Dr. Dog returns with a new album, Be The Void, which arrives 2/7 on Anti-. Stereogum has a download of “That Old Black Hole” from the forthcoming record.

Listen to Charlotte Gainsbourg’s collaboration with Beck on “Paradisco” at Pitchfork.

The Take Away Shows from Pitchfork Music Festival continue with a beautiful two song set from Kathleen Edwards. Go here to watch.

The National’s Aaron Dessner interviews The War On Drugs for the A.V. Club.

nyctaper has Real Estate’s show at the Bowery Ballroom in New York available to download.

Watch The Dodos and Neko Case perform on Jimmy Fallon together at Prefix.

NPR has a spotlight video of Other Lives performing “For 12.”

I’m looking forward to attending tonight’s Wilco Austin City Limits taping at ACL Live. Excited to be hearing new material from their latest record, The Whole Love.

By Kyle Shaffer

Sometimes when you’ve found what you’re good at, it’s perfectly acceptable to stick with it, pound it out, and see what comes of the cracks and fissures. After all, in an age of technology-aided instant gratification, there’s something to be said about seeing how far you can push a certain constancy before setting your gaze on greener pastures. And while San Francisco natives The Dodos don’t sound complacent, their own particular brand of uniformity proves to be more virtue than vice on their latest, No Color.

From the jittery psych-folk spunk of opener “Black Night” Meric Long and Logan Kroeber set a table over which they talk about all the bizarre stuff that happened in their day. The bouncy guitar and the skittering pulse of Kroeber’s recognizable drumming serve as a floor upon which Long’s scatterbrained ruminations dance and flutter: “Kind heart, kindness. Where you going to, are you going through heaven or hell?” “Going Under” capitalizes on the polyrhythmic punches and accents the group is known for, oscillating between a lilting verse and a more straightforward, dreamy chorus.

“Good” sees the duo painting with broader brushstrokes and primary colors while still finding little nooks and crannies within the song to insert yelps and harmonies to keep things interesting. The frenetic thump in the beginning of “Hunting Season,” coupled with the heavy groove in the song’s bridge, make this track one of the most fun to listen to on the record, while “Don’t Stop” is a sonic smorgasbord of Nick Drake style finger-picking and sample-worthy drumming all hopped up on too many cups of coffee.

For most of the record, The Dodos stick with up-tempo tracks saturated in percussive tenacity that stops just short of sounding overplayed. There are times when you find yourself wanting to take a break to catch your breath, but Long and Kroeber are too ambitious to really fault them for that. And even though the argument could be made that The Dodos are but another installation in a trend of African-influenced pop (I won’t mention an oft-cited namesake that nearly every “ethnic pop” group is compared to these days), songs like those on No Color exhibit a left-of-centeredness that’s simultaneously weird and wonderful enough to single them out from any trend.

Buy: The Dodos – No Color
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MP3: The Dodos – “Don’t Stop (featuring Neko Case)”

I saw TV On The Radio last night in Austin. The band tore through a collection of old and new. “Starring at the Sun” received the biggest reaction throughout the night. It’s good to have the band playing live dates again. I caught their last show pre-hiatus in San Francisco a few years ago. The band’s new album, Nine Types of Light, arrives on April 12th. Listen/download a new track from said record below:

MP3: TV On The Radio – “Caffeinated Consciousness”

James Blake made his US debut at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last night. Brooklyn Vegan has the scoop and there’s video here and here.

The Dodos new album, No Color, is out today. It’s available in digital form for only $2.99 at Amazon today.

The Strokes are streaming their new album, Angles, on their website.

You can now stream/download the Wye Oak concert from the Black Cat in Washington, DC thanks to NPR.

Testa Rosa have new songs available as free downloads.

Fluxblog founder Matthew Perpetua ranks R.E.M. Albums from Worst to Best

NPR is streaming the Dodos forthcoming album No Color.

Listen to Photographers who open for Breathe Owl Breathe on their tour next month that includes stops in Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee and Appleton.

Junip has new video for “In Every Direction” off of their fantastic 2010 release, Fields.

The Key has video of Wild Flag at Johnny Brenda’s 3/6/11 (including Patti Smith cover).

We couldn’t agree more with Pitchfork on bestowing Kurt Vile’s Smoke Ring for My Halo as “Best New Music.” Pitchfork also has a Don’t Look Down video session with Kurt Vile.

Download A Free Robin Pecknold EP (Feat. Ed Droste) at Stereogum.

By Tyler Fassnacht

The last time the New Pornographers came to town was about two years ago, supporting their album Challengers. This time around, with their solid new album Together, the band yet again came to the Orpheum Theatre, but the shows were actually quite different: this time they were much better.

Opening the evening was San Francisco group the Dodos. The three members on stage (one more than at the last time they played Madison on the Terrace) played guitar, vibraphone and percussion respectively. A problem I would say about this band is that it seems they have a difficult time fleshing out their songs to sound as full as they do on record. Having said this, they still put on a hell of a show. As one of the more technically impressive folk acts, the Dodos guitar player/singer Meric Long fingerpicks at intense speeds with astounding rhythmic precision, but also can strum acoustic-pop songs, which kind of leads to my other complaint. Being a fan of the Dodos in their own right, I have listened to their catalog and I know the variety of sounds and song structure that they use, which the band didn’t showcase all that well; they mostly played a lot of songs that sounded very similar and safe, but I guess that comes with being the opener.

After some setup, the New Pornographers came out to an intro song (Boston’s Foreplay) and immediately jumped into “Sing Me Spanish Techno” off Twin Cinema“>Twin Cinema. A big reason the show this time around was better was visually apparent as soon as the band hit the stage: the inclusion of the fiery redhead vocal powerhouse Neko Case and the wonderfully quirky Dan Bejar, both of who were absent the last time. Things felt more comfortable and accessible with all the members there, the way seeing old friends at a party makes it that much more fun. Case’s sense of humor contributed greatly with the amusing banter of front man Carl Newman and Bejar kept his reputation by only coming on stage to play on his songs, leaving when he finished. The band also sounded tight and full with the inclusion of a cello/saxophone player rounding out the nine-person group, each adding to the music in their own way. In terms of song choice, a New Pornographers fan could not be happier. Each album was represented fairly well, splitting the set list evenly across their five albums with great renditions of “Use It,” “The Slow Descent into Alcoholism,” and “Myriad Harbour,” among many others. The band delivered with thick guitar chords, layers of vocal harmonies, poppy hooks and big choruses to a diverse audience of everyone from high school students to past middle age, adults (I guess everyone loves the New Pornographers). The banded ended the night with a short encore that included aid from two members of the Dodos and graciously left the stage, a suitable ending for an awesome rock show and performance.

Discuss: Did you attend last night’s show? What did you think? Drop a comment with your thoughts and reviews of the show.

Buy: The New Pornographers – Together
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MP3: The New Pornagraphers – “Your Hands (Together)”

The New Pornographers release their new album, Together on May 4th. In support of the show the band is hitting the road (with Neko & Dan), including stops in Milwaukee and Madison. Details below:

6/12 – The New Pornographers + The Dodos + The Dutchess & The Duke – Pabst Theater, Milwaukee – $22.50
8/4 – The New Pornographers + The Dodos + Imaad Wasif – Orpheum Theatre, Madison – $25 Advance/$28 Day of Show

MP3: The New Pornagraphers – “Your Hands (Together)”

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