There aren’t many albums we’ve ever played more repetitively than Wire’s seminal 1977 album Pink Flag. Pink Flag’s 23 art-punk songs were on a loop and became deeply-ingrained in our minds in 1977, as did their next four superb albums, which firmly established Wire’s legacy as one of the great post-punk bands. Following the release of the classic A Bell Is A Cup, Wire continued to release intermittent worthwhile albums, with members taking hiatuses in between band-albums to release critically-acclaimed solo albums (Colin Newman and Graham Lewis in particular). Such hiatuses included a 12-year gap between 1991’s The First Letter and 2003’s Send. But in the last three years Wire has returned with a vengeance and will soon release their third album since 2013 (including their lauded album Change Becomes Us and last year’s similarly well-regarded album WIRE).

The new album is entitled (somewhat mischievously) Nocturnal Koreans. Colin Newman had this to say about the new album (and its movement away from prior live-recording methods): “The WIRE album was quite respectful of the band, and Nocturnal Koreans is less respectful of the band — or, more accurately, it’s the band being less respectful to itself — in that it’s more created in the studio, rather than recorded basically as the band played it, which was mostly the case with WIRE. A general rule for this record was: any trickery is fair game, if it makes it sound better.”

The band has just divulged the propulsive, compelling title track for your listening pleasure below. It bodes incredibly well for the new album. We can’t wait. And we hope that they will come back to Cali to perform again (we regretfully missed last fall’s well-received tour because of an unavoidable conflict).

A host of upstart female artists are having their sway over our ears these days.  Torres, Miya Folick, Alyeska, Eskimaux, Hop Along, etc.  And of course the wounded wunderkind, Julien Baker. Baker fittingly found her way onto many Best of 2015 lists, and her song Sprained Ankle is a particularly affecting gem that was among our Best Songs of 2015.  Check out below three intimate performances by Baker for Paste.

Her lyrics on the first song, Everybody Does, are devastatingly apropos for a Sunday:

“Let me pick through the empty dirt
And the rotten wood and the shoddy work
Cause I’m interested, and our carpenter is so elegant at placing splinters
Right beneath my nails, where I cannot dig them out
But the same briars from your ribs are the tinder in my father’s house”

LNZNDRF is a new trio spearheaded by the multitalented Ben Lanz (Beirut and touring member of The National) and The National’s fantastic, brotherly rhythm section, Scott and Bryan Devendorf. Yesterday LNZNDRF released their eponymously-titled debut album on 4AD.  To get a feel for their sound, check out their mesmerizing track Beneath the Black Sea.  We love everything about the song, including its War On Drugs-like propulsion and Ben Lanz’s superb evocation of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis (both lyrically and vocally).  Other songs on the album also honor Joy Division (especially via Bryan Devendorf’s drumming) and other Factory sounds. Beneath The Black Sea bodes incredibly well for the new album, which you can order HERE.

Meghan who? The music world did a collective eye-roll when Meghan “Off Bass” Trainor was named Best New Artist this year at the Grammys.  The one-hit, wonder-less Trainor stole the award from its rightful recipient, Aussie Courtney Barnett.  We’ve been singing Barnett’s praises since January 2014, and she was hands down the most deserving Best New Artist out of the Grammy nominees.  And so it goes at the Grammys (Ed Shearan over Kendrick Lamar in any category other than “best mussy-hair”?? Gads).

Anywho, last night on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, Barnett’s trio performed her sly rocker, Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party (its performance a comment on the Grammys?), off of her critically-acclaimed 2015 album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.  While not our favorite song off the great album (that would be Depreston, one of our Best Songs of 2015, which you can watch Barnett perform HERE), Barnett easily manages to get the crowd and Colbert on her side with the performance.  Check it out below.

There are one or two musicians that come along in every era and genre who rise above all the rest.  Dylan. The Beatles. Marley. Springsteen. The Clash. Nirvana. Radiohead. Last night Kendrick Lamar confirmed that he is likely the greatest of this generation. Lamar has repeatedly schooled the competition on record but particularly live (his two performances for Stephen Colbert’s two shows are the stuff of legend).  Watch last night’s Grammy performance below. Lamar gave the performance of a life-time via his medley of The Blacker the Berry (naturally, the POTUS’ fave song) and (our Best Song of 2015) Alright, and back to a brand new song.  Intentional ferocity. That sprayin’ ain’t for show. Wow.

