Keeping Up With the Matssons

While this post is mostly dedicated to the arrival of an amazing new voice (Amanda Bergman Matsson aka Idiot Wind) it's hard not to mention her husband, Kristian Matsson (aka Tallest Man on Earth) who has a fantastic new record, There's No Leaving Now, coming out June 12th. We've dedicated massive amounts of digital ink to Tallest Man in the past, so it's time to spread the love a bit. We stumbled upon Idiot Wind's new EP as an exclusive at Other Music, and knowing nothing about her at all - picked it up based on their colorful marketing description, which luckily, hit the nail on the head. Channeling the smoky pipes of a richer, more languid Cat Power, the looks of St. Vincent, and clearly sharing her husband's love of Dylan (note the band name and the addition of the stellar "Mamma You've Been on My Mind" cover on the EP) - Idiot Wind has crafted a head turning 5 track EP. Buy the EP in New York at Other Music or her bandcamp. Can't wait to hear more from this striking new artist.

Tallest Man on Earth Announces 'There's No Leaving Now'

The Tallest Man On Earth Announces New Album There's No Leaving Now - June 12

TOUR DATES:
05/31/12: Stockholm, Sweden - Sodra Teatern
06/01/12: Stockholm, Sweden - Sodra Teatern
06/20/12: New York, NY - Town Hall
07/03/12: London, UK - Hackney Empire
07/04/12: Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso
07/06/12: Berlin, Germany - Lido
07/29/12: Newport, RI - Newport Folk Festival
08/17/12: Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop

Tallest Man Soundtracks Your Parents' Home Movies

[mp3] Tallest Man on Earth: "Love is All"

A whistful and nostalgic look through vintage 8mm film, as if projected onto the white wall of your childhood home. Tallest Man's new EP, Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird is out now on Secretly Canadian.

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New Tallest Man EP

[mp3] Tallest Man on Earth: "Like The Wheel"

What can we say that we haven't already said about The Tallest Man. You love him, we love him, and now he's got a new EP - Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird. We would probably say, the Blues ARE Just A Passing Bird, but um, whatever, English is his second language. No one really saw this EP coming, but hey - we love surprises. Here are the facts from the press release:

The Tallest Man On Earth's new EP, Sometimes the Blues Is Just A Passing Bird, will be for sale exclusively on iTunes until its official release date. CDs, LPs and digital copies will be available at all othe retailers on November 9th, 2010 (8th in UK)... “Like the Wheel,” along with four other new songs, make up Sometimes The Blues is Just a Passing Bird, an EP written entirely after The Wild Hunt. Recorded during a quick break from touring in the summer of 2010, “Like the Wheel” is joined by “The Dreamer,” which Matsson performs on electric guitar. Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird is an open and shut chapter in the Tallest Man On Earth’s songbook – five new additions to those magical performances.

Three Monday Videos

Tallest Man on Earth: "The Wild Hunt"
Local Natives: "World News"
Memoryhouse: "Lately (Deuxieme)"
all (VIA)

Tallest Man on Earth: Album Pre-Order, New MP3

The Tallest Man on Earth -- "Burden of Tomorrow"

There is not much more we can say that we haven't already said about the talents of Kristian Mattson, A.K.A the Tallest Man on Earth. The man is a near-perfect troubadour; seemingly spawned out of 60s Bohemia, Mattson manages to embody the soul of a Liam Clancy, harness the lyrical ability of a Dylan or word-mastery of a Ginsberg, all while exhibiting flawless, mechanical musicianship. His music hushes crowds and roars with genuineness that would even make all the aforementioned greats stop to take notice.

Pre-order the album here.

Tour dates after the jump!

