This installment in our Covers Project series is a two-fer. St. Vincent joined up with The National to cover Crooked Fingers‘ “Sleep All Summer” for Merge Records‘ 20th Anniversary compilation.

Despite remaining relatively faithful, the cover still sounds world’s apart from Eric Bachmann’s original duet with Lara Meyerratken.

Annie Clark (Miss St. Vincent) returned the favor recently when she performed a re-imagined version of The National’s “Mistaken for Strangers” for Brooklyn Vegan’s benefit concert for Haiti.

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Can you feel the music video renaissance?! We can. In this episode of video roundup, St. Vincent plays a feminist book store, Broken Bells (Shins/Danger Mouse collab) wander around a dark highway, Beach House shows us a world dominated by silver people, and Taken by Trees retreats to nature for a cover of Animal Collective’s “My Girls.”

Sleepy Sun’s 2009 debut, Embrace, is finally picking up the traction it deserves. The San Francisco natives play hazey, psych-rock tunes that fans of Deerhunter should check out.

If you like the sound, then be sure to check out their performance for the Bay Bridged series “New, Improved, Live” over here.

“Stylo” is the first we’ve heard of the highly anticipated Plastic Beach, due out March 9th. Although the track features help from Bobby Womack and Mos Def, a part of me is a little disappointed in the monotony of it all. In fact, it seems like this whole album might just be a dance-pop release with too many featured guests… let us know your feelings in the comments section.

“The Ruminant Band” is the title track off of The Fruit Bats‘ fourth studio album, released last year on Sub Pop.

If you ever wished The Shins jammed out a little more, these guys are for you. In fact, founding member Eric Johnson now plays guitar for the Shins (small world).

“In the Know” is a recurring series on Stranger Dance that features the latest and greatest MP3s circling the web. If you think you’ve got a tip we should know about email Peter.

Everyone’s favorite Alabama gangstabillies are back with their 10th album. The Truckers are set to release The Big To-Do on March 16th, their debut release for Dave Matthews’ ATO Records imprint.

Frontman Patterson Hood explained that his writing process for this album differed from the previous nine Truckers’ releases. “I don’t write a lot of songs on the road,” he said, “but I did more than usual on this album and many more were inspired by or set there, either in a literal sense or something I witnessed or heard about while I was out there… It’s very much a rock album. Very melodic and more rocking than anything we’ve done since disc 2 of Southern Rock Opera.”

Never ones for convention, the album’s lead single is titled “This Fucking Job” and lives up to its gritty title.

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The Big To-Do tracklist:

1. Daddy Learned to Fly
2. The Fourth Night of My Drinking
3. Birthday Boy
4. Drag the Lake Charlie
5. The Wig He Made Her Wear
6. You Got Another
7. This Fucking Job
8. Get Downtown
9. After the Scene Dies
10. (It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So
11. Santa Fe
12. The Flying Wallendas
13. Eyes Like Glue
14. Girls Who Smoke [vinyl-only bonus track]

Tour Dates:

1/28 – Huntsville, Ala. @ Crossroads Music Hall
1/29 – Mobile, Ala. @ Soul Kitchen
1/30 – Tuscaloosa, Ala. @ Jupiter Bar & Grill
2/11 – Greenville, S.C. @ Handlebar
2/12 – Raleigh, N.C. @ Lincoln Theatre
2/13 – Raleigh, N.C. @ Lincoln Theatre
2/14 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Bijou Theatre
2/25 – Charlotte, N.C. @ Neighborhood Theatre
2/26 – Charlottesville, Va. @ Jefferson Theatre
2/27 – Charlottesville, Va. @ Jefferson Theatre

Ok… not all the details. But we do have a title: Tomboy. It has also been confirmed that Panda Bear will release his follow up to Person Pitch sometime in September on Paw Tracks.

The Animal Collective frontman has also been playing new tunes on his European Tour, so enjoy a video of two new songs after the jump.

Teen Dream, the long-awaited third release from Beach House proves the Baltimore duo’s still got it. A noticeably different release, the new album sounds like they’ve emerged from their signature sinister, attic-dweller sound, providing us with an added upbeat dimension we’re not yet familiar with, but will soon know and love.

Beach House dropped a big hint about their new sound with their first single “Norway,” introducing a lighter, cheerful side. Album opener “Zebra” is unassuming and innocent, holding onto their core style, but introducing something brand new. All of the same Beach House elements that we know are present: the cheap drum machine, Alex Scally’s masterful guitar comping, Victoria Legrand’s unique voice and droning keyboard. But when the chorus builds with a steady crescendo and gently crashes into a promising pulse, the majestic chords signal that this is a different kind of animal.

