If you follow me on Twitter you’ll get more frequent daily updates. One thing I’ve been enjoying for a couple weeks now is the upcoming record from The Whitest Boy Alive, Rules.

The album drops March 30th, but tide yourself over with the free and legal download of “Island” below.

Myspace: The Whitest Boy Alive
MP3: Whitest Boy Alive – “Island”

Frequent visitors will not be surprised in my proclamation that Lucero is one of my favorite bands. Earlier this month, Lucero’s Ben Nichols released The Last Pale Light In The West, a delightful acoustic ode to Cormac McCarthy’s book Blood Meridian. We’re thrilled to once again have Ben stop by for our 5 Questions with Muzzle of Bees feature. Ben also recently joined NPR to perform and discuss the aforementioned record. Highly recommended.

Can you give me a time line of how the songs that appear on The Last Pale Light In The West came about? Did you set out to make an album’s worth of material or did a few songs come out and then the idea of an entire record based on Blood Meridian follow?

I had read Blood Meridian for a second time a couple years ago and remember thinking there was a lot of stuff in there that I could use in songs. There are plenty of great phrases and images and details throughout the book and those are exactly the kinds of elements you want in a good song. Chambers was the first song I wrote. He is a minor character who is only present for a few pages in the book but he has a heartbreaking story. I did a little research outside of Blood Meridian to figure out where this guy came from and where he’d been and who he’d fought with and I thought the song stood on its own fairly well. Then I figured I’d write a couple more and do a three or four song EP. That became seven songs as I decided to base each song on a different character. I wish I could’ve gotten to more of the characters.

A record like this shines a spotlight on authors that unfortunately doesn’t happen enough in my opinion. What other books rank high on your list of ones you’re able to recommend?

I was on a big Steinbeck kick last year and read six of his books. East of Eden and Cannery Row were possibly my favorites. Then after writing The Last Pale Light I went back to McCarthy and read his Border Trilogy. The Crossing is beautiful.

Do you know if Cormac McCarthy has heard the record or even knows about it?

No idea.

Will any of these songs ever appear in a Lucero set? I think “Toadvine” would fit nicely into an encore.

I’ve played The Last Pale Light a time or two at Lucero shows. Toadvine is also one of my favorites to play but I’ve only done that so far at solo shows.

Will there be a new Lucero record in 2009? Can you share any information on the status, name, or release date?

There better be. Right now it’s just demos but we’re trying to get the thing out quick as we can. Right now the solo record will have to tide folks over.

MoB: 5 Questions with Ben Nichols of Lucero
MoB: Review: Lucero at Turner Hall, Milwaukee (11/11/07)
MoB: Lucero/Catfish Haven – Otto’s – DeKalb, IL
MoB: A Look Back @ Lucero/Red 40
MoB: Lucero – Alley Katz – Richmond
MoB: Lucero – Mad Planet Review

Photo: Legal Minded Punk
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Buy: The Last Pale Light In The West

Listen to The Last Pale Light In The West in full below:

One of my favorite new discoveries in some time has been Strand of Oaks Leave Ruin. It’s a record that warrants multiple spins and deserves to reach a wider audience. Today, I offer you an interview I did with the man behind the music, Timothy Showalter.

Could you lend some information on the recording process of Leave Ruin? Where and how was it recorded, and were there any lessons learned that you’ll apply towards future recording sessions?

I think the songs actually began on old my dictation tape recorder. I would play one part, then put the tape in the stereo and play along to that. That was how I tried to layer the songs but that quickly lead to pretty terrible sounding stuff.

These songs have existed for a pretty long time, so they have seen a lot of growth through the years. A few of the songs were made into a demo for some tours. The album really started with my collaboration with my friend Lou. I was a fan of his first record Bare Bones and Branches and I especially liked how that sounded. So as Lou and I started playing music more, he suggested we work at the studio that recorded Bare Bones. We went to Dan’s House Studio which is run by our friend Dan Mckinney. The basic tracks were recorded with Dan and then we finished the rest of the album with Tom Asselin. Tom and Lou put in A LOT of hours (probably more than I know) into completing the record. It is very humbling to know that they would spend so much time on my songs. I really think that is why the record became a fully realized piece.

As for the future, I finally bought some home recording gear. So far I’ve only recorded weird New Order type songs but I’m feeling much more confident. I’m anxious to start working on my next batch of songs and this is a great way to sketch them out. I think the greatest lesson I learned is that I can’t do this alone. I’ve learned to really appreciate and rely on others input.

