Megafaun’s Phil Cook will release Hungry Mother Blues on May 10 via Trekky Records. You can still download his previous 8-song release for free here. Check out the beautiful artwork of the forthcoming record here and download a track from the record below:
MP3: Phil Cook & His Feat – “Ballad Of A Hungry Mother”

Kanye West and Kid Cudi headline the Marcus Amphitheater on Thursday, June 30th during Summerfest. Tickets go on sale Saturday, March 26th at 10:00AM and include Summerfest admission

Pitchfork has new videos from R.E.M., Menomena, Cloud Nothings, Deerhoof, and The National.

James Blake has announced his US tour dates, including a stop at Schubas on Sunday, May 15th. I cannot wait to see Blake next week at SXSW.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit are at the High Noon Saloon with Maria Taylor supporting on Friday, May 27th. Tickets are $15.

Only one week left to donate to Eric & Magill’s campaign on Kickstarter to get their album pressed on vinyl. This release will be the third for our Ten Atoms imprint.

One of the best albums I’ve heard this year comes from J Mascis, whose new solo record Several Shades of Why, arrives next week on Sub Pop. You don’t have to wait that long to hear it though, Spin has the whole thing streaming.

I’m off to Austin today for SXSW. There’s still time to RSVP for our Backyard BBQ on Friday, March 18th. We couldn’t be more excited about hosting a bunch of our favorite artists.

The Rural Alberta Advantage played a fantastic live session on World Cafe. We’re presenting the band’s Madison and Milwaukee shows later this month.

Jessica Lea Mayfield performs “Our Hearts Are Wrong” on Letterman.

The Felice Brothers will release their fourth full-length album Celebration, Florida on May 10th, 2011 via Fat Possum.

Daytrotter has sessions with Menomena and Kasey Anderson.

Damien Jurado performs a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR.

New York Times reports that “Investors Are Drawn Anew to Digital Music.”

Pitchfork has a video of La Sera’s “Devil’s Hearts Grow Gold.”

A lot of highly anticipated new releases are available for a “First Listen” at NPR. We highly recommend you have a listen to the new offerings from Wye Oak, The Mountain Goats and Kurt Vile. In addition, they’re holding a “Listening Party” today at 1 p.m. CST of R.E.M.’s entire new album, Collapse Into Now.

Listen to “Contrabanda” from DeVotchKa’s forthcoming record, 100 Lovers (March 1, Anti-)

Daytrotter has a session with Madison’s Icarus Himself.

I’ve been obsessed with Clean Hands, who just released the four song Undone EP as a name-your-price download.

Mogwai releases a video for “How to Be a Werewolf” (in Thirty Century Man). Mogwai’s upcoming album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, arrives 1/18/2011 on Sub Pop.

J Mascis has a new record entitled Several Shades of Why which is coming out on March 15 (also on Sub Pop). You can listen/download the new track “Not Enough” here.

Pitchfork debuts the Lower Dens video for “Batman” created by Yours Truly.

Watch Phosphorescent perform “It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)” on David Letterman.

I listened to Dark Dark Dark for the first time yesterday. Good stuff! Today, NPR has their session with WNYC

Menomena on World Cafe

Amazon has 100 Albums for $5 each including She & Him, Coldplay, Mumford & Sons, Fitz & The Tantrums, Radiohead, Junip, Spoon and more. Also, Feist’s The Reminder, featuring “My Moon My Man,” “I Feel It All,” and “1234″ is only $3.99.

There are few records I’ve cherished as much as those put out by Megafaun. Between last year’s Gather, Form And Fly and this year’s recently release mini-album, Heretofore, they’ve become one of my absolute favorite bands. Over the years, I’ve had the good fortune to be able to bring these guys to Madison and Milwaukee for shows and now, with a big smile on my face, call these guys friends. It is thus very fitting that Brad Cook chose selections by his friends for his contribution to our continuing feature on sad songs.

