OWEN PALLETT - Lewis Takes Off His Shirt

After working as a violinist/string arrangement for bands like Beirut, Arcade Fire, Pet Shop Boys, Grizzly Bear, Mika, Holy Fuck, Great Lake Swimmers, The Mountain Goats, Stars, Fucked Up and The Hidden Cameras, Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy) has recently released his third album Heartland on Domino Records. The new single "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt" is due March 29th and now has this borderline NSFW video.

New BEIRUT Video - Concubine

Beautiful. "Concubine" is taken from Beirut's recent double ep March of the Zapotec/Holland.

SHARON VAN ETTEN - For You

The lovely and talented Sharon Van Etten has one of the most gorgeous voices I've heard in a long time. Full of fragility and beautiful sorrow, Sharon has that rare ability to touch your most delicate of nerves. A TSR insider attended a listening party for her new record a couple of weeks ago and said everyone in the room became misty-eyed. She has already won over a quite devoted following thanks to her captivating live shows and her sold out Home Recordings disc.

Recently Sharon opened for Beirut in the US and London and is currently on a European tour with Great Lake Swimmers. The new album Because I Was In Love is out on May 26th via Language of Stone. Check out the video for the track "For You".

New BEIRUT - March of the Zapotec

Beirut is on the verge of releasing the new two EP package of March of the Zapotec and Holland, two sonically diverse discs that display the range of Zach Condon's varying musical styles. The first disc (Zapotec) was recorded in Oaxaca, Mexico with a 19-piece band. The second disc (Holland) is credited to Condon's other monikor Realpeople, an electronic counterpoint to Beirut. Holland also features an old Condon favorite, the beautiful and lush "Venice".

The double ep is released February 17th via Ba Da Bing! Check out the new video for the track "La Llorona"...



tracklist:

Beirut: March of the Zapotec:

01 El Zocalo
02 La Llorona
03 My Wife
04 The Akara
05 On a Bayonet
06 The Shrew

Realpeople: Holland:

01 My Night With a Prostitute From Marseille
02 My Wife, Lost in the Wild
03 Venice
04 The Concubine
05 No Dice

Happy New Year from The Sky Report!

The world is slowly ringing in 2008. Here in Hawaii, there are still over 12 hours left in 2007, so here are some last minute favorite videos from the past year.

Deerhunter - Strange Lights


M.I.A. - Boyz


LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends


Justice - D.A.N.C.E.


Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler


Of Montreal - Gronlandic Edit


Beirut - Elephant Gun


Radiohead - Unravel


See you in 2008!

BEST OF 2007 - EP of the Year

5. Black Kids - Wizard of Ahhhs



4. Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey



3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Isis



2. Beirut - Lon Gisland



1. White Denim - Let's Talk About It

GRIZZLY BEAR - "Friend"

Today Grizzly Bear are releasing "Friend", an EP of "new, reworked, and re-recorded material (including covers and collaborations)". To be more specific, here you'll find the band's takes on classics like The Crystals' 'He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)', covers of Grizzly Bear by CSS, Band of Horses, and Atlas Sound, as well as collaborations with Dirty Projectors and Zach Condon (of Beirut).

Unfortunately, Grizzly Bear's appearance on Conan O'Brien tonight has been cancelled due to the Writer's Guild strike, but the band will be doing a free show at the Virgin Megastore (Union Square) on Wednesday. Grizzly Bear will take the stage in the cafe at 7:00 pm, but it is a good idea to get there early.

"Friend" tracklist:

01 Alligator (Choir Version) (w/ Zach Condon and Dirty Projectors)
02 He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)
03 Little Brother (Electric)
04 Shift (Alternate Version)
05 Plans (Terrible vs. Nonhorse: Sounds Edit)
06 Granny Diner
07 Knife (CSS)
08 Plans (Band of Horses)
09 Knife (Atlas Sound)
10 Deep Blue Sea (Daniel Rossen Home Recording)

BEIRUT - "The Flying Club Cup"

BEIRUT's new album "The Flying Club Cup" hits stores on October 9th and the amazing La Blogothèque have filmed every track in Brooklyn. The clip for 'Cliquot' features Ed Droste of GRIZZLY BEAR on lead vocals and it is stunning. Also, check out 'Nantes', performed by the whole band as they descend a stairwell into a gritty Brooklyn basement. This is profound stuff.

Beirut w/ Ed Droste (of Grizzly Bear) - Cliquot (filmed by La Blogotheque)

BEIRUT -Cliquot - From the FLYING CLUB CUP
Uploaded by flyingclubcup

Beirut - Nantes (filmed by La Blogotheque)

BEIRUT - Nantes - from The Flying Club Cup
Uploaded by flyingclubcup

You can pre-order the album here. Check out more of these videos at flyingclubcup.com.

PJ HARVEY - "White Chalk" 89%

PJ HARVEY's eighth studio album "White Chalk" will be released on October 2nd and it is a record to cherish, not to mention own a physical copy of. At first listen, I found myself mumbling "What the fuck?!" and turned it off in the middle of the second song. It is so quiet, so delicate, I felt abandoned. Where were the guitars? Where were the aching howls? What about the dominatrix vixen who was always prepared to remind you that "You come and mess with me, I'm fifty inches long!"? There is none of that here. This is the kind of music that requires effort from the listener. And as a devoted PJ fan there was no way in hell I was gonna leave it alone. So I decided I needed to listen to the album in its entirety on my headphones, late at night, a little bit drunk. It was then that I discovered the beauty of "White Chalk". It is deep, dark, sorrowful, depressing, and complexly gorgeous.

