THE MUSIC MADE ME DO IT

Fleet Foxes

My latest favorite addition to the music library? Without a doubt, Fleet Foxes. They're getting great write-ups and deservedly so. I know I can't stop listening to them.

As many are noting, they're being tied into The Long Tail of Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket and Grand Archives, but that's not really a fair comparison at all. An article in The Stranger states that they "grew up on their parents' records—Crosby, Stills, and Nash; The Beach Boys; the Zombies; Joni Mitchell; Simon and Garfunkel—and they wanted to make music that was more true to those roots."

Their EP, Sun Giant, is five songs full of gorgeous harmonies and lush melodies that leave you craving more. Thankfully, they've got a full-length album coming out June 3rd. Currently they're on tour in Europe and will be coming back to the States in late June, hitting the Twin Cities on July 20th (according to their MySpace page).

For my friends reading this in San Fran, Denver, Chicago, Boston & New York, here are your dates:

San Fran: June 26

Denver: July 22

Chicago: July 17 & 19

Boston: July 14

New York: July 9 & 10

As a last bit/treat, here's a video of them covering Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" in 2006...

Latest Listenings

Time to catch up...

Got to see Bon Iver at the Turf Club a while back. If you ever have the chance to see them, do it. While the number of songs they have are relatively few at the moment, the passion with which they play them is plenty and Justin Vernon is quite the humble and talented musician.

The other night, I went to First Ave to see a "Best of Local Music" show and caught Romantica and The Alarmists. Two very different bands, both putting on solid performances.

Listening-wise, like many others I've been giving Santogold quite a bit of airtime as well as Vampire Weekend. Those two took me a bit to get into, but that's not the case with these next two. Handsome Furs and Miracle Fortress, both hailing from Montreal, grabbed me almost immediately.

Handsome Furs is comprised of husband/wife duo Dan Boeckner, from Wolf Parade and Atlas Strategic, and short story writer, Alexei Perry. Miracle Fortress is the creation of Graham Van Pelt, and for live shows, he brings along drummer Jordan Robson-Cramer of Sunset Rubdown and Magic Weapon, guitarist Jessie Stein of SS Cardiacs and The Luyas, and keyboardist Adam Waito of Telefauna.

Other enjoyable new (to me) finds include Alcoholic Faith Mission, Kelpe, and Crystal Castles.