Reader, we here at Kindness of Ravens sincerely hope that you—like us—had a restful, exciting, explosion-filled holiday week, making merry with friends, glimpsing the tip-tops of fireworks from Brooklyn roofs (damn you, Bloomberg and your Hudson-only pyrotechnics), being hit by shrapnel from your downstairs neighbor’s bottle rocket (that was totally being aimed at your head), biking around previously abandoned military island outposts, and lounging on the sun-drenched, tattoo-filled beaches of New York. Or something along those lines.

Alas, the most sobering aspect of enjoying oneself so much is—after hitting the snooze button for the fiftieth time—waking up post-holiday Monday morning and finally getting back to the grind, as they say, even for those of us with what we consider to be the coolest jobs in the world.

But, thank the gods, we live in New York, where thousands of awesome people, places, and happenings are just around the corner, figuratively and literally. Case in point—tomorrow’s Celebrate Brooklyn benefit show in Prospect Park with one of the most exciting line-ups we’ve seen put together in a long, long time.

Not only are the weirdly winding new-wop sounds of the Dirty Projectors headlining the bill, but said Brooklynites have wisely chosen two of our favorite bands to open up for them—Baltimore emotive folk-rock duo, Wye Oak (who we caught two CMJ’s ago and wrote up last February), and Montreal electronic artsy duo, Purity Ring (who we first wrote about last fall). We’ve been lucky enough to catch Purity Ring a few times now and are excited to again witness their awesome (near-performance-art) live show with its coordinated lights and illuminating bass drum (hit with tribal grandeur by singer, Megan James) punctuating their beautifully enticing and wholly original songs. But we haven’t seen Wye Oak since their pre-signing days when they entirely impressed not only with their wonderfully written songs, but also with the sheer depth and breadth of sound they were able to create with two individuals.

As of writing, tickets are still available to the show, which takes place in the Prospect Park Bandshell and is being catered (as with all Celebrate Brooklyn shows again this year) by the Farm on Adderly, which has a few veg options. In the meantime, check out the two brand new tracks from Dirty Projectors + Purity Ring (who have new albums coming out tomorrow on Domino USA + July 24th on 4AD, respectively). And I’m sure Wye Oak is working on something new for us some time soon but you can check out their site to tide you over.

Photos by Jason Frank Rothenberg (Dirty Projectors), Natasha Tylea (Wye Oak), and Landon Speers (Purity Ring).

Note: Songs posted to this blog are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy more music!

Hot summer, indeed, Reader. Hot summer indeed. As raven + crow gear up to fly the coop and we all prepare for some warm-weather time off, we leave you with our current top ten summer songs, to help ‘get the party started,’ as they say.

We’ve got a little something for everyone—the RAC remix of Katy Perry (yes, Katy Perry) song that Katie and I have been putting on repeat of late as we host two-person dance parties at home (sorry, neighbors); a new, slightly crazed and catchy as hell track from Passion Pit‘s forth-coming sophomore album; a summer jam from Major Lazer (AKA, Diplo, that guy from all the TV commercials); another hard rocking party number from Canadian rock duo, Japandroids; some nice light summer pop from Jersey’s Real Estate; impassioned, melody-driven hip-hop from another Canadian (happy belated Canada Day guys), Cadence Weapon; another appearance from Diplo as he remixes Sleigh Bell‘s “Demons”; a re-post (because we love it so much and it’s oh so summery) from South Brooklyn neighbor, Sean Bones; a remix of RAC‘s (AKA, Andre Allen Anjos) first ever original track; and an island-infused song from Tanlines‘ superb debut full-length, Mixed Emotions.

Enjoy these fine tunes with fine friends, a fine drink in-hand, and hopefully far, far, far from a computer screen or any un-summery concerns, worries, or obligations.

Expand the player to the bottom left if you are in-front of a computer to listen to the whole list or click/right-click individual tracks to listen to them one at a time.

Note: Songs posted to this blog are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy more music!

Holograms • Chasing My MindFirst off, no—this is not Jem’s backing band. Sorry, Reader. I was a bit bummed too.

In the real-life, non-80s-Japanimated world, Holograms is a band of four twenty-something Swedes who work in a Stockholm factory together and—when not hammering metal ores into giant cogs, let’s say (who knows, it might be a kitten factory)—churn out highly energized, new-wave-inspired, melodic punk.

