Cougar Microbes are marching in like army ants…

Peter Broderick is an interesting proposition; at just 22 the classically trained musician has already bagged plenty of session work (most notably with Cougar Microbes favourites She & Him) as well as working on his solo material.

In 2007 he took a gamble and relocated from Oregon to play with Danish band Efterklang and live in Copenhagen showing an incredible commitment to his craft. He has since made Berlin his permanent home as he continues to be prolific about recording an assortment of varied releases without forgetting his session work playing banjos, violins and madolins.

His wonderful ‘And Its Alright’ track was the perfect remedy for my looming hangover with its mix of minimalistic instrumentations and heart warming optmistic lyrics. The Nils Frahm remix adds a Nordic cool to proceedings sounding like the track was re-recorded in outer space.

Catch him on his European tour running straight through to September and make sure you check out his releases.

TRACK:

Peter Broderick – And It’s Alright (Nils Frahm Remix)

A collaboration between Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and M. Ward (erm, M.Ward and She & Him) was, at the very least, going to be interesting. Their reputations alone pretty much justify the moniker Monster Of Folk. Add the fact that they are already being reffered to as a “Supergroup” and expectations are naturally very high.

On the basis of new single ‘Say Please‘ there is a lot to look forward to when they release their self titled full length in September. Download it for free from their website (providing you are very polite)

TRACKS:

Monsters Of Folk – Say Please

Haven’t we heard this one before: Hollywood starlet (or her management team) eyes an opportunity to milk a few more $$$ out of the fans by branching out into the music world. Usually the next step is a dismal release or two after which she returns to the relative safety of her day job.

That was what I was thinking when I was told Zooey Deschanel was teaming up with alt-country darling M. Ward but boy was I wrong. Instead, under the moniker She & Him, they may well have released one of the most interesting albums in recent years transporting you back to a when music was about style over substance. The resulting album Volume One sounds just like the old 60s albums my dad used to play me in his car dipped in sentimentality and following in the tradition of songstresses like Joni Mitchell and Dusty Springfield.

Zooey, I owe you an apology.

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It’s amazing what a few months can do to a bands profile. Back in November I was coming to terms with TV On The Radio‘s latest effort. Now their tracks have rooted themselves firmly in my subconscious making Dear Science, the go to album when people ask me for something that will appeal to fairweather music fans and enthusiasts alike. I’m not really surprised that in December TOTR were featured prominently on New Year programs for the BBC and Channel 4 alike and were also played repeatedly on the office stereo.