Your press page describes a devastating fire that cost you your personal belongings and led to some rather unsavory sleeping conditions. What was that experience like and how does an experience like that come through in your music?

There was about a six month period in my life where a lot of stuff went wrong. The fire was kind of the finale of all those events. In hindsight, I’m pretty sure I lost my head for a good month or two. The craziest thing I did was take a nap in, what was, my room the day after the fire. I woke up wet and really dirty. My school got me a hotel room and after that was over, I just stayed were I could. I didn’t have a phone so I became really isolated. I eventually got a tiny apartment and things naturally started rebuilding. I think the fire simplified everything so much that besides finishing college, writing songs was all I really did. Back then, I would’ve liked anything to distract me, but I’m glad I had that time.

When did you start playing music? When did you decide you’d like to be a musician?

I think my entire musical experience started with my love of the synthesizer. I met my friend Dustin in seventh grade and he introduced to electronic music. I started obsessing with owning and playing synth. We saved for a long time and both finally bought our own keyboards. We would go to his mom’s house and plug our synths into the stereo. I didn’t know how to play the piano, so I just made weird noises, but Dustin was really good at making melodies. My teenage years were pretty much a disaster, and the times Dustin and I played were some of my happiest. It’s funny because I just bought a synth this week and I’m planning on going back to my old ways. Actually, I’m not sure why I ever started playing the music I do now. Weird.

The internet has dramatically altered the way artists can reach an audience. With things like blogs/myspace/etc, what are your thoughts on the power of the internet in terms of helping (or hurting) your music?

I definitely still have my internet training wheels. I’ve made a very small trail in the woods but I’m absolutely clueless when I stray off path. Most of my opinions with the internet are conflicted. On one hand I love the access to all the music that once lay in some record store far away from where I grew up. But this access does take away from the act of discovery. I still listen to the same tapes I made when I was middle school. I have a lot of great memories from friends and older kids showing me something for the first time. It felt special. Its hard for me to get that same feeling when everything is available so quickly.

I would also be lying if I said I didn’t frequent the internet often. I’m probably a lonely guy deep down and connecting with anybody feels really nice. This definitely correlates with my music. Most of my friends are involved with music and this provides a nice way to keep in touch. My day always perks up when I get some nice feedback or when a friend sends me new music their working on.

For the time being I’m still relatively innocent to how the internet could hurt my music. I can’t wait for people to hear the record. I can imagine I might think differently in a year, but hopefully not.

You’re calling Pennsylvania home. Tell me about where you live and why you’re there.

Wilkes-Barre basically exists in another dimension. That’s why I love it so much. National opinion of my area is almost comically low but I couldn’t think of a better place to have spent the last six years. I also wouldn’t dare any outsider to make those remarks to those that live here. People protect this place because they know how deep the community runs. I’m proud to be from Indiana, but I do feel like I should’ve been born here. Besides my family, everyone important in my current life is somehow connected to this place. When I first moved here, I was given a lot of reason to leave but I just didn’t. Because of that, I was able to meet my soon to be wife, and have a crazy but fulfilling job. Another huge bonus is that Wilkes-Barre is probably one of the cheapest places to live in the country. This is the why I’m able to make records and afford to live without to many financial consequences. I actually have to move to Philadelphia for two years in order for my fiancé to get her Masters but it’s not going to take much persuading to get me back here.

Most people have certain artists that made a big impression on them. That could either influence their music or just make music an important part in one’s life. Do you have any artists that fit that description?

I love listening to music but I’m not sure if any particular artist has gone that deep for me. I thought a lot about this question and I think the main influence would probably be my Grandpa H. Dale. I think the closest thing he ever got to real art was hosting a radio show called “Melody Farms.” His art, I believe, was creating an awesome life purely off of his own work (with massive help from my Grandma, of course). He took a ton of risks but he had this incredible foresight to know that he was making the right decisions. He passed away two years ago, and I feel like I inherited his sense of urgency. I am by no means taking advantage of this feeling yet, but it’s there. I want to make the most of opportunities when it comes to music. I think his inspiration is much more powerful than the records I love. He taught me how to take life seriously and to have a fear of laziness.

Wow! Maybe I went a bit heavy there, I also REALLY love Billy Corgan’s guitar solos on Siamese Dream.

What was the last show you went to see as a fan?

That’s hard…aside from playing shows, I don’t get out much. Lou and I went to see this group called Miracle Condition at the Glasslands Gallery last winter. They used to be in U.S. Maple, but now they just really love reverb and finger tapping. They were unbelievable. They were so good, I’m not sure if they even exist. Do you know? God they were HEAVY! I love that band.