Their songs are reminiscent of Wire and the Clash; the stuff of adolescent dreams, likely to inspire such frowned-upon choices as skateboarding, asymmetrical haircuts, ill-advised piercings, graffiti, and starting your own band with your not-so-talented but totally excited friends and playing tiny clubs to tiny crowds. Or, if you’re in your mid-thirties and a little old for any of that this far on, it just reminds you of a simpler, younger, more rambunctious time, while still giving you something new and modern to remind you that this stuff’s not coming from a band that broke up years ago; it’s coming from kids who are just starting out and who—with any luck—have a long road of creative productivity and awesome music ahead of them.

Listen to the band’s single, “Chasing My Mind,” and be on the lookout for their debut self-titled album next month via Brooklyn’s own Captured Tracks and some stateside shows in September at Mercury Lounge + 285 Kent. You can also order a limited edition clear vinyl 7″ from the label that features the track “ABC City.” Video forthat one below.

Photo by Julia Persson.

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!

Reader, we’ve learned over the past ten or so years that there are many, many perks that come along with living in New York City. Obviously there are detrimental or not-so-lovely things about this bustling city as well—for instance, grocery store aisles are not only bizarrely narrow but are also being stocked day and night, making it impossible to actually purchase foodstuffs; in high summer the city smells of putrid trash and dying dreams and radiates an impossible amount of heat and humidity; and, finally, it’s not exactly easy on the emotional psyche to be surrounded by concrete, speeding cars, and a great lack of nature constantly (I think the most we’ve seen of wildlife in recent times was when a pigeon carrying a rat landed on our studio windowsill…it was terrifying).

So another thing we’ve learned is that, to live healthily in this city, you need to leave it on a fairly regular basis. Step out of the non-stop flow that, while it fuels the very energy that makes this city what it is, proves exhausting at times.

But it’s not always easy to get out of the city, which is one of many reasons that we like the debut album from Trummors, Over and Around the Clove. It provides a kind of aural day trip off the cracked asphalt sidewalks of the city that plops you down in the middle of the upstate woods, walking stick in hand. Simple, seemingly familiar guitar lines, politely quiet rhythms, and voices that sound older than they should guide you through a virtual folksy spa, gently massaging away your emotional urban baggage. Ahhhhhhhhh. Or, as Alternative Press’ recent review puts it, “(a)n album made for listening while you stare from your back porch (or apartment window) as the sun sets, Over and Around the Clove is the latest proof that the well of traditional American music is truly bottomless.”

Kindness • House

Reader, I may be gradually coming down off of a social high brought about by a weekend full of Indian stick dancing, power-karaoke, and time well-spent with good friends, old and new, but I seriously love the creator of this week’s Song, Kindness.

Not only does London’s Kindness—AKA, Adam Bainbridge—create some of the most smoothed out, catchy electronic tunes you’ll have a chance to hear these days, but he also seems like a genuinely cool—I’ll say it—kind guy.

Wonder what he thinks about ravens…

Give his track, “House,” with it’s simple, endearing message a listen and see what you think. I’m warning you now, though—it’s one of those songs that creeps into your psyche and settles in there, keeping you coming back again and again. You can pre-order Kindness’ debut LP, World, You Need a Change of Mind, and listen to another great track from it, “Cyan,” over at Terrible Records, Chris Tayor of Grizzly Bear‘s label. You can also download the e-version now over on the iTunes.

Still not convinced? Take a look at the kind of adorable video below, where Bainbridge briefly discusses his take on house music and then explains to a cute ‘lil chap how to use a drum machine before they embark on a musical adventure and awesome little dance number. As both Passion Pit and tUnE-yArDs have shown us in the past, kids + indie = gold. Especially, it turns out, little kids with British accents.

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!

The National • The Rains of Castamere
Reader, you may or may not be aware that one half of raven + crow studio—and thus this blog—is pretty damn nerdy. And not in a tongue-in-cheek, ironic trucker’s hat kinda way. I’m talkin’ full-on, computer-game-loving, fantasy-book-reading, Star-Trek-adoring (Next Generation, obvs),  went-to-a-gaming-conference-in-Jersey-just-last-year nerdy. For the sake of argument, let’s say it’s me, Reader.

So, after reading all five books of the series so far, needless to say, I was pretty stoked to learn that HBO had bought the rights to produce a TV adaptation of A Song of Fire and Ice, now better known as Game of Thrones. Even more exciting—writers, David Benioff + D. B. Weiss consulted super-nerd author, George RR Martin, in the show’s creation and worked hand-in-nerdy-hand with Martin to ensure the series was true to the much-loved books. Even MORE exciting—Katie, it turns out, totally loves the show. High-five, nerd self.

