The Lovers' Album of the Week

Loney, Dear Loney, Noir

I Am John

The Mid-Week Recommendation

Jeff Mangum Orange Twin Field Works Volume 1

Orange Twin Field Works is not a lost recording of Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel/Indie Cult God), but a Mangum field recording of his trip to the National Festival of Bulgarian Folklore, a three day festival of traditonal Bulgarian music in Koprivshitsa. The festival, which is held every five years, has been rapidly growing since it's formation in 1965, having nearly 15,000 performers in 2005 (take that Bonnaroo!). In 2000, two years after recording "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," Mangum continued to frustrate his fan base by ignoring the studio, and instead, treking over 5,000 miles with only his recorder and microphone at hand ready to capture the eclectic sounds of the Bulgarian people. Instead of an album of seperate track recordings, Mangum has assembled the entire event into a thirty minute composition, having one song drift into another as ambient sounds of crowds, traffic, and general atmosphere linger in the background. The result feels like a sampling of the weekend, showcasing various instrumentations, odd rhythms, and singing styles. At times, Mangum only allows the listener a few minutes of a song before his interest moves along to something else. Sure, Mangum is fascinated by these artists, but unlike famous field recorders like Alan Lomax whose recordings are documentations of the artist, Orange Twin Field Works Volume 1 is a documentatoin of the recorder's experience.

New Releases Tuesday

Wow, it's a very slow week for new releases. I suppose the biggest release is Lucinda Williams' West. However, also check out the early release of Explosions In The Sky's All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone. The album isn't scheduled to come out until February 20, but it's already available on iTunes. Head over to the band's label Temporary Residence for a free mp3 of the song "Welcome, Ghosts".

And, are iTunes Live Sessions the new Peel Sessions? The newest in the Apple series is a set from The Rapture.

On the Emusic front, there is an advance release from Brooklyn's The Subject's called With the Ease Grace Precision and Cleverness of Human Beings. If you're in the Chicago area, you can check them out twice on Feb. 20: 1) Reckless Records in store performance 2)Empty Bottle CD Release Party.

"Hounds Of War"
from With the Ease Grace Precision and Cleverness of Human Beings

Free Music Monday - Podington Bear

So, do you need a reason to look forward to Mondays? Well, how about this one? Every Monday (as well as Wednesday and Friday), the Portland based Podington Bear (aka P Bear, not Panda Bear) releases upon the online sharing community a new electropop instrumental track that's 100% free. It's an experiement that he started on Janurary 1st and plans to continue until the end of the year (that's 52.177457 weeks or 156.532371 songs!). Despite the rigorous schedule put upon himself, P Bear's songs don't sound rushed. While the compositions are relatively simple, they're also highy layered with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. Some are bouncy, feel good distractions. Others are slow, calming, and reflective. I like to think of it as the perfect background music, meaning it's clever enough for a closer listen, but also an ideal listen at the office, working around the house, or even walking the dog. Highly recommended!

Go To Sleep
A sweet song today. This one already satisfying a request to do a song about dreaming. Part 1 is the lullabye. Part II is sleep (or non REM stages 1-4. Listener Tod can visualize his baby sleep-laughing here). Then something happens! - P Bear

(A similar experiment was undertook by my friends The Hometown Nobodies. You can check them out here.)