In more can’t-believe-we-missed-them news, we have only recently become hopelessly addicted to the jangle-pop of Toronto’s Alvvays (pronounced “always”).  Alvvays released their eponymous, Chad VanGaalen-produced debut album in late July, but we’ve only caught up to them recently.  All of which is absurd since we are huge fans of the jangle-pop genre that they soundly took over this year from Allo’ Darlin (who had our No. 1 Best Album of 2012) .  As you’ll hear below, their songs are indie-pop confections led by Molly Rankin’s vocals, reverberatingly-fuzzy sounds, and lyrics that dive deeper than their aural sweetness would suggest.  Alvvays (also featuring Kerri Maclellan on  keys/vocals, Alec O’Hanley on guitar, Brian Murphy on bass and Phil MacIsaac on drums)are the latest in a long line of jangle-pop bands such as Heavenly, The Concretes, the aforementioned All0′ Darlin, Orange Juice, The Go-Betweens, Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian, and Belly (if you aren’t completely familiar with these bands, we highly recommend you dive in head-first).

To get a feel for Alvvays, check out the official videos below for phenomenal tracks Archie, Marry Me (appearing on many Best Songs of 2014 lists, and having been covered recently by Ben Gibbard), they heavy Next of Kin (revolving a fan’s drowning) and Adult Diversion.  More great music coming out of Canada.  Keep it coming.  Always.

Though we pointed to the audio when the song was first released, we then got lifed.  And so we completely glossed over the fantastic video released last month by the Phoenix-that-is-Flying Lotus for his new track, Never Catch Me, featuring Kendrick Lamar.   Check out the superb video below (by Hiro Murai) which opens on a casket and (true to Lamar’s verses and like FlyLo’s newest album, You’re Dead) meditates on death, life and the afterlife (the euphoria of which is arguably depicted here via two outstanding young dancers, just killin’–so to speak).  We love everything about this video and song (“modern jazz” if there ever was such a thing).  Kudos to Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, Hiro Murai and those two kids for a tour de flippin’ force!  Bravo!

Lamar’s hopeful, yet brutally honest and self-examining, verses can be found below the video.

“I can see the darkness in me and it’s quite amazing
Life and death is no mystery and I wanna taste it
Step inside of my mind and you’ll find curiosity, animosity
High philosophy, hyper prophesied meditation
Reminisce on my wonder years and I wonder here
Sentiments of my words ain’t been so sincere
The sentiment of my nerves that I just persevere
The big thought of fallin’ off disappeared to my fate
They say that Heaven’s real
Analyze my demise, I say I’m super anxious
Recognize I deprive this fear and then embrace it
Vandalizing these walls only if they could talk
Conversations won’t contemplate to my dark thoughts
Lookin’ down on my soul now, tell me I’m in control now
Tell me I can live long and I can live wrong and I can live right
And I can sing song and I can unite with you that I love
You that I like, look at my life and tell me I fight
This that final destination, this that find some information
This that find some inspiration, this that crack the instillation
This that quantum jump and that fist pump and that bomb detonation
Please don’t bomb my nation, embalming fluid waiting
I got mind control when I’m here, you goin’ hate me when I’m gone
Ain’t no blood pumpin’ no fear, I got hope inside of my bones
This that life beyond your own life, this ain’t physical for mankind
This that out-of-body experience, no coincidence you been died
Bitch, you’re dead[TLR-FlyLo’s album title]!

Say you will never ever catch me, no, no, no
Say you will never ever catch me, no, no, no
Say you will never ever catch me, no, no, no
Say you will never ever catch me, no, no, no”

As we’ve recently lamented, it’s nearly impossible to stay on top of the musical Niagara Falls that cascades by these days.  While we think the Best of 2014 lists we’re being bombarded by in early December are premature, they do have the upside of enabling all of us to reassess what music we may have missed during the year.   Certainly one artist that we have not paid enough attention to is Angel Olsen, whose major label (Jagjaguwar) debut album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness, is regularly appearing on those Best of 2014 lists.  And for good reason it turns out.  Olsen is a St. Louis-reared singer-songwriter now living in Asheville, N.C.  While she reminds of times of other great female singer-songwriters that have been breaking out (specifically Jessica Mayfield and Courtney Barnett–who she particularly resembles on her performance below of Sweet Dreams for KEXP), she has a broader musical range to go with her gifted songwriting and incisive lyrics.

Olsen has just released the deluxe edition of Burn Your Fire for No Witness (featuring five additional songs, including two below), and its a must for your collection.  In conjunction, she has now released the official video for the album’s haunting closing-track, Windows.  Check it out below, along with other official videos, the KEXP performance, and bonus tracks (May As Well and All Right Now) off the deluxe album.  Superb work all around.

Olsen is also still out on tour in support of the album and plays Los Angeles tonight and tomorrow before moving on to NYC and Down Under.  Check out the dates at bottom.