04/11/10 Morgantown, WV - WVU Creative Arts Center - Mountain Stage Radio
04/14/10 Buffalo, NY - The Ninth Ward*
04/15/10 Winooski, VT - The Monkey House*
04/16/10 Montreal, QC - Petit Campus*
04/17/10 Toronto, ON - El Mocambo*
04/20/10 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom*
04/21/10 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs*
04/22/10 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live Upstairs*
04/23/10 Washington, DC - Black Cat*
04/24/10 Greensboro, NC - Guilford College *
04/26/10 Chapel Hill, NC - Gerrard Hall - University of North Carolina*
04/27/10 Asheville, NC - Forsythia Hall*
04/27/10 Asheville, NC - Forsythia Hall *5:30 early show*
04/28/10 Atlanta, GA - The Earl*
04/29/10 Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree*
05/01/10 Denton, TX - Hailey's
05/02/10 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ (Indoor)*
05/04/10 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room*
05/05/10 La Jolla, CA - UCSD - The Loft*
05/07/10 Los Angeles, CA - Natural History Museum of LA w/ Gamble House
05/08/10 Brookdale, CA - Historic Brookdale Lodge*
05/09/10 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
05/11/10 Portland, OR - The Mission Theater*
05/12/10 Vancouver, BC - St. James Hall*
05/14/10 Edmonton, AB - Brixx*
05/15/10 Calgary, AB - Local 522*
05/17/10 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
05/18/10 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
05/19/10 Denver, CO - The Bluebird Theater
05/21/10 Iowa City, IA - The Mill
05/23/10 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
05/25/10 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
05/26/10 Bloomington, IN - The Dome House
05/27/10 Fort Wayne, IN - The Brass Rail
05/28/10 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
05/30/10 George, WA - Sasquatch Music Festival
06/09/10 London, UK - Tabernacle
06/10/10 Dublin, IRE - Whelan's
08/12/10 Haldern, DE - Haldern Pop Festival


After the jump.

Stark's Bits of Whatever and a Note

Here are little bits of whatever that survived the inbox purge of SXSW blasts, no-name remixers and other sub-par music submissions. For as those close to the Stark camp know,  things just picked up vocationally as well as extracurricularly. As such, our posting has been limited and for that we apologize. For now, we will give you what we can, and hopefully start making a few knots when the winds shift.

Little bits of whatever (week of 03/8):

• Megafaun + Tallest Man = cover of Bon Iver's "Creature Fear" shown above. I don't have enough time to call out Bon here, so I'll leave that for my black list post when it comes to fruition.
• Neon Indian drops his newest single "Sleep Paralyist"  co-produced by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor on Green Label Sound's website.
• Echo & The Bunnymen kick off a string of US dates including a 5/1 date in NYC at Irving Plaza and also release a new single, "Porxy".
• Our good friends, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons announced their SXSW showcases w/ Pretty Good Dance moves and actually got Stark to read something tagged "SXSW"
• Billboard.com releases the second piece of SXSW mail we open -- their "20 Artists to Watch for at SXSW" list and it's embarrassing. She & Him is on there. Enough said. BLACK LIST!
• That's all for now.

Delete Blog? No. Just Tallest Man Tour Dates

[mp3] Tallest Man on Earth: "King of Spain"

Weird. Amid the snow storm which attributed to a half day of work and one of the nicer commutes I have had in a few NYC months, "Burden of Tomorrow" off the Tallest Man on Earth's newest record, The Wild Hunt (due April 13 via Secretly Canadian) hit my speakers. Fuck run on sentences, we are Stark Online (maybe soon to be .net or .com?) Before we go off on that tangent, let's touch on our undying love for Kristian Matsson, a.k.a The Tallest Man on Earth.

His new record is full of buoyant, pop-sensible tunes, that showcase his amazing guitar talent while at the same time, mask it behind beautifully written strumming patterns; it's a procon (hybrid of PRO and CON). His lyrics continue to impress with endless nods to Dylan, Cohen and more. His vocals are unmatched -- he roars in tune like a musically trained, caged animal might. On the whole, the album is well-paced sounding at times, like a runaway train, and at others, like how one might imagine a vast, Midwestern landscape might sound; pitcture a Bob Ross painting singing to you. Done.

Insert tangent here: Yes. The rumors are true. MP3s may attribute to the deletion of your blog. Brooklyn shut-in's, vegans and Julie from "Julie and Julia" alike are running for the hills taking refuge behind Godaddy.com domains and other scary options; we've heard great things about WordPress, but can you transfer two and a half years of stark, snark, sweat and tears to Wordpress? Me thinks not.

Why we are here -- Tallest Man tour dates after the jump!

Previously announced European tour dates:
2/20/10 Blois, FR The Velvet
2/21/10 St. Malo, FR La Route Du Rock
2/26/10 Stockholm, SE Debaser Slussen
3/04/10 Hamburg, DE Astra Stube
3/05/10 Berlin, DE NBI Club
3/07/10 Den Bosch, NL fabrlQ Den Bosch
3/08/10 Amsterdam, NL Bitterzoet
3/09/10 Brussels, BE Botanique
3/10/10 Paris, FR Le Scopitone
3/11/10 Puerto de Santa Maria, ES Teatro Municipal Pedro Munoz Seca
3/12/10 Granada, ES Centro Cultural
3/13/10 Barcelona, ES Sidecar
3/14/10 Mallorca, ES Teatre Lloseta
3/15/10 London, UK Bush Hall
3/17/10 Copenhagen, DK Klub Shh at Din Nye Ven

After the jump.

