1. Magpie and the Dandelion, The Avett Brothers
2. Lightning Bolt, Pearl Jam
3. Let’s Be Still, The Head and the Heart
4. New, Paul McCartney
5. Pure Heroine, Lorde
6. Mechanical Bull, Kings of Leon
7. Whales and Leeches, Red Fang
8. Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song, Amos Lee
9. Vengeance Falls, Trivium
10. Country Music Dead, New Transit
11. Walk the Moon, Walk the Moon
12. Pura Vida Conspiracy, Gogol Bordello
13. Babel, Mumford and Sons
14. Get Happy, Pink Martini
15. AM, Arctic Monkeys
16. Hesitation Marks, Nine Inch Nails
17. Days Are Gone, Haim
18. Shulamith, Polica
19. Silver Bell, Patty Griffin
20. Static, Cults
THE VINYL WORD: THE HEAD AND THE HEART FLESH OUT SOUND ON 2ND LP
When The Head and the Heart self-released their debut album back in ‘09, who could’ve guessed they’d sell over 10,000 copies by word of mouth alone? That got the attention of Sub Pop, the label who snatched up the Seattle band and sent them on tour to seek their fortune. The title of The Head and the Heart’s second LP, Let’s Be Still, can be read as an appeal for respite following two years of relentless touring. The same goes for the album’s idyllic cover photo, which has two band members sprawled atop raw sienna grass, gazing up at a clear blue sky. It’s a rare moment of peace for the young folkies, a well-earned rest following their interminable string of gigs.
According to frontman Josiah Johnson, Let’s Be Still is “imbued with the experiences of traveling the world…a snapshot of a band that didn’t exist just four short years ago.” Johnson credits touring with groups like Iron and Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, and Dr. Dog for inspiring The Head and the Heart’s expansion into “new sonic spaces.” Guitarist Jonathan Russell, having been struck with the urge to go electric while opening for My Morning Jacket, agrees wholeheartedly: “I’m sick of just strumming my acoustic guitar.” Let’s Be Still benefits tremendously from this expanded and diversified approach, as the Seattle sextet experiments with groovy electric guitar riffs, coruscating synths, and deft time signature shifts that keep the listener off balance in all the right ways.
When The Head and the Heart landed on Sub Pop, many dismissed them as one-trick ponies. Sure, they had fantastic vocalists, but Let’s Be Still proves the Seattle band is more than just a crisp set of pipes. Here, they draw upon lessons gleamed from touring with veteran groups, tinker and tweak their sound to the tune of fresh instrumentation and unconventional timing, and stick their toes in the swampy morass of sociopolitical commentary. And, in flashing the confidence to step outside their comfort zone of folksy harmonies and Guthrie-derived lyrics, The Head and the Heart insist they’re moving forward, not being still. — Consequence of Sound
NEW RELEASE OF THE WEEK: THE AVETT BROTHERS' 'MAGPIE & THE DANDELION'
PREVIEW/PURCHASE THE CD
PREVIEW/PURCHASE THE DELUXE CD
PREVIEW/PURCHASE THE VINYL
Coming out of the same Rick Rubin-produced sessions as [The Avett Brothers’] last release, it’s understandable that Magpie and The Carpenter are somewhat similar in sound and tone. However, don’t think of these tracks as a collection of B-sides or numbers that were cast off from The Carpenter’s workbench. Like most of the band’s previous work, Magpie and the Dandelion continues to explore time-honored themes like love and loss in all their many forms. But where The Avett Brothers of records like Emotionalism or I and Love and You often seemed emotionally overwhelmed by the gravity of the issues they sang about, on Magpie the brothers seem a little more confident. It’s a transition that can be clearly seen over the course of the last three records as well. Consider the list of desires and subtle fears in I and Love and You’s “The Perfect Space” or the admission of insecurity of that album’s closer. Then compare them with a statement from The Carpenter like “If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die.”