It’s high time for our annual wank.  It’s only December 2nd (ferheavensake), and the barrage of Best of 2014 music lists is raining down like the (rare) storm outside our windows.  There remain a month’s worth of albums to be released in 2014, but the gun-jumpers need to rush their lists to you so that…what?  They can be first-read?  They can assist with your holiday shopping?  Please.  As usual, we will wait until the year is actually over.  But to jump on the band wagon, and get a jump on the gun-jumpers (and based mostly on our repeated listening to Los Angeles below), we hereby give you the Best Album of 2015: Phosphorescent’s Live At The Music Hall.

In our book, Phosphorescent can do no wrong.  We continue to be impressed by Matthew Houck and his crew (guitarist/pedal steel player Ricky Ray Jackson, pianist Scott Stapleton, drummer Christopher Marine, bassist Rustine Bragaw, percussionist David Torch and organ/keyboards player Jo Schornikow).  The honesty of Houck’s vocals, wedded to great songwriting and inspired playing, always win us over.  We also are repeatedly astonished by Houck’s way with cover songs (see HERE).  But we’ve only managed to catch Phosphorescent live just once (outstanding? bien sur!) and continue to have past-conflict regrets.  So we were thrilled today when word came down that Phosphorescent will release Live At The Music Hall on February 17th on Dead Oceans.  The album was culled from the band’s four-night stand at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg in Brooklyn at the end of 2013.  Friends of ours attended and raved, and we were sorely jealous.  During that stand, Houck fronted his seven-piece band, plus added string trio, and raged on while being recorded (he also performed solo one night).  From 10 hours of recording, 19 tracks were carefully culled to make up the three-album set (see the tracklist at bottom).

Houck was evidently inspired by live albums such as Bob Dylan’s Hard Rain (and we might suggest The Band’s Rock of Ages, one of the best live albums ever released).  Accordingly, Houck elected to present songs from his entire career rather than just a “greatest hits” compendium, and to play them in their evolved (rather than original) state.  So the album’s songs range from over 10 years and four Phosphorescent albums.  “Playing those four shows, it was clear something special was going on,” says Houck. “After eight months of touring, we’d gotten to a really good point where we weren’t quite exhausted yet with the material, but we’d had enough time to really grow with the songs. So we were in that sweet spot where we were pulling something great out of the songs every night.”

Based in part on their incendiary (yet dynamic and nuanced) take below on song Los Angeles (from Here’s To Taking It Easy), we have no doubt that Live At The Music Hall will be one of the best, if not THE Best Albums of 2015.  It’s also not a great leap of faith for us given that 2013’s Muchacho was our No. 4 Best Album of that incredibly-strong album-year.  Listen below to the 10-minute-plus transformation of Los Angeles.  Whatever you do, hang in until the 8:13 mark to hear the band truly take flight with blazing playing (Marine’s drumming is particularly inspired), Houck’s emphatic vocals and yelps, and the band’s burgeoning background vocals.  Outstanding work by the ensemble that bodes incredibly well for the album.  We can’t wait.

LIVE AT THE MUSIC HALL TRACKLISTING:

1. Sun Arise! (An Invocation, An Introduction)
2. A New Anhedonia
3. Terror In The Canyons (The Wounded Master)
4. The Quotidian Beasts
5. Tell Me Baby (Have You Had Enough)
6. Nothing Was Stolen (Love Me Foolishly)
7. Dead Heart
8. Down To Go
9. Song For Zula
10. Ride On / Right ON
11. A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise (Solo)
12. Muchacho’s Tune (Solo)
13. Wolves (Solo)
14. Joe Tex, These Taming Blues
15. Los Angeles
16. A Picture Of Our Torn Up Praise
17. South (Of America)
18. Wolves
19. At Death, A Proclamation

To this day we lament our unused tickets to see The Smiths in San Francisco (instead they broke up right before) and Joy Division at the Starwood in LA (instead, well, you know….).  In the wake of his Best of 2014-listed new album, Carry On The Grudge, another Brit-fave, Jamie T., announced he would play only four dates(!!) in the United States, including the Roxy in LA on December 3rd, and we jumped at the chance.  Rave reviews followed his sold out October/November shows in England.  Unfortunately, a series of recent dates in Europe have been rescheduled owing to the artist’s illness.  We at Lefort have been sending up prayers that Jamie T. has returned to health and is ready to take California by storm (if you will) on Tuesday (in SF at the Independent) and Wednesday.  Jamie T. has been rocking our world since we first laid ears on his first album.  We’ll be there at the Roxy.  Full force, front and center.  The last thing we want is another unused ticket to yet another legendary British artist.  Bring on Jamie T!  If you can still get a ticket, be there!

To get a feel, check out the just-released video for fantastic new single Rabbit Hole.  Superb vignettes.  “I’ll travel overseas….”  Please do, sir.