But even with Katie’s hard-to-win approval, the show still reeks of un-cool, with nerd-mainstays like dragons, monstrous wolves, giants, and unfathomably deep, hard-to-track lore rooted in the original books. So picture my shock this past weekend when the second-to-last episode of the season ended with a slow fade and the deep, growling voice of National frontman, Matt Berninger, creeping up over the end titles as a slow, brooding song begins to swell beneath his words.

Those guys aren’t nerds! It’s like that time Daniel played D+D with all the geeks of Freaks and Geeks and saved the day as Carlos the Dwarf! Huzzah—COOL KID LEGITIMACY! And, to top it all off, said song isn’t just some deep album track or a random b-side—it’s a straight up SONG FROM THE BOOKS, “The Rains of Castamere,” written to commemorate Tywin Lannister total effing up House Reyne, who rose up against House Lannister (told you—total nerd). Welcome to the dark side, Berninger. Next thing you know, you’ll be sporting a cloak and holding up a Staff of Crooning +4 at your live shows.

To commemorate this monumental cool-meets-nerd moment, we’re not only bringing you the National’s version of “The Rains of Castamere,” we’re also bringing fans of the show our rendition of “Before They Were on Game of Thrones”—a brief series of videos showing surprising and oft-embarrassing clips of the GoT crowd before they were fantasy toughs. Sure, most of us know that Peter Dinklage was an indie film star and had his moment in Elf before the show, and most Wire fans probably realize by now that Irish actor Aidan Gillen (Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish on GoT) played Baltimore Mayor Tommy Carcetti on that gritty crime drama and contender for Best Show ever. But did you know that Joffrey was in a Batman movie? Or that Khal Drogo was on Baywatch? Or that the hound was in a commercial for…I don’t know. Kilts? I’m not quite sure. Check it out—

“Joffrey Baratheon”—Jack Gleeson

Yes, the process of finding humorous or enlightening material on an actor or actress is somewhat hampered by a short career when dealing with child actors, which makes it all that much more awesome that, in the clip we found for the much-hated King Joffrey (played by Jack Gleeson), the already famed victim of vindictive slapping gets a straight-up palm to the face from this not-so-nice security dude in Batman Begins. If you’re not up on the face-slapping reference, you should also be sure to check this out. Oh, Tyrion.

“Cersei Lannister”—Lena Headey

Moving on to Joffrey’s conniving mother, Cersei, it turns out that, in addition to being featured alongside the original Office‘s Tim in an arty short by the Guard Brothers, Headey also starred as Sarah Connor in The Terminator TV series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which anyone who saw that show would likely know. …so I’m guessing it’s news to everyone. Truth be told, ever since I listened to a commentary Headey did for Game of Thrones, I’ve had a bit of a celebrity crush on her. Turns out she’s hilarious AND she curses like a super-charming British sailor—both pluses in my book.

“Khal Drogo”—Jason Momoa

Another shocker—Jason Momoa, Conan star and the actor who portrayed the barbaric horse lord, Khal Drogo, doesn’t ONLY play sword-wielding, muscle-bound, bloodthirsty warriors. Just mostly. Before both those roles, he ALSO played a muscle-bound…um…lifeguard on Baywatch Hawaii. Yes, that was evidently a show.

“Robert Baratheon”—Mark Addy

And how about Ned Stark’s old chum from the days of the Usurper’s Rebellion, jolly old King Robert? How about starring alongside Mr. Stephen Baldwin as…well, see for yourself. CERSEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

“Sandor Clegane, AKA The Hound”—Rory McCann

I almost don’t know what to say about this one—the fearsome, emotionally and physically scarred Sandor Clegane…strutting down a snowy lane in a plaid skirt and making googly eyes at women in this Scott’s Porage Oats commercial. Wow. Just wow.

“Bronn”—Jerome Flynn

Now we enter the musical portion of our piece. Know the nimble, sword-slinging tough who serves as protector of Tyrion Lannister after a vicious dual at the Eyrie? Turns out the actor who plays said swordsman—Jerome Flynn—was one-half of the Simon-Cowell-created brit-pop duo, Robson + Jerome, who had three no. 1 singles in the 90’s.

“Osha”—Natalia Tena

Flynn isn’t the only musician among the cast though. You may know actress Natalia Tena—who plays Osha, the captured wildling and Stark companion—from her work in About a Boy and various Harry Potter movies, but did you know she fronts a pretty good UK ‘gypsy-step’ band, Molotov Jukebox, and has some mean chops on the accordion. Who knew‽ Other musical Throners of note—Roger Allam, who played wealthy merchant and matchmaker Illyrio Mopatis in season 1 played Inspector Javert in the original London production of Les Misérables and executioner Ilyn Payne, played by Wilko Johnson played guitar and sang for the British pub rock band, Dr. Feelgood.

