Oh no, is it really Monday?

mp3: Thrushes - Heartbeats

Let me tell you a little story about about Thrushes. I came home one day to find a MySpace friend request from them in my inbox (doubtless due to our mutual friends A Sunny Day in Glasgow and the Sky Drops) and, curious, listened to a few tracks - including this one. So, I ordered the album and was first surprised to receive a personal email from guitarist Casey Harvey thanking me for my order. I waited a few days, and then the CD arrived in a handwritten envelope, stuffed with not only a beautiful record, but two badges, a sticker, and a greeting card thanking me (again) for my support. Thus did Thrushes win my heart.

(That is, if they hadn't already with this song.) "Heartbeats" is a gorgeous single, opening with a spot-on "Just Like Honey" pastiche. Anna Conner's vocals enter, then, dancing round waves of sound and kindling an excitement not seen since, well, the Mary Chain. And it's that excitement which makes Thrushes and "Heartbeats" so incredible. Listening to it - particularly the opening and the resurgence at 3:30 - renews any faith in music I ever had; faith that there are still kids who spent high school with Psychocandy superglued into their Walkmans; faith that there's still room for black-and-white photographs of corners and suitcases worthy of Lou Reed; and, really, faith that these sort of musical references can still be made with the knowledge that it can be appreciated.

[Buy: Thrushes: Sun Come Undone, out on Birdnote Records (Morphius)]

Now for some (mostly) old news:

-Wired Listening Post speaks to Maggie Fost, album designer at Merge Records.
It's a fascinating insight into what exactly goes into a medium I've always been interested in - and how that's being affected by digital music.

-The Guardian discusses The Shins.

-Meanwhile, the Manchester Evening News actually attends a gig.
This is a cute review! Particulary banteratgigs.com/Manchester.

-EachNoteSecure gives us Calexico covering Arcade Fire!, courtesy of Merge Records.