Seattle-based cowboy troupe Brent Amaker & The Rodeo has wrapped up recording the follow-up to its cheeky 2010 album, Please Stand By. The new album, The Year of the Dragon, is out this fall on Spark & Shine. For your previewing pleasure, the band recruited Black Dahlia Films’ Jamie Chamberlain to direct a teaser for the album.
Meaghann Korbel
Video: Brooklyn Philharmonic presents Tim Fite
Each year, the Brooklyn Philharmonic recruits an eclectic group of non-orchestral musicians to pair up with resident composer-mentor Randy Woolf to compose and perform an original piece with a full orchestra as part of the Outside-In Fellowship program. This year, they’ve commissioned indie renaissance man Tim Fite to be among the latest batch of fellows to present their imaginative pieces on May 2 at Brooklyn’s Galapagos Art Space.
Check out the video below for some details on the program and Fite’s “Copy Cat” arrangement.
Video: Tu Fawning’s “Anchor”
Tu Fawning: A Monument (City Slang, 5/15/12)
Gearing up for the May 15 release of its sophomore album, A Monument, Portland indie darlings Tu Fawning have just released a video for “Anchor,” the album’s opening track.
Directed by fellow PDXer Judah Switzer, the video was shot around Oregon’s dunes, providing eerie yet picturesque landscapes as a fitting backdrop for the track, giving you an added glimpse into the spooky-serene world of A Monument.
Video: Secret Chiefs 3 tour film
Last winter, Secret Chiefs 3 — the East-meets-West super-group known for its mysteriously cloaked and ever-rotating lineup led by guitarist Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More — took off for a European tour with some folks from the APATT Orchestra, a large-scale ensemble that seeks unusual settings for collaborations with other artists.
In a new hour-long tour film, you can catch all the on- and off-stage adventures of SC3 and APATT as they bring their wild instrumentation abroad. Adventures include, but are not limited to, parades with giant motorized elephants, steam-punk carousels, and unsuccessful rock-on-string fights.
Video: O’Death’s “Black Dress”
O’Death: Outside (Ernest Jenning, 4/19/11)
Around this time last year, NYC-based alt-Americana band O’Death released its fourth full-length, recorded after drummer David Rogers-Berry recovered from osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
It’s no wonder, then, that Outside serves as a sort of reflection on mortality, which is especially evident in its new video for “Black Dress.” The video, directed by David Woolner, begins with a girl who, after an encounter with the Grim Reaper, must face a man from her past.
Video: Feist’s “Bittersweet Melodies”
Feist: Metals (Interscope, 11/4/11)
On the heels of her big win at Canada’s Juno Awards, Canadian indie songstress Feist has just released a video for her song “Bittersweet Melodies,” the latest off her 2011 release, Metals. Directed by Holle Singer, the video features the work of Argentine photographer Irina Werning, whose acclaimed photo essay Back to the Future captures present-day recreations of photos from the past.
Video: Squarepusher’s “Dark Steering”
Squarepusher: Ufabulum (Warp, 5/15/12)
Next month, English electronic artist / bass wizard Squarepusher (or Tom Jenkinson, if pseudonyms aren’t your thing) returns with a follow-up to his 2010 album on which he debuted his “space-pop band,” Shobaleader One. Ufabulum, out May 15, is a step in a different direction in more than one way.
MP3 Premiere: Ancestors’ “On the Wind”
On Tuesday, LA-based psych-doom quintet Ancestors topped This Week’s Best Albums with the epic In Dreams and Time, and today we’re premiering the album’s fourth track, “On the Wind.” Continuing the band’s loud/soft evolution, the track builds from deep, harmonized piano chords to layered vocals, swirling organs, and a screeching guitar solo.