“Theon Greyjoy”—Alfie Allen

And what greater flattery is there than having a song written about you? Oh. Unless you’re Alfie Allen and your sister is Lily Allen and she just wrote a song about how all you do is smoke weed and watch TV all day. No joke.
Oh little brother please refrain from doing that
I’m trying to help you out so can you stop being a twat?
It’s time that you and I sat down and had a little chat
And look me in the eyes take off that stupid fitted cap 

“Tyrion Lannister”—Peter Dinklage

Like many, we’ve been Dinklage fans for a while (have you seen The Station Agent? You should). And yes, yes, he was awesome in Elf, both Death at a Funerals, and a million other roles, seemingly. But did you also know that, way before all that, back in 1995, he played the voice of the Wake-Up Guy on Seinfeld? No, I think you did not.

“Eddard Stark”—Sean Bean

Finally, not only can you see actor Sean Bean—noble patriarch Eddard “Ned” Stark Game of Thrones—(cue Katie’s wistful “Ned Stark”) die 21 one times in this popular YouTube clip that covers everything from The Lord of the Rings to Patriot Games, you can also see him at what looks to be age 12 in a 1987 episode of Jim Henson’s Storyteller, one of my all-time favorites shows as a kid.

Man. I could do this all day. Still need more? Then check out Daenerys Targaryen playing a teen being stalked by her dad (gross), the Kingslayer pushing vegetables to Danes, and young Arya Stark dancing the waterdance for real. In, like, middle school. And if you do want to see what Matt Berninger would look like in Game of Thrones…pretty much just check out any scene with Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen). Hand him an open bottle of wine and he’s pretty much good to go on acting as a stand-in for the National frontman.

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!

PAPA • I am the Lion King
Okay, first off, I KNOW, Reader—just last week we were talking about how it can be tough for us to get behind LA bands. And what do we have for you today? Yup, you guessed it—another LA band. You don’t have to be all up in our grill over it. WE KNOW we’re being contradictory. But we simply cannot stop hitting repeat on this song.

Said song is “I am the Lion King” from said LA band, PAPA. What follows is the complete list of what we know about LA band, PAPA:
1. They’ve got a search-engine-defeating band name;
2. They seem to be three dudes, maybe two, depending on the chronology of the photos we’ve seen online that aren’t of the Pope;
3. They seem to like the Raiders;
4. They also seem to like beards; and
5. They can jam out. In a good way.

If you’re on the east coast or, more specifically, in New York, fight this soul-crushingly oppressive Monday weather with this week’s Song, “I am the Lion King.” If you’re not on the east coast…I don’t what your weather’s like. Who do I look like, Al Roker? Sheesh.

You can check the rest of their EP, A Good Woman is Hard to Find, which is streaming below and, if you like it, buy via the iTunes link below or order it on 12″ vinyl via Hit City USA. And next week we promise you, like, FIVE bands from Brooklyn and Canada, just to make up for all this LA jazz.

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!

Superhumanoids • Too Young for Love
Reader, to be perfectly honest with you, we usually have to get past a few admittedly shallow mental roadblocks when getting into a band from LA. I think we always just picture LA Guns or the intro sequence from Entourage or something. But LA-based Superhumanoids seem pretty un-skeezy to us. And we hear wonderful things about Silverlake.

Superhumanoids started out as a low-key bedroom solo project but started gaining notoriety in 2008 with some much-passed around demos. Now, with a full-length, an EP, and a 7″ from White Iris under their belt, the band’s set to release their sophomore full-length—Exhibitionists—later this year.

With vocalist, Sarah Chernoff’s smooth, dreamy delivery and the music’s new new new wave (we’re three ‘new’s these days, right?) feel, they seem to trend to the soft, breezy sounds of 90’s era 4AD bands and current day electro acts, as with another new track, “Geri.” But this week’s Song, the just-released “Too Young for Love,” pulls in more of an upbeat rhythm and slightly harsher electronic sounds that we’re liking a lot. MUCH more danceable!

Check it out along with the band’s seemingly ill-omened but gently caressing “Black Widow + Bad Weather,” performed live below as part of the ALL SAINTS Basement Sessions. You can hear and download more new tracks from them—including the above-mentioned “Geri” and their very sedate (awesome) cover of the Ramones’ “I Want to Be Sedated”—on the band’s site.

Photo by Garrett Curtis.

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!

