St. Vincent on NPR's "First Listen"

Listen to St. Vincent's new album, "Actor," in its entirety at NPR's "First Listen" here.

It's amazing.

(Ian Anderson)

Video: St. Vincent - "Actor Out Of Work"

St. Vincent's new album, "Actor," will be out on May 5. Begin to wait impatiently.

MySpace

(Ian Anderson)

St. Vincent - "Actor Out Of Work"

*MP3: St. Vincent - "Actor Out Of Work"

St. Vincent just released "Actor Out Of Work," a 7-inch out on 4AD. Check it out HERE. St. Vincent's new album, "Actor," will be out on May 5 via 4AD.

MySpace

(Ian Anderson)

Top Ten Tracks on Elbo.ws Reviewed in 50 Words or Less: March 1st-March 15th

Note: This is a few days late, so what you see here may not reflect entirely what's currently on the charts.

1. St. Vincent - "The Strangers"

Download: St. Vincent - "The Strangers"

After an elegaic harmonies from a chorus of haunting singers, St. Vincent parlays the melodic beauty into a ticking-clock beat and sturdy orch-pop. But "The Strangers" becomes much more intriguing when it ventures into borderline post-rock territory. The end result is both pleasingly familiar and promising.

Grade: B+

2. Phoenix - "1901"

*MP3: Phoenix - "1901"

It's really the pre-chorus and refrain, that lifts up this track from the French alt-rock band from decent new millennial garage-rock reminiscent of the "The" bands to swooning, romantic power-pop. Kind of amazing how buoyant Moog synth-sounds and clean guitar tones can be.

Grade: B-

3. Cursive - "From The Hips"

Download: Cursive - "From The Hips"

A propulsive, guitar-driven song from the Omaha-based veterans gets bogged down by lyrical melodrama (in Emo? Whaaaaa?) and pseudo-clever dichotomy. But those guitars could puncture an artery.

Grade: B-

4. Say Hi - "Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh"

Download: Say Hi - "Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh"

The title of prolific rockers Say Hi's latest suggests an uber-enthusiastic pep rally, and the horn at the beginning doesn't entirely dismiss that impression. As the arrangement materializes, acoustic guitar and synth conveys a more subdued, mature sense of songcraft. Not as memorable as "Northwestern Girls," but still a reasonably listenable song.

Grade: B-

5. Handsome Furs - "I'm Confused"

*MP3: Handsome Furs - "I'm Confused"

Though I'm not quite as kookoo for Alexei Perry and Dan Boeckner electro-pop cocoa puffs as others are, the new-wave-esque energy and arena-rock sized chorus ultimately ingratiate themselves to the listener. Let the duo's love open the door to your ears at least, if not necessarily your heart.

Grade: B

6. Crystal Antlers - "Andrew"

Download: Crystal Antlers - "Andrew"

The fact that "Andrew" comes from Touch and Go's last new release ever is enough to warrant a passing grade, but the fact that this amiably shuffling song wins over the listener with adept instrumental interplay doesn't hurt either.

Grade: B+

7. The National - "So Far Around The Bend"

Download: The National - "So Far Around The Bend"

A little more honky-tonk than anything found on their last two records, but with "So Far Around The Bend," The National continue to mine their expert combination of world-weary heartbreak and bleary-eyed optimism to disconcertingly great effect.

Grade: A-

8. Crystal Stilts - "Love is a Wave"

Download: Crystal Stilts - "Love is a Wave"

Like The Pains of Being Pure of Heart, "Love is a Wave" arrives like one, with a wind sea of a driving bass line, keyboards, and guitar setting down the foundation of a melodic tsunami. Like "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" without the punk.

Grade: A-

9. Camera Obscura - "My Maudlin Career"

Download: Camera Obscura - "My Maudlin Career"

If Camera Obscura write songs that expertly combine Phil Spector's wall-of-sound production approach with preciously cute melancholy, they they'll be easily able to make it a career that's more than maudlin. Utterly irresistible.

Grade: A-

10. Elvis Perkins in Dearland - "Shampoo"

Download: Elvis Perkins in Dearland - "Shampoo"

No matter how many times I hear this, I still have the same reaction: Thinking man's Jack Johnson. My sincerest apologies, awesome Dylan-esque Hammond organ sound.

Grade: C+

(Jon Graef)

St. Vincent Announces Tour Dates

*MP3: St. Vincent - "The Strangers"

St. Vincent has announced U.S. tour dates, which includes a Mpls date at First Avenue. Her new record comes out on May 5 on 4AD.

5/19/2009 Somerville, MA Somerville Theatre
5/20/2009 New York, NY Webster Hall
5/21/2009 Philadelphia, PA Unitarian Church
5/22/2009 Washington, DC Black Cat
5/24/2009 George, WA Sasquatch!
5/25/2009 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
5/27/2009 San Francisco, CA Bimbo's 365 Club
5/28/2009 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
5/30/2009 San Diego, CA Casbah
5/31/2009 Phoenix, AZ Modified
6/2/2009 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
6/3/2009 Omaha, NE Slowdown Jr.
6/4/2009 Mpls, MN First Avenue
6/5/2009 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater
6/7/2009 Chicago, IL Epiphany
6/10/2009 Lexington, KY The Dame
6/11/2009 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
6/12/2009 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo
6/16/2009 Birmingham, AL Bottle Tree
6/18/2009 Dallas, TX Granada Theatre
6/19/2009 Austin, TX Mohawk

(MySpace)

New Music: St. Vincent - "The Strangers"

*MP3: St. Vincent - "The Strangers"

St. Vincent posted a new song on her website, ilovestvincent.com.

