Bon Iver has played a comparatively scant number of shows thus far in support of their fantastic 2016 album 22, A Million.  Thankfully the band and NPR have gifted us a great glimpse of their live shows via the band’s December show at the Pioneer Works in Brooklyn (a place near and dear to Justin Vernon).  Check out the well-performed and well-captured show below (setlist at bottom). Justin Vernon is supported by a great ensemble, including Sean Carey, two drummers and a saxophone ensemble. But Vernon is rightfully rightly front and center, providing his near-Jabberwocky lines that nonetheless effortlessly drawing forth the audience’s unbridled emotions. The show is spectacular (as is every Bon Iver show). Enjoy!

SET LIST:
“10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄”
“33 ‘GOD'”
“Heavenly Father”
“29 #Strafford APTS”
“Beach Baby”
“666 ʇ”
“715 – CRΣΣKS”
“Calgary”
“22 (OVER S∞∞N)”
“8 (circle)”
“Minnesota, WI”
“____45_____”
“Creature Fear”
“00000 Million”

The Best Artist of the Year, Chance The Rapper, was the musical guest on SNL last night and rained down great gospel music on the proceedings. Dressed in a red overalls/white shirt, Santa motif, Chance and NoName and an effervescent ensemble delivered a powerful, moving performance of Finish/Line.  Watch below as Chance rightly calls out and dances off of his fantastic drummer, Greg Landfair Jr.  Chance also played piano and performed Same Drugs with help from Francis (of Francis and the Lights) and (at 3:29) from astonishingly great backup singers (who dey?) who are truly a mere 20 Feet From Stardom.

Last night’s performance came almost a year-to-the-day from Chance’s SNL-debut last year (watch his stupendous performance of Sunday Candy at bottom). We hereby petition SNL and Chance to make this an annual Christmas performance to eclipse the memories of Bing Crosby and, err, umm…White Christmas.

As an added bonus check out Chance’s skit homage to Obama and Run D.M.C.’s classic Christmas in Hollis vignette.  Awesomeness all around!

Chance The Rapper – Sunday Candy SNL from ScousaJ on Vimeo.

The great indie band Allo Darlin’ won our coveted Best Album of the Year in 2012 for their pop masterpiece Europe. Sadly, the band is ending its great run with a series of farewell shows in London that start tomorrow. But to exit in style, Allo Darlin’ has gifted us with a nostalgic video for their sweet, chiming swan song Hymn On The 45, which you can watch below.  The song is available as a 7″ coupled with B-side Wanderlust (which you can pick up HERE). Long live Allo Darlin’!!

The indefatigable, ever-busy Ryan Adams has just announced he will release his next album Prisoner in February.  Adams has given us a powerful sample in the form of new song Do You Still Love Me?, which you can listen to below. We love the Petty-esque song that opens mournfully with Procol Harum-sounding organ before quickly segueing  into an out-right ’80s-esque rocker. A whiter shade of wail! Bravo!

Prisoner apparently revolves around Adams’ separation from Mandy Moore after six years of marriage. Adams has said that “I started writing this record while I was going through a very public divorce, which is a humiliating and just a f@#$ing horrible thing to go through no matter who you are,” he said. “To be me and to go through that the way that I did was destructive on a level that I can’t explain. So a lot of extra work went into keeping my chin up and remembering what I did and what I loved about who I was.”

Adams put on our favorite show of any that we saw at the Santa Barbara Bowl this year, and we can’t wait to catch him again out in support of Prisoner.

The album’s tracklist is at bottom. You can pre-order the album HERE.

1. Do You Still Love Me?
2. Prisoner
3. Doomsday
4. Haunted House
5. Shiver and Shake
6. To Be Without You
7. Anything I Say To You Now
8. Breakdown
9. Outbound Train
10. Broken Anyway
11. Tightrope
12. We Disappear

Happy holidays are finally here in the form of new song Magnificent (She Says) from the great British band Elbow along with news that the band will release a new studio album entitled Little Fictions (on Polydor) in February.  See the new album’s tracklist below.

According to the band’s press release, the new album was recorded in Scotland and Manchester, was produced by Craig Potter and features string players from the Hallé Orchestra, backing vocals from Hallé Ancoats Community Choir and London Contemporary Voices, and session drummer Alex Reeves.

Elbow’s last album was 2014’s The Take Off and Landing of Everything, which was one of our Best Albums of 2014.

