The Freeloader: Boris, Mountain Goats and More

This edition of the Freeloader, our weekly compendium of interesting stuff you don’t have to pay for, rounds up new tracks from Boris and former Pas/Cal front man Casimer, a stream of the upcoming Mountain Goats album, and a brand new mixtape from the underrated R&B crooner J. Holiday. Boris has a track from their upcoming album Attention Please for download at Stereogum. “Hope” is a bit of a departure in a way: an insistent shoegaze-inspired song that focuses more on the dreamy vocals of Wata and less on the guitar overload they usually deliver. You can grab it here.
The upcoming Mountain Goats album All Eternals Deck is coming out March 29th but NPR is streaming it here, now.
If you’re like me, you mourned the demise of Pas/Cal and were left wanting more than just a couple brilliant EPs and a very fine album. A large chunk of the band split off to become Computer Perfection, and while they are okay, the beautiful (understatement!) voice of Casimer and his inspired songwriting was the real strength of the group. After a long spell of radio silence, Cas has returned with a tune he wrote and recorded for a fan who kept tweeting his sadness over Cas’ disappearance. The results are here and while it’s “just” a piano and voice number, it’s enough to get me super excited about the prospect of more. More, Cas!
The title of J. Holiday’s new mixtape, MIA – The Lost Pages is fitting. Since 2009’s Round 2, the R&B crooner (remember his killer jam “Bed”?) has been off the grid while he worked out label problems, but now he’s back working with The-Dream and signed to Def Jam. This mix is a nice reminder why we need him around, full of sexy pillow talk and a fun cover of Ready for the World’s “Oh Sheila”.

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Video of the Day: Teedra Moses – R U 4 Real

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Almost seven years have passed since the release of Teedra Moses’ debut album, Complex Simplicity. One of the finest pop-R&B albums of the last 10 years, it dealt penthouse soul via the street, with some of the slickest, most sophisticated productions — featuring collaborations with pre-fame Ne-Yo on several vocal arrangements — as a backdrop for raw lines like “And listen daddy I’m too cute to fight/You better get that bitch told tonight” and “When I spit my ‘g’ at you, I bet you won’t know how to act.” Even when factoring Top 20 placement on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and a couple minor hits, including “Be Your Girl,” spun by DJ Quik at the Bat Mitzvah of Ari Gold’s daughter in a 2005 episode of Entourage, the album did not get the amount of promotion or attention it deserved. Moses’ label, TVT, was more invested in Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twins, and Pitbull, and it went bankrupt in early 2008, as the singer and songwriter was poised to release her follow-up.

Despite lacking an outlet for a second proper album, Moses has never faded into the background. She has been performing and releasing mixtapes at a steady rate, and she recently offered a series of extra tracks leading up to her new single, unveiled yesterday. Produced by Wow Jones, “R U 4 Real” is as alluring and lyrically direct as Complex Simplicity’s “Backstroke” and “Rescue Me,” but narcotized. The haze is greatly enhanced by its dreamlike video, directed by Phil the God (Ghostface Killah’s “2getha Baby”) and co-starring Drumma Boy. The song will be featured on The Young Lioness, what Moses calls “a compilation of songs that represent the 360 degrees of a real woman.” The album is complete, says Moses: “I am hoping The Lioness will be released in August. I don’t have a solid label home yet, though I do have interest. I’m working on feeding the people, the consumer, the music lover. My goal is to supply sexy soul music — real singing from a lifestyle artist.”

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American Idol: Getting Syesha Out of the Way

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
To nobody’s surprise, the final two are David & David, the least predictable final two since, oh, Clay and Ruben? To be fair, most Idol finales are predictable — did you expect Carrie Underwood not to make the final two? — but the producers’ manipulations this season have been glaringly apparent from the get-go, culminating in the delivery of Syesha’s execution papers in the form of that song from Happy Feet. It’s an end that’s strangely appropriate to this election year, a year that began with many Democrats claiming they’d be happy if either Hilary or Barack won. For me, that’s also true of American Idol this year: I’m going to be equally unhappy with either winner.

