Fleet Foxes

The countryside has come alive with the uncertain harmonies of the wind and the trees; the piper prances through the meadows, a band of squirrels trailing close behind. Fleet Foxes are there too: shimmering voices straining to match the cadences of the Earth below. The bushy-tailed quintet has been absent for quite some time, now. [...]

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Animal Collective Announces Water Curses EP

This just in: Animal Collective will be releasing Water Curses, their much anticipated follow-up to Strawberry Jam, on May 6. According to its press release, “All tracks find Animal Collective exploring strange new waters….” Oddly enough, that doesn’t surprise me.
Water Curses tracklist:
01 Water Curses
02 Street Flash
03 Cobwebs
04 Seal Eyeing
[download] “Peacebone” from Strawberry Jam

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Video Naturalismo: Jodorowsky’s “La Cravate”

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s first film, La Cravate, was considered lost for 50 years until it was recently found in a German attic and released last May on a digital box set of all of his films. This 35 minute short was shot in 1957 and traces the themes of love and suffering that Jodorowsky would later [...]

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Mp3 Hosting Issues

Not sure what is going on exactly but if you are having trouble downloading our mp3s today it should be resolved soon. We’re talking to our hosting company now so it shouldn’t be much longer.
Sorry for the down time!
UPDATE: Looks like everything is OK again!

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The Dodos Expand Tour, Announce Album, Release Single

The Dodo’s – aka Meric Long – have been picking up a head of steam as of late. Not only were they just featured in Entertainment Weekly’s “Artists to Watch” (not that EW is a very reliable bellwether of good music, but hell it’s great news for them!), but they’ve also just vastly expanded their [...]

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Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry

Brownie McGhee (sitting at right) sings and speaks with a disarming, soulful simplicity. His eyes speak a language of languor, his lips curl into wistful grins with such ease and honesty that you want to cozy up by his feet like a labrador puppy, lapping up stories of the road and [...]

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Phosphorescent tours

Matthew Houck’s band, Phosphorescent, is starting their tour across the United States and eventually Europe tomorrow. I don’t want to throw out any comparisons or hyphenated genres — just check it out for yourself.
I haven’t heard many of their tracks but what I have heard is most excellent and I’m going to [...]

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Dress Devendra!

Oh, Monday. Why dost thou curse me with your doleful portent of five work-days!? Well, at least Devendra Banhart was kind enough to stoke the coals of procrastination by adding a page on his website devoted to the raiment that dwells in his closet. Weeee!
[click here to dress Devendra]

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Akron/Family: The Naturalismo Interview

Seth Olinsky of Akron/Family was kind enough to answer some of my questions before embarking on a nationwide tour. I want to thank Seth for putting up with me, and for creating some of the most dynamic music I’ve heard in a long, long time. Click here for spring/summer tour dates.
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Naturalismo: Both [...]

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Fire on Fire

Fire on Fire is, as their name suggests, a duality wrapped in a singularity, a paradox that somehow bears ramshackle cohesion through its own contradictions. It’s the sound of the American soil: gritty, coarse, uncouth, and consummately impolite. It’s as if the band members were raised by wolves amidst the oak pillars of Maine, admiring [...]

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Coming Soon…Naturalismo Interviews Akron/Family

You heard it here first, folks. Space/Folk/Funk/Fusion/Freestyle dryads Akron/Family talked with me about the meaning of love and a whole lotta Belgian waffles. Keep your nose to the grindstone in the coming week – AkAk’s comin’  yo way!
In the meantime, enjoy the shamanic bliss that is “There’s So Many Colors” from their most recent LP [...]

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Yeti Magazine #5: Akron/Family, Will Oldham, Iron & Wine

Mike McGonigal, founder of Yeti Magazine, says that “healthy confusion is always the goal.” In a universe with no answers and a lot of questions, I’d have to say I agree with Mr. McGonigal. In the fifth edition of Yeti Magazine, dropping March 7, Yeti serves up another intoxicating blend of visual art, music, and [...]

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Vetivers new ‘You May Be Blue’ Neighbors remix MP3

It’s hard to believe that Vetiver’s last album To Find Me Gone came out nearly two years ago, but wait no longer as you can finally get your hands on two new remixed songs from the aforementioned album. More recently, after completing a worldwide tour in supporting Devendra Banhart’s latest Smokey Rolls Down Thunder [...]

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Video Naturalismo: “To Hear Your Banjo Play”

An amazing 1947 documentary from ALAN LOMAX on the history of folk music in America – features Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Brownie McGhee, and Sonny Terry!!!
(Thank You for the suggestion, Kyle – this is fantastic!)

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Vetiver, Vashti Bunyan, & Juana Molina Perform “Been So Long”

We’re just in a Vetiver state of mind here at the ‘Lismo today. Check out this great video of Vetiver performing “Been So Long” with Vashti Bunyan and Juana Molina. This was a rehearsal for the Vetiver/Vashti “0 Degrees of Separation” tour, recorded sometime this past December or January.

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New Vetiver Album is “A Thing of the Past”

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Ahhh, isn’t it great working on a national holiday? Isn’t it great writing for a blog on a workday? Yes! Especially on a day like today, when Andy Cabic announced the full tracklist for Vetiver’s upcoming all-covers LP A Thing of the Past. And mark your calendars (aside from “don’t die” on December 31, mine [...]

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UPDATE: Fern Knight’s cellist responds with more photos from Rasputina/Espers show

What I thought was the only photo of the surprise encore of members of Espers and Fern Knight joining Rasputina on stage was also captured in a vintage photo shoot. Margie, the cellist for Fern Knight writes in:
Hello,
Margie here, cellist/Fern Knight, saw the pic you posted (taken by my husband at the show) of [...]

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Jose Gonzalez: Announces US Tour, Plays for NPR

Swedish songsmith Jose Gonzalez has recently announced a tour of the United States for the spring and summer. I saw Jose perform twice last year at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Jose’s performances are humble, understated, intimate (as you might imagine). The audience, however, is never restless. Their attention never wavers. His deftly plucked classical [...]

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Paz Lenchantin

Paz Lenchantin is the thundering bassist behind The Entrance Band’s soulful and psychedelic sound. While taking a break from recording with Entrance’s Guy Blakeslee, she has recorded with Brightblack Morning Light on the track ‘Everybody Daylight’ and more recently finished her second solo record Songs for Luci. The somewhat quiet release of her solo record [...]

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Rasputina joined on stage by Espers, Ex-Reverie and Fern Knight

It all went down at the Dances of Vice Festival: Neo-Victorian Ball at Element on Feb. 9th, where Rasputina was joined on stage by members of Espers, Ex-Reverie and Fern Knight for a rousing encore of Heart’s “Barracuda.’ As far as I know this is the only photo from the event but if [...]

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