What is on your bookshelf at the moment?

AHHHH, don’t bring up bookshelves. I was on crutches for a week out of pure hatred of IKEA crap. I demolished a bookshelf with the bottom of my bare foot this fall. My foot looked like a grapefruit. I told everyone at school that I fell in the bathtub.

Right now, I’m juggling a few great books. I just read The Survival of Scotland by Eric Linklater. It covers the whole Scottish history up until England took over. I’m also finishing To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck. I think I’ve read it every winter for the past six or seven years. But my main reading has been One River by Wade Davis. The book follows the histories of Davis and his teacher Richard Evans Schultes. Schultes was one of the first botanists to explore the Amazon in the forties. He was the world’s leading scholar on plant hallucinogens. Then Davis goes back to the same places thirty years later. It’s kind of like a tangible scientific version of Castneda’s Don Juan. I strongly recommend it.

My fiancé also has a ton of books that make me feel stupid.

You’re a teacher. Are your students aware of your music or does music play any role in your instruction?

I sing all the time in class. My students are probably sick of it. I also have this ongoing Lord of the Rings type of saga with my bus-riders. We mostly put on Sigur Ros albums and tell stories about powerful wizards and a reluctant king. Last spring, the story and the song were so intense I found myself tearing up. Then I looked over and this too-cool-for-school eighth grader was also teary. The king had just died in battle and was floating over the battle field. I think it happened right around the end of track 7 on the ( ) album. It sounds funny, but it really showed me how beautiful kids’ imaginations are. I have always secretly wanted to do stuff like that, but working with kids allows me to. I also organize the music for our annual Thanksgiving Program. This year my second grade wrote and performed “WO WO Thanksgiving.”

As for the students’ knowledge of Strand of Oaks, it’s little to none. Unless they “surf the net,” they just think their teacher is some weird dude with long hair. I like to keep the two lives separated.

What was it like touring with Jason Anderson?

Jason is one my closest friends, but I can’t begin to describe how much I look up to him. We’ve been playing shows on and off for the past four, and each time I see him live, I’m awestruck. He puts so much of himself into his work and it would be really hard to find anyone else out there that could match him. I like to consider him the musical equivalent of Larry Bird.

My favorite show memory happened this summer when we played Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. We were staying on the island for about two days and had one concert scheduled. We played the show, and then the next night played a community concert. After the concert, Jason led a hike to the cliffs on the other side of the island. About ten of us sat on these really high, sharp cliffs and just played songs late into the night. It’s going to be very hard to top that night.

Now that Leave Ruin has been released and your recording/working on new material do you have any intentions of touring? If so, where?

Yes! Just the idea of shows gets me excited. I’m always pretty limited with school, but I’m gathering some shows for the winter. I get a two-weekend vacation for the holiday Pesach, so I’m already planning shows for this time. Since I spend a lot of time playing in New England, I want to head out as far west as I can get. I played an amazing show in my hometown of Goshen last spring and I’m going back there, so the Midwest will definitely happen in April. I’m getting married this summer and also moving, but I’m still planning to be out playing as much as my schedule allows. I’m also dead set on getting back to England and catching up with the amazing people I met a few years back. I’m basically excited to play anywhere I can in the upcoming future.

Buy: Amazon Digital ($7.99)
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Myspace: Strand of Oaks
MP3: Strand Of Oaks – “End In Flames”

By Pete Donahue

You sit back and get ready. You liked 2006′s Ringleader of the Tormentors, but you felt like it could have been better. 2004′s You Are the Quarry was better and you like the idea of Moz brining back its producer, the late Jerry Flynn, for Years of Refusal. You look up at your Smiths poster on your wall (THAT one with the band in front of Salford Lads Club in Manchester) and hope this new one is classic Morrissey.

Immediately after hitting “Play” a blast of loud guitars and crashing drums gets things started with “Something Is Squeezing My Skull.” The moment Morrissey sings those first words (“I’m doing very well/I can block out the present and past now”), you smile. You have a good feeling about this album. The upbeat tempo is really getting your attention and lyrics about anxiety is classic Morrissey. And wow, his voice is really soaring on the chorus. Did he take singing lessons or something?

“Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed” is a little slower, but you love the march beat as the guitars remain fuzzy and loud (well done Boz Borrer and Jesse Tobias). “Mama, why did you do it?/What drove you to an early grave?” he asks. “Black Cloud” is a rather epic cut with a pretty chilling spaghetti western lead guitar. And here we are again with classic lines only He can deliver: “I can woo you/I can amuse you/But there’s nothing I can do to make you mine.” They don’t call him “Pope of Mope” for nothing.

“I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris” is the first single off Years of Refusal and you can’t help but compare it to a certain Smiths song. With it’s bright and clean jangly guitar to a slower tempo, it’s vaguely similar to, say, the first half of “Reel Around The Fountain,” one of your Smiths favorites. You notice a running theme with huge choruses on this album and Moz doesn’t disappoint by wailing “I’m throwing my arms around Paris because only stone and steel accept my love.” Whatever that means, it doesn’t matter.

Now, the next song, “All You Need is Me” is, in your opinion, the real gem of the album. A fuzzy bass line starts the song off proper before those loud guitars make a welcomed return. Rightfully included on his 2008 Greatest Hits album, this song is the finest of solo Morrissey rock songs. With no real explanation needed regarding what it’s about because of the title, the song does offer one of his funniest lines of his career: “There’s a naked man standing, laughing in your dreams/You know who it is, but you don’t like what it means.” Oh, Morrissey!

Then the album keeps offering gem after gem. You love the Mexican rock vibe on “When I Last Spoke To Carol” (complete with mariachi horns), the lamenting “That’s How People Grow Up” (complete with more crunchy guitars), and the furiously fast “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell.” “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore” sounds like Bono could slide right in and make it a classic U2-sounding track and “You Were Good in Your Time” is a warm and soft delicate croon with a 1960′s vibe complete with brushed snare, a big string section, and a smidge of guitar low in the mix. While the music channels finer moments of the likes of Scott Walker, you think at a few certain times his (excellent) voice touches, dare you say, Roy Orbison territory?

After another brilliant chorus on “Sorry Doesn’t Help,” Years of Refusal comes to a blazing halt with “I’m OK By Myself.” “Could this be an arm around my waist/Well, surely the hand contains a knife?” he starts off and then the song rises to rather…epic proportions with a huge crashing ending. You doubt you could have dreamt a better ending.

You love how he’s back to loud rock songs with more pomp and swagger by-way-of some of his best lyrics yet. You’re the type of person who loves turning up the volume on your stereo/iPod/laptop, etc. and with Years of Refusal you don’t have to keep the volume down just because it’s Morrissey.

You were thinking about getting one of those Viva Hate tattoos, but a Years of Refusal one is sounding pretty good right about now….and since we all know Morrissey as the self-loathing lyricist of note, here are some more of his gems from Years of Refusal:

“I was driving in my car/I crashed and broke my spine/So, yes, there things worse in life than never being someone’s sweetie” – “That’s HowPeople Grow Up”

“And the smiling children tell you that you smell/Well, just look at me – a savage beast – I’ve got nothing to sell/And when I die I want to go to hell” – “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell”

“I’ve hammered a smile across this pasty face of mine since the day I was born in 1975″ – “When I Last Spoke to Carol”

Buy: Years of Refusal
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Myspace: Morrissey

Here are the Wisconsin and Chicago shows we recommend you take in this week. Check them out below and let us know which ones you’ll be attending or ones you think should really make our list.

Upcoming Wisconsin Shows:

1/23 – Nickel Eye + Low vs Diamond + Sleeping In The Aviary – Majestic, Madison
1/24 – War Of 1812/Patchwork/Icarus Himself – Cafe Montmartre, Madison

Upcoming Chicago Shows:

1/20 – M83/The Killers – UIC Pavilion
1/22 – Annuals/Jessica Lea Mayfield – Empty Bottle
1/22 – City & Colour – Lakeshore Theater
1/22 – Animal Collective – Metro
1/24 – Lambchop – Old Town School Of Folk Music
1/24 – Frightened Rabbit – Empty Bottle
1/24 – Kings of Leon – House of Blues

Just Announced: 4/25 – Neko Case + Crooked Fingers – Pabst Theater, Milwaukee

+Bookmark our Wisconsin and Chicago shows pages for all your concert announcements+

A new Bon Iver song, “Bracket, WI” is now streaming at the Dark Was The Night myspace page.

Update: Each day is a new tune from the 31 that will appear on the compilation. It’s already switched from Bon Iver to Grizzly Bear’s “Deep Blue Sea” which, in my humble opinion is just as beautiful/engaging.

About: “Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009. Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National produced the album, and John Carlin, the founder of the Red Hot Organization was the executive producer. A total of 32 exclusive tracks have been recorded for the compilation. It will be available as a double cd/triple vinyl/download and will benefit the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease – and music is a great vehicle to raise money and awareness for it. This is the 20th year of Red Hot, and this is the 20th release!”