All Songs Considered All of the Time

Lately I've been really hooked on NPR's weekly podcast All Songs Considered. My friend Erik has long sung its praises, but only recently have I been checking it out regularly. Whether it's presenting new tracks from Sigur Rós's Jónsi or debuting early cuts from upcoming hype albums like Spoon's Transference.

This week's edition is particularly fantastic, as it features new tracks from jj's upcoming release jj nº 3, The Besnard Lakes upcoming album Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, and most importantly, the first track from Why? drummer Josiah Wolf's upcoming debut Jet Lag. That cut's name is "The Trailer and The Truck" and it's a killer, unsurprisingly focusing on percussion and vibraphone, but surprisingly featuring DeVotchKa esque vocals and a real haunting structure.

While I really love this podcast, this track is really my favorite I've heard so far from there. I highly recommend it, and it is up for a free download at Pitchfork right now. Don't miss out on it.

It doesn't hurt that Josiah Wolf looks like Joshua Gomez (Morgan from Chuck). That's a huge plus in my book.

Track from Jonsi's Debut Release at NPR

Jónsi Birgisson from Sigur Rós is releasing his debut solo album Go in a couple of months, and while it isn't quite the same as getting a new album from from the band itself, from the sounds of debut single "Boy Lilikoi" it is going to be a splendor in itself. NPR's podcast All Songs Considered is currently streaming the track, and it's a lush, cheerful cut that finds Birgisson singing in English. That's right - in English!

It really is a beautiful and engaging piece, and highly recommended from myself. While his album last year he created with his boyfriend Alex Somers titled Riceboy Sleeps (releases as Jonsi and Alex) was a decent enough release, it really was more of the same atmospheric touchstones Sigur Rós has been perfecting for a decade now. This sounds more in the direction Rós' last album touched on, and is decidedly more upbeat than we've come to expect from his sound. Check it out at NPR, or at Jónsi's site.

Jónsi's debut album Go will be released March 22nd, 2010.