Albums in 2006

The Shins Get Stoned

Indie darlings bring late-night psychedelia to next album

Despite the boost the Shins received from being featured in last year's indie buzz film, Garden State, the Portland, Oregon-based rockers are insisting on creating their third album, the follow-up to 2003's Chutes Too Narrow, at their own pace. "I told SubPop, 'We go on tour so consistently that when we get home we're not rarin' to jump into the studio, OK?'" recalls singer-songwriter James Mercer.

That's not to say the band hasn't been getting it done. The Shins – Mercer, drummer Jesse Sandoval, keyboardist Marty Crandall and bassist Dave Hernandez – laid down drum tracks with producer Phil Ek (Modest Mouse, Built to Spill) this September in Seattle, and are finishing their album in Mercer's home studio. They hope to release the album – either under the title Wincing the Night Away or Sleeping Lessons, both references to Mercer's crippling insomnia – next summer.

"I've been mixing mikes to get really weird sounds," says Mercer, who has yet to write most of the album's lyrics. "That's probably the last thing I do." But Mercer will allow that the songs on the "twenty-five-percent complete" album chronicle "human-condition stuff." "One song is about the Fifties, when all of these modern conveniences were being invented – like microwave ovens," he explains. "People predicted that we wouldn't work as much, but we work just as much, just more efficiently. Human life is about enjoying it, and this American worth ethic prevents people from really experiencing life."

Sonically, Mercer is exploring new territory, with more synth, piano and finger-picked guitar than on previous records. And where their creative process is concerned, the band wants to return to the laidback feel of recording their debut. "Oh, Inverted World, was a lot of sitting around with headphones on, smoking pot at five in the morning," Crandall confesses. "Sometimes it's crap, and other times it's great." Mercer adds, "Instead of mixing in a hurry, we want to get back to the ability to treat each sound with special effects and have it be a more atmospheric-sounding record. We really think of ourselves as a psychedelic band. That's the shit we listen to."

Or, as Hernandez puts it, "Our roots are getting high and listening to Pink Floyd."

Rolling Stone
The new Elefant song sucks…if I wanted to listen to circus music, I'd go to the f*cking circus…
NEW RECORD:
A Blessing And A Curse
Due out: April 2006
Producer: David Barbe
Mixed by: John Agnello
Studio: Fidelitorium in NC and Chase Park Transduction in Athens, GA

The Drive-By Truckers have just finished up their seventh record in the studio. A Blessing And A Curse is tentatively scheduled to come out in April of 2006 on New West. The record was recorded at Mitch Easter's studio, the Fidelitorium, in NC and at producer, David Barbe's studio, Chase Park Transduction, in Athens, GA. David Barbe once again oversaw the producing and John Agnello mixed the record.

NEW KONG:
Patterson has posted a new song he recorded in his living room last week, titled "King Kong '76". You should go take a listen and read what he has to say, before the hype of the movie takes over… http://www.pattersonhood.com/ : < http://www.pattersonhood.com/&gt;
THE JENNY LEWIS ALBUM WILL BE ON ALL OF YOUR TOP 10'S.
Originally posted by you be betty:
THE JENNY LEWIS ALBUM WILL BE ON ALL OF YOUR TOP 10'S.
OK THANK YOU FOR THAT REPORT, SCREAMING 15 YEAR OLD GIRL!!
It's pretty decent, but nothing earth shattering. As a country chanteuse, she's no Patsy Cline. Or even Neko Case for that matter.

Originally posted by you be betty:
THE JENNY LEWIS ALBUM WILL BE ON ALL OF YOUR TOP 10'S.
Rhett Miller - Believer due Feb. '06. It's all about sex. Yup.
Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
Originally posted by you be betty:
THE JENNY LEWIS ALBUM WILL BE ON ALL OF YOUR TOP 10'S.
OK THANK YOU FOR THAT REPORT, SCREAMING 15 YEAR OLD GIRL!!
ANY TIME, CREEP.

I AM ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO A RELEASE FROM SIMON DAWES AND A NEW PHANTOM PLANET ALBUM. I HEARD SOME OF THE NEW STUFF LIVE, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY FINALLY FOUND A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN THE LATEST ALBUM AND THE OLDER ONES.


THIS IS STARTING TO GIVE ME A HEADACHE.
His wife is pregnant with their second child. I see a future of no more sex for Rhett Miller.

Originally posted by El Sugartastic:
Rhett Miller - Believer due Feb. '06. It's all about sex. Yup.
LOL :)

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer:
His wife is pregnant with their second child. I see a future of no more sex for Rhett Miller.

Originally posted by El Sugartastic:
Rhett Miller - Believer due Feb. '06. It's all about sex. Yup.
Originally posted by you be betty:
Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
Originally posted by you be betty:
THE JENNY LEWIS ALBUM WILL BE ON ALL OF YOUR TOP 10'S.
OK THANK YOU FOR THAT REPORT, SCREAMING 15 YEAR OLD GIRL!!
ANY TIME, CREEP.

