Australians get to hear a new Decemberists song

Colin Meloy is playing Australia right now, and he debuted a song recently. It's a warm but soft uptempo acoustic number similar to "Red Right Ankle". Colin riffs for a few minutes on Australia before getting into the song; it's not the most riveting commentary, but you do get to hear people laughing along to something they probably don't think is really funny, but feel obligated to laugh at anyway. At any rate, the song's called Springville. Enjoy:



Helluva beard Colin's sporting there, eh?

Whathaveyou

• Joanna Newsom has a new record coming out, which is apparently a pretty big deal. I listened to a few tracks from it, and it sounds awful. Just awful. Look, I'm pretty open minded about music--especially weird singers. I'm a huge latter-era Tom Waits fan, after all. But damn, this just oozes pretentiousness. I hope I have to eat these words some day...I hope it clicks, and her sharply enunciated pixie chants will greet my ears kindly. But it's hard to conceive now. I viscerally could not stand what I heard.
  
• The new Spoon and Vee-Dub have dominated my personal earspace this year. Can't decide if "I Think Ur A Contra" or "Out Go the Lights" has been in my head more often.
• My concert schedule has filled out nicely: Jason Isbell in a few weeks is a definite, but the big get is My Morning Jacket in April. They're in the upper echelon of bands I need to see but haven't. Hopefully the Arcade Fire will come close later this year.
• Finally bought another Velvet Underground album after a few years of frustration. I tried to appreciate the influential group, but it wasn't happening. But Loaded is going down a bit smoother. I'm intrigued...will stay on this one and hopefully something will click.
  
• Thanks to Drew for pointing me towards a nice live collection of Richard Buckner material. His husky vocals and endearing inflections are certainly dominant, but not over the top (Joanna Newsom should take note.)
• I think The Basement Tapes features one of Bob Dylan's most interesting vocal styles. He's been characterized as a speak-singer (Blonde on Blonde-era Dylan serving as the template for most impressions.) But on The Basement Tapes, he's pretty much just talking with a bit of bravado. It's oddly likable.
• Here's a really good write-up about how Wilco slayed at a Neil Young tribute. And apparently they were pretty much the only ones who weren't a letdown.
  

Florida town bracing itself for Hurricane Pete

Gah, this is kinda sad but it's too funny not to post. Please go here to see what folks who live in proximity to the Super Bowl might find in their mailboxes.

To anybody who gets one of those, I have one word: eBay.

Tapped Out: Franz is out of the Hold Steady

By now, any Hold Steady fan has already poured one out for Franz Nicolay, the keyboard pounding roustabout who recently took his leave of the band. This is a damn shame too, as his stage presence and harmonies were part of what made THS such a brilliant live act. And sure, maybe Stay Positive wasn't quite the masterpiece that Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls In America were, but that doesn't mean we'll miss him any less.

Paste caught up with Franz--you can read the interview here--and found out what life after THS holds for Mr. Nicolay. This excerpt is telling:

"There’s gonna be two levels of [learning to tapdance]; there’s the level of learning the steps, and there’s the level of actually being able to execute the steps with a 15-pound banjo hanging from my neck.”

Interesting. So Franz is pursuing this Vaudeville act, which if nothing else is a new take on retro. Let's hope it doesn't end like this:



Best of luck to Franz, and here's to hoping Craig, Tad and the rest of THS can soldier on without.*

*I'm aware that the band started sans-Nicolay...but it's hard to imagine them without him at this point, isn't it?

More musical lookalikes...

File today's installment of Musical Lookalikes under "From the right angle". Safe to say these two gentleman don't necessitate nametags when in the same room, but were you to claim they bare not even a passing resemblance, I'd deem thee a liar. Twins they aren't, but long-faced, strong-browed, curl-topped gingers they are: The Frames/Swell Seasons' Glen Hansard and timeless character actor John C. McGinley.

(With a black wig and some imagination, Kelso could be Johnny Cash)

McGinley's portrayal of the beloved bully Dr. Cox on Scrubs--a character whose badassery more than makes up for irritating duo of Elliott and Carla--is what he's most well-known for, but I'll take Bob Slydell and his celebration of Michael Bolton's entire catalogue any day:


Suspenders and short sleeves or GTFO! Anyway, I'm actually a lot more well-versed in McGinley's stuff than I am with Hansard's. But this does give me the opportunity to post one of my favorite Dylan covers, Hansard's version of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" from the I'm Not There soundtrack.

New Poll: Band of the 2010s

I'd make the case that Radiohead was the band of the millennium's first decade. Four critically glorified albums, stadium tours, the works. While they ain't exactly "indie", I think that like Beck, The White Stripes, and a few others, they've gone mainstream and yet managed to maintain a high level of indie cred (currency about as valuable as used toilet paper, but something to strive for nonetheless.)

At any rate, they dominated the decade like few others. My Morning Jacket could be in the discussion: They've earned top billing for festivals and released steadily praised music with few missteps. Wilco too.

But for now, let's gaze into our crystal balls (hee): Who will be the biggest band of the oughts? Let your voice be heard, or email us if you think we missed a choice.

HSW Newsflash: National anthems on the way

God I bet I'm the only writer to engage in that kind of clever wordplay when covering this band! Anyway you've probably heard by now, but the venerable indie act The National will release an as-yet-unnamed LP in May. This news is welcome, as it's been a mind-boggling three years since Boxer was released. Probably no one remembers that it was my 4th favorite album of 2007. That album always reminds me of the job I worked in Columbia that summer, fresh out of college and sitting in an office on Main Street with a nice view of the business district. I had no iPod back then, so I loaded six or seven album into my work computer's iTunes (Boxer, Sky Blue Sky, Emotionalism, and Since by Richard Buckner are the ones that I remember specifically.) Anyway, that's my uninteresting story there. But "Start a War", "Green Gloves", and "Ada" are some of my favorite songs, and Alligator was awesome, so chances are we have another winner to look forward to.

A handful of tour dates accompany but of course nothing to speak of in the Carolinas. What does Paris have that Myrtle Beach doesn't?