(MySpace)

Pitchfork Interviews St. Vincent

*MP3: St. Vincent - "Apocalypse Song"

Pitchfork interviews St. Vincent. Read it HERE.

St. Vincent is a 40-Year-Old Virgin?

St. Vincent's new album cover for "Actor" is eerily similar to the cover of 40-Year-Old Virgin, don't you think? Secret messages hidden in the code? You decide.

I'm a jackass.

St. Vincent Announces New Album Plans

*MP3: St. Vincent - "All My Stars Aligned"
*MP3: St. Vincent - "Apocalypse Song"

The always amazing St. Vincent has announced the details for her upcoming album, "Actor," which will be out on May 5 via 4AD. The new album was co-produced by Clark and John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Polyphonic Spree) and will haul ass.

St. Vincent on MySpace

Video: St. Vincent - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"

Jesus Saves, I Spend

Download: St. Vincent - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"

So, I missed the net on this one. St. Vincent's very excellent "Jesus Saves, I Spend" has an equally cool video featuring her wit, charm and appreciation for the silly. I, for one, appreciate the silly too.

Buy it on Amazon.
Check out her MySpace page.

More Cowbell Gives Away Tickets To Friday St. Vincent Show

Download: St. Vincent - "Now Now"

St. Vincent's Marry Me is still a stunner of a debut record, so it's no surprise that Annie Clark and her band of merry men are unwaveringly touring behind it. That tour includes a stop at the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday, the 22nd. Tickets are still available for the show, both online and at the venue, but those of you who think that you're lucky, punk, can get tickets for free.

More Cowbell is giving away tickets to the show in question. All you have to do is email Paul@Howwastheshow.com for your chance to win a pair of tickets to the concert. Pretty simple, but also pretty awesome. You have until tomorrow, Thursday, at noon to enter. Winners will be chosen at random so, if you lose, don't take it personally. It's an all-ages show and doors open at 8. Foreign Born open.

Once again, the email is paul@howwastheshow.com. Good luck!

Marry Me is out now.

St. Vincent MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

New St. Vincent Video - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"

YouTube, via Pitchfork)

Check out this video for one of my favorite tracks of Marry Me.

(Jonathan Graef)

Video: St. Vincent, "Now, Now", Live In MPLS

(Imeem, via P4K)

For those of you who missed St. Vincent opening up for The National a month or so ago, check out this awesome vid of Annie Clark and her band of merry men performing "Now, Now". Pretty sweet.

(Jonathan Graef)

Live Review: St. Vincent - The Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL (7/23/07)

(Photo By Autumn Notter)

Click here to listen to St. Vincent perform on Minneapolis Public Radio.

Read Pitchfork's take on Marry Me here

I don't know where St. Vincent gets her dark side but god bless her for having it. It might seem easy to underestimate the negative emotions of Annie Clark's music - after all, she is a pixie-like 23-year-old with translucent skin and a penchant for writing jazzy, Beatles-esque melodies that skip around in your head the moment that you hear them.

But on the other hand, if we as listeners take for granted the fact that St. Vincent look so cute and non-threatening and that her music is so buoyant, it's probably easier for her to make her dark side much more subversive. That is, treating lines like the end of the refrain in "Now, Now" ("I'll make you sorry") or "Marry Me" ("We'll do like Mary and Joseph Did/Without The Kid") as throwaways, rather than direct threats. Furthermore, when she gets the crowd so involved in the show, as she did by having them clap the bossanova rhythm of "Human Racing," it becomes incredibly easy to be swayed by her charisma as a performer.

Then again, there was her introduction to her cover of "Bang Bang," in which she stated that the other side of love was murder. Before she got to that point, though, St. Vincent and her four-piece band (consisting of Clark on guitar, a bassist, a violinist, and a drummer) entered to a whimsical, ethereal instrumental in the style of the Beach Boys. From there, the group segued into a taut rendition of the waltz-like "Jesus Saves, I Spend."

It should be no surprise that an artist who creates an album as creative as Marry Me would re-arrange her weeks-old (at least, to the buying public at large) catalog, which she did with her next song, "Now, Now." On record, the bouncing guitar harmonics were recreated with a violin, giving the song an added bit of texture. The chaotic breakdown toward the song's end gave ample opportunity for St. Vincent to create a womb of sound, insulating the club with feedback and raucous noise.

From there, Clark went on to perform the title track of her album which, along with the "Across The Universe"-esque "All My Stars Aligned, is her most Beatles influenced song. Both songs were lovingly executed, with "Stars'" arrangement emphasizing the guitar more than on record.

