Hear "How Come You Never Go There," the First Single from Feist's New Album

It's been quite a while, but Feist has released the first single from her forthcoming album, "Metals" (which drops on Oct. 4th). She put out the song, "How Come You Never Go There," on her YouTube page a couple of days ago; I came across it on NPR Music.

This is Feist's first album since her breakthrough "The Reminder," which was way back in 2007. According to her record label, Canada's Arts and Crafts, "Recorded between Toronto and Big Sur, California and co-produced by longtime collaborators Chilly Gonzales and Mocky, as well as newcomer Valgeir Sigurðsson (Bjork, Bonnie "Prince" Billy), Metals marks Feist's celebratory return to the world stage."

Although this is the first full-length song from "Metals," Feist has been releasing a series of teasers (there are to be 12 in all) with snippets from various songs. (It appears a new one is to be released Monday, Aug. 15th, according to her website.) See the track listing for the new album at the end of this post.

Two of the "vignettes," as they're being called, are below. The snippet called "#1" has a techno sound, with drumming playing over time-lapse photography. In "#3," Arts and Crafts says, we see "Feist, Gonzales, Mocky, and Sigurðsson at work on the album," with a string section. (See the Feist YouTube page or her website for more video snippets and information.)








The "Tour Dates" section of her website is empty, but the site does show the track listing for the album (which is available for pre-order through Amazon.com):

"Metals" – Track listing:
1. The Bad In Each Other
2. Graveyard
3. Caught A Long Wind
4. How Come You Never Go There
5. A Commotion
6. Bittersweet Melodies
7. Anti Pioneer
8. Undiscovered First
9. Cicadas And Gulls
10. Woe Be
11. Comfort Me
12. Get It Wrong Get It Right

Feist has always experimented with different sounds and genres on each album, so I can only imagine what surprises she's got cooked up with four years to work on a new release. I'm looking forward to it.

Music Notes, Ladies' Edition: Willie Mae Benefit Show & More

Help support girls who rock at the Willie Mae benefit in Brooklyn Saturday.

Any regular reader of this blog knows that I'm a big fan of female artists, but this edition of Music Notes is devotedly solely to women (and girls) who rock.

* 7th Sound Wave: Benefit for Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls: the Brooklyn training ground for female rockers will be the beneficiary of a show this Saturday night at Manifesta Loft in Brooklyn (315 Seigel St., Apt 217). The performers will be female or female-fronted bands, including teen punk-pop trio Care Bears on Fire and Big Nils (featuring Coco Moore, daughter of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon).

Also on the bill: Bad Credit No Credit, Shady Hawkins, and Titus Andronicus member Amy Klein (her feminist group Permanent Wave is organizing the benefit). Klein will also be taking part in a panel discussion on women in music, with participants spanning the generations.

I've missed several Willie Mae benefits in the past, but really want to catch this one—though it overlaps somewhat with a good country/bluegrass show in the Roots of American Music series at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. (The good news is that the 7th Sound Wave show begins with the panel at 8 p.m., and since the LCOOD show is at 6, it's possible to catch part of the first and then see all the music at the second.)

The Willie Mae benefit is only $7, and for that you get to see a number of up-and-coming female rockers (plus the panel, if you get there early). You can't beat that, in my book.

Permanent Wave's 7th SOUND WAVE: Benefit for the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls
Manifesta Loft, 315 Seigel St., Apt 217
Brooklyn, NY
All ages; admission: $7
(link to brief article with map)

Celebrate the release of the Runaways tribute record tonight at the Jersey Shore.

* Speaking of spanning the generations of female rockers (and of Care Bears on Fire), CBOF will be playing tonight, Aug. 12th, at the release party for Take It or Leave it, a tribute album to The Runaways. The show is at Brighton Bar in Long Branch, NJ. Also playing will be Richard Barone (formerly of the Bongos), Frankenstein 3000, The Easy Outs, Clinical Trials, and more.

The album, Take It Or Leave It - A Tribute To the Queens of Noise: The Runaways, is a two-disc set that was released on June 28th and features contributions from Shonen Knife, The Donnas, the Dandy Warhols, and David Johansen of The New York Dolls, and many others. (Buy Take It Or Leave It at Amazon.com)

The Runaways Tribute Album Release Party
Brighton Bar, 121 Brighton Ave., Long Branch, NJ
Admission: $10
(directions and info on the venue)

The Go-Go's (seen here playing in NYC) received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

* Coincidentally, these concerts are happening the same week that perhaps the most successful all-female rock band, the Go-Go's, got a big honor. Yesterday the band received its star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and as far as I know all of the current band members were on hand. You can see photos from the Go-Go's Walk of Fame festivities here.

