Such is my confidence in Tim Fitz that I won’t even listen to this thing before I post it. Some would say that this is indicative of a writer who lacks integrity but I say it demonstrates my brilliant foresight, because undoubtedly, this will be amazing. Earlier this year the guy casually threw down six tracks of smart, sharp technicality that, as an added bonus, sounded superb.

In the time since the release of that first EP, Tim Fitz has been studiously putting tracks to press and recently informed me that he has over 100 recordings in the bank. If these eight tracks are the finest fruits of those 100 then we’ve a real treat on our hands. If you build a graph, plotting the number of tracks Tim Fitz has recorded against the height of Sydney based musicians, an interesting thing happens: Tim Fitz’s head appears right in the middle of the graph. You can’t argue with evidence based science.

Here in it’s full glory, is the new EP.

The inevitable glory that comes with being the first to post about a breaking artist, at least within a smaller clique has been long absent from my life, and that won’t end today. The Felice Brothers aren’t new and they’re not particularly edgy, hip or happening, they’re probably not even particularly good musicians from a technical standpoint. Watching a clip of them in studio it was apparent that headphones and monitors were about as useful to them as a woman would be to Jinja Safari.

They play old timey folk, with an emphasis on the genuine. James Blackwood (of Valar, who are awesome, you know the spiel) shared this song with me and the sheer earnestness of the thing blew me back off my ergonomic swivel chair. The track below is called Ballad of Lou the Welterweight and from what I can gather the song is about a boxer’s last bout and the pre-fight lovemaking (which, I’ve heard, is the best kind of lovemaking) that takes place. Ian Felice’s vocals, which sound like an entangling of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan, somehow manage to carry this crazy blue-collar vibe about the whole track. It’s pretty, it’s sad, it’s slightly racy, it’s just amazing.

The Felice Brothers – ‘Ballad of Lou the Welterweight’

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Here’s another from their third record, Tonight At The Arizona.
The Felice Brothers – ‘Roll on Arte’

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And here, is another, this time from their fifth, self-titled record.
The Felice Brothers – ‘Frankie’s Gun’

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I’m vibing on the new Youth Lagoon record pretty hard right now. Combination of reverb heavy vocals and fuzzed out beats makes me all emotional on the inside, and that’s a good thing. Sometimes I think we just need to feel more deeply and understand each other better, because the key to understanding is tolerance and the key to tolerance is belief in the beauty of justice. I’ve always maintained that if we give 180% in everything we do, all of the time, there’s no limit to what we can achieve. That’s not even an arbitrarily chosen percentage, that’s the scientifically determined amount of effort that will guarentee you a great outcome. Never give up, always remember to stay true to your emotions and let your heart guide you on the winds of your dreams. Because nothing can hold someone back when they fight with a tiger’s courage. We should all aspire to better things and live knowing that every day is just another opportunity to reflect in the magic of hope.

The band is the bedroom project of Trevor Powers who must surely blame his parents for ruining one of the toughest lastnames out there with a given name like Trevor. Missed opportunities I guess. Nonetheless, the early life setback was overcome last week as he released The Year of Hibernation to my critical acclaim. Being in love, going to college, heartache, it’s all in there, apparently. The beats are muted while vocals lilt above it all, kind of fragile, kind of awesome. In and out weave electric guitars and distorted piano lines but you’ll make sense of it and be all, “cool track bro” in no time. Start yourself off with Cannons and then have a listen to Posters, making sure you wait for the beat to kick in at 2:20.

Youth Lagoon – ‘Cannons’

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Youth Lagoon – ‘Posters’

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The below is something I wrote for Cool Accidents, which is another, more reputable blog than my own.

In 1986, Paul Simon released Graceland, arguably the most important album of his career. Sure, Sound of Silence broke Simon & Garfunkel and Bridge Over Troubled Water sold 400 trillion units but Graceland was the record that demonstrated Simon as a musician capable of producing great songs in the absence of Art Garfunkel. Graceland was also famous for the scrutiny that Simon faced by virtue of his collaboration with South African musicians and recording in South Africa. Many believed that Simon had breached the UN imposed cultural boycott of all things Saffer but the UN soon delivered their official ruling that Simon “was a cool-guy and everyone else should just chill hey”.

Graceland won a Grammy for Album Of The Year while the track of the same name won Record Of The Year, and it’s that track that’s the basis for this post. ‘Graceland’ (track, not album) supposedly deals with Simon’s recent divorce and a cathartic roadtrip with his son to Elvis’ Graceland in Tenessee in the wake of the failed marriage. The verses are deep with heavy, downcast lyric (“She comes back to tell me she’s gone. As If I didn’t know that. As if I didn’t know my own bed.”) but the hope in the chorus is so inescapable that one can’t help but see the movement toward Graceland as redeeming pilgrimage. Anyway, speculative wankery aside, the track is unreal. Even if you don’t take the time to listen to the strangely diverse collection of covers below, at least revisit this classic track. Simon called it the best song he has ever written. 2011 is the 25th anniversary of the record so if you don’t already own it, maybe it’s time you took a good long look at yourself and thought about the way you’re living your life. Get it together.

Paul Simon – ‘Graceland’

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Grizzly Bear – ‘Graceland’

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Casiotone for the Painfully Unknown – ‘Graceland’

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The Tallest Man on Earth – ‘Graceland’

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Hot Chip – ‘Graceland’

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Have your mind, eyes, ears and feelings gently assaulted by the dulcet tones of the Wilderness of Manitoba. Preload this on a large monitor and some quality speakers before full screening it and hitting play. It’s pretty compelling. There’s something unrepentantly 80s about shooting with a faded out black backdrop but it’s refreshing in a time when “on the go” and “take away” sessions are all the rage. I don’t need to see a band performing their songs acoustically in a Nepalese cave, I just want to hear music that speaks for itself. It’s just one track from their Hear Ya session so if you’d like to download audio of the entire session then you can do so by right clicking here. Alternatively you can download just this track below.

The Wilderness of Manitoba – Hermit (Hear Ya Session)

[FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD]