Captain Obvious

CO Notice

2011-05-26T11:17:00.005-05:00

Hello friends/readers. We're making some hosting and domain registration changes so the files won't be downloadable for the next few days or so. I'll also be shifting over to wordpress and redesigning the look of the site. It might take a little bit of time for everything to fall in order but we'll back and better than ever soon. Thank you all in advance for your patience.

New The War On Drugs Album

2011-05-14T19:36:00.007-05:00

You Should Know

Very excited about Slave Ambient, the upcoming release from The War On Drugs, the brainchild of Kurt Vile cohort/Philadelphia musician Adam Grunduciel. This band has dominated both my iPod and record player this past year. An excerpt from the press release:

"Slave Ambient features a team of Philadelphia's finest musicians, including multi-instrumentalists Dave Hartley and Robbie Bennett, and drummer Mike Zanghi. Recorded throughout the last four years at Granduciel's home studio in Philly, Jeff Ziegler's Uniform Recording and Echo Mountain in Asheville, NC, the album puts the weirdest influences in just the right places. Synthesizers fall where you might expect more electric guitars (and vice versa); country-rock sidles up to the warped extravagance of ’80s pop."

Slave Ambient is set for release on August 16th via Secretly Canadian. Mark it on your calender. -- Capt. Obvious

MP3: The War On Drugs - Baby Missiles

Tags: The War On Drugs

April Mixtape

2011-05-02T00:12:00.028-05:00

SIDE A
1. Radiohead - The Butcher
2. Chad VanGaalen - Sara
3. Ganglians - Jungle
4. The National - Exile Vilify
5. My Morning Jacket - Circuital
6. O'Death - Bugs
7. Handsome Furs - What About Us

SIDE B
1. German Error Message - We Arose
2. Washed Out - Eyes Be Closed
3. Wye Oak - Holy Holy
4. Southeast Engine - New Growth
5. Okkervil River - Wake And Be Fine
6. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Matt Sweeney - I Must Be Blind
7. Yeasayer - Phoenix Wind

ZIP: April Mixtape

Morning Teleportation

2011-04-24T14:09:00.015-05:00

You Should Know

It's fitting that the man behind the influential Modest Mouse has such a golden ear. Isaac Brock, who recently brought you Mimicking Birds and discovered Wolf Parade as an A&R man for Sub Pop now brings you Morning Teleportation, a psych-rock quintet hailing from Portland, OR. The band's debut album, Expanding Anyway, was recently released via Glacial Pace Records, Brock's imprint. The band frantically combines a variety of instruments from banjo to trumpet to synths to create a genre-bending sound informed not only by the likes of Brock's band, but also by folk, math-rock, psychedelia, and even jazz. Expanding Away manages to both assault and soothe your senses, sometimes all in the course of one song. Avant-garde goodness abounds. -- Capt. Obvious

MP3: Morning Teleportation - Expanding Anyway

Tags: Morning Teleportation

Vikesh Kapoor: Sherene, Don't Be Alone

2011-04-24T13:52:00.010-05:00

COTV

Tags: Vikesh Kapoor, Sherene, Don't Be Alone

David Bazan: Strange Negotiations (2011)

2011-04-24T13:01:00.025-05:00

New Wax

Seattle's David Bazan is set to release Strange Negotiations via Barsuk on May 24th. Bazan took a cue from Kickstarter.com and took donations from fans to help fund the recording of the album. The now-completed and set-for-release album follows up 2009's Curse Your Branches, an unflinchingly introspective collection of songs centering around Bazan's struggles with Christianity. While Strange Negotiations plays like an extension to its predecessor, albeit with a more overreaching thematic arc, it hearkens back sonically to Bazan's days at the helm of Pedro The Lion. Where the relatively barebones Curse Your Branches featured Bazan on all instruments, Strange Negotiations is a fuller, more involved affair. While album opener "Wolves At The Door" and second track "Level With Yourself" set a more rock-oriented tone, Strange Negotiatons still offers its share of intimate moments. There's the quiet-to-loud build of "People," the slow-burning "Virginia," and the measured groove of the title track. Lyrically, Bazan tackles some familiar territory: the notion of acceptance, familial ties, the lost naivety of youth, making sense of faith or the lack thereof, and the will to muster the strength to soldier on in the face of crippling uncertainty. Strange Negotiations is a lovely album, both personal and far-reaching, that seems best summed up by a line from album closer "Won't Let Go." Bazan sings: "Who or what controls the fates of man I cannot say/ But I keep arriving safely home to you/ And I humbly acknowledge that I won't always get my way/ But darling, death will have to pry my fingers loose." -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: David Bazan - Wolves At The Door