Finally, no matter if we’re a supporter of David A or David C, I think we can all agree on one thing: there is not a chance in hell that either David will return in four years and deliver a performance as bracingly weird as Fantasia’s “Bore Me (Yawn),” a hip-hop stomp that left Simon visibly bewildered. You would think that Simon, who has recently been complaining in the press that Idol has been too “safe,” would appreciate a jolt of unpredictability like this, but apparently not.

Heather Phares
Wednesday night’s show — a.k.a. Getting Syesha Out of the Way — could have been a boring afterthought. Actually, most of it was, including the saccharine visits the Final Three took to their hometowns, but another homecoming made at least one part of the show worth watching. With her ruby red ‘do, wild dance moves, and even wilder singing, Fantasia injected this season of American Idol with some literal, and much-needed, color. Yes, her performance of “Bore Me” was over the top, but after weeks of actual boredom, her willingness to go way, waaaay out there was more than a little refreshing — if only for the stunned reaction her performance drew from Simon (which just gets funnier the more you see it). Simon has complained that the show has been “too safe” this season; too bad it took 2004’s American Idol to shake things up.

Andrew Leahey
Leave it to Fantasia to inject a bit of unexpected energy into a predictable episode, even if I’d rather watch an entire recital by Sanjaya Malakar than sit through that performance again. Simon’s reaction was priceless, though, as were the absolutely terrified faces that populated the “mosh pit.” Those audience members usually climb all over each like puppies, screaming and clamoring and reaching out to touch the cuff of David Archuleta’s jeans, but Fantasia parted the sea like Moses in drag. She stepped down from the stage, the mosh pitters scattered, and *boom*, Fantasia is suddenly the latest thing in crowd control. Somebody hire her to run security for the Pope’s next visit.

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The Poplist with Madeline

There are tons of people doing the indie folk thing these days; some do it with skill and imagination, some should have their banjos smashed to bits Animal House-style. Athens, GA-based singer/songwriter Madeline falls firmly in the first category. Sounding more like Sandy Denny than Joanna Newsom and backed by a band of musicians who give her plenty of support, Madeline’s vocals have a lovely rich tone and her words ring true throughout the recently released Black Velvet. We asked her what she was listening to as she worked on making the record….

First,here’s Madeline and her band doing a track from the album:

MADELINE // BAD MOON from SLOW RECORDS STUDIOS on Vimeo.

Karl Blau- “Nature’s Got Away”
I went on tour with Karl a couple summers ago and walked away with this little ear-worm in my head. I sing it in the shower and in the car mostly. I love the bird imagery. “The mockingbird eats the black widow spider piece by piece to eventually hide her.” That’s such a good line! Right after that tour I started writing the song “Dead Moon” and low and behold there are crows everywhere in that song.

Nana Grizol – “Circles Round the Moon”
I use to play bass in Nana Grizol and this was my favorite song. Mostly because it was a whole band sing-along and that was a hoot. When I started writing “Please Don’t Put Me Down” and “Hurry Up Pronto” I realized that they were totally based on Nana Grizol bass lines. Whoops! I should probably put “All of my friends in Athens” as an inspiration category because it’s impossible to watch someone play 20 times in a year and not snag something from them.

Dead Moon – “Walking on my Grave”
When my ex-boyfriend/former drummer and I were on tour we pretty much only listened to Tom Petty, Neil Young, Dead Moon and The Hot New Mexicans. He was an awesome DJ. Fast forward a couple years and I’m hanging out at a yuppie’s house having the worst time ever. The host was talking about his stupid expensive bug zapper for his golf-course lawn and the guy’s wife was making snarky little comments about my age. I was just standing there thinking, “How the hell did it get to this? I’m fake smiling while this asshole I don’t even know is judging me? What have I become?” The image of Dead Moon’s famous icon came to me and reminded me of all the badassery I was capable of and no longer participating in. Thanks, Dead Moon!

Willie Nelson – “Me and Paul”
One time we brought a roadie named Paul with us on tour. We covered this song every single night in his honor. The song “I miss my friend” is straight up ripped off from this tune. It’s basically the same song.

