It's inevitable every year at this time. Call it the post-Halloween, post-Daylight Saving Time, post-October new release lull (some years coinciding with an election, some years not), but the deluge of new material that we've been flooded with for several weeks previous subsides to a literal trickle. If you've a (questionably) healthy appetite for the new stuff, it's a long, quiet spell from the beginning of November to the end of January, when things finally begin to pick up again. This November smells a little different, however, with more than a few distractions from the cold, the dark and the silence. Seems there's this election thing that has everyone, no matter the side of the aisle, rather enthralled and on the edge of their seats. So there's that. For our own part, we've got a few new wrinkles to offer throughout, some of them directly involving you, so watch and listen as the month rolls on. Plus, a hot month of in-studio sessions on the air, including Jolie Holland, Super XX Man, and The Mountain Goats.
As for the week directly ahead-- musically speaking, I mean-- that dwindling new release list actually throws us a bone or two, including the debut from L.A.-based trio Little Joy. See that picture over there? That's more or less what they sound like. Notable in the first place because of the presence of Strokes drummer Fab Moretti, the band proves itself worthy of a listen beyond its famous member, sort of a throwback collection of island-y, lo-fi folk rock with hints of classic soul. It's all-together charming.The self-titled debut is out Tuesday on Rough Trade.
Stream: Little Joy's debut at their myspace
The live week ahead finds the Montreal-based band The Dears at the Doug Fir Wednesday night. The new album Missiles is the band's first since 2006's Gang of Losers, but that doesn't mean that frontman Murray Lightburn didn't have time to jettison his entire line-up save his wife. The result is an album whose songs average over five minutes a piece, including the plodding but soulful closer, "Saviour," clocking in at a robust 11:21. The lovely sounds of The Dears don't come without their challenges, in other words, and it should be interesting to see how the touring line-up handles such grandeur in a live setting. The Dears open for The Secret Machines Wednesday at the Doug Fir.
Video: The Dears, from Missiles- "Money Babies"
Also this week, Ray LaMontagne plays two shows in the area behind his recent Gossip In the Grain release. The third album from the Maine-based singer-songwriter delivers further on the classic soul and blues vibe he began to touch on a bit more his last time out, with reviews rightly pointing to Van Morrison's classic Astral Weeks as an obvious touchstone. A bit looser and more free-wheeling than its predecessors, LaMontagne's latest shows growth, risk, and even a bit of humor, as evidenced by the self-explanatory "Meg White." He plays with opener Leona Naess Wednesday at Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and Thursday at the McDonald Theater in Eugene.
Finally, Wednesday also marks the CD release show for Portland's Pink Widower. The band led by Jed Allan, former Six Foot Sloth frontman, celebrates the release of The Enchanted Realm of the Pink Widower at the Someday Lounge and, from the sounds of the album, it just might be a dance party. Grooves and horns abound from Allan's new project, more or less an about-face from the music of his previous act. Listen to samples from the release and/or buy the digital version here.
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