Listen to and watch the video for Beach Fossils‘ new song “Lessons” below.

February is gearing up to be a bumper month for new music, which as we reported last week you can now add Beach Fossils to the mix.

The previously-heard “Shallow” will be the lead track from the band’s upcoming new 7″ single, which is backed by the song below, “Lessons”. For fans of Beach Fossils‘ other work, including “Shallow”, this will be right up your street, as the band rarely stray too far away from home, but they don’t need to to make great music.

The video below is taken from a home movie from 1957 titled “Saga Of The Happy Wanderers”, and the single will be released on February 21st via Captured Tracks.

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Ever since the huge acclaim “Hissing Fauna” received back in 2007, the popular opinion is that of Montreal haven’t come anywhere close to reaching that level of achievement since. That isn’t how I feel. “Skeletal Lamping” was a mess, but it was a beautiful mess. “False Priest” wasn’t the type of album we would want to hear from oM, but it was still a good album regardless. Then, “thecontrollersphere EP”, the rushed finale to the “series” of albums that began with “Hissing Fauna”, was released last year. It was originally intended to be an album, not an EP, and that wasn’t the only thing fans were confused about. The content of the EP were the songs left on the cutting room floor from the “False Priest” sessions, not original material. I still liked it, but it still gave some people that “Amnesiac” feeling.

The question was though, why was “thecontrollersphere” wrapped up so quick? Why was it so rushed? I think it was because the characters that Kevin Barnes had created were beginning to irritate even him. He just wanted to move on. Well, he has, and quite simply he’s cut the shit. No more trans-gender alter ego’s, no more sexual confessions. What he got up to during his marriage separation is now his own business. The thing is, they haven’t gone back to the drawing board, they’ve gone back to oM basics, and I mean that in a good way.

Vocally and lyrically, Barnes hasn’t sounded this sweet or sincere for a long, long time and the vocal structures are very similar to the good ol “Satanic Panic” days. It’s beautiful and heart melting. That is until the actual songs end and erupt into drone for five minutes before we hear another jangly pop song.

The tracks here are long, and I mean long. All the tracks on the last half of the album range from seven to thirteen minutes! There is no need for them to be this long whatsoever. There’s a lot of fat that needs to be trimmed and the album plays out like a test of the listener’s patience when there isn’t much of a song to clutch on to. How long can you listen for until you get sick? It’s not just with the long songs, either. Opening track “Gelid Ascent” doesn’t start until ten seconds in and when it does there’s a full minute until the song really starts after a lot of inaudible spoken word and atrocious drone. It sounds as if it was recorded under water. When the song finally does kick in, though, it gives you reason to be excited for the next 58 minutes.

My two favourite and not coincidentally the shortest tracks are the ones that are pure pop with sing-a-long lyrics that are the band’s forte. “I spend my waking hours haunting my life/I made the one I love start crying tonight and it felt good/ Still there must be a more elegant solution”. This is just one of the many memorable verses on “Spiteful Intervention” and is classic Barnes storytelling with the juxtaposition of insanely depressing lyrics with magical jangle pop goodness. And of course there’s the great “Dour Percentage”, which is fairly reminiscent of Elton John.

The very best two moments of the album occur on the final track, “Authentic Pyrrhic Remission”, which borders on 14 minutes. The first moment I’m talking about is the actual song, which is the first three minutes and it’s great. The second moment is the final two minutes of the song, which is also great, but the nine-minute gap between these moments cancel them out. These nine minutes consist of one big sound that’s made up of sci-fi-like noises connected together by one long drone. Edit some sound bites of the Star Trek teleporter and a Jedi waving his light saber around and boom, you have this song.

The worst and penultimate song on the album, “Exorcism Breeding Knife” is a whole experimental and almost instrumental track dedicated to the abysmal sound occupied by half of the album. It is a bad fucking song. It is over seven minutes long and it gets very irritating. I especially can’t imagine any fan that got in to the band after hearing “Sex Karma” will find this appealing. Those fans are also likely to be put off by oM’s ever-worsening choice of track names. I’ve mentioned the worst, such as “Exorcism Breeding Knife” and “Authentic Pyrrhic Remission”. Other stingers include; “Ye, Renew The Plaintiff”, “Malefic Dowery” and “Gelid Ascent”.

