To Lock17 for Sufjan Stevens. Since he was here primarily to promote the UK release of Michigan, had hoped he might have some of his troop in tow but alas it was the man alone. Not that he had too much difficulty holding the attention of the full house but there's only so much he could do - not being one of nature's born performers - in attempting to represent the complexities of that opus. Hey! perhaps the audience could help, do some of the swelling harmonies and stuff? Er, no. Testing the waters early on, Sufjan was silently reminded he was in 'too cool for school' London. Still, it didn't dent his spirits any and he meandered through ten or a dozen songs still striking in their spareness and interspersed with their backstories, rambling, embroidered childhood reminisences and fun facts about Michigan...

.. and here's someone's report of the similar-sounding Edinburgh show. A bit harsh on poor old Nick 'Gravenhurst' Talbot.. but only a bit...

'[The new record] spans a lot of most everything he's done on the previous records.. But there are definitely a few songs where the guitar is moving a lot more, and it's more stylized and upfront.' Well, Eric Fisher should know since he's provided that stylized upfrontedness for the forthcoming new Damien Jurado record. Interviewed this week here...

Even though her reputation's spreading out like ivy there have only ever seemed to be the same two or three stock 'pixie waif' Joanna Newsom photos available to the press. So well done to the Daily Telegraph for putting a new (Barry Marsden) colour shot on the front of this Saturday's arts section, with another inside next to the interview: 'Generally I'm told that I have a very poor voice; I've always had people tease me about it...'

Unfortunately, can't make Joanna's ICA show this week nor for that matter the sold-out Polyphonic Spree date at the Astoria on Saturday. Opening the latter will be (yet another Denton, TX band) Mandarin whose album Fast future present was picked up by Bella Union for UK release a few months back. Should it have unaccountably escaped your notice, are you missing out? Well, no, not really. reallyrather has been playing bits of it quite regularly - it's best moments get quite close to the only kind of serious-faced blokish indie rock this blog can get along with: Concise, melodic with time sigs showing a slight but distinct post-rocking tendency. But these moments mostly serve to remind you of other, better records. For Eye on time see Broken Social Scene's You forgot it in people; enjoyable though it certainly is, Shadow your shadow sounds like Hope & Adams-era Wheat meets, say, Unwed Sailor...

..whose driving force, Johnathon Ford recently announced his departure from unacceptably straight-faced blokish indie rockers Decahedron to concentrate on his instrumental trio. Hurrah! says reallyrather. '01's Faithful anchor has remained a staple of the rr playlist since aquisition - energetic, blissful, super-melodic stuff. Their most recent release, The marionette & the music box, didn't sound quite so inviting - it just doesn't, does it? - being a story-telling concept album of 17 tracks and accompanying illustrated book. But if the new Tracker album's any guide, maybe we shouldn't judge a book-shaped record by it's cover...

Blankets is a 600-page illustrated novel by Craig Thompson and apparently, of it's type, something of a runaway, word-of-mouth success. rr hasn't read it but the pen&ink drawings which adorn Tracker's Blankets-inspired 'soundtrack' are certainly appealing, the music even more so. In the realms of esteemed alt-indie-folk-rock (M. Ward, Sparklehorse et al), this blog continues to be surprised at the relative lack of aclaim for John Askew's Tracker whose previous two releases, Ames and Polk, are fairly stuffed with grainy, atmospheric goodness. Blankets doesn't have quite so much graininess but Askew's hallmark sonics still lurk beneath it's smoother surface.
It's not 100% satisfying - more-or-less every other track is great, cool-sounding instrumental indie rock, with shorter, more impressionistic and slightly less compelling interludes interspersing - but over it's 42minutes or so it's a fine headphones trip. The low rumble of hammered drums and trilling, nagging guitar lines of opener (We were) the trees doesn't really reach any conclusion but does help to set up the sharper The flurry (pt1) which follows. Soft electric piano, bolt-upright drums and shards of trademark refracted electric guitar chords. As ever, it's a beautiful dynamic and a further refinement of that great Portland sound (see also: Norfolk & Western, Matt Ward). The flurry (pt2)'s light pattering drums, the illuminating zylophone touches in F! is for FILTH!, and The House of Jarius with it's deep plugging bass and knocking percussion, all testament to Askew's ear. Sound judgement indeed, aided and abetted here by Tucker Martine (Laura Veirs, The Long Winters etc) and Adam Selzer. Vocals only occur on the final track, Everything is beautiful, which - for this listener at least - does in one track what the whole of Unbunny's (well regarded) Snow tires fails to. Buy/hear...

Staying with things Portland-related:
-Shelley Short has a definite year-end contender in Oh' say little dogies, why? and now she has her own little website
-and, having being forced to postpone his August London date, Matt Ward happily makes it to the Bush Hall Nov 27...

It's curious to realise that John Peel, Michael Palin and Paul Foot, self-effacing, approachable-seeming counter-cultural good guys, were all boarders together at the same second division public school, Shrewsbury. Foot died earlier this year during a family holiday, Peel similarly last week. (Ironically, perpetual traveller Palin is still going strong.) Even if, like reallyrather, you tended to hear John Peel more via BBC Radio 4 than R1 in recent times you'll understand that a (sadly all too precious) window for new sounds has closed for good. If you missed them, catch these tribute shows while you can:
Andy Kershaw on BBC Radio 3
Roger McGough on Home Truths BBC Radio 4
Steve Lamaque on BBC Radio 1