natalie portman – Modern Mystery

Fresh from his transition to Warner Brothers/Reprise Records, freak folk leader Devendra Banhart is set to release his major label debut. I don’t quite recall hearing that he made the jump from his former indie label but kudos to him for branching out. Banhart will release ‘What Will Be’ later this fall but there is no official release date yet. This will be his sixth record and the rumor is that there is an hours worth of material on it. Nice. Below is the tracklisting, and though no new music has really leaked yet, we’re leaving you with an old Banhart video below.

‘What Will Be’ Tracklisting
01 “Can’t Help”
02 “Angelika”
03 “Baby”
04 “Goin’ Back To The Place”
05 “First Song For B”
06 “Last Song For B”
07 “Chin Chin & Muck Muck”
08 “16th & Valencia”
09 “Rats”
10 “Maria Leonza”
11 “Brindo”
12 “Meet Me At The Lookout”
13 “Wiliamdzi”
14 “Foolin'”

Watch ‘Feel Just Like a Child’

Its been quite some time since we’ve gotten a new record from The Shins, but they’re back. James Mercer and Co. are on the brink of releasing a new album but things have certainly changed. For one, the band will release the album on Mercer’s own label, Aural Apothecary, having split with their former label Sub Pop. Mercer also let two of the original members go, keyboardist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval, stating that he wanted to take the band in a new direction. ‘I started to have production ideas that I wanted to do that basically required some other people,’ Mercer recently told Pitchfork.

The guys have been replaced by Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse and Ron Lewis from The Fruit Bats. Man, seems like a rough day to be in The Shins. Though the band is currently doing a few tour dates, the new album still won’t be released until early next year. Mercer describes the new songs as very ‘up tempo’ and less depressing than their other records. I guess some good did come out of this.

Watch one of our favorite videos bv The Shins. ‘Patent Pending’