Tags: David Bazan, Strange Negotiations

Cass McCombs: Wit's End (2011)

2011-04-13T17:29:00.026-05:00

New Wax

Mysterious nomad songwriter Cass McCombs, whose apparent distaste for publicity (rumor is he'll only do handwritten interviews through the mail) is only rivaled by his effortless knack for penning excellent genre-defying material. From the Smiths-esque tinge of his earlier material, to the unexpected country-influence of 2009's sublime Catacombs, McCombs has proven to be not only a deft student of music but an original voice in an overcrowded indie landscape. With his newest effort, Wit's End, McCombs has released his most peculiar, and arguably most intriguing album. The album opens with the deceptively accessible "County Line." Over a driving bassline and electric piano, McCombs turns in a noteworthy slow-burner of a soul song about returning to an unwelcoming home. While "County Line" is a heady song in its own right, it's easily the most palatable of the bunch. The rest of Wit's End plays out at funeral march pace. The percussion-less "Buried Alive" crawls and creeps with McComb proclaiming: "If I'm alive or dead I don't really care, as long as my soul's intact." That underlying sense of fatalism and detachment from the waking world permeates the entire album. The thematic starkness coupled with its sparse instrumentation makes Wit's End the epitome of a mood album. Those willing to test its dark waters won't come out unscathed. Wit's End is a beautiful nightmare. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Cass McCombs - County Line
MP3: Cass McCombs - The Lonely Doll

Tags: Cass McCombs, Wit's End

March Mixtape

2011-04-08T09:40:00.026-05:00

SIDE A
1. The Middle East - Land Of The Bloody Unknown
2. Woods - Pushing Onlys
3. J Mascis - Not Enough
4. Bill Callahan - Baby's Breath
5. Marissa Nadler - Baby, I Will Leave You In The Morning
6. Low - Especially Me
7. Royal Bangs - TV Tree

SIDE B
1. TV On The Radio - Caffeinated Consciousness
2. Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean
3. The Appleseed Cast - Middle States
4. Panda Bear - Surfer's Hymn
5. Cults - You Know What I Mean
6. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
7. Craft Spells - From The Morning Heat

ZIP: March Mixtape

Destroyer: Kaputt

2011-03-21T14:54:00.004-05:00

COTV

Tags: Destroyer, Kaputt

Timber Timbre: Creep On Creepin On (2011)

2011-03-21T12:03:00.039-05:00

New Wax

After self-releasing a few albums and releasing their self-titled album on Arts & Crafts in 2009, Canada's difficult-to-categorize Timber Timbre return with Creep On Creepin' On. On the new full-length, Vocalist Taylor Kirk melds his patented dark wordplay and unique voice with imaginative arrangements that successfully marry seemingly disparate genres. Take, for example, the endlessly re-playable "Black Water," a six minute track that sounds like a mash-up of swamp blues and 60's Motown. Atmospheric flourishes and discordant strings abound on Creep On and the added eeriness in juxtaposition with the album's more melodic moments and unexpected touches such as slowed-down doo-wop piano make for a unique listen. With lyrics fitting for murder ballads and unexpected musical choices, Creep On's bizarre overall aesthetic never ceases to captivate. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Timber Timbre - Black Water
MP3: Timber Timbre - Creep On Creepin On

Tags: Timber Timbre, Creep On Creepin On

The Low Anthem: Smart Flesh (2011)

2011-03-08T13:18:00.017-06:00

New Wax

We wrote about The Low Anthem way back in 2007 and it's nice to see the band cultivate a respectable following. The Rhode Island band is back with a follow-up to their 2009 Nonesuch Records debut Oh My God Charlie, Darwin. The new album, entitled Smart Flesh, extends the bands spot-on portrayal of rustic Americana with a winning collection of songs ranging from moody to ramshackle. The first three songs on Smart Flesh serve as a fitting microcosm of the band's varied abilities. There's the downtrodden album opener "Ghost Woman Blues," the country twang and tongue-in-cheek lyricism of "Apothecary Love," and the uptempo, horn-laden "Boeing 737," a farcical tale referencing the 9/11 attacks and French high wire artist Philippe Petite of Man On A Wire fame. Elsewhere, the jangled jamming on "Hey, All You Hippies!" is reminiscent of Basement Tapes-era The Band, and the layered vocals of "Golden Cattle" exhibit the band's unparalleled ear for heart-wrenching harmonies. While there's a fair share of pretenders in the now all-too-familiar genre of nostalgia-heavy Americana, The Low Anthem is doing it so well, it's only right that people take notice. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: The Low Anthem - Apothecary Love
MP3: The Low Anthem - Ghost Woman Blues

