Reason #532 for living in New York…

Because at 2:00 p.m. on any given day you might receive invites from three different people inviting you to see a private show featuring The Shins.

Stepping into Le Poisson Rouge last Wednesday was a bit like stepping back into time. As I stood in the crowd, waiting for the show to start, I found myself looking around, half expecting to spot Natalie Portman lurking somewhere in the shadows.

Though The Shins had released two albums (and decent ones, at that) well before Zach Braff’s heralded Garden State soundtrack hit the ears of the mainstream-indie masses, much of the band’s rise can arguably be linked to this infamous scene:

“You gotta hear this one song. It will change your life, I swear.” (2)

And yet, it hasn’t necessarily been a smooth ride for the band. Shortly after they left Sub Pop in 2007, The Shins underwent a swift series of major structural changes, leaving only one principal member, singer/guitarist James Mercer, left standing.

The (new) Shins (photo courtesy of the artist)

But despite the change in line-up, as soon as I heard Mercer’s distinctive voice break into “Kissing the Lipless,” it was as if nothing had changed. It was surreal. The sound was tight, the energy, there.

“Simple Song” (the first single from their upcoming album)

“Saint Simon”

With or without Portman’s approval, The Shins are poised to be one of the better indie bands of the last decade… at least as long as Mercer is in the band.

The Shins’ new album, Port of Morrow, drops on March 20th on Columbia. Until then, you can stream a video – or just the audio – of Wednesday night’s show courtesy of NPR Music. (Clearly, the audio quality is much better over there.)

Set list
Kissing The Lipless
Caring Is Creepy
Simple Song
Bait And Switch
Saint Simon
It’s Only Life
September
New Slang
The Rifle’s Spiral
Australia
No Way Down
Phantom Limb
One By One All Day
Port Of Morrow

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(1) Apparently, former keyboardist/bassist Marty Crandall agrees. “I would definitely attribute a lot of [our rise in recognition] to Garden State. That had a pretty huge impact. We saw double and triple sizes of crowds and sales of the first record. It multiplied our fan base immensely.”

(2) The Shins nearly did change my life, quite literally. On the way to see them play my freshman year of college, an aggressive 16-wheeler was inches away from careening into our navy blue Volvo station wagon on an overpass. (My only thought during my near-death experience was, “Oh come on, you’ve got to be kidding me! At least we could die after The Shins!”)

Spotlight on Son Lux

The Wire‘s RPM Challenge isn’t for the faint of heart. Most musicians take 2-3 years to write, record, and produce an album. The RPM Challenge shortens that time to just one month – and the shortest month of the year at that. It’s a lot to take on.

When Ryan Lott (aka Son Lux) first heard about the challenge from NPR Music’s Robin Hilton, he wasn’t convinced it was for him.

Well, my initial reaction was I absolutely cannot do this. This is just not in the cards for me. It was just like, ah that’s too bad because that would have been a super cool opportunity, what a cool thing for them to think of me, blah, blah, blah. So I slept on it and I told a couple of people about it, one of whom is my manager, Michael. He was like, “Oh dude you have to do this.” (Laughs)

Ryan Lott (photo courtesy of artist)

So he embarked on the challenge. Over the course of February, NPR checked in with Lott regularly to note his progress. (Very cool stuff.) For a time in the middle of the process, he didn’t think he was going to make it, but somehow he managed to not only pull it off, but produce an absolutely gorgeous album that features some of my favorite artists, including the likes of: DM Stith, Antony Hegarty, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Shara Worden, and more.

Fortunately for me, it’s so ridiculously fun to make music that working really hard, as hard as I can exhausts me but also energizes me in a really important way.

I fell in love with the finished product a few weeks ago, when NPR streamed it as part of their First Listen Series. Now you can download it for yourself, and you totally should. It’s already a serious contender for my annual top ten list.

We Are Rising is full of magical moments. It held me at attention from the very first song, “Flickers.” Take a listen yourself:

You can also download “Rising,” the first single from the album, here.

Though the album has a nice, clean feel, it also somehow manages to project a  majestic quality, and this is a dichotomy I can certainly get behind.

Check out this intriguing interview (which I’ve been quoting from) with Ryan Lott and NPR’s Robin Hilton about how it all went down.

Exclusive First Listen

So I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I just wanted to second the recommendation for NPR Music’s Exclusive First Listen Series. The series started in September of ’08 with a Dylan album and has progressed from there. The premise is simple. They stream an album in its entirety before it is officially released, and you can listen to it as much as you want for about a week until they take it down. There’s none of that 30-second clip crap to deal with. You get the whole thing. The Exclusive First Listen Series is just one more reason why NPR Music rocks. (1)

Recently the series featured the likes of Charlotte Gainsbourg, Beach House, Spoon, Laura Veirs, and more. (Of course, they have also featured more prominent artists like Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.)

Right now, you can check out by The Courage of Others by Midlake and Tomorrow, In a Year by The Knife. Catch them this week while they last.
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(1) Of course, having interned with NPR Music, you could say I’m a bit biased.