![manna shackles cover [mp3] Manna (ft. Mark Lanegan) // Wishing Well](http://tympanogram.com/files/manna-shackles-cover.jpg "manna shackles cover")
I’ll admit, it’s been a slow start to 2012 for me. Not a great deal in January really got me excited. Maybe it’s the prospect of a new Meat Loaf album in February that’s set my expectation bar pretty high for the year, but none of the year’s early releases really got me going.
So when I started listening to the new single “Wishing Well” by Finnish songstress Manna, it was with a slightly hopeless sigh of scepticism. I made my way through the first verse, minding my own business, enjoying her dulcet Nordic tones and then BAM!, the chorus hits and Mark Lanegan kicks through my speakers with snarls of electric guitar and shrill electronic whirls like Optimus Prime trashing a Kiss themed wedding party in Valhalla.
Lanegan doesn’t duet with just anyone, but it’s easy to see why he’s deigned to take part on this Manna track. Her sultry, slightly creepy verses play perfectly against a massive, industrial sounding chorus taken by Lanegan and his trademark growl. There’s superb interplay between the slow burning verses, adorned with lonely plinks of acoustic guitar, and the behemoth guitar thuds of the chorus. It’s a massive track, and has helped to add Manna’s upcoming sophomore album Shackles to my list of anticipated 2012 releases. And let’s hope Mark Lanegan spreads himself around a bit more too.
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Manna (ft. Mark Lanegan) // Wishing Well [mp3] from Shackles
![coolrunnings spirit of the high [mp3] COOLRUNNINGS // Spirit of the High](http://tympanogram.com/files/coolrunnings-spirit-of-the-high.jpg "[mp3] COOLRUNNINGS // Spirit of the High")
I don’t know what it is that I’ve recently been experiencing, but I’m mired in some sort of musical lull. I have found myself nearly unmoved by any and all music lately, and I’m fairly discouraged by it – especially seeing as, you know, I have a music blog. I’ve taken steps to dislodge this malaise, or whatever it might be, by searching out things I may have missed or not given proper due. SiriusXM is doing a free two-week trial, which has moderately helped in giving me some new research material, but I’m still dispassionate and it sucks. Luckily, today I found a few things that are clearly good; mostly older music from long before I was born.
[mp3] COOLRUNNINGS // Spirit of the High
Fittingly then perhaps, I came across a grungy tune reminiscent of a bygone era. I checked the archives, and though it doesn’t seem we’ve written of Knoxville’s COOLRUNNINGS, we’ve certainly been aware of them. On new track “Spirit of the High,” the band incorporates southern rock elements for a sound that is dirty and quite good. The sound is a bit of a departure from what I am most accustomed to from the outfit, that being the more avant garde and electronically tinged BABES FOREVER EP. It’s a direction I can see myself getting behind.
![theesatisfaction [mp3] THEESatisfaction // QueenS](http://tympanogram.com/files/theesatisfaction.jpg "theesatisfaction")
The powers that be at Sub Pop are apparently ready to branch out from their traditional indie rock wares. After putting out the fantastic Shabazz Palaces album last year, the Seattle stalwart is venturing into the realm of female-fronted funk with the new album from THEESatistfaction titled awE naturalE. The first track from the capitalization challenged duo is the burning groove of “QueenS.” It’s funk, but it’s stripped down to it’s naked core, and then rocketed into the future, where it seems that funk is decidedly less warm than what we’re all used to.
awE naturalE is due out on March 27th, though there aren’t any pre-ordering options available at this point. I’d assume that Sub Pop will be putting it on vinyl, since I think that’s a requirement of all good funk albums. And don’t worry, ladies: after this, no one is going to be funk-ing with your groove.
Stream the track below, and get it for yourself in trade for an email address after that.
Connect with THEESatisfaction // facebooK | wEb
![bishop morocco old boys cover [mp3] Bishop Morocco // Old Boys](http://tympanogram.com/files/bishop-morocco-old-boys-cover.jpg "bishop morocco old boys cover")
The opening to Bishop Morocco’s “Old Boys” sounds like it’s been left outside to warp in the sun and then played back; then things kick in and it makes perfect sense, not at all misshaped. And the track is a brief, soft-spoken slice of indie pop. It’s got the slight, slow slap of drums and a buoyant guitar line supporting it. It’s space-y and floating and a great introduction to a band I was previously unaware of.
As it turns out, Bishop Morocco is a Toronto based duo, and the outfit just signed on with Arts & Crafts for an EP of the same name as the single. The pair has a previous, self-titled full-length available as well that was released in 2010. Old Boys (the EP) is a six-song affair that will be released on March 13th. No information is available about pre-ordering the EP at this point, so I’m not certain what format(s) it might be sold in. We’ll have to keep our eyes open.
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Bishop Morocco // Old Boys [mp3] from the forthcoming Old Boys EP
![saint motel [mp3] Saint Motel // At Least I Have Nothing](http://tympanogram.com/files/saint-motel.jpg "saint motel")
Saint Motel’s “At Least I Have Nothing,” the A-side from the band’s first 7″ single from late last year, doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture of twentysomethings in the Twenty-First Century. Lamenting a general lack of goals, the song doesn’t spare anyone the band’s disdain, though it’s said to be open to interpretation. It’s strange, however, that a song that is as bleak as this one can be so damn catchy. It’d be a miracle if you could listen to it and not have “we are just stuck inside their business model” wrapped around your brain.
In the end, though, the band is onto something. There’s a certain freedom to having nothing, and it’s that pulling oneself up feeling that will undoubtedly work in their favor. Saint Motel is bringing their live act out on the road starting later this month on a tour that includes a few dates with Toronto’s Young Empires, as well as a stop at The Bug Jar here in Rochester on Monday, March 5th.
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Saint Motel // At Least I Have Nothing [mp3] from 7″1