So although I said that they’ve gone back to basics, it’s definitely clear that oM have tried to be psychedelic. The problem with this album is it doesn’t sound as if it’s been produced or mixed, and that is not what psychedelia is. Not that I don’t love some of the new additions; I love the woodwind instruments that open the wonderful “Wintered Debts” and the piano ballad at the end of “Authentic Pyrrhic Remission”. On an album marred by thick, over-long instrumentals, these sort of fleet touches are a relief.

I am a big of Montreal fan and I am also really hard to please, so a new oM album with classic traits and a risky new sound results in mixed opinions from me. I both love “Paralytic Stalks” but it’s difficult to listen to a song from beginning to end never mind the full album! It is a shame as it is technically the first original album they’ve done since Hissing Fauna. I have never been so torn or on the fence about an album like I am with this. What I have decided to do is to accept “Paralytic Stalks” and wait for the next oM tirade, but until that comes we have a wonderful, terrible, fascinating, treacherous, glorious, annoying album to wear out.

Connect with Of Montreal: Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm

Listen to Jack White‘s new song “Machine Gun Silhouette” below.

It’s only been a week since Jack White excited most of us by announcing his debut solo album “Blunderbuss” and gave us a taste of what it might sound like with “Love Interruption”, and now we can hear the b-side to the single thanks to BPM.

The single’s been finding its way into the homes of those who ordered it and the b-side has now made its way onto the interwebs. If the first two songs from his solo work are any indication then it’s going to be a much more different sound than we first might’ve expected, but check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments.

This record hit 2012 like the spotlight hits an old lounge singer in a seedy jazz club. With hushed, husky vocals, Leonard Cohen sounds a bit like a reformed prisoner who has just returned to the outside world from jail. While this is his first record in eight years, and though it may be riddled with puzzles, it is by no means disappointing. Cohen has entered that group of singer/songwriter legends who are standing in the doorway of death. Perhaps this is why he religious, superstitious and grave in a way that he never has before. Actually, the feel and sound of this album remind me in many ways of Dylan’s “Time Out Of Mind”, the record he released after a similar break of about seven years without any new material.

“Old Ideas” starts with a overtly titled track called “Going Home” that threads a third-person narration of “Leonard” his faults, flaws and hopes are discussed in relation to his life, death and accomplishments. He sings “He will speak these words of wisdom/ Like a sage, a man of vision / Though he knows he’s really nothing/ But the brief elaboration of a tube.” The paradox he creates here is one of puppet and puppeteer, of import and insignificance, poetry that moves me to consider echelons higher than the one I normally find my thoughts dwelling. This poetry that sets Cohen apart is back in full force. Invoking imagery in the same breath from rehab and a church pew on “Amen” Cohen deftly combines the threads of life into songs that prick and pique my interest like never before.

One of the puzzles of the record is why in the world Cohen allowed the thick coating of female back up singers on his songs. Almost every song feels draped in streamers as soon as these voices show up, which is astonishingly often, and they turn every track into a song that sounds like a parody of itself. Sometimes he leaves off vocally altogether and the chorus of gospel-bound harmonies bounces right over and through his poetry without any recognition of what it stands for, what it means. I found this to be a facet of the record that actually disgusted me, it felt cookie cutter but it also felt inconsistent.

Filled with curve balls, even after a solid few days with the record I keep uncovering new twists and turns. My favorite track is “Banjo” near the end of the record. Although still filled with these chintzy female back up singers (really it is astonishing how often they show up), they almost feel appropriate on this track. First Cohen declares “There’s something that I’m watching / Means a lot to me” and after this intriguing opening goes straight into what could be a line from Mother Goose “It’s a broken banjo boppin’ on the dark, infested sea.” The bopping nature of this song and Cohen’s own hint of a smile in his pronunciation make this track a delight to hear.

The themes of death and growing old appear in most of the tracks, including “Darkness” which almost sounds like it could be off of “Time Out Of Mind” with its heavy dose of organ and Cohen’s vocals at their lowest and most foreboding. Love and growing old seems to be another irreconcilable topic for Cohen as both “Crazy To Love You” and “Different Sides” deal with twisting effects that time have on love and what a relationship becomes.

Sometimes he sounds straight out of a saloon, sometimes he sounds like a like a pulpit-pounding preacher, sometimes he could be a cheerful grandfather singing his grandchildren a silly ditty, and sometimes Leonard Cohen sounds like a veritable legend. Whatever your degree of contact and connection with this record, it becomes apparent even upon a cursory listen, that despite its flaws, this collection of songs is the work of a musical genius and a true legend.