By Brad Cook:

I cry all the fucking time when I listen to music. Trying to narrow down a list of songs that make cry is almost impossible without some sort of linear thread. For sake of a theme, I decided to give you my top five most consistent tear jerkers that were written by friends. I get accused of being too excited about friends’ bands. I am fine with this. I have always felt there to be a direct correlation with trust and music. You trust websites, you trust critics, you trust friends that show you music and you trust friends that make music. When somebody’s integrity and intention isn’t being questioned, it becomes easier to open up and truly hear what they have to say. For me, there is no greater emotional connection to music then when it comes from someone I have shared more than a stage with, or saw from a far at a festival. It comes from someone that has informed as much of my character as the music I create. Here are songs that without fail, make me cry. It isn’t necessarily a sad feeling, though some of these are sad songs, it is just humbling. Also, I elected not to choose any songs by Justin cause that is a whole separate list. I cry to like every song he has ever written since we were kids.

1) Tallest Man on Earth – “Thousand Ways”

I met Kristian and his fiance, Amanda (who is as amazing musically and personally as he is) last year and it was heavy from the get go. His passion for love, life and music is truly otherworldly. If you have seen him, you understand how fitting his moniker is. His talent is so great that when I watch him play, I am generally a mess from the first note. You can see how much he his willing to give and it has been amazing to see how many people are lining up to receive his sentiments. This song has fueled many drives and late nights. No matter how many times I hear the line “I am the light in the middle of every man’s fall” I get the stinging feeling in eyes.

2) Patterson Hood – “Uncle Disney”

I just met Patterson last year, but he has been an important voice in my life for quite sometime. Patterson has a point of view in his songwriting that is so clear and familiar. There are a dozen or so Truckers tunes by all three songwriters that bring me to the tear zone, but this tune off Patterson’s solo album is crippling. The liner notes to this album are unreal. He describes in detail the dissolving state of his marriage and the turmoil within the band when these songs were laid to four track. This is the first track on an album that is as raw and honest as anything I have ever experienced. This album has been played multiple times on every single tour we have done and it has been playing during some of the most introspective times in my life. Patterson is a hero and his songs are so important to me and when I hear him count in “1,2,3,4″ I know where I am headed.

3) Sharon Van Etten – “Joke or a Lie” (unreleased, watch/listen here)

Jesus christ. Finding a moment when Sharon’s singing and it’s not overly emotional is also oddly difficult. I wish she’d make some sort of jokey thing, so it doesn’t have to be such an ordeal EVERY TIME I hear that voice. I have a demo of this song that I listen too when the time is right. She’d play this song on tour sometimes and all four of us would be standing there holding each other. I don’t know if I will ever entirely understand how one person is capable of so many songs that have the ability to deeply effect people. I have so much faith in Sharon as a songwriter and a person. If you know me, you’re already aware of that. If you don’t know Sharon’s music by now, get involved. It will only save you time……or your life.

4) Menomena – “Dirty Cartoons”

Megafaun’s first show four years ago was opening for Menomena. We were awful. However, it may be because of the consistent support from the get go from these guys that we are a band. Our friendships have continued to grow and these dudes continue to inspire us as much as anyone. The music they make is incredible, inspiring and unique and the guys are all thoughtful, sincere people. When they first sent this record over to us this spring, we were on tour. We were having a hard time adjusting to our role as headliners and our spirits were a little shaken. By the time we got to the outro of this song, it was all we could do to not stop the car. We were balling. We listened to this record everyday, sometimes several times a day for the rest of the tour. This song was like the mantra. I always joke about this song being the closer for the next Live Aid, but seriously: think about a stadium full of emotional motherfuckers in Rio De Janeiro or something, holding lighters and like, everyone walks off the stage while the crowd still sings. That’s exactly how big this song is in my world.

