mp3: White Antelope "Two Headed Boy"

"We Will Take Off Our Clothes"Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes covered Neutral Milk Hotel's sweeping "Two Headed Boy" at the Vera Project fundraiser in Seattle. Robin flubs a line, but no worries, as its a much more sweeping rendition than Colin Meloy's. Download entire show here.

Setlist & mp3 via Sound on the Sound
Katie Cruel (trad)
False Knight on the Road (trad)
Silver Dagger (trad)
He Doesn’t Know Why
Oliver James
Two Headed Boy (Neutral Milk Hotel)
Albatross (Fleetwood Mac)
Oh Sister (Bob Dylan)
Early In the Morning (B.B. King)
The Book of Love (the Magnetic Fields)
Icicle Tusk
Mykonos
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song
Blue Spotted Tail

Encore
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)

Robin Pecknold- Two Headed Boy (NMH cover)

new: White Antelope "Silver Dagger"

"I Can Be Your Bride"
As if you needed another reason, this is why Twitter is great. Robin Pecknold tweets "Silver Dagger / Wild Mountain Thyme http://is.gd/inf2" and we get two new songs from the Fleet Foxes/White Antelope. "Silver Dagger" is a fine example of Pecknold channeling Dylan the storyteller, the Blood on the Tracks/Desire-era Dylan, where stories were the center of the song, rather than just a mere aspect of them. Pecknold really hits this one on the money. The other new treat is "Wild Mountain Thyme", which is basically a Jackson Browne-CSNY-Laurel Canyon dream come true. Hit the MySpace asap.

White Antelope- Silver Dagger & Wild Mountain Thyme

mp3: White Antelope "It Ain't Me Babe"

"You Say Your Looking For Someone"
(photo by grandchildren)
He's done it again, this time covering Bob Dylan's classic "It Ain't Me Babe." As expected, absolutely majestic, most notably the doubled vocals, which give it a sort of campfire deep inside a cave sing-a-long vibe. Apparently this was on the White Antelope MySpace page, although it seems to have been removed. Oh well, you can snag an mp3 below. Thanks to Peenko for the heads up.

White Antelope- It Ain't Me Babe

update: Pecknold is White Antelope

"Said the Knight on the Road"

Just a little follow up on the last post. AtEaseWeb member Robin Pecknold confirmed that it was he who recorded and posted the two songs on the White Antelope MySpace page. In his own words:

Ey!!!

I used to post demos of songs on that page before the record came out. The Guitar Duet thing dates from when we were recording the LP and the cover of False Knight I did about two weeks ago. I posted the first demo of Blue Ridge Mountains (when it was called Stirring, before the other Stirring) on there before. I might put that back up, it had different instrumentation and was kinda cool....

Right now I am alone in this house we've rented to record the next record in and tomorrow I'm going to record a cover of Ridge Rider, the Judee Sill song, for this compilation. Trying to write new stuff is hard right now for some reason.

I want to do a record of really spare stuff for White Antelope so it may be recorded this year. I dunno if that is a good name though.

Thinking out loud.

I guess I can add the White Antelope (or Robin solo disc) to my increasingly elongated list of albums I'm anxiously awaiting to hear in 2009. The two tracks in discussion are available below.

White Antelope- False Knight of the Road
White Antelope- Magic Rings, Guitar Duet

new: Fleet Foxes Side Project?

"And He Stood, And He Stood"

A good friend in a quaint, psychedelic fishing village just passed along a fascinating piece of information. White Antelope's MySpace Page. I told him" I know nothing" of said band. But the first song, "False Knight on the Road", automatically started playing and its gentle finger picking felt pretty good. Then, about 30 seconds in, I heard this familiar voice, angelic in its tone, come weeping through the tree's. Robin Pecknold? My IM box bounces and it, coincidentally, reads "Robin Pecknold." Some extremely light research showed that he was "friends" with Fleet Foxes and fellow Seattle folkees the Cave Singers. Still somewhat skeptical, I took a look into the pics section of White Antelope's profile and noticed a picture of someone who looks a lot like the dude that sings in that pretty awesome band with the Peter Breugal painting on their album cover. Well, the songs, the second being "Guitar Duet", an instrumental, are stunning, especially in their ability to summon the heart and soul of American folk music. Pecknold's(?) voice is timeless, able to conjure Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Paul Simon and James Taylor in one fell swoop, without sounding like neither an imitator nor an impostor. It's quite wondrous to fell a century's worth of history in the voice of a young man.

Listen to White Antelope here.


ED Note: So the Kids on AtEase have verified "False Knight on the Road" as the b-side on the Mykonos 7". White Antelope is all but confirmed as the solo work of Robin Pecknold. Great news all around. Anybody have any info on the Mykonos 7"?

live: Fleet Foxes

"In The Quivering Forest"

Still not on the Fleet Foxes bandwagon? Try this Nigel Godrich produced, recorded and engineered live version of "Blue Ridge Mountains" on for size. It fits wayyy better than that itchy sweater your great Aunt Ada gave you last Christmas, and the Christmas before that. In fact, it fits so well, you'll never want to take it off. Ever. You can marvel at the video, soon to be shown on IFC, here, but we know your going to want to take this one with you, so grab the mp3 below. Ripped by yours truly. And May the wind always be at your back...