Earlier in their career, the great unknowns of life seemed to leave the brothers awestruck and perhaps a little frightened, and understandably so. Who can say they haven’t been there before? But over time, they’ve come to accept the fact that you don’t have to have all the answers to get along in this world, that “a life lived in fear is a life half-lived,” to quote Baz Luhrmann. Even on some of the more heavy-hearted Magpie tunes, the boys seem to be rolling with the punches a little easier. In “Bring Your Love to Me,” for example, the lovelorn singer claims he can go on without the object of his affection if need be. “If it’s meant to be, I will go alone—God knows I can—just not as well,” he sings before coyly adding, “And besides, what kind of fun is there to be had with no one else.”
Magpie and the Dandelion as a whole takes on a carefree attitude that seeks to revel in all life has to offer. It’s a solid record that showcases all of The Avett Brothers’ talents and captures them, as well as their songwriting, in an interesting emotional place on their journey further down the road. — Paste
NEW RELEASE TUESDAY 10/15: AVETT BROTHERS NEW ALBUM AND SIGNING, PLUS PEARL JAM, THE HEAD AND THE HEART, CULTS, PAUL MCCARTNEY, PELICAN, RED FANG AND MANY MORE!
The Record Exchange and 94.9 FM The River will host The Avett Brothers New Album Signing at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct 15 (release date for their latest album Magpie and the Dandelion) at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St.). Want priority line placement at the signing? Beginning Friday, Oct. 11, purchase Magpie and the Dandelion on CD, deluxe CD or vinyl prior to the event and we’ll give you a VIP line wristband!
Here’s a quick look at the bright and shiny new releases this week at The Record Exchange:
CD
The Avett Brothers – Magpie and the Dandelion (deluxe edition also available)
Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt
Paul McCartney – New (deluxe edition also available)
The Head and the Heart – Let’s Be Still
Red Fang – Whales and Leeches (deluxe edition also available)
Pelican – Forever Becoming
Cults – Static
Willie Nelson – To All the Girls
Will Hoge – Never Give In
Paul Simon – The Complete Albums Collection
Paul Simon – Over the Bridge of Time: A Paul Retrospective 1964-2011
Fall Out Boy – Save Rock and Roll PAX-AM Edition
La Luz – It’s Alive
Diane Birch – Speak a Little Louder (deluxe edition also available)
Jerry Garcia Band – Garcia Live Vol. 3: December 14-15, 1975
The Poets of Rhythm – Anthology
Depeche Mode – Should Be Higher
Cole Swindell – Chillin’ It
Trivium – Vengeance Falls
Joshua Bell – Musical Gifts: Joshua Bell and Friends
Anberlin – Devotion (deluxe edition also available)
Doomriders – Grand Blood
Death Angel – Dream Calls for Blood (deluxe edition also available)
Morcheeba – Head Up High
Gary Numan – Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind)
Cass McCombs – Big Wheel and Others
Lucius – Wildewoman
Flying Colors – Live in Europe
Four Tet – Beautiful Rewind
Dean Wareham – Emancipated Hearts
Frank Turner – Second Three Years/Take to the Road
Bloc Party – Tapes
Eric Clapton – Unplugged Deluxe Edition
The Dismemberment Plan – Uncanney Valley
Scotty McCreery – See You Tonight (deluxe edition also available)
Halestorm – Reanimate 2 EP
Crystal Antlers – Nothing is Real
Gavin DeGraw – Make a Move
Mary J. Blige – Mary Christmas
Black Oak Arkansas – Back Thar N Over Yonder
Black Milk – No Poison, No Paradise
Fink – RCO
Arthur Channel – Arthur Channel
Tristen – Caves
Jonathan Wilson – Fanfare
Monster Magnet – Last Patrol (deluxe edition also available)
Deep Purple – Complete Albums 1970-1976
Deep Purple – Perfect Strangers Live
Jeff Healey Band – Live at the Bottom Line
Meshuggah – Catch Thirty Three
Meshuggah – Obzen
Kevin Devine – Bubblegum