5) Conrad Plymouth – “Fergus Falls”

Chris Porterfield was our bandmate in DeYarmond Edison. He was the dude that quietly learned pedal steel and was probably a lot better than any of us realized back then. He didn’t really sing harmonies or turn his amp up cause he was weirdly insecure about his contributions if I remember that right. He certainly wasn’t one for the limelight, so to speak. Eventually, after we moved to North Carolina and Chris moved to Milwaukee, he started slowly putting songs out there. At first I thought it was endearing and I wasn’t quite digging in. In the blink of an eye, Chris shot out of the stratosphere in regards to his songwriting. When I heard Chris’s band play live for the first time this spring, I was literally in shock. This tune in particular was so triumphant I had to walk outside when it was done to collect myself. His band was SO good and his songs were unbelievable. Like Patterson, I truly believe that Chris has a completely original point of view and l exicon for his songs. There is an attention to environmental details within songs that actually work. Detail is tricky. Too much detail can write the listener out of the experience I think. Chris nails it in a way that I guess I havent experienced. For example in this song, the line ” I was concealing his kid under his crew neck state-school while i grinned off in the distance behind prescription shades.” This is the type of shit David Berman would write, but it would be buried in a mess of shit and lost in a potential sarcastic payoff(just for the record, I absolutely LOVE the Silver Jews), but with this song it’s so important and vivid and something we can all picture in our own way. Haven’t heard this song without losing my shit yet, hope I never do.

Buy: Megafaun – Heretofore
++
MP3: Megafaun – “Volunteers”

By Alex Schaaf

Now that’s more like it. After the disappointing Best Coast show the night before, I walked into Webster Hall Friday night with a little more confidence, and that confidence was quickly rewarded. The show was a long time coming. Menomena is one of my favorite bands, having made that list on the day I first heard Friend and Foe, their masterful 2007 album. I missed a chance to see them live during that tour, so I had to wait. This band is one that takes their time – they have been taking 2-3 years between each album, so I had to wait a little bit to fulfill my wish. Last year I saw Ramona Falls, the solo project of keyboardist/guitarist Brent Knopf. That was a great show, and it even included Menomena’s Danny Seim on bass, but I knew I still needed to see the whole thing. And Friday night’s show was a perfect ending to my quest.

Menomena is touring off of their recently released album Mines. While not as instantly grabbing as Friend And Foe, the record has grown on me in leaps and bounds. The beauty of Menomena is found in its density, in the way that various riffs and rhythms work together to form a thick stream of catchy melodies and scattered beats. Another striking aspect of the band is how democratic it seems to be. In interviews (like the one I conducted with Seim a few weeks ago) for this new album, they’ve all described the tough, excruciating process that was behind the making of Mines. All three members are strong-willed, and will fight for what they think belongs on the album and what doesn’t. This comes through in the finished product, as Mines bounces from idea to idea, from style to style, while still maintaining that “Menomena sound.” All three members contribute songwriting and lead vocals, which makes for a rather unique listen, as it helps keep things interesting as you listen to the record as a whole.

Last night’s show illustrated this point clearly, as Seim took lead vocals for the opening song, Justin Harris for the second, and Brent Knopf for the third. Some songs feature all three of them on lead vocals, some are clearly focused on one member. But throughout it all, it’s a concentrated group effort, and it results in marvelous performances.

The band cycled through most of the songs from Mines and several from Friend and Foe. The group is very concentrated on stage and relatively serious, although they’re not afraid to break from the schedule now and then. At one point Seim’s enthusiastic drumming resulted in a cymbal and floor tom crashing to the ground and knocking over Harris’ baritone sax. After the gear was quickly re-assembled, Harris warned the crowd, “Now if you hear any strange saxophone notes, you know why.” Another bright (if strange) point came when a (seemingly) homeless man wheeled his cart onto stage during “Dirty Cartoons,” and proceeded to sit down at the front of the stage and pull out an impressive air-drumming performance. Then, as the band sang “Go home, go home/I’d like to,” he sadly walked off the stage, shaking his head. A very strange and hilarious moment, but in the context of the song, it really was quite powerful at the same time.

The amount of instrument switching and rearranging going on, even over the course of one song, was truly remarkable. Harris was the busiest of the three, bouncing from bass to guitar to saxophone and back again, along with using his feet to play a PK-5A foot controller for bass parts. Knopf switched between keyboard and guitar, but even on the keyboard he played a wealth of different sounds, going from piano to organ to synth, triggering samples that played a large role in replicating the album for the live show. Seim stuck to drums, but his prowess on the drum set is impressive enough as it is, that there was no need to try and do anything else. Seim’s drumming was the first thing to strike me about Menomena, and for the live show my belief that he’s one of the finest drummers working today was confirmed.