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Listen to and download the new White Rabbits song “Harmony” below, taken from their new album “Milk Famous”.

At the start of the year White Rabbits released one of the best songs of 2012 so far with “Heavy Metal”, a cutting track that’s the first new music from their upcoming third album “Milk Famous”.

Due out on March 6th, the album might just be one of the contenders to be on many-a best of 2012 list, an assumption buoyed by the fact that their other new track “Harmony” is just as good as “Heavy Metal”. Check it out below and go watch the video for “Heavy Metal”, it’s jamtastic (and has naked chicks in a bath!)

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White Rabbits – “Harmony”

Watch the new video for St. Vincent‘s song “Cheerleader” below, taken from the album “Strange Mercy”.

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Listen to Willis Earl Beal‘s new song “Take Me Away” below, from his upcoming album “Acousmatic Sorcery”.

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Willis Earl Beal is on the path to great success, and the re-issue of his album “Acousmatic Sorcery” will only prove this, however if there’s one thing holding him back on that album it’ll be the production.

It’s DIY and it’s most basic and raw, something that will undoubtedly turn people off, but if you can get past that and tune in to the unbridled passion and fire that he has, it won’t make a difference how the album was recorded. Take a listen to “Take Me Away” below from “Acousmatic Sorcery”, out on March 20th via XL.

Connect with Willis Earl Beal – Facebook | Twitter | Website | Last.fm

Two things I know as fact about Canada; one, it’s cold as hell. And two, they export some of the best modern singer songwriter music available.  Not the whiny angst ridden varitey that you seem to get here in the US. Certainly, with artists like Laura Marling and Ellie Goulding, the UK is still leading the pack. But Canada is closing the gap quick. Especially with fantastic emerging artists like Kathleen Edwards.

I hate to admit that I didn’t even hear about Kathleen until January’s release of “Voyageur“. Yes, it had a ton of buzz surrounding it’s release (more on this later), but she’s the type of artist that I would love to have found out about years ago. As good as “Voyageur” is, her earlier material is equally as stimulating. With her 2002 Canadian release of  ”Failer” Kathleen gained critical acclaim in Canada, and even secured a spot at SXSW. Since then, her notaritey in America has slowly grown. Her latest offering, not suprisingly, was met with much aticipation in both Canada and America.

While it is extremley well written, to be fair, “Voyageur” is not only popular because of its musical content. Her higly publicized relationship with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver, for those than don’t know) certainly didn’t hurt anything. In addition, he produced, sang, and played on the release. This gives some tracks like “For The Record” that very familair Bon Iver sound. Some the more upbeat tracks like “Sidecar” take on a very Sarah Harmer feel.  ”Voyageur” is an easy listen for sure, perfect for that slow-paced overcast kind of day.

Her current single “Change The Sheets“, about a relationship gone awry in some manner, is a great late night cruise track. It manages to encompass the feel of the whole album for me, making it a perfect single release in my book. The video was shot at various locations around Minneapolis, and gives you a feeling of just how hectic road life can be.

While not practically meant for probable mainstream success, she’s bound to continue to be a great live draw. Having graduated from opening for larger acts, like Bon Iver, she now is headlining venues across Canada and the US. “Voyageur” is available now. Listen to her single “Change The Sheets” below, and while you’re at it, check out the video.

Connect With Kathleen Edwards – Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Website

Listen to Young Magic‘s new album “Melt” below.

Young Magic combines elements of pysch and electronica to push the bounds of both genres.  Although originally the project was solely Isaac Emmanuel’s music, Melati Malay and Michael Italia have joined the group.

“Melt” is their highly anticipated debut album after a stream of single releases and an appearance on highly limited projects, like the “Higher Planes” meditation cassette.  Their elusive nature only entices their fans even more and “Melt” has been receiving great acclaim from critics.

They’ve previously toured with the similarly youthful, beat-focused act, Youth Lagoon and are scheduled to appear at this year’s SXSW.  Check out “Melt” below and hear it for yourself!

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OK Go are as notible for great video’s as they are for great music, the new video for “Needing/Getting” is far from an exception and is actually one car commercial worth watching, check it out below.

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