating a message of peace, love, and venture capitalism.

So what is it about Christmas music that continues to agitate our aging heartstrings? Is it the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen? Or the boundless Potential Energy inherent in this bastard holiday so fitfully exploited, adapted, and confounded with no regard for decency?

Maybe this: Christmas music does justice to a criminal world, marrying sacred and profane, bellowing obtuse prophecies of a Messiah in the very same blustery breath as a candy-coated TV-jingle advertising a string of lights and a slice of fruitcake. Gloria!

Who can save us from the infidels of Christmas commodity? Look no further, tired shopper, for your hero arrives as the diligent songwriter Sufjan Stevens: army of one, banjo in one hand, drum machine in the other, holed up in his room, surrounded by hymnals, oratorios, music charts, sacred harp books, photo-copied Readers Digest Christmas catalogs—all the weaponry of Yuletide incantations—singing his barbaric yawp above the snow-capped rooftops.

His song is love; his song is hope; his song is peace. His song conjures the fruitcake world of his own imagination with steadfast pursuit of the inexplicable bliss of Christmas Promises—“Gloria in excelsis deo”—summoning the company of angels, the helper elves, the shepherds keeping flock, the innkeepers, the coupon-clippers, the marathon runners, the cross-country skiers, the bottom feeders, the grocery store baggers, the bridge and tunnel drivers, the construction workers, the ice cream makers, the toll booth workers, the street sweepers, the single mothers, the custodians, the rich and the poor, the walking dead, the community of saints, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit, the Prince of Persia, and all the invisible hosts of heaven to participate in this absurd cosmic adventure, pursuing holly-jolly songs of hope and redemption with a sacred heart for the love of the holidays, for the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

We were reminded of our ample appreciation of Sharon Van Etten this week when she appeared on Later with Jools Holland and on/in the Black Cab. In turn we were reminded of Van Etten’s and Shearwaters’ winning cover of the Tom Petty-penned, Stevie Nicks hit Stop Dragging My Heart Around for A.V. Undercover earlier this year. Van Etten gets her Nicks on and the Shearwater boys back well. Check it out, followed by the Jools Holland vignettes (of Serpents and Give Out off of her album, Tramp, which will undoubtedly amongst our Best of 2012), and then the Black Cab Session (she performs A Joke or a Lie) HERE.

Given the murky Monday muck outside, we thought we’d slow it down a bit to match.  Diana Krall appeared the other night on Later with Jools Holland, and gave a good feel for the depth and spectrum of her talents. Mrs. Costello has been one of our more popular and capable interpreters of jazz standards for close to two decades now.  On her latest album, Good Rag Doll, Krall has delved deeper into the jazz-pop standards history, choosing to cover songs from her father’s favorites from the 30s-40s.  But she’s also included a contemporary Americana masterpiece or two too.

To give a feel for the span of the new album, first check out Krall singing a captivating read of Julie Miller’s folk-gospel gem, Wide River to Cross.  Then check out Krall’s sweetly-slow reading of Harry Woods’  We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye, a jazz-pop standard which has been covered by everyone from Maxine Sullivan, to Dionne Warwick, to Lena Horne.  We first enjoyed this song on Maria Muldaur’s 1976 album, Sweet Harmony, but in a decidedly more upbeat tempo.  Watch Krall and cohorts slow it down below.  And then after, in an attempt to shift into the reckless working week, check out Krall and crew’s shift into uptempo delivery of There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth The Salt of My Tears.  That’ll get ya goin’.

For today only The Bridge School is making made all of Saturday’s Bridge School Benefit Concerts sets available for viewing.  Hope you checked out Jack White’s set followed by Neil Young & Crazy Horses’ hour+ set below, and then go HERE to check out others of interest such as Flaming Lips and Lucinda Edwards.  These streams on Ustream are were better than many because you can easily and quickly fast forward.

Video streaming by Ustream

Video streaming by Ustream

We missed the Blind Boys of Alabama when they recently performed with Dr. John at the Lobero Theater.  Regrets….  On this Sunday, check out the lads performing  Nobody’s Fault But My Own (with Mavis Staples-yep, missed her too) and If I Had a Hammer.  That’ll get you in the mood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKoWi5JI40g&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yVKA1FNmsc&feature=relmfu

Atoms of Peace/Radiohead member/producer-extraordinaire, Nigel Godrich, has a new band dubbed Ultraísta.  The band, which also features mad-skills drummer Joey Waronker and vocalist Laura Bettinson, has a brand new album out.  Check out below the first video from the album for Our Song.  The vibe and effects are hypnotically infectious.

Following on Grizzly Bear’s performance earlier this week on Later with Jools Holland, the band got its due again when they were captured playing one of the better songs (A Simple Answer) off of their fantastic new album, Shields. After Ed Roste was featured on Yet Again, Dan Rossen gets his rightful due below. But A Simple Answer also shows off their instrumental and harmonic talents well in the last half of the song. Check it out.

Another great Canadian band, Stars, has a brand new album (The North) that’s winning critics and fans everywhere.  Check out the band on KCRW below performing a great new song, Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It.  After, go HERE if you want to watch/listen to their whole episode.  They’re currently out on tour so catch ’em if you can, including tomorrow night (Saturday, October 20th) at The Fillmore in SF.  We want to go to there.

Having written yesterday about their phenomenal new album, we thought we’d pass along a couple of vignettes of Field Report performing live.  Check them out below on the Do512 Lounge Sessions playing the great Fergus Falls and I’m Not Waiting Anymore from that album.  You can’t go wrong adding pedal steel and employing the build.