New Tallest Man on Earth!

[mp3] Tallest Man on Earth: "King of Spain"

Can you see a theme developing here today? We're absolutely thrilled to share the news with you today that long-time favorite and friend of Stark, The Tallest Man on Earth (Kristian Matsson) has signed to Dead Oceans and will be releasing The Wild Hunt on April 13th. We have the first track for you, "King of Spain" above. You may recognize the track from his live performances. The Wild Hunt is Matsson's follow-up to his marvelous debut (and Stark #1 record of 2008) Shallow Grave. There are not many readers of this site who are not already familiar with the mysterious, yet, remarkably friendly Swedish songwriter, but for the new-initiates, his music is a striking amalgamation of Appalachian-style Southern folk, talented finger-picking, and a gravely croon, that brings obvious references to early Dylan. He's the predominant songwriting talent on the market today, and we offer a huge congratulations to his team, and the Tallest Man himself. Well done!

Daytrotter Session Aggregation

The Daytrotter Sessions have slowly become the indie-staple of the next step for certain artists, while for others, it serves as a time to strip down and hold your voice accountable -- Daytrotter reveals one's true colors, which makes it a great acoustic and musical benchmarking system. Some Stark favorites have graced the studio over the past week or two, all of which are worth mentioning here (in no particular order):

1) Tallest Man on Earth -- This is from way back, but talk about someone born to record at Daytrotter -- Kristian Matsson is an artistic enigma capable of crushing your soul, lifting you up, then making you stop to think about why your body still hurts. Truly one of the most uniquely genuine and inquisitive songwriters of the decade. Worth a good listen -- "I Want You (Dylan Cover)" and " I Won't Be Found (played on piano -- exquisite.)"

2)Or, the Whale -- San Francisco's answer to the wants of a fanbase that champions rainy days and ominous harmonies. Their self-titled '09 release came out on Sept. 19. Worth a good listen "Keep Me Up."

3)Carly Simon - Never Been Gone is her newest effort (dropped Oct. 27) which has met Luke warm reviews in the media, but we all know what she is famous for -- "You're So Vain" -- worth a good listen.

More after the jump.

4)Magnolia Electric Co. - Another band made to play this musical venue, which is probably why they recorded seven songs while there. Their newest release Josephine doesn't stray far from their linear, yet pristine song writing style which is why we love it. Worth a good listen - "Arrow in the Gale/Josephine."

5)Wavves- Really? OK. What you got kid? Well, yeah, it sounds like Wavves in a cave -- two songs is about right; let's keep it at that.

6) The Antlers -- their 2009 release Hospice is a front runner for top spots on many Best of List's this year. Worth a good listen "Two."

Tallest Man on Earth Takes Away

Tallest Man on Earth - The Gardener - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Filmed by One Take New York in conjunction with Vincent Moon & Co's La Blogotheque, longtime Stark favorite The Tallest Man on Earth, offers "The Gardener." Almost overpowering, yet tenderly warming, Sweden's Kristian Matsson sits inside a quaint, highly eclectic instrument shop, and performs; he is a performer, for those who have had the pleasure of seeing him live. We were introduced to Matsson during his first trip across the pond and we have been subscribers ever since. See Stark coverage of all things Tallest here, here, here and so much more.

New Bon Iver mp3 "Blood Bank"

Photo Credit: Karp

Bon Iver "Blood Bank" mp3

We wrote about Bon Iver's upcoming Blood Bank EP awhile back. Some have been calling it his victory lap EP - but honestly, doesn't he deserve one? We caught him with Vince's #1 artist of the year Tallest Man, several weeks ago at Town Hall, and it was good - not great. MHOW was MUCH better. Here is the title track from the EP, enjoy. Blood Bank comes out Jan. 20 on Jagjaguwar. Tour dates for our Aussie readers after the jump. Don't laugh, we actually have a lot.