The bedroom pop aesthetic of “Silver Soul” lifts and carries sweetly in a slow-flowing honey haze, like a deliciously drawn-out makeout session. Legrand’s vocals are breathy and mature, crackling over lucid waves of Scally’s guitar. “Walk in the Park” is upbeat but still rolls out the fog machines with emotive lyrics. Still the creamy Beach House we already know, this head-bobbing track sounds like “Gila 2.0,” but now less menacing; brighter and more hopeful. The bubblegum kick drums and unrecognizable energy of “Lover of Mine” stand out as a showcase of the pair’s true sonic abilities. The tempo carries through to the sparkling “Better Times.” Channeling Stevie Nicks, cascading organs and tambourines accent the duo’s vocals as we gallop with sleigh-ride rhythms. Teen Dream closes out with an anthemic lullaby called “Take Care.” Gorgeously peppered guitar, gauzy ooh-aahs and rushing drum machines climax with Beach House’s true forte: an extra-long and delicately layered breakdown.

Beach House’s new album moves away from their dark sound, but not to a remote location. The songs continue to float with the shadowy ease that we know and some new throbbing rhythmic elements that we’ll grow to love. Beneath the salve of Teen Dream are its lyrics which fit the album’s title and developing dimensional sound appropriately — closed chapters, new beginnings, adventure, heartbreak, love, and most obviously, growth. If this is what Beach House is growing up to be, then I think we’re in for an awesome adolescence.

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During a special acoustic set for German magazine, Musikexpress, Phoenix played a version of Bob Dylan’s “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.” Dylan’s 11-minute original was condensed down to under 5:00, but all-in-all it’s a decent listen.

That being said, I await your “this is a travesty” in the comments section below.

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Budweiser’s going indie. The King of Beers tapped indie-troubadour M. Ward for their recent “It’s What We Do” commercials. The ongoing series features “Never Had Nobody Like You” — a duet with Ward’s She & Him partner, actress Zooey Deschanel, off of 2009’s Hold Time.

The syntax-challenged duo are set to returning with an aptly named sophomore release, Volume Two, on March 23.

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Along with some guy named Jack Black, Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass has given the world musical treasures like “Inward Singing” and “Cock Pushups.” Gass has also spent the last eight years praising the rock gods with with his other band, Trainwreck. The five-man act does rock and roll with Skynard flair and, duh, a comedic twist. Trainwreck’s first album, The Wreckoning, was released in December.

Calling from Sherman Oaks, CA, Gass talked with Stranger Dance about his fondness for flute solos, distaste for M.I.A and plot to create a Trainwreck nation.

Stranger Dance: Trainwreck’s John Shredman [guitarist John Konesky] said ‘the situation with Trainwreck was never going to result in a completed record.’ What was that situation and how did it resolve itself?
Kyle Gass: Wow, you just go right to the dirt. We had the producer of the Tenacious D record, a friend of mine, and we were working on it for a long time, but it was kind of that side project…because we were playing gigs. And then it just sort of went on for a long time… and we just thought ‘well, let’s just start over and do it ourselves.’

It had taken so long with actual personnel changes and the like and we had new songs and we didn’t like some of the old songs so we just started fresh and just decided to take the bull by the horns and do it ourselves, in that Ani DiFranco spirit. And then we just did it. We new we’d finish it if we just did it ourselves.

SD: You guys have been together for eight years.
KG: I think so. We’ve been through a lot of changes. When we started it was just me and JR who plays Lee in the Tenacious D show, when we used to do TV shows. He’s and old friend, so it was just me and JR and then we kind of moved into a more full rock band, kind of the full lineup, and hooked up with these guys in Columbus, Ohio, very talented guys that now play behind us for Tenacious D if we’re  playing stadiums or something like that. We play big venues and we wanted a whole band onstage. We’ve been together a long time. This is our first album. We work slow.

SD: Was it always your intention to record an album?
KG: Yeah. I think we always wanted to. I think probably every band wants to. I think it makes it seem kind of more official, kind of more rea. Just yesterday I signed a deal with online Ioda. They’re kind of the newfangled record company only they don’t deal with hardcopy CDs anymore, it’s just kind of an online thing. So it’s good. So we’re going to be available on there. And I just want to say go to www.twreck.net to get the full story, for all you computer people

SD: Who is Trainwreck’s primary audience?
KG: I think Trainwreck’s primary audience is people alienated by electronic music. I think people that like their music real, based on real guitars and old-style amplifiers, but also like the music and the presentation with a comic smile, if you will. I think anyone who enjoys having a good time. So I guess that covers everybody. No. I think though probably not everybody. But, yeah, I think it’s a pretty good cross section. It’s almost like a classic rock kind of vibe, a sprinkling of country, a little rockabilly, some really good dancing, with tasty guitar solos. I like to call it a train wreck of genres, really. That was kind of the original idea of Trainwreck. Do a little pop, a little rock, a little of this, a little of that.

