Hello again.  I thought I’d share with you some of the new stuff I’ve come across this week. . .

1. Stornoway - Beachcomber’s Windowsill : Sharing their band name with a small city in the North of the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, this Oxford based folk / pop outfit create soft songs with sometimes gritty instrumentation.  Think James Yorkston’s haunting melodies without a lot of the pretense (please don’t tell James Yorkston I think he’s pretentious. . . I don’t, but sometimes he’s a bit over dramatic for my taste).  Tracks like “On the Rocks” , “I Saw You Blink”, and “We Are the Battery Human” are fantastic. Here’s a vid:

2.  Jenny and Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now : There’s quite a dramatic story about how these two got together on the Warner Bros. sponsored website.  Jenny – of Rilo Kiley fame – and Johnathan Rice make some fun folksy pop on this album.  Some of it is a bit syrupy sweet (not sweet like Capsule sweet, but pretty sweet) but it’s all in good fun.  Something of a indie supercouple here. . .

3.  The Weepies – Be My Thrill : This is my top pick for the week.  I guess I’m feeling the folk-pop couples in the selections this time around.  The Weepies are a 9-years-together couple from California.  Most of the music features dual vocals and acoustic guitar/violin sets.  Slow songs for sipping wine and starry nights.

4.  Naragonia - Carabel : There is some wild instrumentation going on here.  Recognized in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Northern France as “folk ball” music, Naragonia composes songs that incoporate accordian, violin, uillean pipes, french bagpipes, oboes, diatonic accordians. . . well, you get the idea.  Both Pascale Rubens and Toon Von Mierlo teach at the Stad Sint Nikklas school in Belgium.  If you’re into French cafe meets Roma violin, this is good stuff. . . kinda like a good lambic or kriek, this one is for specific tastes.  Listen to with a bottle of Lindemans Framboise!

5. From Monument To Masses – On Little Known Frequencies : This album has been out for quite some time, but I wanted to give it a shout out today after discovering that this fantastic San Francisco based, leftist-activist post-rock outfit has called it quits.  I first heard their album Schools of Thought Contend in 2005 about the same time that I began studying (and writing about) neoliberalism and the dangers posed by global neoliberal economic networks/reforms/shocks.  It dovetailed nicely.  After working back through  The Impossible Leap in One Hundred Simple Steps (2003), their masterwork (imo) On Little Known Frequencies (2007), and numerous remixes by the likes of 65daysofstatic and Thunderbirds are Now! I really came to LOVE their work and their message.  How can you not like a band that only samples political messages in their work?  Check out a great interview with the band here where they discus their politics, music, and the importance of collective action.  I’m sure all three members are off to bigger and better things and I wish them well.  A sad end to a beautiful new beginning.  Here’s one of my faves (note the amazing speech on war about halfway in . . . by Hannah Arendt?):