Looking back on the more recent PJ Harvey albums, this is quite the departure. On the 2000 release "Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea", Harvey found her pop moment, creating the most solidly structured and thoroughly accessible collection of songs in her career. The 2004 follow-up "Uh-Huh Her" was more loose and uneven, but found its solidity in its erraticness. But "White Chalk", more closely resembling moments on the 1998 release "Is This Desire?", sounds as if it could have been recorded as one long, piano-driven diatribe with select key moments of variation and height. On the title track, a banjo takes the driver's seat to great effect. 'Broken Harp' uses subtle horns that sound like they could have been used on a BEIRUT track. And as always, there are the startling, almost horrific lyrics that have become a PJ trademark. Most notably this can be found on the opening verse of 'The Piano'..."Hit her with a hammer, teeth smashed in; red tongue's twitching, look inside her skeleton". These are not happy times for Harvey, but the listener only stands to gain as a result.

What is so gripping about PJ's work, is the truth to form and structure. Ms. Harvey is a phenomenally skilled writer. Even the simplest of her songs are so layered, full with imagery, honesty, and power. And here, it takes a few careful listens to see it. Though, I wouldn't suggest actually falling asleep to the album, as the final track 'The Mountain', a lush and driving ballad, finds PJ building into a piercing, desperate wail that could wake the dogs a mile away.

You can pre-order "White Chalk" now.

ZACH CONDON - 'Venice'

A new song has surfaced from ZACH CONDON, the forefront of theskyreport favorite BEIRUT. And solo, it's more of an electro affair. But all glory is not lost, as horns (a signature Beirut sound) deliver a profound punch on the second half of this track.

The song, a gorgeous electro refrain titled 'Venice', appears on a new compilation for The Believer (Magazine), compiled by Pitchfork Media's Brandon Stosuy. The collection also features rare tracks from GRIZZLY BEAR, DEERHUNTER, OF MONTREAL, YACHT, THE BLOW, THE TWILIGHT SAD, SUFJAN STEVENS, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY and I'M FROM BARCELONA.

Read more on Zach Condon in earlier posts on I Guess I'm Floating and Nialler9.

In other Zach Condon news, he recently joined Ed Droste and GRIZZLY BEAR onstage at the recent Primavera Sound Festival in Spain. I would have died to be there.

DOWNLOAD - Zach Condon - Venice (mp3)

BEIRUT and FINAL FANTASY @ Bowery Ballroom

A few hours after the YYY's debacle, I headed over to the Bowery Ballroom for night two of the BEIRUT/FINAL FANTASY extravaganza.

WOW! I can honestly say that this was one of the very best shows I've been to in quite some time. I was actually kinda thinking this would be a show leaning more towards the boring side. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The lovely Owen Pallett got things started under his moniker of FINAL FANTASY. Playing solo with his violin and occasionally on keyboard (though he was accompanied by a very entertaining live projectionist), Owen quickly had the crowd transfixed by his bizarre, yet completely engaging performance. Members of BEIRUT came out and joined Owen for the encore, teasing the audience with a taste of what was to follow.

Later, Zach Condon and his brass and strings entourage took to the stage for the opening number 'Postcards From Italy'. The BEIRUT show may have gotten off to a rather quiet start, but by mid-set they had the crowd worked into a sort of frenzy. Condon seemed visibly drunk, but his performance got better and better as he went. For the triumphant encore, the entire band (including members of ARCADE FIRE, who hot-tailed it downtown following their own headlining show) descended into the crowd, playing from the floor.

It has been a long time since a performance had me laughing out loud because I was having such a great time. I even threw my hands up in the air at one point, feeling the celebration that is BEIRUT flying out of me. I'm a geek for great music I guess.

Here's some photographic evidence of the great time that was had by all.

P.S. Many thanks to the folks at Urge for presenting an amazing night of music. Word is they are releasing an exclusive live EP of Beirut's Bowery Ballroom shows.

What a week!

Clearly it's a huge week for music in NYC, with both THE ARCADE FIRE and BJORK in town for a cavalcade of sold-out shows. Also playing (mostly sold-out shows) this week are LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, YACHT, AIR, TV ON THE RADIO, AMY WINEHOUSE, SPANK ROCK, BLONDE REDHEAD, PATRICK WOLF, ALBERT HAMMOND JR. and THE POLYPHONIC SPREE! In addition, both THE BRAVERY and YEAH YEAH YEAHS are playing multiple free shows today.

The week got off to a rousing start last night at the BEIRUT/FINAL FANTASY show at The Bowery Ballroom when members of The Arcade Fire joined in on Beirut's encore. SUFJAN STEVENS and members of GRIZZLY BEAR and THE NATIONAL were in attendance as well. Too bad I'm going tonight - it will be hard to match last night's extravaganza. But who knows? Maybe BJORK and AMY WINEHOUSE will pop in for cameos. Or maybe not.

NEW VIDEO FRIDAY

BUMBLEBEEZ - "Dr. Love"
from the album "Don't Sweat It"


MAPS - 'It Will Find You"
from the album "We Can Create"


BEIRUT - "Elephant Gun"
from the EP "Lon Gisland"


METRIC - "Empty"
from the album 'Live It Out"


Have a great weekend!

BEIRUT and FINAL FANTASY Coming to Bowery Ballroom

-Beirut

Urge Nights presents BEIRUT and FINAL FANTASY at The Bowery Ballroom for three nights, May 6, 7, & 8! BEIRUT's "Gulag Orkestar" and FINAL FANTASY's "He Poos Clouds" were both critical highlights of 2006, helping a new wave of experimental folk splash onto the scene. Both acts are musical artists and the fact that they are both sharing the same stage will result in something magical.

-Final Fantasy

For more information about Urge, visit Urge.com