Stockholm-based Norwegian singer-songwriter Ane Brun last year released her critically-acclaimed album When I’m Free.  From that album, check below Brun performing the universally-themed All We We Want Is Love.  Brun’s vocals are a welcome reminder of Leslie Feist (wherefore art thou?) and Kate Bush, with a touch of Joni Mitchell.  Regardless, it’s an apropos song for the day (see lyrics below).  Enjoy.

All We Want Is Love

On and on
We wait for it, we heal our wounds
And move forward
All we want is love

It breaths for us
It feeds us even though
We don’t really know it
All we want is love
All we want is love
All we want is love

It’s as light as butterflies
And when we miss it
We fantasize
All we want is love

It wakes us up
Early in the morning
Or helps us sleep
All through the night
All we want is love
All we want is love
All we want is love

We give up our names for it
We arrange parades fighting for it
We buy castles and go to get it
And we say through countless songs
All we want is love
All we want is love

We reflect ourselves in it
To make sure
That we exist
All we want is love

Morby is also set to tour as follows:

Thu. Feb. 25 – Rennes, FR @ La Route du Rock Winter Festival
Wed. Mar 16 – Fri. Mar. 18 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Thu. May 5 – London, UK @ Oslo Hackney
Fri. May 6 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
Sat. May 7 – Brussels, BE @ Atelier 210
Sun. May 8 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Mon. May 9 – Berlin, DE @ Lido
Tue. May 10 – Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhagen Jazzhouse
Wed. May 11 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
Thu. May 12 – Lund, SE @ @ Mejeriet
Fri. May 13 – Aarhus, DK @ Radar
Sat. May 14 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Thu. June 2 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
Fri. June 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater *
Sat. June 4 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place *
Mon. June 6 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *
Tue. June 7 – Vancouver, BC @ Media Club *
Wed. June 8 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern *
Fri. June 10 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kliby Court *
Sat. June 11 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
Sun. June 12 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room *
Tue. June 14 0 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry *
Wed. June 15 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas *
Thu. June 16 – Grand Rapids , MI @ Pyramid Scheme *
Fri. June 17 – Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall *
Sun. June 19 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott *
Mon. June 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle *
Wed. June 22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade NYC *
Thu. June 23 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel *
Fri. June 24 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook *
Sat. June 25 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl *
Sun. June 26 – Nashville, TN @ 3rd & Lindsley
Tue. June 28 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
Wed. June 29 – Austin, TX @ The Sidewinder
Sat. July 2 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Thu. Aug 4 – Sun. Aug. 8 – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon

* w/ Jaye Bartell

We spilled pixel after pixel in 2015 singing the praises of Sufjan Stevens’ masterful, heartbreaking album Carrie & Lowell, which ultimately was our No. 3 Best Album of 2015 (behind Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly and EL VY’s Return to the Moon–no where is that list, it’s around here somewhere?).  In the meantime we’ve been waiting anxiously for 2016’s musical Niagara Falls to start spilling, to no avail (whither Radiohead, Feist, etc.?).  We surmise everyone’s busy getting ready for the Grammys to pass (ahem) this weekend.

So we were thrilled yesterday when Stevens gave us a musical reason to live by releasing the well-captured video below of his band (Ben Lanz, Casey Foubert, Dawn Landes, and James McAlister) performing the album’s sterling title track in Charleston last November. The video evokes fond memories of Stevens’ 2015 tour and the perfectly embellished/enhanced arrangements and performances of Carrie & Lowell’s songs (not to mention super reads of some older songs).  Check it out below.

Speaking of tours, Stevens will continue his Carrie & Lowell caravan in Australia/New Zealand beginning on Feb. 22nd (see list below the video) before returning to perform at Coachella, among other festivals (tickets can be found HERE).

