Here is a very recent video of New York songwriter Alina Simone performing a new song (“Beautiful Machine”) on a balcony somewhere in Germany where she is currently on tour. Simone will be at DC’s very own Red & The Black on August 6th. In 2007, she released her debut full length, Placelessness. She also recently issued a tribute album (Everyone Is Crying Out To Me, Beware) devoted to Russian poet and songwriter Yana Stanislavovna Dyagileva.

• Artist: For Against
• Album: Shade Side, Sunny Side
• Label: Words On Music
• Release: 2008
• Links: Label Profile, MySpace
  

Shade Side, Sunny Side is the 7th LP from Lincoln, Nebraska’s For Against and first effort since 2002’s Coalesced. More importantly, it sees the return of guitarist Harry Dingman, who hasn’t played with the band on record since 1988’s pivotal December. Dingman’s return brings with it a muscular guitar sound that was sorely missed on the mellow Coalesced. This is best displayed on opening track “Glamour,” a song that will take older listeners back to a time when the dimensions of indie rock seemed endless.

Although the return of Dingman is cause for celebration, Jeffrey Runnings is still the driving force behind this trio that is in its 24th year of existence. It is fascinating to track how Runnings’ songwriting has evolved. Early releases by For Against were known for their intense, angular songs that were emotionally complex. On Shade, that sound is still present, but Runnings has also established himself as a songwriter that is capable of writing an effective ballad. The lyrics of standout track “Why Are You So Angry?” may be simplistic, but it is hard not to relate to the song’s final plead of “You used to be such fun.”

Many of the album’s songs slide into the six to seven minute range. At times, this tested my patience, but on tracks like the aforementioned “Glamour,” the duration is absolutely necessary. It is quite remarkable that For Against are able to make an album so consistent at this point. They, along with artists such as Wire, are proving that you can make worthwhile music no matter what point you are at in your career. On the piano-led ballad “Game Over,” Runnings declares “Game over, I’m done.” Something tells me that we haven’t heard the last from this underrated Nebraska act that still deserves much more attention than they’ve received.

Photo by Allison Smith

Since my last post, The New Year has released the title and tracklisting for their forthcoming record. The album will be self titled and will contain the following:

1. Folios
2. The Company I Can Get
3. X Off Days
4. The Door Opens
5. MMV
6. Seven Days and Seven Nights
7. Wages of Sleep
8. Body and Soul
9. My Neighborhood
10. The Idea of You

Here’s a statement from Touch & Go:

New Album this September from The New Year

Exciting news and times! The New Year has emerged from the studio with 10 songs that will comprise their upcoming self-titled album, to be released September 9, 2008.

The Brothers Kadane, along w/ the rest of the group, have been making music for the last 17 years – in the 1990s with Bedhead and for the last decade with The New Year. They take their time making records, and this is only their third, and the first since 2004’s The End is Near.

Lyrically, these ten songs address the interlocked themes of lost time, frustrated desire, and the need for others. Although musically these may be the band’s most varied songs — for a band that made innovative use of three guitars, almost half the songs here are built around the piano — it is the careful sequence of these songs that brings the story the lyrics tell together. The New Year will be touring the US and Europe as a full band this fall, and the Kadane Brothers are on tour this summer with Bottomless Pit.