I Hear a New World - March, 2009

Jeffrey Lewis - Willamsburg Will Oldham Horror

This month's podcast features exclusive extracts from our interview with Will Oldham, aka Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, so it seems as good a time as any to big up this song by New York anti-folk hero Jeffrey Lewis. It tells the (possibly imaginary) tale of an encounter with Oldham on a train which descends into Lewis being brutally beaten and defiled by the generously-bearded indie legend. Amazingly, Oldham admits he's a big fan of the song.

The Japanese War Effort - Punk Is Not Dead

Another song which mentions defilement (never say we don't treat you); In this case it's some nasty accusations of necrophilia in relation to the endangered musical genre of punk. However, if the inclusion of the lyrics "who smells like poo" are anything to go by, then the punk attitude at least lives on in the land of Lothian Buses that the track's creator calls home. Snowbird, his debut, is pure class and is available on tape cassette for a couple of quid, or free to download via winningspermparty.com. Keep an eye out for his new record, appearing on Fabrikant Records soon.

Wake The President - Miss Tierney

Infused with the unmistakable aura of the Scottish indie tradition, Wake the President have followed the route of their heroes Belle & Sebastian with debut album You Can't Change That Boy (full review here), due for release on Electric Honey this month. Front-twins Bjorn and Erik have been busy releasing excellent music by other bands such as Endor and Zoey van Goey through their own Say Dirty Records in the past few years, but now it's their time to shine. With this sublime ode to teenage lust they again invoke the ghost of Stuart Murdoch's band at their early best, but with an added dose of guitar well worthy of a salute from Johnny Marr.

FOUND - Let Fidelity Break

Edinburgh electro bods FOUND seem to have gone all evil on our ass with this growling little devil of a tune, exhorting listeners to drink, drink, drink, and throw up in the sink (or something). It's from their Fidelities EP (reviewed here) which will emerge as a joint release between German label Aufgeladen & Bereit and Fence Records on 9 March. You can also do them a favour and donate a few quid for their 'snarebrained' compilation to help fund their trip to South by Southwest this month. Keep an eye on www.theskinny.co.uk for a diary of the band's touring exploits in Texas and New York.

 

I Hear a New World March 2009