Neutral Milk Hotel – “Oh Comely”
This was the song that made me want to write. It was like a freaking lightning bolt when I first heard it in high school.

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The Poplist with the Loose Salute

This week the Poplist takes a quick look at the bands and songs that inspired Ian McCutcheon. Sharp eyed trainspotters likely remember him as the drummer for Slowdive and then Mojave Three, which is impressive enough. His latest project the Loose Salute sees him taking a larger role as songwriter and vocalist (as well as drummer). The groups’ sweetly sung, sprite-ly played bubblegum country rock sounded good on their debut album from four years ago, Tuned to Love; the new record Getting Over Being Under sounds even better. More confident, more fully realized and full of really lovely singing, it’s a big step forward for the band.

Before we turn Ian loose, here’s a track from the new album: “Happy I Don’t Count”

The Beach Boys – “Hold On Dear Brother”
Such a beautiful song, I love the lazy feel of this tune, for me it’s the stand-out track on the Carl And The Passions LP, a stroke of genius by Carl Wilson in inviting Blondie Chaplin into the band. It’s Blondie and stand in drummer Ricky Fataar that are credited with the writing of this song.

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Bonnaroo 2011

It’s been five days since Bonnaroo ended, and my lungs are still covered in Tennessee dust. This year’s festival was dirtier than usual, with hot, rainless weather and 80,000 people combining to turn the festival into a mini Dust Bowl. In all the nighttime photos I took, the air looks like it’s swimming with brown snowflakes.

People don’t go to Bonnaroo to be comfortable, though. They go there for the music, for the experience, for the novelty of music-filled evenings in which Atmosphere, Wanda Jackson, My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire, and Lil Wayne all play consecutive sets. And Bonnaroo, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, never disappoints.

If you’re new to the festival, here’s how things work. There are two outdoor stages and three covered amphitheaters, as well as a handful of smaller venues (a beer tent, a lounge, a solar-powered stage). Music starts around noon and lasts until 3 or 4 in the morning. It’s always hot — unless it rains, in which case it’s muddy and hot — which results in a somewhat illegal lack of clothing with some of the Bonnaroo attendees and an inordinate amount of sweat with everyone else. Most importantly, the bands all seem to realize they’re playing to giant crowds of sun-baked, tired-limbed people who’ve braved the heat for the sake of a good concert experience, and most of them deliver solid performances as a result.

Highlights: watching Ray LaMontagne’s set from the front row before running over to Florence + the Machine, just in time for their encore of “Dog Days Are Over;” seeing Julian Casablancas come out of his too-cool-for-school shell during the Strokes’ performance, but only long enough to blow a kiss to some girl in the audience; riding the Ferris wheel at 3:30 a.m. and catching snippets of the late-night Girl Talk show while in mid-air; squeezing myself into the pit for Arcade Fire’s headlining show; singing along with Mumford & Sons while they played a folky version of “Amazing Grace” with Jerry Douglas and Old Crow Medicine Show. Eminem was pretty stellar, too.

Leaving Bonnaroo is always the toughest part, because you’re inevitably tired and sick with the Bonnaflu, a disease that results from the ingestion of dust and festival food. Then you have to go back to work and catch up on a week’s worth of assignments, thus delaying the composition of the article you originally attended to Bonnaroo to write. But it’s worth it. It always is.

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The Poplist: Biking with Julia and Kyle of the Ladybug Transistor

This week the Ladybug Transistor release their newest album Clutching Stems and it may just be their best yet. Filled with heartbreaking songs, sweeping melodies, perfectly calibrated arrangements, and the deeply felt but drop-deadpan vocals of Gary Olson, it’s their best since The Albemarle Sound anyway and that’s saying a whole lot! You can read more about it here, but before you slip away….Julia Rydholm & Kyle Forrester (the bike crew from the band) submitted a list of songs that should inspire you to go biking, but both were careful to point out that one should never listen to music while biking.

Kyle’s choices:
The Kinks – “Mindless Child of Motherhood”
It’s got that chugging, moving type thing, and you can’t possibly pedal hard enough to keep up with the intensity of that one part.

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