SONG LIST:
Blood Bank
Beach Baby
Babys
Woods

Australians can catch BON IVER live later this month:
01/15/09 Perth, Australia - Fly By Night
01/17/09 Brisbane, Australia - The Tivoli
01/18/09 Melbourne, Australia - The Hi-Fi
01/19/09 Melbourne, Australia - Forum Theatre
01/20/09 Sydney, Australia - The Famous Spiegeltent
01/21/09 Angel Place, Australia - City Recital Hall
01/22/09 Sydney, Australia - The Famous Spiegeltent
01/23/09 Sydney, Australia - The Famous Spiegeltent
01/24/09 Angel Place, Australia - City Recital Hall

New York Times Weighs in on The Tallest Man on Earth

Photo Credit Chris La Putt

We caught the Tallest Man for the second time this week last night opening for Bon Iver. To go along with the kudos the Tallest Man's record has already received from Pitchfork and Paste, the New York Times ran a fantastic review of his Mercury Lounge show (12/9) in today's paper. While reviews of his stage show have spanned from "captivating" to "a total ham" no one is doubting his songwriting, guitar playing, and the quality of his product. What we have here is clearly someone new on the market inciting debate and demanding attention. It just so happens we here at Stark really love his tunes.

Unlike most acoustic-guitar slingers, the Tallest Man on Earth performed in constant motion, staying at the microphone only when he had verses to sing. In between, as his fingers rippled through his guitar patterns, he prowled back and forth like a panther pacing its cage, glaring at audience members near the stage. But his songs aren’t confrontational. They’re full of restless journeys and existential longings, with a few hints of romance. Alone and fully self-sufficient with his guitar, he sometimes admits he’d like company. NYT

Preview This: Tallest Man & Bon Iver, NY Shows

This evening, Swedish troubadour Kristian Matsson, best known as the Tallest Man on Earth, will perform at the Mercury Lounge. Coming off an extremely successful 2008 fueled by his debut album, Shallow Grave (ahem, record of the year? anyone?) the Tallest Man scored the opener for Bon Iver's latest tour -- his record, For Emma, Forever Ago has already graced a few Best Of lists and surely a few more to come (cough.)

Bon Iver is playing two nights at Town Hall -- Dec. 10 & 11 (Tallest Man opening of course.) The two then move to MHOW for a show on Dec. 12.

This, unfortunately, is just a reminder. You will be hard pressed to find tickets this late in the game. But, hey, maybe you have the double secret, super-sick, guest list inhabiting, industry hook up. If so, see you there.

*All shows listed have an 8:00 pm start time.
** Quick addendum Marissa Nadler plays with Tallest Man tonight at the Mercury as well. Needless to say we are SUPER excited for this bill.

Paste Magazine's Top 50 of 2008

We've always had a love/hate relationship with Paste magazine. It seems they can never decide whether they want to be the leader in AAA music coverage, or the next Pitchfork. We'll say one thing for Rolling Stone, at least they're consistent in their unrequited loving of the baby-boomer generation and all its disciples. While Paste offers up great writing in places (a la Andy Whitman) and does an admirable job of trying to cover new artists, of late, they have consistently fallen behind the curve of up-to-date music coverage.

We hate to say it, but with their #1 pick of this year (after the jump) we are officially OVER Paste Magazine. There are a few nice picks in their list (Tallest Man etc...), don't get us wrong, but their #1 discredits the lot of it. We can't say we're surprised though. It's been a good run guys --Reid Davis, Jason Killingswroth (like your writing too,) Bud Scoppa...you guys still rock, but see ya later Josh Jackson. See the Top 50 list after the jump.

PASTE MAGAZINE TOP 50 of 2008 (via Paste)