The band closed the night with “Strongest Man In The World” from their first album I Am The Fun Blame Monster!. I love the song, but in the context of the show it was an odd choice to end the set; my friend and I both had the same confused look when they walked off the stage after that song. But the last song notwithstanding, the set was an incredible display of both their individual talents and their added power as a group.

The two opening bands were impressive as well. Portland’s Tu Fawning played a solid set of slightly otherworldly sounding music, with group vocals, tambourines, melodicas and kick drums combining for a rather vaudevillian aesthetic. New York’s Suckers, the second band of the night, played a solid set as well, closing with “It Gets Your Body Movin’,” my favorite track of theirs. My only problem with Suckers actually came during Menomena’s set. Now, I enjoy when the opening bands come back on stage during the headliner’s set to sing along to a big jam towards the end of the night. But –come on Suckers guy, you don’t need to come on stage for 3-4 songs throughout the set (bringing your girlfriend with you for one of them), especially when its an emotionally intense song that Seim is singing by himself into his microphone, as you’re trying to get your own voice into the microphone inches away from his face. But other than that, it was a great night and a very fulfilling one for me personally.

Previously: Photos: Menomena – High Noon Saloon (Madison)
Previously: Menomena Interview
Previously: Photos: Menomena – Empty Bottle, Chicago

MP3: Menomena – “Taos”
MP3: Menomena – “Five Little Rooms”
++
Buy: Menomena – Mines

By Alex Schaaf | Photo by Daniel Brielmaier

Menomena, a trio hailing from Portland, Oregon, have been on the scene since 2003 with the release of their debut album I Am The Fun Blame Monster!. Since then they’ve toured the world several times, released a follow-up album Friend & Foe, and have impressed critics and fan worldwide with their dense, complex arrangements of endearingly catchy songs. Now, in 2010, they are releasing their third album, the outstanding Mines. Recently appearing on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, the group is poised to make an even bigger splash with the new album. Danny Seim was gracious enough to answer a few questions for us:

First off, how does it feel to have an album coming out and to be gearing up for a big tour after such a long gap between Friend & Foe and Mines?  Does it feel different this time around, like you have a bigger audience or that there’s more attention this time?


Ah yes, The Gap: unfortunately not just a sweet place to by clothes anymore.  It took so long between these last two albums that it’s becoming almost impossible to gauge if there are any of our fans left.  They’re probably all grandparents by now, so it will be interesting to see how that will work.  We sound nothing like Jimmy Buffett. Sorry, I’m already tripping over my own lameass non-answers at this point.  Basically, when we tour, it will be interesting to see if the former fans still come out to see us, and if there are any new ones along the way.  As for right now, I’m too pessimistically skeptical to assume we’ll have a music career in three months.  Fingers crossed though?


Can you talk a little bit about the creation of Mines in general?  Did you record it yourselves, or did you have any help from outside producers or engineers?  


We did all of the recording ourselves again.  Actually, that’s not completely true.  I had help from a trio of close friends (Matt Dabrowiak, Benjamin Weikel, Jesus Christ) recording drums one day, but the other 98% of it was recorded solely by us.  We mixed it all ourselves too, up until last couple weeks before we finally submitted it.  At about that time, our engineer friend Jeff Stuart Saltzman intervened and helped us finalize the mixes and master the darn thing in his animal-ridden house.  I love how most band record, mix, and master entire records in the same time it takes us to “finalize” something.  Actually, I don’t love that fact.  I hate it with an absolute passion.
 

Were most of the songs on this album written around the same time period, or do they come from different stages of creating the album?


All of the songs but one (“Lunchmeat”) were written after we released Friend & Foe.  So that leaves THREE years to write and record the other 10, which of course means it took THREE grown men to write THREE-point-THREE THREE THREE songs per year for THREE years (how many peeps are in the Holy Trinity again?  CREEPY!).  None of that information is anything to be proud of.  But to be fair, Brent and I did write and record a total of THREE other non-Menomena albums with our coattail-riding solo projects.  Boy, do I wish coattails paid the bills.  


When making the album, do you come up with a bunch of songs, and create the tracklisting after the songs are all done, or do you figure out which songs you’re going to keep right away and only work on those?  If the first case, how many B-sides do you end up with after picking the final tracklisting?