I AM ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO A RELEASE FROM SIMON DAWES AND A NEW PHANTOM PLANET ALBUM. I HEARD SOME OF THE NEW STUFF LIVE, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY FINALLY FOUND A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN THE LATEST ALBUM AND THE OLDER ONES.


THIS IS STARTING TO GIVE ME A HEADACHE.
1F U 7H1NK TH4T W4S B4D W41T UN71L W3 ST4R7 74LK1NG 1N L33T!!1 LIK3 0MG!!
Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
Originally posted by you be betty:
Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
Originally posted by you be betty:
THE JENNY LEWIS ALBUM WILL BE ON ALL OF YOUR TOP 10'S.
OK THANK YOU FOR THAT REPORT, SCREAMING 15 YEAR OLD GIRL!!
ANY TIME, CREEP.

I AM ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO A RELEASE FROM SIMON DAWES AND A NEW PHANTOM PLANET ALBUM. I HEARD SOME OF THE NEW STUFF LIVE, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY FINALLY FOUND A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN THE LATEST ALBUM AND THE OLDER ONES.


THIS IS STARTING TO GIVE ME A HEADACHE.
1F U 7H1NK TH4T W4S B4D W41T UN71L W3 ST4R7 74LK1NG 1N L33T!!1 LIK3 0MG!!
L0l0L0l0L0l!!11 0mG, u S0 D1dN't jUsT g0 tH3Re!!!!111 r0TfLmAo!!!111eleven
Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
1F U 7H1NK TH4T W4S B4D W41T UN71L W3 ST4R7 74LK1NG 1N L33T!!1 LIK3 0MG!!
Thanks for taking me to Brokeback Mountain last night, I had a blast.
133T Jeopardy.
Mike Ness says another solo album likely, perhaps less of a country direction and perhaps "more in a Bob Dylan direction. Who knows. As long as it's better than the last one." Everybody was afraid to ask him to clarify.

And surprisingly, Ness said that "Sex Love and Rock and Roll" is not the last Social D album. There were songs that weren't finished for the last album and they wrote while on tour over the last year. Don't hold your breath for the next one though - what's the average between SxDx albums, 5-6 years?
New album from Richard Ashcroft should be be great. The songs I've got so far are great.
Mike Ness and Bob Dylan in the same sentence? That's very fun.
Originally posted by vansmack:
Originally posted by [username edited by p.c. moderator]:
1F U 7H1NK TH4T W4S B4D W41T UN71L W3 ST4R7 74LK1NG 1N L33T!!1 LIK3 0MG!!
Thanks for taking me to Brokeback Mountain last night, I had a blast.
The pleasure was all mine?
Joey Burns Talks New Calexico Album

Jonah Flicker and Amy Phillips report:
Ennio Morricone's fantasy house band, Calexico, have some surprises in store for their fans when the follow-up to 2003's Feast of Wire comes out this spring. Due April 11 on Quarterstick, their longtime label, Garden Ruin seeks to cement Calexico's reputation as more than just "that indie rock band with Mariachi horns".

"I guess it kind of sounds different from previous records," frontman Joey Burns told Pitchfork earlier this week. "The Southwestern element is downplayed more on this release. It's focusing more on the songs themselves. There's no instrumentals on this record."

Burns said that Calexico's desire to branch out was inspired by working with Iron & Wine and Neko Case (the band appears on her forthcoming album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood), as well as touring with Wilco. "It's helped us reconnect to the music scene in the States more, and I can see where in the past our music and our style has maybe been hard for people to identity with here, especially outside of the Western states. So having gotten to tour with Wilco and Iron & Wine, and playing festivals like Bonnaroo, has helped us play to bigger audiences and [ask], â??What is about us that makes us different?' and 'What else do we have to offer that hasn't been highlighted before?'" "Listening to bands like Iron & Wine and Sufjan Stevens, digging into this tradition of singer/songwriters from the States, has had a big influence," Burns said. "I wanted to put down the nylon string guitar and pick up the steel string guitar, which may sound like a small factor, but for me, what you gravitate towards as far as what you're going to write songs on really does have an influence as far as where the songs are going to go."


The lyrics on Garden Ruin have more of a liberal political bent than the usual Calexico fare. "Touring a lot in Europe has presented a lot of questions to the band," Burns explained. "How do you feel about your government? Your country's choice for president? What's going on outside the international boundary lines? Living close to the border of Mexico, being born in Montreal, Canada– these things kind of make you think outside of the TV box and what's being said and what's being focused on. So I think all things have an influence at some point on your life and eventually it kind of settles into your writing and your experiences as you get older, travel about, do music."

Garden Ruin tracklist:

01 Cruel
02 Yours and Mine
03 Bisbee Blue
04 Panic Open String
05 Letter to Bowie Knife Version 2
06 Roka
07 Lucky Dime Version 1
08 Smash
09 Deep Down Version 1
10 Nom de Plume
11 All Systems Red

In addition to the new album and their work on the new Neko Case record, Calexico have other collaborations planned, including work with Gotan Project and singer/songwriter Marianne Dissard (who appeared on Calexico's 2000 album Hot Rail.