50 TV On The Radio - Dear Science (Interscope)
49 Sandra McCracken - Red Balloon (Towhee)
48 REM - Accelerate (Warner Bros.)
47 Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim (Astralwerks)
46 Lykke Li - Youth Novels (LL)
45 M83 - Saturdays = Youth (Mute)
44 Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers (Zoë)
43 Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner)
42 Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings & All (KRS)
41 The Tallest Man On Earth - Shallow Grave (Gravitation)
40 Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords (Sub Pop)
39 The Dodos - Visiter (Frenchkiss)
38 Jamie Lidell - Jim (Warp)
37 Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - A Larum (Lost Highway)
36 The Bridges - Limits of the Sky (Verve)
35 Colour Revolt - Plunder, Beg and Curse (Fat Possum)
34 Torche - Meanderthal (Hydra Head)
33 Santogold - Santogold (Downtown)
32 Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (Drag City)
31 The Walkmen - You & Me (Gigantic)
30 I'm From Barcelona - Who Killed Harry Houdini? (Mute)
29 Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III (Cash Money/Universal)
28 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (Columbia)
27 Liam Finn - I'll Be Lightning (Yep Roc)
26 Lee Ann Womack - Call Me Crazy (MCA Nashville)
25 Mugison - Mugiboogie (Ipecac)
24 Santogold & Diplo - Top Ranking
 (Mad Decent)
23 Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us (Barsuk)
22 No Age - Nouns (Sub Pop)
21 The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust (Vice)
20 Hot Chip - Made In The Dark (Astralwerks)
19 Gentleman Jesse and His Men - Introducing Gentleman Jesse and His Men (Douchemaster)
18 Death Cab
 for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
 (Atlantic)
17 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Lie Down In The Light (Drag City)
16 My Morning Jacket
 - Evil Urges (ATO)
15 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Mute)
14 Langhorne Slim - Langhorne Slim (Kemado)
13 Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart (Waterfall/RCA)
12 of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl)
11 The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (Vagrant)
10 Deerhunter - Microcastle (Kranky)
09 Lucinda Williams - Little Honey (Lost Highway)
08 Sun Kil Moon - April (Caldo Verde)
07 Girl Talk - Feed the Animals (Illegal Art)
06 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
05. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins (Jagjaguwar)
04. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)
03. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL)
02. Sigur Rós - Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust (XL)
01. She & Him - Volume One (Merge)

Bon Iver Announces 3rd NYC Date @ MHOW

Bon Iver continues his 2007-08 rise to fame and announces a 3rd New York City date to complement his two sold out shows at Town Hall. The show we caught at the Music Hall of Williamsburg was arguably the best show we caught all year. We guess his record For Emma Forever Ago officially came out this year, so it qualifies for our year end list - although it feels like we've been listening to the record for years. Opening all US shows is Stark favorite and Sweden's own Tallest Man on Earth. Definitely get there early to catch him, it's well worth it. Glad to see Tallest man and Bon Iver getting the love the both deserve. Tickets go on sale WEDNESDAY at NOON.

Bon Iver - 2008 Tour Dates
12/03/08 Dublin, Ireland - Dublin National Stadium
12/05/08 Rennes, France - Trans Musicales Festival w/ Sister, Sammy Decoster
12/06/08 Ghent, Belgium - Gent Vooruit w/ Land of Talk
12/07/08 London, UK - Apollo Victoria Theatre
12/10/08 New York, NY - Town Hall *
12/11/08 New York, NY - Town Hall *
12/12/08 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
12/14/08 Boston, MA - The Wilbur Theatre *
12/15/08 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero *
12/17/08 Louisville, KY - Headliners *
12/18/08 Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre *
12/19/08 Madison, WI - The Barrymore Theatre *
12/22/08 Eau Claire, WI - State Theatre

* w/ The Tallest Man on Earth

Photo Credit: Play Vicious

Nashville Review: The Tallest Man on Earth @ The Basement

By Vince Amoroso

He was not the tallest man on earth, but rather a living irony. This cliché will soon become commonplace as this Swedish troubadour gains fame. Shallow Grave, the new album from Kristian Matsson, a.k.a. Tallest Man on Earth, received an 8.3 out of 10 on Pitchfork. For gaining hipster-indie-cred, Pitchfork’s rating system is tops.

“He was like a caged tiger on stage” one performer said alluding to Matsson’s set. Well, he was some sort of animal up there. (Hold back the Metallica puns, please.) Matsson’s performance centered on his stalking abilities - be it through long drawn out soul-ensnaring stares pinpointing certain audience members or his unpredictable pacing.

Matsson is small though. We are not joking about that. He sported tight jeans that made his legs seem transparent. Widely hailed as "Dylanesque", Matsson's lace-up leather boots exemplified the analogy (his rustic singing voice helps too.) With a hair quaff and a childishly contrived mustache, Matsson had our attention before he even sang. He worked the crowd in all possible ways.

The power of the Tallest Man’s voice humbled audience members. At any given point during his performance, one could observe hands on chins and elbows on knees, people seemingly in awe of this man. His guitar playing was utterly flawless – fingerpicking at its best.

Matsson was the whole package. He captured the emotions of his songs in facial expressions and through his stage presence, venturing into the crowd at times to dramatize everything that much more. Every breath and lyric sung was heartfelt and delivered in an unassuming, mature fashion.

Check your local listings. Tallest Man on Earth is definitely worth checking out.
Myspace

Continue on for a video.
After the jump.