Bunny's Got a Crush On: Woodpigeon

My, oh my... Woodpigeon is a good band. They have been called "Canada's best-kept secret" -- though one can only assume that this reviewer hadn't heard of The Consumer Goods.

But Woodpigeon is damn good. The Canadian collective makes lush pop songs that make for pretty easy listening. They are not at all afraid of horns and acoustic guitars, which is a very good thing. On their MySpace page, they aliken their sound to "madonna 45's played at 1/2 speed," which is pretty good. I would say, however, that they sound more like Montt Mardié trying to sound like Sufjan Stevens, but using only instruments readily available to Okkervil River. The result is consistently excellent and worth checking out.

Woodpigeon has been very busy, too. They released a new album, Treasury Library Canada, on August 1st of this year, and are planning on releasing a new one, Die Stadt Muzikanten, in early 2009. They recently released a mini-album entitled Houndstooth that can be downloaded free of charge from their MySpace page. Their debut album, Songbook, is terrific as well.

Oh, and did I mention? Treasury Library Canada is being sold online here as a "pay what you want" .zip mp3 file! The album is also available for $12 in its physical, packaged form. To my understanding, the package includes Pixie Children Crying, a bonus disc. Hooray, internet!

Listen to these:

Woodpigeon - Home As A Romanticized Concept Where Everyone Loves You Always And Forever (Songbook, 2006)

Woodpigeon - Matty John Chyzyk (Pixie Children Crying, 2008)

BUY Treasury Library Canada!

Andrew Bird rocks my socks

Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha was Pablo Bunny's favorite album of 2007. Now, Bird is back at work on a new album, doing some recording in Wilco's Loft studio and at The Beach House in Nashville.

Fortunately for us, the New York Times has asked whistling and violin-playing minstrel to write occasional articles on the songwriting process for their blog, Measure for Measure. So far he has written 4 posts, each of which tracks the development of songs for the new album. It makes for good reading and is a must for fans of Andrew Bird.

I wonder if Andrew Bird has a liberal bias...

Andrew Bird - The Giant of Illinois (Handsome Family cover) (Daytrotter sessions)

Andrew Bird - Self-Torture (Armchair Apocrypha b-side)

Andrew Bird - Sovay (Live With My Morning Jacket) (Sovay EP, 2004)

BUY the Soldier On EP and Armchair Apocrypha

HAPPY 1 MONTH ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Huzzah! Pablo Bunny is one month old! .....

I can't believe I stayed up for this!!!

I'm going to bed.

Christine Fellows - Paper Anniversary (Paper Anniversary, 2006)

The Consumer Goods: LIVE

For those of us not indulging in the Massachusetts Grizzly Bear/Radiohead show on Wednesday night, it is still possible to salvage your evening. At 10 pm tomorrow night, go to http://www.chry.fm/. There, you'll catch a live acoustic set performed by The Consumer Goods, "the next medium-sized thing in Canadian indie pop."

Yeah, that's right. Who needs Radiohead, anyway?

The Consumer Goods - Hockey Night in Afghanada

The Consumer Goods - Rovie Wade

BUY The Anti-Imperial Cabaret

Grimm's Fairy Tales

The January, Bill Clinton spoke of Barack Obama's campaign for president, saying, "This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen!"

If Bill Clinton were telling the truth -- as he always is -- then Hillary will have her eyes picked out by birds at the Democratic National Convention and Bill will dance in red-hot iron shoes until he dies. At least, according to The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales, which arrived on my doorstep from Amazon just this morning. At 864 pages, it is truly the best/only collection of fairy tales I have ever purchased. It is full of the gruesome details and splendid illustrations that make the original Grimm's tales so damn good.

I was inspired to buy it by Guillermo del Toro's excellent modern fairy tale, Pan's Labyrinth, which follows the "Little Red Riding Hood" archetype. I'm excited to see what del Toro does with The Hobbit.

Javier Navarrete - Long, Long Time Ago (Pan's Labyrinth, 2006)

BUY Grimm's Fairy Tales

BUY Pan's Labyrinth

P.S. Check this out for a laugh.

An Island Never Cries

Everyone enjoys a good Simon & Garfunkel tune. I am very familiar with "The Sound of Silence" and "Mrs. Robinson" from The Graduate, countless a cappella versions of "Scarborough Fair" and "Homeward Bound," and "The Only Living Boy in New York" from Garden State. Somehow, however, "I Am a Rock" escaped my attention -- that is, until last week, when David Sawicki lent me The Best of Simon & Garfunkel.

"I Am a Rock" has everything one could ask for in a pop song: a catchy guitar riff; singable vocal harmonies; a perky, "Like a Rolling Stone"-type electric organ; metaphors; and perfectly melancholic self-pity. Beautiful.

Simon & Garfunkel - I Am a Rock

BUY The Best of Simon & Garfunkel

Kite Flying Society

Lots of bands have risen to greatness since I first tapped the indie music scene in 8th grade, and a few have fallen from grace. Very few, however, have done both in that time frame. One of those bands is Kite Flying Society, whose name is derived from one of Max Fischer's many clubs in Wes Anderson's film, Rushmore.

In 2005, Kite Flying Society made its performance debut opening for Rogue Wave. In 2006, the San Diego band released its first album, Where Is the Glow?, and was met with great acclaim. And in February of this year, they broke up. Wow.

Where Is the Glow? remains, though, along with some tracks from the unfinished sophomore album, The Aviary. Songs like "If I Could Split" and "Groundflower" are quiet indie pop masterpieces that shouldn't be forgotten but probably will be. Pablo Bunny will do what it can to prevent this from happening.

Enjoy this complimentary sample!

Kite Flying Society - If I Could Split

Kite Flying Society - Groundflower

BUY Where Is the Glow?