Check the new song out below, featuring strings and ample swoon. Great stuff from the always-reliable Elbow. While the band has frequently featured strings in its recordings and tours, the strings here remind of Radiohead’s Burn The Witch.

Tracklist:

Magnificent (She Says)
Gentle Storm
Trust the Sun
All Disco
Head for Supplies
Firebrand & Angel
K2
Montparnasse
Little Fictions
Kindling

You can pre-order the new album HERE.

Singer-songwriter Will Toledo has evolved from laptop-recording/Bandcamp maven to the leader of the superb rock ‘n roll band Car Seat Headrest. The band’s outstanding 2016 album Teens of Denial (on Matador) is deservedly on many Best Albums of 2016 lists (including No. 4 on Rolling Stone‘s list).

This week Car Seat Headrest showed up on late night TV and gave a raving performance of their much-loved song Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales with members of The Roots adding great horn support. We loved everything about the performance, which reminded much of the great Okkervil River (the two bands have much in common, including intelligent and be-glassed singers named Will).  Check out the performance below. The official lyric video for the song follows.

You can pick up Teens of Denial HERE.

Above photo: Kenny Sun

LA greats Local Natives have covered Kanye West’s shining Ultralight Beam to superb effect. Check it out below, followed by the inimitable original and the song’s lyrics.

People: we on an ultralight beam.

“I’m tryna keep my faith
We on an ultralight beam
We on an ultralight beam
This is a God dream
This is a God dream
This is everything
This is everything
Deliver us serenity
Deliver us peace
Deliver us loving
We know we need it
You know we need it
You know we need it
That’s why we need you now, oh, I
Pray for Paris
Pray for the parents
This is a God dream
This is a God dream
This is a God dream
We on an ultralight beam
We on an ultralight beam
This is a God dream
This is a God dream
This is everything
Everything (Thing, thing, thing)

I’m tryna keep my faith
But I’m looking for more
Somewhere I can feel safe
And end my holy war
I’m tryna keep my faith

So why send oppression not blessings?
Why, oh why’d you do me wrong? (More)
You persecute the weak
Because it makes you feel so strong
(To save) Don’t have much strength to fight
So I look to the light
(War) To make these wrongs turn right
Head up high, I look to the light
Hey, ’cause I know that you’ll make everything alright
And I know that you’ll take good care of your child
Oh, no longer am afraid of the night
‘Cause I, I look to the light

When they come for you, I will shield your name
I will field their questions, I will feel your pain
No one can judge
They don’t, they don’t know
They don’t know
Foot on the Devil’s neck ’til it drifted Pangaea
I’m moving all my family from Chatham to Zambia
Treat the demons just like Pam
I mean I fuck with your friends, but damn, Gina
I been this way since Arthur was anteater
Now they wanna hit me with the woo wap, the bam
Tryna snap photos of familia
My daughter look just like Sia, you can’t see her
You can feel the lyrics, the spirit coming in braille
Tubman of the underground, come and follow the trail
I made Sunday Candy, I’m never going to hell
I met Kanye West, I’m never going to fail
He said let’s do a good ass job with Chance three
I hear you gotta sell it to snatch the Grammy
Let’s make it so free and the bars so hard
That there ain’t one gosh darn part you can’t tweet
This is my part, nobody else speak
This is my part, nobody else speak
This little light of mine
Glory be to God, yeah
I’ma make sure that they go where they can’t go
If they don’t wanna ride I’mma still give them raincoats
Know what God said when he made the first rainbow
Just throw this at the end if I’m too late for the intro
Ugh, I’m just having fun with it
You know that a nigga was lost
I laugh in my head
Cause I bet that my ex looking back like a pillar of salt
Ugh, ’cause they’ll flip the script on your ass like Wesley and Spike
You cannot mess with the light
Look at lil’ Chano from 79th

We on an ultralight beam
We on an ultralight beam
This is a God dream
This is a God dream
This is everything
Everything

Yes, God
Hallelujah
I’m tryna keep my faith
(Yes, Jesus)
But I’m looking for more
Somewhere I can feel safe
And end my holy war

Father, this prayer is for everyone that feels they’re not good enough
This prayer’s for everybody that feels like they’re too messed up
For everyone that feels they’ve said “I’m sorry” too many times
You can never go too far when you can’t come back home again
That’s why I need…
Faith, more, safe, war”