I’ve been skipping around new music so much of late I can’t keep track. And I’ve stumbled on another band that deserves my (and your) attention: The Life and Times, whose new Suburban Hymns is out on DeSoto Records. I know little of the band other than what you can easily find at its bio, like the fact that singer Allen Epley once fronted Shiner. But what drew me was a production credit to J. Robbins, he of Jawbox and Burning Airlines fame.

Epley’s slightly distorted vocals certainly suggest a Burning Airlines influence, but the guitar play colors outside the lines a little more. I really like how active the drums sound, especially under some of the more soaring vocals and guitar lines.

The Life and Times My Last Hostage
The Life and Times Charlotte Street
The Life and Times Coat of Arms (via DeSoto)

It’s funny, these blogs. Although I’m fairly new to this, I’ve noticed one pattern: a leaked track causes such a buzz a few months before an album’s release date that by the time the album is actually released, it seems like old news. I suppose that’s the nature of the cycle. Regardless, lest we forget, Twin Cinema, the new long player from The New Pornographers comes out next week.

The store at Matador Records is offering a pretty sweet deal: $10 for a preorder, which includes a limited edition (aren’t they all?) 7″ with an unreleased song. (While you’re there, preorder the “special edition” of Interpol’s Antics, which includes a bonus disc with five tracks. Only $10.) Or you can buy Twin Cinema at Amazon here and get instant access to an audio stream of the entire album. Really, you can’t go wrong either way.

Anyway, I’m a sucker for anything with Neko Case. So here’s to rekindling the buzz:

The New Pornographers | Use It (courtesy Matador)
The New Pornographers | Twin Cinema (courtesy Matador)
The New Pornographers | The Bones of an Idol (courtesy … um, me)

The Greenhornes will be in Phoenix this week, opening for the White Stripes. I’ve only recently heard of the Greenhornes, but I’m really enjoying their new EP East Grand Blues (produced and recorded by Brendan Benson). For background: The Greenhornes, from Cincinnati, were the backing band on Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose album, and bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler will serve as the rhythm section for the Raconteurs, the on-the-side collaboration of Jack White and Benson.

The music — with its brooding low-end melodies — is eerily reminiscent of ’60s bands like the Animals and the Byrds; that’s not to say the Greenhornes are copycats. The influence is obvious, but there’s a bit of a modern garage rock update to it. For comparison’s sake, I’ve digitzed the Byrds’ Turn! Turn! Turn! and the Animals’ Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood from vinyl 45s. (I think if you listen to I’m Going Away and Turn! Turn! Turn! back to back, you’ll hear the influence.)

The Greenhornes | I’m Going Away
The Greenhornes | Shelter of Your Arms
The Byrds | Turn! Turn! Turn!
The Animals | Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

So, I’m wholly convinced now that I will like just about anything put out on Merge Records. If one of my favorite artists, Richard Buckner, moving to that label wasn’t enough, I’ve fallen for the new album by the Radar Bros., The Fallen Leaf Pages.

I picked it up on whim — having not listened to any of their previous albums — and can’t stop playing it. It’s moody, open-ended, unassuming and always seems to creep close to these sonic crescendos before fading into this lilting guitar-piano-drum amazement. I like how the songs take their time — as if there’s no rush to find the end.

Buy it here.

Radar Bros. | Is That Blood (personal favorite)
Radar Bros. | The River Shade
Radar Bros. | Papillon

Sufjan Stevens: Anybody ever hear of this guy? OK, seriously, folks. Inspired by a post about bargain-bin hunting over at Can You See the Sunset from the Southside, I headed to Tempe on a mission to pluck a quality, cheap CD.

And I did. I snagged an Asthmatic Kitty label compilation To Spirit Back the Mews (2001) for a mere $5.99. I was quite proud of myself. That is, until I went to AK’s Web site and discovered I could have bought it for $6 at their store.

Nevertheless, I’m convinced I found a gem. It contains 37 tracks — some of which is quirky filler material — and runs almost 80 minutes. What you really want to know is that there are four Sufjan Stevens songs on it. You should also know is the rest of it is just as solid as the Sufjan tracks, especially the songs by Half-handed Cloud and Liz Janes. It takes some patience to work through the album — although the longest track checks in at just under five minutes — but it’s really worth it: a bit of folk, a bit of twang and really nice songwriting. (Liner notes explain that a contribution in advance of proceeds of the album were made to New York Firefighters 9-11 Relief Fund. Another portion of proceeds will be donated to The Heart and Soul Animal Sanctuary.)

But I’ll provide what you really want.

Sufjan Stevens: The First Full Moon
Sufjan Stevens: God’ll Ne’er Let You Down
Sufjan Stevens: Bushwick Junkie
Sufjan Stevens: I Can’t Even Lift My Head

BONUS
Half-handed Cloud: He’s Not the Swindler We Are

So, Elbow’s new album — Leaders of the Free World — comes out Sept. 5. It won’t receive nearly the amount of pub Coldplay’s latest piece o’ crap got, but I’m hopeful it will blow X&Y (or X&Y&Zzzzzzzzzz, as my brother put it) outta the water.

I’m here to help fuel the hype:

Stream the video for Forget Myself here.

And be a day ahead of the news, with this BBC article — dated August 9 … it’s that whole time zone phenomenon — in which singer Guy Garvey interprets the lyrics for the album for us.

If you’ve already been over to Gorilla vs. Bear — and chances are good that you were — you know that Chris and I are posting some good workout songs today. I was lamenting my recent laziness about getting out and getting to the gym. And with the monumental Austin trip but a mere 48 days away — not that I’m counting — I figured it was time to get in shape.

So it’s time to get to LA Fatness … ahem, I mean, Fitness. After all, I convinced myself I’d work out more if I bought an iPod Shuffle. Seemed like sound reasoning at the time. It’s light, it’ll fit in my pocket. That is, when I actually put it in my pocket and get to the gym.

As for my music, I tend to lean toward the more aggressive mode for motivation: Rage Against the Machine, Jawbox/breaker, Quicksand, etc. But I’m thinking I should change it up. I know we have a few biking bloggers — Mallie at South of Mainstream and Ryan at My Yellow Country Teeth. So let’s get some suggestions going. What tunes keep you going throughout the day or at the gym?

These are a few I’ll be listening to while I try to bench-press the bar:

sourceVictoria: Opportunistic
Heiruspecs: Something For Nothing
No Knife: Permanent For Now
RJD2: Cut Out to Fl.
Styles of Beyond: Winnetka Exit
Jimmy Eat World: You

BONUS — Come on! Push it, you Nancy boy!
DJ Radar and Puma as Four Hand Stroke: Sectorize
Queens of the Stone Age: The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret

No music here, but a shout-out to a good guy and and ex-Zona resident: Jim Mahfood. Jim is an independent comic-book artist with ridiculous credentials. He’s probably best known for drawing the Clerks comic book, at director Kevin Smith’s request no less.

Jim’s also responsible for the Grrl Scouts series and Stupid Comics strip in the Phoenix New Times. Music plays a huge role in Jim’s art. You’ll often see his characters wearing T-shirts pimping some of his favorite artists. When he lived in Arizona, Jim created live mural art on stage during the Bombshelter DJs’ — Radar, Z-Trip, Emile — weekly gig, a practice he continues for national acts. Recently, Jim illustrated the fold-out mural on Z-Trip’s recent major-label debut, Shifting Gears and Felt, a comic-book companion to the new album, Felt 2, by Slug and Murs.

Jim has art for sale at his Web site or at his store. Or you can drop in at your local comic book shop for his work, which combines humor, music and always some political riffing.