HTFAF is out of the office for a little bit.

Hey friends –

I’ll be traveling to Texas earrrrrly in the a.m. until Saturday.

See you then.

Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions : Sea Wolf

The Exit/In was a less than desirable place Friday night. It’s our favorite venue in town for sure, but we’d never ventured backstage during the summer months (we only started Backstage Sessions in February) so we weren’t prepared for the lack of air conditioning in the all concrete space on an 89 degree day. It was, to be understated, excruciatingly hot. Luckily for us The Exit/In has the friendliest staff in Nashville and they were kind enough to let us turn off the A/C fans which were dumping extra hot air into the space through their back-ends.

Once Sea Wolf began to play their songs for us though, the extremely uncomfortable sticky southern heat began to feel more like a comfortable fire on a chili night. No one noticed the thick, warm May air and for 10 minutes or so we just basked in the instant familiarity of Alex Church’s songs. You can share with us by streaming the video below and taking the mp3’s of the performances as a souvenir. See the rest of Sea Wolf’s tour dates here, buy their music here.

Sea Wolf – Middle Distance Runner

Stream the HD Version Here!

[mp3] Sea Wolf – Middle Distance Runner (Live – Backstage Session)


Sea Wolf – You’re a Wolf

Stream the HD version of this video here!

[mp3] Sea Wolf – You’re a Wolf (Live – Backstage Session)

Fleetwood Mac vs. The Beegees

So, I signed on this morning….okay I didn’t sign on because this isn’t 1999 and I’m not using America Online, but i opened Firefox this morning and the words fleetwood mac caught my eye on the yahoo homepage. It was in the “recently discussed on yahoo answers” section and it was a battle between Fleetwood Mac and the Beegees. Now, to me this is a silly proposal. The Beegees are great, but no one compares to Fleetwood Mac!

I encourage all of you to settle this the democratic way (all though yahoo might not like that) and vote for Buckingham, Nicks, Fleetwood, & McVie.

[mp3] Fleetwood Mac – Songbird
[mp3] Coldplay – Songbird (Oasis Cover)

I know the second one is in no way related to F.M. but it showed up when i was trying to find the former and I figured why the heck not.

Lunch Break Mini-Mix

[mp3] The A-Sides – We’re The Trees
[mp3] American Analog Set – First of Four
[mp3] The National – Apartment Story
[mp3] Oxford Collapse – Please Visit Your National Parks

Decemberists + Obama = Best Photograph Ever.

The New Year Announce Album Details, Tour!

Fathers of mopey slo-core math rock, The Brothers Kadane, formerly of Bedhead, currently of The New Year, have announced details surrounding the new record from the latter. The record, which is self-titled, will be released on September 9th of this year, and it will come via long-time label home Touch & Go. I couldn’t be more psyched.

Via Touch & Go’s press release:
“Lyrically, these ten songs address the interlocked themes of lost time, frustrated desire, and the need for others. Although musically these may be the band’s most varied songs — for a band that made innovative use of three guitars, almost half the songs here are built around the piano — it is the careful sequence of these songs that brings the story the lyrics tell together. The New Year will be touring the US and Europe as a full band this fall, and the Kadane Brothers are on tour this summer with Bottomless Pit.”

Kadane Brothers Tour Dates
6/26 – Emo’s, Austin, TX
6/27 – Lola’s, Fort Worth, TX
6/28 – Granada Theatre, Dallas, TX
7/11 – Knitting Factory, New York, NY *
7/12 – Middle East, Cambridge, MA *
7/13 – le Divan Orange, Montreal, Canada *
7/14 – Sneaky Dees, Toronto, Canada *
7/17 – Schuba’s, Chicago, IL *
7/18 – High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI *
7/19 – 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN *
*with Bottomless Pit

[mp3] The New Year – Chinese Handcuffs
[mp3] Bedhead – More than Ever

Buy Bedhead + New Year records.

Death Cab is #1

And no, I don’t mean in my heart. I’m talking about on the charts, in sales, in the real world, not in a dream or an alternate reality. Death Cab for Cutie has the #1 album in the country. With sales of 143,586, this marks the greatest, highest sales week in Death Cab’s 10-year history.

Now, sure this might not seem so surprising. We all knew how well Narrow Stairs was doing, and Plans wasn’t exactly a failure, true, but still, those of us who have been fans of DCFC for a few years, especially those of us who saw shows with 100 or so other people, will surely find this news a bit hard to believe.

If you’re not one of the 143,586 who have already done so, you can purchase Narrow Stairs here.

[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Blacking Out the Friction (Demo)
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Long Division (Live)

Shearwater – "Rook" Analysis

(Photo Cred.)

Rook starts out as the most delicate thing your ears have ever heard: Johnathan Meiburg’s haunting tenor moving fluidly over a classical piano line. That’s how it ends to, but in the middle, for about 30 seconds, the tension erupts in such a way that can only be described as frighteningly orchestral. Listening to this album in bed on a still, dark, night is the best thing you could do for yourself. It gives you the opportunity to soak in one of the most beautifully theatrical records I have heard in quite some time.

Most frontmen of Indie Rock bands are not singers, they are songwriters who had to learn how to sing so their songs could be shared; Johnathan Meiburg is a singer. He is a singer in the same way that Antony, Rufus Wainwright, and Chris Garneau are singers, not in the way that Spencer Krug, Britt Daniel, or Will Sheff are singers. His operatic and ghostly tenor is one of the most immediately disarming voices I have ever heard from a non-classical vocalist. It’s completely undeniable and it couldn’t be better served than it is by the rich grand piano, chaotic horns, delicately tremelo’d guitars, and soaring strings of Rook. I could go on, but i’d rather shut up so you can listen to the beautiful composition below.

Rook is due out on Matador (6/3). Pre-order it here. (Highly reccomended)

[mp3] Shearwater – On The Death of the Waters

See Shearwater’s tour dates here.

Give me whatever’s left, whatever the worker’s found

I suppose there is no shortage of them, those that call themselves singer-songwriter’s, and certainly shortage of them which would list their myspace genres as “Rock/Country/Folk,” but this shouldn’t stop us from enjoying the ones that excel at their craft, familiar though it may be, right?

Beau Jennings is a pretty special one in this field. He exists somewhere between the dustbowl americana Josh Ritter taps for inspiration and the 50’s rock n’ roll which fills the jukebox of your local inland interstate diner. While this still may not sound like anything terribly original I’d encourage you to give Tulsa Sound or The Opolis a listen and not find yourself hunting the repeat button. Those of you who preferred Bright Eye’s matured, world-traveler, folk-rock direction on Cassadaga to his earlier more angst-ridden offerings, for example, will likely find Mr. Jennings’ work quite satisfying.

There’s a cast of notable players including James McCalister and Jeff Shoop (Sufjan), Ryan Lindsey (Starlight Mints), and production by Chad Copelin (The Umbrellas, Bishop Allen). If you’re still not sold give the track below a listen and call me in the morning.

[mp3] Beau Jennings – Tulsa Sound

Hear more here.

Ra Ra Riot Sign to Barsuk!

Well this is good news! The wonderful Ra Ra Riot have inked their names on the dotted line with the also wonderful Barsuk Records. The North-Easterners will satisfy a niche in Barsuk’s corner they haven’t quite tapped yet, I’d say. A bit more dancy than the pop of The Long Winters, a bit more sophisticated than the average band whose pop is more dancy than the Long Winters (read: english sounding voice and strings = success!). I, for one am excited to see such a great band get such a great home.

A few dates this year to see too.