But the 1-2 combo of "Your Lips Are Red" (the intro of which was made into a minimal, two-note punk riff) and "Paris Is Burning" were the highlights of the show, with the former devolving into a most unlikely marriage of prog-rock musicianship with Sonic Youth style feedback sprawl and the latter being flawlessly rendered.

Just when we in the crowd all thought it couldn't have gotten any better, St. Vincent took the stage and insisted that all the lights in the venue be turned off. She played a magical version of the Nico/Jackson Browne classic "These Days." If St. Vincent's not careful, her cover of a cover will become to her what Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" became to him.

Maybe it's not so much that St. Vincent has a dark side, rather that she doesn't like the negative or sardonic elements of her lyrics cloud the effervescence of her music. She certainly knocked us all out at the Empty Bottle with her grace and musicianship. But I don't think that any one would take anything, let alone her dark side, for granted after she gave us all such a great night worth of music.

(Jonathan Graef)

St. Vincent Live Tomorrow At The 7th Street Entry

Download: St. Vincent - "These Days" (Jackson Brown/Nico cover)
Download: St. Vincent - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"
Download: St. Vincent - "Bang Bang" (Live In Georgia)"

Many of you who have read this blog know how much I raved about St. Vincent's Marry Me a couple of weeks back. As it stands right now, the veteran of Sufjan Stevens's touring band/The Polyphonic Spree's debut solo album is in a Mexican standoff with Boxer and Hissing Fauna for album of the year.

I first heard of St. Vincent by watching her open for the Arcade Fire back in April. Since then, I've eagerly anticipated seeing her again in a smaller, more intimate, venue. I got that chance last night at Chicago's Empty Bottle and, wow, what a show. I will have a more formal review up either tomorrow or Wednesday, but let me just say that it was an amazingly awesome show. Annie Clark is insanely talented and has a sweet, darling charisma as a live performer. She, as well as her backing band, aren't afraid to re-arrange her barely existent catalog. One particular highlight was a lo-fi (of sorts) rendition of "Your Lips Are Red" that eventually evolved into a blend of prog-rock instrumental skills and post-punk groove.

But the best, absolutely incredible, part of the show was her encore, which was a cover of "These Days." She performed with the venue lights turned off. It was pitch black and was the most incredible thing to watch.

You really need to see St. Vincent live.

St. Vincent's show is tomorrow night at 7th Street Entry (701 First Avenue North) and the show is 21+. Doors open at eight and the opener is Scout Niblett. Buy tickets here.

This will be an incredible show, I promise.

(Jonathan Graef)

St. Vincent - Marry Me

St. Vincent
Marry Me (Beggar's Banquet, 2007)
Grade: A

Download: St. Vincent - "Now, Now"
Download: St. Vincent - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"
Download: St. Vincent - "The Apocalypse Song"
Download: St. Vincent - "Your Lips Are Red"

In short: Remember how Ian said that if you didn't own the Voxtrot record yet, then you and he could not be friends? That's how I feel about Marry Me.

A bit longer: Bar none, this is one of the best debut records of the year and an album that has hopscotched its way unto my top ten of 2007. And hopscotch does really seem like the appropriate verb to use when describing the opening phrases of "Now, Now". Guitar harmonics skip like stones on a pond as 23-year-old multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark (i.e., St. Vincent) and a backing choir of children takes to task an argumentative boyfriend (or a small child) by singing the refrain "You don't mean that/say you're sorry." But the song's real lyrical kicker is that the end of the refrain is "I'll make you sorry."

What's great about this record is the way it makes its childish whimsy sound threatening, and that refrain in "Now, Now" (along with the music, which has a sweet, ascending major scale melody along with bittersweet, jazzy, minor-seventh chords) perfectly encapsulates that contrast. "Jesus Saves, I Spend" is another great track with this dichotomy, as the song is about St. Vincent's supposed lack of grace. The music, however, behind the self-doubt, is a bubbly waltz supported by machine-gun tight rhythm section.

Elsewhere, we get the Tori Amos-esque "Paris is Burning," the melancholy piano instrumental "We Put A Piano In The Ground" and horns reminiscent of Broken Social Scene on "Marry Me."

Sweet merciful crap, this is an amazing album. One slight flaw Marry Me has is that it stacks all of its more piano based, introspective tracks at the end of the album, a move which robs the record of its momentum. Otherwise, this is a fantastic record from start to finish. Marry Me is a musical proposal worth accepting.

(Jonathan Graef)

New St. Vincent Video

Download: St. Vincent – “Paris is Burning”
Download: St. Vincent – “Now Now"

Pitchfork has an exclusive live video of St. Vincent (aka 23-year-old Annie Clark) performing "Paris is Burning" from her upcoming album Marry Me which will be released July 10th on Beggars Banquet. Click here to watch the video.

I'm super excited for this record. St. Vincent opened for The Arcade Fire when I saw them back in April and they did an incredible job. If Jeff Buckley had Joe Satriani's chops, but used them with great taste and discretion and also kept his stellar songwriting abilities, then that would sound like St. Vincent.

Pre-Order the album from here

(Jonathan Graef)