Kevin Devine – Bulldozer
Various Artists – Studio One Ska Fever! More Ska Sounds
Various Artists – The Organization of Pop: Music From The First Thirty Years of ZTT Records
Various Artists – Trevor Jackson Presents Metal Dance 2: Industrial, New Wave, EBM Classics and Rarities 79-88
VINYL
The Avett Brothers – Magpie and the Dandelion
Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt
The Head and the Heart – Let’s Be Still
Cults – Static
Red Fang – Whales and Leeches (deluxe edition also available)
First Aid Kit – Drunken Trees EP
The Clash – Various Reissues
Botch – We Are the Romans
Yuck – Glow and Behold
Doomriders – Grand Blood
Four Tet – Beautiful Rewind
Jamie Lidell – Big Love Remixes
Dismemberment Plan – Uncanney Valley
Various Artists – Trevor Jackson Presents Metal Dance 2: Industrial, New Wave, EBM Classics and Rarities 79-88
Sarah Jarosz – Build Me Up From Bones
Happy Jawbone Family Band – Happy Jawbone Family Band
Band of Heathens – Sunday Morning Record
Bayside – Shudder
DVD/BLU-RAY
Jason Aldean – Night Train to Georgia DVD
The Doors – Live at the Bowl ’68/Soundstage Performances/Live in Europe 1968 DVD
Frank Zappa – Baby Snakes/Dub Room Special/The Torture Never Stops DVD
Deep Purple – Perfect Strangers Live DVD
Flying Colors – Live in Europe DVD
94.9 FM THE RIVER PRESENTS THE AVETT BROTHERS NEW ALBUM SIGNING OCT. 15: PREORDER AND GET A VIP WRISTBAND!
94.9 FM The River presents The Avett Brothers New Album Signing at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct 15 (release date for their latest album Magpie and the Dandelion) at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St.). As always, this Record Exchange in-store event is free and all ages. The Avett Brothers are performing at Morrison Center later that evening (7:30 p.m.).
Want priority line placement at the signing? Beginning Friday, Oct. 11, purchase Magpie and the Dandelion on CD, deluxe CD or vinyl prior to the event and we’ll give you a VIP line wristband! (There will be a secondary line for customers without wristbands, which will follow the VIP line.) Free lithograph with purchase, too!
Listen to The River leading up to the event for your chance to win tickets to the Morrison Center show!
A LETTER FROM THE AVETT BROTHERS ABOUT MAGPIE AND THE DANDELION
We wanted to let you know what we’ve been up to this year.
It’s been one of the most amazing years in our lives up to this point. Not only did we get our first Grammy Award nomination, but we played some of the most incredible shows we’ve ever done. That’s what we really remember. Every night, there was this energy in the air. You could feel it in the gusts of wind or as the stars blanketed the sky. Everybody felt it, and it made each gig simply electric.
We’ve got to let you in on a little secret because you’ve been so good to us. While we were working on The Carpenter, we were so inspired that we wrote another record as well. During those sessions, we just felt it. Working with Rick Rubin again, we tapped into something very special. It’s like everybody was in the same zone.
Now, we’re ready for you to hear the record. It’s called Magpie and the Dandelion, and it’s out October 15. It’s new and being heard for the first time.
If you think about a Magpie, it’s a bird from the crow family. You can see them everywhere, and they’ve got this strange grace. And, we all know what a dandelion is. It reminds you of being a kid and watching a flower come apart on a summer day. There’s a youthful wonder in that. Those kinds of feelings live and breathe inside this album.
As a little treat, our friends at NPR are streaming the first single “Another Is Waiting” so you can have a taste of what’s to come. We’ll be back out on the road and are looking forward to sharing these new songs with you.
For now, enjoy the music.
Sincerely,
The Avett Brothers