I’ve made no secret of my love of Norway and its music in recent times – my favourite act of last year, The Little Hands of Asphalt, hails from Oslo and I’m planning a visit over there for later in the year. So you can imagine my delight when I caught wind of another stunning up-and-coming Norwegian artist, Solvor Vermeer.

Vermeer has just released the EP The Beaming Light, with a debut album to follow sometime soon. She’s a singer, songwriter, pianist and cellist, with gorgeous waif-like vocals that drift ethereally around her subtle, wintry songs. Norwegian music has a personality all its own, and Solver Vermeer brings that personality a whole new sense of feminine beauty.

Check out the above video of her song ‘Hope’ and head to her MySpace to stream a few more songs. The Beaming Light, which will be reviewed on BTTB soon, is out now through Bloksberg Music and Lazy Acre Records.

Pytheas Recordings – May 4 2010

Idaho folk singer-songwriter Josh Ritter is one of the most underrated musicians of our time, and that’s a fact. Probably most people you ask won’t have the foggiest who he is, and yet he has a bunch of albums under his belt, with lyrical wit and depth to rival even the great Dylan himself. Since the release of his outstanding last album, 2007’s The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, the great man has become a husband and has also been penning a novel, and this album was also released on Record Store Day as an exclusive vinyl. To say that So Runs The World Away, Ritter’s fifth album, is a labour of love may be an understatement – it certainly is a culmination of many years of hard work, but it also is an album that needs to be warmed to.

Where Historical Conquests, was tuned into a more upbeat alt-country type of playing and singing style, Ritter here opts instead for a much more stripped-back version of himself which allows a great sense of intimacy. After a one-minute introduction, ‘Change of Time’ introduces itself as the album’s first real track, underscored by gentle finger-picked acoustic guitar and simple, subtle percussion as Ritter repeats “it’s only a change of time, love”, followed immediately with the placid piano lull of ‘The Curse’, which also has some nice brass embellishments. Such simplicity is easily counteracted by the album’s more complex moments though, such as ‘Folk Bloodbath’ – a musically straightforward song, that takes the legends of Stagger Lee, Louis Collins and Delia and turns it into a sprawling epic that gives another spin on the well-documented topic.

Ritter’s vocals on the record show an impressive range, from the deep steadiness on ‘Folk Bloodbath’ to the gorgeous traditional hymn-like tonation of ‘See How Man Was Made’ (with some beautiful string and brass accompaniments) to the clear, crisp air of closer ‘Long Shadows’, in which Ritter’s voice recalls a freeing horseback ride through the countryside.

There are also songs that see Ritter step a little outside of his comfort zone – ‘Rattling Locks’ sees him adopting a more gritty approach, with a bit of speak-sing in places and vocal accompaniment by his wife Dawn Landes. It’s a little Tom Waits-esque and is a very interesting departure, but is not entirely convincing as a part of the album as a coherent collection. The same goes for ‘The Remnant’ which, with its punchy weight, is not particularly memorable either.

While Ritter is a fine musician, arguably his biggest strength has always been as a lyricist – he has a particular talent for conjuring incredible images and conveying all kinds of stories with his wordplay. ‘Folk Bloodbath’ is a great example of his way with words, as is ‘Another New World’, an airy little maritime song that speaks of his love for the ship, Annabel Lee. It’s the same for all Ritter albums – they work just as well as works of poetry, if you’ll take the time to read the lyrics. The music is really just a bonus (and a really, really wonderful one at that).

On the first few listens, So Runs The World Away does seem a little underwhelming, especially considering the greatness that Ritter has already proven himself capable of. This album is not as instant as his last, and he’s yet to write a song to even come close to the genius that is ‘The Temptation of Adam’. But with every subsequent listen, something special reveals itself and the lyrics and stories that spill from this brilliant mind are more and more vivid and memorable. If you are a new listener, another album would probably be a more fitting introduction to his repertoire, but for returning fans this won’t disappoint if you’re willing to give it some time – it’s not his best, but Josh Ritter is a musician so exceptional that even his lesser work is far greater than some artists’ very best.

PS. The beginning of ‘Lantern’ sounds like the beginning of ‘You Belong With Me’ by Taylor Swift – y/n?

Everyone has a band or song that turned their music taste around. Prior to the year 2000, I was an avid listener of the likes of S Club 7, STEPS and B*Witched (you know you were too, don’t be such a hater). But this song made me step back and run in a different direction altogether, the direction that so many wayward childfolk went in – POP PUNK.