Tags: The Low Anthem, Smart Flesh

The Covers Mixtape XXXI

2011-03-08T11:37:00.023-06:00

SIDE A
1. Robin Pecknold - Where Is My Wild Rose (Chris Thompson Cover)
2. John Vanderslice - Walkabout (Atlas Sound Cover)
3. Strand Of Oaks - Wolves (Phosphorescent Cover)
4. The Decemberists - Cuyahoga (R.E.M. Cover)
5. Loch Lomond - The Chain (Fleetwood Mac Cover)
6. Wolf Gang - Pyramid Song (Radiohead Cover)
7. Marissa Nadler - Colorado Girl (Townes Van Zandt Cover)

SIDE B
1. James Blake - A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell Cover)
2. Futurebirds - I Found A Reason (Velvet Underground Cover)
3. Jim White - Use Me (Bill Withers Cover)
4. Miniature Tigers - Ruby Tuesday (Rolling Stones Cover)
5. Blind Pilot - Look At Miss Ohio (Gillian Welch Cover)
6. Owen - Girlfriend In A Coma (The Smiths Cover)
7. Spiritualized - True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston Cover)

ZIP: The Covers Mixtape XXXI

Yellowbirds: The Rest Of My Life

2011-03-07T23:58:00.005-06:00

COTV

Tags: Yellowbirds, The Rest Of My Life

Ravens & Chimes: Carousel EP (2011)

2011-03-07T23:28:00.023-06:00

New Wax

While I'd usually steer clear of bands whose songs have been licensed for use on an MTV show (three songs from their upcoming full-length Holiday Life will appear on the show "Skins"), I have to mention the new Carousel EP from New York band Ravens & Chimes. I wrote about their likable brand of indie pop way back in 2007 when the band released their debut Reichenbach Falls and was curious to see what their new material would sound like after such a sizable hiatus. Where the ramshackle nature of their debut was endearing, it also limited the scope of their music. If the three songs on Carousel are any indication of the quality of their looming full-length, then the band has made the necessary adjustments and hit it out of the park. Sure, the lovely title track is undeniably likable, but Ravens & Chimes makes smart music regardless of its palatability. "Carousel" burrows its way into your subconscious with a tasteful string arrangement and building acoustic strum that serve as sparse foreshadowing of a gorgeously adorned chorus. All three songs on Carousel are worthy indie-pop explorations filled with both tension and catharsis. Pick up a copy, you won't regret it. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Ravens & Chimes - Carousel
MP3: Ravens & Chimes - Division Street

Tags: Ravens & Chimes, Carousel

Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring For My Halo (2011)

2011-03-07T19:04:00.047-06:00

New Wax

For the last few years, Philadelphia guitarist/songwriter Kurt Vile has released a steady diet of eclecticism over a series of lo-fi EPs and albums. Delving into his catalog felt a bit like mining for gems with a pickaxe. The effort yields unquestioned treasures, but you've got to sift through some bedrock. Then again, discovering songs like summer jam "Freeway" or the stripped down folk musing "My Sympathy" makes the effort worthwhile. With 2009's Childish Prodigy, Vile took a step, albeit a small one, towards a more accessible sound and now with his new album Smoke Ring For My Halo, he's crafted his most consistently engaging and fully realized album to date. The album opens with the otherworldly lullaby of "Baby's Arms," which somehow manages to sound both sparsely intimate and cavernously spacious. A deceptively simple love song, "Baby's Arms" is just as dominated by melancholy as it is by longing. Vile sings "Except for her, there just ain't nothing to latch on to." Similar themes of detachment from society dominate Smoke Ring, and while Vile's words definitely inhabit some abstract, stream-of-consciousness territory, they are still brimming with a tangible sense of intimacy. Over the Fleetwood Mac-ish groove of "On Tour," Vile sings "I wanna write my whole life down, burn it down to the ground." Then there's Smoke Ring's hypnotic closer "Ghost Town," on which Vile tackles apathy candidly: "think I'll never leave my couch again, 'cause when I'm out I'm only in my mind." While the album may play like a journey into the inner workings of a solitary man, its themes of disillusionment are wide-reaching and easily relatable. Smoke Ring For My Halo is Kurt Vile at his most focused both thematically and sonically. An early highlight of 2011. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Kurt Vile - Baby's Arms
MP3: Kurt Vile - Ghost Town

