Next month Ray Lamontagne will release his 4th studio album. This time he seems armed with more than just his guitar and that raspy yet endearing voice of his. On August 17th, Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs will release God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise. Ray seems to have taken a new approach with this record. It appears that he wanted his backing band to have more of their fingerprints on the album. Not only is this his first record without his long-time collaborator/producer Ethan Johns, but he didn’t let his backing band (the Pariah Dogs who are listed on the album cover for the first time) hear the new songs until they day that they cut them.
I have to admit I was slightly disappointed with LaMontagne’s last effort, Gossip in the Grain, but I believe that we have yet to hear the best that this timeless troubadour has to offer. Ray recently told Rolling Stone that “I want to write music that will out live me. And I haven’t done it yet.” While I would disagree with that statement, I love to hear that he isn’t satisfied with what he’s given so far and it makes me all the more excited to hear not just this new record but the many that will assuredly follow.
The Avett Brothers have a recently released a video for their latest single off of their highly lauded and critically acclaimed album, I and Love and You, which came out last year and made my Top Ten of 2009 list, as well as Paste Magazine’s Top 50 Albums of the Decade (As much as I love this album, I don’t know how it beat out Emotionalism to make this list). The new video is for “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” one of my favorite tracks off of the new record. The animated video uses the illustrations of Jason Ryan Mitcham to depict the inevitable rise and fall of urban development, which Scott Avett says is right on par with the song’s message (Paste). It’s an excellent video for a great song off of a fantastic album. If you still aren’t on The Avett Brothers’ bandwagon, you really should hop on.
It seems the internet is booming with excitement over the release of a new single by Melbourne based electronic outfit Cut Copy. Well, I think it’s worth mentioning that IHYEB shares in that excitement. I, Cody, have been posting my favorite Cut Copy remixes for what is now years here on the blog, so now when a new release comes my way I can’t help but be a little over excited.
Other blogs have mentioned this track having a Beach Boys vibe in it. As for myself, while I see where they derive that, I’m not feeling that description so much. Instead, I get a bit of an Avalanches vibe from it. The sampling and reusing/mixing of sound has their style written all over it.
But as Elvis Costello said, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” Listen to the track and tell us what you think. Is Cut Copy back for a thumping third major release, or is this the sign of their aging sound?
Next month Ray Lamontagne will release his 4th studio album. This time he seems armed with more than just his guitar and that raspy yet endearing voice of his. On August 17th, Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs will release God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise. Ray seems to have taken a new approach with this record. It appears that he wanted his backing band to have more of their fingerprints on the album. Not only is this his first record without his long-time collaborator/producer Ethan Johns, but he didn’t let his backing band (the Pariah Dogs who are listed on the album cover for the first time) hear the new songs until they day that they cut them.
