Woods Announce Bend Beyond

Woods are not a band we ever expected to like. We've seen countless numbers of their peers fall by the reverbed beachy wayside, and for good reason. They couldn't write their way out of a wet paper bag. Woods always had an extra shot of talent, imagination, and musicianship, that allowed them to persevere through several excellent albums. Woods continue to refine and recreate their sound, and we're excited to see how Bend Beyond comes out. Sept 18, Woodsist.

Woods: "Death Rattles"

[mp3] Woods: "I Was Gone"

Here's the newest video from one of our favorite records of the year so far, Woods' At Echo Lake. Enjoy. Dir by Sophia Peer.

New Woods 'At Echo Lake'

[Stream] "Suffering Season" at P4K
[mp3] Woods: "I Was Gone"

We've been spinning the new Woods album At Echo Lake (5/4 Woodsist) for the past few weeks and it's truly marvelous. This NY band has taken the best parts of their last effort Songs of Shame, songs such as "Rain On" and "To Clean" and built upon them, making an entire record of excellent well-crafted songs. Yet, their growth is more than just improved songwriting, and the press release nails it stating, "[At Echo Lake] properly represents a move from a kind of informal back porch jam ethos to a fully-committed vision of the infinite possibilities of group playing." There are enough moments of dissonance and minor key harshness to keep things interesting, while their uplifting choruses and innate knack for writing amazing and intricate melodies make At Echo Lake a clear pick for one of the best records of 2010 so far. Tour dates after the jump.

05/13 - New York, NY - Abrons Art Center / Joshua Light Festival
06/07 - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern #
06/08 - Vancouver, BC - Media Club #
06/09 - Portland, OR - Holocene #
06/10 - Arcata, CA - Jambalaya #
06/11 - San Francisco, CA - Slims #$
06/12 - Big Sur, CA - Henry Miller Library / Woodsist Festival #$%
06/14 - Santa Barbara, CA - Jensen's $%
06/15 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex / Woodsist Festival #$%
06/25 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (Northside Fest / Woodsist Showcase) %^

# = w/ Art Museums, The Mantles
$ = w/ Kurt Vile
% = w/ Real Estate
^ = w/ The Fresh and Onlys, Moon Duo and Sic Alps

Real Estate and Woods Spring Tour Dates

[mp3] Woods: "To Clean"

[mp3] Real Estate: "Beach Comber"

Arguably the two best artists to come out of the Woodsist/Beach-wave movement that dominated the blog world in 2009, Real Estate and Woods are teaming up for a tour this spring. While many bands purveyed the aforementioned reverbed-out, pseudo-psych/folk tunes last year, Real Estate, and even more-so Woods backed up their vocal and guitar effects with some honest songwriting talent. No doubt you already have them, but Woods' excellent Songs of Shame, and Real Estate's self-titled effort are both out now and recommended pick-ups. They hit The Music Hall of Williamsburg on March 12. Full tour dates after the jump.

REAL ESTATE & WOODS

Fri-Mar-12 New York, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sat-Mar-13 Montreal, QC Lambi
Sun-Mar-14 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
Mon-Mar-15 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
Tue-Mar-16 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Music Hall
Mar-17 - Mar 20 Austin, TX SXSW
Mon-Mar-22 Nashville, TN The End
Tue-Mar-23 Bloomington, IN The Bishop
Wed-Mar-24 Cleveland, OH The Spot at Case Western
Thu-Mar-25 Pittsburgh, PA University of Pittsburgh
Fri-Mar-26 Haverford, PA Haverford College
Sat-Mar-27 Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel

REAL ESTATE ONLY

Tue-Jan-05 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl
Sat-Jan-09 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
Fri-Jan-22 Hanover, NH Dartmouth College

Friday Blog Reel

Woods: "Get Clean" [mp3]

Animal Collective: "Summertime Clothes"

John Vanderslice: "Too Much Time" [mp3]

Today our featured video comes from the fantastic new-comers Woods, who we've written about numerous times. Sometimes, a video is able to give you a new perspective on a song. While, videos have largely become obsolete as a form of discovering new music, they still exist as a great way to give fans and listeners a new way to envision your music. For a band like Woods, their music can sometime seem a little dark. Yet, this video for their song "To Clean" shows a brighter side to the tune, even though there are lots of knives and fake blood. Fun times with Woods. Good song too. The rest are after the jump.


Animal COllective: Summertime Clothes

John Vanderslice "Too Much Time" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Woods & Tyvek Tonight @ Death By Audio

[MP3]
Woods "Rain On"
Woods "The Dark"

Again, I've been meaning to post on this all week, but clearly you can see we're dealing with a backlog of some great music. Woods have been slowing gaining momentum for what seems like some time now, and things are finally beginning to come to a head. Their record Songs of Shame comes out on April 14th via Woodsist, who has been having a quietly great year. It's yet another entry into the lo-fi, psych-folk cannon of 2009, but like the new record from Kurt Vile, it's the songs that come through in the end regardless of production methods. We don't know a ton about Tyvek, but we've been hearing good things...sort of hazy, distorted punk. Twitter tells us that it's Woods @10 and Tyvek @11 tonight. The Whip and Late of the Pier are also playing two highly anticipated shows tonight and tomorrow in the city. Lots to see and do.