There has been a recent dearth of news from The National while they’ve gone AWOL to tour in Europe.  But the silence has now thankfully been broken with the airing of the band’s great new song Lean (originally called Dying Is Easy, which was evidently deemed too dark by the filmmakers–hmmm, wonder why?).  Lean is included in the new Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack.  The song is quintessential National with Matt Berninger’s signature vocals and the band’s piano, guitar and drums, but also with some new sumptuous strings.  Check the song out below and and, after, the soundtrack’s somewhat schizophrenic artist/track list (we’d include Patti Smith, Antony, Phantogram, Lorde and Santigold–and optimally omit The Looming Errors, Of Monsters & Other Copiers and X-Tina–but that’s just us).

Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack
1. Coldplay–Atlas
2. Of Monsters and Men–Silhouettes
3. Sia (feat. The Weeknd & Diplo)–Elastic Heart
4. The National–Lean
5. Christina Aguilera–We Remain
6. The Weeknd–Devil May Cry
7. Imagine Dragons–Who We Are
8. Lorde–Everybody Wants to Rule the World
9. The Lumineers–Gale Song
10. Ellie Goulding–Mirrors
11. Patti Smith–Capital Letter
12. Santigold–Shooting Arrows at the Sky
13. Mikky Ekko–Place for Us
14. Phantogram–Lights
15. Antony & the Johnsons–Angel on Fire

The monstrously-talented Janelle Monáe is out on tour in support of her fantastic new album The Electric Lady, and has been wowing wherever she and her big band alight.  Last night she appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show (that’s right–he’s back!) and performed the title track off the album with power.  Watch below as she once again lights up the stage.

Unfortunately it sounds like all the touring and promo activity has caused vocal chord problems, as she announced that she will have to go on “mandatory vocal rest” and cancel a few shows from the tour (Anaheim, San Diego, and Phoenix).

Our spaceship leaves at ten!

After watch Monáe’s phenomenal performance of Dance Apocalyptic on Saturday Night Live!

Last night on The Voice (that’s right, don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it–and yes, we will watch just about anything that includes live music) native Jamaican contestant Tessanne Chin sang an emotionally-charged version of Jimmy Cliff’s foundational song Many Rivers to Cross.  Chin absolutely slaughtered it as you will see below.

Many have covered this great song (U2, Harry Nilsson, Bruce Springsteen and Joe Cocker to name a few).  But after Chin’s fine cover, it makes most sense to watch Jimmy Cliff himself sing it.  Watch below as Cliff sang it in 2009 on Later with Jools Holland (with Jools himself on piano and Dave Swift on bass).  And afterwards, listen to the studio version that was included on The Harder They Come soundtrack (originally released on Cliff’s eponymous debut in 1969).  Seems like only yesterday that we were watching that entertaining movie (starring none other than Jimmy Cliff) at the Adams Theater in San Diego.

Regardless, it’s a song for the ages.

Destroyer and its leader Dan Bejar (also of The New Pornographers) are amongst our long-standing favorites. It’s been nearly three years since the band released its last, masterful album Kaputt, which was our No. 3 Best Album of 2011. Bejar’s melodies and world-weary vocals (reminiscent in ways of Bowie and the late, great Lou Reed) always win us over.

Destroyer recently announced that they will release their Five Spanish Songs EP on December 2, 2013 on Dead Oceans (in Europe) and Merge (US).   The new EP consists of songs written by Spanish musician Antonio Luque of the band Sr. Chinarro and features Nicolas Bragg, David Carswell, John Collins (also of The New Pornographers), Stephen Hamm, and Josh Wells (also of Black Mountain, Lightning Dust).

About the new release, Bejar writes, “It was 2013. The English language seemed spent, despicable, not easily singable. It felt over for English; good for business transactions, but that’s about it. The only other language I know is Spanish, and the only Spanish songs I really know are those of Sr. Chinarro, led by Antonio Luque. I’ve been a decades-long fan of how he conducted his affairs, his strange words, his melodies that have always felt so natural (this is important), his bitter songs about painting the light. Something about them, I knew I could do it…”

Today the band has released the first official video for song Bye Bye from the EP.  Watch below as Bejar strums tranquilly and sings in a pastoral setting while watching and eating chickens (for the record: not alive while eaten).  After watching the video, you can listen below it to another, decidedly different song from the EP, El Rito.