I remember it clearly – I was sitting in my bedroom, in all my 11-year-old glory, listening to a Top 40 countdown on some station, most likely 2Day FM. Number 32 came on, and it was by this band called blink-182 who I had no idea about at that time. The song was catchy and I found that it was in my head for weeks afterwards, and so began a journey down the road of self-discovery.

It was a blitz, my relationship with this band. My mother did not approve of my new found favourite punksters; I remember vividly an argument we had in the middle of KMart when she refused to buy The Mark, Tom and Travis Show for me because it had an explicit language sticker. The internet was new and so I got my uncle to Google the lyrics to ‘Man Overboard’ for me, and I read them over and over. The first song I ever downloaded (how illegal!) was ‘First Date’ via Morpheus (hah!) in 2001 or 2002. I got Take Off Your Pants And Jacket for Christmas in 2001, and loled heartily at the naughty title (and at ‘Happy Holidays, You Bastard’).

I fell in with a pretty shit dude when I was 13 and he hated blink-182 and so I did too, for a while. Or at least I pretended to. After we parted ways, it was back on again. I saw them in September 2004 on what would become their last Australian tour and I sang my little heart out, and told a radio station that my favourite song was ‘Going Away To College’. I still put their songs on in the car and remember every word. I still think Enema of the State is the greatest thing ever.

This video is the one that started it all and I honestly wouldn’t take it back for anything. I still laugh my arse off when I watch it (especially the flower eating part) – it will always be one of my favourite music clips ever. I’ll make a megapost about the merits of pop punk another day, but what I’m trying to say is that you should never forget where you came from or what shaped you. There is little else in this world that makes me as happy as singing my heart out to blink-182, and that’s nothing I’m at all ashamed of.

XL Recordings – April 5 2010

To say that it’s strange to hear Jónsi singing about “riding bikes, making out” is a huge understatement. The Sigur Rós frontman is known for singing absolutely beautifully in total gibberish on his band’s records, and so it’s a pretty big shock to the system to hear him sing entirely in English on his debut solo record Go.

It’s good to be able to finally understand exactly what Jónsi is singing about, although literal meanings have not always been the main point of the music. With Sigur Rós songs there were always translations available, however rudimentary; the importance always lay within Jónsi’s abilities to evoke emotions without words, and to a point they still do. Go is still very much focused on the voice as an instrument, as its fluid nature makes it difficult to hear the words enunciated anyway, and continues on from the uplifting spirit of the last Sigur Rós album með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust to craft collection of songs much more infectious and accessible than anything he’s done before. Whether or not you can make out the words, this album is still incredibly joyful and both sounds like and speaks of the vigour of life.

Musically, Go is more pop-oriented than previous material but not to its detriment – the melodies are much more sing-along-able but the instrumentation is still layered and dense, with a stronger focus on winds and orchestra-type modes. On ‘Animal Arithmetic’ there are some truly luscious drum rolls, while ‘Tornado’ relies on swelling strings to convey its fearless message and ‘Boy Lilikoi’ features some gorgeous flute flourishes alongside its sunny chorus. Jónsi’s muted vocals on ‘Around Us’ create a thinner, more spare atmosphere that allow the music to take the forefront, and closer ‘Hengilás’ is much closer to the brooding, intense Jónsi that the world knows and loves.

Go is not so much of a stretch from past Sigur Rós albums in that it doesn’t introduce much that hadn’t been touched upon in the aesthetic of the last album, and yet at the same time it reveals a new, more playful side of Jónsi that was only briefly touched upon before. By breaking down the final barrier of language, Jónsi has created an album that will appeal to new and old fans alike with its beauty and innocent honesty.

4AD – May 11 2010

The National has never been a flashy band, and if it were even possible, as time goes by they’re getting more modest. It’s a pretty unusual route for a band to take – most musicians start out small and develop their sounds to be bigger, and yet this Brooklyn band has done the exact opposite with excellent results. The band has been around for over a decade now but only started to gain momentum within the last few years with the huge critical acclaim of 2007’s Boxer, and their fifth and latest record will certainly earn them plenty more accolades with its raw and beautiful heart.

