You Crazy Dreamers

Posted: 11 Jan 2009 04:22 PM CST

Well I meant to post this a while ago when I got the email, but I got busy with the holidays and all. For those of you who have not heard about this highly anticipated charity record, read below. I can not wait for this…wow. News from one of my favorite bands, The National

First off, Aaron and Bryce have produced a charity record called “Dark Was The Night” for the Red Hot Organization that comes out on February 17th worldwide on 4AD. All profits from the sale of the record will go to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The album features 32 exclusive tracks (!) and will be released as a double CD and on triple Vinyl. We wrote and recorded a new song for the record called “So Far Around The Bend”. Aaron and Bryce also collaborate on the record with Bon Iver and Antony Hegarty respectively. Please help us support this very important cause by spreading the word and picking up the album in February 2009.

The full artist list:
Andrew Bird
Antony + Bryce Dessner
Arcade Fire
Beach House
Beirut
Blonde Redhead + Devastations
Bon Iver
Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner
The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
The Decemberists
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Kevin Drew
Feist + Ben Gibbard
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear + Feist
Iron & Wine
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Kronos Quartet
Stuart Murdoch
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
The National
The New Pornographers
Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch
Riceboy Sleeps
Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio)
Spoon
Sufjan Stevens
Yeasayer
Yo La Tengo

Blind Pilot

Posted: 11 Jan 2009 02:55 PM CST

There is something about Portland these days….a number of bands/artists based in that city have grabbed my attention this past year…and Blind Pilot is no different. This duo is Israel Nebeker (guitar, vocals) and Ryan Dobrowski (drums).

If there is any album I would recommend to go out and immediately buy right this minute, it would be “3 Rounds and a Sound”. Do it now, and you can thank me later. To say I have been listening to this album to and from work obsessively is a mild understatement. I can’t get their songs out of my head….and really, I’m not sure I want to. Heavy heavy rotation these past few weeks. This is pure infectious indie-folk bliss guys. There is not a bad song on the album and they all deserve your attention but I’d have to say my favorite track is “The Bitter End”.

From their website:

Friends since college, Israel and Ryan have traveled many a mile to get where they are today–literally. Last year Israel and Ryan embarked on a West Coast bike tour. This wasn't a tour where they road bikes, and had a van hauling the equipment. They hauled everything on their bikes. No gas. 100% leg powered. Playing little towns that don't often get shows by "touring bands" – they were able to share their brand of music with people who weren't particularly familiar with indie-pop, or indi anything. But they found that heart-felt lyrics an beautiful music appeal to just about everyone. In fact, they completely sold out of their EPs. They returned to Portland anxious to complete their first full-length album. The long road to this album has paid off in spades.

As Willamette Week (the very first publication to receive a copy of the album) immediately proclaimed: "Every once in a while a band comes along that knocks me so flat on my ass that I wish I was in the PR business or an A&R guy instead of a critic, so I could throw myself wholeheartedly behind it. Blind Pilot [gave] me that sensation. Frontman, Israel Nebeker sounds like a less theatric version of James Mercer: every bit as sincere and captivating, with vocal control and style to spare. And this band has songs coming out of its ears: deep, clever guitar-driven tunes fleshed out with soaring horn arrangements. Listening to and thinking about these songs has kept me awake at night lately." It would be hard to imagine a better review, but "3 rounds and a sound" is just that good.