What About Bob...?

It's been quite a while since I first posted on my friend, Bob Jacques (read it here), and the great recommendations that he gives me during our music chats. Here is what he has turned me onto in the last few weeks:

This Will Destroy You

Bob and I have a big soft spot for instrumental band Explosions in the Sky, so he wasn't long recommending This Will Destroy You to me. Also hailing from Texas, the post-rock four-piece are made up of guitarists Chris King and Jeremy Galindo, bass player Donovan Jones and drummer Alex Bhore (original drummer Andrew Miller left the band in January, 2010).

The band got together in 2005 and soon after released an EP entitled Young Mountain (check out single "The World is Ours"), which was originally supposed to be the band's demo. They began recording their self-titled debut album in February 2007, which was eventually released on January 29, 2008 and included the excellent track, "Threads" (included below). They released a split EP, Field Studies, in January 2009 with the band Lymbyc Systym, and are currently in the process of releasing another EP, due to be titled Communal Blood, and their second studio album, Tunnel Blanket. "Communal Blood", the single, is due to be released sometime this month. You can hear This Will Destroy You's music on their MySpace page and follow their updates on their Tumblr site.

Frightened Rabbit 

Frightened Rabbit are a five-piece indie-rock band from Selkirk, Scotland, who began playing music together in 2003. The line-up consists of Scott Hutchison (rhythm guitar/vox/lyrics), Billy Kennedy (guitar/bass), Andy Monaghan (guitar), Grant Hutchison (drums) and Gordon Skene (guitar/keyboards). Scott Hutchison originally used the name Frightened Rabbit as a stage moniker for his solo shows, but the project soon became a full-fledged band with the addition of his brother Grant on drums in 2004 and guitarist Billy Kennedy in 2006. The band joke that they still don't know if they're done recruiting members.

Frightened Rabbit have released three studio albums; Sing the Greys (2006), The Midnight Organ Fight (2008), and The Winter of Mixed Drinks (2010), and one live album titled, Quietly Now! (2008). The Winter of Mixed Drinks was released in March of this year and is fantastic. It was preceded by singles "Swim Until You Can't See Land" and "Nothing Like You". The band's next single, "Living in Colour", is due to be released on 14th June 2010. You can find out more about Frightened Rabbit on their official website and check out their music on their MySpace page.

Here's "Keep Youself Warm" from The Midnight Organ Fight; I love this:

She & Him

I adore Zooey Deschanel. Not only because she is named after a character from a book by one of my favourite authors (J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey), which is very cool in my book, but also because she is kooky, individual and talented to boot. I heart her. And so does Bob. I had already heard a lot of her music, but never talked about it with anyone until Bob brought it up a few weeks ago. She & Him were formed when Deschanel sent some of her songs to guitarist M. Ward, who had heard her sing on the film Elf. Deschanel and Ward had met previously on the set of the film The Go-Getter, in which Deschanel had a starring role. They were asked to sing together for the end credits of the film and quickly bonded over their similar tastes in music.

When well-known actors/actresses release albums they're supposed to be bad so we can all have a good oul laugh at them right? Well Zooey Deschanel completely rewrites the script; not only can this girl act, but she can write some great songs and sing them very, very well. She has a rare and unique voice that is both soft and charming, yet wise and confident. And she has more than enough personality to pull anything off.

To date She & Him have released two studio albums, titled Volume One and Volume Two, and have also featured on the soundtrack to my favourite film of last year, (500) Days of Summer (read my review of it here). The band will be playing three shows in the UK next week and will embark on a US tour soon after (further tour dates available on their official website and MySpace page).

Here is the band's single, "In The Sun", from Volume Two. This song features a great guitar solo from Ward, beautiful vocals from Deschanel, and a really catchy chorus. And Deschanel is utterly adorable in the video!



The great photos used throughout this post were all taken by Bob. The top one is one of my favourites from Bob; the depth and texture in it are amazing. If you'd like to see more of Bob's photos, you can visit his Flickr page here. I'll be posting more of Bob's photos (and more of his recommendations!) as I get them. They will all be included under the label Bob Jacques.