Congratulations to the Go-Go's!

Free Summer Concerts: Nicole Atkins Tonight; Deer Tick Thurs.; Roots of American Music Fest. this Weekend

Nicole Atkins plays a free show outside City Winery at 5:30 Tuesday.

Another week of free concerts is underway, and here are some of my picks.

[UPDATE: The Nicole Atkins show is postponed because of the heavy rain, City Winery announced at 4:30 p.m. on its Twitter and Facebook pages. They say they will try to reschedule a make-up date.]

Tues., Aug. 9th: Nicole Atkins at Hudson Square: the South Jersey native plays the second-to-last show in the after-work Hudson Square series, which takes place in the parking lot behind City Winery. Atkins recently came out with her second album, "Mondo Amore." Showtime is 5:30 p.m. City Winery is at 155 Varick St. between Vandam and Spring Street; you can enter the festival area from Spring Street (between Varick and Hudson) or from Vandam between Varick and Hudson.

Wed., Aug. 10th: performance artist Laurie Anderson takes the stage at Lincoln Center Out of Doors; also on the bill is fiddler and composer Todd Reynolds in a debut collaboration with Sxip Shirey and Adam Matta (of the Carolina Chocolate Drops) and a section of violinists. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. at Damrosch Park Bandshell (map/directions) in Lincoln Center.

Thurs., Aug. 11th: Deer Tick and Dom at RiverRocks (Pier 54): Led by John McCauley, Deer Tick brings its blend of punk, blues, country and more to the RiverRocks series at Hudson River Park. (Hear an early performance by Deer Tick in what may have been their first radio broadcast set, from WNYC in January 2006.) Also on the Thursday's bill are Dom and Translations. Doors: 6 p.m. Hudson River Park, Pier 54 (map and directions to Pier 54.)

And the Roots of American Music Festival closes out Lincoln Center Out of Doors this weekend, with a series of great roots/Americana musicians Saturday and Sunday. The whole thing ends with a bang late Sunday afternoon with a show featuring legendary soul guitarist Steve Cropper, Bettye Lavette, The Bar-Kays, and the North Mississippi All-Stars Duo. On the schedule:

Sat., Aug. 13th, 2 p.m.: banjo player and singer Abigail Washburn; folk-rock singer Sid Selvidge with Sons of Mud Boy; and Sun Records oral histories. Location: Hearst Plaza Stage (venue info), Lincoln Center.

Sat., Aug. 13th, 5 p.m.: Ebony Hillbillies, a black string band with "a rootsy, homegrown style that was a key element in the genesis of all-American music: jazz, blues, bluegrass, rockabilly, rock and roll, and country." Location: Josie Robertson Plaza (map/directions), Lincoln Center.

Sat., Aug 13th, 6 p.m.:  country and bluegrass show with Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives; Sonny Burgess; Cowboy Jack Clement; Rudy “Tutti” Grayzell and Hayden Thompson; Dailey and Vincent. Location: Damrosch Park Bandshell (map/directions)

Sun., Aug. 14th, 5 p.m.: Steve Cropper and Friends: Tribute to the 5 Royales (New York debut) with Bettye Lavette, Ellis Hooks, and Dylan LeBlanc; The Bar-Kays; North Mississippi All-Stars Duo; Big Sam's Funky Nation. Location: Damrosch Park Bandshell (map/directions)

Free at Summerstage Tonight: "Shelebration!" - Shel Silverstein Celebrated in Words & Music

"Shelebration!" at SummerStage will celebrate the many books, songs, and poems by the late Shel Silverstein.

The late Shel Silverstein had such a diverse creative output—children's books, pop songs, plays, and much more—that it's taking a whole cavalcade of artists to celebrate his legacy tonight in a free SummerStage show in Central Park.

"Shelebration! A Tribute to the Works of Shel Silverstein" is a tribute to the author's work by an amazingly varied list of performers, from Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson to Suzanne Vega, Melvin Van Peebles, Martha Wainwright, and more. There are actors such as Annabella Sciorra and Chloe Webb; comedians including Richard Belzer and Darrell Hammond (formerly of "Saturday Night Live"); and rock singers such as Sally Timms (of The Mekons) and Emily Haines (of Metric). (See the SummerStage website for the full "Shelebration!" lineup.)

And the SummerStage description says the show will feature "the debut of works from Silverstein’s forthcoming poetry collection, 'Every Thing On It.'"