Monday 22 February – State Theatre, Sydney
Friday 26 February – Hamer Hall, Melbourne (sold out)
Saturday 27 February – Hamer Hall, Melbourne
Sunday 28 February – Hamer Hall, Melbourne (just added)
Monday 29 February – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Wednesday 2 March – Red Hill Auditorium, Perth
Friday 4 March – Qpac Concert Hall, Brisbane
Sunday 6 March – New Zealand Festival, Wellington
Tuesday 8 March – The Civic, Auckland

The controversial, but uncontroversally-talented Amanda Palmer has collaborated with Jherek Bischoff to release a heartfelt, string-laden EP homage to the late, great(est) David Bowie.  The EP, entitled Strung Out In Heaven: A Bowie String Quartet Tribute, consists of six covers Bowie’s songs and features contributions from Anna Calvi, John Cameron Mitchell, and author Neil Gaiman (Palmer’s husband), among others.  It was released today via Bandcamp for $1 and you can check it out and buy it (proceeds to good causes) at bottom.  Our favorite Bowie song and cover from the EP is Ashes to Ashes, which you can listen to immediately below followed by Palmer’s explique for the EP.

About the EP and recording, Palmer writes:

“We found out he’d died – by text from Neil’s daughter – at 3 a.m. in Santa Fe.  We were visiting family, to introduce them to the newborn lying in bed beside us. A tiny fleshy reminder that Bowie, like our other friends, mentors  and heroes who’ve been consumed by cancer in the past few months, was just…passing through. The baby is Ash. Dust to dust. Funk to Funky. I was talking on the phone to Jherek the next day talking about our arrangement for “machete”, the song we’d just tracked in LA. Bowie meant so much to both of us, growing up. and i knew that if we didn’t do this NOW, we’d say it was a good idea and then find a million reasons not to get around to it. We gave ourselves a deadline of two weeks. We made it. Jherek put the petal to the metal, arranged a song a day, recorded his A-list string quartet in L.A. in 3.5 hours, then I spent two straight days in the studio doing vocals. It was the longest time yet i’d been away from the baby. My mom took care of him one day, a babysitter the next, and Neil took the night shifts. I’m back at work. It feels right. We’re really, really, really proud of what we made, even though we cranked it out in a short time. Music is the binding agent of our mundane lives. It cements the moments in which we wash the dishes, type the resumes, go to the funerals, have the babies. The stronger the agent, the tougher the memory, and Bowie was NASA-grade epoxy to a sprawling span of freaked-out kids over three generations. He bonded us to our weird selves. We can be us. He said. Just for one day. It didn’t hit me until a week later, in the studio, why this was such a fitting project. We were immersing ourselves in Bowieland, living in the songs, super-glueing up some fresh wounds. Not just “knowing” the songs, but feeling the physical chords under our sad fingers, excavating the deeper architecture of the songwriting (especially with a tune as bizarre as “Blackstar” (which we realized was constructed like a sonic Russian nesting doll). Bowie worked on music up to the end to give us a parting gift. So this is how we, as musicians, mourn: keeping Bowie constantly in our ears and brains. The man, the artist, exits. But the music, the glue; it stays. It never stops binding us together.

At long last PJ Harvey has announced the Spring release of her next album, The Hope Six Demolition Project.   The new album is her first release since the tremulous Let England Shake, which was our No. 7 Best Album of 2011 (amidst very tough competition that year). The Hope Six Demolition Project will be released on April 15th and was apparently inspired by Harvey and Murphy’s visits to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington D.C.

Harvey has now released the first video from the album for the song The Wheel.  Harvey again has partnered on the video with Seamus Murphy (a photographer and videographer who made the impressive 12 Short Films for Let England Shake who has covered turmoil in Afghanistan and Kosovo).

About The Wheel and the video, Murphy says: “The song ‘The Wheel’ has the journey to Kosovo at its center [Harvey and Murphy traveled there together in 2011].  Who is to say what else has influenced and informed its creation? The sight of a revolving fairground wheel in Fushe Kosove/Kosovo Polje near the capital Pristina is the concrete reference point for the title.  It was a passing observation of a commonplace image, one of many that day. … Was that sight alone the inspiration for the song? Without being told the stories of people who had suffered during the war, without visiting villages abandoned through ethnic cleansing and cycles of vengeance, without experiencing the different perceptions of people with shared histories, could the song have been written?  The idea of cycles, wheels and repetition once again being all too apparent and necessary to make.”

The affecting video combines scenes from Harvey’s/Murphy’s trip in 2011, Harvey’s album preparation in London and another trip to Kosovo in 2015, when the refugee crisis was making headlines.  As usual with Harvey, we love everything about the new song, which bodes incredibly well for The Hope Six Demolition Project.