Destroyer (Bejar solo, backed by other bands as listed at bottom) is out on tour now in the US (including at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery tonight and tomorrow night), and Bejar will go on a solo tour in Europe in support of the EP in December.

TOUR DATES:

11/05-06 – Los Angeles, CA – The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever *
11/07 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music ^
11/08 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Park Theatre
11/09 – Toronto, Ontario – The Great Hall *
11/10 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom *
11/11 – Washington, DC – Sixth & I Historic Synagogue *
11/12 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s *
11/13 – Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall *
11/14 – Montreal, Quebec – II Motore *
11/20 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
11/21 – Columbus, OH – Wexner Center

* with Pink Mountaintops
^ with Azita

Bejar Solo:

12/1 – Le Guess Who? Festival, #Utrecht (NL)
12/2 – Bush Hall, #London (UK)
12/3 – Jazzhouse, #Copenhagen (DK)
12/4 – Skwer, #Warsaw (PL)
12/5 – Hau1, #Berlin (GER)
12/6 – Musicbox, Lisbon (POR)
12/7 – CCVF, Guimaraes (POR)
12/9 – Sala Apolo, Barcelona (ES)
12/10 – Gazteszena, San Sebastian (ES)

We’ve written repeatedly about the British sistren known as The Staves.  La Blogotheque caught up with them recently and took away A Take-Away Show in which the group perform Eagle Song with their (standard) voices of angels.  “Call me in the morning I’ll be alright.”  Yes, even on a Monday morning.  Off ya go then.

The Avett Brothers have been heavily on our minds these past few weeks following their fantastic recent concert at our Santa Barbara Bowl.  Now comes another example of the band’s greatness. Watch below as they perform Never Been Alive while waiting for an elevator (as best we can figure out) within the entrails of some building. The song is off of their critically-acclaimed new album Magpie and the Dandelion.  As usual, the band delivers a riveting, heady performance.

The Flaming Lips brought their kaleidoscopic phantasmagoria to the Santa Barbara Bowl last night and closed out their main tour in style while giving off and getting LOVE from their adoring audience.  The Bowl was celebrating Dia De Los Muertos, and the Lips raised the dead this evening.

Australian psych-rockers Tame Impala (above) supplied a collusive opening to the concert. This young band mixes and muscles ’60s psychedelia and Mancunian (i.e. Stone Roses) motifs to produce a vibrant, pulsating, phase-shifting sound.  All are consummate players and can wring savory notes from their instruments (leader Kevin Parker and drummer Julien Barbagallo were particularly impressive).  While we are partial to lyric-based songs, Tame Impala’s instrumental numbers were set highlights. Hats off to the Aussies, who quickly won over and impressed the crowd and us. Song highlights included crowd-favorite Elephant (which morphed into-and-out-of Michael Jackson’s Thriller/Billie Jean) and Feels Like We Only Go Backwards.  Tame Impala closed out their set fittingly by bringing out Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne to sing the Lips‘ song Are You a Hypnotist? while backed by the band together with the Lips‘ multi-talented Steven Drozd on drums.  When all was said and done, Tame Impala had played for well over an hour, leaving the headliners only 75 minutes for their set.  Hence our small quibble:  while the Aussies were impressive, we could have stood for more time being allotted to the headliners–you know, like normal and as expected.  Tame Impala’s time will come.