Fleet Foxes- Blue Ridge Mountains (Live in Nigel Godrich's Basement)

we saw: Fleet Foxes at Union Hall

"I'm Alive and Well"
Photo by Kyle Dean Reinford

Waking up at 4:30 a.m. occasionally has its advantages. Case in point, yesterday when I awoke to find that the Fleet Foxes announced a second show for this evening at Union Hall. While reports of Robin's health from last night weren't exactly positive, I was optimistic because when I saw them make their NYC debut in March, Robin was also under the weather. (Although that time it seemed to be the fluctuating weather, not the perils of the road.) Regardless, the late show at Union Hall tonight was a special affair. Robin definitely wasn't 100%, but the dude gave his God's honest all and everyone in the room was thankful. Not only were they thankful, but I have to give mad props to Brooklyn, as the audience at the late show was one of the most respectful, utterly entranced audiences I've had the pleasure to have been apart of in along time. (Probably since the last time I saw Fleet Foxes, or Joanna Newsome.)

Not gonna lie, even in a shitty situation the Fleet Foxes sound amazing. Their form is timeless, not some passing neon fad or Hype Machine fueled future top 40 act. "Blue Ridge Mountains", as expected, was an evening highlight, but I think the moment of most utter transcendence came during "Mykonos", where Josh Tillman's percussion lent a dark force to the best song on the Sun Giant EP. I heard someone mention that Tillman takes "Mykonos" to almost religious levels, and I can't do anything but agree.

While the entire band was on extra point tonight (due to Robin Pecknold's illness), it was Pecknold himself who stole the show. No doubt he could've sat the show out, hell if I were him I would've cancelled it, or not even scheduled it. But even under the weather, Pecknold delivered a bold, wholehearted and genuine performance that both enraptured the audience and wrapped them in warm blankets. I only wish I'd given Robin a proper bear hug after the show to prove how much his performance meant to the entire crowd. Like the show in March, he repeatedly thanked the crowd in the most humble, Northwestern way possible. Needless to say, I had to thank him back and I'm pretty sure everyone at Union Hall tonight would've done the same. That said, the band admitted that the early show was, well, shit. And it didn't help that folks in the front row scribbling notes (Tillman joked about his performance receiving a 7.2). Regardless, the Late night crowd was so attentive, I almost forgot I was in a packed room full of awe-struck compadres, which is probably the greatest compliment I could ever give band. I literally lost myself, in place and time, in the Union Hall basement tonight. It was beautiful, in the realest way possible. God bless the Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes- White Winter Hymnal

Fleet Foxes "Tiger Mountain Song" Live in London

we saw: Fleet Foxes and Blitzen Trapper

"Turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime"

(Photo by JuicyGoo)
We knew last night's Fleet Foxes show was going to be amazing, and now we can confirm... utterly amazing. While lead singer/songwriter Robin Pecknold prefaced their set by letting the crowd know he had the flu and had puked right before hitting the stage, his sore throat and headache didn't seem to affect his vocal, which was spot on all evening. We're also happy to report that the bands majestic harmonies are as eerily dreamy as they are on record. Cathartic and wonderstruck, like a magical revelation through a dream.

The show kicked off with the gorgeous acapella "Sun Giant" and within seconds all questions regarding Robin's voice were gone. The crowd was silent. Eyes were wide open like children on a snow day. "Sun Giant", the opening track on the recently released EP of the same name, segued perfectly into "Sun it Rises", the opener on the bands leaked, and soon to be released (June 3) eponymous full length debut. Other highlights included an utterly pristine version of "Oliver James", a heart wrenching cover of "Katie Cruel" (video which we posted yesterday), a fan requested "Blue Ridge Mountains" and the pastoral insta-classic "White Winter Hymnal."

After a set that felt like being baptized in fresh mountain water, it's safe to say that Fleet Foxes blend of high lonesome balladry and CSNY harmonies is going to be pointing alot of kids to the forest. Like Justin, we agree that Fleet Foxes remind us of the criminally under rated, and often forgotten, David Crosby record If I Could Only Remember My Name, as well as After The Gold Rush era Neil Young.

All in all, we were blown away. Like, totally blown away. The band seemed to feel the same way, amazed at the sincere and righteous reaction from the glowing New York crowd. Not to mention, all the singing along.

After the show we got a chance to catch up with lead Fox Robin Pecknold, who had just turned 22 at midnight and was drinking Emergen-C to heal his aching flue. While we can't stress enough how impeccable Pecknold and Co. sound live, we really hope he gets back to a 100% so crowds in the rest of the country get to bask in the light of his warm voice. We also caight up with multi instrumentalist and co-harmonizer Casey Wescott who let us know that the vinyl release of Fleet Foxes will include the Sun Giant EP. That makes 2xLP's we couldn't be more excited to hear on the ole phonograph.

Oh yeah, Blitzen Trapper played too. They rocked out the title track from last year's Wild Mountain Nation, as well as the albums "Country Caravan", "Devils A-Go-Go" and "Sci-Fi Kid." They were pretty darn good, but, unfortunately, couldn't compare to the Fleet Foxes, who were utterly jaw dropping. I've often heard that the Who refused to go on after Hendrix at Monterey Pop, fearing that he would suck all the wind from the audience. Honestly, I'd hate to be in any band that has to play after Fleet Foxes. It's just not fair.

Fleet Foxes- Oliver James
Blitzen Trapper- Stolen Shoes (Daytrotter Session)