In March 2011 Noah & the Whale will release their third full length record. The first, a masterpiece. The second? Quality, but they’d exchanged the upbeat folksy flavour of their debut album for something dark and melancholy. While I’m as prone to fits of pessimism as the next man, The Last Days of Spring was too much for me. It was like a funeral dirge. So that you can understand the levels of depressing we’re discussing here, have a quick look at the video to ‘Our Window’ from The Last Days of Spring
Having heard the second single ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N’ from their upcoming album Last Night On Earth I thought perhaps they were heading back to the, as Chloe Bickersteth would say, “Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding Happy Music” that blew me away on their debut.
So, knowing more than you needed to about Noah & the Whale’s back catalogue, you can now listen to ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N’. SUPER BONUS! I’m also going to stream Jocasta from their first album Peaceful The World Lays Me Down. You don’t have to thank me, just sign the petition to stop the government shutting my blog down before I’m accused of a blown up rape charge and extradited to Sweden. I’m surely next.
Noah and the Whale – Jocasta
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There have been whispers that old man Faith is back in the game with another cracker and they’re right. Dead right. I’m here with a surefire winner. High Highs is the name of the artist and the team at Sound Doc are truly enamored. We’ve all been talking amongst each other about the harmony, the reverb, the haunting vocals, the Deathcabian acoustic tones and the fact that they’re Australian, initially hailing from Sydney though they now perform out of New York. Download two songs free of charge from their Unearthed page.
Having just visited their facebook page I’ve noticed that five of my friends have already ‘liked’ this band. So to Samantha Howell, Zak Kaczmarek, Patrick Wall, Nicola Robinson and Peter Covington, thanks for taking some of the wind out of my sails.
Remember Sleepyhands? Yeah you do! They’re a fan favourite here at Sound Doc and they’re back with a free Christmas tune for you to download for free without paying because it’s Christmas and because you’ve earned it for passing three out of your four subjects at uni this semester. Don’t get too excited though, you’re going to have to retake Geopolitics next year. Serves you right for spending 13 weeks of lectures drawing geometric shapes on your lined pad. Also, why did you bring just a pencil to the exam? It’s not multiple choice, idiot. Next time we’ll know better, won’t we. Listen and be merry.
Sleepyhands – Noel
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There’s exciting rumblings going on beneath the surface for Sleepyhands at the moment so keep your ear to the ground over the next few months. What I can say for sure though, is that they should be appreciated live. You can mark these dates into your moleskines: December 17 at the Spectrum and January 15 at Oxford Art.
Magic Man won’t blow your mind. They’re crazy accessible in a dreamy, electronic, chilled, adjectival, retro way. There’s some 64 bit bleeps and blips, vocals that fall somewhere between Vampire Weekend and Antarctica Takes It and not much else in the way of instrumentation. It’s the type of thing I can see myself falling asleep to. Obviously I realise that that could be understood to be a criticism but I mean it in the best possible way. It’s the type of thing I could intentionally fall asleep to. You can thank Tom Lingafelter as you download his 10 track record for free.
Magic Man – Daughter
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Jonathan Boulet – You’re A Animal
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I don’t know why so much is made of the fact that Jonathan Boulet is 22. It’s not that young. Old mate from Tim & Jean is 12 or something, isn’t he? That‘s young. Two things should be said though: when I say 12 I’m exaggerating and Jonathan Boulet has more than the combined talent of Tim AND Jean.
After releasing his hugely successful self titled debut album, Boulet is back with a new single called You’re A Animal. While I don’t absolutely love the recording you can bank on it being enormous live. The first time I saw J. Boulet was at Manning Bar late last year in support of the recently discussed Middle East. The energy of his live show was pretty attractive so I can’t wait to see how the pace of this You’re A Animal fits into his set. You can catch the tail end of the You’re A Animal Tour on any of the below dates.
December 3 – Newcastle – CBD Hotel
w/ Grace Woodroofe, Nova and the experience
December 4 – Sydney – Beach Road Hotel
w/ Grace Woodroofe, Megastick Fanfare
December 9 – Brisbane – Alhambra Hotel
w/ Grace Woodroofe, Sunshine Ensemble
December 10 – Adelaide – Uni Bar
w/ Grace Woodroofe, Jimmy and the Mirrors, East End Villians
December 17 – Melbourne – The East Brunswick Club
w/ Grace Woodroofe, The Parking Lot Experiment
