Weekend in Baltimore vol. 2

Steve Malkmus and The Jicks
A nice collection of both new and old songs to chew on this fine winter weekend.

Nada Surf - See These Bones - from Lucky

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Beat (Health, Life and Fire) - from We Brave Bee Stings and All

Chris Walla - Sing Again - from Field Manual

Steve Malkmus and the Jicks - Baltimore - from Real Emotional Trash

Smoosh - Find a Way - from Free to Stay

The Soviettes - Multiply and Divide - from LP III

Paul Westerberg - We May Be The Ones - from Stereo

Braid - Killing A Camera - from Frames & Canvases

Get Up Kids - Holiday - from Something to Write Home About

Rainer Maria - Tinfoil - from Past Worn Searching

Saves the Day - At Your Funeral - from Stay What You Are

Preview Cat Power's Jukebox

A Few Songs for the Weekend

Wye Oak

Wye Oak "Warning" - Baltimore indie-folk-shoegaze outfit recently signed to Merge. Think Rainer Maria meets Ida meet My Bloody Valentine.

Fiery Furnaces "Ex-Guru" - From the brother/sister indie-folk duo's 2007 release Widow City.

Andrew Bird "Fiery Crash" - Live version of track one from his 2007 release Armchair Apocrypha.

Ida "Lovers Prayers" - The first single from the aforementioned Ida's new album of the same name due out on Polyvinyl on January 29th.

New Mountain Goats single

I finally came around to the Mountain Goats sometime in the last year or so. In the end, it was their 2006 album Get Lonely and specifically the single, "Woke Up New" that did it for me. Quirky lyrics and simple song structures augmented with just the right amount of percussion and strings.

Now, John Darnielle and Peter Hughes will be releasing their new album, Heretic Pride, on February 19th. Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster, who gives Davey Grohl a run for his money in the funniest man in rock category, continues his work with the band. The first single, "Sax Rohmer #1", clearly benefits from Wurster's drum work. They will be hitting the East Coast this March so check them out.

listen to Sax Rohmer #1

and check out the video for Woke Up New from the album Get Lonely.