Tags: Kurt Vile, Smoke Ring For My Halo

Yellowbirds: The Color (2011)

2011-03-07T17:50:00.045-06:00

New Wax

Yellowbirds is songwriter Sam Cohen, who also serves as guitarist and vocalist for experimental psych-pop collective Apollo Sunshine. On his debut album under the Yellowbirds moniker, Cohen hones in on a more focused sound while still playing like a mash-up of several genres. Raised in Houston, Texas and now based in New York City, Cohen injects his melodic songs with a touch of the West. For example, take the throwback country-pop sound of "Rings In the Trees," which finds Sam Cohen exploring his inner Roy Orbison over an infectious, driving groove. Elsewhere, there's the layered vocals of "Beneath The Reach Of Light," which mingles gorgeous pedal steel with hints of noise-pop and fuzz. Then there's the psychedelic pop vibe of "The Honest Ocean," which imbeds Cohen's soothing vocals with frantic, kaleidoscopic instrumentation. At barely over a half hour long, The Color manages to explore some classic songwriting territory while still incorporating a healthy dose of experimentation. The result is a thoroughly engaging amalgamation of both the old and new. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Yellowbirds - The Rest Of My Life
MP3: Yellowbirds - The Honest Ocean

Tags: Yellowbirds, The Color

Chad VanGaalen - Red Hot Drops

2011-03-03T18:17:00.003-06:00

COTV

Tags: Chad VanGaalen, Red Hot Drops

Little Wings: Black Grass (2011)

2011-03-03T17:31:00.029-06:00

New Wax

Little Wings is Kyle Field, a fascinating visual artist and prolific yet overlooked musician with a growing catalog under his belt. While he released an album under the name Be Gulls with Lee Baggett in 2008, Field returns with his first album under the Little Wings moniker since 2007's Soft Pow'r. On Black Grass, Field's voice sways and cracks over an engaging set of off-kilter tunes that could vaguely and probably insufficiently be described as lo-fi Americana. Think old Will Oldham mixed with a Phil Elvrum-like obsession with nature. "How Come?" is an unquestioned highlight with its sparse piano, soothing fingerpicked acoustic guitar, organic percussion, mesmerizing backup vocals, and Field's strange warble. Field's songs somehow feel intimate yet abstract. On "How Come?" Field asks "When you're a dark and empty night, how come I always take you back?" With references to leaves, growth, and grass, similar nature/human metaphors appear throughout. These songs are rooted in the imagery and textures of the natural world. Deftly titled Black Grass, the album is an engaging ride, equal parts personal and wide-reaching. Hypnotic yet engaging. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Little Wings - How Come
MP3: Little Wings - Gold Teeth

Tags: Little Wings, Black Grass

February Mixtape

2011-02-28T17:09:00.025-06:00

SIDE A
1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
2. Cass McCombs - County Line
3. Beach Fossils - Calyer
4. Radiohead - Lotus Flower
5. Parts & Labor - Rest
6. Okkervil River - Mermaid
7. Times New Viking - No Room To Live

SIDE B
1. Little Wings - How Come?
2. Papercuts - Do You Really Wanna Know?
3. TV On The Radio - Will Do
4. Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell Me
5. Kurt Vile - Ghost Town
6. The Low Anthem - Apothecary Love
7. Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place

ZIP: February Mixtape

The Covers Mixtape XXX

2011-02-07T20:51:00.052-06:00

SIDE A
1. Phosphorescent - Are You Ready For The Country? (Neil Young Cover)
2. Sweet Lights - One Day (Sharon Van Etten Cover)
3. Midlake - Am I Going Insane (Black Sabbath Cover)
4. Sarah Jaffe - Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (Leonard Cohen Cover)
5. Lower Dens - Dear Betty Baby (Mayo Thompson Cover)
6. Atlas Sound - I'll Be Your Mirror (The Velvet Underground Cover)
7. The Roadside Graves - Boy In The Yard (Odawas Cover)