Shel Silverstein wrote "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" and other hits.

Although Silverstein (who died in 1999) is best known to many millions as the author of the children's books "The Giving Tree" and "A Light in the Attic," he also wrote plays, poetry, and songs, as well as being an illustrator and recording artist.

It wasn't until many years after the fact that I realized Silverstein was the writer of some of the most well-known, chart-topping hit songs of their day, including “The Unicorn” (the Irish Rovers), “A Boy Named Sue” (Johnny Cash), and two hit singles for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" and "Sylvia's Mother."

If you're a fan of any form of Shel Silverstein's work, or just want to see some very talented individuals from different fields celebrating his work, you might want to head over to the SummerStage Mainstage in Central Park tonight. (For updates on gate opening time and possible weather-related changes, follow the SummerStage Twitter account.)

"Shelebration! A Tribute to the Works of Shel Silverstein" 
Saturday, Aug. 6th, 7 p.m.
SummerStage Mainstage, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park (map and directions)
Info: www.summerstage.org or (212) 360-2777

Free Summer Concerts: Aretha Franklin (Tonight); Ra Ra Riot, Mission of Burma, Friendly Fires, & More this Weekend

 Above: Ra Ra Riot's video for "Boy," from their 2010 album "The Orchard."

The blitz of free summer concerts continues, and after last night's rainouts the skies look clear for the much-anticipated Aretha Franklin make-up show at Coney Island tonight. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at West 21st St. and Surf Ave., next to the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball stadium. See directions at the Seaside Summer Concerts home page.

The action continues on Friday night when Ra Ra Riot, Delicate Steve, and Buke & Gass (pronounced "byuke" and "gace") play Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park.

Hailing from Syracuse, Ra Ra Riot made a big splash a few years ago with their album "The Rhumb Line," combining catchy pop accented with a violin and viola. Their latest album, "The Orchard," came out last summer.

The most interesting band on Friday's Celebrate Brooklyn bill is Buke and Gass, a duo that plays an mix of modified steampunk-style instruments, including the "buke" (baritone ukelele) and "gass" (a combination of a guitar and bass).


Above: Cults play "Abducted" live at the WFUV studios. 

On Sunday you've got to choose between two free rock shows in Manhattan happening at the same time. Summerstage's Central Park Mainstage (directions) presents Friendly Fires, The Naked and Famous, and Cults at 3 p.m. I'm not too familiar with the first two bands, but have been enjoying the music of the male-female duo Cults the last month or so. You can read an interview they did with WFUV's The Alternate Side here (which includes the video above).

Also at 3 p.m. Sunday, the influential late '70s/early '80s band Mission of Burma plays the Beekman Beer Garden (at South and Beekman Sts., on the north side of Pier 17). Bands ranging from R.E.M., Nirvana, and Throwing Muses has cited Mission of Burma as an inspiration to their own work. As of now the Beekman gig is the only date on their tour schedule, so if you want to see them you'll want to get to this show. Mission of Burma's latest album is "The Sound, The Speed, The Light." (directions to Beekman Beer Garden.)

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Fountains of Wayne, The Horrors, Keb' Mo', Antigone Rising, & More

The new Fountains of Wayne album "Sky Full of Holes" is one of the new albums streaming for free this week.

"Sky Full of Holes," the new album by Fountains of Wayne, is the highlight of this week's free album previews, but there's some other good stuff for streaming. (As for FoW, I went to one of the band's sold-out shows at the intimate confines of Maxwell's, where the crowd was treated to previews of "The Summer Place" and other songs from the new album, and of course some old favorite tunes.)

Other albums for free preview this week new releases from The Horrors, contemporary blues singer and guitarist Keb' Mo', and New York all-female band Antigone Rising. The new effort from the latter, "23 Red," has them sounding a lot more mellow than I remember them from years ago, and some of the tunes even have a country feel to them.

And there seem to be a number of members of well-known bands members out on their own with new projects, including Moonface (Wolf Parade frontman Spencer Krug), Ra Ra Riot bass player Mathieu Santos, and Collections of Colonies of Bees (featuring members of Volcano Choir, who collaborated with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon).

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Sky Full of Holes" by Fountains of Wayne
"On the Ocean EP" by Guster
"Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped" by Moonface
"Massachusetts 2010" by Mathieu Santos
"Giving" by Collections of Colonies of Bees

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Skying" by The Horrors (streaming until Aug. 14)

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"23 Red" by Antigone Rising
"The Reflection" by Keb' Mo'
"King" by O.A.R.