Poetic Memory: JBM (List)
Jesse B. Marchant, also known as JBM, is a singer/songwriter from Montreal. A classically trained guitarist, he only recently began to write lyrics, sing, and record. His debut album, Not Even in July, was written in Los Angeles but recorded in New York’s Adirondack mountains, and it proves that he’s capable of sitting with other indie favorites like Bon Iver and AA Bondy.
JBM will open for AA Bondy at the Casbah on September 1. His Poetic Memory is below.
Record Store Day: Is It Already That Time of Year Again?
Tomorrow marks what’s becoming, in some ways, more inevitable than death and taxes (the latter of which, in my case, are now officially delinquent). Yup, Record Store Day is again upon us. (more…)
Get Three Avett Brothers Albums for Five Bucks Each
Okay, so this is the part where I talk about how much we at Owl&Bear love the Avett Brothers and you, unimpressed by the witty and/or articulate manner in which we’ve elected to express our ardor this time around, roll your eyes and think something like, “Oh come on, you guys always write about how much you love the Avett Brothers and not only is it getting old but, quite frankly, I’m starting to question your sexuality.” So, rather than beat you over the proverbial head with declarations about how great the Avetts are, we’ll just cut to the chase. This time.
Starting today, you can download three Avett Brothers albums—Emotionalism, Four Thieves Gone, and Mignonette—on Amazon for the trifling pittance of five dollars apiece. While Four Thieves Gone and Mignonette are no slouches, the crown jewel of the bunch is surely 2007’s Emotionalism, which shines as a terrific introduction to the band and their greatest achievement to date.
The albums are on sale until Friday as part of Amazon’s Black Friday Deals Week, as are works by artists like Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, Matt & Kim, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Radiohead, Califone, Built to Spill, Okkervil River, the Decemberists, Islands, and Neko Case. And if you already own all those albums, then congratulations: you’re almost as cool as us, but still only half as cool as the Avett Brothers.
Download: Bon Iver’s last show ‘for the forseeable future’ (MP3)
Soundboard (FM)/README/Download
On October 11, 2009, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon announced that the band would be “taking a break from public performance.” That night, the band performed their last show ‘for the forseeable future’ at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee. The next day, Radio Milwaukee made the show available to download, and the quality is excellent. If you’re a fan of Bon Iver, don’t miss this one.
Poetic Memory: Boy Without God (List)
Fact: there are more albums in existence today than ever before, and, as more albums are released in the future, that number will most likely increase. We, the intrepid writers for Owl&Bear, stand at the frothy frontline of this constant deluge of new music, bravely filling buckets with the good stuff and presenting it as sweet sustenance to our parched readers. We perpetually receive music from PR people, begging us to check out undiscovered artists, and a lot of it is, quite frankly, underwhelming. But once in a while we come across a diamond in the rough, something that grabs us by the ears and doesn’t let go. And so it happened that, mere seconds into hearing “If You” (MP3), I became a fan of Boy Without God.
Hailing from Massachusetts, famed home of the sassy Congressman, Boy Without God is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Birnbaum. His new album, Your Body Is Your Soul, which sounds like Neutral Milk Hotel if they’d been fronted by Johnny Cash, has been on constant rotation in the Owl&Bear offices lately and is shaping up to be one of the best albums of the year. Birnbaum was kind enough to share his influences with us for our newest installment of Poetic Memory.
Poetic Memory is a regular Owl and Bear feature in which musicians disclose their influences—whether it’s albums, songs, artists, or something random. If you’re interested in being featured here, send us an email. (more…)
Win a Copy of Bon Iver’s ‘Blood Bank’
Does anyone want this brand new, shrink-wrapped copy of Bon Iver’s wondrous and brief EP Blood Bank?
To enter, email admin@owlandbear.com with your (real or made up) blood type and (real) mailing address.
The third-to-last person to email us by January 31, 2009 at 11:59 PST will win the CD. We’ll move on to the next tardiest entrant if you fail to follow the above directions.
Win Bon Iver on Vinyl (Contest)
As we gear up to publish our list of favorite albums from 2008, we’d like to offer up an extra-special contest for Owl and Bear readers.
For Emma, Forever Ago is so good that it deserves accolades, but because the album made our Top 20 of 2007 (though not officially released at the time), our high journalistic standards prevent its inclusion For Emma in this year’s roundup.
In lieu of praise, we’re offering one (1) vinyl copy of For Emma, Forever Ago to the third-to-last person who emails us by January 2, 2009 at 11:59 PST.
To enter, email admin@owlandbear.com. That’s it!
Also! Don’t forget that our Sound of the Smiths contest ends on December 31, 2008 at 11:59 PST.
July 22, 2008 Link Roundup
Man Man Videos on Blogotheque – We really, really hate those Man Man jerks–for being so damn good.
Bon Iver DayTrotter Sessions (MP3s) – “Enough has been made out of the cool side of the pillow.”
New Calexico MP3: “Two Silver Trees” – “The song ‘Two Silver Trees’ is fairly indicative of what’s to come from Calexico throughout Carried to Dust, their new full-length album that features appearances by Sam Beam, Douglas McCombs, and Pieta Brown.
Owl and Bear’s Top 20 Albums of 2007
Owl and Bear writers’ favorite albums of 2007.
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