SIDE B
1. Futurebirds - Tracks Of My Tears (Smokey Robinson Cover)
2. Thomas Western - Lay Down Your Weary Tune (Bob Dylan Cover)
3. Yellow Ostrich - Zebra (Beach House Cover)
4. The Deep Dark Woods - Factory (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
5. Crooked Fingers - Wild One (Thin Lizzy Cover)
6. Marissa Nadler - Pancho And Lefty (Townes Van Zandt Cover)
7. Villagers - Old Man (Neil Young Cover)

ZIP: The Covers Mixtape XXX

Strand Of Oaks: Last To Swim

2011-02-07T20:44:00.004-06:00

COTV

Tags: Strand Of Oaks, Last To Swim

The Rural Alberta Advantage: Departing (2011)

2011-02-07T20:05:00.029-06:00

New Wax

Fear not, devoted CO readers, I'm not dead, I just took a little mental vacation. What better to draw me out of hibernation than a new Rural Alberta Advantage album? With their accomplished 2008 debut Hometowns, Nils Edenloff and company unveiled a collection of songs brimming with nostalgia, loss, and unbridled emotion that made the songs feel life-affirming even when the lyrical content was at its most downtrodden. One glance at the snowy album cover for Departing, which is due out March 1st on Saddle Creek Records, and it seems a safe bet that the band is drawing blood from the same vein. They are, but Departing is far from a sophomore slump. Its more polished arrangements signify a marked progression for The RAA, and Departing features a young band that's already as adept at frantic sing-a-longs like "Stamp" as they are at more stripped-down fare, such as lovely album closer "Good Night." At a brisk 33 minutes, Departing flies by far too fast, but that's just a minor gripe. Departing marks an early-2011 release sure to find its way onto some best-of lists. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage - Stamp

Tags: The Rural Alberta Advantage, Departing

January Mixtape

2011-01-29T15:50:00.032-06:00

SIDE A
1. Devotchka - 100 Other Lovers
2. Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever
3. Bright Eyes - Shell Games
4. Smith Westerns - All Die Young
5. Lia Ices feat. Justin Vernon - Daphne
6. John Vanderslice - Sea Salt
7. The Mountain Goats - Damn These Vampires

SIDE B
1. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Stamp
2. Akron/Family - Silly Bears
3. Middle Brother - Me Me Me
4. The Cave Singers - Swim Club
5. Papercuts - Do What You Will
6. Destroyer - Kaputt
7. Chris Bathgate - No Silver

ZIP: January Mixtape

Blake Mills

2011-01-08T17:40:00.023-06:00

You Should Know

Lately I've been spinning a gem of an album I somehow missed out on in 2010. Entitled Break Mirrors, it's the impressive debut album from 23-year-old Blake Mills, a Los Angeles songwriter with an already impressive resume. He's toured with the likes of Band Of Horses, Jenny Lewis, and Cass McCombs and has recorded as a session musician with Julian Casablancas, Andrew Bird, and believe it or not... Kid Rock. He was also a founding member of Simon Dawes (now simply known as Dawes). With its nine tracks, Break Mills manages to captivate in just a shade over 35 minutes. While Mills' songs inhabit roots-rock/Americana territory, he exhibits a rare ear for harmonies and a playful knack for lo-fi experimentation. Lyrically, Mills' songs are coming of age tales such as "It'll All Work Out," which muses on his parents' marriage, and "Cheers," which documents a dysfunctional relationship. Then there's infectious album highlight "Wintersong," with its gentle strum, ramshackle chorus, and overlapping guy/girl vocals. Break Mirrors is both a work of nostalgia and a look ahead for a young artist with a world of potential. -- Capt. Obvious

MP3: Blake Mills - Wintersong
MP3: Blake Mills - It'll All Work Out

Tags: Blake Mills

Joe Purdy offers "This American" for free

2010-12-14T14:51:00.011-06:00

You Should Know

Uber-prolific folk troubadour Joe Purdy is offering his newest album, This American, his 12th full-length, for free download for the rest of December. You can download the album in its entirety here. -- Capt. Obvious

MP3: Joe Purdy - Highways

Tags: Joe Purdy