As we make an effort to try and kick up this blogging thing a notch or two (we hear it’s the next big thing), we’re also attempting to make a return to our As the Crow Flies bit, where we give you a quick run-down of things to come (see the left sidebar legend there). Thus, this.

So,NUMERO UNO!

Who’s that guy up there? That’s Jasper, the moon bear. Jasper is one of the many bears in Asia who was once part of a ‘bear farm,’ where these gentle,  intelligent creates are locked within cages as farm workers drain their bile for traditional eastern medicinal purposes, granting farm owners a wealthy income and confining the bears to a lifetime of pain and cruelty. The non-profit, Animals Asia, is working to rescue moon bears across Asia and end the practice world-wide. Tomorrow, one of our favorite clients, MooShoes, is holding a ‘MoonShoes for Moon Bears’ event, donating 10% of the days sales to Animals Asia and hosting staff and volunteers who can tell you more about AA’s work in person. Can’t be there but want to shop for the cause? All online sales tomorrow will also contribute 10% of the proceeds to AA. Find out more on the event’s Facebook page and, if you’re in the area, stop by tomorrow (78 Orchard in SoHo).

Next week, partially out of fairness to the skilled artists who create them and partially out of fairness to the capacity of our server, we’ll be purging ourselves of some past songs on the blog, so GET ‘EM WHILE YOU CAN! Along with next Monday’s The Song, we’ll be getting rid of all pre-April song posts, so, Memoryhouse and before, including our crazy array of twenty-some songs from SXSW bands.

By way of a quick preview of posts next week, we’ll be coming at you with a brand new band we’re super-psyched about that, yes, is probably from Brooklyn or Canada; hitting you up with a lovely Find; and giving you a lovely new recipe for a killer of an eggplant-tomatillo summer stew, an adaptation of a traditional South American dish that we’ve been loving lately.

Finally, and sadly, we’ve had far too many losses in the world of the arts in recent days. First, the shocking (for us) death of Adam Yauch—AKA MCA—of the Beastie Boys, and band we both grew up with and never felt that far from in age or culture or even personally or geographically, living here in Brooklyn. And then, just days ago, award-winning author and illustrator Maurice Sendack died at 83 years of age. Not only has he moved and inspired us from very early on with Where the Wild Things Are, but, in more recent times, we’ve been touched by his words and life through interviews we’ve heard with the very interesting, very direct and bold man. We urge you to listen to Terry Gross’s montage of interviews she’s done on Fresh Air with Mr. Sendack. The last one, conducted just last year, is especially poignant.

Passion Pit • Take a Walk

Reader, if you’ve kept your eye on this space over the past four years (I KNOW—four years is a crazy long time to have been writing a blog…potentially too long), you likely are well-aware of our massive love for the band, Passion Pit.

We first heard Passion Pit when it was still a solo effort, sparked by the songs now-frontman, Michael Angelakos recorded for his then girlfriend as a Valentine’s Day gift. Cute, right? Well, they broke up. But the songs fucking rocked—at the time, in 2008, it was unlike anything we had heard before. The closest comparison we could ever draw was a future-rock version of the Jackson Five. Which, yes, is undeniably winning. After releasing the songs as part of an EP—Chunk of Change—in 2008 on French Kiss Records, Angelakos built his out line-up and then, after tireless touring, settled down to record their debut full-length, 2009’s Manners, which rocked our socks off. Since then though, things have been pretty quiet on the Boston-based indie disco-rock scene.

Cut to last month, when Passion Pit announced their sophomore release, Gossamer, on July 24. As you would guess, Reader, we were excited, but, you never know—ever hear of the sophomore slump? Well we have, and, depending on the day, we oft trend negative with our predictive imagination.

But today, the PP, as they’re understandably never called, gave us a first listen of the new album with their brand new song, “Take a Walk.” Judge for yourself, but it’s clearly dashed away any pessimistic clouds of musical forecasting for us. Tinged with a slightly more mature sound in the music and in Angelakos’ tone, we think it bodes well for the new work.

And if there’s even a small chance at all that the P.S. 22 Chorus makes a repeat appearance on this album, you can go ahead and sign us up for some premature adoration. Below, Michael walks the kids through their recordings for Manners. Oh, and, for you, Reader, we have an added bonus born of our intense crush Passion Pit and their music—a cover of their hit, “Sleepyhead,” by british songstress, Ellie Goulding. And if you’re REALLY in the mood for dialing it back, check out our super-old review of Passion Pit paired with…a mango-jicama salad on the Discerning Brute.

Note: Songs posted to this site are kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead. Buy music!