SD: Who would you cite as your main influences and who would you be most honored to be compared to?
KG: Wow. I’d say The Band, the old Robbie Robertson outfit. I think with a sense of humor we could kind of be in that ilk. And it has kind of a Lynard Skynard vibe and also kind of a Tenacious D vibe going on as well. In fact, I’d be honored if we were compared to Tenacious D, but way more successful.

SD: Are there differences between your studio sound and the live show?
KG: Yeah. In the studio we’re all playing really in tune, really well. And live, you never know. We kept it pretty real in the studio though. We captured the live sound. We kick it out pretty good. I actually think that our strength might be the live show, because it’s pretty high energy, and a lot of times there’s some really funny banter coming out of my mouth, especially. You just never know what my character Klip Calhoun is going say next

SD: What does your Trainwreck alter ego Klip Calhoun bring, and why choose that name?
KG: Klip Calhoun I don’t know where it came from. I think Klip reminded me kind of an easy-going, fun-loving guy. Klip’s just a tremendous individual. He’s kind of the leader of the band, but he’s kind of a mascot too. A lot of times he doesn’t do much, but he’s kind of the ringleader of the party.

Also, Klip’s been playing a lot of flute, so we’re kind of getting a Jethro Tull vibe — we’re getting some Tull in there. And it just so happens that I’m an almost-virtuoso flute player. And I don’t use it on all the songs, because you don’t want that much flute, but we have a couple of mystical explorations, like in “Rock Bolder Mountain.” It’s kind of an epic jam, and there’s some pretty awesome flute playing on it. It’s an alternate universe, that Trainwreck lives in, so everyone has a character. It’s like a comic book come to life. It’s probably the most entertaining show you’re likely to see ever.

SD: You’re from outside SF and you live in LA. Do you take part in the rivalry between the cities?
KG: Here’s how it works: people from San Francisco hate Los Angeles, and in Los Angeles nobody knows that northern California exists. So it’s not a real rivalry. People in LA just live in their own little world and don’t even realize there’s an outside world. But the Bay Area they’re all about hating Los Angeles thinking that it’s hedonistic, shallow, smog ridden. People in the Bay area, they like the fine wines. You know what I’m talking about.

SD: Could you pick one if you had to?
KG: Since we’re touring the Bay area, I’m going to pick the Bay area. It’s really the greatest place on Earth.

SD: You were there in August for Outside Lands. What was that like?
KG: It was really cold; it was really fun though, and it was a really nice, big crowd, although we were filling in for the Beastie Boys, so the pressure was on. Everyone loves them, and they’re a huge act. Adam Yauch got ill and couldn’t do it, and so we were the replacement. So there was bound to be a backlash. I made the mistake of reading some of the blogs and people were not happy with us. I think we rose to the occasion. In fact the opener, M.I.A., she was not happy at all with the replacement, and she let it be known. It was kind of a little battle.

The Sound: It’s all about light on Contra, coastal sunlight and sonic lightness manifested by the twinkly, symphonic surf pop sound further cultivated since Vampire Weekend’s debut blew up hard two years ago.

Electro/synth elements suggest the long arm of Animal Collective’s influence, yet VW remains wholly their own by maintaining the precision at the core of their prim Ivy League aesthetic. Contra is decisively progressive in its amplified sound scope of complex rhythm and drums. The drums! The pace is fast, sometimes fragmented and has moments Paul Simon would either be proud of or sue them for.

With references to sandals and surf, it’s a lot about California too, as though the band rode it’s wave of hype west and then took its time in the sun crafting Contra’s thoughtful looseness.

Best Listened to While: In California at your first golden summer afternoon Pacific-side beach party, still pasty and fresh from your colder, easterly place of origin. Buzzed on Tecate and full on fish tacos chatting up pretty girls in flowing skirts. Twirling in the sun. Sitting in a rainbow. Swimming in the ocean and admiring the delicate play of light on the water that you just never noticed back home. Spinning in a translucent Gravitron. Driving your vintage Mustang convertible down the Pacific Coast Highway at sunset with one of those aforementioned pretty girls and, as they say, freeing “your mind to California English.” Totally, dude, totally.

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Albums by Atmosphere is an on-going series that considers albums in terms of the ideal setting to fully appreciate an album.