We have quite a few B-sides this time around.  I think I personally submitted about 25 song ideas for this album, Brent about 17, and Justin about 5.  So that minus 11 should be roughly (emphasis on “rough”) 36 songs that didn’t make the cut.  Subtract about half of those for being absolute garbage (not in a Shirley Manson kinda way…or wait, maybe so) and another half of those that ended up on RamonaThereof albums, and you’re down to 9, to which I need not mention the square root of.  So yeah, we’ve got about 9 kinda-gems that are slowly making their way out there on vinyl and as digital bonus tracks.  And while I’m crunching numbers, I should also point out that while Justin may have put the least amount of material on the table, he has the highest percentage of songs to make the actual record (4/5 = 80% – thank goodness for calculators).  We’re all jealous of him.


Which was the quickest song to come together, from initial ideas to final mix, and which one took the longest?  Any interesting stories behind the writing/recording of specific songs?  


Brent wrote chord progression to “Killemall” a couple years ago, and we’ve been playing live it for awhile now.  I guess you could say that one came together pretty quickly in the process.  Justin had a similar experience with “Queen Black Acid“, which also happens to be his drumming debut on a Menomena record (he’s better than I at most things in life, drumming being no exception).  As for me, I assembled a little instrumental piece out of the leftover loops for “Five Little Rooms.“ It was originally supposed to be just a noisy instrumental finale to the parent song.  I emailed it to Brent for approval, and he wrote back (yes, we avoid actual human interaction at all costs) the next day with a mix featuring fully fleshed-out vocals, complete with Tool-style backwards reverb effect.  Why can’t we just be sober?  I loved it, and it became “Sleeping Beauty,” my personal favorite on the album.  Since you didn’t ask.


Brent released a solo album as Ramona Falls last year, and you’ve had your own solo work as well.  Do you think having these solo albums helps when you come together to make a Menomena record, as far as knowing more clearly what each person is capable of contributing, or is it just a totally different aspect that you don’t think about when you’re together as Menomena?


I guess I’ve never known what it would be like if I tried making Menomena music without having Lackthereof; my unmentionable solo project.  Lackthereof predates Menomena and has always been there simultaneously for me, just in case I feel like making an album of music that doesn’t require massive personality conflicts to produce.  But I know the equally irreplaceable talents of Brent & Justin make Menomena “Menomena”, so I’m totally content with my solo career just sort of hanging out somewhere in the shadows in the meantime.  Remember when Chris Cornell went solo?  Yeah, no one was too stoked on that.  

To answer your question though, the solo records definitely help the more prolific songwriters in this band stay mentally productive, if nothing else.  Thankfully, Ramona Falls and Lackthereof are still rather obscure compared to Menomena, which is still relatively obscure compared to uh, Justin Bieber.  If it ever got to the point where the three were competing for any of our attention, I think it would be the final conflict that broke this monkey’s back.  Self references rule!  

According to several reviews of Mines, the new album seems a bit more cohesive and comprehensive than the previous two, in terms of the focus being less on the methods of composition and the interesting textures and more so on the songs themselves, and the improved songwriting that’s on display.  Do you agree with this?


I agree.  Our songwriting should get the “Most Vastly Improved” award.  Ha.  No, I actually don’t know how to answer that.  I guess I’d be more curious to know if YOU agreed with that statement.  All I can say is that we worked our asses off for years on this thing, paying more attention to the minutiae of the structure and overall sound than ever before.  But tons of bands have made a lot of overwrought albums with that formula.  I hope Mines is an exception.  It’s quite a major sigh of relief when someone tells us they spent a lot of time with it and still like it.  It’s more validating that ever to hear that sort of thing right now, because it makes the end inch closer to justifying the means.  

Previously: Photos: Menomena – Empty Bottle, Chicago

Menomena is on tour next month including stops in Madison at High Noon Saloon on Friday, September 24th and at the Metro in Chicago on Saturday, September 25th. You should really go.

MP3: Menomena – “Taos”
MP3: Menomena – “Five Little Rooms”
++
Buy: Menomena – Mines