The Weekly Feed 4/6

And it was another fun week in Web Space.  Rock stars love April Fools as much as the next kid and the usual high jinks were out, with Trent Reznor getting unanimous votes for Prank King after he announced another new record ready for download.  Once you clicked on a link it took you to a page for his album Strobe Light, a beats oriented record produced by Timbeland and featuring track titles likes “Laid, Paid, and Played.”  No word from Chris Cornell yet about his thoughts on the joke.

A few more festivals released their lineup, including Bumbershoot, which officially puts us in the Spring buildup.

And some dude named Bob Dylan proved that by posting a free track on the web, he’s still got what it takes to bring the kids running.

And we’ll have music from Bobby D, as well as St. Vincent, The Felice Brothers, Eels, and Friendly Fires.  But first...

Doves – Winter Hill

I waxed poetic on this record earlier in the week (for the Daily), but basically this a band that I’ve been crazy for since I first heard their album The Last Broadcast. The Doves are back with a new record called Kingdom of Dust that you’ll be able to pick up this week.

Richard Swift – Lady Luck

New music from the man with the smoothest falsetto this side of indie rock, Mr. Richard Swift.  Word has it that his newest album, The Atlantic Ocean, all fell together after he bought a vintage analog tape machine from Jeff Tweedy after touring with Wilco last year.   Swift has described the collection, ultimately as “Prince sitting in on Lennon’s Plastic Ono Sessions.”  Go ahead hip-kids.  Go nuts.

St. Vincent – Actor Out of Work

And since you’re already drooling, we’ll move right into this weeks current basement heart throb.  The Dallas based St. Vincent has been causing quite a craze since her single, The Strangers, was posted a few weeks ago.  Word is, it was inspired by vintage Disney features, which was confirmed by the track’s Snow White-like string arrangements and playful melodies.  But now we get a copy of this track, which seems to be more out of the PJ Harvey songbook.  Regardless of where her muse is coming from, this album is looking to be one of the most adventurous and interesting releases of the year.

Eels – Fresh Blood

Lead singer E has been crafting this one for the past few months and judging from the size of his beard and the description of the record, we could be in for a pretty horrific good time with this one.  According to the mysterious E, he had “wrote a song a few years ago that was about wanting to protect someone from the wolves.”  The album is called Hombre Lobo, which is a direct translation to werewolf.  The Eels out-for-blood new release hits shelves June 2.

Bob Dylan – Beyond Here Lies Nothin’

New music from, arguably, the greatest songwriter of all time, Bob Dylan.  And if there was any question of his relevance with the younger generation, there was nary a blog that I ran across that didn’t at least make some mention of this new single, the precursor to his upcoming release Together Through Life, due out April 28.  The most surprising bit about the album was that, lately Bob has taken plenty of time between recordings.  This record comes barely over 2 years since his last, Modern Times, and prominently features the accordion work of Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo, giving it a (quote) “seductive border-café feel.”  Personally, I’m pins and needles for this one.

The Parson Red Heads – Raymond

This is one we found via Large Hearted Boy’s Daily Downloads. I'm diggin' the pop/americana feel to it, but not in a Wilco way.  Almost in a Matthew Sweet sort of way.  Anyway, they're from L.A. by way of Oregon and have a limited edition vinyl out now, which you can grab on their MySpace.

Passion Pit – The Reeling

Interesting write up over at Music Fan’s Mic, who says the album is, “40 minutes of unashamed, eighties-inspired dance-pop, but it also offers something more. It sneaks past the casual bandwagon-jumping indie-pop acts of today and gleefully rises to the top of the pile. There’s something special in there, that much you can tell even after one single listen.”

The Veils – The Letter

Its been three years since The Veils had anything new to offer, but after some nasty in-fighting, cooler heads seemed to have prevailed and their back with a new set of songs that Tsuru Radio calls “a beautiful kaleidoscope of songs that range from romantic to jaunting, usually dripping with juicy reverb, always saturated in emotion.”

The Felice Brothers – Run Chicken Run

Barn burner style.  The quartet’s new disc Yonder Is The Clock drops this week but you can pick up this track for free right now on their website.

Jill Sobule – San Francisco

Now, the only thing I knew about our next artist was that she sang the song “I Kissed A Girl.”  I’m not talking about Katy Perry.  This one sang the 1995 hit of the same name that inevitable suspended her in one-hit-wonder status in most folks eyes, but a select few have kept up with the singer-songwriter and, thanks to Some Velvet Blog, brought her back to our attention.  Apparently the album was paid for by her fans, too.

Malajube – Ursuline

Don’t feel bad if you didn’t understand anything they were saying.  Neither did I.  The French-Canadian band speaking in.. get this, French.  Most foreign bands, when trying to conquer America, give their native language the boot in fit in more, so more power to this outfit for sticking to their own basics.  While I may not be able to understand, the melody and instrumental play are plenty enough to tell the story.  Malajube’s new disc Labyrinthes in stores now.

Friendly Fires – Skeleton Boy

Time to turn the dance back up.  The British kids in Friendly Fires are getting in on the craze and Mahogany Blog calls them “one of the most exciting British bands to emerge last year.  The new single punchy, funky and all other words that ends in a ‘y’.”

Weinland – Sunken Eyes

Another of the many Portland based bands.  As the story goes the band “cashed out their 401(k)’s, emptied their bank accounts, and put everything they had into making sure Breaks In The Sun would see the light in 2009.”  Well done.  Its been championed as one of the best nu-folk albums of the year.

So, hopefully you found something new in there that fit ya well.  We really are grateful for all of you tuning in every week, whether it be on your radio dial, or right here on WFPK.org.  If you haven't already, we most appreciate it if you passed along our link to a friend or two.  Seed plantin' takes a whole mess of workers.  I think.  Actually, I really don't know.  I guess Johnny Appleseed did it alone, but I'm no Apple Tree plenter.  I'm a Weekly Feeder.

Okay, this has suddenly derailed.  Tie to get back on track.  How bout some credits?

The Weekly Feed was produced by myself and Todd Smith at MixWorks Studio in Louisville, KY.  I'm your host, Kyle Meredith.  Hit us up on Facebook and we'll see ya next week.

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