It’s been a few weeks since Daytrotter put out a session that I was particularly interested in. ‘Have they dropped the ball?’ I thought. ‘Have they no longer the pulling power to attract big artists?’, but they’re back (in my goodbooks) with a session from Two Door Cinema Club. It’s EXACTLY what you’d expect it to sound like. Unlike Tallest Man and Local Natives who both had crazy innovative sessions, TDCC are content just to strip it back to acoustic and leave the arrangement as it’s always been. Still, worth a listen. They’re the same catchy, cool songs we already love.

Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn (Daytrotter Session)

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Download the whole session here. Also, just for kicks, here’s this:

Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn (Jupiter Remix)

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The first single from Death Cab For Cutie’s mid year release ‘Codes and Keys’ came out today and is called You Are A Tourist. It’s more uplifting than what we heard from their last full length, the diappointing Narrow Stairs. If it’s indicative of what’s to come on the rest of the album then I’m excited. The threshold between ‘excited’ and ‘frothing’ hasn’t been crossed yet but I’m sure there’ll be a few more singles before May 31st.

Death Cab For Cutie – You Are A Tourist [Album Version]

“If you feel like a tourist in the city you’re born, then it’s time to go”

It’s kind of like Roy Orbison writing folk rock in 2011. That’s the impression Dry The River’s new single New Ceremony gives me, except minus the part about Roy Orbison. It doesn’t look like the folk rock phenomenon is going to blow over anytime soon so in case you’re still repping Jack Johnson, this is an ‘all aboard’ before the train leaves. The rising and the falling, the quavering vocals, they’re a little bit Orbinsonesque right?

Every day I expect to wake and find that this band have broken into the global consciousness but every day I’m wrong. Do you know how that feels? To wake up wrong everyday? Yeah, you do.

Dry The River – New Ceremony

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[FREE DOWNLOAD]

Dry The River previously on Sound Doctrine

Today is the one year anniversary of Sound Doctrine but you wouldn’t know it by looking at it right!? It’s also the one year anniversary of East to West blog so happy anniversary to Holly over there. I created this blog exactly one year ago with the intention of making myself more appealing to women and I think we can all agree that it’s a case of mission accomplished.

I’ve been saving this pearl for a special ocassion and today is that ocassion. I’ve been calling Anathallo my “favourite band” since 2006. It’s a contentious title that has to’d and fro’d over those years with the likes of The Middle East, Sufjan and The Tallest Man on Earth all centimeters away.

Anathallo released three EPs (available now as one compilation) before releasing two records that would heavily shape my current tastes: Floating World and Canopy Glow.

I could write an eternity on why I love these two records but I’ll keep it to this. The first, Floating World, was written on the back of a Japanese tour and is the most earthed, culturally tasteful, understated piece of folk music I have in my collection. The track names to the drum sounds are demonstrative of the Japanese influence and it’s truly something else. It’s worth keeping in mind that this record dropped before the folkwave had crashed violently upon our musical shores. I probably could have used more tasteful imagery in a pragraph referencing Japan.

Anathallo – Hanasakajiji (Four: A Great Wind, More Ash

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Anathallo – Kasa No Hone

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Absent on Canopy Glow is the Japanese influence that has kept Floating World so separate from much of the chaff that would come after it. Nonetheless, it still crescendos amazingly and is arranged like little else out there. Here’s two more winners.

Anathallo – Noni’s Field

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Anathallo – The River

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[FREE MP3]

I’ve already written too much. Just quietly celebrate a year of Sound Doctrine with me.

It’s pretty rare that I’d even bother to click play on a Bon Iver cover. This one was endorsed by the great Justin Vernon himself so I thought “why not?” and I’m glad I took the time to play it through because it’s cracking. It’s a straight up heart crushing, pianemotional three minutes and twentyone seconds. It’s said that ‘Birdy’ (ugh) is a 14 year old girl. When I was fourteen I was too stoked on Bombfunk MCs to have time for nu-folk but I guess these are different times of different tastes. It’s availale for purchase on iTunes.