After a break for more Dia De Los Muertos festivities in the beer garden, The Flaming Lips hit the stage with one of the best configured stages and light shows we’ve seen in our long concert history.  Backed by an ever-changing battery of light and screen combinations, leader Wayne Coyne was centered up on a mound of lights that in many ways resembled a pounding pixel pulpit. And from there Coyne and his luminary band mates made glorious sounds and gave off love from on high. Brandishing a dizzying array of confetti, orange balls, strobe lights, lasers and other effects the band kicked off their set by covering John Carpenter’s Halloween Theme.  The rest of the set featured an ever-ingratiating mix of new and old (naturally concentrating on songs off of their most recent album The Terror).  Steven Drozd, the band’s frighteningly-talented, multi-instrumentalist impressed throughout the night and particularly on vocals (both lead and harmony).  The band closed out their show with the one-two of discography-highlights, A Spoonful Weighs A Ton and Do You Realize? taking the concert to the very last second of the Bowl’s 10:00pm curfew.

Our only complaints were the brevity of the set and that Coyne’s pulpit limited his usual heart-warming interactions with the audience.  Nonetheless, it was a love-filled, magical and musical night.  And so:  do you realize that you have the most beautiful face?

Check out the rest of our photos below.  As you can see at bottom, there’s a bit of clean-up after a Flaming Lips show.  At very bottom, see the band’s setlist for the SB Bowl show.

The Setlist:

Halloween Theme
The W.A.N.D.
Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast
Silver Trembling Hands
Look…The Sun Is Rising
The Terror
Race for the Prize
Try to Explain
Butterfly, How Long It Takes to Die
Turning Violent
A Spoonful Weighs a Ton
Do You Realize??

When you watch The Avett Brothers performing Clay Pigeons below on SirusXM, you may harken back to John Prine.  And that’s because John Prine himself covered the song.  The song was written by Blaze Foley (who was a close friend of Townes Van Zandt’s and who died young at age 40, shot in the chest by a friend’s son), whose great songs have been covered by the likes of Prine, Lyle Lovett and others.  Of particular note is Merle Haggard’s cover of Foley’s If I Could Only Fly, which is one of our all-time favorite “Real Country” songs.  Check it out below.  Beauty.

OK, so if you’re not going to the Flaming Lips concert tonight at the Santa Barbara Bowl (see below), you must be a Neko Case person (not that the two interests are mutually-exclusive).  And today’s your lucky day because below you can watch Ms. Case’s superb, unplugged Tiny Desk Concert on NPR, which includes three great songs (Night Still Comes, Calling Cards,  and Local Girl) off of her outstanding new album and gratuitous gorilla and zombie costumes (since it was performed yesterday on Halloween).

Happy All Saints Day/Dia De Los Muertos everyone!

The Flaming Lips and Tame Impala are playing the Santa Barbara Bowl tonight. It’s going to be a psychedelic love-fest that you better not miss.  Following Halloween last night, the Bowl will end its season by featuring various Dia De Los Muertos activities and performances starting at 4:30pm before the concert at 6pm (set times are approximately: 6pm-Ray Fresco; 6:45 Tame Impala; 8:30 Flaming Lips).

Oddly enough, the best preparation for tonight’s festivities may not be listening to the featured artists themselves, but instead watching the collaboration by the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and the magnificent Moby on their perfect song/video The Perfect Life off of Moby’s new, astoundingly-good Innocents album.  We’ll have a rave review of Innocents soon, but for now you’ll have to trust us:  go buy Innocents immediately HERE and be completely enraptured.  The collaboration between Coyne and Moby makes such perfect sense that you have to wonder why it hasn’t happened before.  Perhaps that’s just this imperfect life.

Given the Dia De Los Muertos celebration and the usual love-fest that is a Flaming Lips concert, the song and video should get you in the perfect mood for the event.  As Moby says about the video:  “‘the idea for ‘the perfect life’ video is pretty simple…wayne and i in mariachi costumes walking around L.A picking up a very random and disparate bunch of disenfranchised oddballs and leading them via trolley to a giant party on a roof overlooking L.A. while the sun sets.'”

Check out the video below, and we’ll see you at the Santa Barbara Bowl tonight.  Tonight would be a perfect night for the Flaming Lips to perform The Perfect Life (with Moby?).  What say you lads?