Music Blog: Around the Horn: New Releases, SXSW, Portland News & More

Well folks, it’s been a bit of a rough time lately, with the (in)famous Arctic Blast 2008 that Portland and the Northwest experienced, as well as the year-end music lull. The good news, however, is that the bad news is now behind us. We’ve plowed through the dark period and have come out strong with our wheels a-churning. This week marks the first in a great while of notable releases with many more queued up in the near future. Jeremy highlighted a few of the gems in his last post, and I’ll hit upon a few more here. And, as always, there’ll be a bit of Portland-centric news to entertain in addition to some off-beat, off-kilter madness that only the music world can contain. Off we go...

Kicking things off, Portland’s Viva Voce announced they’re adding a couple of members to the group, making the husband-wife outfit now a four piece. Alongside Kevin and Anita Robinson are newcomers Corinna Repp and Evan Railton. The band also announced a new tour, including two Oregon stops in Portland (March 28) and Salem (April 11).

Speaking of keeping up with the Robinsons, Blue Giant was recently in the opbmusic studios. You can catch the interview and hear songs off their new album here. Willamette Week also posted a nice piece about the visit.

Festival lineups are starting to trickle out this month. The list of SXSW bands has now swelled above 1,000 groups, including the following Portland bands:

Several of these Oregonians also have albums set to be released in the near future, including Nevada City, CA/Portland, OR’s Alela Diane, whose album, To Be Still, is out on February 17th. The singer-songwriter was recently profiled in the Times Online.

Portland's indie darling boy M. Ward also has an album slated for release on the 17th. You can preview Hold Time in its entirety here. And if that still doesn’t satiate your M. Ward cravings, check out the recent interview with Billboard.

The Crying Light, the new album by Antony and the Johnsons, was released this past Tuesday. The Guardian reviewed the album, giving it four out of five stars. New York Magazine, meanwhile, profiled singer Antony Hegarty.

Country legend Loretta Lynn has been feeling productive lately, with two new albums scheduled for release later this year.

Bon Iver’s new EP, Blood Bank, was given a rating of 7.9 by Pitchfork. The new album came out this week, along with a few other gems including the Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, A.C. Newman's Get Guilty and Andrew Bird's Noble Beast. You can hear new tracks from theses albums on the opbmusic stream and this weekend on In House.

A slew of other new releases are also in the queue. U2’s new album, No Line on the Horizon, is out March 3rd. You can check out the tracklist and artwork here. Bruce Springsteen's Working on a Dream, meanwhile, is out next Tuesday.

A new Nick Drake tribute album is set to be released with contributions by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Norah Jones, Dave Grohl and others.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the new inductees for 2009.

Stereogum checks in with Portland band The Thermals in its “Progress Report” column.

What did Sufjan Stevens do this past year? Turns out a lot.

Last but not least, one more album that will soon be released upon the masses is the Decemberists' highly-anticipated rock opera, The Hazards of Love. The band gave fans a sneak peek into the concept album last week with a free gift of sorts--a track called "The Rake Song." And not wasting any time, the song has already been covered by Ruby Isles as part of their covers series project. It's a great rendition full of energy and electronica. Video--courtesy of YANP and YouTube--is below. Enjoy!