Michael Hurley & Betsy Nichols - River in the Rain 7"

Michael Hurley's & Betsy Nichols' entirely acoustic 7" River in the Rain starts with "Jocko's Lament," a fifty-seven-second a capella duet followed by the title track and "Don't Let Me Down." The two latter tracks could easily pass as male-led outtakes of the many country and jazz standard covers from Sarah Harmer's 1999 debut album Songs for Clem. Further to the similarity is Betsy Nichols' voice which totally sounds like Sarah's throughout the 7". "Knockando" concludes the ten-minute 7" with a Jason Collett style sing-along which might also appeal to Hayden fans.

The whole 7" is entirely guitar-and-voice and may also appeal to Smog and early Mountain Goats fans, with its lo-fi, unaccompanied production and intimacy.

There's Only One Elf Power Song I Like,

But this is a pretty sweet album cover. Their new self-titled album comes out September 14.

Like Nine Inch Nails?

Like free stuff in general? If you answered yes to either question, download How to Destroy Angels' free self-titled EP straight from the band's website.

How to Destroy Angels is Nine Inch Nails-founder/front man Trent Reznor, his wife Mariqueen Maandig and British composer and producer Atticus Ross. How to Destroy Angels (The Null Corporation, 2010) is the band's first official release.

Imagine a less ferocious Nine Inch Nails with lo-fi female vocals. Those are about the extents of the differences between How to Destroy Angels and Nine Inch Nails. The bands' similarities include the sounds of industrial grinding on "Parasite," the glitchy electronic effects on "BBB" and "The Believer" and the very precise drumming best demonstrated on "Parasite" and "Fur Lined." How to Destroy Angels also exudes a dark ambience, such as with the sparse piano line of "A Drowning" which sounds almost identical to the one that forms the backbone of With Teeth closer "Right Where it Belongs." Maandig even sings like Trent Reznor, most notably on "The Believers," with her disturbed, hushed vocals and equally despairing lyrics.

Given the myriad similarities between How to Destroy Angels' debut EP and Nine Inch Nails' overall discography, How to Destroy Angels is sure to please most Nine Inch Nails fans or at least satiate them until Trent Reznor formally releases new music under his Nine Inch Nails moniker.

“Neighbourhood Social Scene”

I admit I was initially lukewarm on the concept behind The Happiness Project, the first solo album by Broken Social Scene- and Do Make Say Think-founder Charles Spearin. After having heard the first available sample “Mrs. Morris” (which, in retrospect, is more than “just an intro track”), I was ready to pass on the album entirely. But thank God I didn’t, because Charles Spearin offers a surprisingly mellifluous and successful experiment in re-contextualizing the tones of every-day speech.

Spearin derives most of The Happiness Project’s melodies from the rhythms of every day speech which he found in interviews he conducted with several of his neighbours ranging from children to the elderly (the interviews were loosely based on the subject of happiness; hence the album’s title). The dependence on spoken rhythms for melodies leads to some rather unpredictable and unique melodies and interludes. Eventually, the “lyrics” start to blend with the music and begin to sound like they are sung, even though it is the spoken words that dictate the time changes and melodies rather than vice-versa (hear the choral lyrics “It’s like they don’t ask beyond of what’s present” in “Anna”). Refreshingly, Spearin avoids the tediously long, droning ambience of too many experimental albums. Quite oppositely, with a mere run-time of thirty-one minutes, forty-nine seconds, The Happiness Project is an ideal album for quick, repeated listens.

The most satisfying aspect of The Happiness Project is that despite contributions from Kevin Drew, Evan Cranley and Justin Small, the album does not sound like any of their other projects (Broken Social Scene, Stars and Do Make Say Think, respectively). The only exception is “Mr. Gowrie” which recalls the more ambient moments on Broken Social Scene’s Feel Good Lost and B-sides collection Bee Hives. Nor are Spearin’s own contributions to his other projects immediately clear on The Happiness Project, an accomplishment which eluded both Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning on their respective solo albums (or perhaps an accomplishment which neither artist endeavoured to achieve). For creating an album that is distinctly Charles Spearin, and, most importantly, for taking on and delivering with such perfection a concept as original as the one behind The Happiness Project, Charles Spearin deserves to be commended, especially during a time when experimentation and creating an individual artistic identity have become increasingly difficult.

Interpol - "Lights" (Capitol Records, 2010)

As I’d mentioned in my previous post, Interpol recently finished recording its fourth album. That album doesn’t have a title yet, but the band has already released one song, the brooding, deliberate “Lights.” While “Lights” doesn’t exhibit the orchestral approach that the band has alluded to in interviews (not a surprising approach, considering frontman Paul Banks’ string-laden solo album and Carlos D.’s increasing forays into film scores, likely the sort of work he left the band to further pursue), “Lights” does revisit the band’s Bright Lights-era subtlety and attention to song-craft which the band has promised in even earlier interviews.

Despite these allusions/promises, I remain wary of the hope that “Lights” provides. After all, “Pioneer to the Falls,” which opens Our Love to Admire, is one of the best post-Bright Lights songs Interpol has written, yet the rest of Our Love to Admire displays Interpol at its worst (so far).

Addendum: Interpol's new logo is fucking rad.

Download "Lights" for free here.

(Next) Exit Carlos

So, Carlos Dengler (or “Carlos D.”) has left Interpol. Well, that just adds more incentive to stop caring about Interpol, or at least to stop caring as much. For me, this incentive already began with their largely mediocre third album Our Love to Admire which was released three years ago.

Usually, when bands change members, especially so late into their careers, it’s for the worst. Sure, Sonic Youth made its best albums after a seemingly endless search for a drummer, but Steve Shelley permanently filled that role during the art-punk pioneers’ formative years. By 2010, nearly eight years after Interpol released its modern classic debut album Turn on the Bright Lights, no matter whom Interpol recruits to replace Carlos, Interpol will never be the same band that was so integral to my formative years (of music-discovery).

I don’t know if it was the lofty, spacious production on Turn on the Bright Lights that made the album sound so timeless and even almost celestial at times or if it was just the quality or style of Carlos’ bass-playing (perhaps it was a combination of all three), but Carlos D. was the first bassist to have ever really made me appreciate the bass. It was Carlos’ clearly plucked notes, unobscured by the rest of the band’s instruments or Paul Bank’s melancholy tenor, that I’ll always remember having fallen asleep to in altered states throughout high school.

While Carlos stayed in the band long enough to finish recording its new, currently untitled album, he won’t be joining Paul et al. on their follow-up tour. Instead, the band has already announced that it has “some very exciting new recruits” joining them on the road. Sounds good, but I’m not holding my breath.

Despite my wariness, however, and despite my earlier sentiments about bands changing their line-ups and that perhaps it’s time to stop caring about Interpol, I owe a lot to the band. After all, Interpol was one of the first indie bands I listened to, after Beck and Radiohead drew me away from classic rock, which in turn drew me away from nü metal and rap-rock. For that reason alone, I know that no matter how bad Interpol may get, and no matter how strong my pre-conceptions of their new music may be, I’m always going to keep up with Interpol's work, Carlos or no Carlos.

The Dead Weather to Appear on Twilight: Eclipse Soundtrack

With an exclusive track called "Rolling in on a Burning Tire." This news pretty much sets the tone of my upcoming review of the Dead Weather's new album Sea of Cowards.