I figured one of the most promising bands of the last year deserved a standalone review so suffice to say I gave in. The creation of Jaguar Love is a bit of a dream project for me, honestly.

Singer Johnny Whitney and guitarist Cody Votolato as you all may know by now came from the now-defunct band The Blood Brothers. I had been an avid follower of the band since their 2000 debut This Adultery is Ripe. The remaining band member Jay Clark not only played guitar in Pretty Girls Make Graves but also for two short lived bands which I also insanely admired Sharks Keep Moving and Killsadie. So to say this project had a bit of history behind its origin, well, that would be an understatement.

I'm not going to lie I always favored Jordan's vocals over Johnny when it came to choosing sides in the days of The Blood Brothers dueling vocals but man does Johnny paving the way for Jaguar Love kick it hardcore. Really, this band has some great potential to become an exceptional band. I was highly impressed with the earlier released three song Jaguar Love EP and their full length Take Me to the Sea does not disappoint.

From the very start the record gets slammin' with the catchy combo 'Highways of Gold and 'Bats Over the Pacific Ocean' before slowing it down a bit with one of my personal favorites 'Georgia.' The highlight of the disc, however, comes 7 songs in with 'Antoine And Birdskull' which is just simply amazing and will remind you a lot of the greatest moments of The Blood Brothers. The album nicely comes to a close with the mellower EP track 'My Organ Sounds Like...' which honestly could not have been a better song to finish things off.

Take Me to the Sea streets August 19th from Matador Records. Do me one simple favor. When the time comes run don't walk to your nearest music store, that is, if you are smart enough to know what great music is.

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It must be the week for music news to sneak on by me undetected. Sea Wolf, a brilliant musician who last year released both an EP (Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low) and a full length (Leaves in the River) on Dangerbird Records, has released yet another taste of his medicine . If you have been craving more from the man, like I have, look no further than the audio book for the latest memoir from writer Augusten Burroughs entitled A Wolf at the Table. The new track 'Song of the Magpie' is more of the same of what we have come to love from Sea Wolf. Also on the disc is new music from Patti Smith, Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara, and Ingrid Michaelson. All of the cuts can currently be streamed at the author's official website.

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By now, a decent about of people are familiar with the work of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.

Hansard is the frontman for the band and also recorded music with Irglova for the indie hit "Once" that one them both an Academy Award earlier this year for Best Song.

For the last two years, the duo has been playing together as The Swell Season, even releasing a record in April 2006.

They seem to have been touring non-stop for quite some time now and will once again make their way to the US in September. The planned tour is as follows:

Sept 17th New York, NY Rumsey Playfield
Sept 19th Boston, MA Agganis Arena
Sept 20th Toronto, Ontario Massey Hall
Sept 21st Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theatre
Sept 22nd Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
Sept 24th Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
Sept 27th Austin, TX Austin City Limits Festival
Sept 29th Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
Sept 30th Albuquerque, NM Popejoy Hall
Oct 2nd Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
Oct 3rd San Diego, CA Open Air Theatre
Oct 4rd Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre

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Really have no idea how this one snuck on by me, but indeed it had. Back in June, Daytrotter did a session with Oxford's own Foals. During this little gathering, the band recorded three tracks from their album Antidotes ( 'Heavy Water','Red Socks Pugie' and 'Electric Bloom') along with two unreleased songs - 'Jam (Figure #3)' and 'Humanate ( Jam Figure #5)' not found anywhere else. Do yourself one hell of a favor and take a listen now.

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Fortunately, for me, my week of listening to new material did pay off. Once again, and band named Foals, came my to me by way of Sub Pop Records entitled Antidotes with little to no knowledge of the band previously. All I knew of them was that they were Dance Rock, which could easily vary from true greatness (like The Faint and The Washdown), to the entertaining (Moving Units), to the over-hyped (The Rapture), to the downright bad (I will refrain from any names in hopes of not hurting anybody's feelings). After listening to the American debut record from the Foals, they can definitely be moved to the top of the list. This album is a utter joy to listen to. Hailing from Oxford, England the band destroys from the very first track. Highlights on the record are by far 'Cassius', 'Two Steps, Twice', 'Tron', and the bonus track 'Mathletics.' The only minor misstep on the entire album is 'Heavy Water' which goes on a bit too long and attempts to veer off into too many directions. Overall, however, Antidotes is an incredible album which openly proclaims its math rock roots. Amazing!

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