There is an overarching theme of hurt and redemption in the album’s lyrics, starting with the repeated refrain “it takes an ocean not to break” in the lo-fi guitar-drenched buzz of ‘Terrible Love’ and heading into the loneliness and fear described in ‘Sorrow’ (“I don’t want to get over you,” croons Matt Berninger), ‘Anyone’s Ghost’ and ‘Afraid of Everyone’, which features the vocals of Sufjan Stevens. Cliché as it may be to express these kinds of feelings lyrically, they feel perfectly truthful in this context – the relative simplicity of the backing music probably has a lot to do with that, as rather than being exorbitant in accompaniment The National opts instead for basic drums and two-layer harmonies that are precise rather than flowery.

There is little pretension here, and the more moody songs are counteracted nicely with numbers like ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’, which returns to the ‘Squalor Victoria’-like school of deep vocals contrasted with a constant instrumental roll and some handsome piano flourishes, and ‘England’, in which modest horns and Scott Devendorf’s thoughtful drumming accentuate a tale of a loved one far away. One of the album’s most intensely intimate moments, though, is ‘Conversation 16’, which features an ethereal seven-part choral backing by Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire that sounds a little like it could have been in Edward Scissorhands. Though it’s hard to pick a highlight in an album full of highlights, this would probably be mine – it’s an honest reflection on growing older and keeps coming back to the refrain “I was afraid I’d eat your brains…cause I’m evil”. Berninger became a father prior to the release of this album, and perhaps such reflection is only fitting after such large transitions are encountered in life.

It seems that with every album, The National is getting more and more focused. Berninger has perfected his vocals to a point where it begins to feel like the voice is more of a sonorous instrument than a human facet, and instead of the fairly broad mix of song types found on pre-Boxer albums, High Violet is made up of a rather specific sound that is coherent from song to song. The tunes are tied together more cohesively, which is one of the commonalities between High Violet and Boxer, but the fact that the songs on this record are also somewhat thematically linked means that it also signifies a step up for the band.

If you plan to listen to this album, make sure you are prepared. By the time the album rounds off with the breathy closer ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’, featuring Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, I was completely and utterly drained. This is not an easy listening experience, and yet for anyone who has ever experienced any kind of hurt it is an intensely personal and cathartic one that serves to beautifully illustrate the point that no matter what life throws you, no matter how dark the world may seem, there is always liberation and hope to be found in the form of a song, or eleven.

LISTEN: Bloodbuzz Ohio (mp3)

Kill Rock Stars/Stomp – February 26 2010

Since the band’s inception in 1993, Quasi has always centred primarily on the musical partnership of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. American Gong, their eighth studio album, is the first in which they’re joined by a third member – bassist Joanna Bolme, known as one of Stephen Malkmus’ Jicks (alongside Weiss), joins the fold here and from first track ‘Repulsion’ it’s evident that this is not the Quasi of old. The production is a lot slicker than past records, and Weiss’ vocals don’t feature as prominently, but what really shines from this album is the band’s sheer diversity. The aforementioned first track brings some gritty rock and roll to the table, ‘The Jig Is Up’ is a mostly acoustic number that showcases the softer side of Coomes’ vocal abilities, penultimate track ‘Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler’ relies almost solely on the singular titular phrase to push it through five atmospheric minutes and ‘Death Is Not The End’ takes things to a darker place, with its minor key and jangly keyboards painting a rather desolate picture.

Quasi is quite a difficult band to categorise due to their infinite stretch of musical ideas; American Gong is more accessible than some of their older work but does compromise some of their past characteristics, most notably their past DIY feel and the awesome use of the Rocksichord, which hardly makes an appearance here. Regardless of any hangups, though, this is a wholly coherent release that serves as a good starting point for anyone keen to dig their claws into the complex but wonderful world of Quasi.

DOWNLOAD: Little White Horse (m4a)

As per my good blog friend Bianca, I thought it would be a rad idea to post a new band/artist each week for your aural pleasure. (Hope you don’t mind me taking inspiration, Bianca!).

For the first installation, allow me to introduce my friend Jenna Fields and her man-half Chris Donlon, all the way from Los Angeles. The two lovebirds are planning to make a name for themselves first by posting cover versions of popular songs, before hopefully delving into their own songwriting. This is their first cover, a sweet, sped-up rendition of She & Him‘s ‘If You Can’t Sleep’.

Jenna and Chris are looking to name their new project, so if you have any suggestions fire them up in the comments here – so far they’ve got Turtle & Elephant and Bird Cousins on the shortlist. Hopefully they will have themselves set up with a MySpace and other such things soon, but for now enjoy this cover – I think it’s a pretty great one.